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What’s so good about a transgender rom-com? It’s good when it’s Eun Hye who’s being transgenderized (if that’s even a word), it felt like the role was made for her and she wasn’t afraid to step up and get her hair all chopped up for the role. That’s one thing about Eun Hye that I like, she takes strange roles that is full of comedy. I have yet to see her in a melodrama. Maybe somewhere in the near future she will.
As for the story, Coffee Prince is about Go Eun Chan (Eun Hye), a hard working girl who is always always being mistaken as a guy. Then fate made her meet Choi Hang Kyul (Yoo) in a misunderstanding. After which they come to an agreement to help each other out and eventually, she ended up lying about her gender so she could work as a waiter in Gong Yoo’s coffee shop.
The drama was hilarious in all angle, there is no realism in this one because it is obvious that Eun Chan is A GIRL if you look closely at her chest. So let not your head go swimming that this is not realistic enough to be watched. It may not be like that but the storyline would definitely blow you away with all the characters involved. The princes (namely the waiters in the coffee prince shop) and the OST had me hooked as well.
Check out the title “Go Go Chan!”
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This drama is really heartwarming and funny as well. Every person has his story and I like this.
I just can say you will regret it if you don't watch it!
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That said Yoon Eun Hye played the tomboy convincingly. I have seen a few korean dramas but I'm not an expert. Compared to other dramas "Coffee Prince" seemed to me very fresh, not so much cliche. The guy was charismatic and how the love story evolved ... It was very nice. The kisses, the interaction between the characters, it all felt so natural, funny and passionate at the same time. It makes your heart beat faster. Don't miss this one. Just don't.
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This review may contain spoilers
Characters are annoying.
I was not sure how to rate this drama to be honest. I did entertain me at times and I was annoyed and bored at others.Would I recommend? I think there are better things out there and generally I wouldn't recommend.
Firstly, I do think this drama is too long, and there are times when nothing happens and the slice of life being shown is not entertaining enough (and I generally like slice of life dramas). That being said, I found the middle part the worst one, because it became way too melodramatic but I was not feeling it at all, I only felt annoyed at the main character for the way she was handling things.
I give points for it being the most convincing gender bending drama I've seen so far. Sure, there were moments when it was clear she was a woman because of her figure but compared with other dramas I've seen it gets all my points for that.
There are certain concepts in this drama that I feel are now obsolete with the times, especially when it comes to the aspect of the woman having to take care of the household once married and the view on homosexuality.
When it comes to the characters, something I found bothersome is that there are not many women in this drama but they're all terrible, what a way to go... Even the grandmother that seemed just fine in the beginning turns into a classic controlling over protective grandma for a while (but hey, at least she does change).
Eun Chan was entertaining in the first few episodes (even if childish for her age) and then increasingly annoying, selfish and her tantrums ended up making me angry. I found quite insulting how she was not thinking how Han Gyul would be feeling in terms of questioning his whole life and sexuality for her simply because he thought she was a man (the implications of so in a society very against it). She was so oblivious and self-centered, and she continued to be that way the whole show, she was ok for him to give up his life dream but she couldn't make an effort to compromise with him about the marriage and finding a middle ground they could both be happy about. I understood her thoughts in regards to her father, but I still thought that she lacked maturity for thinking that every single situation and people you encounter will be the same.
Han Gyul was more tolerable to me although I despised a lot how he handled his crush for Eun Chan by sistematically insulting her and dragging her to do whatever he wanted during work. Totally not ok.
Yoo Joo is the kind of woman I've met before in real life, keeps her options open and uses men around her (knowing they like her) whenever convenient. She's a prime example of hypocrisy and the fact she hardly acknowledged this was giving me narcissistic vibes. She was love bombing and provoking Han Sung constantly and I would have prefered their story to be one of moving on and healing. Han Sung on the other hand is the classic "nice guy", and they try somehow to convince you that despite his mistakes he's still such a "nice guy". Funny enough, for me it was not the kissing or the crush he had on Eun Chan what did it, it was the way he was expecting certain traditional family dynamics once he married Yoo Joo, in a very "oh we're married now so I can finally control you".
All the princes at the café were also a hot mess. Sun Gi was a stalker, and then he only is nice to a girl in the end because she spoke japanese? Rude!! Also, while it can happen that people swears in their mother tongue naturally sometimes, he (if I didn't hear wrong) was half korean, so although not explained, chances are he was raised bilingual and the chances of that happening are very low. It was done for the funs, but personally I've always disliked when they do that. Ha Rim was background character, he started being a playboy and ended up being a playboy. Min Yeop was the classic dumb-fun character, and it would have been nice if he had grown up a bit, or they had shown to say no to toxic relationships but he didn't progress at all. Eun Chan's sister was the extrovert narcissist type, and so she manipulated, gaslighted and selfishly cared for no one but herself.
Eun Chan's mother was also a piece of work, and I don't even know why her story with the shop owner is shown, it goes nowhere, it was a filler. Han Gyul's parents were the nicest people in this show, they were a lot more grounded, but then again, I guess they must suck at parenting because they raised Han Gyul to be as he is when the show starts so... That being said, I do still think that Han Gyul is the character that changes the most throughout the show.
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Anyway, the cast here have one of the most believable acting skills ever; I was extremly captured by that. The music was nice even though I don't actually focus on any drama's music but here it sticked in my mind.
To tell the truth what actually bothered me about this drama was those moments where the boss liked Eun Chan as a boy and all the parts related to that; I was disgusted by it sorry but I hate those gay moments; It's just my opinion anyway. Beside that the drama was good, I fell for it and for the cast especially the princes; I liked each and every one of them, I laughed a lot in many scenes they had together plus they were so cute.
Yoon Eun Hye played her role in a great way here, she's one of the fewest actresses who's very believable as a boy even the supporting actors were good.
If you're a rom-com lover then you need to watch this.
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I watched several dramas before this but this might be the first drama that had me smiling, crying, angry, all in good way.
The Story: 9.5
The typical square-love story we had in dramas was made interesting when the main guy falls for someone who he thinks is also a guy.
The story is about Go Eun-chan, a hardworking breadwinner of her family, who acts as the boyfriend of chaebol Choi Han-kyul and soonafter work at his flower boy coffee shop. Choi Han-kyul is a third-gen chaebol of a food company established by his grandmother. He is irresponsible and all so when his family asked him to find a suitable wife, he went around showing people that he is gay by hiring “boyfriend” Go Eun-chan. Go Eun-chan has a crush on Choi Han-kyul’s cousin, Choi Han-sung. While Choi Han-kyul has a long-term one-sided crush on his cousin’s ex-girlfriend, Han Yoo-joo. Yeah, it’s complicated. Ha ha.
I love how each of the characters were given their own stories to tell and that each character made this whole coffee prince universe a more colorful and lovable place. There were times in the story that will really make you feel good and sometimes tear your heart apart. And in each of that moment, each character gave more meaning to it. It felt like this is not just a drama to watch but a real story to tell. The story is sometimes lighthearted, heartbreaking, but most times, heartwarming as coffee.
The Cast: 9.5
I adore Yoon Eun-hye here. I first watched her in Princess Hours and she definitely is the most feminine kind of feminine. It's amazing how she give life to our hardworking Go Eun-chan.
And Gong-yoo is sooo amazing in his role as Choi Han-kyul. He is kind of the manly man for me so whenever he grins and smiles childishly at Eun-chan, I just melt. He is my forever love.
I even love Chae Jung-an and Lee Sun-kyun here in their roles, This may also be the first show in Korea where flower boys are gathered into one coffee shop. Even the older characters are adorable here and you understand where they are coming from. Sometimes even if the characters something unlikable, I still love them.
Music: 9.5
Having a music producer as one of the characters of this drama sort of automatically calls for an amazing music in this drama. Needless to say, I love the music here. I love almost every song in their Original Soundtrack and I still do remember the songs.
Rewatch Value: 9.5
By now, I am not sure how many times I have rewatched this but the emotions I felt have not yet changed. I still laugh at those funny moments, cry at those hurtful times, and feel kilig for our main couple.
The drama is not that old but this is a classic for me. It was kind of the first love I had for dramas.
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I did watched the Korean version of this one since almost all recommended this drama. Eventually it has a different editing than what is what I usually see in other dramas, I find the pacing so hard to understand. I find it hard to connect the storyline since there are somewhat missing parts, which is the style of the editing of this drama.
The drama is cute, fun and light hearted. Yoon Eun Hye did really great as someone pretending to be a guy, I acknowledged that.
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Mixed feelings - Do not eat while watching
I know this is a beloved classic, but for me this is very hard to rate because I have very mixed feelings about it.My first impression was: gross! I'm sorry, but so many scenes in this drama are seriously off-putting. And it already begins gross in the first scene with Eun Chan having a super gross eating contest against Min Yeop. It actually made me physically sick. And these off-putting scenes continue throughout the whole drama. Eun Chan always eats like a pig - even eating tofu from the floor, and smearing food all over her face, people cleaning their feet WHILE at the table with other people (and then using the same washcloth to wash their face), sucking toes, eating used gum that was stuck to the window, shaking out socks over food, talking about earwax, etc. I honestly don't understand why this drama had to be so gross. I learned the hard way, that you should NOT be eating while watching this drama because you will loose your appetite.
Was it to show how "manly" Eun Chan is? I don't understand why "manly" has to be gross. You shouldn't make the viewers feel disgusted. Talking about Eun Chan, she was super obnoxious and over the top. Always yelling and being offended, being gross and unreasonable. I don't think anyone would fall in love with a person like that, if she was real. I seriously hated her for the first 8 episodes. Kudos to Yoon Eun Hye, though, she really didn't shy away from anything for this role.
I barely enjoyed anything about the first 8 episodes and had to force myself over the span of several months to continue watching. But then episodes 9 - 12 were absolutely brilliant. Mostly because of Gong Yoo. His acting was superb and the way he portrayed his character questioning his sexuality and finally admitting it to himself and Eun Chan, only to then be crushed by betrayal and being confused by his feelings all over again, was outstanding. I've watched a bunch of cross-dressing dramas that follow a similar trope and so far, his portayal was by far the best.
I'll admit it, I fell deeply in love with Gong Yoo in this drama. Before this, he was just another somewhat cool actor that I'd seen in a few dramas but now? I am a fan!!
After episode 12 it then sadly lost some of the magic again and was very predictable and fluffy. But at this point, I had fallen so deeply for Gong Yoo, that I didn't really care and was content with just admiring him (and sometimes pausing the drama to stare at him for longer).
So, what should I conclude... Gong Yoo was brilliant, four episodes were brilliant, but I was grossed out a lot and hated the female lead.
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