Coffee Prince

Coffee Prince

9/10

Coffee Prince

Genre: Episodes: 17 Year: 2007

Romance

Comedy

Melodrama

Synopsis:

Han Gyul is the son of a wealthy family who only likes to play around and hates work. He is ordered by his Grandmother to operate a cafe for three months, and if the cafe is a success he can return to his carefree lifestyle. One of the employees at the cafe is Go Eun Chan, a girl who has had to become the primary money-earner of her household after the death of her father. As Eun Chan needs money and the pay at the cafe is good, she continues to work there disguised as a boy as the cafe only hires males to match its ‘prince’ theme.

Cast:

Gong Yoo (Choi Han Gyul)

Yoon Eun Hye (Go Eun Chan)

Lee Sun Kyun (Choi Han Sung)

Chae Jung Ahn (Han Yoo Joo)

Lee Eon (Hwan Min Yeop)

Kim Jae Wook (No Seon Ki)

Kim Dong Wook (Jin Ha Rim)

Kim Chan Wan (Hong Gae Shik)

General Thoughts:

This is a rather special review, as it’s the first drama I’m reviewing after watching it for a second time. ‘Coffee Prince’ is one of the first K-Dramas I ever watched, and so my reviews hadn’t even begun at that time. I’m glad to say that not a lot changed watching it the second time around- it was still immensely enjoyable, and still remains one of my favourite dramas.

It's hilarious

While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this drama has aged well (it’s pretty dated), it’s a feat in itself that the drama can feel a little old and yet still be so highly entertaining. The characters are all so delightful- particularly Han Gyul, and they’re all acted so well. Gong Yoo never puts in a half-hearted performance so there was no surprise there, but this is really the only time I’ve seen Yoon Eun Hye put in a decent performance.

The start of a weird, but interesting relationship 

Sure, she still overacts the banoonoos out of everything, but it sort of matched Eun Chan’s personality. Lee Sun Kyun was an excellent second male lead, and was the perfect choice for Han Sung. Lee Sun Kyun really expressed Han Sung’s feelings well, despite how convoluted and confusing they were. As an audience we never became too confused with how he was feeling, because Han Sung didn’t really know himself, so it was easy to take his actions at face value- he did what he did because he wanted to and it made him feel good, not because he was a sneaky, manipulative character. I didn’t love the relationship between Han Sung and Yoo Joo the first time, and I didn’t like it any more the second time, but it was a satisfactory direction for the two second leads to take. Han Sung has always loved Yoo Joo, and it’s always been obvious that he has, but Yoo Joo herself was less convincing. It also didn’t help that Yoo Joo just didn’t seem like a nice person. She’s already cheated on and dumped Han Sung once, and has been continually flirting with his cousin for 10 years- and it’s so not just the two of them being close as Yoo Joo does some really obviously flirtatious things that she is obviously aware of, despite already knowing how deep Han Gyul’s feelings for her were.

What a total player

And if that’s not enough to make you dislike her, she also gets furious with Han Sung for liking Eun Chan for a short period of time. And while I know that how Han Sung acted wasn’t great either, and two wrongs don’t make a right, it was a little hypocritical of her to get so angry at him for it when she actually cheated on him for a whole year. But moving on, the rest of the boys in the coffee shop were super cute. Manager Hong still grosses me out, but his underlying personality is rather sweet. The three young boys are just so fun to watch and are a large part of the reason why the show is able to stay so interesting despite not a lot actually happening.

The show had just the right amount of boy bonding

A large bulk of the drama definitely focused on Eun Chan and Han Gyul and their relationships with the second leads, but these scenes were often padded out with side stories of the other coffee boys. While the side stories weren’t insanely interesting, they were enough to keep your interest so that the main conflicts had time to breathe.

Han Gyul had zero idea what was going on

Each story was well written and gave the characters room to grow and develop, and all of them were tied up in satisfactory ways. When it comes to the main plot, there’s not actually a lot going on. Girl dressed as boy is the main hook of the show, but the series is really more about the male lead’s confusion as a result of the set up. Yes, there’s an abundance of comedy to stem from our heroine pretending to be a man, but ‘Coffee Prince’ is actually quite a melodrama, with Han Gyul’s resistance, shock, and then acceptance to him developing feelings for someone he believes is male. The first time watching I didn’t really appreciate how long the misunderstanding went for. Now that I’ve seen a few more (a looooot more) dramas, and more crossdressing dramas, I now know that this is a rarity. Other dramas tend to let the male lead know that the heroine is a girl pretty early on, even if the heroine isn’t aware of his knowledge. ‘Coffee Prince’ is truly unique for letting its hero go so far down the ‘gay’ path, particularly as it’s an older drama and really one of the first of the crossdressing kind. There were many good things to mine out of Han Gyul’s predicament, both comedic and heartfelt, and I’m confident that the reason this show has remained so popular through the years is that it’s really the only show (that I’ve seen or heard of) that let its male lead struggle that much with his sexuality.

So cute, so confused

It made Han Gyul a truly sympathetic character. We could understand why he was having such a difficult time accepting his feelings- he’s always liked girls, not to mention Korea isn’t the most gay-friendly country, and although he’s struggling he never really denies his feelings to himself.

She really just didn't think anything through

Which just makes him so unbelievably endearing. On the other hand, Han Gyul’s struggle did serve to make Eun Chan come off as a little dumb and non empathetic. She seemed to have no comprehension that Han Gyul was confused about his feelings (despite his pulling her close then pushing her away), and it didn’t even cross her mind that SHE was the source of Han Gyul’s turmoil. It might just be because as viewers we were privy to scenes of Han Gyul breaking down and thus understood him, meanwhile Eun Chan didn’t have that experience, but it still felt like she should be picking up something. Overall, Eun Chan as a character felt highly immature. While most of the time she came across as quite funny and cute, there were also times that she just seemed to be acting far too young for her age. It wasn’t a huge downer, but I did often find myself thinking that Eun Chan was acting more like a child than an adult. However, despite the immaturity of Eun Chan, the romance was still highly believable. Eun Chan’s affections moving from Han Sung to Han Gyul was done in a gradual, believable way, and Han Gyul’s growing affection for Eun Chan was the highlight of the show. 

What Was Great:

Believable Crossdress:

Of all the gender-bender dramas I’ve seen ‘Coffee Prince’ is the only one where it’s honestly believable that people would mistake the heroine for a boy. Yoon Eun Hye’s face with short hair and no makeup does look remarkably like a young boy, especially when she's dressed like one.

She looked like a dude and she acted like a dude

Despite her tendency to overact, I will say that Yoon Eun Hye really nailed the male mannerisms. The way she walked, slouched, sat and interacted with those around her was very masculine and really helped sell the idea that people could mistake the character for a boy. Having such a successful crossdress made it that much easier to relate and understand Han Gyul, because quite often it was easy to forget that Eun Chan was a girl. It prevented Han Gyul from coming across as stupid, and increased viewer sympathy for him.

Selling the Hurt:

In every drama where the main plot centres around a deception, there’s always the fallout after the lie comes to light.

Poor sad Gong Yoo

Quite often the fallout can seem too extreme for the level of the lie, or the deceived party carries on their hurt for far too long. This wasn’t the case in ‘Coffee Prince’ at all. Han Gyul’s hurt is completely understandable as we see him struggle with his feelings for Eun Chan, and understand that being gay is a much bigger deal in Korea than in western countries. So it’s understandable that Han Gyul is angry when he realises that all he went through and was willing to go through for Eun Chan didn’t really matter because she was a girl and not a boy. Han Gyul’s pain and anger are easy to understand, but the drama also doesn’t drag it out for too long. Han Gyul is appropriately upset at Eun Chan for a time, but then forgives her before the fight becomes annoying to everyone watching. I only wish that the reason Eun Chan lied about being a boy was a little more solid- because frankly, wanting to work in a boy-only coffee shop is a pretty weak excuse. 

What Wasn’t:

Second Party Reveal:

The biggest bummer in this drama by far is that Eun Chan didn’t tell Han Gyul that she was a girl herself. Instead Han Gyul gets this information from Ha Rim, which only adds to the deception. Eun Chan never came clean- she was discovered.

You should have just told him yourself 

It’s not like there weren’t plenty of opportunities to tell Han Gyul the truth, and once Eun Chan became aware of Han Gyul’s feelings for her, she really should have come clean. Because continuing the lie past that point just became cruel. I mean, it’s not like you can be ignorant of his feelings after he says he’ll love you whether you’re a man or an alien. That makes it pretty obvious. And it was really at that point that Eun Chan should have revealed herself.

It's a super cute show

There was really no excuse to continue the lie, and was only setting up for a bigger fallout. Eun Chan’s choice to continue to lie to Han Gyul made her seem manipulative, and made her hard to relate to.

It’s A Tad Draggy:

The first time I watched the show I was so onboard with all the emotions that the show never felt slow. However, after watching it for a second time I will admit that the show tended to drag its feet a little. Most of the time the drama moved at a nice, steady momentum, but there were times were not a lot was happening, and because I knew where we were going I just couldn’t wait to get there, and found the buildup a tad too slow.

Recommend?

100%. This drama has remained so popular for such a long period of time, and there’s good reason for it. The characters are mostly fun and charming, and Han Gyul’s emotional journey is really one of a kind in K-Dramaland.

The time skip annoyed me significantly less the second time around