Coffee Prince (2007)

Just watch it!

I like gender-bender and cross-dressing dramas, so I could not skip this one.
However, I think also when you are not a fan of such types of dramas, there is no way that you will not love it.
Classic drama with a great team of actors (you just want to be part of them), emotions which you feel yourself while watching and good choice of music! All made the story come to life!
Don't miss it!

Before having registered at MDL, I had my own grading system. These are the grades which I applied and which have contributed to the overall score I gave to this drama.
acting M: 10
acting F: 10
couple match: 10
romance: 9
emotions: 9
story line: 9
supporting cast: ++
watch back: yes yes

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Swept off my feet

I wasn't expecting to like this one based on the synopsis alone, but I wanted some more Gong Yoo in my life, so I gave it a chance. Not only did I like it, I lovvvvvved it, and it's easily in my top 5 now. What a delightful story, with a quirky, yet charming female lead, and damnnnnn, Gong Yoo really hasn't aged has he? Their chemistry and story was beyond adorable ...from a fun, engaging friendship, to a straight man questioning his sexuality, to falling in love...I loved everything about their relationship and progression. How this drama handled a man trying to come to terms with being attracted to another man was beautifully done. The humor added was a perfect balance. Sometimes you just have a connection to someone, and you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Only thing keeping this one from being perfection to me was the secondary couple...didn't care for them or their story the moment cheating was involved. The ending was adorable, and it made me so happy to see Eu Chan come into her own woman, style and overall just be true to herself the entire drama.

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Gold Standard of GenderBender

This drama is so meticulous and sensitive in delivering this multi-faceted gender bender story so that we can keep our logic intact (which is a rarity in drama world) whilst having all the FEEELLLSSSS from the angst involved.

The ML & FL plot is realistic and their chemistry is off the charts.
What i love about them, they each have their own problems and together they grow to become better version of themselves.
What i dont love about them - NONE (!!!)

The secondary couple's depiction of a mature relationship may seemed boring to some viewers but when a relationship have run that long - things do get mundane and boring.
The second ML's interest on the FL is understandable - he has been in a long term relationship with its own problems and challenges, thus he finds the FL just may be the refresher he needs to kickstart his heart again.
The second ML also presents a very real threat and become one of many catalyst to the main couple's relationship development.
The supporting characters make a wonderful ensemble that help make this drama feel wholesome and warm.

Worth an annual rewatch for this gold standard in gender bender drama.

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Charming and Nostalgic

The gender bender genre has been around for a long time and there are lots of dramas with this concept. So the general premise of the drama and how it would progress is very predictable. What is special about Coffee Prince is the general atmosphere of the drama and the early 21st century culture and cinematography which can't be found in the newer dramas. The drama was actually very fun and quite free flowing. It did get a bit slow near the end but just for a bit and picked up the pace again later on.

The drama has the tried and tested rich guy and poor girl dynamic and the usual antics that come with it. Even though it's called Coffee Prince and they spend a lot of time in the cafe it is not a major part of the drama but rather a backdrop to the main gander-bender concept. And even though there were lots of supporting characters they seemed somewhat neglected and forgotten without proper backstory or some sort of depth to them. They were just there to be the supporting character.

The actress actually did a great job in this drama. In some of the scenes it really seemed like the actress was a young guy messing around with his friends.

What really attracted me in this drama is the nostalgia that I felt watching this drama. As a drama from 2007, the music, the romance, the decorations and the jokes had a charm that the newer dramas lack. It reminded me that there are more to dramas than pretty faces with expensive clothes and pretty backgrounds, shot with expensive cameras and the directing and cinematography can be diverse and can totally change how you see a drama.

This one is definitely worth the watch. It's not really something one of a kind or a must see. But it is a good and charming watch nonetheless.

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One of the must watch classic dramas

Let me start from the beginning. I went through 3 different phases while watching this drama.

Phase one/the 1/3 half of the drama; honestly the first half really really impressed me. I really couldn't believe this was made in 2007.The storyline was a little messed up and complex which was a little bit of a turn off. Even though this show seems like its gonna be basic and I was preparing myself for something basic, it wasnt. It was truly ahead of it's time. The ideologies this show held was not something that the Population back in 2007 believed in. Everything this show portrays is modern and real. It really blew my mind. The characters had a likeable attitude and showed some realness too.But I did find some really bad camera moments and some really unpleasant to watch scenes of disgusting stuff in this drama(The female lead and the coffee shop owner ajjushi do some disturbing stuff lmao) but let's just let it go as it was made 13 years ago!

Phase 2/the 2/3 of the show; This part made me hate everyone and everything in this show. I hated all the characters and thier actions. It was really really hard to watch each one of these characters being selfish and self centred individuals all in one screen with a whole love square situation. There were loads of dumb shit like forced kissing, some ugly fights,toxic relationships and overall ego and pride issues.This literally bought down a whole point in my ratings. The writers really dragged the hell out of this part. But you could say it showed some type of reality in them.

Phase 3/ the 3/3 of the show; after the whole mess of the mid section of the show. The writer really revived the whole thing and made the ending episodes perfect. The couple's were super adorable together and overall made me feel warm on the inside.
I wouldn't say the acting is amazing or anything. The camera work isn't mind blowing either but considering its 2007 they did a splendid job.

Even though there were some basic elements in this drama, it really had an impact on me. I think I'll always remember coffee prince as a show that's truly ahead of it's time

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Something different

I went in wanting something different and guess I got it. What makes the drama good is the hopelessly confusingly lost in love portrayal of the ML. The FL however cute she was meant to be shown came across as selfish, deceptive, self absorbed and undeserving of the ML's love. The story shows the ML falling in love but not enough of the FL feeling the same. Her disgusting eating habits were extremely off putting.
I couldn't appreciate why for the sake of the FL, the ML is expected to drop all his ambitions, that is considered as romantic, but the minute the FL has some career dreams she is allowed to run off to take care of them and the ML should be totally supportive of that as well.
The FL's sis was a total b*@#₹ and it was pathetic of her boyfriend to put up with her bossing and outright selfish behaviour, it was totally toxic to watch.
All in all this was just a one time watch where I needed to use the FF button often. The only saving grace was how decently homosexual love is portrayed. I totally don't understand the fuss and gushing about this drama.

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This drama is soo good that i can't even describe it with words. This story was so unique and amazing, it's not like other Korean Dramas. There was something special about this one which was what made it so amazing for me. Just watching Go Eun Chan and choi han-kyul fall in love slowly and realising their feelings made my so happy. The characters fit perfectly well with each other. What made it also different was that the male character never gave up on chasing the girl character. He loved her even when he thought she was a girl showing that love has no bound.

As normal, gong yoo's acting was indescribable, he really knows how to make a drama come alive and he also makes it very funny. The characters had such chemistry that it physically made my heart hurt out of happiness. I just don't know how to describe it. Although there are some painful and sad moments, this drama is one that will always be my favourite forever.

You must watch this and if you have already watched it, WATCH IT AGAIN! The feelings form this drama is just
?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? !!!!!

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Too big of a stretch for me

The premise of Coffee Prince is pretty interesting: A scrappy tomboy, scratching out a living to support her widowed mom and high school-age sister, gets mistaken as a young man and dragged into a friendship with a dashing young coffee heir that evolves into more than either of them bargained for.

From what I can gather from reading other reviews, apparently gender benders like this one are a whole sub-genre of K-dramas that I wasn’t aware of. The other reviews lean overwhelmingly positive, so I guess I’m not a fan of the genre. I just couldn’t get past the suspension of disbelief that is required to get on board, starting with the tomboy Eun Chan played by the diminutive Yoon Eun Hye. All the baggy clothes in the world couldn’t cover up that small waist and curvy hips. There is no way she could pass as a man under an even cursory inspection or a friendly arm around the waist. Wrapping her chest in ace bandages would never be enough.

Next, the dashing, and supposedly worldly, coffee heir Han Gyul (Gong Yoo) is inexplicably inexperienced in the ways of love. I simply didn't buy his attraction to the scruffily dressed, hard-drinking, gluttonous tomboy (although Gong Yoo played it well enough). Sure, Eun Chan was disarming and cute in her own way, but dating-an-heir-with-rockstar-looks cute? And his cousin, Han Sung (Lee Sun Kyun) certainly had no problem identifying Eun Chan's gender. Why was Han Gyul so oblivious?

My mild irritation with these and a few other things percolated below the surface as I watched the story unfold. But while I felt that the story could have been so much better, the leads kept me engaged as it rolled along—so much so, that I’m conflicted over how to rate this one. It is certainly better than average, but ugh! I didn’t buy a big part of the premise, so in my book it’s certainly no 10. I ended up splitting the difference: Not great, but well better than average.

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Progressive and Timeless

I’ve watched so many Korea and Chinese dramas and this drama is still so special to me unlike any other. It is timeless while still being very progressive. It was progressive when it came out and is still progressive in many ways compared to current dramas. For that reason and many others I can rewatch this one again and again.

It has an incredibly realistic, lived in feeling to it where you feel like this crazy out there story could be people in the real world. There is an unique natural physicality all the actors bring to story. It’s all over the drama and I just love it. It breathes a kind of life into the story I haven’t seen replicated anywhere else and contrasts so much with the current dramas that love the perfect lighting, long drawn out stares, freeze frame, fake music video atmosphere.

The chemistry between the main couple is some of the best I’ve ever seen, but all the actors and side characters played so well off each other. You can really tell everyone had fun while together filming this.

Can’t praise enough Gong Yoo and Yoon Eun Hye! This is my favorite role of his from an impressive acting career. I won’t call him classically handsome but has a certain kind of charisma that can’t be taught and sucks you in. And I can’t imagine anyone else playing Eun Chan. This is the first girl pretending to be a boy storyline that is actually believable and it’s all because of her.

Coffee Prince brings me nostalgic feelings. Maybe because when I watch it I am transported back to 2007 when it was filmed and I was a college student experiencing my own first love with my now husband. The drama’s costumes, music, cellphones, and coming of age storyline bring me back to that time. It reminds me of a warm summer of youth.

And of course it’s a message of love is love.

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There is almost no way to accurately capture the feel of this drama. There is a reason why it is on most MUST WATCH drama list. Now naturally I love gender bender dramas. There is just something about the idea of cutting off your hair and looking like a guy that just makes me happy. That's exactly what Coffee Prince is about. A young lady who is easily mistaken for a guy and who finds herself having to live a lie just to take care of her family. Of course there is humor and love in it as well- it couldn't be a kdrama without it.

The acting in this drama just takes it to a whole new level. Its undeniable the skill Yoon Eun-hye puts into this role. She is amazing. I loved her in the Princess Hours but was more blown away by her acting skill in this. I mean she even managed to change her walk to appear more masculine. Look her up and you will see why she is so impressive. (I mean who would ever expect HER to pass for a guy)
Also Gong Yoo- well I just want to see him in so much more. I wish he did more dramas I have admittedly not seen his movies.

Not just their acting but how the characters were written and the story line itself is strong. Of-course there are flaws but in the way of dramas at least it doesn't fall off a cliff at the end. The characters feel resolved and complete, even more mature...plus a rare bonus in kdramas not everyone story ends happily.

Music wise I was not super trilled so it lost some points there but when it was over I still wanted to see more which gained it major re-watch point.

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