Coffee Prince (2007) is a MBC Korean drama based on novel with the same name (First Shop of Coffee Prince). Both the drama and the novel were written by Lee Sun-Mi.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance Episodes: 17
Summary
Choi Han Gyul is tired of being set up on blind dates by his grandma. So he decides to hire Ko Eun Chan (a girl who Han Gyul thinks is a boy) to pretend to be his boyfriend, so they think he’s gay. Wanting her grandson to be more responsible, she decides to have him manage a coffee shop. He must turn the profits within 3 months in order to return to the United States. He hires Go Eun Chan to work in the shop and starts to develop feeling for her.
Review
Coffee Prince was one of my first Korean dramas (if not the first–it’s between this and Goong). I loved it when I saw it and I still love it. It’s one of those low-key romances that I love so much. Also during this time Yoo Eun Hye (Eun Chan) was one of my favorite actresses because I loved Baby Vox.
Story
The drama is really a telling of two stories. We have our lead couple, Han Gyul and Eun Chan. But we also have the story of Han Gyul’s cousin, Choi Han Seung, and his girl, Han Yoo Joo. All four go through growth and challenges throughout the series.
Also the drama provides an excellent job at supplying stories for every character. It also tidies up their stories by the last episode and because of that each character transforms and grows too.
Characters
- Choi Han Gyul (Gong Yoo): a handsome young bachelor who enjoys the single life. He hires Eun Chan to be his lover. In response to his shenanigans, his grandma has him manage a coffee shop.
- Ko Eun Chan (Yoon Eun hye): a tomboy which at first glance she might look like a boy and is often mistaken as one. She works to help take care of her family. She is hardworking and loyal.
- Choi Han Sung (Lee Sun Kyun): the cousin of Han Gyul. He meets Eun Chan through her milk delivery. He becomes attracted to her. But he also struggles with a relationship from the past.
- Han Yoo Joo (Chae Jung An): the crush of Han Gyul and ex girlfriend of Han Sung. She’s career-oriented and selfish. It took me a long time to like her–she spent most of the series confusing the Choi boys.
Other characters with stories include Eun Sae (Yoon Ji Joon), Eun Chan’s sister, being bothered by a Coffee Shop Prince, Min Yeop (Lee Eon). I actual like this relationship/story a lot. The other Coffee Shop Princes had stories too. Jin Ha Rim (Kim Dong Wook): a womanizer, No Sun Ki (Kim Jae Wook): a man in search of his lost love. Mr. Hong ( Kim Chang Wan): his story wasn’t detailed, but he did let his love go.
Music
I’m not sure if there were any song that I loved or stuck out to me. But the OST is nice to listen to while working. And there are some good songs too.
Scenes
I’m not exactly sure there were very many scenes that I loved which is surprising to me because I like this drama a lot.
Quotes
There were very many quotes or phrases I cared to keep. I may have missed them because I was watching.
Afterthoughts/Recommendations
Here are some other dramas or movie that I recommend.
- Gong Yoo: Goblin (Guardian: The Lonely and Great God), Big, Train to Busan, The Age of Shadows
- Yoon Eun Hye: Goong (Princess Hours), My Fair Lady, Lie to Me
- Gender Bender: Hana Kimi (To the Beautiful You), Coffee Prince (Thai), SungKyunKwan Scandal, Ouran High School Host Club
- Old School K-Dramas: Boys Over Flowers, Full House, My Girl, Personal Taste
Drama To Life
- Waffles
- Jjajangmyeon
- Kimchi Fried Rice
- Travel
- Culture
- Activities
- Outfits
- Go Stop
- Latte Art