Okay okay, so I’m totally behind on Air City (and Bad Couple, and soon to be Flowers For My Life…) but my With S2 girls convinced me I should recap what I want and not worry about doing everything in order. And so, I decided, Air City will have to wait. I promise I’ll get to it.
Like I said, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be following COFFEE PRINCE (and I’m wary of jumping into things purely based on hype), but come on, with a name like that, how could I not be watching? It ain’t javabeans for nuthin’.
Today’s first episode (cutely labeled “First Cup” instead of the standard, bland “Episode 1″) was cute and entertaining enough — if just for the sheer curiosity of watching one of Korea’s prettiest faces acting like a boy — to merit “breezy summer watch” status. Like a beach novel for drama addicts.
Off to a light and frothy start (ooh, coffee imagery), I’m not sure Coffee Prince promises much profundity, but then again, who needs to find deep meanings in everything? It doesn’t mean Coffee Prince can’t take a turn for the serious (Bad Couple surprised me with its recent developments), but it’s probably not likely.
Like I said, part of the charm is watching such a gorgeous girl as Yoon Eun Hye stripping away all the makeup and femininity and acting like a boy. Not just looking like one (which she does), but getting down the mannerisms — the careless swagger, the unpretentious lack of coy self-awareness that most trendy Korean girls have.
Plus, Korea loves to reward those who step outside of vanity (which is so strictly enforced by the media and the rabid fan culture) for the purpose of a role, like Samsoon did for Kim Sun Ah. Yoon Eun Hye’s already a superstar, but we’ll see if this earns her some serious acting cred to go with her mainstream popularity. Or maybe not, who knows.
PRODUCTION INFO
Director Lee Yoon Jung 이윤정 :: “태릉선수촌” (Taereung National Village), “매직 파워 알콜” (Magic Power Alcohol”
Scriptwriters Lee Jung Ah and Jang Hyun Joo
Based on novel by Lee Sun Mi
Official site: http://www.imbc.com/broad/tv/drama/coffeeprince/index.html
CAST
Yoon Eun Hye 윤은혜 stars as Go Eun Chan
Gong Yoo 공유 is Choi Han Gyul
Lee Sun Kyun 이선균 as Choi Han Sung
Chae Jung An 채정안 as Han Yoo Joo or Yu Ju if you prefer
Oh, and WITH S2 will be subbing this drama.
thanks to:
www.dramabeans.com
