I know this blog is supposed to be for anime reviews and that I have written mostly about animes, except perhaps for Nodame Cantabile (Live Action) but I guess, I should expand my horizon.Lately, I have been watching a lot of Asian drama series, and it did not take long for me to get hooked.  So I spend most of my precious free time downloading asian drama series or watching it online.  Yes, admittedly, instead of writing on this blog, I’m procrastinating yet again.  Who can blame me?  Writing makes my head hurt…LOL!  On the other hand, I get thoroughly entertained watching my favorite Asian dramas, like the Coffee Prince.The Coffee Prince is a Korean series of the romance-comedy genre.  From what I have gathered from the net, it was a highly popular series and had the 2^nd highest-rating in its timeslot during the period it was shown in

Korea.  It was not surprising at all considering that Coffee Prince stars Yoon Eun Hye as Go Eun Chan, who was lead actress in the hit series “Goong.” Go Eun Chan is twenty-five years old, the bread winner of her family, works a couple of odd jobs and is often mistaken for a boy for good reasons. First, she really looks like a boy.  Her hair is cut short, like that of a boy’s.  Her clothes consist of loose shirts, loose or cargo shorts, jeans, and sneakers.  While her skin is as white as snow and as flawless as that of a baby’s, and her face as cute as a doll, people would normally assume she is a boy because she does not possess the grace that girls have.  She eats a lot, bordering on being a glutton and she is physically strong…But perhaps, the biggest reason why she is mistaken for a boy would be the fact that she lacks womanly assets, especially in the chest area. Yup, her breasts are flat. Lol!  Anyways, although Go Eun Chan talks, walks and even sleeps like a boy, her heart is undeniably that of a girl’s.  In fact, early in the series, Go Eun Chan falls in love with an older man (age gap is a couple of years), Choi Han Sung (Lee Sung Gyun), who is a musical director by profession. Although Sung sees Eun Chan as a girl, his former long-time girlfriend, Han Yoo Joo (Chae Jung Ahn), returned to him after breaking-off an affair with a Korean artist based in the

US.  Thus, Eun Chan’s confession of love was not accepted but Han Sung continues to see Eun Chan as a friend.On the other hand, Han Sung’s playboy cousin, Choi Han Kyul (Gong Yoo) returned to Korea from the

US.  Threatened by his parents and grandmother to live his life responsibly, Kyul decided to meet potential marriage partners.  However, considering that he is still in love for the longest time with his cousin, Han Sung’s girlfriend, he devised a plan to thwart his parents and grandmother’s plan.  He sought the help of Eun Chan, whom he thought was a boy, to pose as his gay lover.  The plan hilariously worked and all the potential marriage partners backed-off.  Despite the success of Han Kyul’s plan, his grandmother thought of a counter-attack and threatened to take away his comfortable lifestyle and his suave bachelor’s pad if he could not revive a musty, old, and weird coffee shop run by his grandmother’s friend in a span of three months.Apparently, Eun Chan knows Mr. Hong, the ex-President of the said coffee shop, which was later christened as the “Coffee Prince.” Han Kyul decided to only hire males or princes, for the Coffee Prince, which immediately ruled out Eun Chan.  Thus, she begs Han Kyul to accept her as a worker in the Coffee Prince because she badly needs the money for her family.  Han Kyul accepted her, thinking Eun Chan is a boy, hence, Eun Chan was constrained to hide her identity.  Only Mr. Hong, being a family friend, knows the truth that Eun Chan is a girl.In a strange twist of fate, Han Kyul begins to feel romantic inclinations towards Eun Chan.  Try as he might to repress it, he falls in love with Eun Chan.  Not even counseling helps and he reluctantly and painfully opens up to the idea that he has to accept his “sexuality” and the undeniable feeling that he is in love with “guy,” Eun Chan.  On the other hand, Han Sung suddenly sees Eun Chan in a different light and starts to fall in love with her and in her optimism in life.  Then, Eun Chan’s growing affection to Han Kyul and Han Kyul’s dilemma of falling in love with a “guy” and their strange four-way love entanglement with Han Sung and Yoo Joo start at this point.  The two cousins who once fought for Yoo Joo’s love both falls in love with Eun Chan.I have watched the Coffee Prince a couple of months ago but I recently learned that it will be shown here in my country through a local channel.  It will be shown either today or tomorrow and the series is dubbed in our language.  Thus, I thought it proper to pay homage to the Coffee Prince on its royal premiere here.I love the Coffee Prince and perhaps, the plot which is so reminiscent of a typical shoujo manga, made me fall in love with it. It is sort of like Hana Kimi composed of older characters (20’s and 30’s).  Besides, what is not to like in this series?  There is a reverse harem composed of five hotties (3 princes and two hunky cousins).  Eun Chan is superbly believable as a boy but still as cute as ever.  You would definitely have the feeling that Eun Chan is a real boy and that Han Kyul is tormented by his changing “sexual preference.”  Moreover, all the characters were well-portrayed.  The silent but loyal love of the Waffle Prince, No Sun Ki, the blind, one-sided love of the slow but physically strong Hwang Min Yeop towards Eun Chan’s younger sister, the player and happy-go-lucky attitude of Jin Ha Rim.  There is also the mature issue of infidelity and forgiveness between Han Sung and Yoo Joo.  Personally, the emotions evoked by the characters seemed real and I could not help myself but be enveloped into the same emotions.  I laughed hard and cried hard throughout the 17 episodes.  Worth mentioning are the picturesque places were the scenes were shot.  Han Sung’s house, Han Kyul’s bachelor pad, the Coffee Prince, the trail going to Han Sung’s house…all these places create the perfect backdrop for falling in love.  Of course, perhaps two of the best highlights of the story are Han Kyul’s discovery of Eun Chan’s identity and the love scene of Eun Chan and Han Kyul. The second one literally made my jaw drop…It seemed so real and so mature!  Sizzling hot!  Well, I think I gave away all of the necessary information about the series. I hope people would love the Coffee Prince as much as I did.  In fact, this is one of the best asian drama series of 2007.  So please do not judge me as someone who is easy to please if I give the Coffee Prince a 9.9 or even perhaps a perfect 10.