Coffee Prince, ep. 15-17

[oyceter]

Um. I embarrassingly spent all of yesterday moping because I finished watching Coffee Prince and didn't have new episodes to look forward to. I am also seriously contemplating doing a rewatch just because it makes me so happy.

Hi, my name is Oyce and I am completely obsessed!

Wow, so.... marriage! Lots of marriage!

I melted into a little puddle of goo when Han Sung proposed with a cracker ring, and then melted even more when Yoo Ju went down on her knees and proposed to him. And then he runs down the street grinning like a madman and phones Han Kyul to brag! Oh, how are you all so cute?

The Han Kyul-Eun Chan marriage plot felt a little rushed, although I love Eun Chan to holding on to her independence and for feeling so responsible for her family. And OMG! Eun Sae calls Han Kyul and they are so cute! I grinned like a madwoman through that entire scene, except for the parts when I was yelling, "Eun Sae! You are awesome!"

I didn't like the "Will they have sex?" plotline quite as much, largely because I am so sick of plotlines in which the guy wants to have sex and the girl does not, but I will forgive this show so much just because of the hilarious scenes of Eun Chan chasing Han Kyul around and threatening to touch him, along with the even more hilarious scenes of Han Kyul refusing to open the door. And then it ends with an incredibly sexy kiss! I also laughed and laughed at the morning after scene, in which Han Kyul walks around with his inside-out pants, pockets flapping every which way. They are so cute!

I heart Han Kyul's grandmother thiiiiiis much for the Italy thing. Love! Love that Eun Chan finally gets to do what she wants, and I love the flipping of Han Kyul giving up his original ambition and Eun Chan going for hers. And awwww! All the goodbyes from the princes! I may have teared up a little.

Oh! And how could I forget the singing in the phone scene? OMG! Every time I think Han Kyul cannot possibly get cuter, he does! And the falling asleep on the phone scene! He actually doesn't hang up and waits until morning! And the look on his face when he realizes she's asleep, and all he can do is say she's so cute!

I actually didn't expect Yoo Ju to miscarry, though that's largely because I've been looking at this show via romance novel tropes, in which the happy-ever-after is invariably a baby. Poor Han Sung and Yoo Ju. That said, I love that Yoo Ju always prioritizes her work and that Han Sung knows that as well. And oh man, I love the bits we get to see of them in the last episode, especially the two of them dorkily text messaging each other in the back of the truck! I love their relationship so much, how lived-in it feels, how well they know each other.

I was incredibly sad when Eun Chan returned from Italy all feminine. Sigh. The show managed to avoid doing a makeover for so much, and then this. Oh well. I am going to pretend that she goes back to normal afterward and runs Coffee Princess and people keep thinking she's a boy.

I dorkily love the Eun Sae and Min Yeop make up scene, especially how excited he gets when she says he can follow her. And her little smile when he's not looking! They're so cute! I also loved the Eun Chan packing scene, with both her sister and her mom trying to get her to pack more food. Clearly they have their priorities straight.

The final episode wasn't the best of the show, particularly with the pacing, the makeover, and the weird "She's coming back! She's not coming back! She's coming back!" subplot, but you know, I have so much stored adoration for the show that I do not care. Also, there is that incredibly cute story from Yuletide, so I just went and reread it.

Oh! And poor Sun Ki. I am glad there is a waffle girl, and I love her "ganbarimasu!"

In conclusion, for those of you wondering how in the world I lost my head so quickly, this is an incredibly adorable show. Though I wouldn't quite call it feminist, it does a lot of interesting things with the usual romance tropes. I also love all the characters in it, and though I absolutely ADORE the main romance, the secondary one is also great, which I gather is usually not the case. That, and I love how the show focuses on non-romantic relationships as well.

Also: OMG SO CUTE!

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

didn't like the "Will they have sex?" plotline quite as much, largely because I am so sick of plotlines in which the guy wants to have sex and the girl does not

I have, honestly, long since lost count of the shojo I've dropped like a hot potato because it started relying on this. I mean, seriously, people in love/falling in love/etc have about 500000 things to think about and worry about...why so much obsession on that one?(plus, I always come out of it thinking less of both of them...him for pressure, her for dithering)

[oyceter]

I knoooow! Thankfully, Han Kyul isn't an ass about it, though I really wanted to whap Ha Rim at times.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I've really never remotely understood the appeal of that potline, but most seem to gobble it up.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I think you need to watch the live-action version of Gokusen. The only place I know to get it is crunchyroll.com, but there's probably other places. :)

[oyceter]

Oh! I think that's the one my sister was talking about! Is it also very cute?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Well, I think so. :D It's about a young woman who's the heir to a yakuza family who wants to be a teacher instead, and her first job with the worst class in the worst school in the area., and how she wins the hearts of the delinquent students with her charm, enthusiasm, and ability to beat the ever-living crap out of bad guys. Is that the one she was talking about? :)

(Well, it's not like that wasn't telegraphed from the very very first. XD)

[oyceter]

Possibly yes! Then again, as there are more than one manga with florist-assassins, animals-masquerading-as-people-mpreg, and cannibal-mermaids (in separate manga!), I would not be surprised to see more...

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

It has the guy from kimi wa petto in it. Do you not like him, or do you just not like him as Momo?

His hair is better in Gokusen.

[oyceter]

I don't really remember -- I definitely didn't like him as Momo, but I don't think he annoyed me specifically. I am glad to hear he has better hair though!

[greensilver.livejournal.com]

Rewatching is good! I've rewatched it once (and a half) already, and your posts have been tempting me to rewatch it again. (And that isn't counting all the times I've watched it without sound for vidding purposes. *g*)

I had all the same issues with the final episode that you did, and it set me back a bit, but about five minutes into my (immediately post-ep 17) rewatch of episode 1, I was ready to forgive and forget. This show is far too cute to stay irked at it for very long.

[oyceter]

OMG I know! I think I am going to rewatch the good bits, because it's just so cute! And it makes me so happy!

Ooo, you're making a vid?

Yeah, I was a little grumpy with the last episode, but the show has so many good-will points stored up that I don't care!

Oh, um, I was sort of thinking of making some icons... would you mind if I used your screencaps?

[greensilver.livejournal.com]

I'm making a vid slooowly, which is to say, VVC season is coming up and I probably won't get it done until after that. But, yes! Eventually, there will be viddage. *g*

As for screencaps: go for it! Those are kind of blurry and watermarked, so if there are any in particular you want in nicer, high-res-ish form, just let me know which, and I'll recap them for you. (For quite a few of them, Vonnie has already provided me with nicer caps in the comments on those posts.)

[oyceter]

I am so tempted to make a vid even though I do not know how to vid at all! I rewatched some favorite bits last night and love how many wordless scenes there are (the dishwashing part when he sort of forgives her! The chestnuts!).

And yay, thanks! Will post icons when I make them.

[vonnie-k.livejournal.com]

Wheeee! You finished. Now you understand why I was plotzing all over myself when I watched the series! Isn't it the cutest thing ever? Even if some of the tension dissipated after the episode 12, I liked the aftermath of the reveal quite well, especially Eun Chan's struggle for independence and how freakin' adorable they were together. And WORD on how this series never forgot the importance of families. I was rather gobsmacked at the end by how fond I'd grown of not only all the princes, but every single one of the family members, even Eun Sae, whom I thought was such an immature brat at the beginning. (And Eun Sae and Min Heop! The cuteness, it burnnnns!) And Min Heop becomes a model, which cracked me up because the actor who played Min Heop was apparently a pretty famous male model before the series (and if I recall, had never acted before.)

I was a bit taken aback at Eun Chan's "transformation" at the end and the whole "I'm back! Or not. No, I'm back!" mindfuckery, which I thought poor Han Hyul didn't deserve, but the look on Han Kyul's face as he beheld EC's face in that coffee shop was so heartbreaking, I melted into a puddle of goo anyway. I'm easy like that.

Yay, Coffee Prince! You're making me want to rewatch the series again.

[oyceter]

Yes! It's so cute! OMG! I am dead from squee! And I don't even care that much if the tension dissipated after episode 12 because Han Kyul and Eun Chan were so cute together! The singing on the phone!

but the look on Han Kyul's face as he beheld EC's face in that coffee shop was so heartbreaking, I melted into a puddle of goo anyway. I'm easy like that.

Me too! Especially when she calls out, "Manager!" and he gets this look on his face. Oh man, this show has single handedly forced me to relinquish my cynicism.

I just... so cute!!

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

I love this series so, so much. I took it with me when I went to visit my college roommate over a three-day weekend, not expecting that we'd watch more than half of it. Instead it was practically all we did, outside of a day trip to NYC.

Like you, I loved that Eun Chan got to go to Italy to pursue her dream, and the talking on the phone while she was packing! And Eun Sae being sad because her big sister was leaving! So much love.

[oyceter]

OMG! OMG! I have so much flaily love for this series! I stayed up too late last night because I rewatched some of my favorite bits!

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

There were a couple of weeks where I'd come home each night and re-watch a couple of my favorite scenes to de-stress after work. It's that kind of show.

[oyceter]

Eeee! Yes! I stayed up way too late last night rewatching the chestnut scene and the couch scene. And the first declaration of love scene. It's so happy.

[seraphcelene]

Ok, this way late ... but ...

Peeps have been referencing K-Dramas and J-Dramas and the like and I kinda was listening and thought about it but never followed through. THEN, most randomly, I got hooked on a very soapy K-Drama on SBS (Channel 18 in CA) called Lure/Temptation of Wife. It's almost done, we're on episode 122 out of 127 as of tonight. A friend of mine found out I was watching a K-Drama and recommended Coffee Prince and I fell HEAD OVER FREAKING HEELS in love!! I watched all 17 episodes in one week, staying up way too late and ending up way to exhausted for work the next morning. It is the cutest, most happy making show ever and I am so in love with the hotness of Gong Yoo that I just don't know what to do with myself and Go Eun Chan is ... OMG!

So ... in ... love! I didn't read all of your reviews, but I read this last one and totally agree with pretty much everything. I wish Episode 17 was more of an episode and not such a tacked on epilogue, but it was immensely satisfying in the end, anyway. So, much so that, two weeks after having watched the whole thing, I'm watching it again. Slower this time. But watching it again, all the same. While also finishing Temptation of Wife and having started One Fine Day just because of Gong Yoo. SO, I'll be skimming the other reviews for things that I need to watch, in the hopes that mysoju.com has them.

YAY!!

[oyceter]

OMG I so know what you mean about watching all the eps and being head over heels in love! I am so obsessed with dramas now! The chestnut-picking-up scene and Han Kyul holding a napkin to the front of his pants and his falling over on the couch saying "I love you more!" are still some of my favorite drama moments ever!!

Alas, I have heard One Fine Day is not as good and has a sketchy teacher/student relationship, because I too almost watched it just for Gong Yoo!

My other favorite drama is Dal Ja's Spring. I feel it doesn't hit some of the awesomeness that CP has, but it's also more even. And OMG Tae Bong/Lee Min Ki is so cute! And it has so many relationships among all the women!