A coffee break. That time of the day when you stop from everything you’re doing, take a short break to drink a cup of coffee, relax for a bit, and refresh your mind. Watching the short episodes of “Would You Like a Cup of Coffee?” felt that way – a short relaxing break from all other dramatic and chaotic scenes in K-dramaland or even in real life. It might not be a regular series but its whole run has been a charming experience. Here are some of the best things about “Would You Like a Cup of Coffee?”
Kang Go-bi and Park Seok
This webtoon adaptation has an episodic nature but it centers on the mentor and mentee relationship of Kang Go-bi (Ong Seong-wu) and Park Seok (Park Ho-san). Throughout the series, most of the people around them pointed out that Kang Go-bi isn’t something that suits Park Seok at first look but they quite complimented each other. Park Seok mentors Go-bi about coffee and brewing but Park Seok also learns from Go-bi. Also, Park Seok speaks in barista jargon but Go-bi applies his learnings in his life too.
Pleasing Cinematography
Watching WYLACOC feels like entering the café itself and hearing the stories from the fellow customers and the café baristas as well. There are times when the scenes have a documentary-style feels to them which makes it seem like we’re really watching a real story from a small neighborhood.
Café Regulars
Just like a real café, there are also characters in WYLACOC that you get acquainted with throughout the series. Music reviewer Kim Joo-hee (Seo Young-hee), webtoon artist An Mi-na (Kim Ye-eun), and bakery apprentice Jung Ga-won (Choo Ye-jin) each took a turn in telling their stories and each has its different flavors. They showed snippets of their life over a cup of coffee. I especially enjoyed Mi-na’s story as it was told in a simple manner yet it was still very heartwarming and very real as well. I think it resonated well with millennials who are busy living their own life that they sometimes forget what really matters.
Special Appearances
Lee Kyu-hyung, Kim Mi-kyung, Song Jae-ryong, Jung Suk-yong, Ahn Soo-ho, Cho Jung-chi, and Bae Yoo-ram. These are just some of the actors who made a special appearance in this web series. Every time the café’s door chimes, someone will make a delightful entrance and tell us their own story. Their stories don’t have to be in detail to be memorable. One story also differs from the other and sometimes it even shows contrasting characters like one knows too much about coffee while the other doesn’t have any idea about it. But each of them has subtle messaging told without being too overbearing.
2nd Generation Café
One of the best things about the series is its setting itself. The 2nd Generation Café is like a hole-in-the-wall café in an old yet attractive neighborhood. If it was a real café, I would have love to spend my afternoon there to think and reflect.
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