#202 Wed (1/11/23) - Coffee and ChocoMilkShake

Would You Like a Cup of Coffee? Original title: Keopi Hanjan Halkkayo? is a 2021 Korean TV series, about a young man, Go-bi, who becomes a rookie barista for Edae Coffee, run by Park Seok, an artisan and craftsman with 20 years experience and a vast knowledge of coffee in all aspects of its preparation.  The show includes info dumps about various coffee related things, such as where the beans are grown, how they are roasted, how different beverages should be prepared, espresso, latte, afrogado, etc.  There is a regular character who plays a coffee expert critic blogger, Choi Heart, who occasionally comes in to give them lessons on how things should be done and chastises the newbie as well as the customers for their lack of appreciation of the master. It has some of the same beats as Midnight Diner but with the added dynamic of there being an apprentice who is full of passion and desire to excel in a field that he truly loves coupled with a master who is a bit gruff but patient, demanding and ultimately comes to be a good friend.  It is a lovely show overall, and although there are a few weak, filler episodes, mostly it succeeds brilliantly.   

ChocoMilkShake is a Korean BL web drama that has a premise that sounds like it is straight out of a typical Japanese manga.  An adorable, young gay Korean man is visited by his two childhood pets - Choco the Maltese puppy and Milk, the cat - but as they have returned across the Rainbow Bridge from Heaven, they are now in the bodies of two beautiful young men. The stories initially are centered on the absurdity of this premise, which is preposterous and I assumed was just to give them cover for having a cuddle puddle with three beautiful guys, but No Homo! because they are really just his pets. But it quickly moves into the backstory and becomes a very beautifully crafted story about love, loyalty, regret and forgiveness. The boys are wonderfully expressive in their roles and really sell their cat and dog nature. (There is a Zen koan that goes Does a dog have a Buddha nature? This series seems to be answering that yes, of course it does, stupid question). In the end, they have to leave of course, because everything has a finite nature and the leaving is as beautiful as the arriving, with love, longing, and regret all blending marvelously. I am so glad they actually showed Jungwoo having ex-bfs and going on dates with guys. It was not afraid on being unambiguous about him being gay, putting this firmly in the BL camp, despite the seeming cover of it being about pets. 

Both of these shows are like a warm, kind hug while sitting by a crackling fire during a cold, dark winter.

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