Dali & Cocky Prince

Doormat Dali x Douchebag Prince

The first episode was really good and then it went down so fast.

Dali is a doormat who can't open her mouth to stand up for herself or ask for help properly and Moo Hak may have a secret heart of gold but he's constantly berating the female lead and causing so many problems for her. Episode 10 was my final straw he basically calls her a whore and she rightfully slaps him and then he kisses her like what?? Moo Hak had cocky himbo energy in the first ep but then he just turns incredibly vile and mean because he's insecure and wants to make himself seem manlier.

I expect better from more recent dramas, this isn't the 2000 or 2010s anymore no one wants helpless female lead who's just a puppet for the whims of all the males around her.

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A little disappointing - nothing new about this kdrama

This drama is disappointing. Before watching this drama, I read first the comments about it and they were mostly positive. However, upon watching the first 11 episodes, I honestly think those comments were overly exaggerated. This drama seems to have been made in the late 2000s, there is nothing new about the plot and more than half of the characters are annoying and predictable. Da-Li's character is so naive and out of touch with reality, I can't believe women are still portrayed like this in 2021. I suggest to only watch it if you're a fan of the lead actors, but if not, there are many more better kdramas to watch :)

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Might not be for you if you suffer from second-hand embarrassment

This is a difficult one to rate. I enjoyed it but it took me a long time to finish it because I was always dreading the second-hand embarrassment Moo Hak was giving me. It was honestly a bit much at times. Just like Da Li's naivety was also too much at times.

The first episode was laugh-out-oud funny, then it dragged a bit but it turned around in the second half and became more bingeable. The second half was actually really good because the murder mystery became a bigger part. I also really liked the artsy editing but wasn't the biggest fan of the OST.

All in all it's cute with some hilarious moments, but also quite a bit of cringe and in the long term probably not particularly memorable.

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fluffy duckling love with a hint of crime?

I'd say this show was half cute and half crime mystery. It did feel very divided. What I liked was that the main couple's chemistry was as cute as duckling stuffed animals. I liked the consistency of it, there wasn't some big dramatic issue with them and they were what made the show light-hearted. I loved seeing them actually laugh together like please more of that! On the other hand and this is why shows where families are a little too involved...bug me. I did get to a point where I just had to fast-forward through scenes with the family whether it was Dali's outrageous overacting cousin or on the other family the too much stepmom. I simply couldn't handle it. If you are like me in that sense with family drama, I would say you are not missing much if you fast pass through the family scenes and enjoy the cute love blossom instead.

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Let me get my abacus so I can count the geops!

Dali and Cocky Prince

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Mystery
Episodes: 16 + 1 Special
Streamed on: Netflix & Viki

Dali and Moohak have a fateful encounter in the Netherlands. The two quickly become smitten with each other, but the tragic passing of Dali’s father forces her back home.

When the pair are reunited in Korea, it is as debtor and creditor, Dali finds herself in danger of losing the museum and everything she owns, and the only one left that is willing to help is Moohak, who struggles between falling for Dali and getting his money back.

Characters & Cast:

Main Leads:

Dali is the daughter of an old money art museum director. She is bright and kind and naive about the real world.
Moohak is new money, he’s worked his fingers to the bone to make his company what it is. He is capable and smart but arrogant and ignorant.

Secret MVP:

Secretary Yeo is a hilarious foil as well as “wingman” for Moohak.

Best of OST:

U hoo hoo… will have this song stuck in your head for potentially years. The song title will replace the word you in your vocabulary for at least a third of your remaining days…
https://youtu.be/7gLj5vKaU68?si=XSD1IkjoWp89ylEa

Then there’s this cute tune
https://youtu.be/tnAW785xMD4?si=EfoHGp8VZcUPEqVF

And this delightful track.
https://youtu.be/U0K0v8XHswM?si=GMR3h_roQtDl4Qi8

And this has a haunting beauty to it.
https://youtu.be/elylttJ7fzc?si=-iFQpy1NONm0JF6a

All in all, Dali and Cocky Prince has one of the best OST’s I’ve ever heard. It’s not just the title tracks, it’s the spins they take on the classical music to set the mood too.

https://youtu.be/UnDLskf-Q00?si=zU945Ock1rzaxcFM

Writing & Themes:

I enjoyed the way the drama was written. I imagine there was plenty of adlibbing that was incorporated, especially in the more comedic moments, that made the comedic beats really shine.

While the drama deals with many themes like self respect, greed, love, etc, ultimately, the drama is about dealing with the loss of a parent (you see this from several angles) and how to mature and become an adult, wether you were forced to do that at as a teenager, or find it thrust upon you in you 20’s.

My only real gripe with how the drama was written was that there are a couple of points towards the end where they, in my opinion, told the later part of the story first and flashed back to a dramatic moment to clear things up. It feels like a cheap trick.

Final Thoughts:

Dali and Cocky Prince is a really fun romantic comedy. It is visually amazing, the OST is fun with the songs hitting the right beat at the right time, and the use of classical music (altered) to give plot clues is really cool.

If you like romcom’s, art, a hint of family drama and a teeny tiny murder mystery this drama could be for you. Most importantly, it has a happy ending.

Rating:
9.5/10

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Hidden Gem

I have been watching K dramas for a long time and especially recently. However, I had never heard of this one and I can't believe it because it was so solid and great from beginning to end.

The actors did a fabulous job. The story was interesting and compelling . I especially loved how there wasn't any of that crazy "do they like each other or Do they not" and yet there was still tension. There was humor, Romance, a bit of a mystery, and it all came together.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants a feel good K drama. I only give tens to the K dramas that I don't ever get bored in and feel the need to skip to the end. I never once thought about skipping to the end while watching this one.They even landed the last episode. Often this is where some of my favorite K dramas will screw up. But in this one, they really nailed it. I don't have anything to critique.

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Clean the darn phones please.

This is a pretty good drama for just casual entertainment that doesn't require a lot of concentration or reasoning. The actors were good enough, the sets were pretty, the costumes of the leads were some of the best I've seen in a kdrama. There wasn't a lot of annoying love triangle or "we can't be together because of xyz" plot hooks, so that was refreshing. The male lead was funny and engaging without being overbearing and controlling.

Aside from being a fairly shallow storyline, it was a worthwhile watch...not epic, not great, but not terrible and good enough to pass the time enjoyably. There were some dark themes and a lot of the typical kdrama life wisdom lines. The relationship between the two main leads was fun to watch and it was nice to see them support each other through hardships. The chemistry was pretty good, though it clashed a lot with the female lead's overall stiff and wounded personality, so it was hard sometimes to see the chemsitry. When they got it right though, it was pretty fun to watch them interact.

There isn't a lot else to say. My only real issue with this drama were the landline phones. The phone handset in the gallery offices were always covered in weird slimy looking grime that really detracted from the clean set visuals for me. A lot of the windows were needlessly grimy too. Apart from that, the rooftop window had some weird visual effect on its crossbars that seemed to have been pulled straight from 1980s powerpoint.

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