Edited by Kim Won Hee
Translated by Cho EK
Kim Min Jae, who showed a great performance in his previous work Do You Like Brahms?, joined Park Gyu Young, who has played various roles through It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, Sweet Home, and The Devil Judge, in new a romantic comedy. The KBS drama Dali and Cocky Prince tells the story of Kim Dali, the daughter of a prestigious family who loves art, and Jin Mu Hak, a managing director of a Korean food company who is completely ignorant of art.
Dali and Mu Hak are the opposite of one another. First off, Dali is the heiress of the Cheongsong family that has a great influence in the country beyond politics and business. Moreover, she is the only daughter of Kim Nak Cheon, the director of the Cheongsong Art Museum. Thus, she knows everything about art and is fluent in seven languages, including English and French. When studying art, she forgets to eat nothing but lollipops. However, she is gentle and easygoing, and always calm.
On the other hand, Jin Muhak is a brave yet ignorant person who makes mistakes all the time. He took pride in his innate ability to run a business and cook a mesmerizing dish. He has grown his small Gamjatang restaurant into a global food company named Dondon F&B. He has a lot of field experience and a clear sense of money because he worked hard from the ground up. But he has a fiery personality and often ignores things that don’t make money, such as arts and crafts. The two people, who lived in different worlds without ever meeting each other, create great chemistry by a chance encounter.
The drama’s romance gives a classic yet unique vibe like the artworks exhibited in a museum. Their relationship begins in Holland, where Dali and Muhak both traveled for work. In the dreamlike country, she accidentally mistook him for a guest at a VVIP party. Who said when it rains, it pours? Soon, Mu Hak finds all his credit cards are suspended, so without many options, so Dali generously brings him to her place. The two, who ended up staying together under the same roof, share a meal he cooked and experience a fluttering moment when the power goes out in her place. The next day, Muhak leaves his watch to Dali and tells her to meet again, but he forgets to give her his contact information. Like this, many classic clichés and tropes are there to enliven the romance between Dali and Mu Hak.
What’s special about the series is that the two later meet each other as a creditor and a debtor. Due to her father’s sudden death and financial difficulties, Dali returns to Korea and takes up the position of director of the Cheongsong Museum of Art. She then runs into Mu Hak, who had come to the museum to retrieve his $1.7 million worth of investment. If there is a financial imbalance in a relationship, one oftentimes has more power than the other. However, the drama depicts Muhak as a strong advocate of Dali, who helps her business recover faster from financial losses. Dali has a good heart and mind, but as a child of a prestigious family, she often finds herself chasing rainbows instead of the real problems the museum faces. Whenever she does so, Muhak comes in and wakes her up from her fairytale. Furthermore, rather than simply portraying Dali as a naive female protagonist receiving life lessons from the street-smart male character, the series makes her someone who dares to face reality with grace, power, and resolution.
Dali and Cocky Prince have just reached a turning point as the two have confirmed each other’s feelings. Little by little, clues to the two mysterious cases began to emerge. The stranger attack at the museum and Dali’s house turned out to be done by her cousin, Si Hyung. Also, Jang Taejin of Segi Group, who supported Dali both financially and emotionally, turned out to be the one who tried to bring the museum down. Will Dali and Mu Hak be able to protect the Cheongsong Art Museum as well as their love and money? I can’t wait to see what will happen in the remaining episodes.
Verdict: It’s not as provocative as other series, but the sweet romance is sure to charm. (6/10)
Edited by Kim Won Hee: I am a person who needs more than 24 hours in a day because there are so many things I love. I am amassing various genres in the jewelry box in my heart.
Translator Cho EK: I’m a big fan of Korean dramas and movies.
