Coffee Prince: One Scene Two Ways

Being a complete nerd, I’m acutely aware that any Kdrama I watch is a secondary source, not a primary one. A cadre of subbers will stand between me and the dialogue’s true meaning until I decide to learn Korean (which is unlikely, barring a massive, lightning-strike-induced increase in IQ).

In most cases, this distance from the original doesn’t prevent me from enjoying the drama: as long as the translation isn’t spectacularly botched, the subtitles and the actors working together get the point across. But obsessive viewing of Coffee Prince episodes from many different sources has opened my eyes to another issue: no matter how high-quality the subtitles may be, the subber’s work inevitably colors the meaning of the scene.

In my explorations, I’ve found three distinct sets of subtitles for Coffee Prince: The first is the official MBC version, which appears on the DVD box set and legit streaming sites such as Dramafever and Crunchyroll. The second set are the Viki fan subs, which are almost an exact match with the official version. And the last of the three was fan-subbed by WITH S2 and is available streaming on Kimchidramas and Dramacrazy.

While the differences between the official version and Viki’s subs are minor, Viki’s work is actually superior: it does a better job with English grammar, nailing issues of pluralization and verb tense that are cringe-inducingly wrong in MBC’s subs. But the best of all three sets of subtitles, I would argue, are the WITH S2 subs. They’re more fun, with sharper and wittier dialogue that brings to the forefront story currents only obliquely suggested in the other sets of subtitles.

My initial assumption was that the WITH S2 subs were also the least accurate of the three, because they’re so different from the other versions. But now I’m not so sure—both the official and Viki translations seem to have been cleaned up to make everyone speak in something close to complete sentences. On the other hand, the WITH S2 subs are full of fragments and exclamations that trail off into nothing, which makes them feel much more genuine and compelling. They also retain Korean relationship words like hyung, rather than translating them into their improbable English forms. (“Han Gyul wants Eun Chan to call him ‘bro’? What is this, an episode of In Living Color from 1992?”) Fidelity to the original helps WITH S2’s subbers to bring the drama to life, conveying both the genuine meaning of the words and the skill of their delivery.

Take, for example, the moment in episode 5 when Min Yeop discovers Eun Chan’s gender. It’s a perfect example of what I love about Coffee Prince—it effortlessly serves a number of storytelling functions, and is just plain fun to watch. A lazy writer and director could have produced a flat, textureless version of this scene that would have served the plot just fine. But from beginning to end, it’s clear that this drama is different: I get the feeling that the people who created it were just as much in love with it as I am, and lost no opportunity to turn it into something special. In this scene, multiple story threads and character motivations all interplay, furthering the overarching plot while adding dimension to the relationship of the show’s third leads. Add an everyday, real-world location and some gross-out humor, and you’ve got prime Coffee Prince wonderfulness.

This scene was what initially clued me in to just how varied subs can be—all because of some confusion between chicken and pig’s feet. (Based on the video, it’s clearly chicken feet. But two out of the three subs specify pig.) To make it easier to figure out the differences between them, I’ve transcribed the official subs and WITH S2’s version below the jump.


COFFEE PRINCE

EPISODE 5, 18:00

(P.S.: Screen caps poached from Dramabeans' excellent recap of this episode.)

PART 1

The scene begins with Eun Chan and her sister Eun Sae in the locker room of a public bathhouse, getting ready to wash. Eun Sae [dry!] shaves her leg as she talks on her phone with Min Yeop, her boyfriend/stalker.

MBC’s official subs

Min Yeop: Angel, I bought your favorite drumsticks. Where are you?

Eun Sae: Guess where the Angel is? By the way, you can’t come in here.

MY: Where are you? I can go to the ends of the earth to find you!

ES: I’m in the women’s bathhouse. Come and find me if you can.

Eun Chan: [Standing in the background, adorned in a towel.] I’m going inside.

WITH S2’s subs

MY: Angel, I have the chicken feet you love. Where are you?

ES: Think where Angel might be. I’m in a place where you can’t come in.

MY: Where is that? I’m going to find you even if it means going to the ends of the earth.

ES: I’m in the ladies’ public bath. Find me.

EC: [Standing in the background, adorned in a towel] I’m going to go in first.

PART 2

When she finally leaves the bathhouse Eun Sae is surprised and a bit dismayed to find Min Yeop waiting right outside the door, food in hand. 

Eun Chan exits the bathhouse behind her sister, and realizes that she’s caught: she just left a women’s bathhouse with her pink, frilly bra strap hanging from underneath her tank top.

MBC

MY: Angel, here are your drumsticks and gizzards.

[Noticing Eun Chan exiting the women’s bathhouse behind her sister.]

What are you doing here with Eun-Sae? This is the women’s bathhouse! 

[Eun Chan spins around to peer in the doorway behind her, as if surprised to find that she is indeed at the women’s bathhouse.]

What’s that on your shoulders? It’s a bra!

ES: Someone’s in trouble now!

EC: [To ES:] You take care of this.

ES: Why? It’s not my business. Whatever. 

[Eun Sae walks away, nose in the air.]    

MY: Angel!

[Having been momentarily distracted by his love, Min Yeop returns his attention to Eun Chan’s wayward undergarment.]

Hey…what’s that on your shoulders?

WITH S2

MY: Angel! Here. Chicken feet and innards.

[Noticing Eun Chan exiting the women’s bathhouse behind her sister.]

Hey, what are you doing here? This is the ladies’ bath.

[Eun Chan spins around to peer in the doorway behind her, as if surprised to find that she is indeed at the women’s bathhouse.]

And that strap…that’s for women…a bra!

ES: The secret’s out now.

EC: [To Eun Sae:] You take care of it.

ES: Why? I don’t know.

[Eun Sae walks away, nose in the air.]

MY: Angel!

[Having been momentarily distracted by his love, Min Yeop returns his attention to Eun Chan’s wayward undergarment.]

What…you…your shoulder.

PART 3
The three of them sit at a nearby picnic table. 

MBC
MY: I saw you pee while standing up!

[Cut to urinal scene showing this very thing—sort of.]

I even kissed you! [Said with defeat before the kiss clip from an earlier episode is intercut into the scene].

ES: [To Eun Chan:] The things you did… But then again, you even delivered food to [the] men’s bathhouse.

EC: I had no choice.

MY: That’s not a reason to pretend to be a guy! I’d never pretend to be a girl!

ES: That’s because no one will believe you’re a girl.

WITH S2

MY: I saw you pee standing up.

[Cut to urinal scene showing this very thing—sort of.]

I even kissed you. [Said with defeat before the kiss clip from an earlier episode is intercut into the scene]

ES: [To Eun Chan:] You sure did a lot. Well, you even delivered food to the men’s section.

EC: I was so desperate that I had to do that.

MY: But why did you pretend to be a guy? I wouldn’t pretend to be a girl even if I [might] starve to death.

ES: Would anyone believe you if you did?

PART 4
Eun Sae focuses on the chicken feet, and Eun Chan focuses on getting Min Yeop to keep her secret, using any means necessary.

MBC

EC: Min-Yup! You like Eun-Sae, right? Aren’t you happy that I’m not Eun-Sae’s boyfriend? I’m not your rival anymore. I’m her sister!

[Eun Sae tears her attention away from her chicken feet to scowl at Eun Chan, clearly sensing where this is about to go. Min Yeop visibly falters at Eun Chan’s logic, which seems a little too complex for him to grasp.]

I think you’re a very dependable man. I was impressed when I saw you street vending.

ES: [To Eun Chan:] Hey! What are you doing?

EC: You want to keep seeing Eun-Sae, right?

MY: Uh-huh.

EC: [Using the drill-sargent tone she used with her young martial arts students:] Say yes, not uh-huh!

MY: Yes.

EC: Listen carefully.

[Wanting to ensure that she has Min Yeop’s full attention, Eun Chan demands:]

Yes!

MY: Yes.

WITH S2
EC: Mr. Hwang, you like Eun Sae, don’t you? See, is the fact that I’m not Eun Sae’s boyfriend that bad for you? That means you don’t have any rivals anymore. In addition to that, I’m Eun Sae’s older sister.

[Eun Sae tears her attention away from her chicken feet to scowl at Eun Chan, clearly sensing where this is about to go. Min Yeop visibly falters at Eun Chan’s logic, which seems a little too complex for him to grasp.]

I like how you were very trustworthy. I saw another side of you at your shop.

ES: [To Eun Chan:] Hey! What are you doing?

EC: You want to keep seeing Eun Sae, don’t you?

MY: Yeah.

EC: [Using the drill-sargent tone she used with her young martial arts students:] Not “yeah,” Yes.

MY: Yes.

EC: Now follow what I tell you from now on.

[Wanting to ensure that she has Min Yeop’s full attention, Eun Chan demands:]

Yes?!

MY: Yes.