KDrama Addicts Anonymous (thread 2)

[boatyardblues]

A quiet corner of MN for serious addicts of Kdrama, or the Kdrama-curious. Most of our viewing is drawn from Netflix and Viki, but the more seriously addicted have other sources, including dramabus. To our surprise, we managed to fill a whole thread, which is full of recommendations (and ones to swerve): www.mumsnet.com/Talk/streamed_tv/3337309-K-Drama-recommendations?pg=1

We have some recommendations for newbies:

My (current) top 5 – all Netflix
Live
Prison Playbook
Don’t Dare to Dream
Black
His Master’s Sun

Betty’s top 5
Black (Netflix)
Fight For My Way (Drama bus)
What’s Up With Secretary Kim (Viki)
I Hear Your Voice (Netflix /Viki)
Don’t Dare To Dream (Netflix / Viki)

Bea’s top 5
Strong Girl Bong Soon (netflix)
What's Wrong With Secretary kim (Viki)
She Was Pretty (dramabus)
Healer (netflix)

Our lovely occasional posters who have lived in Korea, are Korean or have Korean partners/family members pop up to provide the context for some of the more baffling cultural references.

We love a good kdrama bingo card to mark off the regular tropes – white truck of doom, drunk/med evac piggybacks, stalkers, rooftop apartments etc

We also stray into Korean cookery and kpop when the mood takes us. To get to grips with the lingo, try dramaloveaddicts.proboards.com/thread/24/korean-word-day?page=1

If you want to join us down the kdrama rabbit hole, pull up a chair, say goodbye to early nights and get stuck in…

Hahahaha it's just soooooo addictive isn't it?

If you want to dip into a Lee Jong Suk spiral I can recommend While You Were Sleeping (Viki), Pinocchio or I Hear Your Voice (both on N & V)

I'm currently watching Protect The Boss (Viki) as it has the ML Kim Jaejoong from Manhole in it and also as a bonus the ML from Kill Me Heal Me. However it is from 2011 and seems quite dated due to the men's bouffant haircuts!

I watched the first episode of W with DH, but he fell asleep on the sofa. Shows great promise though Lee Jong Suk does nothing for me.

Now back to Chicago Typewriter, which has picked up its pace & I’m enjoying it. 2nd ML is that dopey Keanu Reeves-type guy but suits the role, so I can live with the casting.

I’m going to place my bets now that writer Han Se Ju’s foster brother was a wrong un in their previous life & was responsible for at least one of the trio’s deaths. He has a bad energy and they are ramping up the competitive spite.

Your bets are spot on

Thanks for the recs Bettys... I am indeed in a LJS spiral...
.... Amnnnnd... Next up is Pinocchio!... 2 eps done!... Dh half watched it with me!... And he was quite intrigued with W too!... Maybe he will realise I'm not completely bonkers with my kdrama habit!
Pinnochio looks like good stuff! Loads of little stories are going to branch off! I can see it!... However.. Hope LJS loses his awful wig soon! 😂😁
Boatyard!... I'm jealous you're at the beginning of W... It's sooo good! I love the style of it and I love the comic drawings! I'd deffo love a poster!

Maybe he will realise I'm not completely bonkers with my kdrama habit!

So far this week: DS2 has told me he thought Goblin was good, DH half watched the start of Chicago Typewriter and said he was “starting to understand the appeal” and “can see how well done they are”, SIL thanked me for introducing her to a new genre & has restarted her Netflix subscription and a friend asked for my list of recommendations as he’s laid up poorly and wanted to try something new.

Oh fuck. Just seen the time. 😩

😂😂😂

Boatyardblues you have done well. 👍

I’m having a day of kdramas in pyjamas. I really need to get up and out soon....

Boatyard... Similar here! (though I've been to a football match this morning!!)... Just sitting down and rewatching She Was Pretty... And!... The carpenters song isn't included!... Which I think is really sad as I think it just makes the friendship all the more sweeter... Any ideas why?... I watched originally on dramabus.... Must be copyright thing... 😯

Dramas in pyjamas! 😂😂😂... Whether it be lazy daytime watching or the usual late night watching! 😂😂😂

Feeling virtuous as have been to the tip with a carload of green waste and stuff.

Just had a kimcheese toastie made with Wensleydale and second the weird but good comment. Now for a couple of hours of kdrama - bliss

It’ll be a copyright thing, Netflix would have to pay royalties probably. Did they use another song or have silence? They can’t have cut it out it is integral to the plot.

Interesting, I think you get the original version on Viki then

That's such a shame as it adds to the sweetness of it all!!.. 😁❤️

I have done actual decluttering today! Daebak! Going out shortly for dinner, as that zapped the miniscule amount of motivation that I had left.

Behold my willpower! I only have the final episode of Chicago Typewriter to go, but I have turned the TV off and will be closing MN shortly. I badly need to get my sleep hygiene onto an even keel before I go back to work. Night all!

My willpower is incredibly weak!... Prob due to lack of sleep!... I have started to watch two at once!.... Started pinnochio yesterday... And enjoyed it but foolishly started to watch I Hear Your Voice this evening and am on ep 4!!.... I'll finsh voice... And then go back to pinnochio... But I've got a Ji Chang Wook urge and want to watch The K2!! Arrrgghhhh! Help!... 😭

I have just woken from an epic catch-up sleep. I feel rebooted. The trick now is to not start anything too gripping when I finish Chicago Typewriter later today.

boatyardblues that's what I always say, but then accidentally stumble on something reaaaallly good!

Bea personally I found I Hear Your Voice more engrossing than Pinocchio although I like them both. With The K2 I skipped all the political stuff and just focused on the JCW bits. The FL is a bit drippy tbh but JCW's shirtless action scenes are very good.

I am curious Bea, Betty & other thread regulars whether you also enjoy sci-fi/fantasy, as it strikes me that fantasy and supernatural elements of kdrama sit well with the kind of books and films I like to watch/read for fun. I read plenty of worthy fiction too, but when I read for unalloyed pleasure and relaxation I always go for sci-fi and fantasy.

Yes, previous to discovering kdrama my go-to for fun, whether reading or viewing, would be sci-fi/fantasy, with a dash of crime on the side. I would watch scandi/french with DH.

One of the things I like about kdrama is the almost natural blurring of genres, and the viewer just accepts that there are ghosts, grim reapers, 400 yr old aliens that take showers with a towel on.

I watched the finale of Chicago Typewriter earlier and was thankful for my waterproof mascara. It was great storytelling. I need to go back & rewatch the final credits, as there was a lot of interesting info about the Japanese occupation and the resistance movement, but it moved too fast. I also want to see the outtakes and goofy cast/crew photos from the credits, as I had to focus on the subtitles.

I have to say, I feel so much better for a decent sleep. I am going to work on going to bed before midnight for the rest of this week.

I watched Chicago Typewriter at the same time as Mr Sunshine^ was getting brutal and it was like a double whammy. Such a good story and so sad.

Watching ep 2 of W just now. I wish I liked the male lead as much as you two, but idea and execution is good so I’m bearing with it.