KDrama Addicts Anonymous (part 6)

[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 there other sources, including Dramabus and AmazonPrime.

Previous Threads, with discussion of what we’ve enjoyed and what to avoid:

Thread 5 (previous threads linked from OP of each preceding thread)

There are suggestions for shows that we’ve enjoyed - those marked with asterisk(s) are more uniformly loved or admired. Cautionary note: in categorising series, its important to note most Korean dramas have multiple strands - e.g. romance and thriller; supernatural, romance and a thriller, crime series with blossoming relationship aspects. Genre-busting mash-ups are normal. Series that are tagged as dark may also have moments of comedy or the absurd, likewise fluff can have heavier elements. View the categories below as approximate & ask if you need guidance, eg for younger teens.

Comedy (with a side order of absurd)
I picked up a celebrity on the street (Viki)
My Fellow Citizens (Viki)

Crime/Thriller
Healer (Netflix)*
Heartless City (Viki)
He is Psychometric (Viki)
I Hear Your Voice (Netflix /Viki)
Life on Mars (classy remake of BBC series, Dramafast)
Live (Netflix)
Pride & Prejudice (Netflix)*
Prison Playbook (Netflix)*
Suspicious Partner (Netflix)*

Romance - lighter & fluffier
Beating Again (Netflix)
Coffee Prince (Netflix)
Don’t Dare to Dream (Netflix, or as Jealousy Incarnate on Viki)*
Happy Once Again (Netflix)
Her Private Life (Viki)*
His Master’s Sun (Netflix)
Love from a Star (Netflix)*
Pinocchio (Netflix)
Romance is the Bonus Book (Netflix)**
She Was Pretty (Dramabus/Netflix)*
The Beauty Inside (Viki/Netflix)
The Last Empress (Viki)
Thirty Not Seventeen (Viki)
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (Netflix/Viki)
What’s Up With Secretary Kim (Viki)**
You are my Destiny (Netflix)

Romance - heavier weight/more grown up
Because This Is My First Life (Viki)*
Chicago Typewriter (Viki)*
Fight For My Way (Viki/Drama bus)*
Just Between Lovers (Viki)**
Mr Sunshine (Netflix)
My Strange Hero (Viki)
Red Carpet - film (Netflix, very adult content)
Something in the Rain (Netflix)
The Package (Viki)

Supernatural/fantasy/sci-fi - fluffier
Goblin (Viki)*
I am not a Robot (Netflix)
Legend of the Blue Sea (Viki/Netflix)
While You Were Sleeping (Viki)*

Supernatural/fantasy/sci-fi - darker
Black (Netflix)*
The Guest (Dramafast)
W (Viki & Netflix)*

Zombies
Kingdom (Netflix)*
Train to Busan - film (Amazon Prime)

Mad as a box of frogs/uncategorisable
Strong Girl Bong Soon (Netflix)

We have some lovely occasional posters who have lived in Korea, are Korean or have Korean partners/family members who pop in from time to time to provide the context for some of the more baffling cultural references. (Although its possible we have scared them all away since our early threads with the incessant fangirling. If you’re still reading, please say hi.)

If you want to know your oppas from your unnis and other Korean terms of address and honorifics, there are good resources online.

We are generally fans of all things Korean, so equally happy to talk about Korean cookery, film 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

We have a few frequently used acronyms:
FL/2FL = female lead/2nd female lead
ML/2ML = male lead/2nd male lead
SLS = Second Lead Syndrome (where the FL/MLis too thick to realise how much better the 2ML/2FL is)

We also abbreviate titles if they’re long, but usually only after using the full title & acronym together. Some of the regular favourite actors have been abbreviated too for speed/efficiency, although “him off Black” seems to have stuck for Song Seung-Heon. Don’t be afraid to ask for help/clues if we’re not making sense or have descended into acronym soup.

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

Bad bad Betty. 😉 But if you do get a week’s free trial, definitely watch Her Private Life.

The Divine Fury
Exciting!! 😱❤️

Zchm... Oooo! Jealous that you're experiencing Healer for the first time!... Ahhh! GRRR Ji Chang Wook! Hmmmm! ❤️❤️❤️

PSJ? I will make a note for the food truck rota.

I was just having a quick look at when all my current, airing series update and almost all of them are in the prime Weds/Thurs eve slot: Absolute Boyfriend, One Spring Night, Angel’s Last Mission, Search: WWW. I am sure there is drama on other nights but I had a momentary vision of tumbleweed in the schedules on other nights. 😆

You can put me on the food truck rota for PSJ - I'm thinking bacon butties & sausage & mash

Bea & I are also watching The Secret Life of My Secretary (Viki) on Mondays & Tuesdays and there is also Abyss. Here's a current list:

CURRENTLY AIRING
Prime-Time Shows This Week
Monday-Tuesday (June 17-18)
Perfume 9-12 (KBS)
Investigation Couple 2 9-12 (MBC)
The Secret Life of My Secretary 25-28 (SBS)
The Wind Blows 7-8 (JTBC)
Abyss 13-14 (tvN)
Wednesday-Thursday (June 19-20)
Angel's Last Mission: Love 17-20 (KBS)
One Spring Night 17-20 (MBC)
My Absolute Boyfriend 21-24 (SBS)
Rescue Me 2 13-14 (OCN)
Search Query: WWW 5-6 (tvN)
Weekend (June 21-23)
Mother of Mine 53-56 (KBS)
Different Dreams 27-30 (MBC)
Nokdu Flower 33-36 (SBS)
Chief of Staff 3-4 (JTBC)
Voice 3 13-14 (OCN)
Arthdal Chronicles 7-8 (tvN)

Reassuring to see other nights are catered for.

Wednesday/Thursday does currently have the best stuff though, making the back end of the week more exciting for catch ups

How do Koreans cope with all this content? I'd never leave the house or talk to anyone again! 😭 😭 😭 😭

I'd never leave the house or talk to anyone again!

Um....

I have finished ep 3 of Crowned Clown and agree that it is beautiful and very well done. Kind of annoyed its a school day and I have to go to work, but I need to pay those subs.

Still struggling to keep track of all the courtiers in their identikit uniforms. Thank goodness for the creative beard trimming. So far, the only outright good eggs seem to be the queen and Eunuch Jo. I’m confused by the brothel madam: she seems to be helping, but whose agenda is she serving? And going out on a limb, I’m going to say bad king and clown king are siblings and that Dan Rae and the poisoned girl are also sibs to the king. Not sure if separated/removed at birth twins or illegitimate half sibs. Using the same actors is useful for cast efficiency, but confusing for viewers. Also, if a twin, perhaps deliberately hidden as a ‘spare’ in case of assassination attempts. Chubby clown boss is probably an ex-palace guard who absolutely dropped the ball on protectin Dan Rae.

Hum can’t really comment as don’t want to give anything away but I ❤️ Eunuch Jo!

Boatyard!!! Hee Hee Hee! Not saying anything ... but glad you're enjoying it!... It's a little bonus treasure... sit down to watch not expecting much except good drama... but then develops into something much more! I was really surprised at how lovely and well done it was... cracking story and good pace!!( which i think a fair few dramas fall down on... great story but then begins to plod!)

oh yes! Much love for Eunuch Jo and the Queen and Officer Jang...

New series on Netflix called Chief of Staff - anyone given it a go yet?

Hello ladies! Sorry for gatecrashing your thread. I've been lurking for a while and finally decided to post! I've watched a few KDrama series with my husband. We sort of fell into it as I'm massively into Japanese culture so thought we'd give KDrama a go and we love it! So far we've watched Stranger, Black, Misaeng, Memories of the Alhambra and we are currently watching Abyss. I'd say we are more into the thriller/crime solving genre although I love that no matter the genre there is always some comedy and romance in there too!

Lovely to meet you all

Hi saltysow!

You're not gatecrashing, do join in and feel free to comment!
Stranger is one of my favourites, and there are some great recommendations to work through at the head of the thread. The Japanese connection is an interesting one, some of the historical dramas like Mr Sunshine, Chicago Typewriter and Hymn of Death shed some light on the shared history.

Just caught up with Abyss this morning and have to confess I've given up on the plot and am just watching for Park Bo Young & Ahn Hyo-Seop

Currently sitting in the changing room at Next.. (dd!!) and this has made me chortle and lol! 😂 😂

Hi betty

I'll have a look into those ones, I must confess I don't know much about the history of Japan and Korea but the two cultures seem very similar, especially around work ethic, food and getting drunk!

We've watched 5 episodes of Abyss, finding it difficult to follow at times but enjoying it. I don't really know any of the actor's names but always love the acting in these series.

Hi to ZCHM and SaltySow. Orange Marmalade sounds like one I'd enjoy with dd and its on Netflix! :-) She is sadly determined that she will watch Dream High 2 next and I can't even persuade her to watch the next Weightlifting Fairy with me first. :-( We were both surprised by the cameo appearance of LJS in ep 2.

I'm all caught up with One Spring Night. Hopefully FL will stop messing him around now. Also enjoying the elder sister story line and wondering what will happen there.

The middle chunk of Orange Marmalade deals with their backstory in Joseon vampire days - it's all a bit bonkers in a typically kdrama way. I thought it might have a gay storyline too (was thinking Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit obvs got confused) but no - it's the name of the band.

ginger - I loved the LYS cameo in WFKBS. See if you can spot Jisoo later on

I'm afraid I still haven't watched anything relevant to the thread, but I was surprised to hear quite a few Koreans when out and about.

Also found these little cups whilst packing some stuff, I reckon they're for alcohol like sake, but there's no bottle with them.