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…

Netflix has just added:

Descendants of the Sun (interesting timing)
Black Knight
Are You Human 👍
Queen for Seven Days 👍👍one of my favourites
Good Manager 👍👍aka Chief Kim

Also new
School 2017
Hit The Top
My Golden Life
Fight For My Way 👍👍👍
Radio Romance 👍

Ha! I like the last paragraph of the review of Hotel Luna on your link, Betty:

This show also seems to have the essential ingredients for success—popular and talented leads, an out-of-the-box concept, and a director-writer team with impressive TV credits. It comes from the Hong sisters (A Korean Odyssey) and the PD of While You Were Sleeping. Everyone is excited. Everyone.

I am now excited too.

Oooh. Choi Jin-Hyuk is back in Justice. 🎉

Every time I think I might try watching some English language telly for a change, another wave of great stuff hits viki & Netflix. 🤷‍♂️

Me too! Plus the Hong sisters actually had the idea of a hotel for ghosts when they were doing His Master's Sun which was ace

The Hong Sisters were also behind His Master’s Sun? Excellent. I am now even more excited. I have such a soft spot for His Master’s Sun.

Ooooo! Are you human! And fight for my way!.... Exciting! 😂 😍😍😍😍

...!... And Chief Kim!... 👍

Uh oh! I fell down a T-drama hole. I’ve started watching Before We Get Married on Viki. It was only idle curiosity but it’s sucked me in. The FL’s extreme young-man-old-man couponing/retirement planning fiancé is kinda special as a character. He even just turned FL down for anniversary sex because its the wrong day of the week. I sense the master of the universe stockbroking hotshot ML will ignite her knickers and have her swinging from the chandeliers at some point in the next few episodes. Honestly, the set-up is quite entertaining. But I have been here before....

FL is also extremely frugal because she’s saving for a down payment on an apartment.

Awkward. This is painful - ML found her diary in a taxi and is now ribbing her about her very detailed life plan and day-to-day budgeting.

@boatyardblues I have been gripped by before we get married but the girlfriend of the male lead drives me mad. I really hope you like it. It got me back into dramas after a year or so absence.

Ha Hello! I’ve not met 2FL yet. If she’s that awful I may ditch early.

Gosh darn, I thought you'd have met her by now. She's odd but you find out why after a couple episodes but scenes with her in the first few episodes almost made me drop it. I think episode 4 is where she stops being special and finally has a personality.

I really hope you like it though, it's quite the entertaining watch for me. I just love reading someone else's thoughts upon watching it. Its certainly different to my usual kdramas

You two are making me curious about it now, but there are only 5 episodes up on Viki so far

I’m only on episode 1 - the weird match-making party where everyone has to shout out their sector and stock price. 🤔 I suppose that’s the beauty of these shows. Stuff that’s mid-boggling odd to our eyes treated as by-the-by. Like the tiny glass karaoke booth on the street. 🤷‍♂️

It's currently airing one episode per week. Hence only 5 episodes out right now, only 13 in total I think so I have a feeling its going to be intense. Most other TW/C dramas I've watched have at least 30 episodes.

I think the little karaoke booth is so cute. I wonder if they'd be able to stop my terrible singing.

The party just turned weird.

Shades of grey weird.

The funs just beginning. It's definitely different.

Oh I want to know now....!

Preview of ep 2 shows him pinning her against a wall. This is clearly a thing In Tdrama and like kdrama wrist grab on viagra. Not a fan...

I find it hard to watch that scene but thought that the plot was enough to stop me dropping it.

I get that the entire drama is about pushing boundaries and moral grey areas but i think that one was a bit much for me, even knowing the events leading up to it.

The vampish, randy flatmate is so seldom seen in kdrama that I feel she deserves special mention.

Also, menstruation gets mentioned a surprising amount in Mandarin language dramas. I’m still trying to work out if it is a) less taboo than here, b) its used by writers as shorthand to imply intimacy between friends/partners or c) whether T/Mdrama is largely written by men who think women talk to each other about their periods all the time.

Nearly gave up at the posterised ‘raunchy’ title sequence then fell asleep while trying to see what was drawing you two in. Will have another go.....do agree that the glass karaoke booths are cute!