KDrama Addicts Anonymous (#7)

[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 (non subscription, possibly dodgy) and AmazonPrime.

The previous thread is linked below, but our ‘Addicts Recommend’ list is cumulative so includes recommendations and favourites from all of the previous threads:

Thread 6

Shows marked with asterisk(s) are more uniformly loved or admired. 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 best approximate & ask if you need guidance, eg about suitability 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)*

Historical/Period drama (“sageuk”)
Crowned Clown (Viki)
Mr Sunshine (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)
Radio Romance (Netflix)
Romance is the Bonus Book (Netflix)**
She Was Pretty (Dramabus/Netflix)*
The Beauty Inside (Viki/Netflix)
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 themes
Because This Is My First Life (Viki)*
Chicago Typewriter (Viki)*
Descendants of the Sun (Viki/Netflix)
Fight For My Way (Viki/Drama bus)*
Just Between Lovers (Viki)**
My Strange Hero (Viki)
One Spring Night (Netflix)
Red Carpet - film (Netflix, very adult content)
Search: WWW (Viki)*
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)
The Last Empress (Viki)

Not Korean but just try it
Regulars occasionally branch out into Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese drama. The Chinese & Taiwanese stuff is much more variable quality-wise, so we’ve noted anything decent here:

Love O2O (Viki - Chinese)
Morning Call (Netflix - Japanese)

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 fangirling. If you’re still reading, please say hi.)

We are generally fans of all things Korean, so equally happy to talk about Korean food/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 dense 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 or an obvious shortening. Some of the regular favourite actors & actresses have been abbreviated too for speed/efficiency, eg Lee Jong-Suk (LJS), Park Min Young (PMY), Ji Chang Wook (JCW) and his hotness Kim Jae Wook (HH KJW). 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…

And yes, he has beautiful hands.

His hands are very very soft. Koreans seem to have the best skin - I'll bet he moisturises. HmmMMMmmm. One of my friends is an events organiser and invited me to his fan meet - this was after his drama, Master's Sun, so quite a while ago.

Designated Survivor is excellent - it's a remake of an American drama. The Korean version has Ji Jin Hee in it - the nation's ideal husband.

Mummy - Are you in the UK, or overseas? I can’t imagine there are many fan meets here. Also, it was Master’s Sun that helped me appreciate So Ji Sub. I have a soft spot for it.

Yes Korean men seem to have lovely skin, I’d like to know what products they use, I’m thinking of getting some skincare stuff for Ds

bettys one the members of an idol group I like put up a skin care video and it seemed endless. endless I tell you.

I live in the UK and was in Singapore when the fan meet took place (family was there for summer holidays). I remember that night as it was when news broke that Kim Hyun Joon had been assaulting his girlfriend. Absolutely shocking as it was so different from his public image.

I enjoyed Master's Sun though most of the time was hiding behind a pillow. The other scary one I liked was Oh My Ghostess - anyone seen that?

I remember the Kim Hyun Joong case, didn't they clear him in the end? Then she started another case that he caused her to miscarry, and they said there was no evidence she was pregnant and threw it out of court.

I was so shocked at that case at the time and now it seems it was just the tip of a huge iceburg.

WWW finale was perfect. My cup runneth over. I loved the upbeat ending with those three fabulous women together.

Right, off to chat with DS2 now, as he has lots to tell me. I set him an information gathering challenge around a specific topic and he is now bursting to tell me about it.

one the members of an idol group I like put up a skin care video and it seemed endless. endless I tell you.

This is obviously where I am going wrong with my skin care routine

one the members of an idol group I like put up a skin care video and it seemed endless. endless I tell you.

Surely this describes most of YouTube? DS2 is very, very interested in a particular activity/hobby that he doesn’t even do (but would like to) and many of those videos are interminable.

WWW finale was perfect.
yes I thought so too! And I liked that things still weren't perfectly resolved between Park Morgan & Ta Mi but they accepted that and still went ahead together

I really wanted the driver of the Maserati at the end to be Ga Gyeong’s ex. Their outcome was inconclusive, but I thought they had great chemistry. They were especially good as they started to loosen up and laugh at each other.

I think WWW will be one of my favourite dramas of the year. It was just so satisfying that everything didn't end perfectly. I hate 'too happy' endings where everything is magically fixed and fine.

Subs very slow for BWGM so I’ve only seen the first 10 minutes but boy is 321 a complete tosser

I was expecting them to be up yesterday morning as usual and was surprised it was only 12%, even now its still only 42%.

321 makes me more mad than Mr Handsy. I'm 85% sure if you said to Mr Handsy 'be less handsy' he'd try, but she said 'please think about me' to 321 about 9 million times and he hasn't even tried and can't understand what her issue is.

And yet he does anything Sister Mazi says 🙄

Www... Not ended tidily!..??..... I like everything ending tidily!! I'm on ep 12!... It is very good! I love all the supporting characters!... I love the obvious love Jin Woo has for director song... And how he's just being there and giving her time!... (even though he was out of order at the beginning re:tami!).... Just waiting for horrible horrible chairman jang to get her thorough thorough comeuppance!!
Love how all the men are quiet and considerate! Sigh!... And I WANT a Home Fairy!!.... 😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Don’t panic Bea!!! I’m sure you’ll love the ending too 😉 Plus any loose endings were left so that they may be happy eventually if that makes sense. Anyway it’s all good 👍😎

Bea even though its not a pristine clean ending, it's great. It's better because it's not clean.

And I WANT a Home Fairy!!

Own up. What you really want is the Park Morgan kind of home fairy! (Don’t we all! He’s going on my Christmas list.)

I watched ep 5 of Level Up and a bit of ep 6 in bed this morning - yassss! Because I can... 💃🏻🕺🏻 Anyhow, I’m starting to think Sung Hoon is a half decent actor - he is very good at playing the straight man in this comedy and he does the physical comedy well.

Right, I unexpectedly have several days’ access to Amazon Prime. Is there anything Korean that’s available (without additional rental charge) that I should be watching? Was it Amor Fati that you recommended, Betty?

Can't wait! Can't wait! Can't wait

PLEASE! don't be disappointing!!

Yes Amor Fati, with JKH, also The Wailing but that is really creepy

Can't wait! Can't wait! Can't wait

Me neither ! me neither! me neither!