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…

I’m liking Chu Kehuan in a leather jacket

I also took a strange liking to Maizi in this episode. She's not the person I pegged her for

Agreed! She was spot on in her assessment of 321.

I think the moral of the tale is going to be True Live is about Letting Go, not clinging in like a limpet

True LOVE obvs 🙄

The real question is will Weiwei and Kehuan go out with a bang?

I'll see myself out

To answer Hellos question, I can't stand:

The MLs dad in Marriage Contract. Vile man. His wife isn't much better.
Main boy in boys over flowers
The ex in One Spring night was really annoying too.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I think the answer is yes as there are clips from the titles we haven’t seen yet

ginger you have just reminded me of the vile parents in Search WWW they can go in the list too

In Go Back Couple one of the characters has just bought Jang Nara sanitary towels and medicine for period pains so I guess that’s who she’ll end up with.

It’s very sweet, funny and much better than Familiar Wife which had the same theme of a separated couple going back to their past.

In Go Back Couple one of the characters has just bought Jang Nara sanitary towels and medicine for period pains so I guess that’s who she’ll end up with.

Has period-based relationship development now escaped from mdrama into the kdrama sphere? I hope the handcuffs, wall-pinning and general lechery stays put. 😕

Oh no! I'm having my first experience of waiting for subtitles on Viki!
I was planning on watching episode 13 of Watcher tonight but it's only 51% done 😭.
I've not kept up with an on air series before.
Anyway - back to ep 7 of Goblin.
What are you all watching tonight?

One of the product placements in this episode is Body Shop White Musk. Mmmm! 90sTastic!

Catching up on Watcher...

www.soompi.com/article/1346204wpp/breaking-ku-hye-sun-reveals-that-ahn-jae-hyun-wants-a-divorce
Oh no! 😭😭😭 These two seemed to be genuinely lovely! 😢

There’s a Jung Hae In article on Soompi at the mo. Apparently he let his abs go as it’s hard work maintaining them. 😭 Still, at least they are preserved in perpetuity in Prison Playbook. 👌

Watcher... Poor Young Koon. 😞

boatyard I know! How many more awful things can happen to him??

Jung Hae has just been in Goblin. As the baseball player from the FLs childhood. No abs on show though.

Now catching up on BWGM. Agree about Kefei’s amazing barely-staying-on outfits. I suspect toupee tape on her arms was the only thing keeping that sweatshirt decent. And the Huawei phone placement was so painfully obvious that even making a joke of it didn’t work.

Why are Jasper Liu’s suits in this so ill-fitting & rumpled? They really need to hire a kdrama oppa stylist for these tdramas.

Last week it was a shopping spree in the chemist & this week the Taipei equivalent of Carphone Warehouse. I feel they need to up the quality of their product placement in BWGM

Finished Go Back Couple, a very tidy little drama. The only thing I didn't like was Park Morgan's specs & cardigan right at the very end. Thoroughbred racehorse though

Bea that divorce looks like it could get messy, such a shame, but she seems like a no-filter kind of person with those IG posts.

Why are Jasper Liu’s suits in this so ill-fitting & rumpled? They really need to hire a kdrama oppa stylist for these tdramas.

Yes, he has a bodybuilder's er... body and should have the tailoring to go with it. I have noticed though that characters seem to wear the same outfits quite often so they are either keeping it real or don't have much budget

Bea that divorce looks like it could get messy, such a shame, but she seems like a no-filter kind of person with those IG posts.

Given how bland all those Soompi stories usually are, it was quite shocking that there was any personal detail. Agree it could get messy.

Can we send Limpet round to 321’s as a slapogram? My palms are itching. 😡

Fighting, sister Maizi! 😱