MsLatte’s Daebak Cybercafé (kdrama #8)

[boatyardblues]

A quiet corner of MN for serious addicts of Kdrama, or the Kdrama-curious. (MsLatte is a Her Private Life reference.) Most of our viewing is drawn from Netflix and Viki, with a sprinkling of Dramabus (non subscription, maybe dodgy) and AmazonPrime.

The previous thread is here, but our ‘Addicts Recommend’ list below is cumulative so includes recommendations and favourites from all previous threads.

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. supernatural, romance and a thriller; crime series with fantasy elements. 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 moments. 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
Come and Hug Me (Dramafast)
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)
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/zombies/vampires/fantasy/sci-fi - lighter & fluffier
Goblin (Viki)*
I am not a Robot (Netflix)
Legend of the Blue Sea (Viki/Netflix)
% Orange Marmalade (Netflix)
While You Were Sleeping (Viki)*

Supernatural/zombies/vampires/fantasy/sci-fi - darker/more grown up themes
Black (Netflix)*
Hotel del Luna (Viki)*
Kingdom (Netflix)*
The Guest (Dramafast)
Train to Busan - film (Amazon Prime)
W (Viki & Netflix)*

Guilty Pleasures (for the joy, not the quality)
Hwarang (Viki/Netflix)
The Last Empress (Viki)
Sassy Go Go (Netflix)

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

Not Korean but just try it

We 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 with links to Korea who pop in from time to time to provide the context for some of the more baffling cultural references. (Although we may 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 cookery, language, film and music when the mood takes us.

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)
🥾🍑 (boot, peach) = kick up the arse to go to bed

We also abbreviate titles if they’re long, but usually only after using the full title & acronym together or an obvious abbreviation. Some favourite actors & actresses have been abbreviated for speed/efficiency, eg Lee Jong-Suk (LJS), Park Min Young (PMY), Ji Chang Wook (Ji Chang Wook) 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…

👍 to Lucifer too, though haven’t watched the last series.

The last series of Lucifer was great we binged it over a weekend when I was feeling a bit rough and it really cheered me up.

I'm about 1/3 of the way through the last series. I keep thinking ill watch it and then I get distracted with Melo or Come and Hug Me

Sense8 was brilliant.

Was thinking the other day about how kdrama is close to reading a good book with the amount of character development and emotional depth. You get to know people inner thoughts too, similar to close second or first person perspective in books.
Much more character driven.

Plus most kdrama seems to have high morals and personal improvements that they strive towards. Which I've also seen in anime and other Asian shows.

I really enjoyed the first season of Sens8 but thought it went a bit off piste in the second season, in that the story got more patchy and it took on an overtly ‘male gaze’ oversexed angle (which is saying something after the first season). I love Bae Doona’s character and it was the depictions of her life in S Korea that made me realise I knew nothing about Korea & wanted to know more. I also thought the German thug/Indian bride pairing made for an interesting couple. Overall, I liked that it was so character driven, showed me parts of the world I knew little about and was a bit ‘out there’. The American characters were the least interesting members of the whole ensemble in my view.

Breaking Bad is another recent US series that was well written with complex characters and nuance. Bloody grim, though. I have no appetite to rewatch it. Ever.

Has anyone watched Love Alarm yet? There’s something I really don’t understand and would be grateful if anyone can shed some insight. Spoilery question though so
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
SPOILER
Why oh why did the FL dump the ML? Did I miss something when she went to his house & overheard the parents? I know it’s a method of driving the plot forward but it’s really bugging me in Cheese in the Trap way.

I haven’t got that far yet, but I’ll pay close attention to that scene now & get back to you.

Thanks, I found it quite bothersome

Boatyard, yes it is all about characters and the unraveling of all dimensions of them for sure.

I too really enjoyed;
Six feet under
Call my Agent
Rita
Bonus Family

I have never really liked Hollywood films as so formulaic and glossed over. Particularly annoying when they take a brilliant 'foreign' film and rinse and repeat with the predictable schmaltzy wrapping

Abre Los Ojos = Vanilla Sky
The Intouchables = The Upside

Above are two great films (Spanish and French) that just didn't need copying IMO

DH and I talked about the importance of space in a story and economy of detail in really good writing which give the audience the opportunity to unpack the details for themselves. Far too much TV/film writing fills in all the blanks. It’s like opening a crossword book and finding someone's already filled in 90% of the answers: where’s the fun in cracking the last fee?

Fee = few

boatyard I need to come and live with you! Mine and DPs conversation has been focused on how plastic bag charges would work in the fictional Legend of Zelda kingdom and I feel like my brain has melted.

Although he helpfully added that Hotel del Luna uses too many ever so slightly slanted camera shots and now I can't unsee it.

Ha! Well, this was a conversation on a bank holiday walk. Usually we are all on our own devices & most of our interaction is over dinner.

I suspect we would have a good time if we all met up in the pub - there seem to be a lot of intersecting interests on this thread. 😄

Plus most kdrama seems to have high morals and personal improvements
Kdrama romcoms are a bit fluffy but I like that they often seem to have a theme of looks or wealth not being as important as personality. They spoil it a bit as their 'ugly' girls are actually really pretty and the ML always turns out to be a secret billionaire but its still a good sentiment.

I’m still wading through Behind Your Smile, but I’m on the home straight. I find myself watching it thinking “this is a bit shit” but feel I’ve got far enough now that I just need to see it through. The FL reminds me a bit of a uni housemate, which makes all the dippy scenes amusing, and I’m hanging in there for a BWGM-style shagathon which is a pipedream, but ML has such nicely proportioned shoulders I’m hanging in there.

I suspect we would have a good time if we all met up in the pub - there seem to be a lot of intersecting interests on this thread.

But what would we all wear to identify each other? Along the lines of the MN scarf of yesteryear...

A woolly polo neck over the chin Healer style?
A hoody backwards so we can eat crisps?
Or a Subway sandwich ?
or
shoes without socks???? snigger (my excuse is that I have just driven down south from God's Own Country and have swiftly necked some wine)

I need this backwards hoody thing explaining as I’ve not yet watched. Is it literally a nosebag (hood full of loose crisps) or a handy pouch to rest your packet?

Watched Pinocchio. Typos a-go-go this evening.

Might be too small but short of watching Pinocchio again (though I don't mind if I do) here goes:

I’m hanging in there for a BWGM-style shagathon which is a pipedream

I think it might be. I didn't make it to ep 4, got distracted. Agree the ML has potential though so let me know if it matches up to BWGM in any way.

Unfortunately, no shagathon in Behind Your Smile. BWGM is easily in the top 7 most risqué dramas I've ever seen.

Anyone else dying to know what other 6 dramas are in that top 7 list?

Evening! Finished Cheese in the Trap. I really enjoyed it but thought the ending for Seol was a bit rubbish - working in a dreary office job just waiting for Jung Yoo to read her emails! I did warm to Jung Yoo a bit more as it went on but still totally team In Ho.
I also liked Sens8 and iZombie. I think they were some of my last non foreign language Netflix watches.

Got 2 episodes of Melo to watch now 😁

Ooh yes please to boatyards list of risque dramas!

Oh sorry hellos list!