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…

Its reassuring to see chatter on the Westminsterenders thread about whether Bercow and Kier Starmer are a bit of alright. We’re not so bad after all, with our appreciation of all the fine young kdrama chaps.

I'd take Park Morgan over Bercow any day!

There’s really no contest. Park Morgan every time.

I tried watching some English language stuff on Netflix earlier. It was so shit even the ripped ML couldn’t hold my interest. I’ve gone back to Behind Your Smile.

What was it boatyard? Was the ripped ML fat strong?

Rookie Historian is really good fun!... Upto ep14!
Need to finish watcher and I think I've got tons of hotel del luna to catch up on! 😊

May try Rookie Historian after Voice as it be bingeable by then.
Think it’s the Hotel del Luna finale this weekend

bettys... It's not going to set your KDrama world on fire... But its good enough!! 😂

Today is the day I finally tackle my holiday laundry mountain so I've decided to put Watcher on while I poottle around. I'll report back once I've tackled the mountain, or if I get bored

hello.... I wish I could do that... I need full attention to read the subs!! 😂... Already put out 2 loads on the line!... 😁😁

I keep meaning to go back to Watcher and will do. There was enough in the story that, combined with Mr Racehorse Legs, it is worth seeing through.

I must have switched the TV off last night without switching off Viki on the AppleTV box, so my Viki watchlist thinks I’ve actually finished Behind Your Smile. Question is: do I let it lie or go back and watch the last 80 mins? It was really silly and I keep wondering why I persevered. It’s nearly 18 hours of my life I could have spent doing something else. I need to get better at letting go early on. What’s the secret to a clean break? Is there a breaking free version of the Boaty shuffle?

The ending was a bit disappointing, so I'd let it lie and revel in your new sound freedom!

boatyard you need to do the Bettys/Bea skippitydoodah or read spoilers to judge a flagging drama 😉 I ffwdd the last ep of Behind Your Smile and don’t think I missed anything in the intervening 15 episodes 🤷‍♀️

Mind you I fell asleep in the first 5 minutes of Eternal Love last night 😳

bettys warning for Eternal Love. It's great but long and slow in parts. I get that world building is necessary but sometimes its just too much!

Yes! I highly recommend a quick spoiler read with half closed eyes... So you don't get the super detail but you get the gist!.. Or... Read reviews as if there's a duff ending.. It's usually mentioned!.. I hate the idea of watching a whole 16 eps (at least!) and then be confronted with a duff ending!.. This is the reason why I haven't watched The Emperor Behind The Mask... On paper it's right up my street... With yo seung ho... And gorgeous hair angel Kim Myung Soo So... Historical... Intrigue etc!... But I fear the ending is not to my liking!...😳

Dramabeans recaps are usually good for confirmation or condemnation! N😂😱

I second Dramabeans 👍

I'm 3 loads of laundry down and I've still not watched Watcher. I put Hwarang on and I think I made the right choice!

Hwarang is 100% more fun than Watcher and has multiple fit men. It was one of the first kdramas I watched and I was a bit confused by some bits. Maybe I need to rewatch it!
I've started Hotel Del Luna but I've been knackered the last few nights so haven't got that far through as I keep falling asleep.

I keep falling asleep in dramas. It’s not good.

Someone asked about the shit English thing I abandoned last night. It was Falling Inn Love (geddit? 🙄) on Netflix - on a par with an average Tdrama with the clunky dialogue, silly music and visible-from-space plotting. Oh, and clichés galore. Even the buff builder can’t save it. However, he takes his shirt off to reveal exceptional musculature in the Netflix trailer so you can cut to the chase without wasting any time on the film.

I've realised I rewatch dramas way too often. Does anyone else rewatch or are you a 'one and done' kind of person?

on a par with an average Tdrama with the clunky dialogue, silly music and visible-from-space plotting. Oh, and clichés galore. Even the buff builder can’t save it.

As you say sounds similar to a tdrama or even a sub-par kdrama, so how come we can sit through those? What's the crucial difference?

Does anyone else rewatch or are you a 'one and done' kind of person?

I have rewatched a couple or bits of, WWWSK springs to mind, but I've only been watching just over a year so am still exploring the back catalogue really.

The Girl Hwrang is bonkers as conkers but great fun and it still has my favourite ending ever ... I also like the soundtrack to Hwrang! ... in fact it's the soundtrack that led me down the life consuming / money burning / children neglecting / husband despairing / youtube rabbit hole of BTS (V (that guy from Hwrang) & Jin (Worldwide Handsome) have a track on this OST)

Does anyone else rewatch or are you a 'one and done' kind of person?

I watch my favourite parts from dramas...
SGBS / WWWSK / Love from another star / W - Two Wolrds - anything with Toasty LJS really! / and ...if only Come and Hug Me was on Netflix or Viki I'd rewatch all the lovely bits in that (amongst all that angst!)

Does anyone else rewatch or are you a 'one and done' kind of person?

Like Betty I’m still fairly new to kdrama so working through the back catalogue. In general, I’m a ‘one & done’ person because my time is finite and I want to get as much in as possible. I’ve stopped re-reading favourite books too because I find I’ve changed in the interim and revisiting has ruined some of my favourite books for me.

I totally get that boatyard I've reread some of my favourite books or watched some of my favourite dramad and realised how terrible the relationships are or how boring the characters are. As I get older, I'm more cynical.