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…

The reveal of sunbae Jo Yoo Joon’s boyfriend in Watcher was great. I was “hell yes! Let’s get this party started!”

I'm almost done with Watcher!... Phew! It's all over the place!... Who's the good guy? Who's the bad guy! Glad you've been caught Boatyard!! 😂

Not watched last ep of hotel luna yet!... But... Subs are up!!
Kim soo Hyun (my love from another star... Literally! 😂 😂) makes cameo (first appearance since leaving military) and he looks 😱😱😱😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍.... Soooo looking fwd to seeing how they end it! It's been perfectly lovely!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Kim Soo Hyun... Definitely Race Horse paddock! 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎

I am sobbing my way through last ep of Hotel and have had to pause & go get a hankie (but it's all good so far)

As long as its good sobbing bettys!! 😍😍😍😍

It’s very cathartic sobbing, the room manager & bellboys stories had me in floods 😢. The cameo at the end is fab btw

woo hoo! am looking fwd to my evening of sobbing.... i'll get the tissues in!!!!!

You need to watch right through the titles. Kim Soo Hyun looking gooooood!

Just waiting for DS to take his nap then I'll be settling in to watch it. I've got no tissues close so here's hoping I don't cry too much.

I'm looking forward to kim soo hyuns return to drama! He's the most devastatingly beautiful crier ever!! 😂 😂

Omg! You know I blub at all dramas! 😭😭😭😭... Looking fwd to it! 😍😍😍

Just as Kim Soo Hyun returns to dramas. Gu Hye Sun has announced her retirement from the industry after her book of essays is published.

After waiting forever to get DS down for a nap he woke up 30 minutes into the final episode of Hotel del Luna so I've been left hanging til I can finish it tonight.

Gu Hye Sun... yes i read about it this morning.... it's all a little sad at how it's been played out in public... don't think neither is the innocent party but it definitely could have been handled better...

Bea every time I've seen them on TV, she's always the one gushing over him. It must be a lonely life. Shortly after they started dating she started stopping all her drama appearances too. All a bit weird if you ask me.

I finally watched the final episode! I blubbed like a baby. My favourite line ever uttered in a drama has got to be 'I'm a pizza shop owner, not a gynaecologist.'

The Kim Soo Hyun cameo got me. Its like they were hinting that there going to be more but I know its unlikely. I did enjoy it though.

Very busy day here, no chance of a binge. I am falling behind. 🤷‍♂️

hello... I know what you mean... I can't say much as who knows what happens behind closed doors?... However their documentary... To me... Gave a bad hint when they stated he liked the city life and had left his seoul apartment to live in the remote country house with all her dogs!!!...
But... They did seem to be very much into each other... I feel bad for both of them!...

Dd watching an ep of Hwrang!.. 😂... Then I'm going to get me box of tissues ready in preparation to check into the Hotel... For the last time! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

who knows what happens behind closed doors?
Absolutely. Perhaps it was an infatuation that should have run its normal course without the marriage bit, but kdrama stars aren't allowed to even date let alone live with each other. She does come across badly though, whether his career will suffer remains to be seen.

I have been dipping back in to Pinocchio and what a delight to have 2 racehorses in the paddock! Toasty LYS and Kim Young Kwang. Also have just realised the dad is the barman from Hotel.

Can recommend Gogh the Starry Night (Viki) for a 4 hour binge watch of light but nice office romance. It was filmed just after Pinocchio and has lots of the stars from that doing cameos in it. And Kim Young Kwang in tight racehorse jeans.

I’ve managed a single bloody episode of Watcher today. That’s all. 😞 Just finished ep 12, which included the big confrontation in the gym (being deliberately vague). I can’t really work out how they’re going to fill another 4 episodes, but I’m back to feeling uneasy about who the good guys & bad guys are. So many twists & turns!

Hotel Del luna... Reader! I sobbed! Mostly at the tying up of loose ends of stories! It was truly lovely!
I think there maybe a second season! Kim Soo Hyun at the end!.❤️🥰😍❤️.. Flippin eck!! Oh my my my! The military has done him good! That was the most handsome reveal I've ever witnessed! Hoo boy!!
bettys... 😂😂😂. Only just twigging Scholar Kim is the dad in Pinnochio! 😂 😂

boatyard the "who is the bad guy?" twists are right up to the end!

I’m resigned to the fact it could still be Seo Kang Ju’s character’s boss. 🤷‍♂️

Currently watching the BBC Parliament channel. The current chaos is playing havoc with my kdrama viewing. 😞

I've got no dramas in today. We've had no running water since 3AM. We've got some bottled water but I never realised how much washing up and wet cloths I use with a 10 month old. Or how much we use the loo!