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…

So true. I was just stirring dinner thinking what lovely eyes he has. 😂

Whoops! Sorry!! 😱😳😳😳... I diiiid say "supposedly" though!... 😂😂😂

On ep 6 of Hit The Top and really into it now, very much enjoying the nonsense & music & dancing.

I have a question about Korean colloquialisms - the ML is nicknamed ‘Thumbs Up’ as if this is an outdated thing from 1993....would that be like us saying ‘Ace’ or ‘Brill’?
And on my insta feed on translate I get a lot of I’m going to the middle of the day - does anyone have a better translation for that? Or even the original gist of it?

I was having another look at Ahn Bo Hyun’s insta feed (naturally). He is so muscley. Also not bothered about posting slightly blurry & wonky amateurish photos, which I rather like him for. 😆

what's the original hangul for the 'I'm going to the middle of the day' or even just an insta post with it in? i rarely use translate functions now, so haven't noticed it.

Melo is so lovely. It feels cruel to only have 2 hours a week. I liked the way the scene in the fancy restaurant panned out. The crazy director looks promising in the preview for next week.

hello here's one from Jisung's feed; the last phrase translates as 'I'm going to go to the middle of the day'

"I watched Shirano's love story that actor Lee Kyu Hyung was in. Thanks Kyu Hyung. Shirano's love story 😭😭" no idea what Shirano's love story is unfortunately.

Sorry, I meant the last thing that Jisung writes translates as 'I'm going to the middle of the day'. I have no idea who rnjs28 is (but I am very impressed that you can translate so effortlessly)

That's what the black writing in the caption says. Sorry I should've been clearer. The hash tags are all names and I didn't even read the comment so no idea on that. I've no idea where it's got middle of the day from but it's not mentioned anywhere in there.

the 😭 was just the closest English equivalent to ㅠㅠ

Well I’m baffled! This is how it translates in my phone

Oops

thats really odd! maybe it's smashing up some of the hashtags to make 하루 or 정오 which are 'day' and 'midday' respectively? id love to know who does Instagrams translate function though, because it's clearly not working.

Thanks for checking it out hello, I thought i was missing something obvious but it was just bad translation then or some weird algorithm thingy 🤷‍♀️

I was having another look at Ahn Bo Hyun’s insta feed (naturally). He is so muscley. Also not bothered about posting slightly blurry & wonky amateurish photos, which I rather like him for. 😆
Me too Boatyard! 😂😂😂

I've been inspired to check out ABH's Instagram. It's quite a delight. He's quite lovely isn't he.

not bothered about posting slightly blurry & wonky amateurish photos, which I rather like him for

Of course he could just be crap at taking photos

I wasn't going to follow him - I'm already following quite a few and have had to create a separate feed for them - but the shots of him and his dad and friends are really sweet

Of course he could just be crap at taking photos

This was my point really. Some other insta feed feel quite deliberate and curated. I really like that his is a total mash-up of work and family/friends. His cast pics of HPL cast and crew are a joy, for example - plentiful, candid and fun.

Also, he’s not shy about those lovely abs. Hubba hubba. 😆

Super curated Instagram feeds put me right off. Outside of anything serious, that and bad tattoos are the only things that make me wince a bit when it comes to famous people; Korean or otherwise.

I have succumbed and I am following him, I admit I like the random nature of his pics, it's like a stream of consciousness (and he has a cute smile...and abs). I'm currently also enjoying Jasper Liu's IG feed as it is equally random and features Lee Seung Gi as they are filming together.

Tuesday question: Who is your favourite to follow on IG?

I'm currently also enjoying Jasper Liu's IG feed as it is equally random and features Lee Seung Gi as they are filming together.

I just said to DH “I’m going to have to join instagram!”

Wot, you don’t already have it? 😱😱 It’s essential

I’m basically a bit of a tin-foil hatter with regards to social media platforms and tread lightly. I also keep home and work separate as much as I can. If I join IG will it raid my address book and link me to all my friends, family and colleagues. I’d quite like my oppa obsession to stay vaguely hidden from view. I have a burner Outlook account I could use...

There’s a great dorky photo on Jasper Liu’s feed that I’ll screen grab and paste for posterity.