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…

I loved Prison Playbook! If you haven't watched Strong Woman Bong Soon then that is very silly and funny. Either would be a good distraction from work.
My kdrama watching has definitely ramped up in the last 6 months because my work is super stressful. I'm trying to block it out via the medium of fit men, good stories and having to read subtitles.

I second Strong Woman Do Bong Soon its something special! There's definitely more laughing and smiles than anything else plus two alright looking men. What's not to love?

I'm trying to block it out via the medium of fit men, good stories and having to read subtitles.

Works for me TheGirl!!
If you want something bonkers Aesops try The Last Empress on Viki. Addictive & mad as a box of frogs, it is about a modern day royal family with arranged marriages, mistresses, eeeeeeevil MILs , murder & mayhem. Very good fun and with the mighty fine Choi Jin Hyuk although you have to wait a few episodes for home to appear 😉

Does anyone have any good psychological thrillers? I watched Love Me If You Dare which is a Chinese drama and have yet to find a Korean drama that comes close to how well done that was. It's been 4 years and I've yet to find a thriller that got me like that one did.

Him not home🙄

I'm still here!! Loving "Be Melo" too - these slice-of-life dramas always get me.

helloswellow Have you watched Heartless City? It's a few years old but very good!

Betty and I enjoyed Heartless City (Viki). It’s dark, but compelling.

Hi there 242 !

Melo is my fave at the mo can’t understand why the ratings aren’t better 🙁

Did you watch Come & HUg Me hello ?
Or The Guest ?

I've watched it but I was disappointed with the ending, I don't know what I expected but it didn't quite feel right for me

Melo is my fave at the mo can’t understand why the ratings aren’t better

We all have Viki subscriptions, right? We could be giving higher scores.

Ooh bettys Come and Hug Me will be started tonight! I'm hoping it fills my psychological thriller itch.

Rewatching ep 3&4 Melo now the subs are 98% done & enjoying even more on the 2nd viewing. The relationship between So Min (bratty actress/celeb) and her manager is intriguing, not least the weird feeder thing. There does seem to be a mutual caring, or perhaps co-dependency. I also think this is unusual for having an openly gay relationship. I love their male housemate’s sardonic humour.

I'm warming to the arrogant director, I like the randomness of him growing tomatoes.
And what he said after singing the song (which he did well). In fact I thought the whole guitar thing was hilarious as I'd assumed it was imaginary , but no!

I rewatched that scene in the cafe carefully & I think the guitar does disappear and reappear from shot, because there shots from different angles and it isn’t there. 😄

I think she pulls it out & puts it away again, at one point he asks where it is. It s quite surreal. I’m going to watch it again 😆

I’m sure its deliberate, as both writers are directors and would notice improbable scenes in other shows. I quite like the insights into all the behind the scenes cray-cray. The impossible star demands and the starving actresses definitely feel like they are drawn from personal experience. On that note, the props woman with the son looks painfully thin. I really want So Min’s manager to take her to the soup & rice restaurant to feed her up too.

Do we think they did it? I think they did it. Loved how they got teased by their friends

Lol he asks where the guitar keeps appearing from! And when the boss writer & CEO catch sight of them from the corridor the guitar is in her lap and the CEO asks what she is doing with a guitar 🤣🤣

hello... Come and Hug Me is epic! I think it could be one of my top 5!... It's tense! Angsty and heartbreaking!!... I loved it! 💜 👍

aesops strong girl bong soon is bonkers as conkers but has one of the most endearing cute fluffy romances ever! I'm convinced Park Hyung Sik was head over heels with Park Bo Young! 😂 😂

Totally!! You can practically see the hearts falling out of his eyes, he was besotted. Park Bo Young is so cute though - I loved her in Oh My Ghostess where Jo Jung Suk was similarly smitten. The behind-the-scenes footage was hilarious as he was literally unable to continue acting when she was full on aegyo.

The divorce between AJH and GHS is getting very messy already. She lied her way into his rented flat and went through his phone while he was asleep and recorded herself doing it! If you're going to commit a crime, surely you don't film yourself doing it?

Uh oh! Sounds like it will run & run....

Thanks all

Finished work and got house to myself now all eve for an epic binge

Just starting Strong girl Bong-Soon
^
I have noodles for dinner this eve^

I hope you are planning to crack an egg into those noodles and do it properly, Aesops.