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…

It's actually Vietnamese Pho Boatyard
I need to hunt out Korean foods as Waitrose pretty sparse on that front

Still going to slurp them

I hope @castieldeansam makes it to this thread! Good Doctor was great if you can suspend your beliefs on savant syndrome. It made for an easy watch though.

Gu Hyesun put out a statement and it included a quote which took me a few minutes to process. 'When asked what I did wrong, he said that I was not sexy and my nipples weren't sexy, therefore he really wants a divorce.'

It must feel horrible to have your relationship disintegrate in public but I'm leaning to a side where I think both sides are just out to hurt the other one. On the other hand if he really wanted a divorce because of her nipples, then that's a new one on me.

Neither of them are going to come out of this well. She comes across as a bit of a loose cannon, and he seems callous. Why would you put that out about nipples? TMI, people are going to be wondering what's wrong with her nipples.

They seemed so loved up at first in Newlywed Diary.......it's going to put more kdrama stars off marrying for sure.

Both of them seem unhinged! I'm still waiting for the juice behind the Song-Song divorce - anyone know?

That’s another couple that got married very quickly. Maybe as they don’t seem to date normally or live together they don’t actually know each other very well before marriage

242 from what I've read the Song-Song divorce was a mutual one and they've decided against telling people why. I respect that and feel they'll both be able to work better because they kept it simple. It works because SHK was doing an event in China not a week after the news broke.

Compare that to AJH who's currently having to deal with netizens trying to get him kicked out of his upcoming drama and GHS who's caused issues talking about her soon to be ex husband lovingly in a broadcast that then had to be reedited in a rush because of the news. If I was a big shot in drama land, I know which people I'd prefer to deal with in future.

Ooh Aesops enjoy the bonkersness!
I'm watching Cheese in the Trap cos I can't wait till the weekend for more Seo Kang-joon 😂. I'm loving it. It's got so many actors from other dramas. It took me a while to recognise the Weightlifting Fairy!
It's also got Park Hae-jin who just seems to play the same character in every drama I've seen him in - an uptight, cold fish type. Has he done any other characters?

TheGirl I really enjoyed Cheese in the Trap, it made a change to have an unsympathetic character as a ML. But yes, Park Hae Jin always seem to play the same type

Another switch for me, just finished episode 3 of Melo. It's great and I'm going to regret it in the morning when alarm goes off but going in for a 4th

It’s very entertaining Aesops &, lets face it, it would be hard to down tools after the way ep 3 ends!

It appears I'm confined to my bed today. So it can only mean one thing, Come and Hug Me marathon! I'll report my thoughts back but I'm pretty sure I'll love it if Bea and bettys do.

Be sure to have a pack of tissues at hand and a soothing comforting drink!
I think it's lovely! And completely gripping! 👍👍👍😍😍😍❤️👌

I think you'll get drawn right in hello, it's a great one to binge as the momentum keeps going.

Plus, Love Alarm has just landed on Netflix. It has the FL from Radio Romance who I'm currently watching in Bring It On, Ghost (which is ok, it's sort of a filler while I wait for subs on Viki). Slightly concerned that there are only 8 eps of Love Alarm & Netflix being what they are they might do a cliffhanger/2nd season stunt.

So that could be another one to binge if you're stuck in bed for the day.

I remembered another adopted kdrama habit because DS1 is feeling unwell today - checking for a fever by placing one of my hands on his forehead and my other hand on mine.

I do that boatyard I swear it works better! DP thinks I'm a loon when I do it.

DS2 working through the LOTR/Hobbit films over the holidays on a feckin’ loop is seriously cramping my kdrama viewing. 🙄

Love Alarm looks interesting. All I need is for my own tricksy little hobbit to go to bed....

I’ve started Love Alarm and ML is another lanky racehorse. His first day at school makes me think anyone even remotely beautiful would disable it fairly quickly because the notifications are so damned annoying. Also a creepers charter for men to ping attractive young women.

Has it passed the boatyard 10 minute test?

Oh yes, and then some. If anyone else gets round to watching, are the eye-catching orange fruits on the overhanging tree in the alley scene persimmons? My eye was drawn to them repeatedly, which was probably not intended at all.

Found the ML’s attitude a bit uncomfortable towards the end of that episode if I’m honest, but it’ll hopefully pass.

I love persimmons. I should really buy them more often.

Only managed to get to episode 5 of Come and Hug Me but so far I'm firmly in favour of this show. It's gripping and perfectly paced! It's got just the right amount of creepy in it too.

I think the ML’s family mansion in Love Alarm may be the same house that was used as the writer’s house in Chicago Typewriter. Be interested to hear if any of you agree.

What do you do with a persimmon? I’ve never had one, but the Chinese supermarkets round here sell them from time to time. Are they in season now?

Am going to take a look at Love Alarm now....