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 autumn colours are lovely, Betty. I was idly wondering if I could go in the autumn instead.

I usually just peel and slice them like an apple, albeit a very honey flavoured one. They were usually Christmas fruits in our house so I'd imagine they're in season November through January-ish? I made the mistake of eating a not quite ripe one before and I swear I can still taste it all these years later.

I just looked them up & Wikipedia says there are ‘astringent’ variants that have a shit ton of tannin*, so are grim until they’re really ripe. Then there are non-astringent (actually much less astringent) varieties which can be eaten from firm right through to soft/very ripe. Sounds like you might have had an astringent one under-ripe.

• I’m paraphrasing here.

Ooooh I like Love Alarm So far, very stylish 👍

I like that the FL is such a strong person. 2ML has more positive qualities than the ML too. But visuals...

Oh yesvisuals....

The autumn colours are stunning. I’m a little confused as to how the alarm actually works ie whether you press it when you like someone or it just goes off automatically (body readings?)
Pacy first episode. I bet there’s a season too though with there being only 8 episodes so the triangle won’t be resolved.

I can see why Netflix might be using a shorter format to try & hook younger viewers if most Korean teens are too busy studying for 12-24 episodes standard format kdrama. I’ve noticed that most of the short format stuff is based on webtoons, which are hugely popular with younger viewers in S Korea & Japan.

Just realised the ML aka the visuals is also in WTDCYN as the young guy from Montenegro

Apparently the first 8 episodes of Love Alarm just cover books 1-3 of the webtoon and there are 7 so far, with the writer planning more.

So it probably will end on a cliffhanger. 😡 On the other hand, perhaps the Netflix approach is better suited to ‘work in progress’ source material. 🤷‍♂️

And how much are we all looking forwards to BWGM? It’s not marked up as the finale. Is it the last one?

I can’t wait! I will be watching minus subs 😉 though as it is the finale they may be quicker this week

It's a 13 episode series unless they do that odd thing where its 13 episodes and a 'special' episode which is actually the last episode.
I'll probably do a bettys and be watching sans subs as well. Although what will fill our BWGM shaped hole?

Up to episode 3 of Love Alarm & enjoying all the surprises that pop up.

Keep refreshing BWGM but still not out yet. Anyone know what series is replacing it on Fridays? I feel that tdrama has the necessary schlockiness for OMGwhyamiwatchingthis that is required for a weekly thread discussion.

I feel that tdrama has the necessary schlockiness for OMGwhyamiwatchingthis that is required for a weekly thread discussion.

Agreed. There’s also the frisson that the modernity-meets-70’s-sexism/sexual mores creates. Watching Tdrama makes me feel like a bad feminist, but I find I can’t stop watching in open-mouthed amazement.

But wanging on about all the pretty oppas makes a bad feminist too. Two wrongs don’t make a right and objectification is objectification. God, I feel so conflicted.

I had the ultimate 'mouth hanging open, what is this' moment watching a Japanese film last night. It was a high school film and this guy just walked up, grabbed the FL face and tried to 'sexily' bite her ear! And she liked it!

I looked up reviews and it was full of young women saying they'd love a man like that and that this was real romance. My feminist heart nearly stopped.

mydramalist.com/33115-all-is-well That's the drama that's due to follow BWGM on Taiwanese TV. Whether it'll also be on Viki isn't clear.

Although we definitely need a Friday night drama. I need more shocked monologues in my life!

I looked up reviews and it was full of young women saying they'd love a man like that and that this was real romance. My feminist heart nearly stopped.

I suppose this is where 50 shades of grey and the ready availability of porn has got us to, when being grabbed out of nowhere and bitten counts as tame enough to be a romantic overture. 🙄 /feminist harrumph

Back to normal service...

Betty - How are you getting on with WTDCYN? I find it OK, but I’m not loving it, in spite of JKH. I can’t put my finger on why, though it seems to taking an age to really get going. I like the FL’s character, but I’m finding lots of the other characters a bit one dimensional and story rather thin.

I am very excited about more Melo episodes dropping over the weekend.

boatyard I agree about WTDCYN. I find myself trying hard to be enthusiastic but I notice it’s the last one I catch up on. It is improving though, I think the story is missing something as JKH etc are pulling out all the stops. Currently of the midweek/weekend on air dramas the urgency to watch for me is BWGM, Melo, Hotel, WTDCYN. I’m enjoying I Wanna Hear YOur sOng but no one else is watching 😩 so can’t discuss. After the Watcher finale I’ll see what the opinion is & may catch up with that.

hello I’m not sold on that description, but will give it a go if Viki airs it

Oh my! Check out the ‘coming soon’ section on Viki. Him off Black has a new show starting next week (The Great Show). 🥂💃🏻

bettys I'm not sold either. I do hope something pops up that we all love though. Isn't Hotel del Luna pretty close to finishing too?

I started sifting through the Taiwanese section on Viki for a replacement for BWGM. Have a look at Bromance. Or does it need to be screening weekly to get the full ‘live monologue’ effect?

Oh my God. The Tdrama section is gold. I’m going on descriptions only, but Fated to Love You has potential.