MsLatte’s Daebak Cybercafé (kdrama addicts #9)

[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 AmazonPrime and search engine-accessible content available on shady non subscription streaming sites (listed as ‘alt site’ below). The subtitling on alternative sites is variable in quality and the pop-ups can be adult themed...

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, alt site)
Live (Netflix)
Pride & Prejudice (Netflix)*
Prison Playbook (Netflix)*
Suspicious Partner (Netflix)*
Watcher (Viki)*

Historical/Period drama (“sageuk”)
Crowned Clown (Viki)
Mr Sunshine (Netflix)
Rookie Historian (Netflix)

Romance - lighter & fluffier
1% of Something (Viki)
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)*
Morning Call (Netflix - Japanese)
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)**
Melo is my Nature (Viki)/Be Melodramatic (alt sites)**
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
Absolute Boyfriend (Viki)
Are You Human (Netflix)
Goblin (Viki)*
I am not a Robot (Netflix)
Legend of the Blue Sea (Viki/Netflix)
Love O2O (Viki - Chinese)
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)
Before We Get Married (Viki -Taiwanese)
Hwarang (Viki/Netflix)
The Last Empress (Viki)
Sassy Go Go (Netflix)

Mad as a box of frogs/uncategorisable
Strong Girl Bong Soon (Netflix)

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 (JCW) 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…

With a nod to the Westminterenders here’s some kdrama idol instagram kitties for the roads.

Yay!! 👏👏 Here we go here we go here we go!

I know whose those kitties are 😉

If you click on the image, I loaded the whole screenshot. Could be a fun new game though: whose abs? 😆

A snap of my own floofy dog (veering off topic only slightly)

Your dog sounds adorable hello

Whose arms are these?

(You've probably seen this one)

Easy peasy! HH KJW. I don’t even need to check.

HIs badass cat is as recognisable in this context as him.

More tricky maybe

I don’t know that dog or recognise the human’s chin.

It's Sung Soon

Hoon!!!

I might have to borrow your dog bettys I have no good pictures of out fluff ball but here she is excited by some snow.
I sometimes feel bad for the pets of actors, they must get a little busy at times and not have the energy to run around with their dogs or play with their cats. I assume its just another fact of life for famous people though.

Aw so pretty! And cute, I love seeing dogs play in the snow.

I suspect kdrama pets have a whole array of stylists & walkers, some of them like PMYs look pretty high maintenance.

Pet stylists in Korea are so impressive. They manage to get dogs into perfectly spherical poofy shapes. I can barley get mine to sit still for grooming.
Settling into Graceful Family now. I can feel my body relaxing already.

Action scene at the end of Vagabond is very impressive!!

Where is Vagabond?

Ignore me. I just found it on Netflix.

Sometimes the advertising in Korean programs makes me laugh. In Graceful Family there's a scene where Seok Hui's Nike TShirt has a bit of tape over the N so you can't read the brand name properly. They've done this because Nike haven't paid to advertise in the show, but it's so badly done that's its obvious it's Nike.

I'm back to say Graceful Family might possible go straight to top 7 for this year for me. I thought I had it figured out but apparently not!

I’m watching it now. Love the close-up of Picasso

But I had to snigger at Seok Hi’s hat when she goes to see the actress, it looked like a diaphragm or one of those bowls they give you in hospital to be sick in

I must get one for my next special occasion. I'll be the height of fashion with a great accessory that is also useful if I drink too much. It's the Swiss army knife of hats.

🤣🤣 And the stepmothers outfits!!!! Just hysterical even at breakfast she looks like she’s off to a nightclub

I fell asleep half way through Vagabond, so just finished it. It’s really gripping and the action scene at the end was epic. The tragic event was well done too, but so sad. 😞