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…

A brief synopsis for the new Netflix ones - basically because I should be prepping for an extremely busy day tomorrow but instead I am faffing about on here

Signal - haven't seen it but all reviews are excellent. Messages from past linking two detectives in a case

Tunnel - Mighty Fine Choi Jin Hyuk as a policeman from the 80s in modern day

The K2 - GRRR JCW as an extremely fit skilled bodyguard. Top visuals, story drags IMO

Cheese In The Trap - Park Hae-Jin, Kim Go Eun & Seo Kang Joon in story of awkward love. Opinions very divided on this one

Chicago Typewriter - Typewriter from when Japan occupied Korea provides reincarnation flashbacks & solves a mystery. V good.

The Liar and his Lover - Music based. Title makes no sense whatsoever unless I missed something as I got impatient & skipped to the end.

Ugh I really should go work now...and not start Signal ...

The Liar and his Lover was 16 episodes that could've been made into 1 good movie. It was a good movie, the original Japanese movie was alright. I don't see why they had to stretch it out so far.

Aaand relax!!! Night shifts done. Time to lie on the couch for the afternoon. I'm watching ep 15 of Melo which is ace. The photos the shouty director sent 😂

The Girl I've developed a fondness for shouty director, he's also in Matrimonial Chaos which has been on my 'to watch' list for ages, and apparently Designated Survivor

Bettys.... The K2!!!! The K2!!!! on netflix .... so i can fast fwd to the good bots without encountering boobage!!! .... ooops... I mean rewatch and really take note of the story????

(the story is absolute pants and FL is horribly infuriating... as are all the main leads (excpet GRRR JCW of course!).... it really is an odd drama....

.... and the choral womens warbling as background music is really really really distracting.... and not in a good way! ....

I should love it as it's got full on action Ji Chang Wook full of menace/brooding and angst... but it just doenst work! Really thing both female leads very grating! argh! such a waste!!!!!

The Girl I've developed a fondness for shouty director - extremely broad shoulders and kind to orphans, what's not to love???

I've taken a short break from Korean dramas for the afternoon to have some Japanese in the background. Purely for studying reason, of course. I'm getting really annoyed with how easy these women fold and take whatever men do. He kissed another woman? Oh well. He wants to keep our relationship secret and hes openly trying it on with other women? Isn't being secretive sexy! I want to shake some sense into them and teach them the proper form for a good right hook.

Oh why did I start watching Signal? Wae? Wae?

hello whatever you’re watching it sounds infuriating 😡

It's one of those ten a penny college/university web series. I watch them because they use relatively simple language so it's good practice but they're infuriating.

Yep the epic shower scene in The K2 is still there (ep 4, 37mins in to save scrolling)

Must have been a mare in post-production. Someone must have the unblurred footage somewhere

.... Oh what have you been doing at work today?
.... I've been blurring out Ji Chang Wook's dangly bits!

... Back to live love in the moonlight... Oh I hope the three ML all survive and live happily ever after!
And all the female leads!... Except the horrible Queen!! Pah!

Oh the Queen is just vile !!!

Call out for boatyard! Mighty fine CJH is in Tunnel!

Squeeeee! Exciting news. Thanks Betty.

Also, I just want to say how good it is to have Watching advising us about gaps.

Watching - I also saw your post on the orphanage tourism thread & thought it was useful context, as the number of orphanages/orphans in kdrama had been puzzling me. Are you OK if I repost it here for the Addicts?

It needs pointing out that I commented on shouty director’s awesome manly shoulders over a week ago & therefore I get first dibs.

I'm drawn to Jin Joo's ex boyfriend although I can't tell you why. Just something about him I guess.

In terms of best pub company, the ML director in Melo really floats my boat. He’s funny, clever and knows how to cook tasty Korean food. I can imagine him being a lot of fun. Jin Joo’s ex is a bit earnest for me, plus he doesn’t lead. Jin Joo asked him out, the drama got offered to him... Give me the homely director any day.

I imagine they'd make a good team though. Don't think I'd want either of them on my pub quiz team though. Documentary director FL and shouty director would be my first pick for pub quiz nights.

I think I want to be documentary director FL but without the dead boyfriend. He could either still be alive or just have shouty director. Either would be fine.

Most definitely! I could do without the tragic back story but she is such a wonderful character.

Also rather drawn to Min Joon, especially since he nailed the arcade dance machine

Oh yes, Min Joon’s arcade dance was strangely compelling.

Has anyone else spotted My Country in the Netflix coming soon tab? It’s there!