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…

I also finished Melo it was ace!

I remember watch that dust up in CitT. It was painful watching the meek FL again. SKJ is better for filling out a bit (in a good way) and looking less gawky teenalike.

I’m only just getting down to my kdrama now - final episode of Melo. I only just finished hunting down a short break for half term. DH’s “anywhere but here, not more than a couple of hour’s drive” was not particularly helpful. 🙄 Have fired off a booking request for somewhere about 3 miles from where we usually stay...

The script meeting is funny. ML’s tactic for ensuring their drama doesn’t tail off is to make it imperfect from the start. 😂

The whole red umbrella thing was ringing bells, but I’m thankful for the translator’s note (Pretty Noona/Something in the Rain parody).

It’s very quiet in here.

I finished Melo last night and particularly liked the clever way they tied up all the loose ends. Was brilliant the whole way through. I gave it 10 stars on Viki. Every one of them deserved. 👌

bettys.... 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Oh how I hate the weak King! (love in the moonlight)! 😡😡😡😡😡😡

Bea I think I know where you’re at 😞

boatyard so was single mum seeing the man giving her a lift all along? Was he from the club night?

I cracked open a bottle of makgeolli tonight & I can’t decide if I like it or not. Wasn’t expecting the fizz. I’ll have to have another bowl to be sure....

I’ll have to have another bowl to be sure....

It would be silly not to. I bought a 4th bottle today when I popped in for kimchee. It’s a regular fixture here now.

I like Tunnel. There are so many faces I recognise, I think all my hard work of the last 18 months is paying off. 😆

The arrogant Police Academy guy is so going to be his son. Right?

Errrrrr have another go

The young woman who just took his taxi at the mental hospital and offered to pay his fare?

The woman from My Fellow Citizens?

Yes! Am I really crap at this game?

🤣🤣

I have just answered my own question that no one else did about who was the guy who was dating the single mum at the end of Melo by scrolling through the episodes & taking screenshots to compare. It was the guy from the night they went clubbing, who disappeared when she said she was a mum.
I’m such a nerd about this stuff. Jury is still out on the makgeolli

Just been catching up on Camellia which I'm still enjoying. Looking forward to Vagabond tomorrow and shirtless Lee Seung-gi, and also the first episode of My Country and shirtless Woo Do Hwan.
Then Melting Me Softly and my current binger Signal and Tale of Nokdu oooh there's a lot of good stuff at the moment

bettys you're doing all the hard work for us, I just assumed he was some nice young man she'd met else where.

I think I would've liked her to end up with Jae Hoon but I'm satisfied either way. I really liked it! I gave it 10 too. Will it make it into everyone's top dramas of 2019 though?

Bea what is Tiktok and do I need to get it? I lost half an hour the other day watching random chicken noodle dances, none as good as the maknae line-up

hello It'll be in my top ten for 2019, maybe I need to categorise by year as well in my list.
Where do you give stars on Viki? Do you have to leave a review to do that?

Betty - my third and final guess of tge evening: his missing namesake has been transported back to 1986 and shares his name because he is his son! 👐 I’m convinced if I keep trying I’ll crack it eventually. 😆

For some reason I always fall behind on the Netflix series so I should probably start those first.

Currently on the go I have The Running Mates, Graceful Family and Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency for Korean dramas. The World Owes Me a First Love, See You Again, Yong-Jiu Grocery Store and Prodigy Healer for Mandarin dramas and I'm dipping in and out of Japanese web dramas when I need a break.

hellos question of the day; if you have multiple dramas on the go, how do you decide which ones you watch next. do you pick the most recently released, the one you're most interested in or just whichever one you see first?