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…

Bea it’s all good don’t worry you can watch it safely 👍🤣😎

Finished.
No Spoilers.But. It did not disappoint! All the characters were marvellous
Going to miss this one...

Bea, it's only sad for a little bit near the end I promise!

The Girl, really good

My cat will be pleased when that chatty cat is off my screen. She keeps looking for the other cat in the room, she hates other cats!

😍

I am delighted to see all the love on the thread for BTIMFL. Can we give it some extra stars when we start the next thread? I love it so much.

It should have the maximum amount of stars allowed!🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Still unsure of Black Knight, only really watching it as I’m waiting for Flower Crew & Nokdu

Huzzah!!! Thank You Ladies.... ! Will line it up for the next watch....!

BTIMFL is the ultimate first drama to get you hooked. I think it's definitely deserving of all the stars.

I've started another drama and it has a rich CEO who's being a bit cold but has yet to grab the FL and treat her like a piece of meat. Strangely enough it started out with the CEO liking her and her not realising or caring so maybe thats why he's nicer? Although I'm only 2 episodes in so it might all change.

BTIMFL was the second kdrama I watched on Viki after Goblin. Just those two made me feel my annual subscription was worthwhile, let alone all the good stuff I’ve watched since.

Is it just me that wishes Viki had 'Next Episode in 5' and skip intro buttons? I've been spoiled by Netflix. Although I also wish viki went back to second by second scrubbing rather then skip forward or back 10 seconds. Maybe I'm just a picky soul.

Is it just me that wishes Viki had 'Next Episode in 5' and skip intro buttons?

Nope. Me too.

Ahh just finished BTIMFL. Very satisfying ending. Super lovely!
It should have all the 🌟 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Kim Young Kwang is such a dork in TSLOMS that he is, indeed, adorable. I’m enjoying it far too much - really, at my age I should be watching earnest drama and eschewing fluff like this, but its so cheering right now.

I must admit that I like SLofmyS more than WWWSK and Kim Young Kwang with his racehorse legs and curly mouth and comedy chops has superseded PSJ

Veronica Park in the sparkly blue cocktail dress and the blue whiplash neck collar, complete with massive velvet bow, is quite the look.

Boatyard! I thought you'd already seen SLOMS! 😂 bettys !! Superceded WWWSK!!?... I think I'll always love sec Kim as it was the beginning of my kdrama addiction! 😂

I’ve got about 7 x 30 min episodes of SLOMS to go. Everything’s gone a bit tits up. I wish I didn’t have to go to work this morning, as I need answers!

Bea I will always have a soft spot for Sec Kim & Vice-Chairman as it was also one of my early kdramas, but I've watched so many since then it has slipped in the rankings

Going against the grain maybe but I didn't really like SLomS. I think I watched it at a weird time and managed to pick out all the worst bits without appreciating it at all. Maybe I should try again and see if it's better now?

ML did start out being objectionable in SLOMS and, if we are to follow the Relationships board advice to watch how a man treats waitresses etc, he treats Veronica much more respectfully than Sec Jeong. He only starts to treat her better when he becomes dependent on her and the power dynamic shifts.

I am just popping on to say how much I am LOVING Extraordinary You (dramafast)

And also Tale of Nokdu (vIKI) which is very generous in its casual use of bare-chestedness

Tale of Nokdu is brilliant. I'm enjoying the oddness of it all. It's not often you see a man pretending to be a woman.

I'm getting there with Extraordinary You but it's taking some time. I think I've got so many good dramas on the go that it's falling through the cracks.

I have the “too many on the go” problem, especially now I am trying to balance several currently airing shows with ~3 boxsets. I have surprised myself with how flighty I’ve become. I spent most of my life being a linear one book at a time reader and that was my early boxset approach. These days I’m all about the Boaty Shuffle, books and TV. I feel my ability to concentrate isin gradual decline.