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…

Gentle hugs for Betty & a pint of beer so you can upgrade to a somaek(소맥)...

Bea - the Esquire shots in that Soompi link are useless! Where are KYK’s legs? Why only shoot from the waist up? Why?

OOOOOoohh top idea boatyard there is beer in t'fridge, although soju is plum oh who cares? There is a great soju bomb lineup in Doctors.

Agree there is a shortage of racehorse evidence but I am looking forward to the film nonetheless .

Apparently the somaek ‘golden ratio’ is 70% beer:30% soju.

I am sure the film will include his lovely long legs, especially if he’s at “action school” brushing up on his martial arts.

Also, based on my experience of some Canadian craft beers brewed with fruit, plum soju should be good.

I shared the link before properly perusing!... And yes!... Where oh where are those legs?!. Whey? Whey? No legs! 🤔😂

Speaking of legs! 🤣💜🤣💜

Legs galore!!💜💜

Reporting back on the beer + plum soju - not half bad 😉👍🍺

Betty - DH had such a crap day at work he’s got CBeebies’ Sleepy Sounds on in the kitchen while he clears away after dinner. I have to hand it to him - it is very soothing. Gentle meandering folk music, bedtime stories, ambient plinky plonky muzak...

It’s on BBC Sounds in case anyone else needs to soothe frayed nerves. 😌

Lol!! Sounds very soothing! The soju is helping I must admit. Have also recently discovered the delights of frozen grapes which go very well with said soju, and am going to watch Tale of Nokdu in hope of random abs

Frozen grapes! What a brilliant idea.

We had them in a restaurant recently as part of the cheese course - have taken to keeping some in the freezer to stop myself from eating ice cream

Tales of Nokdu went 0 to 100 pretty fast. Kang Tae Oh has a range that I never fully appreciated.

It does make me feel sorry for Lee Tae Hwan and Yoo Il. You hear about Gong Myung, Seo Kang Joon and Kang Tae Oh quite frequently but the other members of their actor-band project group thing never seem to be noticed. It must be a bit sad for them.

My mum uses frozen grapes as a way to cool down wine because unlike ice it doesn't dilute it. Although ice in wine strikes me as odd in the first place, however I'm not a wine drinker so I wouldn't know.

I may be entirely biased, but I love these threads. Possibly dangerously close to the unforgivable MN crimes of hun-ing and xxx, but 💕to you all.

Oh that’s sheer genius!!!

Frozen grapes in wine that is

boatyard I must say I'm quite the fan of these threads too. I had a rough couple of days and looking at the thread definitely gave me a smile. I don't think DP will ever understand my explanations of racehorses and ponies though.

I love these threads too 😊

Crikey The Age of Shadows With Mr Sunshine and Gong Yoo is on BBC 4 right now! DH has just said I am ahead of the curve (as indeed all of us on here are)

Blimey! You should have seen how fast I went from horizontal to upright then, Bettys. I’ve just fired up our barely used cable box and hit record. Are the subtitles HUGE on your screen too, or do I need to fiddle with our settings?

Mr Sunshine and Gong Yoo in the same film? Kerching!!!

Age of Shadows has been on my ‘hunt down and watch’ list since August, so it’ll fab its on terrestrial telly.

Gong Yoo is 40 and Lee Byung-Hun is 49. Finally, a proper oppa!

Lee Byung-Hun is 49 What???? No way

Sub titles are big on our screen too

He’s in cracking shape.