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 have finished up Doctors with plum soju and frozen grapes. It is going on to my favourites list I think, as the relationship between ML & FL is just so lovely.

I’m struggling to stay engaged with Vagabond when the action moves back to boring old NIS/Blue House/Janet & John (sic) shenanigans. More LSG doing parkour and judo pls.

Start Doctors boatyard, it is v v enjoyable and has made me feel better about BlackKnight’s crap ending

Was Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency in or out for the list? Seems like views are equivocal...

I think it's a 'maybe next time' one personally. The more I think about it, the more it's too up in the air.

OK, it’ll keep. The rate we are getting through threads, it won’t be a long delay.

Yes, probably better to wait until Flower Crew is finished. There is a very funny tongue in cheek scene in ep 11 where v tall matchmaker is teaching mean girl 2FL how to throw a positively phallic pot with a nod to Ghost

Relaxing post night shifts with Doctors , I have just seen some excellent soju bombs 😁. In the same episode the FL is wearing the most awful dress. It's like a shoulderless shirt over a baggy sleeved dress. Obviously she is still v beautiful but it looks horrible.

www.sweetnara.com/doctors-park-shin-hye-fashion-luxury-chic-surgeon-style/

It's all super expensive designer gear though 😲

That is truly ghastly

I wish I had all that money to blow on hideous clothes!

Vagabond... EP 11... Awww! A teeny tiny bit of romantic comedy in amongst all the skullduggery and treachery!... It's very welcome and sweet! 😍😍😍😊

Bea, yes!! I am skippitying through Vagabond & only watch the bits with Lee Seung-Gi, the chicken shop and David & Maddie assassin duo

Evening all.

A friend has recommended this Japanese series currently available on iplayer:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0009dzp/girihaji It’s a crime series, with action split between London and Japan.

Bettys... David and Maddie! 😂😂😂😂

Love the awkward spooning in Vagabond. 😆

Anyone catch the documentary on Kpop industry on Bbc4 last night... Caught the 2nd half! Thought it was on at 10.30... It was on at 9.30!... A fairly decent report..and no... I didn't squeal when they mentioned BTS....

I did!.... 😱😳😳😳

I didn’t see it, but it sounds interesting. Is it suitable to watch with an 11 year old in the room?

Yes!... It covers a lot with SM... Not so much BigHit... I suspect they don't need the publicity 😂😂.. whereas SM are very much heavily promoting SuperM at the moment! 🤣🤣...

Reporter made a very good point about the criticism in the west about the trainee idol system... Although there are issues with it... How is it any different from kids getting trained in football academies...? 👏👏...

Also appearance of you tubers nikki and Sammy (who actually asked me to take part in one of their YouTube vids focusing on the more aged BTS fans! 😂😂😳... I politely declined! 🤣😱) who made another good point about how amazing bts sold out 2 nights at Wembley and yet not much reported in the English press... Nor any radio play! If it had been Adele.. It would have been everywhere! 👏👏👏👍... Sorry for the rant!.. I think I'm full blown ARMY now!

And to answer your question boatyard... Oh yes! Very suitable viewing! 👍👍

Wow! Vagabond really picking up! Ep 12 is exhausting!! And now I have to wait till next week! Arrrrgghh!! Think it might have to go on the list!! 👍😂😂

Yeah, what a rollercoaster! I liked the older sniper complaining about his knees slowing him down when he was trying to get up the stairs at the port. 😆

Bea I supposed the gripes with the trainee system are two/three fold.
Some of these idols are trainees from young ages, lots of idols have 7+ years of trainee days before they debut at age 20. Most of them travel away from their families and enter dorms that are over capacity. There's been stories about current idols who were taught breathing exercises by having basket balls thrown off their stomach while they were doing crunches In the case of The East Light, their managers just straight up physically assaulted them and they were 15/16. So you never know what's going to happen during your training because the process isn't publicly disclosed.

The debt is never ending and you start paying it back when you debut so it can be years and years before people see a penny. The company makes costs add up in a weird way too. The company wants you to learn japanese and you know a Japanese teacher who works at a discounted rate? Shame because you can't use them, you've got to use this really expensive one and all that debt gets added to your list. Popular idols have gone years preforming before even getting their first paycheck just because of how much debt they end up with.

Back in the days of the TVXQ/JYJ lawsuit, contracts were horrendous like 13+ year stints that you were locked into from a young age. After their court case, it ended up being something like a maximum of 7 years that companies could offer. My points are a bit muddled and badly explaines but the gripes people have are usually the debt, nature of training and contract length.

I don't know much about football academies but if they took kids away from their families, shackled them with a load of debt with a miniscule chance of making it big, I think we'd all be rightly annoyed at the system too.

that was supposed to say 'I suppose'. I can't spell today for love, nor money.

Is the idol programme on iPlayer?

I have started watching Giri/Haji the BBC Japanese co-production and just had to pause and say how much I like the Yakuza gangsters asking for slippers when they turn up at the cops house!