MsLatte’s Daebak Cybercafé (kdrama addicts #10)

[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 Dramabus (non subscription, maybe dodgy) and AmazonPrime. 



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)
Graceful Family (Viki) - potboiler!
Healer (Netflix)*
Heartless City (Viki)

He is Psychometric (Viki)

I Hear Your Voice (Netflix /Viki)

Life on Mars (classy remake of BBC series, Dramafast)

Live (Netflix)

Pride & Prejudice (Netflix)*

Prison Playbook (Netflix)*

Suspicious Partner (Netflix)*
Tunnel (Netflix)



Historical/Period drama (“sageuk”)
Crowned Clown (Viki)
Mr Sunshine (Netflix)
Tale of Nokdu (Viki)



Romance - lighter & fluffier
Beating Again (Netflix)
Coffee Prince (Netflix)
Don’t Dare to Dream (Netflix, or as Jealousy Incarnate on Viki)*
Gogh, The Starry Night (Viki)
*
Happy Once Again (Netflix)
Her Private Life (Viki)*

His Master’s Sun (Netflix)

Love from a Star (Netflix)*

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/Netflix)*
Descendants of the Sun (Viki/Netflix)
Doctors (Netflix)
Fight For My Way (Viki/Drama bus)*

Just Between Lovers (Viki)**
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

Goblin (Viki)*

I am not a Robot (Netflix)
Legend of the Blue Sea (Viki/Netflix)
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)
Hwarang (Viki/Netflix)
The Last Empress (Viki)
Sassy Go Go (Netflix)



Mad as a box of frogs/uncategorisable
Strong Girl Bong Soon (Netflix)


Not Korean but just try it

Regulars occasionally branch out into Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese drama. The Chinese & Taiwanese stuff is much more variable quality-wise, so we’ve noted anything decent here:

Love O2O (Viki - Chinese)
Morning Call (Netflix - Japanese)

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 its possible we 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 think it is just one of those things that doesn't "translate" between cultures.

I was trying to explain to friends recently why my current crushes are men wearing long silk robes with longer hair and more make up than me

An hour in and I'm confused?!
That was soup in the bowl at the initiation not real blood right? The chap who went into jail with him is the actor in SITR?

It's quite deadpan - I think I'm going to like it

Camellia was so good! It's a slow start but has really picked up the pace. I love the lawyer lady!

Aesops no the guy who goes to prison with him in the bus isn't the one from SITR, he turns up later

Yes it was soup

As predicted, I fell asleep on the sofa and Netflix did its thing of rolling straight into the next episode. I’m going to have to inpick where I got to in Surrounded over the weekend. 😩

Aesops - honestly, stick with PP. It really starts to click very quickly, just like Betty said upthread.

I can't count the amount of times I've done the same thing boatyard.
I'm still stewing over the last episode of Flower Crew. I was fine with it until Daniel Lindemann popped up speaking German. I just didn't see the need for it? I can't figure out how I feel about the ending either.

hello yes the Daniel Lindemann appearance was pretty randomly shoehorned in! I didn't get who he was and had to look him up. The ending didn't bother me so much, I had disengaged a little from the characters somehow anyway. Felt a bit sad for the king though. Kim Min-Jae finally got a girl, but still think he was under-used in this as his character was so stoic.

What did you think?

I only knew who he was because I used to really enjoying watching Abnormal Summit.

It didn't really feel like they wrote an ending. It felt like they had a bunch of loose ends and just said 'we can tie them all up like this.' I think the relationship between Soo and Gae Dong always took the easy way out for the story and it could've been so much better. I agree with your comments about Kim Min Jae. I don't like him in this which made it hard to care about his character.

It sounds like Flower Crew will NOT be going on the list, as you were debating it at the end of the last thread. This discussion makes me think that on air series should not be added until they’ve wrapped up and we can take a view on them in their entirety. Or that we need a ‘Decent series but the rubbish ending left us dissatisfied’ category - which we can then move Black into.

There's so many series that I'd deem list worthy if you asked me at episode 10, but by the end it's like they have rushed the writing and it makes it disappointing. I'm sensing some bad feelings about Black boatyard?

Black is really, really good all the way through but was extended by 2 episodes at the 11th hour, so the last 3 episodes are quite different in pace and tone. The awful, awful aging make-up in the last episode also made a few of us feel rather homicidal towards the production team. However, the rest of it is so well done and Him Off Black so damned handsome, it is still worth it.

This has made me think it needs a health warning in the header & an offer for a thread regular to provide the ending via PM so it doesn’t make new viewers so angry.

However, the rest of it is so well done and Him Off Black so damned handsome, it is still worth it.

Agree; it would be a shame to put others off watching it just because of the last 15 minutes, it's really good otherwise.

....so on reflection maybe no category for good dramas with crap endings as it's more fun when people watch & we can discuss said dodginess

I mean I am still fuming over the ending to Black Knight, maybe the pain would be lessened if I could share the agony - I shouldn't have put you off watching boatyard

I am on episode 4 of Hwayugi and have finally been sucked in. It's not as good as Black for me, but I am very much enjoying strawberry-flavoured LSG. IT'S BEEN A LONG JOURNEY BUT I HAVE FINALLY COME AROUND TO HIS CHARMS. OOOps leaned on the caps button by mistake

Is Black the one with the dog and the golf club? Because if it is, I think I gave up and just looked up the ending online

Shout it out sister! Loud and proud: I like LSG! Are you starting to get why I chose him as a potential island companion?

I don’t remember a dog and a golf club. It has grim reapers, if that helps.

Yes Black is the one with a dog and golf club

Absolutely can see why LSG would be an island companion

It was the one with the dog. In episode 10, the guy from Royal Group beats his son and then kills the dog (according to drama beans). That's when I stopped watching.

I was sold on LSG when I saw him holding a baby. He's so soft and lovely. Plus he likes dogs so definitely a worthy island companion.

boatyard posted a link to these before but they are worth seeing again

Thank you Betty.

I keep meaning to ask if one of you can link to the kpop industry documentary on the iPlayer that you were talking about a week or so ago. I couldn’t find it.