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…

Hello - Please update My Fellow Citizens to an 8 for me. Thanks.

It's starting to get interesting seeing the similarities and differences in our voting.

I was posting my review of Melting Me Softly and may have stumbled across the best couple of sentences I might ever read. "It now seems premature to have called Abyss the worst drama of 2019. Who knew dramaland had this televisual equivalent of listeria-laden warm icecream waiting in its wings" I can't say I disagree with it either.

Burn! What a review! Love it.

Thanks to a D&V bug 😩, I have the chance to catch up. I started watching The Spy Gone North on iPlayer, but it is full of realistically leathery, battle-weary old guys and I am in desperate need of a shiny pick-me-up, so back to Netflix...

It went on for 3 paragraphs. It was a thing of beauty!

I hope you're okay boaryard and that the bug passes over your house quickly. Although silver linings, shiny Netflix fun for you!

I’m watching the new Jung Hae In film on Netflix. Classic tentative, faltering love story territory, a genre JHI excels in. It’s good so far, not sure why it would have been negatively reviewed.

Bugwise, it seems to have been the fast & furious kind, which is grim in the throes of it but a blessing in hindsight.

Tune in for Love was lovely.

I think I'll give it a go at some point. All the reviews I read cited an overly predictable plot but that's not necessarily a bad thing

Uh oh. I’ve fallen into Put Your Head on my Shoulder on Netflix (Mandarin, opposites attract college romance). DS2 is watching with me too and loving it. Its really sweet.

From the little bit of it I've seen it is adorable. I think I watched 3 or 4 episodes and stopped to watch Flower Crew. That was a disappointing trade.

I think I have done the impossible. I may have found a drama that is worse that Well Intended Love.

Imagine you found your boyfriend cheated on you? Well that's terrible! You run into an old colleague working in a shop who's divorced and meet her new boyfriend. He's endlessly loyal to her to the point she makes him swim in a river to retrieve a ball for him, just so she can throw it back in the river. How did she get her boyfriend you ask? She bought him off some weird website where young men are sold to recoup money they owe. She tells you to buy on because it's the only way men will obey you! That is the first 20 minute episode of I Bought My Boyfriend on a Loan. Romance born of what can only be described as human trafficking.

And in the second episode she drunkenly orders the 'boyfriend' and is convinced by her ex-colleague to punch him when he says that she seems like a calm, reasonable woman?!

This is like some man had written out a fantasy he wants (there's a fair bit of sex references and 'mistress'-ing) and in reality what they've just written an abusive relationship built on illegality.

That sounds totally bonkers Hello 😂.
My phone doesn't want to open the spread sheet! I'll have to try it on my tablet but it's upstairs and I can't be bothered going to get it.

Romance born of what can only be described as human trafficking.

So many of the Chinese dramas are super-dodgy that I’m somewhat amazed to find one I can actually watch with DS. He loves Put Your Head on my Shoulder so much, he was thrilled just now to find there are 24 episodes. He’s made me promise not to get ahead, that we must watch together. He’s a lad after my own heart and loves a good boxset binge. He took a shine to those teen Aussie mermaid ones on Netflix and is totally OK with soppy romcoms, so I’m pleased to have found something suitable to watch with him.

He’s had more girl intrigue in 8 weeks of high school than DS1 has had in over 3 years, so I think he is in it for romance tips.

Fortunately for the reputation of Chinese dramas, this one happens to be Japanese! I did look into it and the writer is a man with lots of what are supposed to be 'sexy' projects but read like a man, trying to pretend to be a woman, depicting what's sexy to men.

It's lovely that you and your son are enjoying watching Put Your Head on My Shoulder together. Mine is still a bit too young for drama watching, but hopefully he'll want to when he's older.

DS2 likes making sushi with me too. I reckon I can win him around to kdrama in time. 😉

I Bought My Boyfriend on a Loan is by far the most infuriating drama in existence. You can skip to any second of its eight 20 minute episodes and whatever line they're saying will make you angry. There's not a single redeeming feature. The FL justifies cheating and says only stupid women break up with their partners over cheating. A woman her partner cheated with shoved FLs head into her chest after saying 'these breasts could have held so much milk' talking about how she wanted to become a housewife and raise children.

I would make it into a drinking game where you drink every time they say something stupid but I think I'd be dead before 5 minutes was up.

I’m vicariously enjoying your rage, Hello. It sounds absolutely vile. It sounds like even the addition of Jasper Liu couldn’t save that turkey.

I started watching The Liar & His Lover on a shuffle and spotted Park Morgan in a supporting role. I think the ML might fall under the ‘flower boy’ definition. He’s very pretty in a refined way.

In other news, I think Super Junior’s line-up is overall hotter than BTS’. I know that’s fighting talk in these parts, but I watched a bit of YouTube today and I can only say what I see. 🤷‍♂️

I'm taking a break from Human Rights, it's really interesting but has some quite upsetting bits.
So I've started My Fellow Citizens which is v funny, I've actually LOL'd several times.

Did someone say Jasper Liu? Triad Princess is coming to Netflix on 6th December. Should be a load of nonsensical tosh hopefully 👌

So I've started My Fellow Citizens which is v funny, I've actually LOL'd several times.

I think this one has sadly slipped under the radar. It’s very good and there’s still time to watch and score before the year is out, fellow threaders. One thing I liked was that it smashes right through the Bechdel test. The FL is fab, her badass adoptive mother is unexpected and great and their relationship is interesting. The 4 barmpot crime syndicate sisters all trying to do another over make for great telly and the one off Mr Sunshine is a barnstorming rival for Siwon. The highly talented grifter women are good in a different way. It has so many great characters. I was rather fond of FL’s wistful, caring brother too. Plus Siwon in good tailoring - what’s not to love?

boatyard that wouldn’t be anything to do with Choi Siwon being in the lineup would it? Although it keeps shifting I have also noticed some v good looking chaps in there. And there’s something alluring about Heechul

Well Hwayugi was fab and Lee Seung Gi made up for the ghastly special effects. No Vagabond this weekend though so may have to dip into Busted or his back catalogue.

Whoops thread moved on I was talking about Super Junior