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…

Lee Dong-Hae and Leeteuk are mighty fine too, Betty.

I feel at peace with the world now! The abs Leeteuk has are impressive for a 36 year old who's really busy. Where does he find the time?

I'm still raging about that drama! It's really irritated me. How was something that offensive allowed to leave a studio?!

Well of course as soon as you said that hello I had to stop what I was doing and go have a look..........
Agree, impressive!

How was something that offensive allowed to leave a studio?!

Baffling indeed! From your description I am not going near it!

I’ve finished Hwayugi and I am tempted to start it all over again! I can’t believe it took me 3 tries to get into it. Just goes to show you have to be in the right mood.....or maybe it’s just that I have bought into the 🍓🍓Lee Seung Gi effect! Definitely desert island material, and pub!
I think I prefer it to to Hotel del Luna, even though the special effects are dicey. But do the Hong sisters ever write a drama where the FL doesn’t have to go off somewhere at the end?

bettys I only carried on watching to see how infuriating it could be. Its good if you need a stress relief rage session. There's always something to be mad about while watching it.

I'm having a bad run of dramas. First that horrible abuse/human trafficking 'romance' now I Hate You, Juliet which is just so dull. It's not bad, it's just boring. Why can't I find something interesting and light?!

Have you tried Extraordinary You yet?

I'm almost done with it! Although I did forget about it for a little while so there's my evening sorted. First, I've just got to tackle walking the dog. Anyone have any waders they're not using?

I am out a bit later. Looking forwards to flopping on the sofa with DS2 under blankets for today’s instalment of Cdrama. I’m already done with winter, the dark, rain and the bloody brolly-wrecking wind.

I am out tonight as well. I know it will be a lovely fun evening but all I really want to do is curl up with the last two episodes of Camellia and a large glass of wine

DH is suggesting finding something we both want to watch 😨.

I want to watch My Fellow Citizens !

Siwon isn't as standout lovely as he is in She Was Pretty , but he's got much more interesting and likeable characters surrounding him in this. Instead of being the only non-awful one. But I'm only a few episodes in so looking forward to watching more.

Do you mean not-Korean telly or Korean telly you will both enjoy, Girl? If he’s k-curious, tell us what he likes and we’ll try to find you a match. If its not-Korean he’s after, I’ve got nothing.

You could always suggest Giri/Haji It's not Korean drams but is quite good, plus he might enjoy it?

Bettys I am just about to pour myself a large glass of red and watch 17/18 of Camellia I thought it was 20 episodes?

Rough week for me with long hrs working so not managed much more viewing of prison playbook but definitely enjoying it

We've settled for Master Chef. He is definitely not K-drama curious. He's likes foreign culture stuff but more documentaries than fiction. He's also dyslexic so really struggles with subtitles.
So the K-pop doc on iPlayer was acceptable but that's the most I'm going to persuade him. 🤷

I love your enthusiasm for finding something he would like though 🤗

Some of the kdramas on Netflix are dubbed into English so you can switch the Korean audio & subs off , Kingdom included.

Sneak it in, little by little. He'll never notice then

Just managed a little bit of Giri/Haji as it followed MasterChef!
But he lost interest after a few mins and went to do the washing up 🤷. I'll keep building little bits in.
I have made him watch some BTS videos too. If we are both in on a weekend evening we take turns picking music videos to watch. He does like a bit of shiny pop music so he didn't complain too much

I’m rewatching BTIMFL, just because. Its wonderful, even second time around!

Back from night out which was indeed lovely, but will need a few mins of some kdrama before sleep, which probably means i"ll drop off and Netflix will speed ahead & I won't know where I fell asleep.

Aesops - sorry I meant the most recent two of Camellia not the last two, you're quite right it's 20 episodes.

DH & I are watching Giri/Haji together and enjoying it but he does generally watch subtitled programmes, just haven't convinced him about kdrama (tbh I would have to slow down my pace of bingeing if we were to watch together )

tbh I would have to slow down my pace of bingeing if we were to watch together

Totally this. I tried to watch Game of Thrones with DH yonks ago. After watching the first episode 3 times because he kept falling asleep in it and wanting another crack at it, we had a parting of ways and I watched the first 2 seasons on DVD in about 8 days. I’d still be trying to get past episode 3 if we were still watching together. 🙄

Boatyard I really don't blame you for starting BTIMFL again. I intend to do just that when I have exhausted my viewing options. That is a looking way ahead though!

I don't believe I can add to the spreadsheet yet as still a novice, so far I have finished 11 completely. Best so far is BTIMFL

Accumulating a number of 'dipped in but didn't grab me' titles

^masters Sun
Strong girl
Radio romance
Romance is a bonus book
Chicago typewriter
Happy once again
^
I suspect there's a couple of gems in the list that I need to re-visit

I suspect there's a couple of gems in the list that I need to re-visit

😱 Apart from Strong Girl those are all on my favourites list! Maybe you were just not in the right mood, or maybe with a couple of them like Chicago Typewriter it takes a couple of episodes to get going. I’d definitely give them another go 😉