Ms Latte’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama Addicts #11)

[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)*
The Lies Within (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

Another Miss Oh (Netflix)*
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: Two Worlds (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:

Before We Get Married (Viki - Taiwanese)
Love O2O (Viki - Chinese)
Morning Call (Netflix - Japanese)
Put Your Head on My Shoulder (Netflix - Chinese)

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…

Spread the love bettys! I can't remember if he was wearing glasses, I know he looked different though. I'm making DP watch films with me before work. Payback for the hours I've spent watching him game

Fortunately for me, DH was too poorly to go to work yesterday but was able to fit card writing in around recuperative naps. Daebak!

Go Back Couple is a gem. Funny (very!), poignant, cheering. A perfect winter warmer.

Boatyard, is that on Vikki?

Aesops it is, I recommend it too , just persevere through the grim first episode and you’re away!

Yes, Viki.

The episode where the ML sees his ex-MIL in the street and is floored made me well up.

Both the leads are brilliant. I actually think the ML is more attractive than Mr Park Morgan, who is abit wooden in this role. ML is very twinkly of eye and his comic timing is spot on.

ML is fab, he crops up in a lot of things playing the comedy side kick but he is very dashing. In real life he is bezzy mates with Yoo Yeon Seok and they ran a coffee shop together for charity

I realised where I’d seen him before when I checked his wiki profile - he was very funny in Reply 1994.

Me again with another warning.

I have run along through Bride of the Water god 2017 really enjoying the first half but I should have known because the FL is her off Black Knight (may the producers have their testicles eaten off by rabid rats) and it really slowed towards the end and I even ended up wikiing the ending 4/10

Evening, ive got over election trauma enough to watch some Episodes of Fellow Citizens . Still loving all the female characters, and LOLed at the Assemblymen stabbing each other in the back.

Cassini completely agree with your reading of Bride of the Water God. I only watched it 'cos it had him off Weightlifting Fairy in it but actually thinking about it (I watched it ages ago) it has another crap ending like Black Knight doesn't it? That's the problem with immortals

“The Immortal Dilemma: Too much of a good thing? Discuss.” < This would so be an exam question if they did an A level in K Drama Studies.

Stayed up much later than I planned due to Go Back Couple being so bloody enjoyable. Early start tomorrow so a 🥾🍑 for me.

Another exam question in A Level KDrama:

‘The Love Triangle and Second Male Lead Syndrome. Discuss’

There’s more mileage in this. We’d need a few questions based on specific characters’ motivations and actions, like English Lit papers.

This one from the unseen prose section of AQA’s May 2018 AS English Lit paper could be so easily adapted for kdrama:

“The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan was written in 2013. This part of the novel is set in 1940 in Adelaide, Australia, during the Second World War. Dorrigo, a military doctor, meets Amy (by chance) for the first time in a bookshop that is hosting a party.

Examine the view that Dorrigo is both challenged and disturbed by Amy’s interest in him.

Make close reference to the writer’s methods in your response.

Well that question could be adapted to most dramas but for Secret Garden it would be:

Secret Garden was aired in 2010-11. Kim Joo-Won, a third-generation chaebol, meets Gil Ra Im (by chance) for the first time on a set where they are shooting an action film.

Examine the view that Gil Ra-Im is both challenged and disturbed by Kim Joo-Won’s interest in him.

Make close reference to the writer’s methods in your response.

Tsk tsk, interest in HER

Make close reference to the shower scenes writer’s methods in your response.

I could ace some of these, unlike my actual English lit exam.

I started watching a Cantonese film on Netflix last night. It took me four attempts to get into because my brain kept struggling with the change in language. It's called May We Chat? If anyone else has seen it, please try help me figure out what I think about it.

I’ll add it to my list.
Has anyone seen The Negotiation (film) with Hyun Bin & Son Ye Jin? Having a bit of a Hyun Bin spiral

I never got to the end of Bride of Water... it was just waaaay too slow! I love Nam Jun Hyuk (?) in Weight Lifting so I was looking forward to it... i think it may have been one of the dramas that I gave up on and was dissapointed in!

Finished Cinderella... it was light and fun but didn't set my kdrama world on fire! Will score it!!!...

Now I've yet to return to 100 Days My Prince (though still not in the mood for something historical so will leave for a bit!)... have to look out for something else... whenever I finish one i always feel like i've come to a standstill and ca't find anything that grabs me! Sigh.... will look over some of your recent recs!....

bettys if you do watch it, be warned it focuses a lot on sex work so is heavy on the nudity and sex. It just doesn't make sense to me as a film.

hello noted!

Secret Garden scores mega on the kdrama bingo sheet 🤣

Eeeevil chaebol MIL ✔️
Body swapping ✔️
Amnesia ✔️
SLS ✔️
Spunky poor Cinderella ✔️
Vehicle of doom ✔️
Love triangle✔️
Wrist grabs ✔️
Product placement (predates Subway though) ✔️
Vapour of life in hospital ✔️
Shirtless scenes ✔️
Unexplained magic ✔️