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…

You’re not the only one 🤭

I want the pretty proofreader in Pretty Proofreader to give the plain proofreader a makeover. That has to be the most times I’ve said proofreader in a sentence.

Do we think Aesops is lost in HPL? 🤣🤣

Yes, I think Aesops was naive to think she’d be getting much sleep in the next few days. I am still envious about the first viewing binge potential. I want to revisit HPL so I can appreciate her man-mountain ‘brother’ as much as I will enjoy HH KJW’s dandy ways.

Aesops - shout if you need rescuing. Here’s a 🥾🍑 for later. I’m off to bed now.

I fell asleep during ep 3😳
Just as well really as early start today, thoroughly enjoying it!

I might do a Christmas holiday rewatch of HPL. Spending my time off appreciating HH KJW and PMY doesn't sound like a terrible idea at all.

I had to make myself go to bed. Nokdu is very enjoyable. Too enjoyable by half.

Pretty Proofreader is very enjoyable and skips along nicely with lots of interesting titbits about proofreading and random general knowledge.

I think I still prefer being in Korea dramaland mind you . The differences in content and style are quite interesting to note however.

I think you'd like it boatyard , thanks for the rec Bea. It's a good gap filler before Triad Princess

Occasionally I want things from countries the dramas I watch are set in. Today's want in the traffic lights in China; they count down how long they'll be on red or green for to help drivers. That's how interesting my life is, I want traffic lights.

Now that’s got me thinking.... what do I want from dramas I have watched?
And what does that say about my life that I’m giving this such serious thought?

I want the doorbell panels from SK and maybe the numeric door lock things. I'd be worried someone would see the code and break in though.

A Korean fridge where you can open a mini door in the big door to get your beer out without opening the whole door. I quickly went off the idea of glass fridges when realised my fridge Tetris would not look remotely fancy to public view.

I am still on the fence about pin-operated front doors vs keys. There are pros & cons.

Glass fridge doors

Hmmm in He Is Psychometric the baddy installed a spy camera so he could see the door code

I want long bladed scissors for cutting up meat, those patches for aches & pains and an unreasonably hot man sharing my apartment for no valid reason whatsoever someone filling my fridge with side dishes

I do like the Japanese sliding lid washing machines as well. They seem easier to get things into, although harder on your back to get things out of

I’m always impressed with the giant toddler-tall spring onions in kdrama. Part of me really wants some, the other part knows we don’t usually get through enough & there would be food waste. On the weekends we make jeon they’d be fab, though.

I don't think I could ever eat enough spring onion to warrant buying even one of them. They are blooming impressive though.

I love spring onions! Dh grows them in a big pot outside the kitchen door and I go out and pull up when needed!... Good way of using up spring onions... Make a ginger /spring onion dip for chicken and rice! It's my goto lazy meal!... Mmmmmm! 👍👍👍

... Or snip on top of lovely Congee!... Made this the other day! Hmmmm! ☺

Really enjoying Pretty Proofreader!! 👍👍

Hello - what on Earth did you post to get a deletion? On a kdrama thread? Don’t repeat it verbatim, obvs. I am used to the Feminism threads looking like Swiss cheese, but I never thought I’d see it here.

Make a ginger /spring onion dip for chicken and rice!

Recipe please, Bea - you can’t just leave that one hanging. 😄

Also DH was trying to show me an article in the Guardian about patriarchal South Korean culture and we stumbled on a suicide story about a young kdrama actor who is in Love with Flaws:

www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/03/south-korean-pop-star-and-actor-cha-in-ha-found-dead-aged-27

This is the patriarchy one:

www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/02/deaths-of-k-pop-stars-put-focus-on-mental-health-taboos-in-south-korea

I think hello just posted the same thing twice & prob asked for it to be deleted to be tidy