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…

I see. So treat it like a hollywood blockbuster standard of tech/plot/chemistry between leads and it's ok. Will save it for when I'm short of things to watch then, there are others that sound much more what I'm after to watch first.

Oh my people! I love k-drama and am obsessed with it on netflix. It's basically all I watch now. It's SO satisfying. I love how there are proper endings and resolutions to the stories instead of everything just sort of trailing off and falling apart like in US shows. And not just the same fucking thing every week they are more like little books. And the fight scenes are so much better when someone gets kicked in the head they go DOWN and it's the END, instead of droning on and on and on in ever more preposterous, bouncy ways. And and! So many things! I love k-drama!

Welcome to the ever growing group of addicts Joloh!

I'm watching a Chinese drama sort of like Be Melo except way more dramatic. One of the women has been kidnapped and tied to a chair by her ex and she's hungry. So psycho ex has ordered in McDonalds, dipped a fry in ketchup and when she's refused to eat it, he's just smeared a light trail of ketchup around her face.
That's pushing new levels of psychopathy in my book. (Her group of friends save her, attack him with a baseball bat and get him arrested shortly after but the trail of ketchup deserves extra time)

Wow! We're really growing! Welcome joloh.... When you're finished with all the kdrama on netflix!... Then you need to sign up for a Viki Subscription!
😁😂

Oi Viki!... Here's another potential subscriber!... Yes we're taking commissions now! 😁😁😂😂

and... BTS have announced date of new album release (A Comeback in Kpop parlance! 😂)... And my head hurts just keeping up with it all! Twitter is chaotic with theories and anticipation! 😂

But it's soooo exciting!! 😂 😂 😂 💜💜💜💜💜

\o/ Hurray thank you!

Hyun Bin is weirdly compelling. Not sure why particularly but I am on a tear now. I just wish you could search netflix by actor.

Hyde and Jekyll now on Netflix! 😂... There seems to be a few new ones!... 👍

Joloh... I've searched for actors on netflix... It is possible!.. X

Welcome Joloh!

I love k-drama and am obsessed with it on netflix. It's basically all I watch now. It's SO satisfying. I love how there are proper endings and resolutions to the stories instead of everything just sort of trailing off and falling apart like in US shows.

You are most definitely in the right place. This is the beauty of kdrama in a nutshell.

Which are your favourites?

I started keeping tabs a while ago. I think we are up to 15 posters now, though some post less frequently. DH and DS2 are currently telling me you are all bots harvesting my data, as they cannot believe there are other real people as mad as me. 🤣

Hi Joloh What's your favourite drama so far?
Totally agree re proper endings.

boatyard have you told them about the spreadsheet? It might be evidence that there's someone sadder than you who enjoys making a spreadsheet about dramas 😂😂

Ha, no! They think I’m sad enough already. 😆

Hurry up Saturday, I'm looking forward to the next CLOY episode.

Welcome Frogs and Joloh! (And anyone else I missed. I don't watch much else any more either. K drama is so much more fun.

I quite liked Alhambra, but agree that the romance didn't really work and things in the tech which didn't make sense and annoyed me. I find Hyun Bin a bit wooden... sorry!

Enjoying Love from a star in the meantime.

Damn it! I’m all caught up with Stove League now & on to the weekly release. Boo!

Hi Joloh, 🙋‍♀️all the more the merrier!

Ginger 😱 how could you say that!!🤣

boatyard I’ve watched the first ep of Dr Prisoner on dramafast with Namgoong Min and that has potential 😉

Just watched first ep of Romantic Dr Kim 2!....it was amusing and standard medical kdrama fare... Will keep watching whilst staring into the Hyun Bin void....!.....

Ginger !.... 😱😱😱

... However... -ginger... Love from another star is one of my faves! It's just utterly lovely! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

What’s the verdict on Trot Lovers? I’m doing a Boaty shuffle.

Quite liked Shin Sun Rok in it -watched it straight after The Last Empress - but I think I skipped a lot

It wasn’t doing it for me and it was pretty cheap looking, plus ML and 2ML only reached ‘meh’ on my oppa-meter. Still, I am turning in earlier tonight as a result, so I count that as a win.

Finished Legend of the Blue Sea last night after (should I fess up?!) skipping a couple of episodes because it was soooo slooow. Watched the last three though, to get a proper sense of the ending and it was all quite satisfactorily wrapped up, so that was nice.

Now I'm dithering between What's the Matter with Secretary Kim? and Her Private Life. Such a nice dilemma to have

I read Hart & Seoul, a YA novel by Kristen Burnham over summer. It's about an American teenager who meets a kpop star when he comes to stay with his aunt in the US, her NDN. It's quite a nice romance, some of the cultural differences are portrayed in a really fun way, but it also touches on the pressures of fame and how it is certainly not all a bed of roses. I liked it a lot - I got my copy as an ARC from netgalley, but I expect it's on amazon.

Her Private Life!!!! It came top on the MN Dramavision spreadsheet 👏👏

All right then, Her Private Life it is

Takes a moment to realise there are people out there who have put a kdrama spreadsheet together - and not only do I not think that's particularly weird, I'm happy to take their recommendations