Ms Latte’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama Addicts #12)

[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 [[
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/streamed_tv/3758420-Ms-Latte-s-Daebak-Cybercaf-Kdrama-Addicts-11?topicid=16582&threadid=3758420&pg=1 here]] but our ‘Addicts Recommend’ list below is cumulative so includes recommendations and favourites from all previous threads.


Shows marked with an asterisk 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)
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)
Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung (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)
The Secret Life of My Secretary (Viki/Netflix)
Thirty Not Seventeen (Viki) or as Still 17 (Netflix)

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/Netflix)
Chicago Typewriter (Viki/Netflix)
Crash Landing on You (Netflix - still airing)
Descendants of the Sun (Viki/Netflix)
Doctors (Netflix)
Fight For My Way (Viki/Drama bus)*
Go Back Couple (Viki)

Just Between Lovers (Viki)*
Melo is my Nature (Viki)/Be Melodramatic (Dramafast)
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)
Bride of Habaek (Netflix)
Hwarang (Viki/Netflix)
The Last Empress (Viki/Netflix)
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)

Thread Regulars’ Top 5 Dramas of 2019 (courtesy of Hello’s kdrama spreadsheet, scores range from +10 if very good to -10 for truly awful)

1. Her Private Life - 9.40 (5 votes)
2. Melo is My Nature - 9.00 (5 votes)

3.= Crash Landing On You, The Crowned Clown, The Lies Within, and The Tale of Nokdu - 8.75 (4 votes)

1. Hotel del Luna - 8.50 (4 votes)

5.= Romance is a Bonus Book, and Search: WWW - 8.17 (6 votes)

The Most Disappointing Dramas of 2019

1. Melting Me Softly -4.17 (3 votes)
2. Abyss -3.33 (3 votes)
3. When The Devil Calls Your Name -2.33 (3 votes)
4. Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency - 0.33 (3 votes)
5. Vagabond 1.25 (4 votes)

Honourable mention for the worst drama of the year goes to Chinese/Mandarin Well Intended Love on Netflix, which scored -10 (2 votes). It beggars belief that Netflix commissioned a second series, but there you go. 🤷‍♂️

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.

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 think it was in Flower Crew there was a case where a woman’s husband had died shortly after marriage some 20 years previously but the family had not allowed her to remarry so they could claim some kind of ‘virtuous woman’ award - ghastly & cruel

I agree about the rotten attitudes to widows - in India too, I remember reading about. That whole 'what is a woman without a husband' thing, horrendous.

On a more upbeat note you've persuaded me. Once I've finished the Great Doctor I will give Nokdu another go, since you haven't steered me wrong on here yet

morejumpingfrogs... Ohhh! Nokdu is great! Give it another go! 👍
Viki? You're more than welcome! Join us in our obsession! 😂😂

I need something to fill the CLOY void... Romantic Dr Kim is good but that's weekly too! Argh! Need a binger... Might look into the good doctor!.. 😂

It's tricky. On the one hand I deplore the emphasis on beauty and perfection that sometimes seeps through in kdrama and presumably their culture as a whole. I don't hold with objectifying attractive people. But. I really don't like the ML's hair in The Great Doctor, he desperately needs a pair of hair straighteners ...

Ah, the eternal kdrama struggle - trying not to be shallow and judgy, but appreciating all the beautiful people all the same.

I think I may just spend the next fortnight rewatching my favourite bits of CLOY. Is that too sad?

Not at all Brambly. I was thinking of doing the same (even though there are some episodes that I have already rewatched).

Boatyard - the struggle is real

There's a Thai actor who looks strangely similar to Toasty LJS and has had a fair amount of shirtless scenes in this drama I've binged. Is that enough of a reason to put up with a terrible story?

Although once this is finished I'll need to find some more LJS dramas to watch.

LJS is in the bit of the Venn diagram that Betty and Bea share (harking back to days when it was just the three of us). You can fight over him between yourselves. 😄

I dread to think of the fight that would ensue if only one of us could invite Hyun Bin to our hypothetical pub gathering.

Goddamnit! I am feeling sympathy for the shitbag in the plum suit (ep 10 Stove League). Not much, but more than I would ever have thought possible. Those tricksy writers, keeping me on my toes.

OK, he just blew it! Awful person.

I take a plum suit as a sign of a bad personality. I don't know why this has come about but it seems more true than not.

At least the writers are giving the shitbag in the plum suit some back depth. I really want him to decide to get back at everyone / his family by letting Dreams win.

I think in kdramaland being shallow & judgy about the characters is allowed (as opposed to the actors iykwim)

What is this drama with the LYS lookeylikey hello?

Ahhhh! Toasty LJS!... I miss him! 😭😭

Not me. I’m enjoying the break. He was in everything before he went to do his military service, but I will be glad to see him back. Let’s hope he doesn’t get a welcome home turkey like JCW.

Oooo! PMY and SKJ!... ❤️❤️❤️... Please be great! Please be great!
www.soompi.com/article/1378161wpp/seo-kang-joon-and-park-min-young-reunite-as-adults-in-their-hometown-in-posters-for-new-drama

boatyard... Welcome home Turkey! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🦃🦃🦃🦃

There’s another article on Soompi with them in school uniform for their new series. PMY has the most awful fringe which makes her look strange, but SKJ remains adorable.

My SIL sent me this article link today: theconversation.com/an-oscar-for-parasite-the-global-rise-of-south-korean-film-128595 I’m secretly hoping Parasite opens more people’s eyes to what Korean film/drama has to offer. At the very minimum, I’m hoping it’ll make my obsession more socially acceptable for a little while. 😂

Korean cinema is deeply embedded in the Korean experience, eschewing Hollywoodisation and producing an oeuvre that makes a Korean film distinctive to international audiences

Thanks for the link boatyard, and the quote above could equally be used to describe why drama works so well too.
Has anyone seen Parasite yet?

I’m hoping it’ll make my obsession more socially acceptable for a little while. 😂

We are so going to be ahead of the curve 😉😆

However I will probably blow my cool avant grade brownie points by instead of talking eruditely about Korean film just babbling that Choi Woo Sik from Parasite is bezzie mates with V from BTS 💜

It’s on general release from 7 February, Betty, though I spotted that Cineworld are doing advanced screenings from c. 26 January for Unlimited card holders. Actually, I’ve just twigged this means that Cineworld are going to screen it. Brilliant! I will definitely be going to see it on the big screen. The trailer embedded in that article looked brilliant - darkly funny, stylish, satirical, twisty and just plain dark. It has FL from Cinderella and Four Knights (Park So-Dam) and the spoiled young lawyer from Pride & Prejudice (Choi Woo-Sik) in the main cast.