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…

There’s an article on Soompi, totes authoritative source obvs, reporting a survey on which celeb Koreans would most want to attend their lunar new year gathering. Gong Yoo is in the top spot, which seems reasonable to me - he’s on our putative pub invite after all. The bit that got me is that Son Ye Jin and Hyun Bin are so low down the list, but also that Son Ye Jin just pips HB in the popularity stakes with 4.2% and 4.1% respectively. 😂

ginger I watched The Ghost Bridge and loved it. I haven't read the book so can't talk for accuracy but it's well done.

boatyard 2ML from Page Turner was in VIP and had support roles in tonnes of popular shows including Prison Playbook, While You Were Sleeping, and Gogh's Starry Night so maybe you've seen him there? I love Page Turner, it really warmed my heart watching it.

Coming back a hour and a half later to correct my mistake because it's been bugging me. Obviously I meant The Ghost Bride in my last post. Bridges can't be ghosts, it'd play havoc with their structural integrity.

Nurse Eun Tak 😍

Bridges can't be ghosts, it'd play havoc with their structural integrity.

🤣🤣

I’m currently watching the Twilight movies in sequence with DS2 every evening before he turns in. We struggle to find stuff we both enjoy, but he is quite happy to watch trashy tween/YA adaptations with me. It’s hampering my kdrama viewing, but I’m enjoying hanging out with DS. 😄 Last week it was the Divergent series, now this....

bettys... Yes! Nurse Eun Tak!.... So bold! 👍😁... I'll go out for drinks with you! 😂 😂 😂 He's sooooo lovely!
Dr Kim! It's all soooo treacherous! I'm sooo dying for all the baddies... professor lemon 🍋 sucking face! Esp! To get their come uppance!...
And... Dr Bae! 🤔🤔🤔... What's going on there?... Or did I get the meaning of that scene completely wrong?.... (no need to answer this!... Don't want to spoil for others! 😳)

BTS on Corden Late Late Show tonight... 5.30am for us in UK! Squeeel! Don't know how I'm going to watch it! But whatever it will be epic!! 💜💜

Another vote for the Nurse Eun Tak fan club here.

I hate the new director though. “When are you going to get married?” EFF OFF YOU SEXIST PIG!

I want to slap the new smarmy anaesthesiologist right in her sneery face! 😡

I confess I sneaked a peak at the next ep sans subs to see if Nurse Eun Tak got his date 😍 I shall watch properly tomorrow, & try & source BTS on James Corden on Youtube 💜

😱😱Didn't realise the next ep was up!
I'm loving this season! I telly love all the characters I'm supposed to love and absolutely hate all the rotters!
Back stories are great! Esp Dr seo and relationships are deep and heartfelt!.. It's a good un!! 😂

Ive just got the last episode of Dr Romantic season 1 to go then ill start series 2. I'm really enjoying it. ML isn't as hot as in Mr Sunshine but he is a pretty adorable mix of capable Dr and goofy love struck boy. And the side characters are ace. I'm glad Eun Tak remains a star in series 2 😊

BTS Black Swan !
[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSNd02kVv8o Sooo Good!!!]

Wow! Seriously impressive dancing 😲

Amazing! 💜💜

Jimin💜 but all of them were so good. I’ve watched it 3 times in a row 😂 Lived that it was barefoot. Did they just dance? No chat?

Excellent chat and... A game of hide and seek! See on late show YouTube channel! 😂

just glanced at Viki and it's interesting that they've decided to use "Mainland China" as a category now instead of bog standard China...I wonder why they've done that? I wonder if they're adding in a whole section for Hong King Cantonese as opposed to China Mandarin??? Hmmm...
As we used to say at primary school... The Snot Thickens....Sorry!

All the BTS / James Cordon stuff is on this handy Soompi page

Bea I noticed the Viki differentiation a couple of months ago, but just thought it was to separate out from Taiwanese drama, or did they already have a Taiwan section? Although both are generally Mandarin aren't they? As you say there is no Cantonese category

.... language mainly spoken in Mainland China is Mandarin
Language most common in HK is Cantonese...

To make it worse my badly spoken cantonese is of a certain region so my dreams of perfecting my spoken Cantonese (Taishanese) by watching dramas is very unlikely as it's a dying language (to which i feel very guilty about by not being clever enough to pass onto my children! ... I hang my head in shame emoji!)

I've finished Save Me and added it to the spreadsheet. It's a very well-crafted psychological thriller. The first few episodes are hard to get through as they are so grim, but once the backstory is done it drives along at a good pace and has a very satisfactory ending. Gets a 7.5 from me, not an 8 as I nearly gave up on it (but glad I didn't)

Hmm! Might give it a go... I'm losing my patience with the great doctor.... It's taking aaaages to get anywhere!...
Oh well got Dr Kim 2 tonight! 👍👍

I stumbled on Revolutionary Love on Viki, which is showing potential as a frothy, humorous jaunt. Choi Siwon stars as ML Kang So Ra as FL and Gong Myung (gay male housemate in Melo) as 2ML. Siwon is your classic spoiled chaebol younger son acting out, Kang So Ra the plucky underdog holding down several part-time jobs. I haven’t finished ep 1 yet, but it is already in amusing comedy of errors territory and looks like it could be a lot of fun (assuming Siwon doesn’t grind your gears). I will report back on how it progresses.

The Page Turner lost its mojo in ep 3 (final), though it wrapped up OK. Seven points for me on the spreadsheet please, Hello.

I’ll say it again, Nurse Eun Tak!😍

Is last night’s episode a cracker, then?

I've watched the first 2 eps of Dr Kim 2, straight after the last of series one. It looks good! I'm also loving the Viki subs medical descriptions. Much more in depth than Netflix 😁