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…

Ooh I've just got a different bus home than normal and it goes through local student area. There is a new Korean shop! It's got a big cardboard cut out of PSJ in the window!

Right I'm all finished with chores and DH out to watch rugby.
Glass of wine and Holo binge for me this afternoon. My plan is to resist CLOY until I get a double dose tomorrow. But let's see...

Dinner tonight is spicy pork belly with rice and Kimchi with a side of pickled radish. 😋

It's got a big cardboard cut out of PSJ in the window!

I'd be so tempted to nick that if I was a student and keep it in my room like PMY in HPL

Dinner tonight is spicy pork belly with rice and Kimchi with a side of pickled radish - sounds delicious!

LOVING Itaewon Class!!!

The whole Soho-y multicultural vibe of the street scenes is buzzy, PSJ is giving a great understated performance and the younger FL is good. I'm looking forward to a slow build up of a Scooby gang that save the day. By kdrama rules it looked like young FL might get the guy as she sneaked a kiss in.

Plus I think the New Year scene showed a 2016 sign so maybe they're going to do a 4 years later thing at some point.

Now for CLOY ....

Oho! I'm going to have a lovely lot to catch up on tomorrow... or tonight!!!.... Just going out for dinner iwth some lovely friends... won't be too late back so I could watch an ep or two... however i'm watching Extraordinary You at the moment and contemplating just saving them all up Itaewon and CLOY till there's lots in the bank.... but then i'm going to have to desperately try and avoind reading the comments! argh!!!!!

Also very exciting to see PSJ in Parasite yeaterday as the FL from Cinderella & Four Knights (what a change in role) always lovely to see Choi Woo Shik... (kept expecting - hoping - V & Park Hyung Sik to pop up too! )

Just pausing CLOY for a quick snigger of delight -

2ML about 2FL: 'She drank vodka until sunrise and then passed out'

2FL'S Mum: 'Again??????'

Hahahaha!

Also very exciting to see PSJ in Parasite yeaterday as the FL from Cinderella & Four Knights (what a change in role) always lovely to see Choi Woo Shik... (kept expecting - hoping - V & Park Hyung Sik to pop up too! grin)

Yes it’s such a buzz when you recognise them out of context - ie in a cinema or another style of programme rather than a kdrama at home 👍🤣

Oh my, CLOY - just epic

Bettys

That is all I needed, I am going in for CLOY 😉👍🏽

😞 No wifi here and painfully slow 3G. Will catch up tmrw. I have downloaded Holo to watch in bed.

Downloaded at home last night, thank God... Wind getting up now & rattling windows where I’m staying.

My Holo Love is safe! All wrapped up neatly by ep 12 😊 The phrase Limited Series must be Netflix’s way of saying they haven’t dicked about with it 😉

You lot hey through your dramas so ooooo fast!
Great bettys! You know I like to know! 😂 😂

Thank you bettys All today's schedule will be put on hold while I smash through Holo

Oh that's good to know bettys, will keep an eye out for limited series on netflix Will put My Holo Love on my watch list. Got to finished Weightlifting Fairy first - which is lovely, so thanks for recommending that one.

What time of day does netflix release episodes? I really want to binge watch CLOY - the comments on here are really selling it to me
I'm going away for a few days on 16 February, the day the last episode is available. I'll easily be able to sneak a few (OK, a lot of) hours here and there to watch it, but the place doesn't have wifi (the horror!) so I want to download it. Please tell me I won't have to leave with all but the last episode.

Parasite 👍

CLOY usually drops somewhere between 2-4pm

hello I have added a few titles to the 2020 spreadsheet, as much to keep up with what I am watching as anything else!

2-4pm, ok then, thanks bettys

Just finished yesterday's CLOY and straight into the next.
😮 it's had me in tears

CLOY. - Ri Jeong Hyepk in bodyguard mode 😍

I've just finished Saturdays CLOY 😭❤️

Oooo! Extraordinary You is really good! I'm on ep7... But I think I'm going to delve into CLOY soon! Can't resist! 😱

I’m all caught up on CLOY. It was fab again this week. So many things to love.