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 escaped unnoticed! I'm horrendous for utilising the 10 second skip on Netflix. Just to skip through all the slow shots of scenary and the dawning realisations of love.

Not any more, Hello. You’re now on my list. 😉

Skippitydoodah Flibbetty gibbet and proud of it! 😂😂😂😂
I haven't got enough time to go through the repeated scenes to emphasise a point... Or the slo mo panning shots from different angles! 😂 😂 😂

Welcome Hello to the SDDFG"s! 😂 😂 😂 😂

Yeah SDDFG here!!! 🤚
When there’s a whole load of political shenanigans in the palace with bearded Left State Councillors et al it’s time to hit that 10” button!!😂

We've got to be due another contract relationship drama soon, haven't we? How long has it been since BTIMFL.

Interestingly I've noted in my vast watching that contract relationships are one thing that doesn't transcribe well into Japanese and Chinese dramas. There ML will border on psychopathic and cross lines into sexual assault rather than just petty bickering we see in Korean contract dramas.

OK what drama shall I watch to the bitter end now I've finished Jekyll 😂

Stove League sounds popular?

I can wait till Saturday for more HB.
Also as much as HB is gorgeous; in CLOY its the killer combo of good looks plus excellent character as well as it being an overall great drama that makes it so good.

Stove League is ace. If it doesn’t hook you immediately (it did me), definitely give an episode or two. The writing, character development and actors are all fab. It’s very baseball heavy in ep 1 but eases up on it pretty quickly to give the story room to breathe.

TheGirl Stove League is fab, currently airing so only 9 or so eps to binge.

Have you seen Dr Romantic 2? Also airing now but you can binge the first series. Handsome doctors, tragic back stories, ace secondary characters, humour, & a righteous man at the heart of it all.

I haven't seen either Dr Romantic so I'll try that in between Stove League and CLOY.
Ive just watched the first 2 episodes of Stove League so been wowed by the new managers stats 😁

Ep 4 Dr Kim... I'm going to slap Dr cha! She is sooooo annoying and inept and whet! They'd better improve her by the end of this ep!... She makes my teeth itch! 😡😡😡

I agree with comments (way back now) about how good CLOY is shaping up with all the different character developments.

Ending of my love from a star was warm as told and was really nice drama overall.

spoiler alert! #But I was disappointed that the sci fi side of it was weak. I really didn't understand how he was living in a wormhole a lot of the time... But maybe I missed something?

I'm not a skipperdy doo daa person. Really bugs me if I don't finish a series too. Like boys over flowers, couldn't bare to watch more but keeps bugging me when I see it on Netflix.

Woo hoo! At last! Thank you Dr Kim writers for giving Dr Cha a bit of uuumph! 😂 😂

Bea I agree about Dr Cha, glad she's finding some umph. Only a few episodes too late.

Ginger I'm also a series finisher, I only skip forward inside episodes, I don't skip entire episodes. Already this year there's about 4 dramas I've put into purgatory. They'll get watched/finished eventually but for now they're just festering away.

Hooray! 100 Days Prince finished!
Lovely! Great characters all round! Secondary characters endearing and I cared for them! 👍👍👍
A good old kdrama with all the usuals! Very Well Done... Doesn't beat my most favourite Historical (The Crowned Clown) but a good solid 7 or 8....will add to drama vision if its up there... X

Now waiting for CLOY! 😂😳

I am still slogging my way through My Love from the Star. It’s probably going to be a solid 6 or 7 for me, nicely done but not setting my world on fire. I find the ML a bit to baby-faced to be hot/wildly attractive. I have also noticed that 2ML has beautiful hands which are in agreement with his beautiful face. ML’s hands are not nearly as pretty as his face, and this is a distraction because I am not wowed by the story.

Too! I can spell, honest. Just not when my attention is split 3 ways: MN, kdrama, Doritos.

boatyard d’you mean Park Hae Jin’s hands? His new drama is coming up soon, Forest, but dunno if it’ll be on Viki or Netflix

That’s the fella. He is almost statue-like in his refined proportions. So much so, I have begun to wonder if he’s had the help of a good surgeon. I’m not sure I fancy him in the same way that I do Hyun Bin, but he is beautiful to watch.

😂 😂 Love From A Star... I just really enjoyed the angst of it all! And loved FL!... It was lovely! ❤️

... And! Kim Soo Hyun might not do it for you from Star!... But what about the cameo in Hotel Del Luna! 😱😱😱🥰😍😍😍

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Better with a bouffant fringe, but still too baby-faced for me. Second series? (I’ve not yet finished Luna.)

Love that cameo in HDL 😍

He's exactly my style in that cameo. I'd love him to pick up more dark and brooding roles.