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…

New BTS video, not them dancing. They seem to be doing lots of the arts stuff for the new album? Balloon from London with art on was launched in Tuesday. I'm a bit confused by it all.

Was thrown by how different it is, not at all what I expected. But I think it's really interesting and I like the use of classical instrumentals and dance. And watching again with captions (Dd had control first time) I really like.

It's powerful.

ginger that's beautiful!

It's all connected with BTS Connect which is all about introducing and supporting artists from all over the world m.. The London one was launched on Tues and I was actually in London on Wednesday so went over to the serpentine gallery... It's an artwork installation all immersive... Very interesting... Asking you to take a deeper look into all around you... Nature etc! Very deep and very artsy!...
all explained here
Armys have been going stir crazy as BigHit have released next to nothing about this comeback except dates... So on Tues there was mass confusion about what when where and why... All we had was BTS Connect London Weds 14th Jan... Some thought this was Tues 13th 3pm as That's 12.00 Korean standard time and they're ahead of us... Lots went to piccadily circus expecting something to drop at 3pm on the video boards there... Nothing happened so they had fun meeting up with other fans and traipsing around London... Looking for clues! 😂😂... I followed it all via twitter! 😂 😂

The video they dropped today was an art video performed by a slovakian dance company... This version of Black Swan is different from the audio version on Spotify.. Much more orchestrated... Have a listen to the Spotify version its a bop and has become number 1 on the iTunes chart in90 countries at last count... Beating Gangnam Styles Record (I think that charted in 86 countries)... It really is truly an amazing feat considering there's been absolutely no promotion whatsoever apart from the date and time... The records they will break when the actual lead single drops on Feb 28th will be staggering!
The song seems to be about the fear of losing the love for your art and creativity... I think this is a throwback to the beginning of 2018 where they seriously thought about disbanding... The pressures of being sooo successful got to them... They've talked about it a lot... And this also ties in with the Comeback Trailer Shadow which came out last week... Suga singing about how all he's wanted was success and now he's got it it scares him and how he's learning to live with both sides of his life... The good and bad..... And this is why I love them sooooo much! There is so much creativity... Thought... Planning that goes into everything they do... And they just make me laugh sooooo much!!
Phew!... Me? Obsessed with BTS?... No... Not really!...
Oh and they've just announced they're going to perform Black Swan first time ever on the Late Late Show James Cordon on the 28th!.... Squeeel!!....
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

... And... If you'll all indulge me... The name of the new album.. "Map of the soul : 7"...theories are that the album is a comment on how important they all as a 7 piece.. Maybe looking ahead to the time where they will inevitably not be 7 anymore (whether through impending enlistment or just end of bts!)... Suga's lovely poem is often called back to...I remember when I saw this and almost blubbed... 1... Because its just sooo lovely... And 2... It's Suga!.. Who is sort of known as the one who doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve but we all know he's as soft as shite!! 😂 ❤️😭😍

And so endeth today's BTS lesson... Apologies! 😳😳🙏🙏🙏

Thank you Bea. Good explanation there. There is lots to learn and more depth to the group than I'd realised at first.

I admit I didn't pay attention to Suga's latest rap because it was played to me while I was cooking and rap really isn't my thing.

Was watching their videos from the start with dd the other day and it's interesting to see how they've changed over time. Still need to watch the more recent ones actually. We got distracted by a Lee Jong suk drama 😄

Thank goodness for Bea & Ginger keeping the thread afloat with BTS chat. It seems all the good stuff currently happens at the weekend, whereas the Weds/Thurs dramas are .

Oho! (in the voice of 100 days Prince!... I loved it when he did that! It was sooo 😂)... I could keep this thread afloat for DAYS rabbiting on about how marvellous and amazing and clever and gorgeous and cute and funny and jaw droppingly brilliant BTS are... 😁😳👍

I can't wait til the year picks up and we have more midweek dramas to talk about. It's seollal next week too so I assume there might be some disruption to TV schedules, but happy lunar new year (only a week early!)

Boo to scheduling disruption, but perhaps Seollal and the clear evening are just the excuse we need to have a Korean feast. Some inspiration here: crazykoreancooking.com/foodandculture/seollal-korean-lunar-new-year-traditions-and-food Luckily for me, galbi jjim is a traditional dish & I’ve already mastered it. Any old excuse to cook it again... I might have a go at some of the puddings.

Well, this date/jujube-based dessert is just crying out to be tried - you make it in a rice cooker. It would be stupid not to give it a go, right? Anyone else fancy giving it a go & posting photos here for a virtual Seollal bake-off?

I love love love BTS as you know, but the BTS Connect title sounds like a broadband provider

Oho! (in the voice of 100 days Prince!... I loved it when he did that! It was sooo 😂)

I loved it when he did that too!

I'm nearing the end of The Fiery Priest which is very very funny, a kind of comedy mixed with drama that you only get in kdrama (or the occasional French film maybe). I can recommend it, and now appreciate Kim Nam-Gil a lot more.

I agree Betty.

I love love love BTS as you know, but the BTS Connect title sounds like a broadband provider
I'm signing up now! 😂😂😂... Do you think they do call outs! 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂

Ooooh now there’s an idea!! 💜💜

Hee Hee! 😂 😂

I hear you've got a problem with your Broadband Connection... I've come to fix it! The name's Jungkook... Jeon Jungkook!...

Goddamnit! That Black Swan dance MV has sucked me into the BTS wormhole. Send help!

The dance video is very good though. Thank you for posting the link.

DS and DH have ganged up on me and are making me watch Victoria Steam Trains (it's not actually that but it's just one of many that seem exactly the same 😂)
I want to look at BTS videos 😩

Victorian not Victoria!!

Does anyone know what time CLOY is released tomorrow? I have a train journey about 2pm that would be perfect for it 🙏

Boatyard... Oh god!... You'll never crawl out of it! There's just 7 years of content!... Mvs... Dance practises... Bangtan Bombs... Bon Voyages... Run episodes... Festa Content... Honey Radio...summer packages... And that's just official BTS stuff never mind the funny stuff Army create!... 😱😱😱😭

Girl - It’s usually later, between 3-4pm.