MsLatte’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #13)

[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 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)
My Secret Terrius (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)**
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)
Romantic Dr Kim - seasons 1&2 (Viki)
Search: WWW (Viki)*
Something in the Rain (Netflix)
The Package (Viki)



Straighter ‘Slice of Life’ dramas on universal themes
Live (Netflix)
Prison Playbook (Netflix)*

Stove League (Viki)

Supernatural/zombies/vampires/fantasy/sci-fi - lighter & fluffier

Goblin (Viki)*

I am not a Robot (Netflix)
Legend of the Blue Sea (Viki/Netflix)
My Holo Love (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)

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/ML is too dense to realise the 2ML/2FL is better)
🥾🍑 (boot, peach) = kick up the arse to go to bed



We also abbreviate titles if they’re long, but usually with an obvious abbreviation. Some favourite actors & actresses have been abbreviated for speed/efficiency, eg Park Min Young (PMY), Kim Jae Wook (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…

Aww great episode of Dr Kim! Im sad there's only one left 😭😭😭

I’m so behind with Dr Kim. Still, it will be a fun binge when I return to it.

I am saving the last episode of My Mister for tomorrow night. It’s too good to push on through this late. I think it definitely needs to go on the Slice of Life list in the header.

boatyard I sobbed buckets in the last episode of My Mister ( but it is a 🐝 friendly ending)

soon we'll all have an emoji designation; ⛵ for an outstanding series from the start, 🐝 for a happy, well concluded series. what emoji are you bettys and what does it stand for?

mine is the straightforward romance with no Black Knight or Well Intended Love WTFkery

Cassini A good solid wham, bam, thank you mam romance is so wonderful. Just watching sweet dates and a developing romance is so heart warming. 💐 is a good one.

Although I do wonder how couples in medical dramas ever find the time to date. They seem to run off mid shift and never do paperwork. Most medical staff I know don't have time to go for a wee, let alone run off to dinner in a nice place with a potential partner.

By all rights it should be a 🧁as my name comes from a famous tearoom but there aren’t many cake opportunities in drama so I’m tempted to use 🚿 or 🛁for notable visuals as other categories have been bagsied. What about you hello?

no Black Knight or Well Intended Love WTFkery

I still haven't forgiven them for the Black Knight WTF ending either Cassini

Well Intended Love 2 has started on Viki by the way. This is how they're describing it:

^In Season 1 of “Well Intended Love,” out-of-luck actress Xia Lin (Simona Wang) is diagnosed with leukemia but happens to run into a controlling conglomerate CEO named Ling Yi Zhou (Xu Kai Cheng) who would make a compatible bone marrow donor for her.

She asks him to help. He agrees, but only on the condition that he marries her!

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe, Xia Lin is actually a very famous actress and she is yet to meet Ling Yi Zhou.

However, their fates become intertwined in this universe, too, when Xia Lin attends a gala and ends up getting into an embarrassing spat with Ling Yi Zhou.^

I think I'll give it a go, not all the subs are u yet though

Surely we should allow 🔥 for proper snogging and chemistry. Not sure how you convey pure filth for the Jdramas.

Oh my eyes! Parallel universes! That’s a new take on a do-over because the first attempt was so shocking.

I completely agree with the 🚿 on maybe a rating system 🚿, 🚿🚿, 🚿🚿🚿
And there is a 🍶 emoji we could use for a perfect soju bomb?

And yes I will go to my grave still complaining about BK!

Most J drama is NSFW!😳😳😳

And yes I will go to my grave still complaining about BK!

I feel the same about Lost, which DH insisted we watched to the bitter end because “it will all come good”. Luckily our marriage survived, but it was touch and go for a while.

Contemplating starting CLOY on Friday evening when everyone heads out for work/sleepovers and I get uninterrupted viewing. Not having young kids in the house is fuelling my watching lol

🙈🙈🙈 for the 🔥🔥scenes in jdrama.

I gave up on BK and ended up reading the synopsis elsewhere. It just didn't grab me.

Are you going to add these symbols to the OP on future threads boat complete with symbol contributed by?? A bit of a faff but would be visually fun

Surely there's still time and episodes enough for Well Intended Love 2.0 to go horribly wrong?? I shan't start it until you guys give 💐feedback - I've learnt my lesson from Melting You Softly

Melting! 😱... What a sad sad mess of a letdown! I'm still smarting!...Grrr! JCW! How could you do that to us!... You're loyal Ms Lattes! 😭😭

😂 😂 😂 Love the idea of a 🐝 for a pleasing satisfactory ending! 😂.. I'm quite honoured! 😂 😂

I'm heading into last Dr Kim tonight... It has been a most satisfying drama.. Good story... Good pace... Great primary and secondary characters! All round 👍👌👏... Hopefully ending is 👍👍

monkeywrench... Oooo! You're in for such a treat!! CLOY binge!... Remember to keep hydrated! 😂 😂

Cannot... Cannot let this day go by without posting this absolute gem!

.... And this! 😱

Arrggh!.... This! !

Epic!! ❤️

My DD is totally gaga for Min Yoongi because she likes his lyrics and apparently the way he comes across is very like her brother (who she adores). I have to admit to a soft spot for him too, he seems so much quieter than the rest 😁

I'm going to stock up for my Hyun Bin binge, DH has resigned himself to coming in from work to a zombie. There is something that is so satisfying about watching a while series in one go. Itaewon class is the next on the list once all the episodes are available (I'm really bad at waiting 😂)

It's funny 'cos I wasn't that keen on 'ON' as a track at first but now I totally love!

Your DD has good taste monkeywench

it!! totally love it!!

It's so cold I can hardly type.

Yes! bettys... When I heard the 30sec preview on tik tok I was a little... 🤔🤔🤔... But now! Its sooooo anthemic! And the performances I've watched... The dance practise one is almost more powerful than the mv as you can really see clearly all the for formations and I love the background hyping up cheers from the dancers!... Watching it live! In a stadium!... 👍👍😱😱😱💜💜💜🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥