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…

Oh yes. I imagine its a bit like the book group in Weather or maybe like Tammi and Scarlet on the razz in WWW. If we have a MsLatte’s meet up, do we get to choose which oppa carries us home after our big night out?

Omg I just literally stopped what I was doing and mentally ran through my Oppas list in far too serious a manner 😳

As we all know, I have a long standing and never ending dibs on Ji Soo. Although Jung Ga Ram, the 2ML in Love Alarm, is creeping up my list. I don't think I'm at risk of stepping on anyone's toes with those choices though.

I need someone sturdy. So Ji Sub, Hyun Bin or Gong Yoo for me. I hope for their sakes its only a short piggy-back home.

Bts! In dreams! No no no! They take up enough of my time already and to start bothering me in my dreams! No way! 😱 I'm perpetually exhausted with keeping up!
They dropped a surprise mv today Black Swan! Twitter had a meltdown and all I could think of was... "But this wasn't on the official comeback schedule! It wasn't on the schedule!"... 😱😱😱😣😣😣
Oh its gorgeous by the way! Contemporary Dancer Park Jimin is my jam!! 👍💜🥰

boatyard I might have to push you out of the way to get to Hyun Bin first 😠

You can give it a try....

......actually BTS wise I think RM would be best for piggy backs

And Black Swan MV is superb 💜

if we're doing bts piggybacks, my choice is hobi. can't get away from that bloody smile.

Where was that Black Swan MV (another one!) shot? It’s very grand, but a bit blinging for my tastes.

Boaty, I'll agree to a timeshare for those 3, but need to add Cha Seung Won and Kim Nam Gil. On the younger end, Park Seo Joon, Ji Chan Wook and Lee Seung Gi make me smile.

BTS piggy back needs to be Mr WWH Jin 🥰

Actually I was thinking WWH Jin would be good for a piggy back & he’d probably make noodles too (no innuendo intended)

I read the Black Swan MV was shot in the Los Angeles Theatre

Aww having a coffee and chatting about dramas sounds amazing!
I don't know who I'd pick for a piggyback. I'd also require someone sturdy 😂. Ahn Bo-hyun? If I could get over Itaewon chaebol shitness. I bloody love SKJ but he's might be a bit skinny. Or I'd join the queue for Ji So Sub or Hyun Bin.

Ahn Bo-Hyun meets my sturdy criterion, but he needs to pick his next project carefully to rehabilitate his essential oppa-ness.

What is the talk of coffee ☕️!?!

Soju bombs all the way ladies!

Oh go on then! 😁

if we're doing bts piggybacks, my choice is hobi. can't get away from that bloody smile.

Is there another level of nicknames after the V, Suga etc level? Who the hell is hobi? I can’t keep up!

I was thinking about mentioning soju bombs last night, but can you imagine how messy that night would get?

Here we go here we go here we go!!!!

boatyard hobi is J-Hope. Some homework for you

1. RM // Kim Namjoon

God of Destruction (he is clumsy),

RapMon (his old name is RapMonster),

Namu (his name in Japanese is Na-Mu-Jun instead of Nam-joon),

1. JIN // Kim Seokjin

Worldwide Handsome

Worldwide funny Guy

The Car-door guy (from MMA 2015)

The 3rd guy from the left (from BBMAs 2017, referring to Jin who is 3rd from the left in their official standing order)

Chef Jin (he cooks the most for the group)

mad-nae (a combination of maknae (the youngest) and mad-hyung (the oldest), as he is the oldest but act like the maknae)

1. SUGA // Min Yoongi

Minstradamus (his words/predictions always come true)

Suga-JeonJae-Jjang-Jjang-Man-Bboong-Bboong (genius suga)

Agust D

Grandpa Yoongi

Father Yoongi (as in a dad of the group, not the church)

Lil meow meow (by both korean and intl fans)

Yeon Ki Min (he said that will be his English name)

Min Yoonji (a skit from Run BTS!)

1. JHOPE // Jung Hoseok

The sun/sunshine

Army’s hope

Hobi

Golden Hyung (multi-talented)

J-HOOOOOOOOOPE (how BTS esp Suga used to call his name to hype him)

j-dope // j-nope

JAY (a name when he is in America because he turn all swaggy compared to in SK)

HOPE (hui-mang)

1. JIMIN // Park Jimin

mochi

manggae-ddeok (a type of rice cake)

ChimChim

fairy of the group

1. V // Kim Taehyung

TaeTae

Vante

CGV (for his good looks)

Mong-tae (korean), which means Blank Tae

1. Jungkook // Jeon Jungkook

Golden Maknae (multi-talented, and the youngest)

kookie

Bettys!!!! Lol!!!! You are putting in your hours!!!!!!... but the simplified version....

Kim Namjoon - RM

First debuted Rap Monster but grown out of that now so just... Namjoon / Joonie (and in my eyes President Namjoon) and JK still calls him RapMon Hyung which I think is really really funny (watch recent ontervies and all the others call him RM but JK always calls him RapMon Hyung )

Kim Seokjin - Jin

Min Yoongi - Suga / AgustD (when doing solo stuff)

Jung Hoseok - J-Hope / Hobie

Park Jimin - Jimin / ChimChim / Mochi (old but seems to have been revived due to Carpool Karaoke!)

Kim Taeyhyung - V / Tae

Jeon Jungkook - Jungkook / JK / Golden Maknae

sigh! It's a whole unviversity degrees worth!

I’m still struggling to correctly identify Jimin and Jungkook, though I think I’ve got Jin nailed - he has the idol equivalent of resting bitchface, so I’ve worked out to spot him from his bored/“I’m above all this” expression.

I like Weather so much. It’s so gentle and lovely. I don’t even care that not much happens. That’s part of it’s charm.

boatyard ré BTS maybe you have prosopagnosia like everyone else in kdramaland 🤣🤣🤣

SKJs character in Weather no doubt has insomnia due to the large pots of coffee he makes with such care and charm