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…

bettys Exactly the same cast, completely different situations. They all run into each other at a party, FL spills a drink on ML and ends up in a compromising position while cleaning it up. The paps snap a photo and then they agree to pretend to be engaged to downplay the media backlash.

Maybe they saw our reviews and thought about their morals. Although this is only the first 1 and a half episodes so lord knows what's coming if I carry on.

I am having a happy afternoon of luxury Boaty Shuffle (TM). I am going to watch the first episode of several things to decide on my next show. So far, so beautiful human statue (that’s Park Hae Jin in Forest to the rest of you). It’s intriguing and Park Hae Jin is lovely to watch...

I can't settle as am feeling the loss of CLOY, My Mister & Stove League all ending at once
In the meantime I am looking up the Swiss CLOY locations. I've already visited a couple but am tempted to go back and see the rest....it's a lot closer than Seoul!

I'll be interested to know what you make of Forest boatyard as I couldn't get into it on my initial try. And I can normally watch he who is like a fine statue in just about anything.

CLOY locations

Hmm. The luxury shuffle doesn’t work if you get sucked into the first thing you watch. Forest’s vibe is exactly where I’m at this afternoon. The forest scenery is beautiful, the pace is pleasingly slow, the mystery element captivating and Park Hae Jin makes everything about it better.

Im off work with DS as its his half term. We went to the cinema to see Sonic the Hedgehog 🙄
But now I've done my parental duties I've finished Oh My Venus and started Come and Hug Me.
I loved Oh My Venus but Come and Hug Me is very gripping! Total opposites.

OK, nearing the end of ep 4 of Forest (they are c35 mins) and I’m well sucked in. A baffling scene in ep 1 has now dropped into place.

Hmmm ok I'll give it a second try as I have aaaaages to wait before Dr Romantic is subbed

I don’t want to spoil anything, but Forest is the best Park Hae Jin Ken Doll-style dressy up. He gets a good range of costume changes, there are gym scenes and the teaser at the end of the last episode showed your classic post-shower scene. What’s not to love?

I also like the rural setting. I know I’ve seen the same cottage hospital on something else but I can’t remember which kdrama, although I think it was haunted in the other one. I like seeing medicine done like this, with deductive diagnosis and a wonky x-ray light boxes and all the local colour. It’s good to get out of shiny Seoul from time to time.

He seems to have been working out while best from our screens

Absent, not best

Did you go back to Forest Betty? (I’m up to episode 10 )

I did indeed! Well, you did say there was a shower scene .......

It's quite amiable, and all a lot of tropes are ticked off eg co-habitation, pretending to date in front of cheating ex-boyfriend. There's something missing though in the production.
This was filmed last spring and entirely pre-produced. I wonder if when they do that they deliberately air in the season it was filmed in? To make it seem more live?

I prefer Park Hae Jin with his hair down in jeans and polo neck

...out of all the Ken looks

The white bath towel worked for me. 🤷‍♂️

🤣👍he could not have slung that much lower 😆

On the peripheral character front, I think the new civil servant is a hoot. The chaos she’s causing is hilarious.

First Melo, now Forest. I want to have a go on the dancing squares arcade game so much!

The gentle forest scenes, nature walks and fly-fishing is very soothing. 👌

The gentle forest scenes, nature walks and fly-fishing is very soothing
Your making it sound tempting even though I'm not a massive beautiful statue fan. I need something to balance the tenseness of Come and Hug Me
Poor ML has just been stabbed and allegedly stitched up in hospital but they left his v bloody shirt on and tucked it back in to his trousers!
I'm annoyed from a medical perspective not because of a missed shirt off opportunity. Honest.

Yeah, yeah, yeah Girl. 😉

I’m all caught up with Forest. Let’s just say it kicks up a notch. I’ve had a lovely evening blasting through it. The episodes are short, so its worth a try.

Is the editing really choppy? I’m somewhat confused, they seemed to go from a mountain rescue to a table death with nothing in between

TheGirl 🤣👔 we need shirtless scene icon

😱😱😱... Oh no! The Bangtan Universe!! 😭😭😭... If you've ever delved into the BT Universe it is sooooo angsty and complicated! (time travel elements) but completely and utterly mesmerising! I've given myself headaches trying to unravel it all!... Soooo excited!!

Wonder of if this thread will still be here then?.. 😂 😂 😂