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…

Now that schools are shut and I have no idea when my new job is due to start since all the departments that need to conduct pre-employment checks etc are on skeleton staff, I'm going to take full advantage and binge. Watched a cute short web drama on Viki called Best Mistake. High school fluff and each episode is only 10mins. Nice for a change of pace, so I might watch a few films before starting any more series.

Surely that kind of fire break calls for a 50 hour mando drama monkey?

Lol it does, but I'm figuring out what to watch. I might watch Gusrdian, which is 40 episodes long...

Guardian

Has anyone watched The Plover & The Crocodile yet? The title drew me in but I’m not sure I can commit 50 hours.

I’ll sound the early bell for the next thread & invite suggestions for updates. Do we want something in the title to try & tempt some lockdown posters in? We’ll soon have a lot of housebound MNers needing some escapism.

I have watched it boaty. I actually enjoyed it because the relationship between the ML and FL evolves at a realistic pace. There's a bit of intrigue and the friendships remind me of being back at uni. One of the couples will probably annoy (I know I found them irritating), but it's a good portrayal of relationship dynamics.

I’m giving it a go, monkey (mainly because I can’t get on Netflix). What kind of muppet puts their travel money in their suitcase? 🙄

It's not fast-paced, so bear with it.

I'm get nervous putting nice things in my suitcase in case I lose it, let alone money. Let me guess, it somehow got lost?

Luggage to follow on a later plane, Hello. Just a handbag, not even hand luggage. She was wearing the same clothes (and presumably underwear) and didn’t seem to bathe or clean her teeth for a couple of days. No wonder ML finds her repellent! 😀 It was one of the most ham-fisted plot devices I’ve seen in a very long time...

And the crocodile is currently an insufferable bully. 🤷‍♂️

Hopefully she says 'in a while, crocodile' and it'll make the whole thing worth it!

The blind date in the first 10 min of ep 1 was actually interesting in light of that Woman’s Hour feature I mentioned. The blind date was much older, fatter and plainer and yet made out she was an old maid at 23 and told her she needed to get a move on with marriage and babies. 😮 23!

I stumbled on a Japanese drama about 5 people who work together in an office and their individual circumstances regarding sex and relaitonships. It seemed really well thought out and progessive including a woman who has multiple partners on the go at once, a man who uses a woman for emotional labour and sex but wont commit, online dating and catfishing. I got really involved in it, only to find out that the subber stopped working on it after episode 3. So now there's another 7 episodes I can only dream of watching.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate that the subber did the first three episodes and I'm eternally grateful for it. They are welcome to pick up and drop shows as they wish but sometimes I wish I'd check to see if it all had been subbed before getting engrossed.

Where did you find it and what was it called hello? Does anyone have any gaming type drama recommendations if I liked King's Avatar and Love020? I'm not a gamer but I do like watching people play (even though I get motion sickness 🤔).

monkeywench It's called I Will Do It in my Next Life and I found it on dramacool. The raw files aren't on there so if you know where I might be able to find the raw episodes I could probably ask DP to help me muddle through it.

I think you mentioned it but have you watched Go Go Squid! Other than that there's Beyond Light Years, and Gank Your Heart that both have gaming elements or e-sports.

I'll let you know if I find it. I've watched GoGo so I'll look for the others.

Hmmmmmm I wonder if there were scheduling conflicts at the end of the shoot for Where STars Land? 🤔
All in all quite a nice little drama. Now to catch up with Weather and maybe start Memorist & Hyena
Need another binge watch though. Dr Qin? Crocodile? Some Day or One Day?

Hyena! Definitely Hyena and give it space/time to get its claws into you.

boatyard Did you think there was anything odd about the last episode?

Of Hyena? Hmm. Apart from the subtitles being slightly out of synch (small delay), not especially? Clues pls.

Or Where Stars Land? You mean a double?

Yes, WSL, the double. I mean, why???

I'm planning to binge WSL tomorrow (yay, isolating. giving me all the possibilities to have fun) Is there weird visual happenings in the last episode?