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…

I've just started Tell Me What You Saw and I've realised that Jang Hyuk is also the rival love interest in Wok of Love (and the better option - silly FL and her talking horse!).
But has he had his teeth done? I'm sure they were a little bit crooked in Wok of Love
I presume he's already on the list of age appropriate Oppas?

TheGirl I"ve just had a quick google and they look the same; he does have a short upper lip which can make them look a bit obvious sometimes.
He's 43 and if you ever see him shirtless he is amazingly toned oh I'd better go look that up right now

I've just been googling too 😂
Now I've properly studied some more pictures I think you're right.
There are a lot of fan pages and threads on Soompi about him!

His wife is an ex-ballerina/pilates teacher and according to wiki he has practiced Jeet Kune Do for more than 10 years and is a former professional Taekwondo athlete.

You Are My Destiny / Fated To Love You on Netflix/Viki is a fun romance with Jang Nara except he has a really irritating laugh in it. He was also splendid (ly heinous) in the recent My Country but I couldn't watch it all as it was a tedious confusing drama with a Bea-unfriendly ending.

with a Bea-unfriendly ending

That's such a good way of putting it bettys I use my kdrama addiction for happy escapism, so I'll be looking for the Bea stamp of approval on endings from now on.

Saying that, I think I can safely say the end of 1% of Something (which I've started watching now I've finished CLOY) will be a happy one. It's about a contract relationship and those are a guilty pleasure of mine. FL's no nonsense teacher-of-small-children attitude seems to be just the thing to deal with the spoilt rich ML

However I keep thinking I want hair like Jang Hyuk's totally bettys! I've just watched another episode. How does he get it so lovely while living on his own in an abandoned warehouse???
It's a bit gory 😱 but I'm going to stick with it.

It is very gory TheGirl, but moves along quite quickly and has a twist in ep 6 that I guessed but which was still satisfying.

morejumpingfrogs I'm also a sucker for contract relationships! If you find some good ones let me know, although I'm pretty sure I've watched most of them and already have the 2020 ones in my calender.

Up to ep 5 on Well Intended Love take 2 and it appears she might be pregnant. This isn't even guilty pleasure, it's just guilty of being crap.

Hello, you knew deep down it was going to crap but I love your optimism.

Saying that, I think I can safely say the end of 1% of Something (which I've started watching now I've finished CLOY) will be a happy one. It's about a contract relationship and those are a guilty pleasure of mine. FL's no nonsense teacher-of-small-children attitude seems to be just the thing to deal with the spoilt rich ML

I liked 1% of Something but I can’t remember anything about it now. 😂 I’m also a sucker for a contract marriage. It’s an underused device in western TV & film. The only one that gets close is that film where Ashton Kutcher gets smashed in Vegas and marries ?Cameron Diaz.

I think my fondness for a contract marriage started way back with The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer back in the days when I used to read.....

...but my fave contract marriage has to be BTIMFL 😍

but my fave contract marriage has to be BTIMFL

Oh yes, loveliest contract marriage ever.

Dr Romantic Kim 2... How on earth did they manage to use the music from BBC Sherlock?... Does it belong to Sherlock or was it a piece of music in its own right?...

I think it’s the Robert Downey Jnr Sherlock music

They also used music from (I think) Saint-Saens Carnival des Animaux for the bone doctor but I can’t place which tv series/film it was also used for

Oooh no I stand corrected it is the BBC one so the other one is probably Jonathan Creek, would that have been popular in SK? or an in joke?

hello I haven't seen that many - 1% of Something, Marriage Contract, 100 Days My Prince, BTIMFL. But I love them!

Stalled on Fated to Love You because I couldn't get over the hair and laugh and started Well Intended Love but luckily stumbled on a spoiler for the twist so abandoned it after a few episodes - somehow I don't see myself trying version 2.0 with your review!

Can you recommend any others? What are the upcoming ones?

boatyard if I didn't have optimism, id have nothing. I lived in hope that they could take a good contract marriage plot and execute it well, I'm so far sorely disappointed.

The Beauty Inside - that one was also a contract relationship to start with too wasn't it? I enjoyed that one, some great humour in it.

bettys... Yes! The BBC Sherlock! From 0.52.... Just made me sit up... From BBC Sherlock to SK Dr Romantic! 😂😂

hello you sound like that second marriage quote (Shaw?) about the triumph of optimism over experience

Bea yes, such a touch of genius to add it while they were hunting for the character.
Still puzzling over the other track used when Dr Bones was setting off to use his ‘connections’ . It’s Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals which was used in Tomorrows Cantabile but Jonathan Creek used Danse Macabre. Hmmm...

Oooo! Dr Romantic on the home run now! 😂 😂

bettys... I loved the whole gangster scene! 😂 😂 😂

morejumpingfrogs... 😁👍... bettys. Knows I can't abide a bad ending! I refuse to spend 16 hours watching and rooting for characters only to be scuppered by a less than satisfactory ending!... There's nothing worse... So I usually take a little advice to be ensured its worth my time! Thanks bettys! 😂 😂... I know... It's a bit rubbish but I'm unapologetic about it 😂😂😂😂

😂 😂 😂
If only!... 😅😅😅😅
BTS Army are sooo creative and funny! 😂

I appreciate your sterling work Bea, hunting out those satisfactory endings