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…

Bea - can you give us a heads up when the Twickenham BTS tickets are due to go on sale? I’ve found someone to go with me who will put me up overnight too. 👍

Boatyard! Of course!!... You lucky you... Someone to put you up too!... I've still got to figure that one out! 😭

... Nor who I'm going to go with!!... 😭😭😭😭

DS2 now expressing fear of missing out re: BTS. I may have to buy 3 tickets.

..
😂 😂 😂... It's not to be missed!! 😱

I want to go to a noraebang with a drum kit! (Forest ep 15 - looks like a cracking company dinner all round!)

Brambly I've just sent that BBC link to DH 😂 He loves stuff about North Korea but rolls his eyes at my kdrama obsession!

Betty - I’ve stuck with My Mister. The scene in the bar with the vomiting woman and the failed director brother. 😂 It should be tragic, but it’s very funny (in a twisted way). Like you say, a really unexpected drama and great for it.

Oh I'm glad you've stuck with it!

Ooh Itaewon Class was good!! PSJ is so cool AND lovely.

Also I took DS to have his hair cut and I have now realised its the same as Saeroi's hair if he brushes it forward 😂. There must have been something subconsciously going on when I instructed the barber!

It's also interesting how much of a big deal it is that Toni is black. It seems like its more of an issue than being Trans? Or is it just because he's black and says he's Korean?

The trans thing seems to have been quietly dropped for now. I think they all assumed Tony was American, rather than considering he might be African. I love that his mother tongue is French. Itaewon did seem a much more mixed area during the Hallowe’en party - lots of white people. Is it a popular area with tourists?

We didn't go there when we went to Seoul but I read about it being where the American soldiers hung out used prostitues during the war, and so that's why there's lots of bars there.

I have my DD's home this weekend and they have asked to watch a Fluffy/Funny K Drama tonight 😃

Any recommendations please? Already seen a few on the front page. Has to be Netflix as watching on the main TV

You have trained them well Aesops!

You can’t go wrong with CLOY! Or Weightlifting Fairy?
Oh My Ghost?

My Holo Love?

Problem is they want to watch one I have not also, I'm trying to persuade them into CLOY as I would be happy to re-watch

They have suggested Secret life of my secretary 🤷‍♀️

Ooooh I like Secret Life of My Secretary with curly mouthed impossibly long-legged Kim Young Kwan!

The Other Miss Oh was good.

Re My Mister, I like the ML’s tack in the discussion about the managing director position, about being good at the technical stuff and not being good at politics or running a business. It’s a dilemma for a lot of middle managers.

Where are you up to? I so love the relationship between ML & FL, the way she listens and takes comfort from listening to him.

There is a v v v young Park Morgan in Beautiful Mind in a blink and you'll miss him role

Although if the roles were reversed it would be stalkerish

Agreed Betty. ML’s mother’s birthday meal is just wrapping up - around ep 8.

There is a v v v young Park Morgan in Beautiful Mind in a blink and you'll miss him role
Ooh I'm half way through ep 1 of this. Have I missed him?

He’s on the nurses desk, sat next to the pregnant nurse. He pops up every now & then but not often enough!