MsLatte’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #14): Special welcome to any MNers stuck at home who need escapist boxset recommendations

[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)
The Fiery Priest (Netflix)

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)*
Signal (Netflix)*
Suspicious Partner (Netflix)*
The Lies Within (Netflix)*
Tunnel (Netflix)*

Historical/Period drama (“sageuk”)
100 Days My Prince (Viki)
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)*
Where Stars Land (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)
I’ll Go To You When The Weather is Nice (Viki - currently airing)

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)
My Mister (Viki)**
Prison Playbook (Netflix)*

Stove League (Viki)

Supernatural/zombies/vampires/fantasy/sci-fi - lighter & fluffier

Extraordinary You (Netflix)
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: Two Worlds (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)
Go Go Squid (Viki - Chinese)
Instead of Tipsy Why Not Get Drunk (Viki, Chinese)
Love O2O (Viki - Chinese)
Morning Call (Netflix - Japanese)
Put Your Head on My Shoulder (Netflix - Chinese)
Tientsin Mystic (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…

Sainsburys here sells it in teeny weeny jars like pesto, like totally missing the point.

I'm missing the Asian supermarket that is about an hour away. I'm wondering if needing rice and Kimchi counts as essential

Mail order here: www.mrkimchi.co.uk/shop

I’ve not had it though.

There is a Chinese supermarket near work that I need to make an essential trip to soon, this Kimchi talk is making me crave some 😋.
I haven't heard that song before, super catchy! And I thought I recognised the guy in it, and via the power of Google I realised he's in Hwarang

The Korean supermarket I visit regularly is near to work too. Not in work at the mo. While other people were stocking up on bog roll, I was buying ingredients so I could make my own kimchi. 😂

Excellent planning 😁

Started to watch cdrama Ever Night... The production and cinematography is amazing...fight scenes are great too!... Main characters are engaging... Story looks like it could be great... But too much mysticism and heaven and earth and "cultivating"... (this was very popular in The Untamed too!) it's quite confusing... But it's 61 eps!! Not sure I'll have the staying power... But its fun for now! 😂 😂

I started watching kdrama Lovely Horribly on Viki earlier - spotted it in my watchlist on the app. It’s about a man & woman born on the same day at the same time whose fates are inextricably linked. If one is lucky, well, successful, the other is unlucky, ill, struggling etc. Quite nicely done so far.

Did anyone see the news that APOYM is going to be reduced by 4 episodes? Apparently because people think it's moving too slow.

Wow! In some respects, that may be the making of it - or could ruin it.

It seems pretty drastic but may be the right thing to do....its a very slender story to make last another 10 episodes. Plus shooting amidst Coronavirus restrictions must have it’s problems and may not seem worth it when the ratings are low

Boat I might join you in Lovely Horrible if I can get some time away from Lego and endless meals 🤪

I was thinking about APOYM last night that it displays the Korean sensibility at the artier end of drama to the nth degree: minute observation of detail, revelation of character by the tiniest detail, beautifully composed shots and cinematography, sensitive use of incidental music and beautiful original scoring, real attention to mood/ambience. It is rather lovely when you are in the right frame of mind. You don’t see it much in US output, except maybe in arthouse cinema. When you think about it, it’s astonishing that mainstream networks commission and broadcast it. But you can also see how it tests the patience of audiences.

Weirdly I woke up at 2am and 4am like the FL in APOYM. Sadly I didn't have JHI's phone number to hand......

Sadly I didn't have JHI's phone number to hand......

Indeed. As a night owl, I’d quite like a warm-hearted oppa on speed dial for when I get bored in the early hours.

We all seem to have survived the homemade kimchi. Phew!

I am on the emergency on call rota if there are issues with our building, so had to go in to work today to deal with something on site. The Korean supermarket was open AND there was cut cabbage kimchi in stock when I swung past on my way home. 🎉 It was very weird though. Everything was so dead in the area, I was surprised it was still open.

The Asian supermarket I go to had mustard leaf kimchi. It was bloody delicious with plain rice and even better with kimchi ramen and an egg😍

Yasssss! I was paying attention. (Weather)

Is mustard leaf kimchi the same as radish leaf? We bought some of the latter in desperation when the cabbage kimchi was out of stock and I find it too much like hard work. It takes a lot of chewing.

PMY’s (not) last supper in ep 11 of Weather looked epic. It made me hungry just looking at it. Except for that horsetail radish kimchi. I’m not down with that at all.

Yeah, it's the same. I like the texture for a change and often use it to when stir frying veg and tofu.

Ooh I like horse tail radish. Yum!

I think it would be OK if I chopped it up, actually. The flavour is excellent but the ribs in the leaves are are very stringy. Now I’ve thought about chopping it, a spicy omelette plan is forming...

I meant ponytail radish. This fella: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chonggak_radish