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…

Aaaaaaahahahahahahha!!! In the middle of a reallllly tense exciting moment a perfect bit of car product placement 🤣🤣

I’m caught up with Hyena (liking it a lot), have watched about an hour of Kingdom (mostly daylight scenes, no zombies) and have watched a bit of Come & Hug Me, which I’ve paused due to it already being sad & putting me on a downer. I need sunshine & sparkles, damn it!

Memorist! Memorist! Memorist! Just watched ep 3 & 4...its great! Quite dark but fantastic main characters! Really really good! I hope it continues like this!

boatyard... Watching Come and Hug Me is not good if you're not feeling robust! It's great! But it's dark and very sad!... Watch Extraordinary You l... It's really fun and feisty with good solid leads and a good plot! 👍👍😁

Not caught up on Itaewon Yet... Though if V's lovely song pops up I'll 😭😭😭😭😭... It's part of the ost and just listening to it on its own makes me blub... Nevermind having it on as background music for an emotional scene! 😭😭😢

It does pop up ‘tis lovely Bea! Very satisfying end to Itaewon & PSJ is superb.

boatyard I second Extraordinary You it is shiny 😊 However if you fancy a laugh then The Boy Next DOor is a great entry level webdrama and has Park Morgan and Choi Woo Shik and is very funny

Thanks for the alternative suggestions Bea.

I am really proud of myself to be making progress with Kingdom at last. I think I’m gradually being desensitised to the zombies, though the ‘rarr! moments’ as we call them still have me startling and spilling my tea/wine/beer down myself. (DH and I abandoned S1 of Walking Dead after 2 or 3 episodes because we were both having excessively vivid nightmares. )

And Betty.

Ooops the link I added has all the episodes put together, they’re normally about 10-15 minutes long

bettys... I still nerd need to watch that! Very glad to hear that about Itaewon... I can watch without feeling like I'm going to have the rug pulled out from under my feet! 👍👍👍🐝🐝🐝

Plowing through Hyena as had to give up on Weather

Even DH is watching it with me ! I will convert him yet 🤣

Hyena is funny though - the way they revel in screwing each other over made me laugh. Ji Ju-Hoon’s facial expressions are hilarious.

But also interesting too because, despite his bluster, I really do think he fell for her hard.

I didn't think I'd been gone that long, but new thread already! Thanks boat

RL has been errm interesting. I have two teenagers. One teenager won't now be sitting their GCSEs and is torn between yay long summer break and put out they won't have the chance to put all their hard work (and they have been working very hard) to use. The other is severely autistic, the thought of them at home for 3 or 4 months is frankly overwhelming and exhausting but fortunately their school is, atm, able to stay open, fingers crossed that lasts otherwise I don't know quite what I will do. I also have elderly parents self-isolating to get food to, luckily they are fairly close by so that's not as bad as it could be.

Sorry for the dump, it's been such an emotionally up and down time recently. I need the escapism of a lovely kdrama more than ever at the moment.

In more relevant news (!), I finally finished Hotel del Luna. Loved her wardrobe and her attitude and the generally lush settings but on the whole it almost but just didn't quite hit the mark for me. I did finish watching it all though, so maybe a 7?

if you ever need to emotion dump jumpingfrogs this thread will always be here. The costume and props department in Hotel del Luna deserved some awards, it was amazing and so ethereal to me.

Don't worry about dumping Frogs, it's a strange and unsettling time and we probably all need that shiny escape of kdrama for a bit of respite.

Interesting about Hotel del Luna. I loved it when it was airing, and the acting and production values were great, but it hasn't stayed with me, and isn't in my top 10

frogs.... Hope you're OK and be rest assured there will akways be plenty of escapism here!...
😁

Cats... Knitwear!... Lovely Hair?!.... I can't cope!
www.soompi.com/article/1389637wpp/meow-the-secret-boy-cast-poses-for-sweet-behind-the-scenes-photos
Meow The Secret Boy... Airing soon! ❤️🥰

Hi Frogs. I think many of us are finding the current circumstances challenging. I had a little cry the other day at the enormity of it all, but I’m out the other side of it & in the ‘just getting on with it’ stage. These threads are a refuge though.

I'm finding these times are great for catching up on all the movies on my to watch list. It's at 139 shows/movies and I've selected 12 movies to watch over the next week. The 90 minutes to 3 hours of escapism is just the right amount without committing to a 16 hour drama or, even worse, a 50 hour marathon mando-drama.

The following link is incredibly horrific and triggering but is important news that has been missed through the COVID-19 situation. There's been a huge case of sexual trafficking and abuse of women with the videos being shared with 260,000 paying people. South Korea is in a weird place right now.

m.blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=nomorenthroom&logNo=221782222359&proxyReferer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FsHY4Jw3M4I%3Famp%3D1

That is a deeply disturbing report hello. Brutal detail. I wish I hadn't clicked on it.

Plumped for My Contracted Husband Mr Oh on Netflix, fairly typical contract marriage scenarios, throw in a very nasty mother, work shenanigans and a few hidden secrets. Quite early on, and entertaining so far, although not up there with my favourites; read some mixed reviews about how it pans out over 24 episodes but hoping for the best. It’s holding my attention so far. Have early on gotten to the dorky hero having a haircut and shave and being transformed into an Adonis, is this the Korean equivalent of the secretary taking off her glasses and letting down her hair trope in old Western movies? Also, this has set off intense craving for Korean noodle pots which of course are sold out online…have some kimchi paste in the fridge so may add that to something later…Quite keen to watch Itaewon Class but waiting for last episode to drop.
Thanks for the recs and the warm welcome. These are the ones I’ve watched so far and really enjoyed all on the list:
Stranger
Chicago Typewriter
Because this is my first life – watched twice!
Don’t Dare to Dream
What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim
Romance is a Bonus Book
She was Pretty
Another Miss Oh
Something in the Rain – reminded me of Brief Encounter
One Spring Night – not as good as SITR but really like Jung Hae-In

Abandoned but may go back to:

Still 17 – realise I like multiple threads and finding so much of the action set in the house is a bit too narrow for me. Also particularly liked the ones that explore social issues and women’s roles.
Crash Landing on You - liked the North Korean sections but not the rich family intrigues, also the ML looks a bit as if he’s had a tad too much surgery.
Oh My Ghostess – not sure why the beginning didn’t work for me so will try again at some point, if only for Jo Jung-Suk and his wonderful expressions which remind me at times of Buster Keaton.

Abandoned forever more!

Something about One Per Cent – I know the hero will have a transformation but he is so obnoxious and misogynistic I couldn’t see how it would convince me.

One can't recall name - but involved going to a hotel in Macau...

Very keen to watch Her Private Life but still endless buffering, and awaiting Viki getting Marriage, Not Dating, and for Weather to finish.

Will ignore the link to stuff about Korea, prefer to find a thread to escape to as have partner with an 'underlying condition'! So need a break from things that might add to anxiety levels. With all due respect to the person who posted it.

Young I dumped My Contracted Husband Mr Oh after a few episodes - well I watched the last half of the last episode to make sure & was glad I hadn't ploughed through all of it. Let us know what you make of it!

Still 17, Crash Landing on You, & Oh My Ghostess are worth going back to when you are in the right mood.

Can highly recommend Search WWW & Be Melodramatic for strong female characters with a side of social commentary.

Finished Itaewon Class yesterday - so good!

Younghill - if you add scores out of 10 (10 = outstanding), Hello or Betty to add them to the googledocs spreadsheet.

Oh and if you have some kimchi paste in the fridge I can recommend adding it to cheese toasties, cauliflower cheese, cheesy fried rice in fact anything with cheese. I've even put kimchi on pizzas so I imagine a drizzle of kimchi paste would add a certain kick!