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…

The Other Miss Oh was a good romance binger.

I haven’t achieved much. I slept in, got up for a Zoom catch-up with friends which went on for over an hour, did some ironing whilst watching Contagion on Netflix (excellent Basil Explanation scene where R0 and all the other stuff about transmission is covered off), had a bath & now I’m ready to face the day. DH is in full Park Morgan mode (though greyer and more grizzly) and has been tidying and vacuuming since 10am. He’s a keeper!

I really enjoyed The other Miss Oh, your DH sounds like a keeper Boatyard mine on the other hand is locked in his office working probably watching old rugby matches

DD's in garden sunbathing with Pimms and House Partying with their uni friends ^ Warm and cosy^ leaving me a bit cold and fidgety. Going to dip into some on front page I haven't tried yet. --

Not sure why my post below has so many random characters?!

Aesops... Thirty but Seventeen is nice and calm... 👍

Heads up: from the ep 5 preview at the end of ep 4, it looks like Lovely Horribly may have a contract marriage, as one is suggested by ML’s manager. I know how much you all love a contract marriage, so I thought I’d start dusting off the bunting.

I do love a good contract marriage. I'm going through the tagged on MyDramaList and making sure I haven't missed any because it's a sure fire way to lighten my mood!

The Lovely Terrible episodes are only 30 min so its not as slow as ep4/5 would suggest.

We’re having ‘Army Base Stew’ from my Korean cookbook. The kids will complain because it’s basically kimchi stew in another form. Basically, fry off half an onion, garlic, mushrooms, add 500g kimchi 🎉, then tbsp gochugaru flakes 🔥 and tbsp of gochugan paste, 1l stock (says anchovy, I’ve used miso), tsp fish sauce, tin of spam, hot dog weieners, 150g block of firm tofu. Simmer for 25 min, then add ramyeon noodles, 2 “American cheese slices” (improving with cheddar & end of a mozzarella ball) and sprinkle with sliced spring onions. It’s either going to be a holy horror or so wrong it’s right. I will, of course, report back. 😆

Improving = improvising. Also, simmer for 10 min after adding noodles. It’s very pork heavy.

Verdict:
3 males in house = so wrong it’s right
Me = holy horror. Such a waste of good kimchi. 😞

Normally boatyard your culinary accounts make my mouth water but the sheer inclusion of spam & hit gods is just 🤢

Which one should I be watching with Miss Oh, there seem to be three versions with Oh in the name?

Hit gods = hot dogs 🤔

Cassini the one with Seo Hyun Jin & Eric Moon

Thanks 🙏

Normally boatyard your culinary accounts make my mouth water but the sheer inclusion of spam & hit gods is just

I don’t know why I even thought it was a good idea. I agree - it just sounds problematic. I was persuaded to give it a go because kinchi stew also sounded like a terrible idea on paper and that is delicious. I just burped my way round my daily walk experiencing regret. A beautiful sunset marred by spam and wiener repeating on me. 🤢 It’s a recipe that should have stayed in the 1950’s post-Korean war period.

A beautiful sunset marred by spam and wiener repeating on me. 🤢

I just sniggered out loud & woke the dog up 🤣

😂😂😂 boke🤮

I'm 😂 at your description of the stew boaty
Im upto date with Weather now. That was v action packed! 😁
Hope you are all having a lovely Bank Holiday weekend 🤣😆

DD decided to bleach her very dark hair. She now resembles an Asian Weasley 😂😂 She loves it and has spiked up the front to go and stand at her friend's back gate a few doors down to show her Super Sian hair off. (Dragonball has a lot to answer for) Thank god her hair grows fast and she's going back to a pixie cut 😁 It's growing on me.

We are seeing a return to curls (nay, ringlets) here as the menfolk grow out their very short haircuts. I am liking it. They hate it. Wishing now I’d bought some bright coloured Manic Panic to brighten up my grey. There’s enough of it now that it would be a statement. It’s a no-no when I’m in work.

I had to look Super Sian Dragonball up, it sounds cute! As do ringlets - sigh! DS got his housemate to give him a no. 4 cut last week and he has such lovely flopsy hair (Is rocking the no. 4 though)

DS trusted me with scissors because the sides were annoying him. He has super curly hair and now resembles a well groomed alpaca...

Do it boaty! When else would you get the chance?? This is what online shopping or click and collect is for! DH says she looks like Suga, which I suppose is true, especially with her hamster cheeks. This is meant to be an interim shade before she goes pillar box red, but she seems to like it. I'm fielding horrified phonecalls from my own mother. I shall be on the gin shortly lol.

boatyard I've just looked up Manic Panic as I'm wondering whether to bite the bullet and go grey completely in lockdown as they have funky grey shades...is it good?