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…

Best wishes to you and yours TheGirl

DH also working from home & has taken over the dining room and half of the front room with printers and the like. I have decamped to the loft (which is where I work anyway) and hidden my favourite mugs and biscuits. I may not come down for a while.

Thanks for suggesting Extraordinary You. I’ve settled into it (the style was jarring at first) and am now laughing my head off at Dan-Oh running through the school doing back-bumps with all the guys to find her prince. 😂

Thanks everyone. I'm settling in to finish Itaewon Class now 😍

boatyard...! 👍👍👍Extraordinary You! 🥰

That is a very good point about the good mugs my husband made me a coffee in my best tea mug and I almost divorced him last month. Good luck to all x

We have implemented new teapot arrangements so we get more cups out of fewer teabags. DH says he’s enjoying the tea-making ritual so much he’ll continue after this is all over.

I really got into Extraordinary You last night. I found the first episode deeply irritating, but they start to dial down the madcap aspects as it progresses. As a bare minimum, it is a veritable stable of leggy, lanky racehorses so enjoyable from that point of view, but the FL is growing on me too - some very funny scenes.

Boatyard... Yes first ep is quite jarring but you do get used to it. Dd home early from uni has been watching it and I caught a few minutes of it and it did make me lol... FL is very funny... Her indignation and feisty ness is great! 😂 😂 😂
Enjoy!

it is a veritable stable of leggy, lanky racehorses mmm sounds interesting!
Itaewon Class had a good ending. PSJ is excellent in it ❤️.

it is a veritable stable of leggy, lanky racehorses

Yes, Lee Jae Wook had already been added to the racehorse list after Search: WWW but then Rowoon got added too. Have just finished Click Your Heart which he is in (silly fluffy fun) and realised all the MLs in that were dancers/in groups which led me to clips of Rowoon dancing in SF9. I continue to be amazed by how the idol training scheme turns out multi-talented individuals (but not condoning the more brutal methods obv.)

With Itaewon Class PSJ has thoroughly transformed his image from chaebol-lead-type-actor-also-good-at-action to multi-faceted-actor-can-take-on-any-role in my view.

Clips of Rowoon dancing sounds like just what I need. I locked my keys in my car and had to get the Aa this morning 😣

For you Girl , what a PITA why do these things happen on top of everything else?

Fancam:

And another fancam: www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=xbfccBCMQyc&feature=emb_logo

And this one is old but made me lol as it looks as if he has loo rolls on his wrists

Aww thanks bettys ❤️
I've just watched them in the break room at work with the sound off cos I didn't bring my headphones. I'll rewatch with sound later. The loo roll one is 🤣. He is beautiful!

... So we know who's been stockpiling the Loo Roll! 😂 😱

🤣🤣 I love how in the loo roll clip the women are all ‘ooooh!’ and ‘woooah’ but the men have total wtf faces on 😆

🤣😁 I watched with sound now! The loo roll one is even funnier with the women cheering him on😁.
I'm going to have lots of time for such things as I've been sent home to self isolate for 2 weeks due to DHs symptoms!! We were previously told we had to come in unless symptomatic. My boss isn't happy 😬. DH is feeling a bit better now which is a relief.

TheGirl I'm reading that of 2 weeks drama bingeing. Wahey! So glad your DH is feeling better though.

My neighbours are having a party. About 50 guests, loud music and seemingly enough alcohol to sanitise all of the Sahara. The loud drum and bass with intermittent cheering is ruining my attempt at watching a psychological thriller film.

Thanks Hello 😁.
What are your neighbours thinking?!? 🤔😷

After the PMs announcement, I'm just glad I won't have another 2 weeks of it. I'll worry about the intracacies of dog walking in the morning but until then I'm happy to ignore the world.

I found some noise cancelling headphones and told DP not to tap me on the shoulder until I've finished the film. Hopefully I can get all the way through.

I’m guessing the average height of Rowoon’s band was above average for an idol group - either that, or skinny jeans and a liw shooting angle make everyone look >6’. He is very beautiful, though in a way that makes me think he’s probably had work done. 😕

I was trying to watch Extraordinary You but kept falling asleep and missing bits. Loooong day here. I’m off to bed imminently.

Im off to bed too. I just watched ep 5 of Weather which was lovely. I've so many questions though. What's going on with the Mum? Who's the new bloke that's turned up? But it's too nice to rush so I'll save ep 6 for tomorrow 😊

Weather is deeply soothing, probably my most chilled hours in the week at the mo.

Right, I’m really off to bed now! 🥾🍑

Someone asked for the kimchi stew recipe that I’m using. It is from Caroline Hwang’s ‘Korean Food Made Easy’ book (highly recommended). General tips:

• lean pork works well, but belly pork (as per recipe) gives greater depth of flavour & umami.
• We use the Tofoo smoked tofu from Sainsburys & it makes for a really flavoursome broth.
• Go carefully with the extra gochugan paste when switching kimchi brands as some are more fiery than others
• Chestnut mushrooms work just as well. I add mine with the tofu.

Hope the photos are legible. It is really easy ‘ extremely tasty.

Thanks for the recipe boatyard, I will be trying that out in an attempt to convert DH to kimchi!

I'm finding it difficult to settle in to escapist mode at the moment, so am dipping around various dramas. Managed to get up to speed on Memorist though which is v good.