MsLatte’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #15): Tiring of your usual telly during lockdown? Want to be transported somewhere else? Try our escapist boxset recommendations

[boatyardblues]

A quiet corner of MN for serious addicts of Kdrama, or the K-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. 

We also dip into Japanese, Taiwanese & Chinese drama as & when. 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)

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
Hospital Playlist (Netflix)
Itaewon Class (Netflix)
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. Quite a few of us are learning Korean, Japanese and/or Mandarin (some more diligently than others admittedly), so we swap tips and links to language resources. Basically, anything topical goes.


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…

(I’m a big old pussy cat really. 😉 Think Bagpuss, but with more grey.)

To be fair, monkeywench does have dibs and it may even have been her that recommended Li Xian.....🤔 or was it hello? It would be the worst kind of biatch 2FL behaviour to then try & steal him.... mwah hah ha 😈

What’s Jasper been up to, Betty? It feels like we’re overdue some Mr Liu.

DD calls me a honey badger, looks benign until provoked (even though I'm Ravenclaw) DS calls me Lucy (as in Lucifer) because he says I'm terrifying when truly angry. Seeing as that has only happened twice in his life, I must have scarred him for life 😂😂 I don't think that either of them learning bad words in other language is going to improve the situation lol

It was meeee! Keep your mitts off!! (Proper MIL style 😂)

Can you recommend a good Li Xian interview which showcases the duality you speak of?

Any of the Go Go interviews or blooper reels on YouTube. There's a blooper reel from a kiss scene where he just can't stop laughing and the FL keeps on telling him to pull it together, cracking him up even more.

🤣🤣 glasses of water at the ready!!

Jasper Liu has been off the screens for too long...could do with more of him having a little mooch in his onesie (not a euphemism, Triad Princess ref) He’s been filming a Chinese costume drama

Those 50 episode Mandarin dramas take an age to get through. I dread to think how long they take to film....

www.facebook.com/235181020366620/videos/1073890459667081/

www.facebook.com/LiXianPH2019/videos/527882044629660/

Just a couple.

Good list boatyard it's tempting me to check if I agree 😁
I've finished Nokdu which had a v pleasing ending. The last few eps had a lot of fighting though, but I did cheer when the Muwoldan turned up. Overall very enjoyable ✔️
Im working my way through the things I've not watched on the recommendations list so I've started Signal. I've been sucked in within 2 episodes 😅. It's the first Japanese drama I've seen, it was quite surprising how much i found it harder to follow without really concentrating, compared to Korean. All this learning a foreign language is paying off 😂.

Slightly surprised that the first scene in Haechi is full of semi clad concubines and a eunuch checking under the crown prince's robes to see if he is....er....excited

Say what?!?!? 😯😯😯😯. Not the kind of thing I expect to read on this thread 🤣

So unlike the home life of our own dear Queen 👑

I will let monkeywench have Li Xian as Xu Kai or Xiao Zhan can make a fine alternative. In this scenario, I've got options 😂

The one I don't get the appeal of is Huang Zitao, and the "look" for the younger actors seems to be a very narrow pointed chin which is not my cup of tea 🍵

hello those are very good options 😁 I have a soft spot for Wallace Huo and Wang Kai too

Oh Wallace Huo! 😆☺️👍

Cassini it was a brief scene & not done in a sordid way just made me 😳 🤣

Ahem, googling those alternates brought up this beauty. The socks are definitely a nice touch.

I'm not keen on Huang Zi Tao's acting. He also seems to have gotten a sharper jawline since his EXO days. He's not my cup of tea really. I only watched The Negotiator for Yang Mi and even that was a struggle.

Wang Kai is more age appropriate.

Wallace Huo is 40

DH splits my list into "the pretty boys" and "age appropriate". I do like to remind him that the older woman/younger man thing is very much the desired option at certain life stages (looks over at DH's mess on his side of the room).

I'm googling these names 😁
I'm having a delightful day off work trying to get a massively fed up DS to do even a bit of his homeschooling 😭. I've sacked it off now and left him watching Andy's Dinosaur Adventures (vaguely educational) so I can come in the other room read this thread and then watch more Signal

DS2 has started coming to work in “the office” (aka dining table) as he’s more focussed when he’s sitting next to me. I quite like having a colleague and doing tea rounds. He says I am helping with questions.

DD has a zoom Spanish class at 12. She is still in her pit 🤣 I might have to pull out the cattle prod