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…

tgegirl glad you liked The Crowned Clown... It's one of my favourites...

I'm again in a kdrama rut!... I started Prison Play book and I know its good... And will get even better but its the thought of impending doom and horrible people doing horrible things has made me pause... It just feels like its going to get miserabler before it gets better and I'm not in the mood to endure relentless meanness and bad behaviour!... Funny I can cope with serial killers and murderers but not bad prison guards on the take...

Waiting for next ep of hospital Playlist.., and the king 👑...

Started to watch personal touch with LMH... It's frothy but sooooo dated...

Sigh!.... I'll have a flick around...

King suddenly got a LOT better - I do like this FL - I agree she had gone a bit drippy and weepy but now she's baaaack!

Bea - Prison Playbook definitely has a pain barrier that you need to push through. The stereotypical grimness of hardnuts shivving everyone and the cell bullying doesn’t last long, 2-3 eps max. Even the demon captain story line is not what it seems. It is a hugely rewarding series with some genuinely laugh out loud scenes and a lot of heart. Please don’t give up too soon.

I’m in a pit of despond. Love O2O is not lifting my spirits or giving me that sweet kdrama hit, but it’s like a riptide I can’t swim out of. I am massively enjoying Oh My Baby (v tardy subbing) and King to a lesser extent, so I will break free before the weekend but I just feel I need something more substantial and cheering to get me through the midweek lockdown meh. I don’t want any more high school or college stuff. I want funny grown-ups adulting in an entertaining way, although Betty’s talk of norty Entourage is appealing. I could really do with another Melo or WWW right about now.

Bea Prison Playbook hardly ever ends up as horrible as the suspense makes you think it will. It's really good.

Just watched the first half of Entourage and - so far - Olga hasn’t popped up offering to show me her boobs. I had to pause to shoo the kids to bed, so I don’t know if I’ll get to see Hwang Soo’s bum audition or whether I’ll get booted off. SKJ is just a pleasure to watch - handsome AF but gives off good vibes. Enjoyed the bathhouse scene too. 😄 All is right with the world again.

Yay! I made it through the episode.

Hurrah!!

I’m not sure about SKJ with a big floppy fringe when it is styled in that wavy flick. For some reason I’m reminded of Don Johnson in Miami Vice and big 80s hair on men. Unstyled and straight down over his forehead is fine, but he looks overdone in some of the scenes with it styled. Also being petulant in the barber’s was not a good look on him - I had a horrifying glimpse of what he might look like in a celeb diva-style strop.

I've just watched ep 3, it was great! Glad Olga didn't give you too much trouble 😊.
SKJ is gorgeous 😍

Still no Olga & I have finished ep 2. Aw! Poor Yeong Bin - so fixed on lukewarm So Hee when the world’s his oyster. SKJ and his friends all looked so dorky at that pool party. No one looks cool in swimming trunks and flip flops, not even SKJ.

so fixed on lukewarm So Hee when the world’s his oyster
Agreed! I don’t like her character I think she uses men 😡
Have to disagree on SKJs hair though, plus think he looks v cute in shorts. There’s another pool scene in ep 5 😍

Fifi managed to get on the spreadsheet and now there's so many of our scores on there! It's a really interesting cross section of drama viewing.

It's also a testement to just how much time we've collectively spent watching dramas 🙈

Just took a look at the spreadsheet, it is filling up nicely!!
I find the scoring very interesting, the only drama that has more than one person scoring that gets a perfect 10 is My Mister, followed by CLOY at 9.65. They couldn't be more different!

fifi Fight For My Way was so close at 9.5, why did you deduct a half point?

Rather enjoying Entourage I like that it portrays adult relationships in a more realistic light. There's no waiting for umpteen episodes for a first kiss and they are obviously sleeping with each other.

bettys, I don't know I was swithering, but now you have said it, it doesn't make sense .
My Mr fully deserves a 10.
I finished Memorist which I really enjoyed, good ML/FL and story line.
I watched Moon Embracing the Sun which was very disappointing. it started well with the young actors but seriously went down hill for me.
I'm going to look at spreadsheet for next show.

fifi agree absolutely about Moon Embracing The Sun, the two young actors nailed it!

That's what is so great about the spreadsheet, you can look at the scores of other people who have similar likes to you and watch something they've rated

Currently have Candy by Baekhyun on replay, it is perfect summer pop!

.......although I'm not sure that the inside-out-back-to-front-label-showing is a trend that will catch on. Mind you his Magliano t-shirt (which retails at £215 ) is not the same as a gone grey in the wash Gap one
You can tell I am avoiding work this afternoon, can't you?

You can tell I am avoiding work this afternoon, can't you?

But you’re doing it with such panache. 😉

I ordered some new summer tops during a particularly dry telephone conference where we were instructed to mute our mucs if we weren’t speaking earlier. I have discovered that scrolling through pages of t-shirts only uses the visual bit of your brain & that you can listen perfectly well. 👍

Mucs = mics

Jinzu yuzu gin is delicious, by the way. Probably too delicious.

I have just made this year’s (first) batch of rhubarb gin

Rhubarb gin? That’s a brilliant idea. I have homemade sloe gin and damson vodka in the cupboard.

Rhubarb Gin It's the easiest thing ever to make & tastes delish, more like a liqueur, and is a luvverly pink colour.

My friend's DH makes the most divine rhubarb gin. We have a xmas eve PJ party that starts mid/late afternoon and everyone heads home around 10 having had their fill of nibbles and gin. We started it when the DC were younger as a way of the DHs getting the Santa runs out of the way while we got drunk distracted the DC and it has evolved into Cards against Humanities, pizza and shots 😂

My DH always gets her DH poteen, so he's trying out rhubarb still this year.🤔

I’ve been watching Traveller 2 again this evening waiting on the subs for Oh My Baby. DH just got up to go to bed and said: “Is this show just them eating a lot of steak?” as last time he looked up they were having dinner the previous evening. To be fair, the do other stuff in the day but they are so excited by the beef in Buenos Aires that they seem to be eating their way around all the notable steak restaurants and asado grill places and then slavering over their dinner at great length. I am seriously craving a good steak right now. I’m going to suggest the veggies amongst us give it a miss - you would loathe the lingering shots of the meat.