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 slippity doodarring through my favourite love scenes. Think I have a case of sad-itus.

Brambly oh yes sometimes that is absolutely the required thing to do.... I have had an excess of roseee tonight and am tempted to rewatch fave bits as well...
What is everyones favourite rewatches?
For me it's not necessarily my favourite dramas eg I can't rewatch My Mister although it's in my top ten.... but can rewatch WWWSecKim which is just outside
Apologies for doge grammar text my contact lenses have given up with copious amounts of wine

SecKim is on the list as is CLOY. I also keep watching bits of 1%. Although I find him a bit problematic I also think they are really sweet. Healer (though now tainted by the reminder of the turkey). Something in the rain and one spring night. While you were sleeping. Probably should have left the glass of wine until the weekend! Heyho...at least this is anonymous!

I’m still motoring through 100 days but have got to a bit where ML and FL are separated and there’s too much palace politicking. Get back to the longing gazes and unresolved sexual tension already! Although there’s more of FL’s orabeoni in ninja black robes, which is compensating somewhat. (Red wine earlier & Baileys here - am now quite sleepy. Night all.)

I started early on the wine tonight due to a zoom get-together...

though now tainted by the reminder of the turkey - indeed!!!

I have also been known to rewatch bits of 1% problematic or not....but mostly Moon Lovers...the odd bits of Fight For My Way..... Her Private Life .....and XX (web drama).... BTIMFL ....

Dammit I am awake now due to inappropriate ice cream scoffing....I know King's Avatar will make me go to sleep....I like it but nothing actually happens and there is no tension of any kind, sexual or otherwise

I rather liked 1%, though I can barely remember anything about it. Only the school room scene near the beginning where FL hands ML his arse on a plate lingers, plus a residual memory of the chairman’s house having wood-clad internal walls & big patio doors.

How about this for a question of the week. Bring to mind a drama that you enjoyed at the time but have found forgettable. What can you still bring to mind? Describe the scenes or details without naming the drama & we’ll see if we can name it from the hazy detail.

Dammit I am awake now due to inappropriate ice cream scoffing....

I did a kimchi run to the Korean grocery last week and bought some red bean ice cream ‘just because’. It’s quite strange, but in an interesting/good way.

I had the same reaction to red bean ice cream when I bought it for the exact same reason as you!

Dammit now I am WIDE awake thinking if you last question

The scene I remember from 1% outside the bathroom when she’s just wearing a towel & he was sad supposed to have left 😒

Ok so here’s a drama that’s in my ‘OK but not fantastic can’t quite remember what happens’ list see if you know it!

A racehorse legs ML plays a Doctor
Can’t remember which but well known FL plays a lawyer (I think)
Body swap theme
Crime/murder/thriller with eeeeevil dad who used to be a mechanic
Snowy flashbacks on Namsan tower & some derelict hospital
Prison scenes

I haven’t seen that one Betty, but it sounds interesting.

The ones that would be on that list would probably be Taiwanese dramas, but I do have fun spotting various locations that pop up. There's this one house that pops up in several dramas, so much so that I can describe the layout and the bathroom 😂😂 I can also spot streets where scenes have been shot in different dramas and I have a suspicion that if you created a collage you could recreate the whole street.
DS says that being able to recognize IKEA furniture on set is still not a superpower. 🤔

I love red bean jelly! In Japan it's called youkan and you can get a smooth version and one with bits, as well as various flavouring like mattcha and coffee. It's delicious with green tea (no adding milk, lemon or anything else!).
The one thing I miss is good green tea. I've tried several types from the supermarket (my closest Asian supermarket is over an hour away and hardly likely to be considered an essential journey) but they are either too weak or with added stuff. I don't understand how it can taste nice with milk or lemon or anything else 🤮

Just catching up with thread and wondering if there is a place where you can see posters top 5, or 10 favourite Kdramas? I just wanted to be nosy and see what others favourites are.

The ones that I tend to go back to would be
1:Go Go Squid (C-drama)
2: Strong Girl Bong Soon
3: Weight lifting fairy Kim Bok Joo
4: Oh My Venus
5: The Firey Priest
6: A Korean Odyssey
They just make me smile and don't require any deep thinking, so perfect for rewatching.

Fifi - you need to ask Hello to PM the link to our google doc spreadsheet. Then you can add your own score too. Yes, we are that bonkers about kdrama.

Scores! You’ve watched loads of stuff.

boaty that spreadsheet might just make me realise how much I watch 😂 (firmly in denial in public, embracing the crazy in private) I started to clear my Netflix and Viki of the ones that I had watched and gave up after an hour. TBF, if I hadn't, it would have been like when I 'tidy' my bookshelf and start reading 😂😂 There's a reason my mother used to stop me from volunteering to do that job lol

monkeywench Go Go Squid is in my list of top rewatches. The cast was wonderful and seem to genuinely like each other.

Currently watching clips of The Untamed on YouTube. They released a condensed 20 episode version and I'm tempted to watch it even though I've watched the 50 episode version. Is that mad?

If anyone needs a spreadsheet link, let me know. I am always being nosey and checking for people's updates ☺️

hello send me the link please. It will be like those 100 books lists where I've read 99 out of the 100 (including the bible one summer holiday stuck in the house during torrential downpours pre-kindle)

Here's my Top 10 in no particular order, and a constant fickle state of change plus not necessarily ones I would rewatch. Followed by ones that I dip in and out of when I feel like a pick me up.

Top 10
My Mister
Fight For My Way
BTIMFL
While You Were Sleeping
Cheese In The Trap
Moon Lovers Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Her Private Life
The Crowned Clown
Before We Get Married
Crash Landing On You

Rewatchers
Fight For My Way
BTIMFL
Cheese In The Trap
Moon Lovers Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Her Private Life
Before We Get Married
XX
The Boy Next Door
Search: WWW
Tale of Nokdu
Go Go Squid
WWWSecKim

It’s somewhat gratifying to see that Secretary Kim doesn’t make your top 10, Betty.

It's on my rewatch list though - I should have put While You Were Sleeping on there too

betty, hello kindly sent me links to spreadsheet when I first delurked but I couldn't open it.
Thanks monkeywench there is a couple on your list which I will now give a go, Go Go Squid and Strong Girl Boon Soon. I have been a bit wary of venturing into Cdrama, but may take plunge the longer lockdown goes on. I will also try Flower Boy, Ramen Shop, for light and fluffly.
Bettys I agree with you about APOYM. I still enjoyed it though, I thought the acting was good from most of the cast, it was a different kind of story line, and I did find parts of it quite beautiful in the way it was filmed.
Started Strange Hero for something a bit more light hearted. It is so far fun and entertaining with just amount of trauma that I can handle at moment.
This is why I love coming on here, all the wonderful sharing.