MsLatte’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #16): Serving up guaranteed corona-free escapism throughout lockdown to lurkers, passers-by and regulars.

[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 AmazonPrime. There are also platforms streaming content illegally if you go looking, but we don’t promote them.

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, no major site yet)
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 (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/Netflix)*
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 (other sites)
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/Netflix from June)
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 (no mainstream platform yet)
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 decent quality
Regulars also 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 Scoring Dramas of 2019
(courtesy of Hello’s kdrama spreadsheet, which are updated by/for thread regulars)

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…

read this several times. I must preview post before sending!!

@bettys

GRrr JCW is just a nickname he got waaaaay back in the first couple of thread from his habit of biting his lip and looking, well, Grrrrreat!!

If you don’t mind Olga flashing her boobs and crap ads there are other ways of watching dramas but we can’t possibly recommend them oh no that would be norty

at GRRR - no wonder I couldn't get it. Of course you couldn't possibly suggest any sites. I need a wrist slap for asking

I've started Mystic Pop Up Bar and loving it so far. It's nice and light which is just what I need due to some DH work stress 😖.
I've also only just realised who the FL is. She is wearing a lot of make up. And I agree she seems a bit calmer than in some other roles.

@bettys

GRrr JCW is just a nickname he got waaaaay back in the first couple of thread from his habit of biting his lip and looking, well, Grrrrreat!!

If you don’t mind Olga flashing her boobs and crap ads there are other ways of watching dramas but we can’t possibly recommend them oh no that would be norty

The Grrrr! Was also he was just so growly yummy! All manly and fisticuffs!... With fine knitwear too! 😂😂

Sigh! That seems like such a long time ago!... Those were the days where I didn't have a viki subscription and I watched what's wrong with sec Kim on YouTube in little chunks! and Viki was ad filled as I hadn't subscribed!... Imagine!!... Not subscribing to viki! 😱

😱😱 the horror!! I couldn’t do without Viki !! To think I used to pay by the month thinking ‘oh I’ll just watch Sec Kim and then not use it next month’ 🤣🤣

Imagine!!... Not subscribing to viki! 😱

No!!! You lot well and truly completed my addiction 😁

Viki is the best Christmas present I've given to myself ....and I couldn't live without it!

Viki is way better than netflix. I can actually find things I want to watch, and it doesn't make it weirdly hard to find what you were JUST watching. They should make it easier to hide shows cause there are some I just know I never want to watch or see again and I'd rather filter them off the view entirely - but netflix also repeatedly shows me things I have downthumbed.

Also the subtitles with Learn mode is absolutely brill.

I mean, I've still got netflix as well but if I had to CHOOSE I think I would choose viki! They just need to get more films on there in our region.

@fifilacklustre

Viki is the best Christmas present I've given to myself ....and I couldn't live without it!

DH bought me a year’s subscription for Christmas, which I think was an overt admission he can tolerate (and enables) my addiction. Definitely a keeper.

Netflix is worth keeping for stuff like Space Force, which is bloody hilarious, but otherwise meh.

Couldn't be without Viki and Netflix 😱 currently watching Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung on Netflix and realising that I like my sageuk on the irreverent side.

If not watching K/C drama or anime on Netflix, I can usually be found in the crime section. Loved Mindhunter and The Sinner (totally overhauled my impression of Bill Pullman). DS says that my Netflix library wouldn't be difficult to cross reference 😂

I used to watch a lot of crime stuff on Netflix and enjoyed Mindhunter, but sent me down an increasingly bleak, dark alley. A lot of the sci fi was bleak, dystopian stuff too, or basically 2 hours of alien shoot ‘em up gameplay dressed up as films. It was such a relief to break loose into the sunny uplands of kdrama and get actual storytelling and likeable characters again.

Aw, I just saw the trailer for Nokdu on Netflix and had a happy feeling. And he is so pretty in his pink hanbok.

For the first time in aaaages I watched something without subtitles yesterday - Staged with David Tennant & Michael Sheen on iPlayer . Very sweary but hilarious, and only 15 min eps so didn’t get bored by lack of oppas/soju/piggybacks.

I just saw the trailer for Nokdu on Netflix and had a happy feeling. And he is so pretty in his pink hanbok
😍
I used to watch a lot of sci-fi/marvel stuff too and loads of French/Scandi crime which got very dark and sandy after a while but find the whole package of kdrama so much more satisfying overall.

Dark and samey not dark and sandy 🤔

kojolo, what is the Learn facility ? What I'm missing out on!
I'm still sending requests for shows and films to Viki .. cut down on the daily emails, but still harassing on a weekly basis . I've recently added the films Spellbound and Beautiful Vampire, to my ever increasing request list

You can learn Korean - if you turn on Learn it shows you Hangul subtitles as well as English and if you hover over any syllable block it will show you a translate dialog with the word sounded out in romanisation, defined in English, and also you can press to hear it spoken. You can also get extra back and forward buttons that go by line of dialogue, not time.

It's in the subtitle controls here:

I enjoyed Spellbound!!! Lee Min-Ki 😏

Ooh kojolo ill have to have a go at switching that on!

Obligatory link to learn hangul in 15 minutes:

ryanestradadotcom.tumblr.com/post/20461267965/learn-to-read-korean-in-15-minutes

Thanks kojolo, I will use it well.
bettys I have tried everywhere to see it.