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…

Betty, I knew I was with my people here, I love Eurovision and was really surprised that Will Ferrell as an American really "got" the inside joke 🤣

@TheGirlWithTheArabStrap I was surprised by most of it 🤣🤣🤣

I was surprised by most of it 🤣🤣🤣
Me too!! 😳

Cassini Will Ferrell's wife is Swedish and he said on Graham Norton that he was introduced to Eurovision when visiting her parents and they all sat down to watch it. We loved the singalong, Dan Steven obv had a hoot doing it, and I loved seeing all the scans actors I used to watch pre-kdrama! The most unrealistic thing was that it took place in Edinburgh (as if we'd win! hahahaha!)

Scans actors??? Scandi I meant!!

In other news, series 2 of Stranger is set to follow It's OK which I am excited about.

I have caught up with Backstreet Rookie and it's rather enjoyable. Nice little nod to Fiery Priest in ep 3. GrrrJCW's GF is turning is turning into a right biatch which is livening up the mix too.

I have added The Handmaiden to Drama Eurovision (currently at the bottom of pre-2019 as i am always worried about sodding up hello's fabulous system) so feel free to add your scores and notes.

Oh, Eurovision in Edinburgh. Yes please . I will be first in line for ticket.
Do we have other Scots on here?

Started to watch Gogh, the Starry Night, and disappointed as it's not as fully subbed as they say. Grrr. It's still good, but very short, it's almost like a web drama.
boaty I loved Community, nothing to do with Donald Glover

I finally caught up with Oh My Baby and I've rather gone off it. JaeYoung is insufferable - just 'cos he has sperm doesn't mean he can act like a dick. Hari is reduced to tears by plug-ugly illustrations and it looks like Yi Sang is going to suffer from Noble Idiocy.
The only character I really like at the moment is Eutteum who is fending off keen girl rather nicely.

Donald Glover......the best thing about Solo: Star Wars ........and Rich Purnell in The Martian....and Childish Gambino.....

@bettys

I finally caught up with Oh My Baby and I've rather gone off it. JaeYoung is insufferable - just 'cos he has sperm doesn't mean he can act like a dick. Hari is reduced to tears by plug-ugly illustrations and it looks like Yi Sang is going to suffer from Noble Idiocy. The only character I really like at the moment is Eutteum who is fending off keen girl rather nicely.

I can’t find a single fault with your analysis, Betty. Bang on!

My kids got very excited when they realised it was Han Solo, but are now loving all aspects of it. The slightly alarming aspect is 14 yo hooting at all the innuendo and oblique sexual references. 😆 He’s still an angelic, innocent 4 year old in my mind’s eye.

He’s still an angelic, innocent 4 year old in my mind’s eye.

Tell me about it! My DS is 20 but still an angelic 4 yr old in my eyes and I still call him by his childhood nickname which drives him nuts (especially in front of his mates mwah ha ha 😈)

I have a question for Monkey or anyone else with good knowledge of Japan. I was chatting with DH and my boys earlier. We were talking about tech and I said one of the drivers for miniaturisation and small, compact tech in Japan was the fact that people in cities like Tokyo live in (relative to other cities) very small apartments, so space is at a premium. They took this piss out of me mercilessly for the rest of our walk, so now I want to prove them wrong. Was I way off the mark?

It's true. When I lived in Tokyo, relived in one of the smaller cities in Greater Tokyo. Tokyo consists of 23 central wards (ku)and surrounded by 26 cities (shi). Like any big city, the closer to amenities you are, the smaller and more expensive housing is.

We were a family of 6 who lived in a 3LDK (3 bed room, living, dining and kitchen space combined, bathroom and separate loo) apartment. My parents had the smallest room that was 3 tatami mats (jyou) big (each mat is about 16.5ft square with the long side twice as long as the short), the LDK part was about 7 jyou (bearing in mind this includes the kitchen space which usually consists of a sink, teeny bit of counter and space for a gas hob that is about the size of a portable gas cooker with 2 rings) There was a set of cupboards above the sink which would be the equivalent to a shallow, narrow set in the UK. The sinks weren't that big so the closest thing I could think of in terms of size is the kitchenette in a campervan or caravan. The other bedrooms were about 4 jyou but long and narrow rather than wide. The room that my sisters shared held 2 small singles beside each other with just enough room for one child to walk down straight, mum used to have to walk sideways. They each had a tiny desk at the top of their beds and both couldn't push their chairs out at the same time. It was only because each room had a built in space to store your futon (sleeping mat) that we were able to have storage. I didn't mind sleeping on a futon on the floor, but mum felt that it was better to have a bed and use the built in storage for clothes, but I think the thought of tidying away the futon each morning played a big part in that decision 😁

blog.gaijinpot.com/what-do-japanese-apartment-layout-terms-mean/

This gives you a rough idea of sizes. I do know that my need for things to be collapsible or easily put away stems from living in a small space.

This should give you a rough idea of the size of a tatami mat. Once you put down 2 futon in my parents room there wasn't much room for anything else.

Thanks Monkey. That’s very interesting - have shared the link with DH.

Compared to the danchi (municipal flats) across from us, our place was big. The layout of the danchi across from us would have you enter through the door straight into the LDK which was about big enough to hold a small table and chairs if you wanted and a small dresser for dishes. The bathroom fed straight off the kitchen to the left (you had a space that was big enough for a washing machine on one side and sink on the other between the kitchen and the actual bathroom so that you could undress) and the loo to the right. From the entrance you would be looking straight into one of the rooms that was maybe 3 or 4 jyou and you went through that room to get to the second room that was about the same size. My friend lived in one as a family of 4 and her parents had the room immediately as you came in, so it was easier for us to hang out in the stairwell than having to go through their room or keep her parents up.

My brother lives in a 1K apartment because he chose to be less then 5 minutes from a train station, whereas my sisters both live about 10-15minutes walk from him and have a 1LDK and 1R. They moved out from home because their commute would be about 2-2.5 hours from my dad's place in rush hour traffic and the difference between rent and a monthly train pass from dad's was worth it in terms of time saved and convenience. My dad lives more towards to outskirts of Greater Tokyo, nearly into the next prefecture and his definition of close to the train station is a 20-30 min bike ride 🤔 It does mean that he was able to buy a house that is maybe just a bit smaller than my terraced house here, with a small patch of grass to call his own.

It’s really fascinating hearing about life in Tokyo, Monkey. Thank you for relaying your experiences. I really love this thread. 🙂

My sister and I were talking the other day about how strange we found it when we first moved to Japan. We lived in Kenya before and were used to space and being able to see the sky without having to look higher than 2 stories. I remember that there used to be a public space just across the road from us. You couldn't call it a park because there was no equipment to play on and there was no grass, just sand and some benches along the edges.

All the kids used to gather there to play because it was right beside the small neighbourhood library, so there was a toilet and drinking water close by. We used to go there and lie on the benches just to see the sky because we couldn't wrap our heads around having to crane your neck to see a patch of blue. The air quality has improved , but at that time you could be sent home if the smog was due to be bad because it wasn't safe if you were asthmatic. It would be really bad in the summer, and if it was the middle of the day and the sky looked pink you knew that you would have to either stay put until it was clearer or leave asap. I remember going home during a smog warning and my chest hurt so much , my eyes were burning and my mouth was so dry. My sister was chuckling that we were probably the weird kids standing outside because we had never experienced anything like it.

This was a fun find when I was googling: web-japan.org/niponica/pdf/niponica17/no17_en.pdf I love the lunchboxes and the bonsai trees in this PDF, plus I have a soft spot for netsuke & love it when I find some in a museum. Miniature is awesome.

I’d forgotten about beautiful, cruel Dan-Ho in Nokdu. A pleasure to rediscover.

Love the insights into Tokyo life, thanks Monkey. The smog sounds really bad!

I've finished Twogether, it was my first kvariety show and I loved it 😁. Jasper and Seung-gi were really cute, and I love a travel show. It was interesting to see different countries but not from a UK point of view.

We got Disney + as a lock down treat for DS and he has barely watched it so we've cancelled it. So now DH and I are trying to watch some stuff off it to get a bit more value for money before it goes off 😂.
So I've watched The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker which were a bit rubbish tbh 🙄
I'm also thinking of watching the 3rd series of Dark on Netflix that is just out. It's a German series that I watched just before my kdrama addiction started. 😳

The Return of Superman (TROS) is good fun if you want to awww at cute kids and their dads. JamJam and Hao are soooo cute 🥰 Running Man is a bit like Taskmaster and a good laugh, as is I Live Alone. All on YouTube.