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…

Talk of the awesome South Korean feminist movement on another thread prompted me to go looking for more info. This is a really interesting read: www.feministcurrent.com/2020/06/15/the-south-korean-womens-movement-we-are-not-flowers-we-are-a-fire/ But a million words in the Korean language? 😱

This one is interesting too (paywalled but if you register you can read it for free): www.economist.com/special-report/2020/04/08/south-korean-women-are-fighting-to-be-heard

Ditching make-up is still a fringe position, but the reluctance to marry is not. In 2018 only 44% of women surveyed still felt that it was necessary for them to tie the knot one day, down from 68% in 1998. (Some 53% of men in 2018 still believed it necessary.) The percentage of women who are not married rose from 30% in 1995 to 77% in 2015 for those aged 25-29, and from 7% to 38% for those aged 30-34. That brings South Korea in line with many European countries and Japan.

There’s talk in the Feminist Current article in my previous post about the SK government getting so twitchy about the falling birth rate they are using TV series to promote marriage and procreation. Have we fallen prey to elaborate marketing by the govt?

That article is really interesting boaty, esp the bits about reversing language. Mumsnet gets a mention too! And Deagu! But not in a good way

@TheGirlWithTheArabStrap

That article is really interesting boaty, esp the bits about reversing language. Mumsnet gets a mention too! And Deagu! But not in a good way

Yeah, Daegu doesn’t come off well. Kind of makes sense it would be the base for that mega-church that caused the Daegu COVID cluster. Sounds like Daegu is like the US bible belt - patriarchal, socially conservative etc.

After reading both articles, I can see why women in SK are turning away from marriage & all the obligations that go with it in droves. Puts BTIMFL in context as quite radical. The women’s colleges as hotbeds of feminist action and also the significant numbers of lesbian women in SK was also interesting. I’m struggling to think of a single lesbian character in kdrama. Anyone?

LYS’s ex gf in RIABB is lesbian . A girl crush was hinted at in Search WWW between Da Hee & CEO woman.
Oddly enough I am watching Hello Again (TW Viki) & one if the characters has just said she is lesbian so setting up a plot line not only of contract dating but a love quadrangle

Oh well remembered Betty! I’d forgotten about those storylines.

Hello Again (recommended by Monkeywench ) is subtly different after my main diet of kdrama & recent Cdrama. Being Taiwanese it has that slightly dated feel even though it’s 2019 -production values seem different. It’s very frothy & light and the rather sweet ML (v charming with dimples 🤷🏻‍♀️) Is keeping me watching. It has more mentions of gay/lesbian in a casual way and blurring of boundaries eg a kiss from the male boss is the prize in a competition and both men & women are fighting to win 😆 Overall a very innocent feel to it however, although the preview to the next ep seems to feature a hot tub scene with 2 women

Hahahahaha and for the weekend away with co workers two women try to get out of it by saying it’s their period to the ML you wouldn’t get that in kdrama 🤣

I wish Tdramas didn’t mostly look like Home & Away circa 1990. If the production values were better, I’d watch more of them. I wuite enjoy the frankness on a number of points.

Final furlong of Married, Not Dating for me. Had a weekend of kblocking Marvel & Top Gear, plus chores. I am not amused.

I have been out and about this weekend and even had a socially distanced outdoors drink last night which was great fun, however I am saving my double whammy of It's OK for when I won't be disturbed.

I haven’t even finished ep 3 of It’s Okay yet. Not sure why. 🤷‍♂️ I’m in the doldrums kdrama-wise. I need something really, really gripping.

I just watched ep 1 of To All the Guys Who Loved Me on Viki. It’s got beautiful, austere Yoon Hyun Min (young cop in Tunnel). I am sending up a cautious boat signal on this one. ⛵️⛵️⛵️ The past lives aspect is tantalising.

Where are you all? Hopefully swigging gin in or white wine in your back gardens. It’s very quiet in here at the mo. I want someone to watch All the Guys so we can talk about it.

🙋🏻‍♀️ I’m here!!! I’ve seen the first two eps and was surprised how much I enjoyed them although her hair annoys me
I wasn’t expecting the previous lives storyline which lifts it out of the standard romcom hopefully. Just hope austere ML doesn’t exhibit too much stalker like behaviour as he obv remembers the past & is trying to reconnect

I’ve been away 😮 and also had a backlog of work to cope with on my return. Plus have been hypnotised by the dimples in Hello Again

Am obv swigging white wine though, but in garden as is spitting and the flying ants are lurking

Not in back garden that should've said.

It’s bucketing down here. DH has already called off our evening stroll. July? Pah!

I’m drinking pink gin (Hortus remium pink gin from Lidl) with Fevertree Elderflower tonic in my kitchen.

Premium. I’m not sloshed. Honest.

I like the Hortus gin. The other night I had some Aldi elderberry gin that was yum. We have polished off all my homemade rhubarb gin and the loganberry gin is nearly ready to decant 👍🍸

Evening!
I had some raspberry flovoured gin on Saturday night, it was a bit too sweet for me though.
Just going to watch a bit of Marriage before bed.

Raspberry flavoured gin sounds amazing. I've got a huge sweet tooth as well so would probably love it.

I've been vaguely keeping up with It's Okay I think I'm an episode behind but I'm very much enjoying it for what it is. I think it's an interesting story and it's got some beautiful visual work.

@TheGirlWithTheArabStrap

Evening! I had some raspberry flovoured gin on Saturday night, it was a bit too sweet for me though. Just going to watch a bit of Marriage before bed.

The trick is to find flavoured gin, not gin liqueur. The gin liqueurs are about 16% and very sweet. The flavoured gins are 40% and like fancy-tasting rubbing alcohol. Or so DH says.

www.thebottleclub.com/products/whitley-neill-raspberry-gin?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google%20Shopping&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=CjwKCAjwjLD4BRAiEiwAg5NBFuAEC5QmPnUt2Zcj2JvJLZYv_Y-KS0-3WTZKpvjFPewnR4KxqzecmRoCCcsQAvD_BwE

It was this one. Its 43% so it shouldn't be sweet!