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…

Mmm gin... I'm quite fond of the gin liqueurs mixed with prosecco.

Hmm. Olga and the girls have been very busy subtitling All the Guys but it keeps glitching out & I need to go to bed, so I’m ditching now. It is good. There’s definitely something rum about the secretary’s pushy mother. I have her tentatively pegged as a Joseon poisoner. Her poor daughter. 😕

@Dontwanttobeyourmonkeywench

Mmm gin... I'm quite fond of the gin liqueurs mixed with prosecco.

This thread has everything! Thank you.

I have her tentatively pegged as a Joseon poisoner. Her poor daughter. 😕

Good cal!

Catching up on ep3 of To All THe Guys it’s very noticeable how much glossier kdrama is than Taiwanese, which must be made on a shoestring budget.
For example, a charity event in To All The Guys really does look like it was filmed in a stunning art gallery. In Hello Again the charity music event seemed to have been shot in the upstairs room of a pub, complete with flock wallpaper 😂
Enjoying both mind you!

Hi there. Just waving hello again. Glad to see you are all still here. I've just finished My Holo Love which I did love. Has anyone watched Memories of Alhambra? Thoughts?

I'm still going with duolingo Korean, on day 214. But I've worked out that at the rate I am going it will be 4 years before I finish. . And I still can't pick up more than the odd word in the dramas.

Wotcher pagan!
I skipped most of Alhambra, just watched Hyun Bin bits as thought the story was muddled & romance pointless but HB looks great in a linen jacket
I have been using Drops, which is just vocabulary really but I get v excited when I recognise words like ‘please’ or ‘bathroom’

I’m fluent, fluent I tell you!! 😂😂

Very good Duolingo streak pagansophie, I think I'm up to 88 days! I'm also pleased when I can notice a word but I really thought with all the "immersive language learning" I'd know more 😂

The immersive learning is paying off lol I was talking to my DD and found myself telling her mani mogo (eat plenty). DS says he is concerned that all my Korean has to do with food 😂 I'm probably confusing the child since I talk to her in Japanese (she understands quite a bit but doesn't speak it), some random Korean and random Mandarin 😅 Her primary school had Madarin club and the choir sings in Mandarin as well, so she's picked up a bit, but her friend who is in the choir knows more words, so there's an odd mixture of languages being spoken in the house. DS decided to revive his French while helping her with online classes, but it's far too funny to hear French with his ulster Scot accent 🤣 It has a tendency to lean toward 'Allo Allo 😂😂

@bettys

Wotcher pagan! I skipped most of Alhambra, just watched Hyun Bin bits as thought the story was muddled & romance pointless but HB looks great in a linen jacket I have been using Drops, which is just vocabulary really but I get v excited when I recognise words like ‘please’ or ‘bathroom’

I’m fluent, fluent I tell you!! 😂😂

Wot Betty said. HB is the draw. It has great locations and high production values with all the whizzes and bangs, but a sprawling plot and a meh FL. I only made it through post-CLOY to address HB withdrawal.

Thanks for your thoughts. I'll give it a go. It keeps coming up as a suggestion for me. I couldn't get on with the lies within, despite everyone else seeming to like it.

I skipped huge amounts of The Lies Within it was too gory for me.

Luckily the 2ML who played the missing husband is coming back in S2 of Stranger WOO-HOO!!! I was strangely upset by his story arc in Lies Within Plus Stranger has a whole host of favourites actors in it.

This article made me laugh Kdrama Boyfriends vs Real Boyfriends

That article is hilarious and very true!

Very funny article. These were my 2 faves:

Scene # 3: You’re jealous/hurt/struggling with deep trauma.

Kdrama boyfriend: He spends entire episodes chasing you, and begging you to tell him what you feel. Heartbroken by being pushed away and the fear of losing you forever, he declares his undying love and how he’ll do anything to make you happy. If you walk away, he grabs your wrist and pulls you into a back hug.

Real boyfriend: “Are you on your period?”

And this one:

Scene # 7: Chilling at home

Kdrama boyfriend: He vacuums! Scrubs the bathroom! Makes your lunch! And when all that is over, you cuddle on the couch, and he reads you manga with your head on his lap.

Real boyfriend: He plays Modern Warfare. You watch dramas. You order pizza.

The latter is spooky except it is the kids gaming, DH reading/drawing/listening to music and me on the kdrama (obvs). Our marriage is not remotely rock ‘n’roll, but we’ve managed to live harmoniously for over 25 years so I can’t complain.

Olga & the girls have not been as speedy with All the Guys tonight. Boo!

Just watched ep 12 of Marriage I think they were drinking blue WKD out of plastic champagne flutes at the wedding 😂. I'd say it's reached peak screaming at the telly to "just tell him/her!!!!!!" but there are 4 hours left so maybe not.

Managed to watch All the Guys ep 4. Poor Do Gyum!

I like All the Guys - it seems to be consistently decent. Beautiful austere ML. is showing signs of thawing. I really like the sparky FL. Her despairing parents are still a bit 2 dimensional but filling out. FL’s gal pal friendship group are engaging. The work team has potential. Lots of promise, in short. Looking forwards to the dressy-uppy flashbacks too.

I spent the evening finishing Failing In Love (web) which started well, but then lagged, so I thought shall I skip to the end? Read a review which said the build up to the end was good so stuck with it.🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️
If only I’d read the next review which said the ending was vague & inconclusive. I should trust my own instincts.
Great OST though.

So now so I go to bed or watch All The Guys?? Hmmmmm......

All the Guys! (I am a bad influence. )

You are!!! Now I need a 🥾🍑
Her earrings are heejus, she looks better in Joseon clothes. At one point I thought she’d worn her pyjamas to work.

@bettys

Wotcher pagan! I skipped most of Alhambra, just watched Hyun Bin bits as thought the story was muddled & romance pointless but HB looks great in a linen jacket I have been using Drops, which is just vocabulary really but I get v excited when I recognise words like ‘please’ or ‘bathroom’

I’m fluent, fluent I tell you!! 😂😂

bettys..! 😂😂😂

kdramaxoxo.tumblr.com
I follow 👆.. On tumblr and she has excellent suggestions for some lighthearted dramas low stakes drama!... Follow link above!... I'll post screenshot too in case you can't access tumblr
.. Some good sounding Web dramas there!...
I've finished The Package and it was very sweet and loved how they all became a little family at the end.. Definitely a satisfactory 🐝 ending!

Now on ep 3 of Marriage... The FL is thoroughly annoying me at the moment with her whiney Ness and needyness and her parents are peeing me off... Almost enough to make me stop watching! And the ex boyfriend is thoroughly thoroughly annoying too! 🤬... You all seem to like it so ill I'll carry on!.... I trust you guys!!

Need to catch up on Its Okay... But might let it pile up so I can wallow and binge! 😂🤔😁

Here you are... Soft sweet and low stakes... We know some of these already but worth a post anyway for newbies! 😂😁👍

Thanks for that link Bea, I have added those web dramas to my list.

I love kdramaxoxo's gifs of The Romance of Tiger and Rose which is good for fun and fluffy.

The Package is a hidden gem isn't it?