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…

I just watched Timing (4 x 15 min episodes) on Viki. Aaaargh! I think that’s all I can say without being spoilerish.

I should add that it was very good, too good. I wanted more.

Is it a 🐝 friendly ending? I can’t cope with any more vague or unsatisfactory endings after all the stuff I’ve recently watched

The ending is decisive. I cannot say more without spoilers.

Gah I’m undecided whether to give it a go or not....I’m already feeling unsatisfied after Backstreet Rookie I really fancy something upbeat

Reader, I watched it! I don’t need to add anything to what boaty has already said. I watched a Jdrama a while back that was similar but this one was better.

Nothing to see here. ^ Typed something into a post which was destined for a real life recipient. 🤦‍♀️

Was the coffee not strong enough this morning boaty 😂

Although I do it far more often then I'd like to admit, I'm just lucky enough to catch it before I post!

Definitely not enough coffee this morning. 😩

hopefully there's a glass of something cold and a fine drama oppa this evening to take the stress away!

I think that brings us up to 3 deletions in 16k posts, 1 was spam zapped by MNHQ and the other two were something idiotic that I posted and self-reported requesting deletion by the mods. All in all, this is quite a peaceful place. 😄

I'm onto the 2nd ep of Was it Love and totally agree with the comments about the gangster and that Son Ho Joon has not aged at all!

All in all, this is quite a peaceful place. 😄

Absolutely ☺️

Just started Amensalism which is a Taiwanese mash up of Memorist and While You Were Sleeping with a dash of Hwayugi (Viki)

I started Amensalism...! But got waylaid by other goodies! Might return to it! 👍

The ML in CFPFN is not tremendously attractive, alas. Definite SLS already, by episode 3. But FL is just ridiculously charming. I'm just watching it as her comedy adventures, really. I've sacked off the romance angle.

It's so beautiful today already. I might drag my colleague out for a socially distanced walk at lunchtime instead of drama-ing.

C-WITH-PFN

Lol we are so picky with our Oppas!!🤣🤣

I watched ep 5 of All the Guys with Olga and the girls last night, rendered almost unwatchable by pop-ups. It’s no Was It Love and suffered from the comparison. It’s funny how, in dry spell, you can thinks something is fab and then immediately have your head turned by something even better. 😂

You’re so fickle boaty 😂

I much prefer the FL in Was It Love and it has a better cast of characters, plus the mystery father plot line.

I might wait until To All The Guys Is all up on Viki & then binge. Something has to be really addictive or unavailable to put up with Olga

OK the ML in CWPFN is awful. He's actually just horrible to her and imo, sexually harrassing her in a cruel and abusive manner.

Insult to injury, he looks like a hamster. I've noped out!

boaty 😂😂 I really should be doing online training, but I'm browsing my Viki/Netflix/Prime watch list 😂

Arghh! I know boaty said that Was it Love was still airing but I didn't realise I had watched all the episodes! I was just settling down to watch it 😔.
I'll have to go for For all the Guys instead.

Hahahahaha! I just saw the deletion email for my reported post this morning:

Hi boatyardblues,
We've broken off our all-night binge of Boys Before Flowers to withdraw that post for you.
Back to it now.
Best,
MNHQ

They walk among us! 😘 OK, own up - which one of you is the MNHQ mod?

I’m totally not feeling the 2ML (webtoon artist) in All the Guys. However much he carries a torch for FL, he’s basically been raised as her little brother. It’s just all wrong, aside from him behaving like a stroppy teen (deeply unattractive IMO). The two of them fighting over her like two Jack Russells tussling over the same squeaky toy isn’t working either.