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…

Come and sneak into my house boaty,, I am more than happy to share

De those of us who don’t have Lee Seung Gi or Jasper Liu in our quarantine house 😎
Twogether

I disappear for a little bit and now there's bespoke Korea trips and rent an oppa? I'm in for the trip and about to google the rental oppas.

I'm catching up on a week's worth of dramas. There's never enough hours in the day it seems! Really looking forward to It's Okay to not be Okay but I'm a sucker for Seo Yeji and Kim Soo Hyun.

hello - Ms Latte's Daebak Cybercafe moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it

......I may have misappropriated that quote somewhat

Yay! Ep 10 of Oh My Baby is up & fully subbed in boobsville already. 🎉 Betty is a very bad influence - the pirate queen!

Who - me? 😇😈

Hello hello 😁

I finished Entourage, I loved the side characters more than SKJ 😱. Although his face is the most beautiful, it was pouty and sulking for a good chunk of the time 😂.

I've been watching where my love blooms. it is utterly depressing. There are NO light moments at all.

Oh I am also signing up for the Korea trip. I've told husband we would go and he was 'if we must'...much more fun with you guys

Yay!! Hop on Brambly!

We’re going to need a bigger bus 🚌

There is an underground cave location with botanical garden in ep 10 of Oh My Baby. If it’s in Seoul it would be a good excursion - and cool in summer.

I just have pass comment on Eum Tteuk’s awful date shoes in ep 10. He looks like a 9 year old in his Dad’s work shoes. Also, they do not work with his tan suit.

Hope you’re keeping notes for our tour boaty

It’s this place: www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g2024867-d8790372-Reviews-Gwangmyeong_Cave-Gwangmyeong_Gyeonggi_do.html

Oooh, do-able from Seoul on the subway line.

Getting there
GwangmyeongSeoul Metropolitan Subway26 min
SeoksuSeoul Metropolitan Subway43 min

Oh, threadfam, I'm so happy! I got my BFF to watch an episode of k-drama (I plotted which one to hook her SO hard) and she loved it and we watched two more episodes straight away, until midnight!

I chose Her Private Life for her first k-drama, which I love but is not my favourite but I think is a great LURE, especially for her as she's a big fan of Oscar Wilde and in fact we have a similar friendship to 1FL and her BFF so she was charmed already. She guessed half the plot in the first episode but of course this just made it more fun. Oh I'm super happy!

Can't wait to hit her with CLOY as a followup. (Or should I save it to hook her back in...? ) 😂 😂

Good work jokolo! 💪

Well done Jokolo !!
That cave sounds ace boaty it's got a wine cellar and a food truck area 😋

They do wine tasting too. 👍

I also liked the wine cellar

Sounds like one of us has already been!!
So many great places to go

On a different topic, I quickly googled male infertility and hormone therapy. It can take 12 months of hormone treatment to improve sperm count. Which puts a different complexion on things.

Oh...Where Your Eyes Linger....v good.

boaty, that shifts things - 12 months, gives hope!

Should we think of having a spreadsheet with all the places/location we want to visit on our trip?
I have to see the causeway from Goblin, also that lighthouse that is in everything

Yes, but Ha Ri is on a different deadline. 😔

i'm clutching at straws boaty.

Had to laugh at the PPL in *Oh My Baby^ 🚽

Feel so sorry for Eu Ddeum

I finished Entourage, I loved the side characters more than SKJ 😱. Although his face is the most beautiful, it was pouty and sulking for a good chunk of the time

I agree completely with TheGirl’s summary of Entourage 🤣