MsLatte’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #17): I need suits and dimples and questionable morals

[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 as they are peppered with pop-ups of “Olga” and friends offering a good time, which gets in the way of the drama.

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/Netflix)
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/Netflix)*

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)*
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/Netflix)*
Kingdom (Netflix)*

Mystic Pop-up Bar (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…

Alice is on my list, I will have a lot of catching up to do when I finish Once Again (currently on ep 67). I liked Joo Won in My Sassy Girl and Good Doctor. Haven't seen Morning Cantabile

Don’t waste your time watching, Betty. Its not very good. It has Park Bo Gum (meh, does nothing for me) and the ghost from Chicago Typewriter giving a performance with all the nuance of Keanu Reeves’ in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Seriously, it’s really not worth watching.

Is it on the spreadsheet? I am very meh about both the ghost from Chicago & Park Bo Gum anyway (though am going to watch Record of Youth and loved Love in The Moonlight )

Thinking about hello's question re characters that you want to give a nudge to save:
The brother in Pinnochio
Lee Jae Wook in Extraordinary You
The oldest brother in Graceful Family
The oldest 'brother' in He is Psychometric
The gangster in The Fiery Priest
The dishy assassin in Tale of Nokdu although he was irredeemable really
The assassin brother in 100 Days My Prince
The swordsman bromance guy in Love In The Moonlight Kwak Dong Yeon

Obv I am rather taken by assassins / men dressed in black

Aaaarghhh!! They're really dragging out the big reveal in Once Again JUST GET ON WITH IT!!!!!

BITCH!!!!!!!! I thought she was going to do the decent thing but no!!!!!!!! (ep 68 Once Again )
That's a twit & turn I wasn't expecting!

Sorry for monologuing but DH & DDog take no interest in this whatsoever, it's only you lot that will any idea what I'm on about

I’m actively resisting the Once Again time sinkhole at the moment, but there’s enough momentum building on the thread that I’ll probably fall in at some point.

I should be up and dressed, but I’m still in my jammies watching Stranger. It’s so damned good. The set-up this season and the conflict of interest is brilliant. The senior police investigator’s relationship with Bae Doona is fascinating - her trying to mentor and guide someone with no political or career ambition. It’s wonderful having two characters with so much integrity and so lacking in personal ambition beyond doing their jobs well navigating the shark infested waters of the senior police and prosecutorial ranks. I don’t think I could like Bae Doona more - she is fantastic in everything I’ve seen her in.

For Betty's list, SBC. Mr Sunshine. 😥

For Betty's list, SBC. Mr Sunshine. 😥
Oh yes ginger ! Good call

I don’t think I could like Bae Doona more - she is fantastic in everything I’ve seen her in.

Agreed! Matrimonial Chaos (Viki) has been on my list for ages, must watch that - it also has grumpy director from Melo in

Loving your monologues Bettys, exactly my same thoughts and emotions at those points.
Still waiting for subs to drop on the lastest episode - Grrrr Viki!

Started to re-watch Masters Sun, I know not why! Enjoying it again though . My plan is to start watching Stranger, Also, Train, when I've finished.

I also agree with Mr Sunshine being sad but cathartic. Thinking about it has made me remember how beautiful and sad it was.

I started watching Giri/Haji on Netflix last night. It’s gripping and very, very good. One of the things that has fascinated me is the Japanese casting. I’d got used to all the kdrama flower boys and ex-models, so the mix of craggy/fat/scary/bony/smooth/tatooed/wizened/whatever gangsters and cops in this has been really interesting.

Oh yes, the shoes off indoors custom is so strong that when the yakuza boss visits the ML (detective) at his family home unannounced in the middle of the night, he asks for some slippers.

Just had a quick look at Soompi and saw a link about Another Oh Hae Young musical - how did I miss this! I definitely want to see this on my trip to Seoul, if it's still on!

Sandra Park signing one of my favourite songs from all the shows I've watched.
www.soompi.com/article/1422749wpp/watch-sandara-park-shares-emotional-cover-of-ost-from-another-oh-hae-young-after-starring-in-musical

I really rate Giri/Haji , watched it when it was on BBC. It's so well written and has some elements of kdrama - you'll see what I mean later!
Plus a fantastic OST, and all the cast is great! Phwoar gangster and gay guy are both candidates for the hello list of characters you want to give a shove to be redeemed.

I’m liking Kenzo, the lead detective. He’s middle-aged woman catnip for sure, an age-appropriate oppa.

Poor Roy, in Tokyo on his exchange from the Met, is in way over his head. WAY over his head. (I’ve just started ep 4. 😱)

Phwoar gangster

Do you mean Yuto? Yeah, definite redemption potential.

Yes, Yuto 😎
But agree Kenzo is MAWC (middle aged woman catnip) or AA Oppa

I loved Kenzo’s mother, when his missus, was grappling with the task at hand: “we don’t need a plan. We’re a middle aged woman and an old woman. We are already invisible.”

That threesome gets even better

Waahahahahaha the ladies second round singing sesh in ep 78 had me snorting into my Sauvignon Blanc!!!🤣🤣🎤

Roy!!!!!

I’ve finished it! I couldn’t find Giri/Haji on the spreadsheet so I added it to the 2019 tab (first BBC airing) and gave it a 9. Just after, I wondered if it wasn’t on there because it’s a joint BBC venture & written by a Brit. Yep, it probably shouldn’t be there...

No leave it on there !!!! I’ll go add my score, I give it a 9 too!....