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…

Thanks for the welcome back boat, I'm pleased to be here again

I started Nokdu - saw his fan dance scene but for some reason stalled soon after that. Will have to skim the beginning again though, it's been so long.

Good to see you again frogs! I can’t remember what you have & haven’t seen or if you have Viki, but I have found Once Again very soothing!! Also very much enjoyed The Romance of Tiger & Rose (CDrama) for light and fluffy. Or Cinderella & the 4 Knights on Netflix

My Unfamiliar Family on Viki was well liked on here, but more of a family potboiler with some more challenging themes that turned out to be very life affirming and watm.

watm = warm

I've read great things about Flower Of Evil... Since I've finished Train... Maybe this will be my gritty grim kdrama
Soooo my watching at the moment...
Gritty Kdrama - Flower of Evil
Warm and non taxing - Brahms
On In Background ReWatch - Love From Another Star

And that concludes my watch list at the moment!
Have dropped My Only Love Song (😔😫)

Hello frogs welcome back!

I’ve ditched All The Guys. It was getting annoying and FL was shouty.

Oh Bea I feel like I spoiled all your fun now!

I'm currently watching:
Just a Nice Drama: Once Again (finishing this weekend)
Warm and non taxing: Brahms
Sci-Fi Timey Wimey: Alice
Sci-Fi Yer What?: Missing: The Other Side
I Like This More Way Than I Thought I Would: Record of Youth

On in the background will binge if it's good: Dal Ja's Spring

On the back burner till they've finished so i can binge
Stranger S2
Flower of Eeeeevil

Dal Ja's Spring is 2007 and has a very young Lee Min-Ki as a rent-a-boyfriend. It is fun even if it looks dated (the hair!! the editing!! the clothes!! the soft video!!) and also HH KJW in a bit part with his little Coffee Prince man bun

I also ditched All The Guys boaty

^

Oops

Dal Ja's Spring is 2007 and has a very young Lee Min-Ki as a rent-a-boyfriend. It is fun even if it looks dated (the hair!! the editing!! the clothes!! the soft video!!) and also HH KJW in a bit part with his little Coffee Prince man bun

I’m sold! Where is it, Betty?

You'll have to pop round to Olga's

Last day of hols and been watching once again lots during the days. It's just getting better and better??!! I'm on ep 53.

Please say it continues to be as good? So many bubbling romances! I think my last count was 7 couples and so funny. I rarely LOL at anything these days in screen. This wonderful show has been a hoot every ep nearly. Love it 😍 Woof Woof 😉

Woof Woof 😉
That actress - the mum's sister - was also v funny in Melo where she was a screenwriter who thought she was a rabbit whenever she got drunk.
Don't worry Aesops it is consistently good I have only got 2 episodes left

Hello frogs I look forward to getting to know you.

I'm pretty much watching the same as bettys. For me Once Again has been great. I've enjoyed this so much, it's made me laugh, feel sad, feel warm and fuzzy . I'm sad to see it end.

Also
Black Dog, a 'slice of life' of drama about schools. it is very slow and thoughtful, the acting is good. It gives a different perspective of other school dramas as it concentrates on the teachers and how they survive in a private Korean school. It will probably take me a few weeks to watch as episodes are long, and I'm watching so many other shows. No romance.

Secret Hotel - started watching this because of Jo In Ha and Namkoong Min but wished I hadn't, I did start out ok-ish for the first 6-7 episodes, well bearable, after that, it's been all over the place with lots of cringe moments, just urghhh. I'm going to skip to the end.

Going to start Train next week. Waiting to see how Bea gets on with Flower of Evil before committing - she can be my guinea pig for the ending

I really want to start something light, fluffy, with a bit of wrist (safe) grabbing thrown in - where no actors were caught or charged with any abusive scandal in RL! Dal Ja's Spring maybe it, I'm always up for a bit of a Noona romance.

Dal Ja's Spring had me snorting with laughter last night at the combination of background music and one of the characters throwing up - sounds gross but is very funny! It moves along very quickly and I'm enjoying the background music immensely, a mix of modern and classical.

It's interesting though how different the perspective is on what is male attractiveness. The 2ML and 3ML are very unappealing in my view, and none of them appear to be wearing make-up. LMK and HHKJW are forerunners of today's taste maybe. This was filmed before Coffee Prince ; HH KJW's appearances are all too fleeting

Hi Frogs I also recommend Once Again I have genuinely laughed out loud several times, and the story lines move along quite quickly. It's very nice.
I watched the first episode of Train last night. It felt very shocking after the many hours of niceness of Once Again 😳 but I'm intrigued to see what happens

so nice to be back to this thread as well as to kdramas, my family are very tolerant of my interest but that's not the same as talking to people who get it, is it?!

I do indeed have Viki bettys, it's one of my best buys for sheer enjoyment and use per £ I mostly watch the lighter stuff because I'm looking for escapism - fifi you have summed up nicely with

I really want to start something light, fluffy, with a bit of wrist (safe) grabbing thrown in

I couldn't get back into Nodku, it's just not a good fit with my mood at the moment, so I'm going to postpone that to watch another time. Instead I've returned to kdramas by watching Go Go Squid - a cdrama She's going to need all her peppiness to make him crack a smile, isn't she? Liked the New Year's dinner and the looks between ML and his cousin DT the Stoic. And I like his "boys", they're like a basket full of puppies aren't they?

I have Once Again on my list next, so many of you recommending it is a good sign Also The Romance of Tiger and Rose, the synopsis sounds fun.

frogs Go Go Squid is my go to tsundere fluff!! I've watched it so many times 😁😉 Cinderella and the four knights and Strong woman Do Bong Soon are also on the rewatch list for when I just want something that makes me smile.

Loved the 1st episode of Flower of Evil so going to wait for the rest of the episodes for a proper binge since I'm back to proper night duty for the next 2 weeks (yay!!) Ended up watching/listening to the Arashi documentary on Netflix while I cleaned yesterday. It's funny how many of their songs that I knew the lyrics to since I hadn't listened to that much Japanese music after I left the country. Happily went down the rabbit hole after that and spent hours revisiting my teen years with The Blue Hearts and B'z. On the plus side, all the untidy cupboards are now clean and organised so it's a win for me 😂

Oh, baby girl was born yesterday morning. 7lb3 after 15.5 hrs of labour. Both mum and child are doing great and are home, so will sneak over for a cuddle today DH has been grinning like a fool, 1st granddaughter syndrome 😂😂 DFIL is even worse and has been round all the houses in his cul-de-sac bragging. Guess that's what happens when the 1st girl in 3 generations of FIL family has the her 1st girl 🤔😂 I did point out that the 2 boys might feel a bit left out but I might as well talk to the wall since DSD1 and DD are his favourite GC, where as DSD2 and DS are most definitely MILs.

Sold bettys .
monkey baby cuddles and baby smell - lovely, especially when you can give them back to a parent .

I was just pondering whether there’s a female equivalent of the tsundere male in k/c/jdrama, or whether societal pressure on women to be warm, sociable and accommodating means you’d never have such a character. Can anyone think of an example?

Hmmm maybe the FL in DOTS ?? such a cold fish.
I suppose the female equivalent would be an ice queen, so perhaps the eldest of the 3 women in^ Search.WWW?^

I actually googled it which threw up this MDL list

I've only seen Witch's Romance on that list (Viki) and I wouldn't say she was a tsundere exactly, more a driven career woman.

So yes, there are far less & tend to be women focused on career rather than generally cold in nature.

Good question boaty - now wracking my brain about all the shows I've watched. Like bettys the woman in WWW.
What about FL in I Do, I Do? Again is it because she is career orientated?
I will ponder this all day

tsundere is a new word to me, but having googled it, yes I like dramas with tsundere MLs Any other good fluffy ones to recommend monkey or anyone?

Do you think the FL in Encounter was tsundere? She started off closed off and career driven, following her divorce. Same actress as DOTS too I think, I quite like her.

frogs it might just be her acting style of course 🤣

Another reason for me to start watching Flower of Evil!... 😂😂😂😂