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…

😂😂😂😂 Just back from a Jin Dad joke BTS spiral. Thanks Bea 😍

You're most most welcome!
Watching the I-Land finale live! It's gripping! Bts keep appearing (they're watching in the audience) and being chaotic! It's hilarious! RM has apologised saying... He's sorry! They're not functioning well today! 😂😂😂😂😂

I have been waylaid by Young Wallander on Netflix which is soooo generous with the shirt off scenes and men’s locker rooms that I could almost be watching kdrama.

Ooh in the olden days (before smart phones and kdrama) when I read lots of actual books I read loads of Wallander. Sounds interesting 👀😁

Adam Pålsson (Young Wallander) appears to be the only Swede in a cast stuffed with British character actors. He’s very good, the story less interesting. Inertia (pinned by sleeping cat, remote on floor) saw me through the first 3 or 4 episodes (I lost count, may have napped too).

Just finished Once Again 😢
100 episodes and not a single boring one, all made me LOL or tear up or both. Must be my hormones.

Feeling sad to say goodbye to the lovely characters. Need to find something else now.

I got to episode 17 of Dal Ja where it really started to slow down & then read the recaps for 17-22. It was great fun with a good ensemble cast and young LMK v watchable but should’ve been 16 episodes.
I now need another binge/long series to fill in the on-air gaps. I’m tempted by Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life (Viki 100 episodes) but I seem to remember boaty wasn’t impressed.....
No Missing this weekend 😭

I've just had to stop Once Again to say what an absolute cow Kimbap Lady's money owing friend is!!! 🤬🤬🤬. I think someone had mentioned this upthread but I can't find it now. This is more horrible than I expected though 🤯

TheGirl she is an absolute cah isn’t she? 😡

I'm rewatching A LOve From Another Star (in between Brahms and before starting Record of Youth/Flower of Evil) and it's been so long since i watched it ... it's like a new drama with the added bonus i know how it ends so it's fun rememebring how we got there... Kim Soo Hyun and Jun ji Hyun are just wonderful together... i can feel my heart breaking all over again when it dawned on her the fate of their relationship .... sigh it really is a lovely drama... the leads are just excellent and i love that Doo Min Jun's (KSH) best friend/Lawyer is KimChang Wan, who played the Director Doctor in It's Okay... thus the partnership is again played out... they have a lovely manner about them...
I'm sure everyone has already watched it... but i think it's deffo in my top ten!

I've just had to stop Once Again to say what an absolute cow Kimbap Lady's money owing friend is!!! 🤬🤬🤬. I think someone had mentioned this upthread but I can't find it now. This is more horrible than I expected though 🤯

Fear not, she gets what's due 🤬

I've placed a huge order with HMart today. Now that nights are drawing in the rice cooker is going to be out more and I want to try some new recipes. Spam isn't on the menu but Kimbap is for sure! Doubt I will find any web foot octopus though 😋

Glad to hear it Aesops!!!

Of course if you are carrying a book on Quantum Physics you will be allowed past a police cordon (Alice ep7)

Just made DH watch Dynamite from AGT. He says "they make Take That look like some pissheads in the pub" 😂😂😂 and he really loves Take That 😁

they make Take That look like some pissheads in the pub

Genius!!!🤣🤣

I've caught up with Alice, love the Schroeder cat reference - do you think the writers have been watching Big Bang Theory . I'm just waiting for the 'flux capacitor' to get mentioned .

I’m half way through the first of this week’s Alice episodes, as I fell asleep watching last night. The three cops laughing about all of them being liberal arts graduates and not being able to make sense of the blood-daubed formulae at the crime scene made me laugh. It cut through the usual posturing in crime dramas.

Aw, the closing scene of ep 7 Alice with the two children at the fairground. A special person indeed.

Stumbled on a great song on Apple music: No Drugs in Korea by dress. Reminded me of Ben Folds and raised a smile.

I really enjoyed the latest episode of Alice, lots of humor. What are thoughts on police team leader - surrogate father to ML? I'm thinking that he wants to stop them as he wants time travel to continue so he can still see his wife.

No Drugs in Korea by dress - it's funny!! Like it

I couldn't work out why in the last bit of Alice where she goes to the future that event had happened....why would he do that?
And I know technically FL & ML aren't blood related due to different universe timey wimey stuff but the suggestions of romance are icky.

I have been rewatching Love in the Moonlight with PBG and enjoying very much. Looking forward to Record of Youth. Beginning to think it was Encounter that put me off him.

I feel the same about the relationship bettys.
I'm thinking about what to rewatch - I do like Love in the Moonlight it's a good balance of fun, with enough intrigue going on, and the acting was very good.
I've watched Mr Heart, very different from Where Your Eyes Linger. It's lighter and breezier, and quite upfront about the boy romance from one side. Definitely need more of these types of romance drama to slowly drip normality of same sex couples into mainstream shows. I would imagine it's a long way off but got to start somewhere.

BTS appearing on
Should be a live set with a live band.. stripped down hopefully... the songs! not them!!!!!!

or 2?....