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…

Anyway, 🥾🍑

I have added it to my watch list boaty as I am in CDrama mode at the mo’. Discovered Olga had extra episodes of Dating in the Kitchen and needed a 🥾🍑 myself last night. There is a supremely awful moment where the MIL makes the FL feel lower than low.

School Nurse Files drops today on Netflix but I am slightly concerned that as there are only 6 episodes it may suffer from the dreaded Netflix Syndrome (ie a two-parter 😱)

Put on the School Nurse Files on Netflix and it's dubbed . Can't watch it like that! Why have they done that? I was so looking forward to this.

@fifilacklustre

Put on the School Nurse Files on Netflix and it's dubbed . Can't watch it like that! Why have they done that? I was so looking forward to this.

Nooooooo!!!!! Noooooooo!!!!! Surely not!

nope not dubbed for me... has someone been messing around with your settings Fifi ????

Froma a Drama Blog.....

Ji Chang-Wook‘s first two post-military K-Dramas (“Melting Me Softly,” “Backstreet Rookie”) were met with mixed reception. But fans are hoping that his upcoming series will be a huge hit for the talented star. He and Kim Ji-Won (“Fight for My Way“) have signed on the dotted line to star in the upcoming romance series, “City Couple’s Way of Love.”

Unlike most K-Dramas which have a one (season)-and-done approach, this series is being filmed like U.S. shows: with multiple seasons in mind. This debut season’s working title is “My Lovable Camera Thief.”

The leads are impressive, but the showrunners behind this series are just as formidable. Director Park Shin-Woo just had a bonafide hit with Kim Soo-Hyun’s “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay.” The primary scriptwriter is Jung Hyun-Jung (“Romance is a Bonus Book”).

“City Couple’s Way of Love” is expected to debut before the new year. Here’s hoping the series joins the ranks of Ji’s previous hits (“Healer,” “Suspicious Partner,” “The K2”).

Seems like everyone is feeling the same... !

No settings fine - I don't understand it. Full on American accents with subtitles

School Nurse Files is working fine for me, original korean with english subs

I just watched the first episode of School Nurse Files just to check the subtitles 😂. It's much weirder than I was expecting! In a good way I think, but it was a bit creepy.

I am enjoying the dogs in Find Yourself, especially Baylor

I like that the CEO immediately capitulates in the face of tears.

I have been sucked in to Find Yourself boaty I blame you for the fact that I will probably need a 🥾🍑 tonight!

I started School Nurse Files to check the subs but only watched a few mins - rather slimy 🐌 not what I was expecting - and I see all the eps are up so one to binge later if there’s no cliffhanger 🤞

Its quite.... good, no? Better than your average cdrama (for now), though I’m having to ignore the screaming sexism really, reasly hard.

Its quite.... good, no? Better than your average cdrama (for now), though I’m having to ignore the screaming sexism really, reasly hard.

It's really not bad at all and I wonder if this and Dating in the Kitchen have been picking up some tips from kdrama. More relaxed touching (ML massages FL , casual talk of sex in Dating in the Kitchen , use of jokey names in phones in both)

I started watching it on my t.v in the bedroom and it's in Korean - very odd. I will check out the settings again downstairs.
Anyways - it's not what I was expecting

Betty - Things are cracking along in Find Yourself. 😱 Have you passed ep 5 yet? FL’s blind date dress in ep 6 is like a market awning tied at the waist with a strip of market awning. I can only conclude it is intended to repel her date.

I’ve just started on episode 5 - FL is trying on a dress that looks like a men’s dressing gown with a hole cut out of one shoulder. I look forward to the market awning frock-off

Good grief thing have really moved quickly in episode 5 ! What are they going to fill the remaining 36 episodes with??

Yikes the camisole intercut with the men's shirt is possibly worse than the market awning.

@bettys

Yikes the camisole intercut with the men's shirt is possibly worse than the market awning.

Agree. I kept squinting at that one trying to work it out.

Well, 8 hrs after watching School Nurse File I'm still processing what the hell I've watched. Definitely put this in the 'Mad as a box of frogs/uncategorisable'.So disappointed, I had high hopes for this.

Oh fifi !! Did you watch all of it? Does it end on a cliffhanger?

@fifilacklustre

Well, 8 hrs after watching School Nurse File I'm still processing what the hell I've watched. Definitely put this in the 'Mad as a box of frogs/uncategorisable'.So disappointed, I had high hopes for this.

This is promising IMO. A potential Addicts list mate for Strong Girl Bong Soon. I’ll keep everything crossed for a good-weird outcome.

Finished Go Go Squid, I enjoyed that a lot - the blend of grumpy man with a heart of gold with a woman of relentless chirpiness was a good one. And I enjoyed the e-sport backdrop, funny thinking of them being over the hill at 30, just like any athlete.

I got sucked into My Secret Romance after that - why isn't this on the guilty pleasures list?! It's SO bad, it's excellent - cheese all the way, I'm really enjoying it

Frogs - it can definitely go on the list. Remind me when we get to the end of the thread & I put a shout out for updates.