MsLattés Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #18): Our piggyback taxi service has been suspended whilst we are socially distancing

[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)*
Stranger - 2 seasons (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)
It’s OK Not To Be OK (Netflix)

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 Handmaid (film, Netflix - content warning: explicit sexual content)
The Package (Viki)



Straighter ‘Slice of Life’ dramas on universal themes
Hospital Playlist (Netflix)
Into The Ring (Viki)
Itaewon Class (Netflix)
Live (Netflix)
My Mister (Viki/Netflix)*
My Unfamiliar Family (Viki)*
Prison Playbook (Netflix)*

Once Again (Viki)
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)
My Secret Romance (Viki)
The Last Empress (Viki/Netflix)
Sassy Go Go (Netflix)



Mad as a box of frogs/uncategorisable

Strong Girl Bong Soon (Netflix)
School Nurse Files (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)
Find Yourself (Netflix - Chinese)
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…

Thank you all. I'm not binging anything this weekend I'm going to do other stuff. I did not in any way just peek at Melo Is My Nature at 8.30 this morning and...

Oh Melo is fantastic. I must rewatch it.

Melo is good, and so is Search: WWW if you haven't seen that yet. Park Morgan doing the housework and LJW being all squishily adorable with Scarlet......

@bettys

Recipe for Hannover Souo for you Aesops

And I strongly recommend Lost Romance on Viki to go with that

Ohhh what's the book @bettys? I'm on the hunt for a decent Korean cookbook!

FedUp it's called Seoul Food - DS's GF gave it to me I've done quite a few of the recipes

@bettys

FedUp it's called Seoul Food - DS's GF gave it to me I've done quite a few of the recipes

Thank you!

I love the inconsistencies of Taiwanese drama . Have started Puff Guo’s new one Falling Into You even though there are only 5 eps up. After a shower scene (looks like it was cold water) (beginning of ep 2) (not as good as Lost Romance’s) the ML goes downstairs to tackle an intruder but somehow his hair is remarkably dry & lustrous 🤔 Also the assailant tries to attack him with what looks like a deadly blunt butter knife.
I don’t care, it’s perfect fluff on a rainy autumn Saturday night 🤷🏻‍♀️

I have just watched the live action Mulan with DH & my boys. It was surprisingly enjoyable, if a bit pantomimey in places. I’ve just been looking up some of the actors. The actress playing Mulan (Liu Yifei) is partner of Hong Seung-Heon (“him off Black”) in real life, lucky lady.

I think they broke up.....and netizens got all excited when he accidentally liked one of her posts earlier this year and thought they were back together 🤔🤔

Bettys I've tried to get into lost Romance but even in spite of the shower scene I'm struggling. The 2 young girls with the drone are just too annoying and dreadful hamming up. I had this problem with She Was Pretty I couldn't get passed the acting 🙄
Just started Familiar Wife will see how I get on with that.

Morning all. I have a question about kdrama and this seemed the best place to ask it...

I’ve noticed that the Netflix algorithm is increasingly recommending kdrama to me. It’s working particularly hard on the «quirky sci-fi and fantasy» category. Which is fair, as I watch a lot of sci-fi and fantasy.

Building to the question. I’d like to give it a go, but don’t want to be unfairly put off if I pick a rubbish series. I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction please?

It’s suggesting: Hotel Del Luna, The Beauty Inside, School Nurse Files, Mystic Pop-Up Bar, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and Rooftop Prince.

Literally all my recommendations in that genre are now kdrama + Rick and Morty

Thank you!

Sorry, meant to say I saw that Hotel Del Luna is on your recommended list in the OP. But the category includes zombies. Are there zombies in it? I have a fairly serious phobia and can’t watch anything with zombies in

Thanks again!

I am a newbie so can't help much @FingonTheValiant but having recently watched Hotel Del Luna - there's some scary and moderately graphic horrifying ghosts but not zombies I think? Despite that the flavour of the series is generally warm/bittersweet and consoling. Not a personal favourite but it's got lots to enjoy. What non KDrama stuff do you like because that may help tailor other's recommendations?

Thanks polkettle. I don’t mine other scary particularly, just zombies are a hard no.

Stuff I‘ve liked on Netflix, including the guilty pleasures:

I watch a lot of anime (which I suspect is the reason for the algorithm trying to orient me kdrama). Recently PsychoPass, Black Lagoon, JoJo, Attack on Titan, Aggretsuko, Beastars...

I love sci-fi : Altered Carbon, Away, Lost In Space, Discovery, Dirk Gently, Orphan Black, Another Life, and frankly Space Force.

And fantasy : The Witcher, Castlevania, Snowpiercer, Umbrella Academy, Superheroes, first season of the OA and Sabrina.

Also period dramas - The Crown, anything Austen / Dickens type, Godless, Alias Grace, Bletchley Circle,

And crime/spy series - Chicago 7, Pine Gap, Secret City, Sherlock, Luther, Bodyguard, Mindhunter, Manhunt, Lucifer

And other odds. I adored Queen’s Gambit, Unorthodox and Derry Girls. Enjoyed Trinkets.

A secret guilty pleasure for films about gymnastics, ice skating and dancing (three things I couldn’t do in a million years).

There’s a fairly high degree of overlap between the categories. I don’t particularly like pure RomCom types.

Not sure if that’ll help much, it’s pretty eclectic 😂

Welcome Fingon!

Right now my first and most important piece of advice is to create a separate profile for your kdrama on Netflix and use the early suggestions in your current profile to start choosing in your new kdrama profile. The Netflix algorithms are very one track pony and pretty soon you’ll only have kdrama and cdrama suggestions in your main profile if you watch a few on the trot. It took about 2 years for my shared profile with DH to go back to normal after I split the kdrama off. It will stop suggesting the other stuff you enjoy if you try to do it within the same profile. These days I look at DH’s profile to see what new shows are coming through in genres we like, as my profile is almost exclusively c/j/kdrama and very few English language suggestions.

Zombie-wise, avoid Kingdom and Alive (v scary) and Train to Busan (latter not currently on Netflix). Zombie Detective on Vike has a kindly zombie who wants to be human again, which is OK to watch. I am scared of zombies too and have been watching Kingdom in 10-15 min bursts from behind a cushion.

Out of the list you’ve been suggested, all are zombie free. Hotel del Luna is more slick and mainstream/accessible, but I think The Beauty Inside packs more of an emotional punch and showcases what kdrama can do. It is also more interesting because of the nature of the fantastical element.

Hi Fingon! Welcome! I would definitely put Stranger on your list to watch. It's a political/crime thriller, brilliant acting and plot, and still very "Korean".

Also, if you like anime there’s a fair amount of kdrama based on webtoons and manga (manhwa in Korean). W: Two Worlds is a wildly inventive and very good kdrama about the real world and a manhwa reality bleeding into each other.

Hi Fingon!
Going from what you’ve said I would recommend from OUR list:
W: Two Worlds (real world & anime collide)
Black supernatural but no zombies
Hotel del Luna
Mystic Pop-up Bar

The Beauty Inside is good but basically a romcom with a supernatural twist that FL’s face & body change without warning. There are lots we can recommend within your other parameters (I’ve just watched a Chinese drama about ice skating) but agree with boaty that you need a separate profile before you head down the kdrama rabbit hole!

Not normally a zombie fan either but off to the Drive In with DH (and a cushion to hide behind) tonight to see Train to Busan. In terror that it's been dubbed but 🤞As long as rain stays off so not trying to read subs through windscreen wipers.

Hey Fingon.... welcome... i definitely rec what otehrs have said...
I would go for
Hotel del Luna - sumptuous and gorgeous storytelling
Mysetic Pop Up - Lovely and funny and endearing
W- Two Worlds (a fave of mine) - beautifully created... grreat storyline though can get a little confusing with timelines with added bonus of lovely Race Horse Legs Toast eating Lee Jon Suk and his crazy crazy outfits!!!

Hi, thank you so much for the recommendations!

I’ve made my boys share a profile so that I can have a second one 😂 thank you for that tip!

Is viki a streaming site? I’ll go and investigate

I’ll start with Hotel del Luna and W-Two Worlds then (I read loads of manga). And add Mystic Pop-Up, Black, Stranger and Beauty Inside for after

I live in France and Train to Busan is on Netflix here. I’ll be sure to swerve it! Thank you for all the zombie warnings!

Welcome Fingon, welcome to the thread and enjoy your journey into K drama loveliness! I definitely agree about having the second profile! I never get recommended anything in English anymore 😂

I enjoyed W - two worlds, I really enjoyed the story line and the FL. However I'm not keen on the actor who plays the ML. I've seen him in a few things and I'm never convinced about him. It didn't stop me enjoying the drama though.

I've caught up with Nokdu this morning, 10 episodes in and we finally have a kiss hopefully I'll be able to get another episode in on this rainy Sunday.

Gutted that I lost my streak on lingodeer yesterday! It just totally slipped my mind

Train to Busan is fab, polkettle. Even as a zombie wuss I enjoyed it (chunked into 4 distinct sittings, mind). There is much to enjoy, and not just Gong Yoo. 👍

Oh my God, I just spotted there is a Train to Busan sequel Peninsula that is out later this month. The trailer (linked) is both absolutely terrifying and thrilling in equal measure. 😱 I want to see it and I absolutely do bot want to see it. 어떡해?