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…

@polkettle that class looks fab! I'm going to sign up too

@Rowdythree great! "See" you there (hic).

KLAXON alert for all the Armys out there! It's comeback week! Teaser dropped today!.. It's too gorgeous!

We’re half way through Crash Landing on You and it’s my favourite series ever.
Captain Ri is so handsome and kind and wonderful.
Although there are some violent scenes, I think it’s probably a rose tinted view of North Korean army life. Do captains there really have romantic houses like Captain Ri’s?
I wonder if there will ever be reunification between the two countries?
No one guessed Germany would be unified - no one on the morning of November 9th 1989 had any idea that the wall would come down that night - so maybe one day.

andante, is it good!? I really like Hyun Bin but the title and the photos of this really put me off! Maybe I'll give it a try, shouldn't judge a K drama by its title, after all

Rowdy Crash Landing is epic and definitely in my top 5! It's got everything and a lovely lovely warmth about it from... the camraderie of the NK soldiers / The lovely NK Villagers /the treachery of the spoilt chaebol family / the fish out of water fun/ the romance! / the cameo from Kim Hoo Syun! / the long meaningful glances / the character growth / the tragedy / sigh! and to top it all off... Hyun Bin!!!!

It truly is a lovely delicious drama and jealous of those who can watch it all in one go... we had to wait for each morsel... and then i recall there was even a 4 week break i think beacuse of a holiday / sports event or some other!!!!

😍😍😍😍😍😍

omg Rowdy I am actually jealous of you that you get to watch CLOY for the first time!

Top 5 for me too. I watched it week by week and it KILLED ME.

Since I've finished rewatching Nokdu... Crash Landing might be my next ReWatch!! 👍👍😁

Hi. I might have to give CLOY another go, I couldn't get on with it, so I'm starting to think there must be something wrong with me
I'm really enjoying The Good Detective, I think someone else was watching it? I'm having trouble distinguishing the young detective (ML) with the guy who claimed to have killed the girl, they look really similar to me. ML has funny ears though.

Okay, you've all convinced me! Crash landing will be my next series to watch! is it one to watch with DH do you think or not?

Pagan it’s a funny thing, I’ve got friends who I feel in complete empathy with, we agree about just about everything, but when it comes to recommending books or films, there’s no knowing who will like what.
I’ve quite often been recommended stuff by several friends as unmissable .....and I just didn’t get it.

Having said that, I would recommend you give CLOY another go - where did you get to?
One of the things I find interesting about it is that some of it is really dark and some of it is virtually slapstick.
I adore the women in the N Korean village - they are so funny, though poor old Man Bok breaks my heart.
Love Captain Ri’s platoon - though how awful that military service lasts 10 years in N Korea. Apparently some soldiers return home and go and find their fiancée only to discover her married to someone else.
Anyway, I don’t want to spoil the story but we’ve got to where a group of N Koreans find themselves where they never dreamt they’d be.

@Rowdythree

Okay, you've all convinced me! Crash landing will be my next series to watch! is it one to watch with DH do you think or not?

Your dh will love it Rowdy - mine can hardly wait for the evening’s viewing.

I’ve just started School 2017 with the 2ML from CLOY and Jang Dong Yoon, it’s engaging so far!

@pagansophie

Hi. I might have to give CLOY another go, I couldn't get on with it, so I'm starting to think there must be something wrong with me I'm really enjoying The Good Detective, I think someone else was watching it? I'm having trouble distinguishing the young detective (ML) with the guy who claimed to have killed the girl, they look really similar to me. ML has funny ears though.

Me! I’m watching (sort of, keep falling asleep). Agree ML and the dodgy maybe killer look similar & I’d spotted the ML’s funny lookin’ ears too.

I loved CLOY too! Enjoy Andante and Rowdy! Captain Ri is such an epic ML and the NK villagers and soldiers are ace too.
Bea I saw that trailer! Eek! 😁

Bea and TheGirl such a beautiful trailer!

.......and I've just spent a good hour trying to track down some of those pyjamas but they only seem to be available in Korea

I've just spent a good hour trying to track down some of those pyjamas blush but they only seem to be available in Korea

Very important research bettys 😊

@bettys

Bea and TheGirl such a beautiful trailer!

.......and I've just spent a good hour trying to track down some of those pyjamas but they only seem to be available in Korea

Pyjamas in SK, @bettys? But surely everyone goes to bed fully dressed (with all the lights on) there? 😂😂😂

bea those boys sure know how to tease , even I got excited and I'm not one of the Army

Pyjamas in SK, @bettys? But surely everyone goes to bed fully dressed (with all the lights on) there?

🤣🤣 so true!

Betty - I’m all caught up with (non-kdrama) Home for Christmas. Can I place a bet here? My money is on Dr Henrik, with the crocheted blanket in his hand. I also think the ex health minister is her biological father. Roll on 18th Dec!

So true! Then they wake up with not a crease on them! 🤣🤣

One of the things i was looking forward to buying in SK was Pyjamas and slippers! Mainly inspired by the BTS boys pj's 😁

Dang, was supposed to quote fedupwithbriiiiick!

Dammit the pyjamas i was after have now sold out overnight before I could even find a way to buy them

boaty I am thinking the same ré Home For Christmas. I spotted it was airing in December on Imdb so hopefully that means it's the Netflix date

I couldn't find any info on a second series of Home for Christmas so delighted to hear it's on its way. Must rewatch to remind myself of where it left off.
Aigoo once again to the baby feeding practice on Birthcare Centre but I'll forgive because rest of the show is very funny and charming. Slightly discomobulating to have Search soldier popping up though!