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…

@Rowdythree

Dang, was supposed to quote fedupwithbriiiiick!

It's ok I got you!

Andante57 I didn't get very far with CLOY. I got quite uncomfortable watching the soldiers chase the girl as I kept thinking in real life they just would have shot her. I'll definitely give it another go though

Today's episode of DDSSLLS was luvverly but I'm worried tomorrows will be a cliffhanger after that preview I just can't be doing with cliffhangers at the moment.
But they did make an obscure reference to the wedding as being like something out of a movie! (ie The Graduate for you young 'uns)

@pagansophie

Andante57 I didn't get very far with CLOY. I got quite uncomfortable watching the soldiers chase the girl as I kept thinking in real life they just would have shot her. I'll definitely give it another go though

The sergeant’s a bit grumpy with Se-Ri but the others love her and even the sergeant comes round to her in the end. Captain Ri is unbelievably kind and caring to her. I agree in real life they would’ve shot her - I think the series makes some aspects of North Korea cosier than it really is.

Sounds like a cross between Young Forever & Spring Day!.. 💕💜💕💜💕💜

Video directed by Jungkook! And with all the sentiment of Bangtan... I'm crying already! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

😁😍

I mean, CLOY can't be 'realistic' in the western sense of realism where, you know, NK is basically a country sized concentration camp. The average NK man is five feet two (because of endemic malnutrition), so Captain Ri would be an actualfax giant. But I think they did really well to not valorise the country, or pretend that it's actually a nice place, but to humanise the people, who are just like South Koreans, or are not, in fact, but could have been, had their grandparents happened to live thirty miles down the road. I think that was the right choice, narratively.

There's something nostalgic about CLOY, because of course because of the isolation there are parts of North Korea's present that are part of South Korea's history, now lost to modernity, globalism, technology. I don't think CLOY pretends or imagines the price is worth paying, but it takes a moment to enjoy the close community of the village, the kimchi cellar, the closeness to the land. This is I think a bit like the way sometimes British shows treat WW2. Nobody wants the Nazis back! But sometimes there's a wistfulness about those lost ways.

Jojomolo you’ve made really good points.
I wonder if there’s a resistance movement in N Korea or whether their equivalent of the Stasi are so ruthless and efficient that the population are simply too frightened.

There are, and of course there are defectors, some of whom advised on the programme. But they really focused on details of domestic life - cooking, hairstyles, deliberately.

Interesting points re CLOY jolomolo.

I'm watching episode 14 of Flower of Evil which is very sad and disturbing. But I just wanted to check if anyone else was finding the psychopathic son a bit hot? Or is it just me 😂

Ooh just checked and he's only a year younger than me!! I would have said ten years younger 🤔.
He's also in a brilliant(ly crap) sounding drama called Joseon X Files from 2010. It's on Viki as Secret Investigation Files. I might have to see what it's like 😁

I just wanted to check if anyone else was finding the psychopathic son a bit hot? Or is it just me 😂

Oh well gosh just call me shallow too! I follow him on IG, and he made an appearance recently on I Live Alone where he seems to only eat one meal a day, sleep and work out.

Let us know if Joseon X Files is any good, it sounds excellent - Mulder & Scully in hanbok with swords

Oh well gosh just call me shallow too! I follow him on IG 😂 just off to IG to find him 😁

Oooh The Guest is coming to Netflix on 1st December 👍

Super creepy supernatural drama with HH KJW as a priest but still looking like a model

@bettys

Oooh The Guest is coming to Netflix on 1st December 👍

Super creepy supernatural drama with HH KJW as a priest but still looking like a model

Well, that’s my Christmas treat sorted. 🎉

I've just finished Flower of Evil , it's very intense!! It took me a bit to get into it but I was totally gripped by the end.

I throriughly enjoyed Flower of Evil... and have now finished Search... It sort of petered out in the end and with plot holes galore... it felt like it was really going somehere and then sort of gave up! (how i'm feeling right now!!!! )

So my watching is
None Tailed - which i am enjoying and really appreciate the fineness of it all! Story / acting / characters / way its filmed it's good all round but for some reason isn't gripping me!... I'm enjoying it but there's just something missing for me... I'm not sure... i'm just not chomping at the bit to see what happens next... it's very odd ... i know it's really good but....

Rewatching CLOY... and it really is marvellous....

anyway new BTS album out at 5am tomorrow morning and lots of build up in the early hours so early night for me and then busy weekend of performances on AMA and Good Morning America... so I'm running on korean and US time!!!!

and that's it... i need something new to watch... will peruse!....

Ahh Joseon X Files isn't available in my area on Viki 😭😊

I'm excited about BE but I'm not staying up all night. Excellent Army-ING Bea 👏

I enjoyed some of your BTS recommendations for my playlist. I’m now slowly working through their albums chronologically to find other pleasing tunes. Their early albums are a lot more hip-hoppy and shouty compared with some of their recent pop tracks. I’m after the up bubblegum pop at the mo. Which albums should I be focussing on. The tracks which currently make me dance in the kitchen are Moon, Best of Me, Dynamite, Savage Love, People (Agust D) and Ego.

Bea I know what you mean about 9 Tailed, there are bits I love....LDW with red hair being all cheeky...the vet & russian fox....little puppy reincarnated kid...but but but....I can't quite buy the FL.

I am thoroughly enjoying DDSSLLS though and have just spent silly time when I should be working trying to track down the 'Welcome' piano piece (I think it's Twenty Fingers by Lee Nam Yeon currently only on a Youtube snippet)

I am watching School 2017 which is more angsty than I thought, with a great feisty FL and a bevy of nice young men (Nokdu! 2ML from CLOY! 2ML from Miaow! Rowoon!) so that's passing the time until I find another Binge-watch

I'd got up to episode ten of tales of nine tailed which is so good then the subtitles ran out! Planning to catch up over the weekend and in the meantime watching oh my Venus which is fun and very light watching in an evening!

@boatyardblues

I enjoyed some of your BTS recommendations for my playlist. I’m now slowly working through their albums chronologically to find other pleasing tunes. Their early albums are a lot more hip-hoppy and shouty compared with some of their recent pop tracks. I’m after the up bubblegum pop at the mo. Which albums should I be focussing on. The tracks which currently make me dance in the kitchen are Moon, Best of Me, Dynamite, Savage Love, People (Agust D) and Ego.

glad you're enjoying the recomendations Boaty!

Wings is always called out to be the absolute classic and the turning point for them... Blood Sweat and Tears... It all got serious and sexy!!! [grin!]

However I absolutely love the HHYH - The most Beautiful Moment in Life era culminating in the classic Young Forever Album... all full of hope and carefree youth...

But then the Love Yourself series is gorgeous with absolute bops and go crazy songs (Idol, Best Of Me , Airplane 2)...

and the Persona / Map Of The Soul 7....

I can't pick one! They're all marvellous and amazing... one minute dancing and one minute crying (highly recommend Translations )

If I really really have to pick one... without overthinking and looking through entire tracklists...
Young Forever

Boatyard ... also listen to AgustD (Suga) D2 mixtape...it really is lovely lovely...

prob not the most accurate lyrics but you'll get the gist

@TheGirlWithTheArabStrap

Ahh Joseon X Files isn't available in my area on Viki 😭😊

I'm excited about BE but I'm not staying up all night. Excellent Army-ING Bea 👏

I don't think I'll make it for the 2AM press conference but from 4am... I'm reporting for duty !!!! Huzzah!!!!!!!! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

I started Nine Tailed and would just like to casually observe what a dreadful shame it is that one must apparently be shackled shirtless in Hell 👀
Day made by all the making of Hospital Playlist videos on YouTube. Fascinating to see the actors' first auditions and initial awkward rehearsals.