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…

I've just had an advert come up on another thread in Korean! The advert was for Macarthur Glen Shopping Mall, which is in the UK but the writing was Korean. 😂 The algorithm is obviously not smart enough to see me struggling through Duolingo or the subtitles on the dramas 😂

Wikipedia now comes up in Korean for me as the top hit, though the fourth or fifth hit is usually the English version. I don’t have enough Korean to change the settings, so I’ll have to stick with scrolling down for now..

Absolutely love the scene in Zombie Detective where he gets a new suit

So good. This is my favourite weekly show currently, all the others are so dull, and gloomy. This one always makes me

This is what is coming up on my MN page
I'm thinking of getting some for DS - his gf has threatened to give him the kpop treatment

This is my favourite weekly show currently, all the others are so dull, and gloomy. This one always makes me grin

Absolutely agree fifi ! Although I'm enjoying hating the ex-gf in Record of Youth and squeeing over PSJ's guest role I don't like the incipient sense of doom.

Haven't caught up with Brahms and don't really want to as that also is so doomy but was so keen to see Lost Romance I watched it Raw - haven't done that since BWGM!

Those of you who watched School Nurse Files have put me off it a little, but Do Do Sol Sol has started on Netflix and although it has Korean Knightly in she wasn't half bad in Hospital Playlist plus it has excellent Lee Jae Wook so may give that a go tonight.

Im upto date with Record of Youth" now and saw the Zombie Detective in his new suit 😁. And I've finished season 1 of BTS Bon Voyage^. Good amount of viewing but small amount of sleep 😂😴

I’m enjoying Zombie Detective too. I loved CJH’s new suit - he looked like a proper oppa in it. I’m saving ep 8 for tomorrow night.

Hi everyone, I'd be really interested to see the spreadsheet too, if anyone can send a link please?

I've become a bit of a bts fan! Dynamite popped up on my fb feed when I was feeling sluggish one morning and omg it was so good to get me moving! 😂 So now it's become my regular morning song to listen to. I also really like Fire, but haven't really heard other ones enough to have more favourites.

Kdrama wise I just finished Angel's last mission: live - omg the dimples! 😍 And now just started in crash landing on you.

Stupid autocorrect! That should've been love, though by the end of the series live is fairly accurate...🙄

I've missed you guys! I've been checking on the spreadsheet every so often and updating my scores but I've been too busy to do much more than read the threads!

How has everyone been? Has anyone found a new guilty pleasure drama? I've watched a fair few bizarre (read: terrible) dramas from Japan lately so will be happy to hear about something enjoyable!

bettys I'm hoping that Do Do Sol Sol will have a more comedy element than Brahams, it surely can't be any slower . Plus, I really liked Go Ara, in Ms Hammurabi, so hoping she will be good in this.

I've watched episode one of Lost Roamace and I'm really not sure - the sister is such an evil character already. I will watch another couple of episodes to try and get into it. I need to alter my mindset - makjang all the way with this.

fifi I felt the same after the first episode, it gets more into the swing of things when she goes into the world of CEO You're So Naughty (or maybe it's just the Marcus Chang effect)

hello so glad you're back!!! Lost Romance & Find Yourself have been my recent guilty pleasures. I also liked Dating in the Kitchen but as said earlier upthread that has cooled down.

We've had a few requests for the excellent spreadsheet word has got out!

leeloo1 I'm sure Bea will be along in a bit to give you some musical BTS pointers, but if you want get up and feel good music you can't go wrong with Boy with Luv, Home, Idol, Airplane pt 2 in my opinion

Quite enjoyed the first episode of Do Do Sol Sol

I predict ML is on the run from his rich family as he couldn't take the pressure of being a top flight pianist or they are somehow otherwise connected eg childhood trauma, piano school, or maybe he just fell in love at first sight?

Little dog is ace even though I usually prefer big lollopy dogs.

leeloo1 my BTS interest started with Boy with Luv and has now spiralled quite a bit 🙈. If you like Dynamite look on YouTube for the version they did for America's Got Talent.

Oooh Tale of the Nine-Tailed Fox has started on Viki! Might be worth a look though not normally a fan of LDW.

I watched Mr Heart recently, quite a sweet BL drama, 10 min episodes

Right, I have completely given up on Record of Youth. And need a break from C-dramas.

Is Do do so so a decent watch? I'm in a funk!

Oh Nine Tailed Fox is in my watch list!

leeloo1.... Oh dear oh dear oh dear,,, Falling down the BTS Rabbit Hole are you!? It is a very long and deep hole but filled with soooo much joy...do you really understand and know what you are letting yourself in for? ....there is so much so much stuff that you can spend endless hours pouring over...

Songs... albums... mvs... dance practices.. BTS Universe

Bangtan TV - YouTube with the marvellous Bangtan Bombs!

Variety shows (early old stuff korean variety shows) YouTube is a goldmine!
VLive (Bon Voyages - Travel show / VLive chats / Run episodes - silly hilarious games basically their own variety show / Concerts) but they've moved away from VLive now and are on ...

Weverse (which is run by their own company) ... so more Bon Voyages / Run / Live chats Concerts

Then there's the twitter interacation / the merch / the funny funny adverts (look on Youtube for Puma Bts ads they are brilliant) most recently the Samsung ads are pieces of art and Bodyfriend ads are hilarious!....
Official BTS Soundcloud has loads and loads of covers and remixes
The Mobile games BTS World & BTS Universe....

Sigh it's endless... there's two online Live concerts this weekend!

They are funny, charismatic, sooo sincere and such good human beings ... do go and read up translations to their songs they are just jaw droppingly gorgeous and insightful

great site here watch out for the lyrics colour coded ones on youtube they can be quite ropey!!! All their official MV's have translated lyrics... just click on the settings and they'll pop up

This is fab! a guide to BTS Discography They've been around since 2013 so they have a HUGE back catalogue!!!

and... there's the history behind the group it reads like a full on kdrama (which is actually being turned into next year! Very Loosely based I think!!!)

I like them just a little bit!!!!

Apologies all... I'll get my coat now........

Gah!!!! and forgot to mention love kdrama? love BTS? go forth and watch crazy crazy Hwrang on Netflix which has BTS's V (Kim Taehyung) in supporting role... it's proper bonkers and sort of doesn't make sense... but fun nontheless!!!!! (and V & Jin have a song on the ost! )

last one... sorry definitely!!!

Home as Recommended by Bettys on of the recent faves....

I could go on forever... but i'll step back from the laptop now!!!!

I think Bea's enthusiasm for BTS has definitely helped suck me down the wormhole 😂😂😂.

I was thinking about Re watching Hwarang as Spotify played me that song Bea linked to and it reminded me how cute V is in it.

thegirl.... I can only apologise! 😔😔😔😔

Haha don't apologise, they are lovely! Saves me from thinking about work/covid etc 😊

Ah I have disappeared down so many BTS rabbit holes....

There was the 'oooh V is in Hwarang" rabbit hole

The 'oooh contemporary dance Jimin' rabbit hole (highly recommended)

The 'ah colour coded song lyrics I can find out who sings what' rabbit hole

The BTS HYYH Universe rabbit hole...what is the hidden story behind some of their MV's???

The many Run, Dance Practice, Behind The Scenes videos...

The Youtube reaction videos (I mean, exactly why do I find it so entertaining to watch people watching BTS for the first time??? Or editing their MV's with captions & slo-mos??)

And let's not forget the body rolls ( ), dance breaks, just awesome choreography clips

I have fallen prey to merch as those of you saw Suga & V running off in my Sindy car can testify to

But it's a hell of a lot of fun and brightens my day!!

I'm sorely tempted by the online concert this weekend but Im supposed to be taking DS out and also I think DH would think I've totally lost the plot. BTS is not the sort of thing I'm usually into. He is a bit baffled by the Kdrama love too.
It's times like this I wish Covid would do one and he would go to the football on Saturday and I could watch the concert without being judged 😂
Do you think BTS has been cited in any divorce proceedings???