MsLattés Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #19): Our noona days may be behind us but the ajummas of darkness will unleash their inner Gangnam leopards as the festive season approaches

[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/Netflix)
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)
Misaeng (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)
Kiss Goblin (Viki, webdrama)
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)*
King: The Eternal Monarch (Netflix)
Kingdom (Netflix)*

Mystic Pop-up Bar (Netflix)
The Guest (Netflix)
Train to Busan - film (Amazon Prime)

W: Two Worlds (Viki & Netflix)*
Zombie Detective (Viki)


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)
Lost Romance (Viki - Taiwanese)
Love O2O (Viki - Chinese)
Morning Call (Netflix - Japanese)
Put Your Head on My Shoulder (Netflix - Chinese)
The Romance of Tiger & Rose (Viki, 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…

fifilacklustre I know!! I was waiting for the BA sale to start to book my flights to Seoul (was supposed to go this year and then moved to next summer) and voila no flights found! Waaah. Won’t stop me though, FinnAir is good enough.

Has anyone been to Oseyo in London? Full of Korean snacks and frozen foods, lovely shop.

Just looked up flights Kseason and £502 return from London next September. I will keep dropping hints to family

Same here @Kseason, we were supposed to go in spring this year and I have no idea when to rebook for! I've got to go BA though as I have a voucher to use... This year was just perfect timing, not sure when we can fit in the same trip now.

I just watched Her Private Life and rediscovered Kim Jae Wook after only seeing him in Coffee Prince ages ago 😍 he has now moved into my top 3 오 빠's list now. Also the snogging scenes in her private life were 👌 I thought it was a bit of a stretch of the imagination that the ML and FL were supposed to be the same ages though! Over all an enjoyable series!

Welcome @Ydoodle!

Has anyone been to Oseyo in London?

kseason I have!! It's full of goodies and v handy for Waterloo. I rarely go past without picking up some Bibigo kimchi although I discovered today that my local M&S sells kimchi at great expense needless to say but handy if you're in need of a kimcheese toastie

I'm envious of people with local Korean food stores! I'm out of soju and can't really justify the expense of bulk buying

If there are any other veggies /vegans out there Holland and Barrett sell the Biona kimchi which is suitable and quite nice. Probably not very authentic but better than nothing

Hmart uk has an online store, theire postage costs are pretty reasonable, even up to the North of Scotland for me!

Hmart owns Oseyo and has all the same stuff online. It’s not the same as browsing in a physical store though!

I recently had a craving for pine-nut kalguksu (thanks to Start-up) and found all the ingredients on Hmart. Their soju collection is very good too.

@bettys

Has anyone been to Oseyo in London?

kseason I have!! It's full of goodies and v handy for Waterloo. I rarely go past without picking up some Bibigo kimchi although I discovered today that my local M&S sells kimchi at great expense needless to say but handy if you're in need of a kimcheese toastie

The tiddy jars are no good if you are making kimchi stew - you need a 500g Bibigo-type bag.

The guy who plays Jung Hwan’s father in Reply 1988 played one of the studeny housemates (at age 33) in Reply 1994 two years earlier, the country bumpkin nerd. Omo! 😱

Watched Joker with DH tonight, and while I could see that it was very good, I didn’t actually enjoy it, and was glad afterwards to scurry gleefully off to the not-very-good but much-more-enjoyable True Beauty.
I just can’t be doing with American Noir these days. Or even Scandi Noir, I couldn’t get into the recent Icelandic one either 🤷🏻‍♀️

@bettys, I've lost patience with American TV shows! the loudness and brashness , and everything so over the top. I just twigged that it's probably that I'm now so used to watching K dramas (among others) that I've lost my tolerance that has built up over the years!

Saying that, I did enjoy the Queen's Gambit, I love that there is much more international content to watch (not just Korean) it offers a different perspective.

I love that there is much more international content to watch (not just Korean) it offers a different perspective.

I agree with this. Even when I’m not watching kdrama I’m usually watching subtitled shows now. Filipino, Indian, Norwegian, Spanish. It’s much more interesting to see the variety of cultures and attitudes. I was also reflecting this morning that within kdrama, I watch a much wider variety of genres than I did before.

I also think the longer format of kdrama gives more time to learn about characters’ jobs, so that side of things is interesting too.

I agree Boatyard, it feels there is much more depth and you learn so much more about the culture and as you say, the different attitudes and the way society works. I'm not sure you can get that in a 6 or 8 episode show that centres solely on the main characters. The side storylines can be just as compelling as the main plot in my opinion.

I'm going to start I'll go to you when the Weather is nice today... Looking forward to that. It looks like it has nice wintery scenery and warm feels 😊

@boatyardblues and @Rowdythree I'd agree that the hour long format gives more time to explore things but I also like the way there's a proper complete 'ark' to each series of that makes sense - it's very satisfying if that's the right word!
Tried to start in crowned clown but maybe I just wasn't in the mood so started fight for my way - day off today so planning a good relaxing session of TV watching!

Fun little cameo in True Beauty Ep 4 for fans of Extraordinary You 😆👍

Yay! second season of Home for Christmas and hooting at first episode which definitely highlights the difference between Norwegian and Korean romance. And between one series and multiple series shows.
Finished Signal with enjoyment and relief but has underlined that 2020 is not a year for thrillers for me. Especially not after cracking open Christmas lemon drizzle gin and then being asked to make sense of multiple layers of changing futures/pasts.

Ooh @Hydrogensonata I love Fight My Way! Crowned Clown is also great but possibly doesn't have the instant gratification 😉 of Fight My Way

I'm watching episode 15 of Reply 1988 and I still can't tell who she will end up with!!

I’m on the home straight. A few more emails to clear & then kdrams wormhole, here I come! 🎉 In my mind’s eye, it’s like one of those waterpark corkscrew water slides but a fortnight long instead of 2 mins. 😆

Crowned Clown is fabulous, but has slightly darker overtones.
Also love Fight My Way, I think it's my favourite PSJ drama

Loving the badass women of Search WWW but somewhat befuddled by the architecture of Barro which seems to be a Modernist/Moorish/Gothic influenced mash up. I think their freewheeling easy going company style involved the hiring of too many architects.

Betty - Nick’s solo at the Christmas concert is 😱🤣.

boaty - have had a prosecco fuelled evening of playing Crimes Against Humanity ( ) - who what where??? Home for Christmas? I am now FOMOing

You should be FOMOing. It’s bloody brilliant. I’ve binged and just checked to see how many episodes. I’m on the last one! 😭