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…

I’m really enjoying Run On too. May have to retire with a cup of tea and a mince pie for an hour mid-afternoon.....

I am now quite glad I was too busy to start Bride of the Century.....is it a case of up to the wedding night & then skip to last episode?
@polkettle can you highlight the necessary episodes?

Lalala just finished work and now off till 3rd Jan apart from one late shift 🎉🎉🎉.
Looking forward to a very close relationship with the couch and the telly.
I finished Reply 1988 and I didn't mind who the FL ended up with. The whole series was lovely. I want to live on that street and have a menopause/birthday/wedding party.
Just going to have a little sleep now and then catch up with Uncanny Counter while DH and DS drop off some Xmas presents this afternoon 😁

It's complicated. It does have a 🐝 friendly ending with much absolute nonsense to enjoy along the way. I think the wedding is episode 12? Although having a ghostly death curse hanging over casts bit of downer on how much one feels they're going to enjoy silver lamé workout and it's all very oblique especially given porn setting. (Worth watching for most outrageous wedding night overdressing though. She's literally still in her fitted suit and diamonds and he's in full black polo neck and bearing in mind they both think it might be their one and only shag you'd think they could make a better job of it). Basically use the fast forward button to watch the cute and skip through the increasing melodrama unless you're in the mood for total nonsense. And bear in mind the disappointing snog tally for your effort. That's my biggest grumble really. I did laugh quite a lot on the way though.

The snog tally in Run On, on the other hand, is already impressive. I love that the FL is no-nonsense and cuts straight to the chase.

I wasn’t sure about her pink toddler dungarees in Jeju though.

Thanks @polkettle! I will apply judicious use of the ffwrd button.
Meanwhile Kkondae Intern is now up on Netflix although I’m not sure I can forgive Park Hae Jin for Forest yet.
Also coming on Monday to Netflix is Find Me In Your Memory, Father Is Strange & A Love So Beautiful

Meanwhile Kkondae Intern is now up on Netflix although I’m not sure I can forgive Park Hae Jin for Forest yet.

I feel the same.

Might give run on a try, currently watching where stars land- slightly disappointed that the mystery appears to be a cross between iron man/one of those magnetic memo holders but otherwise fairly easy watching!
@polkettle that recap I'd tempting me to watch it even more- doesn't everyone head to their honeymoon night fully dressed?!

Okay if anyone wants to enjoy the silver lamé and most doom laden wedding night in K-Drama the first five minutes of episode 13 Bride of the Century will sort you out.
Should add that I also recently binged 1% of Everything and that was equally low quality but MUCH more satisfying on the snog front plus short eps. You have to not mind a lot of wrist grabby stuff though. FL not a doormat but it is not woke.

FL not a doormat but it is not woke.

I’m still trying to work out the exact year of the tipping point, perhaps when Netflix started hosting Korean content, but the more recent stuff seems to have realised that wrist-grabbing and the boss pinning some hapless young female employee against the wall wasn’t a good look and toned it down. I’m not sure whether it’s the resurgent domestic feminist movement in SK or taking content out to a more international market, but there was a definite shift. The older stuff (say pre-2015) hasn’t aged well.

I'm sure you're right about the international market being key. Even though there is wince-inducing content in some, the direct address of workplace discrimination, sexual harassment and reality of women's lives in others can also be much more on the nose than many Western dramas can't it? It's a funny mix.

I went straight to episode 13 of Bride and feel like I have had a lucky escape, although have obvs missed the twin delights of kitten and Jung Hae In with a blonde fringe

Aside from the retro porn furnishings it seemed like a very lack lustre wedding night. And wasn’t expecting the supernatural dream stuff.

Gah. They are toying with us with the Run On teasers!

I so want to just crack on with Run On ! Infuriating only 4 episodes are up.

Am also really enjoying True Beauty the fluff & tropes are ticking the Tier 4 ffs escapism box

I so want to just crack on with Run On ! Infuriating only 4 episodes are up.

Same here. Its also nice seeing Kang Tae Oh (bad prince in Nokdu, amateur artist here) in a role where he gets to be the good guy and charming.

Just catching up with the thread. I am excited about Father is Strange coming to Netflix as it's on my watch list.

I enjoyed Kkondae Intern. Park Hae Jin played a very good role, well acting, so different from Forest, nothing could be that bad!

I have been down a Thai drama rabbit hole - definitely not for me. The attitude towards women is awful, I don't think that even the earliest Kdrama was as bad.

Off to wrap presents now.
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

@bettys just finished catching up with true beauty- definite escapist fun!
Finished where stars land- again good fun and very light but I definitely prefer the hour long episodes- felt like they were cut in half. Also what's with the whole "disappears for a year and doesn't contact you" thing? If that's was me I'd have made off with the second ML at some point.
Probably why I'll never have two handsome chaps fighting for my affections
Home along tomorrow- got a long run planned then cheese, biscuits, stollen and binge watching

Merry Christmas all... I've been stuck in gory monster land... Sweet Home where gruesome and copious amounts of blood is the key word! Honestly it really is horrific! But compelling and if it's not a 🐝

... Ending... (gah! Don't know how that happened)... I'll be most put out... I fear it will be as its blardy Netflix! 😭😭😭
Merry crimbo all! Xxx 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅💜💜💜😇😇

Merry Christmas all! I’ve not long finished wrapping the last few presents & paying for DS1’s Crunchyroll digital gift subscription. We are now set for tomorrow.

Merry Christmas one and all! Just finished everything and got into bed! It's been such a busy day I haven't managed to fit in my daily episode of I'll go to you... hopefully once the excitement is over tomorrow, I can fit in two episodes

We did watch an episode of Sweet Home though! At the moment, I have no bloody clue how it's going to end! There doesn't seem much hope for anyone 😂

Hope everyone has an enjoyable day tomorrow 🎅🎅

Happy Christmas, friends! Just finished Santa wrapping and off to bed after I finish this glass.

It's been a difficult year for everyone, but the power of the K-drama and the camaraderie of this board have been invaluable.

사랑해

Merry Christmas everyone!! 🎄🎄🥂💜💜

It's been a difficult year for everyone, but the power of the K-drama and the camaraderie of this board have been invaluable.
100% agree with this @FedUpWithBriiiiick.

Happy Christmas Everyone ❤️🎄