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…

All intriguing... But not enough to tempt me!... Juuust about!...💜💜

I just looked at the site Bea linked to. Why do all the toddler pig plush toys in the Kawaii section have their pants pulled down and their penises on show? Most odd.

😱😱😱😱

@TheGirlWithTheArabStrap That episode of Uncanny Counter was all kinds of tense...and as the end drew near I had a feeling that was going to happen

I guessed the public sauna as best selling spot for the challenge in ep 15.

^ In Misaeng 😄

😁 You should go on The Apprentice Boaty

It was a no-brainer considering the earlier scenes and the reasons why office workers go to the sauna.

I got caught out by the 20 eps. I was at the end of ep 15 thinking they needed to step up the pace to end in Jordan, then remembered one of you saying it was a longer run.

(I’ve also stumbled on a fabulously trashy ice-skating drama on Netflix, Spinning Out. I love ice dance ill-matched pairings and the ensuing thaw as the pair have to work as a team. This one is a humdinger, full metal melo. The c word features within the first 10 mins. 😱 Not all kdramaey.)

Finished Misaeng. Yes, I have no self control & don’t know how to pace the episodes.

Few observations about the drama:

There were frequent cigarette breaks but I haven’t seen any lit cigarette.

Jordan was random, not sure why they went all the way there. Was it for Petra - tradesmen’s hub?

Steel team’s manager is handsome. Him following female colleagues was surprising, I expected better from him.

Alright what’s next, Prison Playbook? I should do some chores before starting next show.

Prison Playbook is aces @JinBhoot

I'm still ploughing through You Complete Me. It's all for the moley nose lad.

Yes Prison Playbook is ace @JinBhoot

Yes yes go for Prison Playbook @JinBhoot . First couple of episodes are a bit confusing (I don't understand baseball and couldn't care less) but it becomes gripping, and is a good follow on from Misaeng

The beginning of episode 9 of Mr Queen ...very steamy for sageuk (and funny!)

Episode 11 of Uncanny Counter was an emotional rollercoaster

Also skipping through My Girlfriend Is An Alien while waiting for Counter & Mr Queen episodes

Watching Spinning Out (US made), I’m reminded how instrumental US dramas are. The writing has all the subtlety of being maced by the writers, dragged into an alley and repeatedly bludgeoned with the plot points. DH is in the living room and we are laughing at how workmanlike and brutally efficient it is. To give it credit, it has a decent stepmother. 😱 It has reminded me how much I like the meandering stories, quirky dialogue and odd tangents of the better kdramas. The hairpulling chaebol stepmothers and Cinderella melos are every bit as instrumental as this US one.

I went into When You Write Love Story @bettys It's fair to say if you'd told 8 month ago me that I'd be watching Chinese idol stars improvise their way around Shanghai on a giant pale pink leather bus at 10am on a Sunday morning for the sake of a pair of dimples I'd have been sceptical. But 10 days into 2021 and it's buckle me in and let's GO.

@polkettle I know, right?🤣🤣

If it gets too crazy try Triad Princess, Twogether or When I see You Again on Netflix or Love Myself or you on Viki. Dimples seems like a lovely chap ☺️

Alright, it’s decided - I will start Prison Playbook next.

I have also seen clip of Dear My Friends seems like a different story. I have added it in my to watch list.

Who is this dimples everyone talking about?

@JinBhoot A Taiwanese actor called Jasper Liu, he has the most irresistible dimples (not to be confused with Bruce He - also with dimples, also from Taiwan)
If you don't have Viki for Before We Get Married he is also in Triad Princess on Netflix although that the story is a bit pants tbh

Hello can I join? I am very new to this Kdrama lark and I feel like I have found my THING completely. Finisjed CLOY 2 weeks ago - that was my first experience and I sobbed and sobbed through the last couple of episodes - usually I am a stonehearted bitch but it just melted me. Now I'm on episode 12 of Something in the Rain, which I also love but I have a horrible feeling its not going to be fluffy at the end (no spoilers please I.will be brave). So what do you recommend as my next series? Something swoony please!

Hi Larry of course you can join. The more the merrier!!
How about trying a thread favourite Her Private Life?

Hi Larry (The Stand?) You are very welcome, do join in with the chat!

I think Her Private Life is just on Viki which you may not have succumbed to yet , so from the Romance - light & fluffy list at the head of the thread I would recommend Don't Dare To Dream as the next to watch, though any from that list would be a good choice

Hi @LarryUnderwood! Welcome!

Welcome Larry! Our first new poster of the new year! 🎉 I am biased, but I don’t think you’ll go far wrong with Because This Is My First Life, which is available on Netflix. It is one of my all time favourite kdramas.

Hi everyone, I've been AWOL this week, I've binged so much K Drama I think my husband might divorce me! 😂

I've only got 1 episode left of Hospital Playlist left, I was really disappointed to find out that it only had 12 episodes! I've also binged all of True Beauty, which I am absolutely loving! It's such a sweet story, I feel so bad for the main female character, it had me crying in parts! But the characters and storyline are just lovely (most of them, so far!) Did anyone else feel that the introduction of the Baseball player wasn't necessary though, also he looked about 30 but was supposed to be in a high school team

I even enjoyed the Nolans (a song I usually hate) it's been in my head all weekend!😂 I'm annoyed that I'm now waiting on episodes of this and Run on

I haven't caught up with the thread yet, so I'm off to see what's been going on! I hope everyone is well