MsLattés Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #20): With Hyun Bin off the market, the ajummas off darkness begin researching his ‘oppa fabulous’ replacement in earnest

[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)
Some Day or On Day (Viki, Taiwanese)
The Romance of Tiger & Rose (Viki, Chinese)
Tientsin Mystic (Netflix, Chinese)

Thread Regulars’ Top Scoring Dramas of 2020
(courtesy of Hello’s kdrama spreadsheet, updated by/for thread regulars. Marks out of 10.)

1 - Parasite - 9.05 (10 Votes)
2 - It's Okay To Not Be Okay - 8.88 (9 Votes)
3 - The Uncanny Counter - 8.50 (4 Votes)
4 - Once Again - 8.40 (5 Votes)
5 - Hospital Playlist - 8.21 (7 Votes)

2019’s top scoring dramas:

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
🥾🍑 (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…

Coffee and Vanilla is filthy. Terrible plot, mind.

My favourite J-drama is Good Morning Call. Classic.

Coffee and Vanilla is filthy. Terrible plot, mind

True. But at least Dori Sakurada gets the (drippy) girl this time. He was 2ML in GMC

Lots of sex in Scums Wish, Love & Fortune, & BL sex in Mood Indigo & Pornographer

boaty Kim Jung Hyun is 😍 in School 2017 and also the only reason I made it through Waikiki

Omo! Page 38 already! Time to start discussing updates to the OP. Addition of Mr Queen (light romance category), obvs. Run On (light romance)? True Beauty (light romance).

Trust Betty to have a firm handle on the filth.

What can you mean boaty? 🤔

Should Mr Queen go in sageuk? With an asterisk?

Too old now to be watching fruity and filthy without a semblance of a good plot , I just think 'oh, hurry up and get on with it', as they probably are

Too old now to be watching fruity and filthy without a semblance of a good plot, I just think 'oh, hurry up and get on with it', as they probably are

Well indeed! After the pumping buttock recalibration it's quite a surprise to land on something filthy.

JCW has definitely had work done, but I can’t quite put my finger on what.

I like JCW’s modern hanok in Lovestruck in the City with its minimalist koi pond.

"It's pig nose tendon. Surely you've had it before?"

Oh I was so going to properly do some work today and I so seem to be 14 episodes in to My Little Happiness. Happy sigh. I'll be needing the pig nose tendon recipe at this rate.

I need to decide what to start next. I'm thinking Lovestruck in the City and maybe School 2017 (for the same reasons as boaty 😁)

We've whizzed through this thread!
I agree with the suggestions for the new thread.

I’m enjoying Love Is Sweet but agree it’s not Riley Wang’s best role - why are the second couples so rarely as interesting as the first couple in cdrama? An beginning to warm to ML- FL reminds me of Son Ye Jin. I think Find Yourself is still my favourite urban cdrama so far.

I will await reports back on Lovestruck

Pig nose tendon 😱 just give it to the dog he only seems to get yoghurt 🤔

I thought dairy gave dogs the runs, which seems ill advised in such a floofy dog. You’re right I only saw him get one proper meal (up at the table).

[quote polkettle]**@JinBhoot* I loved it but it is clearly an absolutely Marmite show 😁And I slightly suspect from the shows I know you've liked/not liked it's maybe not* going to be one for you. It's a series of snapshots of relationships at 30 - centred around the central one. Some people find it angsty but I found it more funny and although there are sadnesses. I liked the writing. It's quite arch and occasionally too oblique/experimental but also satisfying amounts of hot JCW snogging...[/quote]
I have just finished episode 2, oh my 😆

Style is definitely different from usual dramas. I will watch few more episodes to form an opinion. I hope there is happy ending.

JCW - not sure what’s different, there are glimpses of his usual self but then his face looks like a heavily filtered photo.

I like length of the episodes.
Talking to camera is giving me Sex in the City’s season1 vibe.

@boatyardblues

I like JCW’s modern hanok in Lovestruck in the City with its minimalist koi pond.

Me too .. now I know what’s it called, thanks @boatyardblues

I like Korean traditional houses (‘hanok’) in general. You can click on the house names in the list on this architecture site to see new builds inspired by traditional hanok design principles to: architizer.com/blog/inspiration/collections/neo-traditional-korean-homes/ DH and I had a look over Christmas and liked the indoor/outdoor spaces in the Cherry Blossom House, though I prefer the more traditional features of some of the plainer ones.

Park Seo-joon is so frigging gorgeous he makes my eyes hurt.

That is all.

Has anyone watched Peninsula? Does it need to go in the Zombie list? (Which platform?) How about the Chinese, Taiwanese & Japanese list? My Little Happiness should be added.

I found and finished a J drama- Our Sisters Soulmate, and certainly nothing fruity! It sweet, cheesy, sad, and I had moist eyes several times! I wished I had seen it at Christmas as it has that theme, also acknowledging Coronavirus.

Thanks for sharing the link boaty, I will spend lots of time coveting.

fedup Indeed he is

I've watched Peninsula, yep it should go on the Zombie list. I think I need to watch it again, I was a bit tipsy on my first viewing 😬 I think it was on Amazon Prime

JCW has definitely had a little work done in the past... Do you think he's had more done recently?

Briiiiick I hear you about PSJ 🤚😍

In Lovestruck in the City, I like that the door panels which are normally papered in hanok still have the same complex wooden pattern, but are glazed for warmth and to let the light in.

Agree My Little Happiness should go on the list. Don't forget to score it on the brand-spanking new 2021 spreadsheet which is beginning to get a few dramas on now.

Agree ré previous comments on PSJ

Betty - Would you mind adding some scores for me, I’m still having fun & games with googledocs.

My Little Happiness = 8
Mr Queen = 9
True Beauty = 8
Run On = 8

Thank goodness for Mr Queen or I’d look like a one trick pony. 😄

Cong Rong, with these Ferrero Rocher you're really spoiling me.

boaty scores on the doors added - it's a shame Mr Queen is actually listed in 2020 as I think it would have been a top scorer

pol the lawyer fella seems to make them last a lot longer than I would! Every time he is particularly thoughtful/sad/wishing she was his he pulls one out gazes at it then nibbles away