MsLattés Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #21): With our ranks swelling due to pandemic ennui, the Ajummas of Darkness are building an ARMY 😉 of Addicts.

[boatyardblues]

A quiet corner of MN for serious addicts of Kdrama, or the K-curious. 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 Queen (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)*
Run On (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)
True Beauty (Viki)
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)/Hot Stove League (Netflix)

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)
Peninsula - film, Train to Busan sequel (Amazon Prime, iMovies)

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)
My Little Happiness (Viki, Chinese)
Put Your Head on My Shoulder (Netflix, Chinese)
Some Day or One Day (Viki, Taiwanese)
The Romance of Tiger & Rose (Viki, Chinese)
Tientsin Mystic (Netflix, Chinese)

Thread Regulars’ Top Scoring Dramas of 2020 (updated for thread #21)
Courtesy of Hello’s kdrama spreadsheet, updated by/for thread regulars. Marks out of 10.

1 - Mr Queen - 9.4 (5 votes)
2 - Parasite - 9.05 (10 Votes)
3 - It's Okay To Not Be Okay - 8.88 (9 Votes)
4 - The Uncanny Counter - 8.50 (4 Votes)
5 - Once Again - 8.42 (6 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 explained or 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…

Noo polkettle . Not going to watch the next episode, I will be too busy sewing duvets together to make an XXL size one

I'm watching Welcome to Waikiki for a bit of comedy goofiness. Reset the brain to kick me out of my slump.

Took me a while to realise the 2ML from CLOY is in it. Yum.

Fifi get yourself a stepladder and you can spend the week patting his shoulder. Maybe make him some porridge in daddy bear's bowl.

I am up to date with SWNK - yep there's a window of opportunity there. Best see if you can cram the XXL duvet through while you can fifi!

Not really sure what ML sees in FL tbh.

Really hoping sad sister and husband's story has them happy in one way or another.

I’ve gleaned from episode 20-something of The Undateables that Korean men more usually shave their armpits. The stuntman causes consternation in his muscle vest and apologises to FL (matchmaker) explaining that every time he shaves he has an accident on set, so he doesn’t shave. Are we to infer there’s a lot more manscaping going on? It would explain the curious absence of body hair. I’d just assumed Westerners were much hairier but it seems I may have made a false assumption.

Watched the episode - how can they just jump that length of time!! What happened during that time? I knew she was trouble, poor lad. I really hope that he does find someone else and they don't end up together, he deserves better.
I too hope that the sister has a good outcome. In fact, both sisters.

boatyard - does this mean we need to go back and cross-reference all those shower scenes to conduct a proper survey? 🤦🏻‍♀️

fifi - maybe a case of misunderstanding although he looked mighty pissed off but at this point I’m hoping he ends up with the college friend who has obviously held a torch for him for years

Betty - I’m really intrigued about this, in all seriousness. We know celebs, actors and pop stars aren’t like the rest of us, in that they invest a lot more time and energy in looking their best. I have no idea how representative dramas are. Not very I’d guess. It’s just interesting to me to have a culture where men’s appearance seem to be policed by more exacting norms, where men also have plastic surgery etc. That’s a tough society to be plain, lumpy or unusual in.

This article is helpful:

Which is interesting being in Seoul. Here, men seem to be allergic to any semblance of body hair. One walk around the streets of Seoul will prove just how clean shaven, smooth, and youthful-looking Seoulites are. The standard of beauty for Korean men is a clean complexion, moisturized skin, and free of wrinkles. Body and facial hair, therefore, are something almost grotesque; features that make a man barbaric. It reminds me of an interview from 2011 with the Kpop star G.O., the leader of the now disbanded MBLAQ. In an interview, he revealed just how insecure he was with his facial hair — so much so, he debated getting laser surgery to remove it completely.

“I became a slave to that facial hair,” he admitted. “When I went on variety shows, I only got to talk about facial hair. I also have a lot of hair on my chest, so whenever I’d wear V-neck shirts, people joked that I could clean the floor with it.”

The adverse feelings towards facial and body hair are only buttressed by the messaging found throughout men’s grooming sections in retailers. When I visited one called Olive Young, I was intrigued by the amount of products designed to get rid of hair. There was an entire top shelf full of leg trimmers, for instance, each of them marketed with cartoons depicting women reacting to men with leg hair. On one, the ‘before’ illustration had a red-headed woman scrutinizing a man’s hairy legs and screaming “NOOOOOOOOOH!!!!” The ‘after’ was of a man with hairless, smooth legs with the same red-headed woman fawning over him. “It’s Cool!!!!” she cooed. Another product next to it had a similar illustration. A blonde woman said “no thanks” to a hairy man but accepted the smooth guy, saying “I love it!”

nextshark.com/body-facial-hair-undesirable-traits-south-korea/

I started typing out a long answer with links & then lost it ...😫

On the one hand I’m in favour of moderate male grooming as a form of equality of effort but also appreciate that in a culture of one style of beauty it can be hard if you don’t look that way . A previous thread in AIBU where the OP posted a pic of V extolling his handsomeness sparked a somewhat heated debate about what is male beauty

Although at its lowest level it was positively xenophobic, it largely consisted of some saying ‘ooh no give me Chris Hemsworth/Jason Momoa’ and others (who me?) saying ‘look at this dangerously attractive man who may be slightly different from someone out of an American blockbuster film’

Ah great boaty!! That was one of the links I read & lost!

I agree about equality of effort, particularly because there is a financial aspect and it is a double-whammy for women who also shoulder pay inequality. If one sex has to prettify, both should.

How interesting, I also agree that the effort should be put in equally. Korean beauty standards are really high for both male sand females, like Boaty says, it's a tough place to be if you're plain, lumpy or unusual!

Saying that, I think a lot of dramas do have more 'average' looking characters in, and I often wonder how these people get signed up if it's all about the face?

I always assumed westerners were more hirsute too, and that was why the hipster beard trend didn't make it that far around the world 😂

I think I can say DH has no Korean Movie star future ahead of him. #getoutthelawnmower
Men are make up users in SWNK and absolutely no suggestion that's unusual.

Same here @polkettle 😂 shame as he has a good top knot, I'd quite like to see him in some assassin's robes

😂 Definitely no top knot possible here. Migratory hair.
I think you've got your next anniversary gift sorted Rowdy (cough...)

😂😂 When we go to Korea, we'll go to one of those dress up places!

Of course there's always the danger that a top-knot may end up more Shih Tzu than Ninja Assassin.....although that also has it attractions

@polkettle

I think I can say DH has no Korean Movie star future ahead of him. #getoutthelawnmower Men are make up users in SWNK and absolutely no suggestion that's unusual.

We had family friends where the husband was the hairiest man we’d ever met. His wife told us she was queuing for ice cream at the beach and overheard two women in the queue talking about “the man over there with a bath mat on his back”, so chipped in proudly that he was her husband. 😄

It's cosy in the winter 🤷‍♀️😉
Given how often those Korean men are having to hand over their overcoats they should be cultivating their undercoats not removing them. Maybe then they wouldn't catch 4 hour flu after a drop of rain.

@polkettle

It's cosy in the winter 🤷‍♀️😉 Given how often those Korean men are having to hand over their overcoats they should be cultivating their undercoats not removing them. Maybe then they wouldn't catch 4 hour flu after a drop of rain.

Pol has it. The need for all the giant down-filled winter coats suddenly drops into place: no undercoat.

😂😂 This conversation is brilliant!

Does anyone else get the K-beauty pops up?
The amount of time these men must spend on beautifying themselves, I don't even spend a fifth of that time.

boaty I'm more of a hirsute gal

boaty I'm more of a hirsute gal

Nah, get the Imaac out! 😂