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…

Is there a clear winner Betty?

Arsenal Military Academy...so far...it has FL from Love Is Sweet and hello gave it a 9 on the spreadsheet. FL dresses up as a boy to enter said academy to fight c1911 against Japanese so lots of period detail.

How To be 30 is 20 min episodes of good fluffsome stuff but only 4 eps up

@polkettle

Like trying to eat a doughnut without licking the sugar off your lips. Impossible. Slightly gobsmacked by extreme reaction to an HIV positive patient in DR. It's like it's 1989. And that's why goggles are a good idea you sillies.

I remember thinking this storyline was about 30 years behind the times!

I was going to do Arsenal Military Academy as it gets great reviews, then saw there was no kissing so 🤷‍♀️ I'm so shallow.
Just caught up with How to Be 30 and that is going to feature kissing I think. Phew.

Bettys I'm enjoying How to be thirty too, I'm also watching Must you go which is another 30 minutes pleasent viewing.

The violence in The Uncanny Counter is making me wince! 😣 I feel I can only watch one episode before it's too much! Enjoying the show though!

'If I catch you smoking opium, you will be executed immediately!' - not a line that gets used very often

Wot no kissing pol?

There was no kissing in Misaeng either but we all enjoyed it. Just sayin’.

This is very true. It's not really about snogs, it's about feels and expect Arsenal will come good on those. The trouble is I get distracted by the other snoggier options.

I have to keep pausing the first episode of Mouse. It is very gory. It’s almost worth it for the genetics lecture in English, which is helpfully subtitled in both English and Korean. 😄 But the murders? Dark, dark, dark. 😕

I managed to get to the end of Mouse ep 1 but it kept jumping around in the timeline with flashbacks and skipping forwards. I’m totally confused. Anyone else watched this episode so we can PM without spoiling on the thread?

I'm looking forward to Mouse... But not starting yet! X

I was planning on watching Mouse, not sure I will if it's really violent though

I just watched the trailers for Joseon Exorcist it looks brilliant! I can't wait for that to start!

@Rowdythree

I was planning on watching Mouse, not sure I will if it's really violent though

Rowdy - I will watch episode 2 today to see how it develops. Episode 1 seemed to be setting the scene if the ep 2 preview is anything to go by. They have set up a Hannibal Lecter-type serial killer. I think this person might be consulted on future crimes. I’m still not entirely sure where the genetic testing aspect fits in and whether Lee Seung Gi is one of the children shown in ep 1 all grown up. I will report back later.

Thanks Boaty will look forward to the update!

I'm having a weekend of re-watching fluffy, no brainer shows. So far I've completed The Secret Life of My Secretary, cos I quite like Kim Young Kwang I'm hoping he's good in Hello, Me!.
Now watching Marriage, Not Dating, and on the episode where she is dragging the huge pot of chicken and ginseng stew around . The hair pulling scene with the mother and mistress is still to come

He’s quite goofy so far in Hello Me fifi, but they are starting to tone down the cray-cray and make both leads more rounded and sympathetic so it may right itself.

@Hydrogensonata I am starting ep4 of Another Miss Oh ... so far drama is not clicking. I am not feeling it. I’ll watch couple of more episodes before giving up.

@polkettle YES!!! to the goggles

Another thing that really bothers me is people enter home & straight to the dinning table ... shoes are not allowed but what about washing hands? I know I know it’s drama but in the last year such things make me nervous. Crowded scenes & people mingling 😆 I wonder if it will have an impact on filming of snogging scenes.

@Rowdythree

I just watched the trailers for Joseon Exorcist it looks brilliant! I can't wait for that to start!

Serious Kingdom vibes!

Finished Go Ahead, lots of pain and sadnesses to go with the light and warmth but overall a really satisfying watch with a coherent plot arc that actually fit the number of episodes.

I got ousted from the TV for a film Rowdy, but there was a murder about 10 mins in to ep 2 of Mouse, plus another one and an attempted murder later on. I think I’m about 2/3 through. Hard to tell due to all the interruptions today... 🙄

Apparently Lee Shin Young (Lieut. Park in CLOY) has stepped down from a leading role forthcoming drama because of a ‘scheduling conflict’. I don’t suppose it could possibly be season 2 of CLOY?
Or would we have heard?

@Andante57

Apparently Lee Shin Young (Lieut. Park in CLOY) has stepped down from a leading role forthcoming drama because of a ‘scheduling conflict’. I don’t suppose it could possibly be season 2 of CLOY? Or would we have heard?

🤞 it’s not another school days scandal. The way leads are being dropped just now, I get nervous when I hear updates like this. TBH, I doubt any up and coming actor would let a main lead role go to reprise a supporting role.

Yes you are right about a leading role versus a supporting role.
I hope he hasn’t been sacked because of a bullying scandal.

There were rumours a year ago about school violence or bullying, it may be due to that though his agency took action at the time