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…

Ahhh. Thank you for being the safe space that understands my three hour wallow in pink glittery syrup ☺️

I have decided to continue with Something in the rain .. I am enjoying how relationship between ML & FL is developing. Will forward rest of non- essential stuff. They look cute together.
Just saw BTS of their first kiss scene, 😂 director asked for 3 beers ( for FL, ML & Director) to calm the nerves before filming the scene 😂😂😂😂

There's something for everyone in K drama land Jin. I'm sure you'll enjoy SITR

pol no judgement here! You enjoy yourself in your glittery syrup

@polkettle

Ahhh. Thank you for being the safe space that understands my three hour wallow in pink glittery syrup ☺️

Oh my this show is so cute!!! 🥰🥰

If you guys knew me in real life you would be so surprised at how gooey I am for a sugar sweet show 😂

FedUp & pol this show is very moreish 🥰

You are my hero is great! Fun... Silly.. heroic... Angsty!.. hospital... All the tropes!
Nice and easy watch! 👍😂😂😂

@bettys

FedUp & pol this show is very moreish 🥰

Just finished. So kawaii!! 🥰

Sometimes it's a shame J-dramas are so short... Plot just gallops along. But, no angst, no threat, I suppose that's what makes them fun and unique!

@Bea

You are my hero is great! Fun... Silly.. heroic... Angsty!.. hospital... All the tropes! Nice and easy watch! 👍😂😂😂

On the list!!

I’ve just caught up on Sisyphus. I am enjoying it so much. Some great performances. Cho Seung-Woo is so different in this to Stranger, it’s rather confusing. I’m quite taken with him in his hoodie with the ‘laugh you into bed’ demeanour. I will be seeking out his other work. It’s good to see Park Shin-Hye have some chemistry with her ML for a change. I find her a cold fish usually, excellent but no heart. She’s much warmer and more sympathetic in this.

@boatyardblues

I’ve just caught up on Sisyphus. I am enjoying it so much. Some great performances. Cho Seung-Woo is so different in this to Stranger, it’s rather confusing. I’m quite taken with him in his hoodie with the ‘laugh you into bed’ demeanour. I will be seeking out his other work. It’s good to see Park Shin-Hye have some chemistry with her ML for a change. I find her a cold fish usually, excellent but no heart. She’s much warmer and more sympathetic in this.

Only on ep.2, I'm just not quite into it yet. My brain is so exhausted from home working and schooling that I can only manage the bare minimum of plot 😂

Boychild back to school on Monday so hopefully I'll have a percentage of brain available to get stuck into Red Hoodie Si-mok™️

Racing through second twenties-
Lee Sang-yoon is a very age appropriate Oppa with very nice dimples, looks good in a suit and tall- perfect easy watching. I can't believe Choi Ji-woo is 45 though, I'd love to know her beauty secrets...
I'm off tomorrow so planning to try how to be thirty and then maybe Sisyphus?

I really enjoyed Sisyphus too. Loved seeing how the time lines interact. Loved FLs dad. He's got all the fighting skills for the whole series.

I'm embarrassed to say it was only in episode 10 that I realised that cop partner and FL's dad were one and the same, oops.

He was quite grimy in the post-apocalyptic future, Hawthorn - an easy likeness to miss. 😄

Enjoying the emergency diorama of earthquake site with little flags in YAMH 13. Didn't realise modellers with MDF and glue on greenery were an essential part of a disaster response team.

Impatiently awaiting next 2 eps of YAMH as there is trouble at t’pit

@Hydrogensonata have you finished Second 20s? I might start it.
There is an English movie Life of the party - a newly divorced mother who returns to college to complete her degree, and ends up bonding with her daughter's friends. Melissa McCarthy’s acting was over the top, couldn’t stand her and stopped watching within 15 mins.
I hope K version is wholesome & good watch.

Pretty obsessed with lyric translation of YAMH title song. "In our names youthfulness opened the taciturn sequence" my favourite.

How did you get so far in YAMH... am really enjoying all the shenanigans... it's alovely fluff tonic to what i need right now... a bit of action... a bit of romance.. a bit of hospital.... a bit of cute.... good stuff... the funnest cdrama i've watched so far!

Trouble at t'pit? @bettys... sounds fun! is it reaching the ridiculous shaky camera efforts of DDay!?????
Love the rides in teh car at night... cue shaky side to side acting with obvs green screen out t'window!...🤣😂

Bea is it reaching the ridiculous shaky camera efforts of DDay!?????

Yes!!! With everyone having to wobble about! And spurting arterial spray! And MLs tenderly putting their coats on FLs WHO ARE ALREADY WEARING COATS!!

Hello all 👋🏻

Just checking in to say hi and that I am still in Kdramaanomyous and with the small person returned to his rightful place in the education system I in no way spent the whole week binging YAMH rather than cleaning my house...

Ps I clocked the spam in the fridge too 😉

@bettys

Bea is it reaching the ridiculous shaky camera efforts of DDay!?????

Yes!!! With everyone having to wobble about! And spurting arterial spray! And MLs tenderly putting their coats on FLs WHO ARE ALREADY WEARING COATS!!

Ahhh! Double coatage!!... Double the handsome hero feelings! 😂😂😂... Only on ep 8! But it's binge worthy! 😅🤭

@Cassini! Welcome back! Pull on your white coat and stethoscope and run down the hallways with us!! 🏃🏼‍♀️🧑🏻‍⚕️🚑🚒🚓💉💉💉💉💉💊💊🩹🩹🩹🩹🩺🩺🩺🩺

Stat!!

Pull on your white coat and stethoscope and run down the hallways with us!! 🏃🏼‍♀️🧑🏻‍⚕️🚑🚒🚓💉💉💉💉💉💊💊🩹🩹🩹🩹🩺🩺🩺🩺

😂😂Loving your extravagant use of medical supplies Bea don’t you know there is a shortage in Cdrama land and it’s all hands on deck to break open the tiny ampoules with plucky neurosurgeon?

Westlife? Westlife?... Run for hills Dr Mi! Run for the hills!.
It's a pretty good guess who the apartment belongs to! 😂😂😂😂😁