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…

@jinbhoot.... It was a happy ending, definitely watch it 👍😊😍

I throughly enjoyed the first episode of Sisyphus earlier. The Koreans do great plane disaster scenes. 👌 I especially liked the ML’s McGuyver schtick in this one. Anyone else think that ML giving the business partner the passcode for his top secret safe was a pivotal moment? I suspect the ML has been painted as the baddie in the future, but it was really his partner who stole and weaponised/exploited the tech which is causing so much grief in the future, probably during the period when he was unconscious.

Must make a start on Sisyphus. I've watched 1 1/2 episodes of Vincenzo, and it's not grabbing me yet.

Sisyphus has a really good cast (so far).

As in good character actors, rather than flower boys.

Thanks for the nudge to watch To My Star Lovely and surprising emotional heft for its length. I can now imagine any oppas who like oppas with their sweet chef at home knocking up a risotto.

I really liked To My Star 🥰

I did too... Just a lovely love story ♥️ WishYou: your Melody is a nice Oppa loving Oppa movie too

I watched Sweet Munchies last year which is about a chef pretending to be gay to get on a tv cooking show - I think it was meant to flag up issues but the Oppa loving Oppa web dramas are so much better at getting the message across.

I am gripped by Sisyphus at the end of ep 2. It is very well done and the main cast are very good.

Late to the party but DH and I are very much enjoying Mr Queen. We just finished episode 3...I love the theme tune too

DH has a soft spot for Park Shin Hye so I expect he'll be happy to give Sisyphus a try... Does anyone else want to call it Syphilis all the time? 😂

@Rowdythree

I'm really loving My Love from a Star! Why did I not watch it before?! 🤦‍♀️ Got to episode 16 expecting it to be the last one and I still have 5 more episodes to go! What a great surprise for a Sunday morning!

@Rowdythree... Make sure when you get to the end you look for the extra bit of ending that's missing from YouTube! My Love is one of my top 5 I think! It's just sooo funny and yet sooo tragic with beautiful crier Kim Syun Hoo and

... Fabulous Jun Ji Hyun! It's gorgeous!... Ooops sent before finished! 😂

Gah!... Missing from Netflix... Find it on YouTube!

Thanks for the tip Bea! I really enjoyed it, Beautiful cast and lovely story! I was prepared for sobbing at the end. kim Syun Hoo looked completely other worldly, what a beautiful human

Ohhhh Lee Min-ki has a new one coming out in March called Oh Master!

www.soompi.com/article/1424273wpp/lee-min-ki-and-nana-confirm-for-upcoming-romantic-comedy-drama

Weirdo man has to live with stranger woman, hijinx ensue... where have I heard that plot before...? 🤔

Lee Min-Ki has cornered the market in oddball romantic leads, for sure. I’m dying to know whether he is really odd in real life or just typecast.

What the heck have I started watching on Viki? It's called Love with Flaws and it's about a man who can't control his bowels when faced with a woman who rejected him in his youth! 😂 Wtf!

@Rowdythree I didn't get past the first episode on this one due to the plot. The production was dogged by ill luck unfortunately including MLs very public break-up with wife.

Oh dear, it doesn't bode well then... Don't think I'll be seeing this one through to the end 😂

Also the ML doesn't look old enough to have a wife! How is he 33!?

@Rowdythree

What the heck have I started watching on Viki? It's called Love with Flaws and it's about a man who can't control his bowels when faced with a woman who rejected him in his youth! 😂 Wtf!

ugh!... why? why? why??????

@boatyardblues

Lee Min-Ki has cornered the market in oddball romantic leads, for sure. I’m dying to know whether he is really odd in real life or just typecast.

I am wondering the same.

@rowdythree- I'm watching this!
The first episode or 2 nearly out me off but it does get better and there are some very funny bits - the 2FL has some very good deadpan. It's not amazing but it's a reasonable 30 minutes watch.

@FedUpWithBriiiiick

Ohhhh Lee Min-ki has a new one coming out in March called Oh Master!

www.soompi.com/article/1424273wpp/lee-min-ki-and-nana-confirm-for-upcoming-romantic-comedy-drama

Weirdo man has to live with stranger woman, hijinx ensue... where have I heard that plot before...? 🤔

From the article:

“In the drama, Lee Min Ki is playing Han Bi Soo, the best thriller drama writer in Korea who chooses not to date, while Nana is the actress and rom-com queen Oh Ju In (Ju In translates to “master,” or “owner”), who is unable to date. When the two end up living together, hijinks ensue.”

Hijinks? Lee Min-Ki? Opposites attract set-up? I am in!!!