MsLattés Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #22): As pandemic restrictions ease the Ajummas of Darkness and ARMY recruits are on spring manoeuvres, camping under the cherry blossom

[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)*
Lovestruck in the City (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)
To My Star [BL] (Viki)
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)
You Make Me Dance [BL] (Viki)


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…

Chinese chickens are clearly unsullied by corrupt Western salmonella.
Do hope that when 🥔 and 👠 finally get it together (perhaps through intervention of a 'perverted keyboard man') they absolutely snog each other's faces off after all this tortured build up ☺️.

@polkettle

Chinese chickens are clearly unsullied by corrupt Western salmonella. Do hope that when 🥔 and 👠 finally get it together (perhaps through intervention of a 'perverted keyboard man') they absolutely snog each other's faces off after all this tortured build up ☺️.

🥔 is so daft he'll take another 6 months to work out what his mouth is for.

🥔 is so daft he'll take another 6 months to work out what his mouth is for.

And the rest.....

I popped round to Olga's as the subs were taking so long so am up to date

Looking forward to a double-dose of Navillera tonight.

Love Designer is going on a bit too long but hopefully FLs mum has quietened down. Still waiting for unexpected twerking. Have grown to like ML & he does has great chemistry with FL but he does still remind me a little bit of Plug from the Bash Street Kids, in a charming quirky way

Ha! If Plug had answered an ad at the back of the paper for home gym and protein powder...
Beware, even worse mother plot line must be negotiated before twerk.

More bad art - oh the joys-

Pumped Plug 😂😂😂

@polkettle

Ha! If Plug had answered an ad at the back of the paper for home gym and protein powder... Beware, even worse mother plot line must be negotiated before twerk.

Oh no the mum is doing my tits in!!!

I'm imagining some sort of accident/incident which puts FL in grave danger and the mum blames ML and shuts him out? Don't tell me, I'll shout bingo if I get to it 😂

Beware, even worse mother plot line must be negotiated before twerk.

Adding to bingo - I think wannabe gf biatch Luna will reappear and put ML in a compromising position & interfering mum will threaten to cut daughter off forever

@FedUpWithBriiiiick

Pumped Plug 😂😂😂

This just made me hoot at work 😂

I've got 2 eps of YAMH to catch up with plus Navillera.. Happy days when I get home!

It’s too lovely today to be indoors. I am out in the garden but no wifi here, so no furtive kdrama on my phone. I woke up stupidly early so caught up on YAMH from the comfort of my bed. 😄

This is where the download function pays off 👍 I have downloaded the next ep of LD to watch while I am in the post office queue 😎

Just walked 10 miles so will have earned my Drama fix when home 🥰. For clarity Fed up - different mother but equally bonkers.
Admirable efficiency Bettys 👀📮

Good job on the 10 miles Pol!

Just got sight of the matching onesies in YAMH. Rather took the shine off. Think Captain Sexy is gasping for a ride at this point 😂

Think Captain Sexy is gasping for a ride at this point 😂

He is, isn’t he? Love Designer Is much more realistic on that front.

I’ve now discovered the other nightmare mother and found out where 2ML knew 2FL from!

Any of you come across the cat garden in Seoul on Insta yet? I really like cats but I can’t decide if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. DH and I discussed it and worry that it could be quite stressful for the cats, as they are territorial and solitary by nature and densities here are high. Judge for yourselves: www.instagram.com/p/CNCfYEdntut/?igshid=1c2srxk4bsp2r

There are a few shots that eek me, The Birds style. That’s a lotta cats!

Also Insta cannot capture the smell. It could reek of cat pee. 🤢

Check out one of the blond hair twat's mates in Navillera. Korean Ross Gellar 😂

@boatyardblues

I may have slightly welled up when Chae-Rok opened his fridge and saw all of Mr Sim’s lovingly labelled Tupperware (Navillera ep 3). 😭

Just did the same 😟

It’s cocktail hour! Glass of chem hazard pink Besheen liqueur anyone? 😆

@boatyardblues

It’s cocktail hour! Glass of chem hazard pink Besheen liqueur anyone? 😆

😂 makes my teeth itch just looking at it!!

It reminds me of the alcopops my sis barfed up in her early 20s, permanently staining her pastel bedroom carpet.

Yes! Totally Mad Dog 20/20 pink grapefruit flavour sweats at memory...
It's KFC for breakfast in Love Me if you Dare too. Maybe it's a Sandra Ma rider?

Check out one of the blond hair twat's mates in Navillera. Korean Ross Gellar 😂

OMO!! So it is!

Episode 30 Love Designer: the Rona strikes!

I dislike Mr Sim’s wife so much right now 😡