MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #24): where we ‘lean in’ to our obsession. Non-judgmental support served up with a side-order of kpop.

[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)
Doom At Your Service (Viki) - still airing
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)*
Move to Heaven (Netflix)
My Mister (Viki/Netflix)*
My Unfamiliar Family (Viki)*
Navillera (Netflix)*
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
#Alive (Netflix)
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)
Sisyphus (Netflix)
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 ‘You May Also Like’
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)
You Are My Hero (Viki, 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 bum 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…

We only watched the first episode last night, and found it a bit confusing as the time skipped back and forth. So I'm looking forward to watching tonight whet hopefully we'll know what's going on a bit better.

It's seems very well produced though, there were some quite epic scenes!

DAYS on top form again tonight. 👌

@Rowdythree

I don't have such a fancy TV 😂 we have a chrome cast. DH has been pestering for a new TV for ages, I might have to give all of a sudden 😬

We use an Amazon Firestick. Other than Apple TV, it's the only one that has Viki app (that was a lesson to DH when he ordered a Roku first and I gave him short shrift 😂😂)

@Rowdythree

We only watched the first episode last night, and found it a bit confusing as the time skipped back and forth. So I'm looking forward to watching tonight whet hopefully we'll know what's going on a bit better.

It's seems very well produced though, there were some quite epic scenes!

The set up is sweeping and epic, in the sense that you start to worry they blew the budget in the first 1.5 episodes and the rest will be shot in a box room. But no! There are fewer explosions but it carries on to the same standard. It is beautiful to watch.

@Bea

Soo funny for those enjoying DAYS!.. 🤣🤣

This popped up on my Facebook and the whole episode is really funny- she looks like a hoot and the look on his face as he works out the dates and the reaction made me smile

Tonight's DAYS was fab- can't wait for next week's again and once it's all uploaded I'll definitely be bingeing the whole series. I think elven team leader is definitely carrying a torch for the writer. The bit where she keeps asking friends to set her up on dates with men they'd like to kill 😁

@Rowdythree I use a Chromecast and it's been really buggy the last few days, I usually have to uninstall and then reinstall it on my phone and then it works again

Elven Team Leader is definitely into the writer, he’s not remotely interested in FL - in an earlier ep ML said he read his thoughts & he was a bit annoyed with her. I’m liking the elf in big polo neck jumpers, the knitwear in this series is top notch.
What is god up to though??? All that lead up to the end of ep 6 and then poof! ( being a bit vague here to avoid spoilers)

It's such a good show. Complex and engaging!

Boaty, as we expected episode 2 made much more sense, DH said we should watch ep1 again now we know who all the characters are!

Hydrogensonata I'll uninstall the app tomorrow and see if that works. Can't wait to watch ep6 of DAYS tomorrow! The knitwear budget for this show is huge! Some Daebak award contenders for sure! 👕

There was one of my favourite kinds of knitwear on ep 5 of DAYS. A jumper with some artfully unraveled bits..... I'm assuming v v expensive

Oooh actually it's not that expensive! Just 50 quid for an unraveled jumper

Yes I noticed that too Thegirl there were loose loops around the neckline...think I might be paying slightly too much attention to Seo In Guk 's wardrobe

@TheGirlWithTheArabStrap

Oooh actually it's not that expensive! Just 50 quid for an unraveled jumper

Want!

I just googled ‘destroyed knit sweater’ there are a LOT of vair vair expensive ones out there! I’d like to think that I could upcycle some of my own destroyed knit sweaters but sadly I’d just look like a cat had been sleeping in it. 😕
That FB page is great The Girl it has loads of stuff on 👍

This morning's treat from our Binnie

Shared it with mid GCSE DS. He's so appreciative.

So that's how he works off those brownies!

Such a SERIOUS ad for sportswear 😳

It's not an "ad" Fedup - it's a documentary 😉 Even now we can picture Bin hanging out at home spending time resetting his mind with his kaleidoscope.

Loving Doom so much 🥰🥰🥰

Is his hair green at times??

I have a question about the translation, would his name/role make more sense to western sensibilities as Fate rather than Doom? He seems to be a more "neutral" force than Doom would suggest?

Cassini it def looks green at points, but then more blue or black. I'm thinking it's a sign of him being non-human rather than a bad fading dye job and poor continuity

I think he’s had different hair colours at different points in the story.

I am also LOVING Doom. I don’t think I can stay within a top 5 anymore. I just can’t demote any of my favourites. 😔

His hair looks like the colour of oil, sometimes green, sometimes dark grey/blue! Maybe we all see it differently 🤔

Boaty did you ever watch kill Me Heal Me? Someone just told me it's on Viki! I wanted to watch that for ages!

Newest Gangnam Leopard! He also specialises in destroyed knitwear 😬

Rowdy what a stylish boy!

I've seen Kill Me Heal Me I really enjoyed it. The FL is annoying Ms Shouty but Jisung with guy liner and squealing 'Oppa!' at PSJ more than makes up for it

Roland should be snapped up by Valentino 😍
Just finished My Unfamiliar Family which has gripped me to the extent that I've neglected Doom and have that treat ahead. Really loved it - always a sucker for those warm/sad family truths ones with swoopy strings and terrific performances. Also, having seen Korean driving test is of exactly the same complexity as the one you can do in Legoland, now understand Korean car death risks better.

@Rowdythree who is the handsomest boy on the thread 🐶🥰🥰🥰