MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #25): We may not always agree (on shows, oppa preference, wonky fashion) but we are never disagreeable…

[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)
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)*
Mad For Each Other (Netflix)
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. 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!

ML of 1% also has a never-ending range of fantastically terrible suits. Must have been a big PPL day.

I put the football on out of curiosity about 15 min into the match. DH and I hate football but we have it on in the background but neither of us is actually watching. I’m MNing but about to knock the footy off. It’ll only run into stupid extra time. My kids are online gaming with their friends.

Erp. Sorry chums.

I was watching Gumiho & just checked the final score. Back to Gumiho.

Aigoo, what a disappointing night 😢 at least with the Euros and Wimbledon over I can concentrate on dramas.... Until the Olympics start 🤣

We’ve nearly finished Mr Queen - what a wonderful show.
If I have one criticism of K drama (and it’s something others have mentioned on various K drama discussion groups) is that the earlier episodes are funny and light hearted but they get much darker as the series goes on.

We have been recommended another series, The Secret Affair, about a woman having an affair with a much younger virtuoso pianist.
Have any of you seen it?

Yes, I've seen that Andante and would really recommend it for a particular mood. Angsty and different motivations of all the different schemers can be hard to get a hold on. But absolutely compelling performances from ML and FL and got to say the piano playing chemistry is steamy hot.

Thank you Polkettle - it’s good to get a thumbs up about it.
Looking forward to the steamy piano playing, I must say.
A group of us meet once a month to play piano duets but as we are all middle aged women it’s …er….not exactly ‘steamy’! (Albeit great fun).

I’ve also discovered another k drama fan in rl and I felt like a post revolution Russian exile hearing Russian spoken for the first time in years. We had a great natter - I’ll point her in the direction of this excellent thread.

Hooray for an irl KDrama natter pal!
It is definitely going to add a whole new dimension to your duet playing 😁 Be aware it's very much a tense-game-of-high-stakes-chess drama with no hint of fluff. Satisfying resolution though.

@polkettle

Its not fluffy exactly because Hearts Will Be Broken but it's not sinister either. ML is just a total player and FL aware of that but doing him anyway. As frankly she should. If you aren't already on the Racket Boys wagon, that is delightful warm hearted loveliness that keeps me tided over between HP hits.

I love racket boys so far- it's just lovely with some very funny bits and some very heartwarming bits too - I'd definitely recommend it

@FedUpWithBriiiiick thanks for recommending In-house marriage honey
Just what the doctor ordered.
Plot is bonkers, editing to dialogues everything is random BUT I am loving it as FL is cute (and cunning 😂😂😂) and making me smile. There are only seven 25min episodes.

Proper bingable, non-sense fluff. My first Japanese drama, are they usually like this (dialogues, flow of story & editing)?

It’s Monday - time for Racket Boys … Yolo yolo yolo yo 🏸

[quote JinBhoot]**@FedUpWithBriiiiick* thanks for recommending In-house marriage honey*
Just what the doctor ordered.
Plot is bonkers, editing to dialogues everything is random BUT I am loving it as FL is cute (and cunning 😂😂😂) and making me smile. There are only seven 25min episodes.

Proper bingable, non-sense fluff. My first Japanese drama, are they usually like this (dialogues, flow of story & editing)?

It’s Monday - time for Racket Boys … Yolo yolo yolo yo 🏸[/quote]
No probs. Yeah, J-dramas tend to be pretty wacky!! My faves are Good Morning Call and Kimi wa Petto (You are my pet).

Some others are racier, but there's a bit of a misogynistic undercurrent... as well as some "uncomfortable" age differences.

I will check those dramas out.

The randomness, wackiness & bonker-ness (if it’s the word) took me by surprise.
I agree with misogynistic tones.

Kdramas are definitely on a different level.

@JinBhoot looking forward to tonight's episode- I really like racket boys- there are some really funny bits and the actor who plays the youngest player has got wide eyed innocence down to a tee! I like the bits where they break the fourth wall as well- the last episode did make me well up a bit but in a heartwarming way as well if that makes sense and the relationships between the boys, girls, the family all the villagers and even between more peripheral characters like the head coach is really lovely and well rounded

I'm feeling there wasn't enough wandering through night time fields with bowls of potatoes in my courting days.

I'm up to date with HP, what is going on with Ik Sun? Is the break up because she's ill?

I think Racket Boys might be my next watch 🏸 sounds like a lovely heart warming show.

Nevertheless- it's all going to end in tears....

I hope Mr nice noodles doesn't just get his heart broken, and yes what was she thinking telling Mr beanie chap to put his clothes on - how rude...

I thought it was telling when the girl said the ML torments things he likes

Racket Boys will be on air just once a week. Last three episodes will be available on Mondays.

@Hydrogensonata oh dear do you think so? I am terribly naive I think, but maybe he won't turn out to be a complete twat I much prefer him to mr noodles.

Anyone near York?

There are so many familiar faces in a Racket Boys!

Genuine CDrama BBC News - Man in China reunited with son snatched 24 years ago
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-57815491

The York Korea Day seems like fun! Wish I was nearer, I'm sometimes up that way.

How did you hear about it rowdy?

^Genuine CDrama BBC News - Man in China reunited with son snatched 24 years ago www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-57815491^

I saw that too !!! It's not just the stuff of cdramas, how awful the numbers of children taken is shocking.

@bettys

The York Korea Day seems like fun! Wish I was nearer, I'm sometimes up that way.

How did you hear about it rowdy?

I follow the Korea Tourism Organisation London on twitter, I saw it on there. Sadly I'm nowhere near York either 😞

Crikey Pol what a sad story! It is shocking the amount of abductions! Amazing what the man did searching for his son. I would quite like to watch the film his story inspired.