MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #26): With the dog days of summer behind us, it’s time to dust off your persimmon racks and dig out your down jackets for a cosy k-autumn

[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)
Monthly Magazine Home (Viki)
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)
Racket Boys (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/Netflix)


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)*

AVOID, AVOID, AVOID aka “the shit list” 💩

Well-Intentioned Love season 1 (S2 is fine)
The Birth of a Beauty

Thread Regulars’ Top Scoring Dramas of 2020
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). 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!

I had faltered on Men of the Harem, but Pol’a post has nudged me to get back to it. Is it better in the app? I found the format tricky scrolling down on a phone.

Which chapter are you on pol? Are you Fast Pass ing?

No, so I must be four or five behind. Worked out that if I was going to have to wait a week anyway I might as well wait without fast passing (get ME acting all restrained and mature eh?). Although I am now totally locked in to fast passing Let's Play.

Are right so is it after the baddy combusts?
I am trying sooooo hard to only Fast Pass Let’s Play & Midnight Poppyland

It's red haired whatshisface bathing off the blood in her quarters. So inconvenient...

Ah yes…….it has got to be him for the win! Although I am v taken with Carlein’s finger bitiness.
In fact the ‘plot’ of who is trying to get the throne is far less interesting than the harem shenanigans

Yes, I might skim over those plotty bits.
Final episode of HP reportedly going to be 2 hours 40 mins! Which I am obviously delighted about because would watch a 5 hour episode but also must be final nail for any season 3 hopes. And also will mean probably have to wait another hour for it to arrive on Netflix.

Can’t wait for today’s episode 😁

2 hours 40?! I refuse to watch films that long! feel like it would make a really nice 40 minute soap type programme (probably because I only get to watch 40 minutes at a time). Just watched Ep 10 and was very impressed by the Bon Jovi. Jo Jung Suk sounded just like him. Do Jae-Hak 😭💔

I cannot wait for Hometown Cha Cha Cha Jin!

@JinBhoot

Can’t wait for today’s episode 😁

😂🤣

I just dipped back into DP for episode 2, watched the first 10 mins and felt depressed by it all. Does the grimness pay off with less cruelty and more humanity later?

Another on clock-watching for this week’s dose of Chief Hong tonic.

@sakura06 same here with movies yet HP never feels that long.
Dr Do, why in every season tragedy strikes him.?
They all very very impressive in leather specially the drummer 😆

Cha Cha Cha is up!

@boatyardblues there is a bit more humour and people trying to do the right thing as DP goes on. But the cruelty continues. It is good though!

@boatyardblues

I just dipped back into DP for episode 2, watched the first 10 mins and felt depressed by it all. Does the grimness pay off with less cruelty and more humanity later?

It is good, but is grim, no lie.

Haha @JinBhoot! I was impressed by Prof Ahn in leather too! I feel like he wouldn't really be as ripped as Yoo Yeon Seok is though! Dr Do has definitely had enough tragedy!

DP looks interesting but I'm not sure I'll go for it if it's grim!

Saving Hometown Cha Cha Cha until kids are asleep so it can be watched on the telly in peace! 😂

I ❤️ Midnight Poppy Land.

Tora is my kind of drawing 🤤

Heh heh FedUp just take all my Fat Pass coins Tora …

Fast Pass even…..🙄

Finally finished My Strange Hero I need to finish Shopping Prince Louis next, but not today.

I'm looking forward to catching up with HP this week!

All caught up with Cha Cha Cha. Another enjoyable episode. I’m glad things are about to shift up a gear though. It was needed.

This Insta post by mykoreandic made me laugh in a way that made DH, in the next room and out of line of sight, say “that’s the sound of you seeing a kdrama actor with his shirt off unexpectedly”

www.instagram.com/reel/CTuR8XthPT2/?utm_medium=copy_link

Embarrassingly he was right, but it was more the leather trouser hitch that did it. 🤣😂🤣

Ha boaty I have literally just spat my wine out laughing at the very same IG post 😂😂😂

Also how perceptive of your DH 😁