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!

Well, so much for my earlier night. I have also finished Nevertheless. I liked Na Bi’s final sculpture very much. I need to think about the ending & come back when we are all caught up and can discuss. Out of all of tonight’s stories, I liked the unnis and the sunbae/hoobae flatshare the best.

I’ll go as far as to say hoobae in his exhibition suit without his glasses on had a Clark Kent > Superman effect on me.

Sunbae, I meant. How I wish MN had an edit function!

I wanted much more bespectacled sunbaes in the finale than we got. Was pretty uninvested in Nabi's choosing by the end.

I finished Nethertheless, overall I was happy with the outcome. I'd love to know where Nabi gets her money for her apartment and vast wardrobe! Not exactly the student living I remember 😆

Glad there is some wide agreement on Ik Jun 😂 I do agree that he and Song Hwa suit each other really well.

@boatyardblues

Thanks Pol! That’s quite a niche superpower that your son has & good to know we’re the right side of half way. I found the timings for the whole boxset on a bery niche bluray buffs’ site. Godfather 2 is even longer, nearly 3.5 hours. 😩

Once won a family quiz on holiday on a tie break because he knew the year Gone With the Wind came out. He was about 9 at the time and he'd gone to the toilet so we had to chase him down for the answer with all the other families looking on baffled - "He's not going to know that..."

Once won a family quiz on holiday on a tie break because he knew the year Gone With the Wind came out.
Ah pol that's amazing! 😁

Just finished the last 4 episodes of nevertheless- I'd agree I would have liked more bespectacled sunbaes as they were cute
I wasn't particularly invested in it mostly because I found Na Bi harder to care about as it went on- she just spent a lot of time looking a bit mardy and sad when she was around Jae Eon - if he makes you feel that rubbish walk away! Although maybe its capturing a that unnecessary angst of uni relationships?
I think to deserves a nomination for "art that actually looks like art' as opposed to, for example, that portrait in her private life

Hmmmm I think Nevertheless does reflect the angst of student life relationships. Although the end took the True Beauty route I still think there was a little uncertainty there.

Also like Nabi’s final piece as it was looking a little meh throughout but then improved drastically. Although Nabi herself didn’t really improve. Agree the art was much more realistic than in other dramas, and actually reflected art student/university life quite well , apart from them all being impossibly attractive and having nice digs that is.

I enjoyed Tang Joon-sang in Racket Boys so much, I'm watching Move to Heaven now.

Unless anyone thinks it's ⛔️💩👎?

I really liked Move to Heaven FedUp. Get tissues handy though.

@polkettle

I really liked Move to Heaven FedUp. Get tissues handy though.

Not half, Pol 😭😭😭

I didn't much care by the end of Nevertheless but I quite liked the inference that they were off to have more sexee timez and then it was going to go tits up as a realistic assessment of relationships at 23 rather than the I Have Found My One True Lurve narrative.
Potato/noodle boy was written more one dimensional than the Webtoon and I didn't buy his final oh well thank you.
I note that the Nabi actress has pulled out of her next project with exhaustion - worn out by her own mardiness?

I didn't much care by the end of Nevertheless but I quite liked the inference that they were off to have more sexee timez and then it was going to go tits up as a realistic assessment of relationships at 23 rather than the I Have Found My One True Lurve narrative.

I concur.

I will aim to get some kdrama in this evening but first we have to put The Godfather to bed.

@polkettle

I didn't much care by the end of Nevertheless but I quite liked the inference that they were off to have more sexee timez and then it was going to go tits up as a realistic assessment of relationships at 23 rather than the I Have Found My One True Lurve narrative. Potato/noodle boy was written more one dimensional than the Webtoon and I didn't buy his final oh well thank you. I note that the Nabi actress has pulled out of her next project with exhaustion - worn out by her own mardiness?

I agree- I think when if I was (much) younger I'd have thought they'd live happily ever after but yeah, I'd give it 6 months at most ... I wish she'd just headed off to Paris and focused on herself/cheering up. Mr Nice Noodles was not brilliantly written, other than being nice and making noodles he was just meh - from pretty much as soon as he showed up he didn't even get a chance On the plus side spectacle sunbaes and unnies 💕 unnies were both cute Debating now between The Doctors or kill me heal me? Or maybe I should start hospital play playlist as I feel left out?

I didn't much care by the end of Nevertheless but I quite liked the inference that they were off to have more sexee timez and then it was going to go tits up as a realistic assessment of relationships at 23 rather than the I Have Found My One True Lurve narrative

Agree . Also am very taken with the phrase sexee timez 😂

Hydrogen I’d go for Kill Me Heal Me and Ji Sung with his guyliner & ‘Op-pa!’ moment with PSJ although Doctors is ok too if it is the one with Park Shin Hye

Although obvs HP is a classic & not to be missed

Good recovery Bettys because I was about to get my Hard Stare out 😂

HP IS LIFE

Hydrogensonata, I love both Doctors and Kill me Heal Me. However Ji Sung is my top Oppa, so I'd have to go with KM HM. Did you finish My Strange Hero?

In the Nethertheless finale, I did actually shout 'Fuck off nice noodles' at the screen 😂. He always seems to be the spare wheel in whatever I've seen him in.

OHH OHH OHH!! I have a new game for us based on Rowdy's comment!

Top of the (P)Oppas!

A new entry at three, the cheeky chappy: Park Byeong-run
At number two, a re-entry golden oldie: Cha Seung-won
But coming in at number one, it's Gong Yoo!

It's going to be tough to knock Gong Yoo off the top spot!

The Godfather II sucked me in. Thankfully it is not quite as painfully slow as the first one. Shallow observation: early 1970s Al Pacino and Robert de Niro are both eminently boffable. RdN is taller than I realised and nicely proportioned, so just edges it. 👌

See you tomorrow. 👋

🤣🤣Loving Top of the Oppas!!!