MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #28): The Lord gives and He takes away. Lee Jong Suk & Park Hyung Sik return from the army; Seo Kang Joon departs.

[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. 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 Name (Netflix)
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/Netflix)*
Mr Queen (Viki)*
Mr Sunshine (Netflix)
Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung (Netflix)
Tale of Nokdu (Viki/Netflix)*
The King’s Affection (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)
Hometown Cha Cha Cha (Viki)*
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)/Couple on the Backtrack (Netflix)
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, Netflix)*

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)*
Hospital Playlist 2 (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)
Ashin of the North (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” 💩

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

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'm definitely in a drama dry spell. Nothing is grabbing me at all 🤔

I've taken to watching You Tube videos of tourist groups going into N Korea. Compelling and sad.

What is you k-palate telling you that you are in need of Aesops? Perhaps we can dredge some of our lesser recommended faves for you.

I think it's telling me to go warm and snuggly with a dash of cute humour. I'm brain dead from too much detailed work at the moment.

Thanks for the pointers everyone! We definitely need something nice now, so 'Would You Like a cup of coffee?' sounds great.

DH said he won't listen to the Yumi's Cells soundtrack or buy any merchandise now as he was so upset 😂 Housework cell was my favourite so am still hoping for a t-shirt with her.

I've taken to watching You Tube videos of tourist groups going into N Korea. Compelling and sad.

This sounds interesting Aesops can you share a link please?

Have got seen Touch your Heart with Lee Dong Wook? It might fit the bill?

I've just watched ep 7 of Jirisan and think I was at the perfect combo of work stress plus wine plus Jin's lovely singing cos I was nearly blubbing for the first 20 mins. Then in went weird work party and fire safety to the max!!!

More Yumis Cells coming sakura - it's not the end of the story. They're shooting Season 2 now.

DISTRESSING (REASONABLY GENERALISED) CONTENT WARNING (CSA):

I’m going to post a double-edged review of a Korean film I found on Netflix & watched yesterday, Silenced. It stars Gong Yoo (the initial draw) but is about GY playing a new teacher who whistleblows about child abuse at a boarding school for deaf children. It was incredibly powerful and compelling. Gong Yoo and Jung Yu-Mi are both outstanding in it and it was good to see them as co-leads in much earlier roles (2011). However, I found the abuse scenes very distressing. They obviously cut away at key points but the lead ins for those scenes were skating worryingly close to problematic for the child actors in my view. If I could stomach watching them again, I’d pay more attention to when the cuts happened and whether the older children were swapped out for very petite adult body doubles in some of the scenes. It has been playing on my mind since so I wanted to give you all fair warning. It is not easy viewing at all. Don’t be swayed by the cast unless you have a strong stomach.

Thanks for the heads up boaty I definitely won't be watching that.
I've started my day off by realising that I hadn't finished watching My Name so I've just had an hour of brutal fighting 😱
The FL is really good in this, super intense! And I think Ahn Bo-hyun's character (and his abs) were lovely. It might have got me over the horribleness of him in Itaewon Class 😅

I am with you there. My Name almost rehabilitates Ahn Bo-Hyum post-Itaewon Class, though I really struggled with his cluelessness and dodgy hairpiece in Yumi’s Cells. I’d say things are still in the balance for me, could go either way.

Ha well I only watched the first ep of Yumi's Cells so I haven't factored that in 😂

Rowdy - check these out. The first one is to me the most fascinating. A bunch of French tourists set off with their guide full of enthusiasm for the 'adventure'. Over the course of the documentary they become progressively more and more disgruntled about the fact that they are being constantly fed propaganda and not allowed to take photo's or walk were they wish. It is both an insight into N Korea and a study of human behaviour when their rights are taken away. What they were quite expecting I do no know!

I had a Happiness moment as I drove up the ramp into Waitrose’s multi storey car park today wondering how I would cope for food in a zombie apocalypse

Not sure that the £10 worth of food I came away with just to get the one hour of free parking would cut it.

Disclaimer: I don’t live in a Seoul high rise infested with bloodthirsty zombies so I probably don’t need to stock up on ramyeon & water.

Probably

I’m always confused about the bottled water thing. SK is an industrialised nation. Is their piped mains supply not safe for consumption?

You’ve reminded me it is Happiness day though. Dare we hope that the volunteer subbers can step up to HPL pace so we can watch the same day? 🤞

I really hope they sub it quickly, it’s my favourite watch at the moment

I’ve just seen on the Viki app that the service will be down for scheduled maintenance for periods between 21-23 November. The message refers to PST (Pacific standard time) so you can guarantee lots of the “overnight” work will be in prime UK viewing time. With a fair wind it should not interfere with this week’s Happiness. 🤞

@boatyardblues

DISTRESSING (REASONABLY GENERALISED) CONTENT WARNING (CSA):

I’m going to post a double-edged review of a Korean film I found on Netflix & watched yesterday, Silenced. It stars Gong Yoo (the initial draw) but is about GY playing a new teacher who whistleblows about child abuse at a boarding school for deaf children. It was incredibly powerful and compelling. Gong Yoo and Jung Yu-Mi are both outstanding in it and it was good to see them as co-leads in much earlier roles (2011). However, I found the abuse scenes very distressing. They obviously cut away at key points but the lead ins for those scenes were skating worryingly close to problematic for the child actors in my view. If I could stomach watching them again, I’d pay more attention to when the cuts happened and whether the older children were swapped out for very petite adult body doubles in some of the scenes. It has been playing on my mind since so I wanted to give you all fair warning. It is not easy viewing at all. Don’t be swayed by the cast unless you have a strong stomach.

I've read about this film and then read up on the background... don't think i need to watch the film... it's not only distressing and incredibley sad but makes me soooo angry and frustrated....I'll steer clear! 😔

@boatyardblues

I am with you there. My Name almost rehabilitates Ahn Bo-Hyum post-Itaewon Class, though I really struggled with his cluelessness and dodgy hairpiece in Yumi’s Cells. I’d say things are still in the balance for me, could go either way.

It's the dodgy hairpiece that has out me off watching!!!!

Happiness.....

I ammm sooooo hoping the horrible wife murdering idiot in 601 gets his comeuppance soon!!!! He's soooooooo annoying (as if plotting and murdering your wife isn't enough!!!)... his mannerisms and way he speaks (kudos to the actor) is highly slappable!!!! He played an equally annoying character (the president) in Devil Judge.... May his horrid fate, zombiefication and demise be not too far away!!!.....🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

Bea - do you feel any sympathy for the conniving mistress? I can’t decide whether I want her to be chomped by the murdering husband when he inevitably flips, or to survive. I think we are meant to root for chompage after she was offered a lifeline and went for the financial incentive.

@boatyardblues a leetle sympathy as i think she's being coerced somehow... sigh... it's like a disaster movie - Towering Inferno Stylee.. the set up of Good honest guys vs conniving and in it for the money big business types vs selfish ones who will push kids out oif the way to survive ...They're all their and present... everyone is objectionable and ill behaved (apart from the good guys (PHS 😍😍!) and child!)

Gah!!!! wrong There/Their! It's a typo!!!!!! 😆

Here you go!!!!!!

blog.kocowa.com/trending/getting-better-all-the-time-7-ajeossi-actors-you-love-to-watch/

I'm sorry but they are NOT ajeossis!!! They are oppas!!!

We so old 😭