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!

That’s the spirit FedUp!! 💪

Just tooo funny!!!! Bangtan Crosswalk!

I don't know if you BTS fans will want to see this or not, but BTS dolls were strung up by their toes as decoration in Tokyo Toys 😂

😡😡 Was it just BTS dolls or other dolls too?

I have watched the crosswalk vid twice they are so fab, their dancing is immaculate even on the road! They need to do an old fashioned caper film like they used to do in the 60s (like a Hard Days’ Night) or even the Spice Girls type thing

I only spotted the BTS ones 😬 here's Yoongi looking not very pleased to be in a bag!

I wouldn’t be either Rowdy! 😂

Well the Nonsensometer has been turned up to the red zone for the finale of Jirisan

In 2012, restaurant critic Jonathan Gold wrote ‘60 Korean Dishes Every Angeleno Should Know’. It was extraordinary – a 12,000-word tour de force of food and city writing that, yes, took in kimbap and bulgogi, but also restaurants specialising in deadly blowfish stews, Xinjiang restaurants that cater solely towards Koreans, food from the Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture, the traditional food of 1960s Seoul that has been preserved in aspic in another city and modern fast food atrocities like the Grand Prix pizza, something so large that “it threatens to dent the space-time continuum”.

www.laweekly.com/jonathan-golds-60-korean-dishes-every-angeleno-should-know/

I have found this article from Vittle’s recent post vittles.substack.com/p/60-south-asian-dishes-every-londoner

That is a really interesting article Jin.

I have been keeping a separate note on all K viewing so will update the spreadsheet before Jan 1st.

Just finished Hungry and Hairy on Netflix. It is a documentary on two K celebs who travel to round SK on Harley's trying different food. It was quite amusing and taken note of some places I want to add to my 2022 trip (if it ever happens)

Series 4 of Bonus Family has dropped on Netflix so going to divert to that this week, not Korean but Swedish and very good.

I'm enjoying The Hungry and the Hairy too Aesops. The food and scenery is gorgeous, especially all the hanok ❤️

Despite Noh Hong-chul being annoyingly OTT all the time, he's quite charming. He definitely toned it down in front of Lee Han-ee though!

Oppa advent day eighteen

Song Kang is calling...

"Hi Song Kang... Nothing much... Room full of butterflies you say? Well why not - happy to pop over to take a look. And I picked up a new pair of tights for you so let's see how they fit while I'm over..."

@bettys how do we contribute to the spreadsheet?

@Rowdythree I can see why you enjoyed 'You are Beautiful' as a fellow lover of long hair! Looking forward to Mr. Binn's adventures with you.

Kwak Dong Yeon is lovely but sadly very far from age appropriate for me at 24!

I'm loving The Crowned Clown so thank you for recommending. It's a lot heavier than I expected from the title and description, but it's excellent.

I think JHope is also watching Hungry and Hairy, his insta stories have clips from the show.

This program is like a Korean version of UK’s Hairy Bikers. Will I be very hungry after watching it?

@sakura06 if you message @boatyardblues she will send you a link. Add your name at the end of the loooong row of names and start adding your scores!

@sakura06 I’ve PMed you the link.

Thanks very much Bettys and Boaty. I feel someone has sent it to me before. Sorry for my ineptitude!

Rowdy thanks for asking about the covid sitch. DS is out of quarantine tomorrow thank goodness and touching wood desparately the latest PCRs for the rest of us have come back negative. The patient himself has been absolutely fine throughout . Also thank you for Song Kang, a pleasure to look upon. Has Mr Bin been up to much yet?

bettys I have been kindly sent the spreadsheet link by Boaty and I've added my scores. At work I always download google sheets into an excel file before messing about with the formulae (I can't be bothered to fully learn how to manipulate sheets) so I think it best if someone could tidy it up for me please. I seem to have spent most of 2021 watching old dramas though!

The poor BTS dolls look like poultry waiting to be plucked. I enjoyed watching them do their thing on the crosswalk and thought their comic timing was better than James Corden's. I think they would do great in a caper film bettys as long as they had a decent scriptwriter. DH made me watch a Freddie and the Dreamers film once which was frankly shocking.

I'm still enjoying Let me be your Knight even though it is terrifically formulaic. Apart from formulaic grumpy and traumatised ML, the other characters are rather lovely. DH and I are still watching Fight for My Way and Guardian, but I feel we need a new drama too.

All this pre-Christmas admin is doing my head in. I haven’t has 5 mins peace today to watch the Jirisan finale.

A new grocery store has opened near us selling Chinese, Korea, Japanese and Thai ingredients. The kimchi is 50p cheaper than my usual place. We bought some on the non-alcoholic rice drink that you see served up to children in kdramas. It is labelled ‘rice breakfast drink’. After tasting I can report that it is quite pleasant but rather sweet. It smells sort of biscuity and tastes like milk that’s left behind when you have Sugar Puffs for breakfast. I prefer the tang of makgeoli.

Ahh my days been so hectic I've barely read this thread never mind watched any dramas 🤣
This is partially self inflicted because we have a few people coming round tomorrow and I felt the urge to regrout the bathroom tiles and redo the sealant round the bath. They were a bit grubby but why have I started this when I have all the presents still to wrap and I haven't watched the last 2 EPs of Jirisan yet!?!!

Jirisan over grout, every time. What were you thinking Girl? 😄

We are off out for dinner at a friend’s. In the garden (because omicron). In December. It took me a hour to find my base layers and insulated mittens earlier this afternoon. I’m now worried I’ll combust on arrival as we are walking over to theirs in a million layers. 🔥

I've also not had time to watch any dramas due to Christmas shopping and tonight will be spent wrapping 🎁

I think I've still got 4 episodes of Jirisan to catch up on, and I still haven't finished the ice skating drama! I really want to clear my watch list so I can start lots of new lovely ones in the new year.

Mr Bin came out with me last night, so has spent the day recovering from drinking too much mulled wine 🍷

Oppa advent day nineteen

You seem to have forgotten something Ju Ji Hoon...

Oh thank you Rowdy! 🙌 I’m not sure about those trousers, but the gift inside the wrapper is all good.