MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #29): The one where we celebrate our growing community, score the year’s dramas, thank Korean creatives and performers for another year’s happy distraction

[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, but we can point you in the right direction. We also dip into Japanese, Taiwanese & Chinese drama as & when.

The previous thread is here but our lists below are cumulative so include 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. Writer/actor Simon Pegg referred to it fondly as “tonal chaos” - it’s part of kdrama’s charm. View the categories below as best approximate & ask if you need guidance about suitability for younger viewers.

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)
Dali & the Cocky Prince (Viki)
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)
Yumi’s Cells (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)/Rain or Shine (Netflix)*
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)
Would You Like a Cup of Coffee (Viki)

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)*
Happiness* (Viki)
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)
To Fly with Me (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 & can be viewed without S1)

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

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!

Polkettle** Glad someone else is giving Inferno Island a go. It's so easy to watch and although a reality show it's fab.
Notice how demure and polite they all are compared to westerners yet sooo competitive hence quickly trying to out charm each other. It's a hoot.

I loved Squid Game.

Is I a basic bitch?

I recently finished Human Acts by Han Kang. It was brilliant but also desperately sad and shocking as it is about the Gwangju uprising in 1980 when the SK government (under military dictatorship) ordered the army in to quell civilian protesters. The army killed civilians, including schoolchildren, and tortured many of the prisoners they rounded up. The uprising is told from multiple perspectives and at different points in the aftermath, including decades later. I won’t lie, whilst it is beautifully written it is a sobering read. It includes survivor accounts of torture, though doesn’t dwell on them and they are sensitively done. I would recommend it, but not one to read if you are feeling fragile or need cheering up. It shocked me to think that SK’s “economic miracle” and democracy are so relatively recent, that there are people in their late 50s+ that lived under the dictatorship or people my age who grew up under it. The last 50 years in SK have seen such huge changes compared to the relative stability of the UK post-WW2. It was interesting from that point of view too.

Sounds fascinating Boaty. I will look into that at book. From your description, I'm interested in drawing the parallels between Korea and what has happened in NI in the last 100 years.

Ah, now that would be interesting FedUp. Yes, I can immediately see parallels (and how UK mainland-centric my perspective is!). I’d be really interested to hear what you make of it.

Han Kang seems to be a respected and lauded writer. Someone else on the thread was also wrestling with The Vegetarian last time she came up. That is a very strange, unsettling book. I need to finish it to see how the story pans out. It was good but definitely weird-good, a bit like JG Ballard’s stuff.

I'm staying up far too late watching Oh my venus I feel like I'm definitely seeing some resemblances between myself and Ju Eun whilst she's exercising 😂 I just wish I had her determination

I read The Vegetarian Boaty - unsettling but worth going back to I think - I'll definitely look up Human Acts . Pachinko is an easy to read sprawling character-based epic about Korean community experience in Japan and might also have NI (or perhaps more Irish immigrant) resonance FedUp.

Oh Dispatch have finally done their dating thing and it's a footballer I've never heard of and a singer I've never heard of.

@polkettle

Oh Dispatch have finally done their dating thing and it's a footballer I've never heard of and a singer I've never heard of.

Just looked it up. How utterly dull ☹️

I’ve read Pachinko too Pol. Your summary is spot on.

Looking at the synopsis of Pachinko, I feel like I have read it, but I've downloaded it from the library to be sure 👍

Has anyone found Korean poetry in translation? There were a couple of dramas, maybe in 2019 or 2020, which featured poetry. I tried to find translations at the time, but no joy.

No and I would also love to find Boaty. The best Korean prose I have read definitely has a sparse and lyrical quality to it akin to poetry - I'd say the language obviously lends itself to it. (Follows on from a great discussion I had with a Luxemburgish linguist friend about how language shapes different cultures' personalities - there is NO poetry written in Luxemburgish - or so she claimed)

@polkettle

No and I would also love to find Boaty. The best Korean prose I have read definitely has a sparse and lyrical quality to it akin to poetry - I'd say the language obviously lends itself to it. (Follows on from a great discussion I had with a Luxemburgish linguist friend about how language shapes different cultures' personalities - there is NO poetry written in Luxemburgish - or so she claimed)

Very interesting, so they don’t have songs & music, very hard to believe.

I must learn the language & become first poet of Luxemburgish. It will put me on the map & famous 😁

Ok. I've lost my morning to Panchinko. Halfway through already 😳

Morning all, I started the The Red Sleeve last night and it was lovely. Girding myself for tears later on but I will be brave. Nearly finished Fight For My Way. Can't say I'd spend the night before the most important fight of my life doing that but I guess the waiting period had been long enough!

I will keep on with 5 -->9 then, thanks Hydrogen and JinBhoot. I will embrace the craziness and the annoying grandmother and the waterfall scenes.

I read The Vegetarian the year before last I think, definitely unsettling but very memorable. I have a little pile of korean books to get through, two by Pyun Hye-lee, one by Shin Kyung-sook and an anthology of SK scifi called Readymade Bodhisattva which I might start with. I have to finish a book about ancient human migration first though. What era of poetry are you after Boaty?

There are no words to say 'I love you' in Luxemburgish Jin. Which is in itself the first line of a possible poem.

I'm back home after Xmas shenanigans!...
Finished the Red Sleeve!
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Loving all the book talk!

What era of poetry are you after Boaty?

Modern/20thC to start off with.

I really like translated Scandinavian fiction and I’m a big fan of Lars Gustaffson. His prose (translated obvs) is so spare and economical that every word has weight and he packs so many ideas in. I also like Aarto Passalinen (sp?), a Finnish writer - his books have the same ‘tonal chaos’ sensibility as kdrama.

OMO! I nearly forgot today's Alternative Oppa!

Day 9 is the star from one of my favourite dramas from 2021. He's known for playing the eejit, but I think Jung Woo looks mighty fine here!

Polkettle so do people from Luxembourg just use one of the other languages if they feel like saying they love someone? I know some languages don't have words for please and thank you, which as a british person fill me with incomprehension

Briick, Jung Woo looks great in that photo. He's such a good actor too.

Boaty, there is modern poetry in translation out there but as a physical book it seems prohibitively expensive. The kindle versions aren't too bad though, e.g. www.amazon.co.uk/Azaleas-book-Poems-Weatherhead-Books/dp/023113973X?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Welcome back Bea!

I've spent some of my afternoon wrapping up tree ornaments whilst watching BTS do bungee jumps. I take my hat off to them, I would never ever do that.

I think it's fair to say it's complicated Musique. Both French and German widely spoken and used to both be taught but now you go to a school which uses one or the other. In fact from Secondary school all subjects taught in the 'foreign' language so Luxemburgish becomes just spoken at home. Parliamentary business is conducted in French (effectively disenfranchising all the kids who go to German speaking school). It's a minefield. You can say you like someone very much in Luxemburgish but as my friend put it "it's the same words you'd use for enjoying a pizza". I quizzed her about Luxemburgish metaphor. "No, we don't do that. We're a very straight talking people."
(Sorry - completely off topic but I was riveted)

She speaks a lot of languages and sees very clear connections between national psyches and vocabulary/mode of expression. But I suppose it's chicken and egg as to which is forming which.

I’m enjoying the language and book chat. Thanks for the poetry recommendation Musique.

I’m watching today’s Our Beloved Summer and love Yeon-Su’s reaction to gaining a new friend. 😂🤣😂 She is black belt level sharp. 👏 He really is no match for her. I’m not even sure it’s a fair fight.