MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #30): In which we return to Korea from our January Japanese adventures

[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 list 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. 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)
The Red Sleeve (Viki)*

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)
Black (Netflix)*
Happiness* (Viki)
Hotel del Luna (Viki/Netflix)*
King: The Eternal Monarch (Netflix)
Kingdom (Netflix)*
Kingdom: Ashin of the North (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)
In House Marriage Honey (Viki, Japanese)
In Time With You (Viki - Japanese)
Instead of Tipsy Why Not Get Drunk (Viki, Chinese)
Lost Romance (Viki, Taiwanese)
Love O2O (Viki, Chinese)
Million Yen Women (Netflix, Japanese)
Morning Call (Netflix, Japanese)
My Little Happiness (Viki, Chinese)
Put Your Head on My Shoulder (Netflix, Chinese)
Rinko Wants To Try (Viki)
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 aka “the shit list” 💩

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

Posters’ Top Scoring 2021 Dramas
Courtesy of Hello’s kdrama spreadsheet, updated by thread regulars. Marks out of 10.

1. The Red Sleeve - 10 (2 votes, more pending)
2. Happiness - 9 (6 votes)
3. Devil Judge - 8.75 (3 votes)
4. Squid Game - 8.63 (12 votes)
5. Navillera - 8.57 (7 votes)

2020’s top scoring dramas
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 sometimes resort to acronyms and/or abbreviations of show titles or favourite actors’ names. 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!

Ooh that's good news FedUp because a slice of life (with butter and marmalade snogeroos) is my fave.
Just snorting at these idiots again

The first episode of Forecasting Love and Weather (FLW) was good. Not as light and fluffy as I expected it. It's a bit more slice of life than PMY's most recent Rom-com output.

Agree! PMY is still doing her high heeled power strut (as in WWWSK & HPL) but it was surprisingly tense when she went back to the flat and saw the shoes etc.
Nice to see Brian and of course the most hardworking mum actor in Korea is playing PMYs mum again.
Looking forward to hating the eeeeevil gf & ex

Cough… up to ep 14 of Snowdrop… cough. It’s shaping up well for the grand finale.

[quote polkettle]Ooh that's good news FedUp because a slice of life (with butter and marmalade snogeroos) is my fave.
Just snorting at these idiots again [/quote]
I ROARED at this. It's exactly how we would all get on 🤣🤣😂

@boatyardblues

Cough… up to ep 14 of Snowdrop… cough. It’s shaping up well for the grand finale.

Mate. I'm sure you'll need the tissues out...

@bettys

The first episode of Forecasting Love and Weather (FLW) was good. Not as light and fluffy as I expected it. It's a bit more slice of life than PMY's most recent Rom-com output.

Agree! PMY is still doing her high heeled power strut (as in WWWSK & HPL) but it was surprisingly tense when she went back to the flat and saw the shoes etc.
Nice to see Brian and of course the most hardworking mum actor in Korea is playing PMYs mum again.
Looking forward to hating the eeeeevil gf & ex

LOVELY to see Brian. And natch it's Kim Mi-kyung as mum. The woman NEVER STOPS WORKING!

I'd forgotten how traumatic Train to Busan is, I feel like I've been on the Zombie train myself now! I need fluff to calm my nerves.

I ROARED at this. It's exactly how we would all get on

Me too! But there’d be lots of

I guessed the first track from the first sample I just love Kyung Ho. I think we should play this if we ever meet up, mainly because I want to shout DAENG!!!

My fave episode of Run BTS is the one where they play Game Caterers. V is fucking hilarious.

[quote polkettle]Ooh that's good news FedUp because a slice of life (with butter and marmalade snogeroos) is my fave.
Just snorting at these idiots again [/quote]
So much fun! We should definitely play it if we have a night out! 😆

Mate. I'm sure you'll need the tissues out...

Yeah, the air of doomed love is still strong with this one.

Now I've had to start my day with more drunk Kyungho and woke DH up making the bed shake with my laughter. (still he's made a cup of tea now so result!)

Hwaiting 💪 for today Musique

@TheGirlWithTheArabStrap

Horrors!!! This thread fell off "Threads I'm Watching" cos I haven't posted recently. Bad addict! 😱 I have been enjoying Stranger a lot. I know it's been said before but Bae Doona is ace 🤩 Also this morning Weverse totally emotionally manipulated me into buying Bon Voyage Season 3 ooops!!! I'm restraining myself for the sake of my overdraft to not buy anything else

😂😂😂😂... Good luck with that! ALL Bon Voyages are hilarious!! 😂😂😂😂You'll have the whole lot! All mine are on VLIVE... They're switching everything to Weverse! I'm going to be juggling accounts! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤯

@BramblyHedge

I wondered if it was part of the state guidance of what all dramas must promote along with 'trust the police' and 'be the best at sports'

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@bettys

Haaa ... lots of new dramas coming up on Netflix, which is good as lately I've just been reading toons.

TODAY!!!!!
Forecasting Love and Weather - will Song Kang have chemistry with PMY? Do we care? We'll watch it anyway.

Twenty Five Twenty One - Kim Tae-Ri & Nam Joo Hyuk. KTR is fab in everything she does, let's hope NJH has a better shot with this than Start-Up and The Light In Your Eyes

14th - Fishbowl Wives JDrama so every opportunity for yer typical jdrama sexee timez

16th - Thirty-Nine Hoping for a rocking' BFF drama with her who has stolen Mr Binn

25th - Juvenile Justice - Can't believe she's 51 Kim Hye Soo

28th - Business Proposal - read this as a toon & thought it was perfect for a drama. Gorgeous leads, Kim Se-Jeong & Ann Hyo-Seop so should be fluffy perfect rom-com.

@bettys!! She's ON IT!!... I'm hopelessly lost in kdrama land at the moment! I'm on that slump of nothing except the Realm of ReWatch!.. Awaiting the heady days of having 5 on the go! (I love those days! I feel very accomplished!! 😁🤓)

@TheGirlWithTheArabStrap

Please admire my new t-shirt 👕 DH and DS are just not as excited about it as I am ☺️

😱😱Bangtan Social? 😁😂😁 .. I was eyeing up min yoongi fruit farm! 😂😂😂

@TheGirlWithTheArabStrap... If you're buying Bangtan merch Wear... There's no going back now! You are well and truly lost! 😂😂😂
I think 80% of my tops are Bangtan Related! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

@TheGirlWithTheArabStrap

It's from House of Pins, which is on Etsy. They mostly make really cute BTS themed pins and stickers but also this t-shirt.

No no no! I can't look! Can't!....🙈🙈🙈🙈

I love subtle merch!! If you know you know! #StealthBangtanning 💜😎

Apologies for my spamming the thread!! I'm just catching up! 😂
Hope you all have a lazy rainy Sunday kdrama-ing! Youngest has got Covid! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️ So strangely there's it little parenting apart from keeping her fed and watered!
The boy and husband are off footballing! And eldest (who unfortunately came down on Friday from uni to celebrate bday with her brother!) is now stuck here until she's had a clear pcr (her housemates are a little over cautious! 🤦🏻‍♀️)
😂

😂 morning Bea
I have got the 1st 2 Bon Voyages on V Live too. It's just hopeless at this point 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

The Girl thanks for the link to House of Pins, there are some very pretty things there, I just want the shop to reopen so I can see what is in stock!

Nice teeshirt Bea and I hope your daughter isn't feeling the effects of covid too badly.

Coffee Prince is still addictive but I've had to drag myself away to Get Stuff Done. Like post here...oh well. Time to string up the pinjata!

@MusiqueAutomatique get ready to cry at the postage costs. House of Pins is near Chicago 😅

I have been denied the chance to get any K Viewing in this week as busy with life stuff. Will be making up for that this afternoon!