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!

Musique exciting that you have a new job to go to! Good luck!
I'm really enjoying All of Us are Dead I also find fast zombies a bit stressful but the need to know what happens next is greater 😅

Good luck with the new job Musique. Fighting! 💪

Good luck with the new job Musique!

DS (17) has discovered All of Us Are Dead "look mum I'm watching Kdrama!" I'll leave him to it as too wussy myself. I did make him watch a bit of The Future Diary with some hot choc when he was tired and emotional the other evening. He was both scornful of and charmed by the hand holding efforts . Yin and Yang parenting...

Glad there's so much love for BTIMFL. We are tearing through it. The scene at the restaurant is horrifying, with everyone banding together. FL was ridiculously brave not to stand for it.

@polkettle

DS (17) has discovered All of Us Are Dead "look mum I'm watching Kdrama!" I'll leave him to it as too wussy myself. I did make him watch a bit of The Future Diary with some hot choc when he was tired and emotional the other evening. He was both scornful of and charmed by the hand holding efforts . Yin and Yang parenting...

I was meandering around the Netflix menu last night. All of Us Are Dead was trending as #3 most watched show in the UK. A combination of Squid Game an Silent Sea has possibly ushered in wider acceptance of kdrama, even if only the “cool stuff” the youngsters enjoy. 😉

Glad to hear you have a new job lined up Musique.

💪 Fighting Musique it sounds like you have made the right choice!

Did you enjoy the truck of doom? I haven’t finished it yet pol, so far there has just been the one at the beginning. I have suspended the disbelief ever since ML climbed the tree (loved the cat fight in the cinema) and am enjoying it, especially the detective bits. Some of the characterisations and camera angles make more sense when you know it was a toon first.

The FL (from CLOY) is good in this but I am too used to seeing her as a bad guy. She is FL in another upcoming webtoon adaptation Sixth Sense Kiss which is one of my current favourites, but I’m really not sure of the casting for it as all the characters are about 10 yrs older irl than the toon. Although obvs in general am in favour of older women & age appropriate oppas it’s a bit like when you read the book first & the vision in your head is never the same as that on film.

The more I read webtoons the more I see why so many are adapted, they are very inventive and such fun and totally part of the whole kdrama/kpopular culture appeal

The more I read webtoons the more I see why so many are adapted, they are very inventive and such fun and totally part of the whole kdrama/kpopular culture appeal.

My son says it’s why he prefers animated manga films to the live action adaptations, that animation is not constrained by real world limitations on eg physics or how bodies move.

I meant the one at the beginning Betty's which I was (stupidly) unprepared for and spat my tea at. The director is famous for movies I think and I did think the whole thing did have terrific style. Annoyed to see that there will be a second series by which time our Apple TV freebie will have expired.
Can report that the third episode of 60 minutes until... is just an entirely charming story told in 20 minutes with no perviness or explicitness. Safe and satisfying to dip into in a coffee break.

Ah I was expecting the white truck of doom at the beginning pol as soon as she found out the cost of the childcare centre and then stood at the side of the road and let her son cross first #kdramatropes #althoughwashalfexpectingthesontogethit

Any other kdrama on Apple or is that their token gesture?

Currently watching Our Beloved Summer and Reflection On You.

It's Ok Not To Be Okay is one of the most underrated shows ever.

It was just such a magnificently speedy and comprehensive flattening Bettys 🚚⚰️👏
I think that's it for Apple, KDrama wise but could be wrong.

Indeed pol , I think it is a contender for best White Truck of Doom Daebak Award 👍

This has reminded me we need a worksheet in our scoring spreadsheet to capture our Daebak award nominations. In my view we need show title, episode and time stamp so we can all check the shortlisted entries and vote in an informed way. Nerdy, I know, but this is especially the case for the mad outfits and bathing scenes. Proper comparison will give fair & accurate outcomes.

Annnnnd there goes another WTofD in China 🚚👀Also a top notch squishing.

Note that time code pol!!!

Not sure how we lay out the sheet so we can nominate and score. Will have a think

I think maybe a nominations sheet with a pick list for award category which we bash data into throughout the year, then a separate scoring sheet in awards season.

Shall we start it for dramas this year then rather than trying to remember past things?
Just start a category and add a nomination as it occurs to us?

Yes, great. Thanks Betty. Where did we get up to with categories? Something like this:

• Most impressive showering/bathing scene
• most effectively deployed white truck of doom
• Most appalling (future) mother in law
• Most outré outfit
• Best soju bomb set-up
• Most effective use of drunkenness to advance the plot
• The Shade award for most impressive second male lead

Ooh, ooh: most amusing product placement (brazen is no fun, most PPL is brazen)

@MusiqueAutomatique beats wishes & good luck 🌺

Hangwa, ancient Korean dessert
food52.com/blog/27043-korean-hangwa-history

Ffs we've just had the black truck of doom crash into the back of our car, whilst it was parked outside our house 🤬🤬

Daebak awards - I think we had best knitwear, best snog, the alternative Oppa award, best rooftop apartment?

I'm really enjoying Just Between Lovers, although I think it has possibly the tallest korean man I've ever seen in it! Junho is just dreamy though, especially with tousled hair 😍

Hi, I have started watching and enjoying a bit of kdrama and found this thread.

So far I have watched Squid Game, Train to Busan, (best zombie film ever), The Silent Sea, #Alive, Coffee Prince (which I loved) and Her Private Life.

I am part way through watching All of Us Are Dead, I absolutely love zombie films, and Korean zombies are so damn fast. I have just started Touch Your Heart.

I couldn't finish Hellbound, just couldn't get into it. Also, watched a bit of Silenced, but it was so upsetting, I might have to finish it in increments.

I have ordered Goblin on dvd, I'm just hoping I can fire up my very old dvd player to play it on. Seen a few clips on Youtube - I'm going to bawl my eyes out at the end, aren't I?

I only have Netflix, so am slightly limited at what I can watch. When The Walking Dead re-starts, I will get Disney+, is there any kdrama on that?

Anyway, thanks for reading my ramble and hello.

Hi Metheven, welcome!

Thank you.