MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #33): So much good content airing just now our Filthy Noonas’ hearts are fit to burst like squashed frogs on a country road

[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, AppleTV and Disney+. 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 a star 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)⭐️
Snowdrop (Disney+)
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)
Pachinko (AppleTV)
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)
Business Proposal (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)
Twenty-five Twenty-one (Netflix)⭐️
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)*
On The Verge of Insanity (Viki)
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. Happiness - 9
3. Devil Judge - 8.75
4. Squid Game - 8.63
5. Navillera - 8.57

2020’s top scoring dramas
1 - Mr Queen - 9.4
2 - Parasite - 9.05
3 - It's Okay To Not Be Okay - 8.88
4 - The Uncanny Counter - 8.50
5 - Once Again - 8.42

2019’s top scoring dramas:

1. Her Private Life - 9.40
2. Melo is My Nature - 9.00

3.= Crash Landing On You, The Crowned Clown, The Lies Within, and The Tale of Nokdu - 8.75

1. Hotel del Luna - 8.50

5.= Romance is a Bonus Book, and Search: WWW - 8.17

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!

My kids are just schooling me about kdrama frame rates over lunch. They tell me kdramas they've seen me watching are screening at 60 frames per second (FPS) whereas most films are 30FPS. They tell me kdramas are “weird” because they are “too smooth” and “unreal”. So there you go. 🤷‍♀️

Without knowing about the crane significance, I had thought that the 500 won coin represented Gu, in contrast to the 1won coins that represented ordinary people, in Chang hee's observation. It didn't fall into the gutter but Gu removed it from danger...foreshadowing his future actions in taking agency over his life/drinking/relationships. Arghhh, such complex storytelling. Great show!
Now that it's over, at least I still have Sh**ting Stars, Love, all play, Welcome to Wedding Hell and Woori the Virgin to keep me occupied. A friend recommended the original Jane the Virgin, years ago; it's still on Netflix, so I'm watching both versions at the same time.😁

ayellowumbrella.com/quiz/which-my-liberation-notes-male-lead-will-you-fall-for/

What a surprise that I got 😂...

A friend recommended the original Jane the Virgin, years ago; it's still on Netflix, so I'm watching both versions at the same time.

I’m dying to know whether the long-suffering boyfriend in the US original is a cop & whether there’s a complicated crime subplot involving the chairman. Basically, is it already a genre-defying mash-up or have the Koreans taken it to another level to ensure it meets local expectations?

Oooh love a ridiculous quiz! I got Tae Hun

Fed Up that twitter account looks v interesting. Following now

I got Mr Gu too!

It was @polkettle who turned me on to it 👍

I got Mr Gu too! <happy dance>

Oh wow - other threads
& tweets by this account. Analysis is turning in to full on PHD thesis.

The links shared this morning are much more detailed then what I have found.
I did google soon after watching the episode as I wasn’t clear about the ending.
seeing twitter analysis, my links seems very juvenile 😆

I wanted to check if they ended up together or not. I also wondered about coin as it wasn’t 1won but then dismissed it thinking, I don’t know SK currency.

My humble links Review Geek and Random link

This is very interesting about frame rates. The quality of Kdramas are very different from any other dramas.
Do share any other random fun information 😊

I’ve just pumped DS2 for more info on FPS. He says a min of 140FPS is bearable for gaming but 240FPS is better, if your graphics card and monitor are up to it. Seems to like kdrama is pretty pedestrian and gentle vs gaming, but what do I know?

I just finished MLN.

Chang-hee's sacrifice was so wonderful, it brought tears to my eyes.

I really loved the ending. It felt more like reading a book than anything else. I think the writer wanted us to fill in the details with our own imaginations.

Unsurprisingly, I also got Mr Gu.

I should be used to the feelings when a great drama ends by now, but I still feel a bit meh each time. It's like I've been kicked out of their little universe before I was ready 😂

I’m dying to know whether the long-suffering boyfriend in the US original is a cop & whether there’s a complicated crime subplot involving the chairman. Basically, is it already a genre-defying mash-up or have the Koreans taken it to another level to ensure it meets local expectations?

Boaty, the US boyfriend is still a cop and there's a crime subplot. Sad to say that I'm going to drop Woori as it isn't a patch on the US original with its Latin lover narrator and warm characters. Looking at both shows at the same time really highlighted the differences, to Woori's disadvantage. It's very Korean in that the direction is slow with main lead characters gazing into the mid-distance too often and the FL's acting is sub par. I would give it a 5/10 only.

After 2 episodes of Welcome to Marriage Hell, that one's going in the bin too. I'm disappointed as I liked the ML in Bulgasal, but in WTMH he is overacting and the whole drama is meh. Maybe MLN has set the bar too high for the current crop of new dramas.😉

Btw, we need a new thread on shows we've dropped.😎

I'm trying to decide what to watch next. I watched the first episode of Welcome to Wedding Hell but didn't really warm to the characters. I then watched the first episode of Sh**ting Stars which seemed much more entertaining

more MLN nerdery but this mini essay is just great (spread over 2 tweets).
twitter.com/skkspl0/status/1531083154236112896?t=016jwLwPNSW01Sonppc9GQ&s=19

That is a great essay Pol. I like it.

I added some of the MLN soundtrack songs to my playlist. I’m liking We Sink by Sway a lot. One of the songs also has 2 versions, him & her versions. The slower male vocalist version is wonderful.

What is it about Korean celebrities and GOLF??!!

Non-stop golfing.

This is wonderful!

I've just finished MLN and I am just so happy with the way it all ended. There were so many scenes in the drama that will stay with me for a long time, and it will definitely be on the re watch list!

Musique I was blubbing at the scene with Chang Hee in the hospital, there were so many scenes of his that gave me pause for thought.

I'm so sad its over, but at the same time I feel satisfied, the drama was just enough. I'm ashamed to say though, that I haven't watched My Mister yet, so I guess thats my next port of call!

I also really want to watch the film Return To Paradise that Chang Hee mentioned. It sounds interesting!

Unpopular opinion- I prefer MLN over My Mister.

Golf: My opinion, in USA it has this special posh-ness/ corporate culture (reflecting you have made it) type validation. Which over the years have reached other countries specially Asian countries. So playing golf is now status thing.

Aww baby news for Park Shin Hye 🥰

www.koreaboo.com/news/park-shin-hye-choi-tae-joon-welcome-birth-baby-boy/

Love a K-baby 🥰🥰🥰

Finished Future Diary 2. It's not quite as panja panja as the first season but the final three episodes were very sweet (and tear-stained) and already on an Insta hunt... Japan looked lovely in it too.