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!

Humph. I’m now burning through ink reading I confessed to the boss. Thanks you two! 😬

Tapas pisses me off to much to use as a platform. I've given up on it!

*too much

Heh heh 😈

Thing it’s always the same tropes but I just don’t seem to get bored of it 😂

I just hit the end of what’s currently posted. So annoying.

Tapas is annoying. I'll only do the wait for free ones and them only spend ink to complete a finished series.
Really liking Live as you said I would. You can tell same writer as Our Blues as it doesn't always take the expected path.

Agree Tapas is annoying, plus quite hard to navigate. I’ll often start something on there & then accidentally on purpose find it on Olgatoons

boaty you might like Til Debt Us Do Part on Webtoon which is completed

I think I need to investigate the world of Olgatoons. Although I also do believe in paying creators. I wish there was a way to buy a single series complete for a reasonable cost like buying a book.

Also agree with paying creators, and I do for my favourite series, but sometimes you just want to what happens next without waiting for a week or sometimes months

Mind you there is some weirdass shit out there on Olgatoons 🙈🙈🙈 a lot of it NSFW 🙊🙊🙊

Gah want to know what happens next 🙄

I used to get 4 or 5 comics a week when I was young (and still have some of the serialised stories carefully cut out & stored 🤓including a whole box of Bunty cutouts) so webtoons are like a hyper speed version of a childhood addiction 😂

Well, I started My Boss’ Special Request on Tapas and am now burning serious ink on it. Another contract marriage between a female CEO (nicknamed Satan) and her biddable young secretary. It had a content warning at the start about dodgy power dynamics. 🤔 So far, so clean. There’s a 2ML who is a celebrated male model and a bit too up himself, plus a red flagged bunting jubilee in his own right.

I have a significant kdrama backlog, major tidying and sorting to do around the house and yet this is how I am spending my bank holiday. I’m still in my pyjamas too. 😫

I have a significant kdrama backlog, major tidying and sorting to do around the house and yet this is how I am spending my bank holiday. I’m still in my pyjamas too. 😫

Sounds good to me! 😂 I’m also reading My Boss’s Special Request. I seem to have no problem with umpteen contract webtoons but do get a bit confused with all the isekai ones I’ve been reading

Ooh yes I like that one. Assume you've done Substitute Boyfriend Boaty. That's the only one I'm using ink for weekly to get most recent ep.

Yes, I have caught up with Substitute Boyfriend so now have to wait for weekly eps to drop.

Chikapu You are right, the flashbacks are so well done. Fingers crossed for another series, but even if not, it does standalone very well. Definitely worth re-watching at some point for me.

bettys that takes me back, my nan used to buy me Bunty every week.

@Chikapu hello - welcome to the thread, are you new, first time I have seen your post.

How long it takes for Viki to drop new episodes?
I should’ve paced the Shooting Stars.

I am enjoying Military Prosecutor.

Welcome @Chikapu ! Is this your first visit to the threads or are you a returning poster with a new nickname? All of the love for Tomorrow including yours has prompted me to return to it. I had a problem getting ep 4 to load for a week or so, so abandoned it in frustration.

Thank you for the warm welcomes 🙂I'm new to the thread and to Kdramas, I prefer the supernatural/horror genre but I'd like to expand my viewing. The list at the top of the thread is perfect and I'm currently going through and adding things to my to watch list on Netflix.

It’s great that the list has got you started. Not everything makes it on to the list so if there’s a particular niche genre or theme you want to dig into just ask. Posters are likely to have watched other shows that aren’t listed. We also have a google spreadsheet where we score things individually, even the duds that don’t make the quality list in the OP. I can DM you the link. Same goes for any other recent new posters who I have failed to tell about the google spreadsheet. Just ask on the thread to remind me. 😀

Welcome Chikapu sorry, I didn't realise you were new.

boatyardblues could you DM me the link too, please?

Metheven - chexk your DMs. 😀

Thanks boatyardblues

I must update the spreadsheet.

I didn’t realised how much time I was spending in Kdrama world till I saw my entires on the spreadsheet.
Was it shocking? YES
Did it help me with my binge watching habits? NO 😆

@boatyardblues , Can you send me the spreadsheet link too please. I'm horrified at the number of kdramas I have watched in two years, but there's a back catalogue of exploration waiting.😉

On another note, does anyone know what the pink tube/stick thing is that kdrama women seem obliged to swipe across their neck, lips and under the eyes? According to a character on LAP "so moist!".😁

@Chikapu welcome! I am new-ish here also and really enjoying discussing kdrama with such a friendly group :)

Am considering starting Tomorrow based on the good reviews I've been reading on here. Otherwise am only watching D.P at the moment, gave it a miss initially thinking it wasn't my thing but enjoying it now.