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!

OMG OMG OMG
Just discovered- somebody I know & never paid close attention to their talent. THEY HAVE CHOREOGRAPHED THREE BTS SONGS.
The boys are like little brothers & I have been (on & off) following them since they have started dancing as a hobby. OMG OMG OMG

Wow Jin! That’s amazing.

If we want to have a game of X degrees of separation, I can get to BTS in 2 steps. I used to share an office with someone who knew Coldplay’s Chris Martin from uni.

That might be 3 actually: colleague > Chris Martin > BTS.

Eek Jin that's exciting!!! Hopefully you can meet up with them soon and ask them lots of questions 😬
boaty that's cool too!

Wow!!! The Noona fantasy come true!!

That's so exciting Jin! Hopefully you can find some insider info out 😁

Hello chingus.
We’re back from our travels and I have to say Korea is the most beautiful and fascinating place that I’ve ever been to (not that I’ve been to that many).
Once we finally got there we forgot all the stress and drama of our departure and had an amazing time. We saw palaces, temples, tombs, museums, wetlands and ate some seriously delicious food - as I write this I’m craving dumplings and jjinbbang.
I think the highlight was a couple of days in a traditional Hanok guesthouse at the Hahoe village near Andong. It has stunning scenery and I will never forget our walks along the beautiful river there.
We also had a cookery lesson in Busan and as soon as we’ve recovered from jet lag I’m going to put the lesson into practice.
What a fabulous country.

That sounds absolutely amazing Andante, I'm so glad you had a brilliant time. I hope the jetlag eases soon

Welcome back Adante. Sounds like a fabulous trip!
I've been too busy with work to get any viewing in this week. Today I will be catching up.

Wow @Andante57 that sounds amazing!!! I'm so glad the fuckery at the start of the journey didn't spoil it for you.

Could you share some (non-identifiable) photos?

Delicious food; beautiful scenery; palace.
The palaces were destroyed during the Japanese occupation but have been brilliantly rebuilt.
Seoul is mostly modern but there are older bits here and there. One could spend a lifetime exploring that fascinating city.

Did you self-organise or did you book a package, Andante? I’d be interested in details of the company & tour if it was organised.

So cool, loved the food pic!!!

Sorry, the photos are the wrong way up, but you get the idea.

Boaty, we organised the holiday through a travel agent. We told them what we wanted to do and see and they also came up with some ideas. They were very nice and once we got there everything they arranged was great, but they should’ve known that we needed a visa and that basic mistake on their part was really really stressful for us.
We were lucky to get seats the next day as travel is picking up but there are still limited direct flights.
Also because we missed the outgoing flights our return flight was automatically cancelled. The travel agent said the only return seats he could find for us involved an 11 or 36 hour layover in Thailand and it was dh who found the return flight home via Munich with only a couple of hours wait there.
So I don’t think I can really recommend this travel agent.

There are probably excellent packages available - or if you have a travel agent you trust then let them know what you’d like to do and see and they can arrange it for you.
We decided that 2 or 3 temples are enough as unless you are particularly interested in them, they seemed to be fairly similar, albeit really beautiful.

I'm doing my flights myself not through my tour company for Japan too, Andante and Boaty.

They are very good, but the concept of flying out of Belfast or Dublin seemed alien to them - suggesting 2 connections etc or 35 hour layovers.

They are very good, but the concept of flying out of Belfast or Dublin seemed alien to them - suggesting 2 connections etc or 35 hour layovers

FedUp - the tour company suggested the 2 connections or 35 hour layovers?

Yes. But to be fair, I think they were particularly tied to London and British airways - I've found Air France/KLM flights with one stop in Europe.

@Andante57 what was the covid situation like? Did any distractions impact your plans when you got there?

*Restrictions not distractions!!

FedUp we had to show proof of vaccinations, a negative test within 48 hours before we flew and a waiver for quarantine and this all had to be printed out.
When we arrived our paperwork was carefully scrutinised and we had to do another covid test.

Korea had only lifted compulsory quarantine for a week for all arrivals a few days before we went (we were told several weeks before that this would happen) and masks were required inside but no longer outside.
Because the quarantine rules had been so recently relaxed there were hardly any Western tourists but most museums and places of interest required advance booking and numbers were restricted - though I’m not sure if that was because of Covid or whether it’s always the case.
Certainly it was lovely walking around the Secret Garden at one of the palaces with no crowds.
I’d give anything right now for a plate of bulgogi!

Welcome home Andante! What a great sounding trip.
Emotional episodes today. I really liked OB focus on issues in a long term friendship - not something dramas often deal with and I thought it was really subtle.

Andante57 that sounds like a fabulous trip, welcome back.

Thank you all for your kind welcome home messages.
DH and I are looking forward to getting back in the swing of K drama again. I downloaded The Sound of Magic for the flight home and I’ve got one episode left. Always a pleasure to gaze at Ji Chang Wook!

MLN I'm so confused? Why is FL shitty manager's affair using her name? It was a sad show tonight 😢