MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #34): July brings internal conflict. Make the most of sunshine and the long days, or keep on top of your kdrama? 🤔

[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)🌟
My Liberation Notes🌟
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)
Our Blues (Netflix)🌟
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.

The Red Sleeve - 10
Happiness - 9
Devil Judge - 8.75
Squid Game - 8.63
Navillera - 8.57

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

2019’s top scoring dramas:
Her Private Life - 9.40
Melo is My Nature - 9.00
Tied 3rd: Crash Landing On You, The Crowned Clown, The Lies Within, and The Tale of Nokdu - 8.75
Hotel del Luna - 8.50
Tied 5th: Romance is a Bonus Book, and Search: WWW

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!

EAW latest episode is delightful 🥰

Yes, he’s clearly well fed and loved. Thankfully he doesn’t badger us at mealtimes, he mooches and observes. He’s now much more relaxed around us and flops at our feet for attention.

I love Designated Survivor and wonder why it took me so long to give it a go. It’s been on my watchlist for ages. The wifi here is awful - <1-3.5mbps and frequently drops altogether - so I can’t even download it to watch when we’re all fighting over what little bandwidth is available. It’s partly why I stayed up so late last night. 😂

I agree! I watched it a while back and thought it was far superior to the original....but the original didn't have Mr Gu in a suit.

Gorgeous cat!
We are looking after our neighbours cat this week and he's feeling very neglected (despite me feeding him 4! times today) so he's hanging out in front of the house wailing at passers-by. I can hear them saying "he needs to be let in", "do you need feeding?" Etc.
Someone even left a little heap of dry food on my path!
I'm going to have to make a poster with his picture that says "I have food and a cat flap, I'm just here for the attention!"

Grrr. I fast passed on Webtoons to read more of Purple Hyacinth. Now whenever I get the weekly alert I get all excited, open Webtoons & then remember I’ve already read the “new” episode. If I want to keep going it’s 5 coins per episode. 😕 Not the worst though - had a 7 coin fee per episode, so ~£3.50. 😟

I’ve been commissioned to write an article about the forthcoming Hallyu exhibtion + why I love Korea and learning the language etc so that should be fun.
There’s a section on K drama and film but looking at the press releases I can only see Parasite, Squid Game, Kingdom and The Handmaiden - all of which have violent and disturbing content.
I am trying to find out more but if these are the only ones I’m going to make the point that it’s a shame if the exhibition gives the impression that all K drama is violent and disturbing as that’s simply not the case and may put off potential viewers from trying it.

Wow Andante!! Hope you can share it with us after it's published!!

Two writers in our midsts 🤩

I hear you. This is why one must only spend money on completed series Boaty. BUT IT'S SO HARD SOMETIMES.

That's exciting Andante! Look forward to reading.

Very excited for you Adante! Make sure you voice your opinion on the subject matter too if possible?

I'm on ep 13 of Why Her and plot is getting twisty! I think the 'relationship' between FL & ML is the weak link to an overall excellent drama.

Aesops do you mean the subject matter in the Hallyu show?
Annoyingly copy has got to be in before the show opens so I’ve only got the press release to go by, but hopefully I can find out a bit more about it before my deadline.

@Andante57 If you need non-violent examples of Korean cinema, Little Forest is beautiful and a million miles from violence.

Yes.
Boaty example is a good choice for sure.

I've just worked out how to insert quotation marks. Expect more responses from me as saves so much time!

Congrats on the commission Andante; looking forward to reading your piece.

Aesops, I'm with you on Why Her?'s "romantic" relationship. We weren't given any plausible reasons why an experienced and wily lawyer would return the affections of this younger student. It's not exactly Secret Love Affair, is it?

In true Fairy Tale mode, Jinxed at First has now turned pretty dark...
And Olga's has Adamas so I'm in!

In true Fairy Tale mode, Jinxed at First has now turned pretty dark...

Absolutely Migs it's gone a bit 😖 with one of the ermmm 'love' lines

Gah something I've been working on all day has gone tits up - basic forehead slap error - so I'd be perfectly justified in giving up and watching cdrama for the rest of the day, wouldn't I? I've just started Love The Way You Are on Viki which appears to be a remake of SITR, hopefully it won't annoy me quite as much as the original.

Thank you everyone for your nice comments.
Boaty - yes I was going to mention Little Forest, but also shows like CLOY, Mr Queen, My Love from the Star may have darker elements and some punch ups, but they’re not disturbing.

Congratulations on your commission Andante, that's great news, I hope we get to read it when it's done!

Aesops I agree about the romance in Why Her, I'm just assuming that he was a mature student, and it was love at first sight😉 I still loved the show.

I am absolutely loving the romance in Into the Ring, the couple are so cute, the first kiss scene went on for so long, I was starting to feel a little uncomfortable 😅

DH and I have got a double bill of EAW and I cannot wait 🤗

Aren't they a lovely pair Rowdy? Such an unstressful love line because they both like each other and communicate that straightforwardly. Revolutionary.

So lovely, the actors really convey their feelings through the way they look at each other and their body language as well as their words. As you say, revolutionary! 😁

@bettys I just saw this on twitter, is this you? 😁

Kissing! In EAW!!! Lovely 🥰

Aah I got caught up watching the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, so no double bill for us tonight! As a brummie I couldn't not watch though!

That means I'll have to wait until next week to catch up on EAW! 😭

🤣🤣🤣
it’s not but it could be 😆