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!

AOS Spoiler
Is king jinxed or what? He seems so expressionless and specially eye are dazed or just plain. Either actor is struggling with
the CGI

I dont like where ep 16 is going & the new villain 😭. Like Red Sleeve, may be I should stop watching at 2nd last episode. Not ready for major cliffhanger at t
he end of the season.

I dont like where ep 16 is going & the new villain 😭. Like Red Sleeve, may be I should stop watching at 2nd last episode. Not ready for major cliffhanger at t
he end of the season

I agree. We didn’t watch the last episode of the Red Sleeve as I’d heard it was too sad.
Re AOS villain, do you mean So yi? I don’t know where it’s going either.
I must say Seo Hye-won who played her is a fantastic actress - she was also excellent in Business Proposal.
I first saw her in a webtoon called Love at First Bite where she played the girlfriend of Gwang-Beom from CLOY.

AOS spoiler alert 🚨
@Andante57 Queen is exposed now so Asst Gwangju Jin Mu’s next puppet will be crown prince. I haven’t watched the last episode so I might be wrong.
Is S1 ending on a big cliffhanger?

Thanks for the Sweat and Soap link FedUp! Super cute. And turns out women have no nipples either.

Who would have thunk it?

This made me snort knowingly 😂

Yet again, I enjoyed today’s AoS. This is going to be oblique enough to be spoiler-free. I am happy with the current state of play. There was one character I thought was going to disappoint me who didn’t. I still can’t believe the head of Songrim Park Jin holds that role when his powers of observation are so lacking. I liked the little scene by the sea with the children, though the children couldn’t act for toffee. There were a couple of genuine surprises and I was left wanting more (in a good way). New episodes due in December. 🙌

Now watching Good Job with Jung Il-woo and Kwon Yu-ri. I recognised her but couldn’t place her. She was FL in Bossam: Steal The Fate with him as ML. They must get along OK - that’s a lot of filming time relatively close together.

Wikipedia says Jung Il-Woo was born in 1987 (34). Uh huh? And the rest.

Wikipedia also claims Uee is 34.

Sure... <strokes chin>

#leeminhoageconspiracy

Supposed to be 19 here? Aye, dead on...

It's all part of the #leeminhoageconspiracy #chinnyreckon

AOS’s next season is FOUR MONTHS away.
I want to know what’s going to happen now.

There was one character I thought was going to disappoint me who didn’t. << @boatyardblues which one?
today's episode was good but felt like a
filler, they should have shown more. Or am I just being very greedy.

Whats next now? EAW & AOS we’re a good weekly fix. Need to find new ones now.

Fascinating conspiracy theory. I doubt you can lie about your age to the military, though. Are military enlistments public record? If not they could be lying about both age and enlistment, I suppose. Feasible, maybe, if exempt for medical reasons but think of the fallout if found out.....surely too great a risk?!!!!

I really enjoyed Bossam with these two actors in, so I quite fancy watching Good Job. I just looked at Jung Il Woo's My Drama List page and he stars in Chinese and Thai dramas as well as Korean. That's quite impressive!

I haven't finished AOS yet, but I would like another Saeguk to watch next.

I am binge watching Imitation on Viki and really enjoying it. It’s from last year so I must have missed it or not been in the mood. It’s about idols and shows how tough it can be.

Yes please!!

Ooh Little Women looks good!

Hairy Business (Manta) has taken an interesting and unexpected turn today. It suckers you in with drunken sexual shenanigans and then gets to work on addressing a serious topic.

I really wish I hadn't watched the final episode of AOS - however, I woll definitely now be watching the next series, which I was in two minds about.

Series 2 looks like it will be quite a lot darker and sexier!

Young lady and gentleman is keeping me amused. Today I plan on watching this and doing nothing else. House guests waved off this am and DH playing golf so house is empty. Bliss!

Everybody is being very good and dutiful in filling up the thread!

I’m surprised you’ve not filled it up with your usual mischief FedUp. Want to play us out so we can embrace JCWookiee on the new thread? 😉

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