MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #36): The one where gluten-free and baguettes stopped being about baked goods. Best leave it at that.

[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
Alchemy of Souls (Netflix) 🌟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)
Sweat and Soap (Viki, Japanese)
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!

@TheLoupGarou You're a Nordie too??!! 😍😍😍

I don’t understand why competent medic Siwon is standing around gawking when there’s somwone who needs medical attention. 🤷‍♀️

@FedUpWithBriiiiick yup, I'm not a native but I've been here (co down) for nearly 15 years now. Yay! a NI chingu!

TWO ON ONE THREAD! Take that Londoners! 😁

Looks like you’ve got the makings of a local meet there FedUp and Loup. Do you have any good mutually convenient Korean restaurants?

AHAHAHAHA no

We barely have Japanese restaurants here 🤣

Sounds like a gap in the market for sure, but also explains the lack of soju. One of our local Korean supermarkets also supplies the local restaurants wholesale.

It's bucket full of syrup time with an angelic dying child in Thank You Doctor whose last wish is to have pretty photos taken in a new white dress and red shoes and I am screaming at the doctor taking them "Not LANDSCAPE mode! TURN the phone!" She's cutting off the shoes for chrissake.

Warning for anyone interested in Revenge of Others. It should be 18+.
Horrible and graphic bullying, self harm and suicide. It's the worse I've ever seen in a kdrama.
I'm going to have to watch something soft and romantic to soothe my poor brain. Or listen to Chris Brown's Under the Influence or Rhianna's Lift me Up on repeat for an hour.

Boaty my Norwegian Forest X likes being dried like a dog, too, He actually comes to me, soaking wet to be dried and purrs when he sees the towel!

Haha FedUp I want to go out for soju!
Or, are you any good at cooking? We could open a Korean restaurant! This is like a drama plot - what could possibly go wrong? I vote we get a hot waffle chef like in Coffee Prince 😂

My friend was actually telling me about a good Japanese restaurant in Belfast -Kamakura, we keep meaning to check it out.

Just finished Gaus Electronics! I loved it, I like the short but sweet nature of the series, it could have carried on for further episodes, but I like the fact they chose to end it at 12, no chance for it to fall off a cliff and get boring! What to watch next 🤔

Briiiiick and theloup you should start a little Korean restaurant by the sea, like in Warm and Cosy 🤗🍜

My Friday evening status update is half a bottle of makgeolli down and alternating saying "That's really not how you do CPR" with humming "There may be something there that wasn't there before" as Mr Arrogant ML Chinese doctor and Ms Broken hearted FL Chinese doctor slowly unbend towards each other. Episode 7 of 40. This is gonna be a long haul. At least another 15 hours to a snog.

At least another 15 hours to a snog.

Honestly all the talk of Love is for Suckers getting steamy in ep 12 was a complete mis-sell if you’ve been in the baguette-laden manhwa rabbit hole for 6+ weeks. It had all the excitement of a cdrama nerd poppet hand hold. I have been manhwa-recalibrated by people’s clothes falling off and non-stop theatrical sex in stationery cupboards at work. Lying on the bed clothed with all the lights on? 😴

You've just reminded me I have a bottle of maekgolli pol

I've started a Cdrama called Lighter and Princess, I need a bingo card!

I’m now working my way through Once Upon a Small Town. First of all, I can believe the ML is only 23! Feels all kinds of wrong to the harbouring filthy noona interest in him, but he is so beautiful. Second, when I woke up this morning I did not expect to be weeping over a bull being euthanised this evening.

But there's unbuttoning and a tiny glimpse of an actual BRA Boaty 😱 You need recalibrating. 24 hour lockdown with no baguettes and nothing but CDrama until the FILTH fever passes.

Can’t believe, that shoukd have said. I’d have guessed 28-30.

Filth fever is spot on. Some of it is so shoddy or preposterous it makes me laugh, but I can’t stop reading it! 😄

Once Upon a Small Town is adorable - and I wouldn’t have found it without you chingus.
Reborn Rich looks promising - we’ll give that a go once we’ve finished Gaus Electronics.

Beach hut style Korean tent bar on Murlough Beach would go down a treat, eh @TheLoupGarou? My mum has a caravan down there. How many Filthy Noonas can you fit in a 3 berth?

Yep, I've been there too. I thought Dylan Wang was older when I started watching Fairy and Devil and was quite thrown when I discovered he was likewise only 23! I think I need to find that photo shop in Miss Granny and relive my youth. It feels rather unfair that we didn't have social media, kdrama and tvs on our phones when I was young. All we had was landlines, posters and a Tom Cruise film at the cinema - Tom Cruise ffs!!! Did anyone actually fancy him? 😂😂😂

If you find the special photo shop, let us know Cobol. I think there’s a few of us who’d have a do-over given the chance. 😄

And to answer your Tom Cruise question, hard no from me! I much preferred Goose in Top Gun.

I was also surprised that Kwak Dong Yeon was only 25! It seems like he's been around quite a while, and now he's not age appropriate anymore 😒