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!

Not disrespecting the dead and injured, but if true, I feel for the poor celebrity supposedly at the centre of this tragedy, too.

I agree

It appears there's a 19,000 word BTS/Hospital Playlist mash up fanfic awaiting me this morning...

Was it a celebrity event? How awful for everyone involved. Looks like organisers will have a lot of questions to answer.

From what I can gather from the reports there was just a celebrity in the area and word must have spread, so not an organised event. It's just absolutely heartbreaking. If it's true I really feel sorry for the celeb, I hope they don't get named.

Thanks for the share token for that article Boaty, I'll have a read of that later

I am distracting myself from an entirely justified hangover this morning with Indian romcom Plan A Plan B on Netflix. It is proper froth. The most striking thing at the mo is the beauty ideal. The women have much fuller bodies and curves than the Korean aesthetic. The nightclub scene was so different to what I’ve become used to.

The Mumbai smog knocks Seoul’s into a cocked hat if this film is anything to go by.

I'm not sure the celebrity rumour is true. A lot of Korean journos on Twitter saying that (and another one about drug laced candies) deliberate attempts to frame responsibility on party goers to distract from inadequate policing. The dust will take a long time to settle 😔😔

I've watched that. It gallops along at quite the pace.

So true. I’m so used to 16 episode kdrama this film feels like the storyboard version. There is no soggy middle in this film. It’s all go go go with dance breaks and tantalising food.

Lots of tweets/comments on drink & drugs, and condemnation of people continuing to party in bars while watching cpr being performed on victims. Some of the photos make you want to cry. It was traumatic to experience and it will be traumatic viewing for the friends and family of those affected.

<moves on to happier topic>

This is my feeling too pol. Of course it is an entirely normal response to look for someone to blame in the aftermath of an awful tragedy like this. But modern Korea is a complex society. I don't think it's going too far to suggest that it is still feeling the effects of collective PTSD in some ways, following the upheaval of the war and the exponential changes it has gone through at the speed of light since. I do wonder how feelings of collective responsibility and shame, taken together with this, will manifest themselves.

A number of people I know here (Korean or with other ties to the country) had friends out in or near to Itaewon last night and spent a very anxious few hours trying to contact them. At least one was sadly witness to events as they unfolded 😔 It doesn't bear thinking about. Quite apart from who is or isn't to blame, it is desperately sad and I am preoccupied with it today.

But modern Korea is a complex society. I don't think it's going too far to suggest that it is still feeling the effects of collective PTSD in some ways, following the upheaval of the war and the exponential changes it has gone through at the speed of light since. I do wonder how feelings of collective responsibility and shame, taken together with this, will manifest themselves.

I heard an interesting conversation on a podcast recently (God, I wish I could remember which one!) where the male guest talked about his Korean-American wife’s observation that Asian societies founded on Confucian principles have a more collective view (so are less swayed by individualistic western ideas). I wonder if that sense of collective identity influences societal responses to large scale trauma like this. I’m not sure. Hillsborough has left it’s mark here. The same with Aberfan. Thinking about it, both of those disasters affected tightly knit communities (local or fan/city), whereas the Kings Cross fire hasn’t had the same enduring presence in our cultural discourse.

It must have been terrifying to be there and - like you say Saram - a very worrying time for families and friends with people in the area last night. 😞

Hello all.

What a sad and horrific event. As a pp said, they were just young people enjoying a night out, what a terrible thing to happen. It seems quite unusual for this sort of crush to happen outside of a major event or festival. I'm not sure how easy it could have been to predict or prevent. I imagine the topography of narrow, steep streets around the railway station where everyone was trying to come in and out of the area must have had something to do with it. I was recently chatting to someone whose wife is Korean who happened to mention the Jeju ferry accident of 2014 while talking more generally about the area. I'd forgotten about it until they brought it up but it clearly left a huge mark in the region. There were so many students on board. As with this, it's the loss of so many young lives in particular that's so hard to accept.

What's it called Pol? I'll have to check it out ☺️

Hey everyone - my joy at finding this little k-drama corner of mumsnet yesterday was overshadowed by the awful news from Seoul, horrific footage.

Anyway, hope you don't mind me joining the chat ... I'm watching Hwayugi (A Korean Odyssey) on Netflix at the min. Am loving this version of the monkey king & if there is an award for best coats worn in a drama series it would be a serious contender!

The story of "us" that became my universe TheGirl. I have properly apied myself to it yet. I don't know the BTS fic rules really but this seems to be a Jin/Suga couple up?

Welcome TheLoup! 👋 They do LOVE a good coat those drama makers. Must check out Hwayugi

Welcome aboard TheLoup. You are among friends here so feel free to let your inner kdrama geek run free. We love nothing more than topical chat and silliness.

Thanks @polkettle - I'm nearly at the end now, episode 19 of 20. It flagged a bit in the middle, but has been a genre mash up right up my street overall (plus seriously great coats 🤣)

Hi @TheLoupGarou 👋👋👋
Welcome to the thread, it's lovely here.

Hello to TheLoupGarou. Korean Oddessey is one of my favourites. Lee Seung Gi was perfect casting as a cheeky monkey. Lee Se-young, who plays Richie, was great as well. I liked her in The Crowned Clown too.

Hello both! Thanks for the warm welcome 🙂@Cobol agree 100% he's perfect - I totally lost my heart to Son Oh Gong - my very favourite type of character. I'm so invested in how this is going to pan out <gulp>

Welcome Loup! We're a friendly bunch, jump on in!

I'm being very good and saving up all my dramas for travelling on Tuesday <sits on hands>

Damn these clocks going back. It’s stupidly late in old money time but I feel compelled to squeeze every last drop out of the weekend, so I’m sticking with my usual bedtime. No surrender!

👋 Theloup, welcome!
Under the Queen's Umbrella - I actually wait till Sunday so I can watch 2 eps together. It's a bit woke but Kim Hye-soo as the queen is killing it... and G P Seongnam!<filthy noona mode> 😁

Koreaboo.com Has the latest Itaewon tragedy news and a believable account of what might have been the cause.