MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #37): The one where FedUp’s big birthday could tip her into ajumma territory. Thankfully filthy noona status is forever.

[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 an asterisk 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)
Little Women (Netflix)
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
Gaus Electronics (Viki)
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 Recommendations
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)
First Love (Netflix - Japanese)🌟
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.

So, current rankings @ 21.15ish today:

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

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!

Saram 신기해요! I am really impressed.
I haven’t got anywhere near the conditional yet - is it used a lot in Korean?
As for memorising 60 sentences…….
You're brilliant.

Sigh......did anyone else NOT win the trip to Korea? 😫

Me! 😭 I really wanted to win.

Was just coming here to bemoan that I had not. Surely ONE of us must have??

How do you know?

Of fuck I realised I sent that competition to you all and never bloody entered it myself!!! DUH

😂🤣😂

@FedUpWithBriiiiick That is PRECISELY the sort of thing I do all the time 😁

@Andante57 Thanks chingu! I might have overegged the conditional a bit. It does indeed seem to be a particularly complicated part of Korean grammar. This is just the (으) 면+ future tense combo ( = if x, then y). For what it's worth I expect what you and @leeloo1 are learning will be of more practical use than what I'm doing. The course material is quite old-fashioned and stuffy. So I'll get a great grammar basis, but will have no idea what people are saying if they talk to me using remotely informal or slang expressions. I will however be able to parrot totally useless phrases like 'Jaemin cannot take your call now, he is asleep'. When people stopped using landlines like 10 years ago. Useful 😂

Me either. I really wanted to win 😭

Saram my course is designed for much younger students so I’ve learned words like ‘lecture room’, ‘classroom’ ‘school holidays’ ‘end of term exam’ which is a bit like ‘Jaemin can’t take your call right now…’ when it comes to usefulness😂.
My main problem is understanding even simple spoken sentences. I sometimes recognise a word or two and then guess which sometimes works but not always.

Gosh @Saram13 your course sounds hardcore and very impressive! I’m not sure I’d ever get to that level. I am quite chuffed to be able to catch the very occasional word in a drama now - like shreggi for trash, but understanding part/whole sentences!or writing anything are a far off dream.

I'm another one who had the sad message that I hadn’t won the holiday. The family were asking ‘was it just the flights?’ ‘How many people for?’ Errr guys those are questions for if i’d won! 😭

Oh Andante join the club ! I wish I was joking, but I literally did an air-punch when I first understood a line of dialogue in a K-drama without looking. I think it might have been MLN (or maybe HCCC). '집에 안 가요' - jib eh ankayo. I'm not going home. YES BACK OF THE NET. I sent my teacher a self-congratulatory message and got one back with just lots of these 😂 She's savage 😁

Wow Andante - am taking my hat off to you as that sounds hardcore and very impressive. Good luck for your exam - fighting!

I've just come back from a slog round the shops, current account empty, feet aching, head melted. Car boot full of presents to wrap - where is my oppa in a long expensive coat to carry my purchases for me and make some delicious side dishes?

Alas. I will have to carry them in myself....

I'm another one who had the sad message that I hadn’t won the holiday. The family were asking ‘was it just the flights?’ ‘How many people for?’ Errr guys those are questions for if i’d won!

Um, I’d got as far as discussing with my BFF whether I’d take her instead of DH. (It was a trip for two.) There was no intent to top it up so I could take my kids. 😂 I am extra sad to have not won. I had it all planned out in my head.

Wow Andante - am taking my hat off to you as that sounds hardcore and very impressive. Good luck for your exam - fighting!

Thank you TheLoup, but it’s Saram who’s doing the difficult exam. Fortunately Seonsaengnim hasn’t suggested I do one - I think she knows what the outcome would be!

I am now home but I wish I was elsewhere. My boiler failed while I was away so the house is freezing, my electric garage door won't open, the cats decided to wee in the bathtub while I was away, (they've NEVER done this before) and they've been eating birds on the front door mat. Cats are evil!
And I haven't checked my emails....don't want to find out that I didn't win the trip either.

I need a visit to a shaman to reset my fortunes.

Good luck with the exams Saram! I'm impressed by your efforts.

Oh Migs I’m sorry - that sounds grim, especially the boiler breaking.
Can you take to the bed with a hot water bottle and a good K drama?

I also did not win the trip 😭

Glad you are back home Migs - Cats are not evil,just very sensitive. Surely they were thinking of you when they pee'd in the bath (warm water) and the dead birds were for the feathers to keep you warm. Well. That was what I thought anyway!

Finished Money Heist and now looking to line up a couple of good shows for the holiday period. I will definitely be dipping into the vet one and looking for a good comedy to compliment it.

I have a sore throat and headache but in denial so trying to ignore it as have too much to do this week. 🎁🎄🛍

Holy shit! On top of your epic journey, I really feel like the universe owes you a break. If you win the trip, I won’t feel bad.

Your replies made me laugh. Thank you! I shall open a bottle of red, catch up on AoS and finish Money Heist.

Those of you that have finished Money Heist 2 is it wrapped up nice & tidy and does Denver come out of it ok?

Glad you're home safe Migs - what naughty cats but there are worse things to wee on....like cardboard 😱

Or shoes!😂

I was thinking how great it was your cats peed in the bath. Like you see, there are way worse places.

Our cat keeps bringing little wood mice in and letting them loose in our dining room. We’re on at least 1 a day at the mo.