MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #38): Where we’re still reeling from the 2022 top 5 scoring Jdrama First Love v Alchemy of Souls kerfuffle. What can I say? Takeru Satoh broke our scoring rubric.

[boatyardblues]

A quiet corner of MN for serious addicts of Kdrama, or the K-curious. Most of our shows are on 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)
Little Women (Netflix)
My Name (Netflix)
My Secret Terrius (Netflix)🌟
Signal (Netflix)🌟
Somebody (Netflix, content warning: sexual & violence)
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)

‘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 ‘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)
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)

Top Scoring 2022 Dramas
Courtesy of much-missed Hello’s kdrama spreadsheet, updated by thread regulars. Marks out of 10.

#1 My Liberation Notes 9.45

#2 Alchemy of Souls 9.10

#3 First Love 8.88 (Jdrama)

#4 Our Blues 8.83

#5 Gaus Electronics 8.75

Top Scoring 2021 Dramas
#1 The Red Sleeve - 10
#2 Happiness - 9
#3 Devil Judge - 8.75
#4 Squid Game - 8.6
#5 Navillera - 8.57

Top Scoring 2020 dramas
#1 Mr Queen - 9.4
#2 Parasite (film) - 9.05
#3 It's Okay To Not Be Okay - 8.88
#4 The Uncanny Counter - 8.50
#5 Once Again - 8.42

Top Scoring 2019 dramas
#1 Her Private Life - 9.40
#2 Melo is My Nature - 9.00
#3 tied: Crash Landing On You, The Crowned Clown, The Lies Within, and The Tale of Nokdu - 8.75
#4 Hotel del Luna - 8.50
#5 tied: Romance is a Bonus Book, and Search: WWW - 8.17

We are fans of all things Korean, so equally happy to talk about Korean cookery, language, current affairs, film and music when the mood takes us. A few of us are learning Korean, Japanese and/or Mandarin (some more diligently than others), so we swap tips and links to language resources. Basically, anything topical goes.

We often resort to acronyms and/or abbreviations of show titles or 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!

Congratulations Saram, I’m really impressed.
I’d love to know some of the questions.

Congratulations Saram! All your hard work paid off 💖🙌👏🏼

Many thanks for the exam love chingus! 💜Off out now but will answer your questions later.

Well done Saram!

THE FOOD WASTE MACHINE! I NEED ONE!!

Yes! Excellent PPL. But what even IS it?

Crash Course In Romance... Netflix! Is fabulous!! just watched first 2 eps and it's a good un! Starts off all fluff... But then goes into a bit of drama! Angst! Tragedy! Yet heartwarming! Lovely characters! Very funny and is a solid good watch!! Make haste! Make haste to Netflix!! 🥰👍🏼🥰👍🏼🥰👍🏼

... Ahhh! See a few oh you have spotted it already!! 😂😂😂... It's goooood!! 👍🏼

@TheLoupGarou I'm studying with a Korean language school in my city (Europe, I'm not UK based). We use the rather outdated Active Korean series, published by the Language Education Institute at Seoul National University. They give you a good grounding in the structure of the language though. And the photos are hilarious 😂 You can find them on Amazon I think. If you have some experience of language learning it might be worth a go. NB comes with a CD 😁so you'd need a CD player. The yoof on my course are very keen on the Talk To Me In Korean series (available at Foyles in London when I was there, so presumably elsewhere in the UK too).

@Andante57 We had to do lots of random conjugating (irregular verbs, in the tenses I mentioned once before - past, future, present, if/but, because, have to, honorific, imperative, gerundive etc., in verb tables and in sentences.) Provide a feasible solution to a missing word or words in sentences. Make two Korean sentences into one using certain verb forms. Ask and answer questions based on a real-life situation. Read/listen to a text describing e.g. a day, a holiday, plans then answer questions. Put a mix of sentences into logical order. Pick out an incorrect word in a sentence. That sort of stuff. The instructions were in English, but all texts and answers etc. in Korean.

@polkettle oooh yes I'm looking forward to the baby in Broker 😍the Korean school has lessons for young children in the weekend, they were all finishing up around the time the exams ended. Like 20 unreasonably cute little Korean kids in uniform with little backpacks all being cute and excited in Korean. My ovaries 😳I just have to remember they will have tantrums and whine and be up at unreasonable times just like regular kids 😂

Saram I’m beyond impressed…….you are really advanced now. How do you find making conversation in Korean? I find it really hard.

Andante cheers! But to bring me back down to earth with a bump, our school calls all that 'elementary' level Korean 💀probably the sort of stuff those cute little 6-year-olds are doing 🤔wish me luck next term 😂First stop will be 'Etiquette', where I will learn to ask things like 'May I eat food while I am watching a movie?' tumbleweed I'm really looking forward to the chapter on hospitals. All the vocab is about coughs and colds though, nothing more juicy. I want to learn useful phrases to say in the event of a 'jombie' attack 😁 And to be armed with the right terms to chat to Yoongi about his shoulder operation next time we meet in a dream 🤘

Spoken Korean...my nemesis. We almost never chat freely in Korean, it's just practicing the set key dialogues. But now I'm slowly getting more confident with grammar and vocab, I'd love to give it a go. My teacher was active in the Korean students' association here and she was going to look into options for language exchange, which would be great. I don't really fancy just finding someone random online 😬 that will teach me to watch Somebody

My thoughts too as soon as I saw it! I wondered whether it was a food waste composter thingie. After I researched them I found out that they don't compost, just grind and dehydrate. I still want one tho as I have lots of worms in the ground in my veggie patch.

www.instagram.com/reel/ClN19iAjXmP/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Guys I basically was in a Kopiko PPL spot today at work. Got one out of my desk to have and someone saw it and asked what it was 🤣🤣

😂 Did they then take one and eat it in front of you with a surprised expression of delight and refreshment AmVa while you nodded and smiled?

I am so jealous of my sis in law Saram who has successfully married one of her kids to a Korean. No babies yet but just imagine the haircut and cheek possibilities when they come.

Congratulations on passing your exams Saram!!

Congratulations & well done @Saram13

I was just about to mention food waste/compost thingi. Excellent PPL.
I am enjoying the Crash Course in Romance, there is tragedy, suspense & hopefully romance as well.
I can so relate to ML, currently going through similar eating related issues. I hope in near future I can enjoy some food which will make me cry.

Oh Jin that sounds miserable. Hope you get your appetite back soon.

So that food waste machine appears to cremate rather than compost. Do you think one could gradually dispose of an entire body in one? Great KThriller PPL plot possibility.

Definite Tales of the Unexpected "Leg of Lamb" vibes 👍

Feel better soon Jin! ❤️

Can anyone explain why Valentino would sign Yoongi up as a brand ambassador when he's due to be enlisted in mere weeks? Has he perhaps been given an exemption due to his shoulder injury?

www.instagram.com/p/Cng6dCBr7JE/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Pol I really enjoyed Broker! IU always convinces me in whatever I see her in, and the ensemble cast is 👌 and the baby 🥺 what a beautiful little soul. I'm sure Aunty Pol will selflessly offer to babysit should the time ever come with your fam connection 😂and take lots of photos for us

Fedup I'm confused too. All the wafty fashion stuff is all well and good and I suppose I can cope with the photos but I want music dammit! In Yoongi's case he may well be in the civil service rather than the military because of the shoulder. Which would presumably be more compatible with the brand ambassador thing. But still. Don't mean to cast shade on anyone in the fashion world 😬 well maybe I do but I think he has more to him that this [ducks]. And I daresay that is still yet to come (see what I did there? 🤔😂)

Jin hope things improve for you soon 💜

And thanks for continued congrats chingus! 🙏

I had also heard Yoongi will do civil service rather than military due to his shoulder, but I don't think it has been officially confirmed anywhere - just online speculation.....

jin am wishing you some delicious tempting food. I hope you feel better soon.