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!

Oh pol - daebak. I'm going to have to zoom in and give them all proper consideration....

Love the age appropriate Oppa montage, but I can't help noticing Sung Dong Il is not there... I'd love a cuddle from Choi Moo Sung though, I love him

That molka article was very interesting / depressing. I recently did a bit of a half rewatch of Business Proposal (skipped through anything that wasn't the main 4) and was reminded of the spy cam plot which on first viewing seemed a bit random but makes a lot more sense in this context.
However!! At the same time as the show making a comment that it's ridiculous the man only gets fined which isn't enough of a deterrent, we have some of the actions of the ML like telling the FL if she doesn't like him back he'll just keep asking her out until she does. They have great chemistry and it's obviously a fantasy but .. bleh

Yes yes

Omo the mud wrestling is hysterical. I can smell the testosterone from here.

Well pol, you can tell your friend that her montage made me squeal!

And I could not agree more with your comment. It looked like a life and death struggle going on in the SL2 mud pit. 🫣 I thought I was watching gladiators in a Roman arena!

Rowdy and FedUp match 🤩😂

The whole molka thing etc. There are obviously major issues in Korean society. We've said this before, but it's the enormous contradictions that partly make it so fascinating. Guess at least some of this is down to a highly traditionalist, isolated and hierarchical/patriarchal society being dragged into and confronted with the wider modern world. And then turning the tables to beat it at its own game (in terms of technological innovation and, now, big bucks entertainment). The fallout from this extreme transformation is bound to show up somewhere. Not that it justifies anything, of course.

I think she's going to get the X-navy guy she has the hots for..

I hope not. It would do Seul-Ki good not to get her way for a change.

I want to know what Jin-Young’s appeal is. He’s one buffster among many. Is it his moderate indifference to the women that makes them chase him harder? I’ll give him this: he’s got game. The plastic surgeon had no game - seemed like he’d never encountered rejection before and was stumped.

boaty,I wish I could identify JinY's appeal too but I'm too old to find that type appealing. Must be the indifference to adoring females which then makes the object of his affections feel special because he picked her???

Someone on socials said that in SK society, Dong Woo is accustomed to just rocking up, mentioning he's lived in the US, saying, "I'm a doctor" and watching all the panties fly off in the room, so this is probably the first time he's ever encountered rejection. I must admit that image had me in stitches, thinking of the manhwa drawings of flying knickers complete with whooshing sound effects!!

The filthy noona dilemna has just been solved, making the age inappropriate Oppas category redundant!
trans-age

Oh my word, the mud wrestling was INTENSE! Did anyone else think Jin-Young could have quite cheerfully drowned his rival (want say Jin-Woo, but it doesn’t sound right) for Seul-Ki in the pool if the cameras weren’t rolling or the girl’s watching? To be honest, that show of brutish strength would have given me pause and halted any fanny gallops if I was Seul-Ki.

I think the mud wrestling made S-k even more into Mr bit of rough. She's probably never met someone like him before in her strata of society

True. You just know this dalliance won’t survive her parents’ scrutiny. This is probably the most freedom she’s ever going to have.

Thanks for new thread Boaty.

I've finished Summer Strike it was short and at times sweet (with an undercurrent of suspense)

Finished first part of The Gory Glory. Loved it and can't wait for part 2 drop in March.

Caught up on Singles Inferno. I'm slightly put off it after the mud and girl wrestling it doesn't sit well with me, I'm turning into a prude as there is no way I would 'fight' for a date.
Se-o picked the right chap for her trip to paradise, the chef is the most fun. Did anyone spot her in The Glory?! She has been in a couple of well known dramas.

Seul-ki just annoys me, how she flirted with Navy boy the minute he got back after leading on Jong-Woo to set him up as her fall back 🤨

I really liked the naturalism of Summer Strike Aesops but thought it lost its charm rather in the last 4 episodes with unnecessary plot/angst and then NO PROPER SNOG 🙄
Jong-Woo gives me the ick with his hovering solicitation quite as much as Dong-Joo and his bulldozing arrogance in SI, so I can see the charm of the straightforward gun fancier in that context and am prepared to cut Seul-ki some slack.

You have a point Pol. Jin-Young is no feathery stroker. 😂

Day 10 of 12... nearly there!

For a bit of fun, who can guess this Alternative Oppa? He's looking very different to his usual self!

No cheating on reverse image!

I'm going to cheat by sending him to my friend FedUp who is great at this game .
Further thought on appeal of non-fs Jin-Young - he treats the women like humans rather than tamable wild bird or precious vase.

NO CHEATING YOU CHEATER

Reading more on Singles Inferno and I am completely convinced now that Love is for Suckers was basically made as a long form trailer for the show. There's no other explanation for it otherwise.

I'm not cheating I'm phoning a friend! She's not cheating either and wants to try "Is it the one who does a lot of game shows and was the IVF husband in Love is for Suckers?"

Lee Kwang-Soo is who she's decided she means (who was not IVF husband)
You should definitely give SI a go FedUp. It's a great wee show (unlike LifS)

Yes, that is also true of Jin-Young.

I have no idea who that actor is but he's looking very contoured there 😁 I'm guessing he usually plays serious businessman types with controlled hair and, probably, glasses 🤔

All this SI love makes me think I shd probably try it. My course chingus tell me the cast of series 2 is much more interesting than for series 1. Did try that but turned it off after 5 mins. Felt myself zoning out, and not in a good way.