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!

Bless you migs - that was a treat for my morning tea break!

I am disappointed to have to report that I had no interesting BTS dreams, despite going to sleep thinking about Jin's leather pants...

Holy shit... Jungkook more like Hungkook 👀

I know right??! fans self
^^
Apparently our JK did a tipsy 4 hour weverse live yesterday, with karaoke and guest appearances from Bam and TaeTae (and Namjoon in the comments with "marry me JK" 😂)
^^
^^

Don't know what happened with my formatting there - over excited.

I saw some of that live stream last night and wondered if JK was a bit tipsy!!

No eng subs yet on the YouTubes, but he looks loverly with his long fuwa fuwa hair.

I'm partial to the tattoos as well 😍

Ahhhh JK - saranghae 💜💜💜💜💜💜

Am va, great plans! Hope you have a great day.
Loving the sound of the concert! kicking myself for not watching Permission to Dance,in the cinema. Love, love Black swan.
I watched a lot of the Live, despite only knowing the occasional word. (Twitter translators were helpful) He was defiantly tipsy - good fun!

JK asked if there were any ARMY that could teach him English! He is a tease!!

AmVa, your birthday celebrations sound perfect. Just let us know if anyone wears a towel wrap on the head, Princess Leia style.😁
I noticed on YTC that both V and JK's English pronunciation had improved. That little tease probably has an English horizontal dictionary!!!!😜

I knew my 20 year old TEFL certificate would come in handy one day! 😂

Twitter is a gold mine of tipsy JK today...I've got him looping in the background singing Unholy. I can just imagine the scandal if BTS sang that on stage with the left hand sign of the cross and all!! It'll be interesting to see what happens (if anything) to JK next, as someone pointed out that he was drinking alone at six in the morning 😱 Which is typical holiday behaviour to me.😇

Are you sure you'd want to teach JK English TheLoup? I think it could be a tough job. He looks like he'd be a bit of a handful.

Cobol I will bravely take one for the team, although 'a bit' of a handful is probably an understatement 😂

I may have watched that Unholy clip a few times as well migs ..... 🔥

Is anyone else still watching Strangers Again? I really enjoyed episodes 5/6 although I'm now not sure who I'm rooting for, love interest wise. Do we think the divorce happened because of the family secret ML knows about? Seems a bit extreme....

Is it good Loup? I watched the trailer the other night and thought I might give it a go this weekend.

I'm enjoying it too TheLoup although not done latest episodes yet as been too busy in China and with TIoL. Although since friend pointed them out I am a little distracted by ML's strange ears.

My twitter is showing me jk singing unholy about 1 in every 4 posts, it's definitely made an impression 😅

Pol my sister calls them "Korean" ears, not uncommon, but his are an extreme example.
Loup I'm still watching SA, entertaining enough without scaring the horses. I like the FL.
Regarding, TIoL, I find it interesting that I wasn't rooting for the ML and FL as a couple but that changed at the end of ep 14 once consequences/retribution entered the picture. Someone said that a better translation of the Korean title would be "Understanding Love", which makes more sense of the different character storylines and then I wouldn't have wanted to wring the ML's neck so much.
Is it the fine acting of Geum Sae Rok in the role of Mi Kyung that makes me sympathise so much for her plight? I find her the most interesting character as she tries to creata independent achievements yet cannot break away from the privileges of her family background.
The different understandings of love seem to be directly related to the lived experience of each main character, so I'm guessing that will this drama end with some/all breaking free of the past with a new understanding of what love means.

Physical 100. There must be something special about Crossfit, as so many of them are still in the competition.

Ooo me and the kids need to catch up on physical 100, we've only watched the first two episodes. I guess I always think of CrossFit as being sort of stamina based all-round training so perhaps that's the advantage?

boaty I think SA is definitely worth a go, it's a nice entertaining watch, not too stressful (at the moment). I hadn't noticed ML ears, pol, I will have to go back and eyeball them properly 😂

did anyone see Yoongi's Vogue Singapore pictures? He looks very handsome clad in his Valentino on a lovely terrace somewhere....

I quite like "Interest" Migs given so many of the romantic decisions have an economic basis to them and the banking analogy that is set up right at the beginning.
I'm guessing the last two episodes will see a time hop.

I'm not a particular Sam Smith fan but Unholy is a great (alternative) pop song and I think JK did a fine job with it! Thanks for the tip off! 😊

More IoL episodes have landed here, but won't have time to watch them till Tuesday 😭 looking forward already though.

TheLoup what is this Vogue Singapore shoot of which you speak? Asking for a friend 🤔😁

I've just booked tickets to see Sang Young Park (born in Daegu, lives and works in Seoul) talk about his novel Love in the Big City. Has anyone read it? Sounds intriguing.

Saram it popped up on my insta but I can't see it again now, will search later in and link 👍