MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #39): February sees the Filthy Noonas warmed by the smouldering embers of Jin’s leather trousers

[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)
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 Forbidden Marriage (Viki)
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 (Netflix)🌟
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)
Sell Your Haunted House (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)
Meet Yourself (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 Makanai (Netflix, 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

#2Alchemy 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!

Pol, brillant! Laughed all the way through it!

I've just watched Unlocked on Netflix, very creepy film, I don't know why I always watch things like this when I'm home alone! Im Siwan plays a very creepy feathery stroker serial killer.

Rowdy, I don’t like creepy stuff but I do like Im Siwan. Is he good in it?

Last week I finished Money Heist Korea which was great fun and full of rather delicious age appropriate oppas. Lovely.

I am almost at the end of Kiss Sixth Sense, good fun, nothing too heavy but of course the ML and FL knew each other as children. Who would have thought it?

Rowdythree I was thinking about watching Unlocked, I shall put it on my daytime watching list, I get too creeped out to watch that sort of thing in the evening.

I've been busy all day with chores and having a nightmare trying to book some flights. Even hand washed the car after realising that I needed to wind down the window if I wanted to check for oncoming traffic before entering roundabouts 😜

On male vs female athletes - in tennis it's often been said that the world's No 100 Men's player can easily beat the No 1 Woman, including Serena Williams in her prime!!!

Horror loving chingus, not Korean, but if you've never seen the movie Night of the Living Dead, try to hunt it up, as it represents a pivotal moment for the zombie/horror genre. I remember going to see it in my teens, and the audience started laughing as usual when the first zombie appeared (because they walk funny). It wasn't long before you could hear a pin drop in the cinema.

Off to finish J-Hope in the Box now.

Im Siwan plays a very creepy feathery stroker serial killer.

This made me laugh though I'm sure I wouldn't if I watched it.

Just watched J-Hope In The Box - really lovely!

Speaking of feathery strokers... Why is it that I find Lee Jong Suk to be a massive FS in pretty much all his roles (dropped W in part because he was annoying me) but in Romance is a Bonus Book I think he is literally sex on legs????

Been doing a little RIABB rewatch as I have some urgent knitting to do for a baby present and I can't watch something that requires full concentration on subtitles and knit at the same time!

AmVa LJS is the definition of feathery stroker 😂 I've not got sexy vibes off him in any show. Although I did quite like him in W. I still can't believe he is dating IU 🤔

Wildflower he is good in Unlocked it's a very understated performance, but definitely creepy. It's not a scary film to watch, but definitely sinister. It made me get up and lock the door as I'm home alone 😬

My little daughter hasn't been well eith a cold and as her dad is still in Korea that means I've been off work the last two days.

Saw people mentioning physical 100 on here so I put it on as something to have in the background while keeping her occupied - turns out she loves it! Maybe I didn't need to ask about toddler shows after all haha

LJS doesn't do it for me - although I enjoyed W for the most part, and I liked him in Pinocchio. Still haven't watched RIABB - perhaps we need some sort of FS scale to rate his performances 🤣

It might be because RIABB is set in publishing world, where I worked for many years. When there was a straight man in the office we used to ask ourselves if he was actually hot, or just a straight man in publishing 😅😅

Nyx my kids love Physical 100!
Sorry your dd isn't well! Hope she feels better soon (and that you manage to bodyswerve whatever bug she has!)

Not sure it's helping her Korean though as the only new word she seems to have picked up is 'shiibal' (unsure of precise spelling) which I'm pretty sure doesn't mean 'oh shoot' as last time I heard it used frequently was when DP was trying to fill out his tax forms 😂

Also, I love LJS's fashion in RIABB - want it for myself!! Although it makes me think of this tweet which always makes me laugh:

twitter.com/slayerfest98/status/1574129558550450177?t=4HtGI6-b3nH9H7c1NFAfaA&s=19

She's only 19 months and has previously not shown much interest in TV (probably because I tried getting her to watch kids language videos haha) so I wasn't really expecting her to be so engaged by people hanging off bars and mud wrestling haha

And thanks for the best wishes! She does love to share though!

Hahaha! I partially rate all k-drama by coat quality 🤣 imagine having a wardrobe full of fab, designer wool coats suitable for any occasion. Goblin always springs to mind - although I suppose he was 900 years old so had a long time to build up his coat collection....

I really enjoyed RIABB but more for the FL than LJS. I do find him very watchable, though, and he's been in a lot of really good dramas. I agree his kissing scenes tend to be quite tame, but I thought he had reasonably good chemistry with Bae Suzy in While You Were Sleeping, (though maybe not as good as with Kim Woo Bin in School 2013 ha!) and on the whole I find him very likeable, not least because of this:

Haha! Cobol - he's got the skills to pay the bills 😃 I love his happy face in that clip! I can't believe I forgot While You Were Sleeping! I loved that one and agree LJS was good with Suzy. I think it would be hard for anyone not to have chemistry with Kim Woo Bin 🤣

Cobol that LSJ dance would make a very effective daily exercise routine. I want to learn it as it targets all areas!!

Now watching Netflix movie Time to Hunt and there are some good young actors in it.

To be fair to Namjoon, it is a LARGE target to miss...

www.instagram.com/reel/Co7OrgpPdAr/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Fedup!!! 😂😂😂

FedUp!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Do you know, whenever I see any footage of Jin now I automatically glance at his crotch??!! You guys are a bad influence 🤣

Dance practice videos are a minefield (jumping around, sweatpants..)

Poor toasty LJS may be a fashion icon with an extensive wardrobe of coats but he can't find a belt today 🙄
www.instagram.com/reel/Co_1SLRDBs2/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Fed up and Pol🤣🤣🤣