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!

AmVa If you're looking to crush on Ji Chang-wook I'd definitely recommend Healer over Lovestruck in the City. It's a cracking little thriller and JCW plays a really cool character in it whereas, although Lovestruck is a good show overall with a great cast, the character he plays in it is a little bit pathetic at times.

So we finished Unlock My Boss and as anticipated it didn't really deliver on the thriller side of things. It all got rather silly towards the end (which is really saying something given how silly it started out in the first place) and it was all rather rushed and unsatisfying unfortunately as I quite enjoyed it in places. Averagely diverting but nothing special.

AmVa there is always time for more Ji Chang Wook in your life , Suspicious Partner is my absolute favourite kdrama, I just love it. Healer and If You Wish Upon Me are both great dramas, I think if I had to pick, Healer would be the one I would recommend most. If you like musicals, he was in The Sound of Magic which I thought was brilliant. I'm not sure if many people enjoyed it, but I thought his singing was wonderful.

Cobol Thanks for the warning re: UMB. I was already in two minds.

Metheven I don't think I've ever seen a Ji Chang Wook drama 🤔 And I realised today I STILL haven't seen The Sound of Magic. So am now bumping it to the top of my list on the strength of your recommendation. And because I feel it's a dark evenings drama, if you know what I mean. So I'd better strike soon! Be Melodramatic is ongoing, still enjoying that. And there are the last two episodes of CCiR as of Sunday. AND I'm keen to start 25/21 and Missing: the Other Side. Suspicious Partner etc. also all on the list!

Suspicious Partner is excellent.
I have to say I didn’t enjoy The Sound of Magic. His use of magic seemed arbitrary and I hated the scene with the school bully however appallingly she had behaved.
However I know plenty of people loved it so I guess I’m in a minority.

Saram13 I hope you enjoy The Sound of Magic, I love musicals and I have had the soundtrack playing for months now, particularly good when doing something boring like cleaning the bathroom 😂. Your to watch list sounds very like mine - long, not enough hours in the day to watch them all.

I've just stuck the sound of magic on 👍 is it only 6 episodes? I like the singing, I hadn't realised it was a musical until you guys said

Yes TheLoupGarou it is only six episodes long. I agree with Andante57 the way he behaved with the bully was very hard to watch.

Thanks for the tip boaty, I have added it to the ever-expanding list!

At the moment I am revelling in Forget About My Husband, I'd Rather Go Make Money which is a gluten-free fantasy/past life comic on Bato with a strong FL intent on using her arranged marriage to escape and make money. It's very funny in parts as the FL is clueless about dating. I'm enjoying it so much I am now reading the novel on novelupdates, currently on chapter 212 and nearly up to date after which I will have to wait for weekly translation 😫

I'm only on ep1 - I'm enjoying JCW's scruffy magician look and he has a really nice voice..... I used to have a nearly identical butterfly necklace to his in the late 90's - quite disappointed (non magical - as far as I know)

That should say 'disappointed that it was non magical ' sausage fingers

Kdramas and musicals - two of my loves that I hadnt even thought could be combined (a bit silly of my now I think of it!) Very excited to try sound of magic .

I come out in hives when people break into song* in TV or film. I started the Sound of Magic but had to beat a hasty retreat.

• I make exception for films or TV which are actually about singing. It’s how I was able to get through the first season of Glee Club with DH. I also make an exception for Singing in the Rain.

He should have used non violent magic. Do Min jun would have dealt with it better.

TheLoupGarou JCW's scruffy look definitely suits him and he really does have a great voice.

AmVa I am like you and two of my loves are kdramas and musicals. My third is zombies, so if you ever come across a kdrama musical zombie film, please let me know.

Metheven - kdramas are not shy about genre mash-ups. It’s only a matter of time.

Metheven I reckon I've watched about 40, 45 K-dramas and Korean films in two years and have about 30 on the to-watch list 😨 I just have too many obligations and not enough time. Mind you, studying Korean realistically takes up 12-15 hours a week. So ironically I'd be much further on if it wasn't for that 😁

I am LOVING The Sound of Magic. So much so I squeezed in half an episode before work today 😃 And I get the JCW love. If the bully who gets treated horribly is the girl poking that lovely parrot with a stick......hmmm....we'll see. Love the theme park setting, not down with clowns though so did shout out 'bastard clown!' (it was an inanimate figure) in episode 2 😁

If you'd asked me I'd have said musicals are not my thing. But....I was brought up on Judy Garland, Doris Day and Gene Kelly films. Went to see La La Land and (the new) West Side Story in the cinema. Have seen Jersey Boys, 42nd Street and Mary Poppins in the West End. Love most Disney films, including Enchanted. (The Princess and the Frog is my all time favourite, and I listen to the soundtrack on Spotify)....... so....yeah 🤔😂

Oh might need to add Sound of Magic to the list now, as do like JCW. I enjoyed K9 but did think the FL was ever so drippy and was not sure why he fell for her quite so hard.

boatyardblues Anna and the Apocalypse is a zombie musical set in Scotland, all we need is for a kdrama remake to make my day.

Saram13 My to watch list is more like a small book now, every time I come onto this thread, I have new recommendations. I am in awe of you and others here learning Korean, I don't think my old brain could manage it. So glad you are enjoying The Sound of Magic, I must say, if I happened upon an abandoned theme park, I would be running in the other direction pretty sharpish, they are so creepy. Unless JCW was beckoning me in, that is. I adore the old Hollywood musicals, I watch White Christmas at any time of the year, much to my husband's disgust. He also just rolls his eyes when Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is on for the upteenth time. Poor man. Disney films really have some cracking songs in them, Be Prepared from Lion King that Scar sings is just brilliant.

All three are different & depends what do you feel like watching.
All are watchable but if you have to pick then my vote is for Lovestruck in the City, it was JCW’s first drama after military service. I started watching for him but continued due to format. Comments (documentary format) were funny. His house 😍.

Healer is very popular and highly recommended, I went in with very high expectations but didn’t enjoy it as much.

If you wish upon me - I started but left it half way as wasn’t in a mood of this genre. I might pick it at some point.

Is If You Wish Upon Me depressing? I have a low threshold for that.

It's about terminally ill people and someone dies in more or less every episode Andante but it's designed as a "healing" drama rather than a depressing one I'd say. It's about a team granting their wishes and there's also an inevitable convoluted backstory featuring a murderer. But there's plenty of warmth in it too.

This made me laugh https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqLEf6VDIzm/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Haha pol that reel made me laugh as well, especially the '1 year' one where he is checking his hair in the mirror 🤣

I've just seen 'Racket Boys' pop up on my netflix - can anyone advise if it's suitable for family viewing? I thought DS's (10&11) might like it (it's a 12) .....

I haven’t watched it Loup but I love your ‘get ‘em young’ to bringing your family over to the dark side. 💪

Racket Boys is lovely and totally suitable I think if they'll sit through it and cope with subs and slightly rambly start to the story etc.