MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #40): The Filthy Noonas’ rapidly expanding flock gambol into spring with a giddiness only matched by Junkook’s drunken vlives

[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)
Our Blooming Youth (Viki)
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/Netflix)
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 Course in Romance (Netflix)
Crash Landing on You (Netflix)🌟Descendants of the Sun (Viki/Netflix)
Doctors (Netflix)
Doom At Your Service (Viki)
Extraordinary Attorney Woo (Netflix)
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)

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)🌟
Delivery Man (Viki)
Happiness (Viki/Netflix)🌟
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’
We 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
Coutrtesy 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 - 9.42
#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!

Some of the military service exemptions are bit bonkers i.e only male heir in 4 generations, number of molars, and being over weight.

@TheLoupGarou yaaa to Mogu Mogu - I should’ve mentioned it earlier -10 to 20% discount if you buy directly from the UK supplier.
Lychee & melon are so far the best & I am disappointed with peach.

I’ve been cooking up a storm all morning - galbi jjim, kimchi jjigae, gaji namu, musungchae. So much so I missed the king getting his fancy new hat. I’m having a mini pitstop before I finish the sigeumchi namul and make the gamja jorim. And yes, I am having people round, much as I’d like to live off banked 국밥 and 반잔 for a week. 😄

Go you!!! 💪💪💪

I got mine from Amazon Jin I never thought of buying direct, doh! Next time.....

Also boaty that sounds amazing. Enjoy the feast!

I usually buy my short rib beef from the butcher and ask him to cut it into the 2” chunks. I ordered it from Sainsburys this time. I arrived as 2 x 12” lengths of rib. 😮 I didn’t want to spend the day in A&E with an idiotic self-inflicted injury so I’ve stewed it whole & am waiting for the meat to fall off the bones so I can chunk it up. It’s good looking short rib though. Lack of chunking aside, I’d buy it again.

Yum Boaty
I ran away to see Return to Seoul at the flicks this afternoon. It's great - in an occasionally gnomic and overly stylish French way. And did a little internal cheer when I saw Kim Sun-Young 's name turn up on opening credits. You know you're in safe hands then.

I went with DH. It must have been good because he stayed awake throughout (unusual). 😄 I liked it very much and also cheered when I saw Kim Sun-Young. There were so many brilliant small touches that nodded to Freddie’s unmoored cultural experience, like her consternation at the fridge full of tupperware at the family home.

Absolutely Boaty. That whole sequence at the house was so excruciating and beautifully done. The poor skivvying wife and sleeping next to halmeoni...

FedUp thanks for your enlistment feedback 🙂 yes that all makes sense. The mental health aspect hadn't even occurred to me, but yes of course. Now you say it, it seems almost impossible it wouldn't be taken into account.

TheLoup yes I love Namjoon's posts too and will really miss them. They're what persuaded me to join IG in the first place but now I scroll mindlessly through pretty much anything it suggests to me, no doubt depleting all the brain cells I gained by osmosis via Namjoon's content.

boaty your cooking sounds A-MAZ-ING! I'm getting plantain lasagne tonight (much better than it sounds 😁) but on this occasion would happily swap 😃

Jin Agreed that lychee is a quality Mogu Mogu flavour🙌 have a coconut and a mango one lined up for imminent consumption. On the subject of flavours, an online chingu recommend yoghurt-flavoured soju. I thought it would be the work of Satan, but it was actually by the far the best flavoured one I've yet tried 🤔

pol and boaty glad you both enjoyed Return to Seoul. I too rejoiced to see Kim Sun-Young.

Have nearly caught up with TGBM. Watching it reminded me that I also have a bit of thing for Choi Mu-seong. What is it about me and the less obviously attractive actors from Reply 1988? It was my second K-drama (after CLOY, natch). Is it like chicks imprinting on the first thing they see.....?! 🤔

Choi Mu-seong is perfect Alternative Oppa material... I'll keep a mental note for this Christmas 😁

FedUp 😁Choi Mu-seong, Kim Sung-kyun and Sung Dong-il/KDW as the Magi......? 🤔

Looking back, they all had awful hair and fashion in Reply 1988 (like me in the real 1988 😂). Maybe it's the shock of seeing them styled more attractively in other roles...? Trying to justify sudden awakening of interest.

After having a salad for dinner, I'm ready to eat all leftovers (if any) from Boaty's Korean feast. Fortunately I have lychee mogu mogu in the fridge to tide me over, after buying a case of it at Christmastime.

I finished Flower of Evil today and can't believe that I had dropped it last year. It really shows how one's enjoyment of a show can change depending on the mood you're in and your expectations. It was after I had seen Scarlet Heart Ryeo which is my #1 kdrama but the same ml actor in both shows are so different.

Here to confess that I'm a filthy, filthy noona because age appropriate oppas never make the cut with me.😉

I'm just pausing Dr Cha to shout:

GASLIGHTING BASTARD!!!!!!!!

It's true you are the filthiest Noona of all...

I’ll join in.

At times I feel for 2FL too, it’s professor Cha’s fault. He is one horrible person.

Will he be interested in his wife just because he thinks, someone younger likes her?

I want a very satisfying ending - Dr Chaa divorced & living her independent life with thriving career. She don’t need a make saviour.

I am looking forward to tomorrow’s episode.

For dinner, I had Korean instant noodles/ramen with rice (I have been watching DAS). I must say rice with ramen’s soup is aaaammmaaazing.

@boatyardblues your menu sounds amazing- I am picturing it, served with tons of side dishes on individual tables (like sageuk dramas).

It was good. Everyone filled their boots & I still have enough left over for our family dinners for the rest of the long weekend. 🙌 We even have banchan left over, so I barely have to lift a finger. Just as well because one of my guests bought mutant 14% ABV makkeoli. I’m not looking forward to tomorrow’s hangover.

I AM looking forwards to catching up on Dr Cha. 😄

Your feast sounds delicious Boaty 😋

And ive also found Mogu Mogu in a shop near work. It's become my treat to myself if I work a weekend.

boaty glad it was a success! Despite/because of the makgeolli 😁

I assumed Dr Cha was a Viki series. But now see it's expected on Netflix, but with a delayed release here. As usual 🙄

Oooh and did I say I worked out the technical difference between my and MrSaram's accounts? It's very simple, but I didn't notice before. His is in English and mine is in the local language. Gives us access to totally different series (the English-language account has way more older K-dramas).

Do you never use a VPN to watch shows earlier @Saram13?

I’m catching up with Dr Cha and just seen the art school fracas. “I’m the head of this family!” Duplicitous husband throwing his weight around. To coin a MN term, I want to punch that sexist cockweasel so hard right now. 😡

Just had some left over pavlova for breakfast. 😁

I'm looking sadly at my banana, boaty! Pavlova for me too please!

Definitely getting FOMO now re Dr Cha. I may start watching - not enough hours in the day! I'm behind with all currently airing dramas as MrLoup has got really into Through the Darkness so we've been binging that. I've also started watching Lawless Lawyer and am liking it a lot so far as well (on ep 3) plus RB with the kids: must get some fresh air today!

It's true you are the filthiest Noona of all...

...but I'm in my Leeds era😇

You guys are drinkfluencers - was in my normal Sainsbury's equivalent supermarket here and looked down at a shelf and saw some mogu mogu. Obviously had to buy some to try, even though I don't know where the obsession with it in this chat comes from??? 😂 I am an easy sell, what can I say. It was only $1.50 🤷

Mogu Mogu: we first saw it on Run BTS episode.
Then suddenly it became popular in DC’s secondary school before Prime took over.