MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #42): Where we weigh up two smokin’ hawt chaebol hotelliers, one tortured by loss and the other crippled by abandonment issues

[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
Bloodhounds (Netflix)
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)
Race (Disney+)
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)
The Good Bad Mother (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’
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)
F4 Thailand (Viki)
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
#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!

Yes, that’s interesting. I wonder how they get away with it considering the power of the government.
‘Maybe the government have climbed down as they’ve seen how profitable the Korean look is in dramas and music.

Major FOMO here peeps. I have so much drama to catch up on when I get home. I will be watching Moving on Disney+ first because it’s hooked me and I’m enjoying the grown up production values. Then Rowoon as psychic lawyer chap (DWY?) because of Rowoon and FL’s awful colleagues. I might then check in with the bum-touching vet although I’m also finding the tonal chaos jarring. I still have Bloodhounds on a slow burn. I’m watching that in bursts much like Kingdom, except swap out the scary zombies for harrowing gangster violence.

Not too much FOMO though because we are also having a lot of fun on our hols. 😄

Re: Fake It... Miss Wang absolutely boils my piss. As a manager, throwing staff under the bus is my absolute red line. Please tell me she gets her comeuppance!!!

Her storyline is developed FedUp. Nobody in the show is quite who they appear to be on first impression- hence the title.
I got totally gripped by another cool jazz soundtrack and high gloss production values CDrama which was was lot like this a while ago (although more angsty as about divorce). The Second Half of my Life on Prime. Loved the ML in that.

(Or maybe it was called The First Half of my Life in fact 😆)

Aahhh I reserve judgement then. Thanks for peeling me off the ceiling.

I was seeing red as well 😂

Thank you , that is kind of you. A lot of stress over the past few years has made me generally more worried and I need to get back into a more gung ho mindset.
If anyone has any advice on travel to Seoul I would be grateful .

I'll get back to you in November SirVix 😉

Teaser for The Worst Evil is out! I'm looking forward to this!

Brilliant ! You must be getting excited about your trip, not long now !

Project Wolf Hunting (Prime)- half the movie's budget was probably spent on fake blood. Extremely violent. Bloodbath. Carnage. Seo In Guk's tattooed backside. Lots of popular kdrama actors.

SirVix I totally understand your concerns on all those points, especially if you're not used to long-distance travel (nor am I). AmVa's advice sounds good to me 🙂 I don't think there is a way to break up the journey unfortunately. There must be coeliacs in Korea, hopefully some time spent researching that online would give you answers (you could even try contacting the Korean Tourist Board in London for advice?) As for general worries about what could happen in a worse case situation. I can be a 'what if?' thinker too, and try to get round it by preparing for various scenarios literally/practically (comprehensive travel insurance) and in my imagination (what's plan B if plan A fails?) I mean ask me again when I'm stuck with typhus in a rural hospital and have to set up a Go Fund Me for a medical evacuation 🤔😁🙈 (THIS WON'T HAPPEN)

One thing I would add (and please correct me if I'm wrong chingus) is that it can be extremely cold/snowy the time of year you're thinking of. This doesn't need to be a problem, but again I'd say do your research and don't underestimate Korean winters. They don't wear those big puffa jackets for nothing!

Places to stay - a friend of mine is currently studying in Seoul and found a place to live on Air BnB. So I'm sure there will be places available for holiday rentals too.

boaty glad you are enjoying your holiday 😊

TheLoup YES that trailer looks good!

Migs oooh that was on at a film festival here, but I couldn't make the showing. Maybe I need to get Prime after all (Taecyeon!!! 😁)

I went through Risqué Business Taiwan like a dose of salts. Very different to Risqué Business Japan. They seemed like a likeable bunch massive generalisation (except the owner of the Taiwanese equivalent of Penthouse, bit of a creep I thought - big surprise there...) I do like the set-up of the programme, and the two presenters.

This is on my list! I saw a trailer somewhere online with tattooed Seo In Guk and was like "where can I watch this?" I didn't realise it was on Prime! I will be able to sell it to DH as well on the basis of 'con air on a boat' - although I'm on thin ice after making him watch Peninsula

boaty I have holiday envy!

SirVix I totally understand your anxiety around planning such a long distance (expensive!) trip
I love travelling, but I do think having kids/being responsible for others enjoyment makes it more stress and less fun. I am less of a planner and more ' book on impulse and go with the flow' - but for a big trip like this I would have a rough itinerary and research places to eat to suit dietary requirements. Your dd's are old enough to help you research and plan the trip and take on some of the stress, and just being there and hanging out in Seoul would be so amazing.

I am sure I read something about Project Wolf Hunting causing a worldwide shortage of fake blood....

This tells me that despite the presence of my fave Seo In Guk, this will not be for me. 😱 I didn't know about the backside though...

Are the majority of K films very violent? Apart from Miss Granny, On my Wedding Day and Little Forest they do seem to be.

Haha re the worldwide shortage of fake blood! I feel like I know what to expect at least 🤣 I'm going to try to shoehorn a viewing into my schedule later, will report back 😎

Airbnb , that is a good idea.
Coeliac thing is a pain, as I get enough mistakes made here, I am dreading trying to explain it in another country. As far as I can tell it isn’t a common thing amongst Koreans, there must be some genetic element that perhaps they do have.
Although my preference would be to go in Autumn for the stunning colour, we can’t go then and all love snow and cold weather, so I think that will be ok.
I used to be relaxed about travel, I am not someone who gets wound up if plans go awry , but I think having children and getting older, I get more stressed about possible risks, and I have never liked flying, I get horrendous headaches on longer flights, it must be the pressure as I also get them before thunder.

I am just like this, not a planner at all, always a fairly spontaneous go with the flow holiday person. Planning just makes me aware of all the things that could go wrong !
You are right I should get the dds to plan stuff, and then if we rent somewhere we can cook there.

I used to be relaxed about travel, I am not someone who gets wound up if plans go awry , but I think having children and getting older, I get more stressed about possible risks.

SirVix I don’t blame you, especially given the awful delays and cancellations of flights recently. Will you be able to have a guide for some of the trip? We found that so helpful and it made visiting places so effortless.
We are going for the first fortnight of October. We are spending a few days in Seoul as there’s still so much to see, and then we’re going to a Hanok house near Cheongsong for the rest of the trip plus a visit to a kimchi jar pottery as if it’s not too expensive I’d love to ship some back for our garden.

Unfortunately my Korean hasn’t improved as much as it should since we were last there, but the problem is at my age that vocab and grammar rules drain from my brain like soup through a sieve. Anyway, I can say ‘I’m the village idiot’ in Korean so I’ll use that as an excuse when I can’t remember how to say something.

October sounds the best time to go, it will be so beautiful! We sadly can’t go then as DD1 will be back in university, we need to fit in around her terms, dd2’s exams etc. December/January holidays work best for everyone. And as the girls are 16 and 18 now I want to do something amazing with them. We were going to have a trip a few years ago and the pandemic stopped that.

All this talk of trips makes me really want to get something booked! I was hoping with DD1 going off to uni this year that we might benefit from longer, and out of term time holidays. Looks like that might not be the case though. We'll see once she starts 🙏

It's anyone still watching Behind your Touch? I enjoyed this week's episodes much more, it feels like the storyline might settle down a bit now and develop a bit more... Unless I've just got used to the crazy 🤪

I also started Japanese dating show Is she the wolf, I've only watched one episode so far but it seems full of promise. DH and I just started Mask Girl too

I'm still watching BYT rowdy. I thought this week had settled down a bit as well - still bonkers of course but slightly less so.

I watched a really old Kdrama last week with Jung So Min called "Playful Kiss" (from 2010) - OMG the ML is such a toxic bastard - he is HORRIBLE to the FL to the point that I couldn't believe he was the endgame as 2ML was so sweet. I know we do still get those awful wrist grabby "if he's awful to you it means he likes you" bullshit tropes, but watching something old like that makes you realise that things have at least progressed a little in the right direction. JSM is likeable and watchable as always in it, and it was super addictive - seeing as I totally binged it.