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!

Ooo there's definitely something different isn't there?

@Cobol I'm part way through The Uncanny Counter and really enjoying it too! The baddies are great!!

boaty I look forward to hearing what you thought of Past Lives. I want to go and see it again. One of those films you keep thinking back on.

pol uncharacteristically for me I've binged through Is She the Wolf? and agree 100% with all your observations. Although I liked it but didn't love it (6.5 as opposed to Love Village's 9+) it was strangely compelling. Which is probably the point of reality shows (which I almost never watch). My takeaway is that everyone has a double - I immediately identified bargain-basement Japanese versions of Yoongi and KWB and perhaps rather cruelly took pleasure in thinking of them as such every time they appeared on screen 😁. I say this as someone who was compared to Julie Delpy 25+ years ago 🤔 at which point I thought 'I bet Julie Delpy wouldn't be too made up about that' 😂 so I can take it as well as dish it out 😁

I'm still working my way through both Moving and The Uncanny Counter series 1 and enjoying them both. Will watch last weekend's Behind Your Touch later and see if it gets back on track.

I say this as someone who was compared to Julie Delpy 25+ years ago 🤔 at which point I thought 'I bet Julie Delpy wouldn't be too made up about that' 😂 so I can take it as well as dish it out 😁

A friend’s Mum told me I looked like Sherilynn Fenn when Twin Peaks was airing. I was very pleased with the comparison but thought she was being over generous with it.

Is pound-shop KWB still hot? Asking for a friend 😉

I don't have any celebrity lookalikes but DH has always looked a bit like Obi Wan era Ewan McGregor in all his incarnations including the ageing beardy one 🤣

Making good use of a few days off work - today I've started Rain or Shine on Netflix. The story is so-so BUT omg, I am enjoying sexy bad boy bit of rough Junho - I think this might be my favourite ever Junho (apart from the rl floordrobe/cats version 😁)

100% agree with this...except I DO like Red Sleeve Junho too.

Rain Or Shine, or rather Just Between Lovers (the Viki title) is where the phrase Lovely Eyes Tousled Hair comes from, just shortened to Lovely Eyes now as sadly he no longer has the tousled hair.

TheLoup - I have had that one in mind for a while. At the moment, I am swapping between The Kings Affection and 100 Days my Prince while I waited for the next episode of Destined for You.
bettys - you've taught me something, I did not realise Viki might go for a different title. Need to look now to see if there is an alternative title for Durian's Affair, which the clips make look quite amusing.

We are pretty good about adding in alternative titles to our OP, buI have to admit I’m getting more casual as time goes on.

Rain or Shine/Just Between Lovers is an interesting one. It motors along being quite bleak because of the initial premise and aftermath but then miraculously morphs into something rather wonderful. Stick with it. The feels are coming…

I've skipped past Rain or Shine LOADS of times because I was a bit unsure of the premise but now I'm a few episodes in it is really good & well acted too.

There's a really innocuous bit in episode 2 or 3 where they are on the construction site in the rain and ML kind of drops all the stuff he's carrying and takes off his coat to give to FL and I was like < heart fluttering > Lee Junho - I just fell for you right there. He is ALL KINDS OF HOT as this character - emotionally wounded yet kind hearted bad boy? Sign me up. 😁 maybe the tousled hair could make a comeback someday???

Does anyone keep a currency converter app on their phone for working out how much things cost in dramas?

TheLoup Bargain basement KWB is a mere shadow of the real KWB, but has charms all of his own I suppose. You Your friend will just have to watch it and see 😁I'd be interested to see if everyone else identifies the same guys as vague lookalikes 🤔😄

Behind Your Touch really picked up in episodes 7 and 8. I'm back in.

No, but I could definitely do with one 😄

I have also had my eye on Rain or Shine for a while thanks for the hot Junho picture so will investigate soon!

In between waiting for new episodes of My Lovely Liar and DWY I somehow found myself doing a bit of a Goblin rewatch... Having now watched a bunch more Lee Dong Wook dramas since my first time around I have even more love for the mopey grim reaper 😍😍 the combination of him and Gong Yoo is seriously hard to beat

Re: Fake It

Christ, that weird ear lad can flirt <fanny gallops>

No, but I do google it - e.g. 100,000 KRW to GBP.

Haha - I also Google the cost of drama items fairly often!

Well, the MV certainly makes me want to be on holiday in the Mediterranean with V and the Beautiful People .....

Musically it's a bit too 'lying on your bed in a dark room staring at the ceiling after a break-up' for me. Visuals on brand at 10/10 but doesn't float my boat - V makes me feel like being "have you eaten? Is your homework done? Have fun with your friends!"
Plenty of fish in the sea Kim Taehyung! 🤣

TheLoup I've surprised myself by really liking 'Slow Dancing' - gives me Japanese Citypop vibes. Haven't watched the video yet 😁 But will chip in with my usual complaint about how I'd rather have the lyrics in Korean than English.

I think Hybe (and the members themselves) have done an excellent job of coming up with solo music that makes perfect sense for each of their public/band personas. Nothing jars (except for a certain part of 'People part 2' [side eyes Mr Min] 😁). I love how Spotify takes me from 'Slow Dancing' to 'Haegum' or 'On the Street' and it feels right. This is now solo releases by all of them, right? What now? Is Namjoon going to do another one before he disappears off in to the army? With all those Balming Tiger hints/teasers and the new song at the D-Day concert?

I also convert won into euros in my head 😂 (very roughly, first teacher kept 'translating' what various things we were learning the word for in class would cost in Korea, so I copied her).

Luckily for me, 1 million won is more or less 1000 AUD so I can easily get a rough idea of amounts of money. I don't like it when subtitles translate the amount into presumably USD pretending that is what the person is saying.

I quite liked slow dancing, probably favourite song based on listens & MVs so far is Rainy Days.

I'm loving Slow Dancing! And that the Yeontan theme carries on 😍💜

Just dropping by to say 💯 for Mr flirty weird ears being a fanny flapper FedUp

And ran away in tired and emotional state at lunchtime to watch Past Lives and it's just beautiful. Wept but in a lovely way.

Although, in reference to Fake It once again I'm just a girl standing in front of a C/KDrama writer saying THERE ARE MORE BOOKS IN THE WORLD THAN THE EFFING LITTLE PRINCE.

Fanny gallops a go go

🤣🤣🤣