MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #43): Where we marvel over the singularity of Taecyeon’s ears while waiting for Lee Min Ho to show up in his space scrubs

[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, Thai & Chinese drama as & when.

The previous thread is www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4842000-mslattes-daebak-cybercafe-kdrama-addicts-42-where-we-weigh-up-two-smokin-hawt-chaebol-hotelliers-one-tortured-by-loss-and-the-other-crippled-by-abandonment-issues?page=1here
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, 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)🌟
King The Land (Netflix)
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)h
Misaeng (Netflix)🌟
My Liberation Notes🌟
Move to Heaven (Netflix)
My Mister (Viki/Netflix)🌟
My Unfamiliar Family (Viki)🌟
Navillera (Netflix)🌟
Not Others (Viki)
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
A Time Called You (Netflix)
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)🌟
My Lovely Liar (Viki)
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
Behind Your Touch (Netflix)
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)
Fake it Till You Make it (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!

A sad, delicious comedown 😔

Your attention to kdrama detail is forensic Pol. 👏

Hahaha I knew @polkettle was going to bring up HP / Maccas.
I agree though that it looks weird .. like when characters use iphones. Seoul is a samsung / subway town!!

We all have our KD Mastermind specialist round 😉

I have watched the first two episodes of My Demon and it seriously could not be any more my jam. Hot and kind of silly supernatural being. Fake relationship on the way. Beautiful clothes and ridiculous shoes. I almost feel like I would want to wait and binge it but I also know I won't have that self control 😅

Agree with whoever upthread said she had great chemistry with 2ML but also with ML I thought. Chemistry all round! 🥂

Right. Going to settle in for My Demon now, prising myself away from all the BL's I've been watching over the past week or so - it's been a fun spiral 😁

Can confirm : My Demon is 100% my jam.
Song Kang does look a bit different ?grew into his face a bit +/- a few visits to the old dermatology clinic?

TheLoup 'grew into his face' 😁 yeah that's one way of putting it 🤔 I know I am straight-up obsessed with surgical tweaks, but he does not look right to me. Personally the styling is not floating my boat either (terrible 80s wig-like hair and the kind of silly big shoulder-y coat I saw on a guy with a very very dolled-up girlfriend in Gangnam - I mean he looked like he was standing in a coffin - that made me laugh). BUT we all have different tastes, long may that last, and I am enjoying it nonetheless. God bless Song Kang and his implants 😍

🤣 "and his implants" 💀 this reminds me of when - thanks to this thread - I discovered the existence of pectoral implants : what's seen cannot be unseen!! 😱

I quite like the ott 80's styling (in the drama, i wouldn't wear it - the white floofy bow blouse that FL was wearing for her dinner date in episode 1 seemed like an impractical choice, but at least she did get something spilled on it 😁).

The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract has been my most enjoyable new series of the weekend. It has a bit of everything so far - Joseon dressing up, feisty FL, pathos, sharp modern tailoring, chaebol shenanigans. I’m so here for it.

I’m not feeling My Demon in quite the same way despite a strong plot premise & decent cast. Song Kang isn’t quite as strong a lead as others.

The ML’s modern day naughty cousin/?half sibling in TSOPMC is an awareness campaign for the perils of too much surgical intervention in human form. Less is more, lovely Korean people. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. 😕

Ooo that one is on my list as well boaty (TSOPMC) - I'll look out for the surgical interventions.

I am such a sucker for a broody supernatural boyfriend storyline that I can forgive many a shortcoming as long as it hits the right story beats - the evidence is plain to see in the contents of my kindle 🤭

There’s a Zane Lowe radio episode with a Jungkook interview being pushed at me on my AppleMusic feed. I’m not nearly as Army-oriented as many of you, so won’t be partaking. Mentioning it in case anyone has missed it. 🙂

@TheLoupGarou we are obviously in tune 🤝

I do prefer my supernatural beings a bit older - so far the demon is missing the immortal being gravitas of say gong Yoo or Lee dong Wook but it's a small quibble

We’re on episode 14 of Strong Girl Nam Soon and we’re enjoying it a lot. Excellent acting by Kim Ki-Doo as Nam Soon’s underpowered uncle, and Kim Hae-Sook as super strong granny. I love the scenes of her dealing with gangsters.

I found new episodes of A Good Day to be a Dog after losing patience waiting for uploads. It is cute. DH even watched a bit of it tonight. The school trip to Gyeonju did a much better job of promoting SK than Alexander Armstrong’s crap travel show. I can’t work out if the history teacher is proper evil or just bitter and holding a v old grudge.

A FYI for anyone considering a Viki sub - they're hosting 'KDrama Day' on the 29th (a made up day I can get behind) and there's 29% off subs that day (annoying eh @Saram13 ?)

Ah yes I recently went and got a Viki subscription 🙌😁. I have no time to watch it but, yeah, minor issue 😂

boatyand TheLoupI also like Lee Sang Yi (any chance of an appearance on the calendarRowdyorFedUp? Not quite sure whether he's a mainstream or alternative oppa by usual standards....)

Saram I'm going to throw this one over to Briiiiick for the Alt Oppa list. absolutely nothing to do with my severe dislike for the bloke 😬😁

DH and I have been really enjoying Vigilante, I'm disappointed it's only 6 episodes, mainly because I have to try and persuade DH to watch another Kdrama now, as 6 episodes isn't a proper series.

I'm really really loving My Dearest it has that dark foreboding feeling to it and the winter scenery is beautiful. The ML is definitely off my shit list too, he's won me over (unless it all goes to shit later on, which may well happen)

Only 3 days until Oppa advent time! 🎄🔥😍

Omg edit fail 🙈

I am UNREASONABLY excited about the oppa advent calendar. Can't wait 😁

OPPA ADVENT CALENDAR OPPA ADVENT CALENDAR OPPA ADVENT CALENDAR

Who needs chocolate when we have oppas?

My people! I've just found this thread and am SO excited by The List at the top! I began watching Crime Thrillers and somehow ended up watching a vet touching animal and people's butts...and I've no idea how that happened but I am now an avid fan of all things K. I'm going to have to catch up with all of the starred titles in The List so I may not be very active, but if you all decide to binge something at the same time let me know so I can join in!!! LOVE IT!
P.S are Korean men actually as emotionally aware as they seem to be? I'm in awe of their level of perceptiveness, communication and self reflection!

Welcome welcome OppaDoppaDo!

Welcome OppaDoppaDo what a fantastic username! You've joined us at just the right time, ready for the Oppa advent 🎅

Ha, ha, if you've watched Behind your Touch then you're well versed on the crazy genre bending that Kdramas are so good at. Enjoy working your way through the list