MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #45): Where we are *still* waiting on Lee Min Ho’s astronaut OBGYN to arrive and ponder whether 2024 will be kdrama’s breakout year

[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 www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4956077-mslattes-daebak-cybercafe-kdrama-addicts-44-in-which-a-surprise-feast-of-corking-contract-marriage-dramas-is-undercut-by-an-imminent-bts-content-famine-as-jung-kook-rm-v-and-jimin-enlist?page=1 here. Our list is cumulative so includes previous threads’ recommendations. 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)
Maestra (Disney+)
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)🌟
The Worst of Evil (Disney+)
Tunnel (Netflix)🌟
Vigilante (Disney+)

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)🌟

Makjang
Perfect Marriage Revenge (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 The Eighth Sense [BL] (Viki)
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)
Semantic Error [BL] (Viki)
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)🌟
Daily Dose of Sunshine (Netflix)
Descendants of the Sun (Viki/Netflix)
Doctors (Netflix)
Doom At Your Service (Netflix/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)/When the Weather is Nice (Netflix)
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), season 3 (Disney+)
Search: WWW (Viki, Netflix)🌟
Something in the Rain (Netflix)
Tell Me That You Love Me (Disney+)
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)🌟
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/Netflix)🌟

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)
Twinkling Watermelon (Viki)
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)
Moon in the Day (Viki)
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)
My Personal Weatherman [BL] (Jdrama, Viki)
Orange Days (Japan, Netflix)
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 💩
Melting Me Softly
The Birth of a Beauty
Well-Intentioned Love season 1 (S2 is fine & stands alone)

Top Scoring 2023 Dramas
#1 Bloodhounds 8.9
#2 = The Good Bad Mother 8.8
#2 = Deaths Game 8.8
#2 = Moving 8.8
#2 = The Glory 8.8
(#2 rankings by number of votes)

Top Scoring 2022 Dramas
#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!

Argh, missed the edit window. Nairy = nary, though possibly a Freudian slip.

Agree 💯

That wedding dress was a definite f off to su-mins awful one.

My random observation was how do they get new babies for TV shows??? Those babies were pretty new. What parent of a newborn thinks "this baby is born for stardom, I must get them an agent immediately!!"

Agree TheGirl - maybe baby talent scouts touring hospitals finding the cutest new arrivals???

Heheh boaty I can remember ranting similarly about something I was watching last year along the lines of "aaarrrggghhhh ITS SO OBVIOUSLY A WOMAN!"

It's like Shakespearean disguise effort level - e.g. a hat.

I would basically describe my style goals as chaebol harabeoji but that cardigan was a step too far. The raw edges!! Probably would not show cat hair, tbf.
However I do think X's Healer chic was a reasonable choice as known to appeal to PMY.

My other thoughts on the final 2 eps of MMH are less charitable so will end it there before harshing other people's squee. But thankful it got me back into kdramas!

Haha! Good point re Healer chic maldo although JCW did it better 🤣

• *It's a shame MMH went off the boil so much as it started out SO well - I started to nope out around ep 13 I think. Its a hard one to score - I need to ponder.

One of the things that irritated me about the final episode was the leads wearing actual knitwear in bed. Knitwear! Plus other layers. This is NOT a thing! Is the central heating broken???? Are you Puritans?

Nice wedding hall though 😉

My other thoughts on the final 2 eps of MMH are less charitable so will end it there before harshing other people's squee. But thankful it got me back into kdramas!

No squee here. I’m done with PMY as romantic lead. She’s a sexy vibe vampire, the Colin Robinson of kdrama. She gradually drains any ML she is partnered with of his hotness. Only His Hotness KJW survived and thrived because the man is sexual charisma made flesh. Had Her Private Life been a 50 episode marathon it might have been a different story. 🧛‍♀️

I will also struggle to score MMH. It was a game of two halves. The other couples were much more fun. The ensemble cast definitely pull the score up.

Oh, my utter disbelief of ep 16 MMH. WTAF did I just watch?

The cardi? 🤯
The 'lost' plot
PMY permanently glycerine'd up left eye

I think the writers got in a room together and wrote that episode whilst getting wasted on Soju (or something else)

I just can't score the show. As Boaty said, definitely a show of 2 halves

The proposal bit (MMH) was total cringe - I actually shuddered.

I was thinking more about this (probably too much 🤣) and I was thinking at some point, FL stopped being "Kang Ji-Won" and just turned into Colin Robinson PMY, draining poor ML into a bland husk and killing most of the appeal of the show.

boaty I'm cracking up so much at 'Colin Robinson' - it's so accurate. I also bet you wouldn't catch KJW in bed in his knitwear (would he still look hot in a cream roll neck/matching coat? Probably)

A taste of Colin Robinson for anyone who has not watched What We Do in the Shadows. 😄

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Eldr7aV74

New drama alert 🚨
Queen of Tears - 9 March - Netflix
Trailer

I know exactly the mediocre score I intend to give MMH.👿

...and noticed the immovable wedding dress, because I once had a strapless dress like that. The bodice was so rigidly structured that if you turned to the side, the dress remained looking forward.😆

I'm so inured of questionable K-knitwear that I didn't even clock the cardi. Will have to go back to check it out.

I'm finding Dr Slump tedious, yet mysteriously enjoying the silliness of Flex x Cop.🤔

TIP
www.dramabeans.com* *
has a "Currently Airing" list with the days on which a drama airs. It only gives the Korean airing platform tho.

@sakura06 Korean study commitment - Min Yoongi Made Me Do It™ 🤔😁 Now there's more J-Hope content coming our way, I do wonder if we're going to hear anything from Yoongi in the coming months, or if the Suchwitas are it until summer 2025. I noticed that the MY hair had evolved to the immediately-pre-enlistment-forehead-hiding-fringe in the trailer for the latest episode, so maybe we're on the last few ones 🤔

@JinBhoot reasons for learning Korean - see above 😁

@TheLoupGarou PMY's shiny white skin - several of the Korean Air stewardesses had that look (also the tiny fragile doll-like proportions). It was a bit unnerving in real life tbh - part of me kept thinking they were going to come for me as I slept 💀. Let me tell you, I have never felt more troll-like in my entire life as on that flight 😂

Takeaways after the last part of MMH. I thought it all rounded off pretty well, but agree it will be very hard to score as some parts were 10 and others were 1. So uneven. WHY?????

I agree some parts were downright cringey/awks.

Ms Yang and Mr Lee were the best bit (along with the splendid early episodes comic acting). They will forever be camping peacefully together, holding hands by soft fairylights 😍 In fact I would pay good money for a spin-off series depicting only this for 16 episodes. Ms Yang and Mr Lee's Wholesome Camping Adventures.

Nam In-woo is lovely but he'll have to shave at least 15cm off his height for me to take him seriously. Never mind the do's and dont's of the knitwear. I LOVED that kind of wrap-around jacket thing he had on in the park scene.

@boatyardblues Colin Robinson 😂 I am dying 😂

From your comments, I'm not sure either Capitivating the King or Doctor Slump are going to be entirely my thing. Would definitely be up for FlexXCop, but bastard Prime isn't showing it in Europe (it's Taecyeon and His Ears denial all over again wtf 😱). Am about to watch the final episode of A Killer Paradox (which I've really enjoyed). Then I'll focus on some classics while waiting for Queen of Tears, Chicken Nugget and that North Korean thing with Vincenzo in to drop.

There were some plot aspects that pissed me off towards the end but I think you'd enjoy Miggs' tip off - The Kidnapping Day if you have whatever-streaming-service-it-was-on-which-Ive-now-forgotten Saram.

Saram, The Kidnapping Day is on Prime.
Checked Nam In-woo's latest height ....he's 1/4 inch shorter than my LDH who was more than a foot taller than I am!😂I'm very comfy in PMY's 👠👠

I started FlexxCop but wasn't quite in the mood for it (despite ABH) might try again....

@Saram13 re creepy air stewardesses - was it a bit like if you looked out if the corner of your eye and they smiled their teeth would be sharp and pointy? 😱 was it King The Land where the stewardesses had to have weekly weigh-in? I bet there is so much pressure to look a certain way....

😁 migs I like a tall ML too - NIW is ok by me!

Loup, you're spot on with the shiny, white, vampire looking skin. There was a girl in the passport queue in Japan, with a face like that. I swear you could distinguish her from ordinary people, from outer space! In Korea, she would just blend in. 😂

Re MMH I think it was very good for the first 10 episodes and then the ensemble cast carried it after that - they should have spent more time on the other couples. If I remember the webtoon I think Ji-won sort of concentrated on living her best life and let su-min and min-hyuk destroy themselves through their bad decisions and selfishness? I thought it played out better than the drama anyway..

@TheLoupGarou Yes to stewardesses/pale skin/teeth. I mean they were all friendly and professional (and bloody hard-working), but....somewhat uncanny.

@pol I was getting my streaming services muddled up - it's Disney+ denying me FlexXCop scowls. It's Kidnapping Day that's on my list, and purportedly on Prime - but not in Europe. I feel like I'm being trolled!!! If it wasn't for essential BTS content being on those two channels, I'd cancel them. Evil!

To balance things up a bit, the scandalously expensive D-Day in Japan boxset I ordered last year has finally been released and arrived today. I was terrified it wasn't going to work (it's region 2, but Japanese region 2, which apparently isn't always compatible with non-Japanese tvs). We do have a Japanese tv brand, now I think of it, but presumably made for the European market 🤔Anyhow, hallelujah, it functions. Relieved I didn't splash out the price of a flight on a couple of shiny but expensive coasters and a few photocards 😁

@boatyardblues love the Colin Robinson comparison 🤣

I was waiting for the cardigan wondering how bad it could be.... The answer is extremely bad 🙅🙅

Not a great final episode of MMH. The dinner party of our three happy couples was so wooden!!

BoA and her plot was not a welcome addition but I sort of got on board. Until episode 12ish I was at a 9 or 10, but they just haven't stuck the landing. Final episode could have used more of our evil couple who were such a driving force of the plot. Obvious reasons why there wasn't much of them but still.

I also saw someone on instagram saying that ML / FL went from dodging their fates to actually plotting murder in a way that is kind of glossed over... which true but, shhhhh.