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!

A special thank you to our own kdrama Carol Vorderman @Bettys for calculating the 2023 top scoring dramas. 👏

Thanks for the thread. I watched precisely 0 of the 2023 top scorers 😆

Likewise AmVa, except Bloodhounds. There's just so many shows and so little time (especially if you also want to squeeze in 50 episodes of Six Flying Dragons like I did 😀)

Welcome any newbies I many have missed! 👋So glad that we are expanding 💖

Thanks boaty and bettys! And welcome all newcomers 🙂👋

Thanks for the new thread 😄

What a cliffhanger ending for the old thread🤣

I had typed a long rambling reply that then couldn't fit! Probably a blessing...
Cobol is right that no major omissions, but its also true that there's a reason comedies don't win Oscars.

Oh I found it! I am the same as AmVa. Had to watch The Glory as a series of clips, rather than the whole thing and the same with TGMBM as I just can't take suspense esp before bedtime.

I couldn't take The Glory - the bullying scenes were too harrowing for me. I liked TGBM tho.

I would potentially be up for sub categories - best thriller, best melo, best romance, best supernatural. Maybe we should do MTV award style random categories like "most hard-done-by 2ML", "most sappy heroine" or is that a bridge too far? 🤣🤣

I'm going to try to score as I go along this year as sometimes I forget what I've watched. I'm definitely noticing that personally if I've watched a few shorter dramas - either Netflix limited series, J dramas or webseries with shorter episodes I find a 16-20 episode traditional k-drama format starts to drag unless it is really excellent.

migs was it you that said you have dropped a few shows this year? I have as well, or else I've basically ffwd through the boring bits to get to the end 🤣

Also agree not enough supernatural stuff this year - it was all time travel/past lives (apart from Revenant!)

Cobol I really want to watch Six Flying Dragons ( haha, literally after just moaning about my attention span in my previous post. I can put the hours in for the right drama 😁)

I've been waiting for the new thread to spam you all with my 15 years too late thoughts on Coffee Prince 😈
Won't really be spoiling anything in case TheGirl is still watching, but maybe vague spoilers ahead and also a small spoiler for Love in the Moonlight.

Based on the one sentence Netflix description (tomboy pretends to be a boy to get a job at a cafe that hires handsome guys) you could be forgiven for thinking it is going to be totally frivolous and ridiculous. What you get instead is partly an exploration of women's roles in society and the ways that the FL and 2FL manipulate their position to gain freedom. The things that Ko Eun Chan has as her non negotiables before settling down are amazing and the way that discussion plays out between the two leads is so good. Pol you were just saying you wanted a show to dig into how a couple work out the next stage of a relationship beyond just getting together and this is one of the best places I have seen that.

Also very interested that Han Kyul falls in love with her as a man and decides he is all in at that point as opposed to more recent gender bending dramas like Love in the Moonlight which had a weird 'dont worry I figured it out before we kissed' non-homo vibe going on.

Obviously there is one really problematic moment in particular in CP, but on the whole I feel the show has aged really well and I can't believe I waited so long to watch it.

Oh one final CP comment, as I just read the comments above about 16 episode series dragging as bit from TheLoup - I've found that definitely with a few dramas I watched recently - My Demon being once that could have been condensed a little. I absolutely flew through 17 EPs of CP and never felt like it was lagging or they were drawing out the drama unnecessarily.

AmVa I reckon My Demon would have worked better over 12 episodes but that might just be my aforementioned bad attention span 🤣

I'm getting nostalgic for Coffee Prince now - a classic!

Can't BELIEVE I missed out on finishing the old thread again... I am losing my touch!!

Thank you to Our Glorious Leader @boatyardblues for the shiny new thread 🙏

I don't know if you could ever surpass the 'Whip it!' Thread ending though....

Glory days...

I do think that singing "Closing Down The Thread" to the tune of "Bringing In The Sheaves" was a particular highlight, even if it surpassed the less school assembly-minded of us 🤣

Lovely analysis AmVa

Just popping by to raise the flag and sound a klaxon at mention of evil doings ledger in FitS
There's. Always. A. Ledger.

I was thinking more Talking Heads’ Burning Down The House.

I knew the thread was near closing because I started hitting ‘copy’ before the post button in case someone else pipped me. I didn’t expect to steal it from under FedUp’s nose. 😉

I am still watching AmVa! I'm up to ep 13. Completely agree with your comments from what I've seen so far. And at no point has it dragged. I've been gripped totally! The acting is just excellent. I'm looking forward to watching more tonight

I know when I am committing nefarious deeds I always like to meticulously record them in a large ledger, preferably in the presence untrustworthy witnesses. I then store it in a giant safe in my office. What could possibly go wrong???

Cliffhanger (last thread) 😂😂

I agree with @Cobol re: It may have just been a good year for thrillers.
Romance & light shows didn’t grab my attention and often ditched because ML or FL were getting on my nerves.

Another factor is platform- I don’t have Viki and I feel most of romantic stuff was on there. Netflix was edging towards thriller.

I have noticed that majority of stared shows are not my cup of tea … oh my - that makes me wonder about my preferred genre 🤔

OK @AmVa, you've convinced me! I've got one episode of Samdal-ri to go, plus about five of Flower of Evil and then I will gird my loins and delve back into the dodgy barnets of Coffee Prince 😁

Evil ledgers seem to be featuring highly in The Secret Royal Inspector and Joy too.
I mean, c'mon, being evil isn't that hard, surely?

1. If you're doing something well dodgy, don't write it down/film it/save it on a memory stick.
2. Don't talk about your nefarious plans in buildings with nooks/pillars/paper-thin walls, where people can hide and overhear you.
3. When you've got your nemesis cornered, just kill them, don't gloat you numpty.

Maybe I'm too invested 🙈