MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #46): *Still* no sign of Lee Min-Ho, leaving us with plenty of time to debate whether Queen of Tears can be genre-defined and what’s going on with Kim Soo-Hyun’s neck

[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/4989666-mslattes-daebak-cybercafe-kdrama-addicts-45-where-we-are-still-waiting-on-lee-min-hos-astronaut-obgyn-to-arrive-and-ponder-whether-2024-will-be-kdramas-breakout-year?reply=132388025 here.
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
I picked up a celebrity on the street (Viki)
LTNS (no major platform yet)
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)
Killer Paradox (Netflix)
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)
Destined with You (Netflix)
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 for Love’s Sake(QiYi)
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)🌟
Wedding Impossible (Viki)
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)🌟
Marry My Husband (
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)🌟
First Responders (Disney+)
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
Chicken Nugget (Netflix)
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)
Let’s Talk About Chu (Netflix, Taiwan)⭐️
Lost Romance [BL] (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, Japanese)
Some Day or One Day (Viki, Taiwanese)
Sweat and Soap (Viki, Japanese)
The Makanai (Netflix, Japanese)
The Romance of Tiger & Rose (Viki, Chinese)
The Untamed (Nertlix, 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 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!

🤣🤣🤣

< looks around shiftily > "There's more where that came from" 😉

Oh wow!!! I'll start Crash landing on you tonight, thanks so much for the recommendations. I think these will keep me busy for a while 😃

Cdrama/slice of life/healing drama fans - Will Love in Spring is shaping up just lovely.

Like the opening post says, pull up a chair and say goodbye to early nights. We’re a bit like the child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang but with more scatter cushions, cake and Kceleb gossip.

🚨🚨 New K-BL on Viki 🚨🚨
Boys Be Brave!
2 x 30 min episodes out so far - it's daft, cute and chaotic. Very bingeable.

The plot will not require your Sherlock Holmes hats and magnifying glass to figure out, I think we all know where it's going, but I thought it was really fun.

I’m so envious of you all smashing through these series. With all of the other stuff the kids have on we barely manage 1 episode a night, plus my eldest has been away on a school trip. She’s back now though and I think we’re going to try and fit in some serious screen time this weekend

Heheh Clare to be fair I'm usually watching just to suit myself, if I'm watching a series with dh it takes forever as he has a max tolerance of two episodes a night (but usually one!) 🤣

Thanks to those of you feeding back on QoT. I started it without DH but find it hard to watch things without him. I can't say it gripped me, as angst and a failing marriage are not really what I want from my K dramas. Still not sure whether we will watch together instead.

I enjoyed last week's Race Across the World and hoping for more South Korea before they move on.

@mrsfeatherbottom I liked what you said about MLN 🤣 We did finish it, so I found it watchable but didn't love it (probably fell into the angst/depressing real life that QoT seemed too).

Completely agree with all the love for Fight for my Way which is definitely in my top 5!

With DH I tend to watch the grittier ones. We started Rain or Shine but have only managed 2 episodes in a week due to all his various commitments so its always quite slow. I've had a heavy marking week so I haven't been able to watch much myself and out today but hoping to carve out some time to watch QOT tonight

Thanks @peanutcookie. I'm very lucky to have a soppy romantic DH 🤣 He's the one who got me into K drama in the first place. Our last one was one he insisted on which was a Yoo In-Na romcom on Prime called 'True to Love' (or 'Bora! Deborah!) which we loved (despite the adverts!!).

The Economist has a feature on pop culture in North Korea and South Korea today! www.economist.com/culture/2024/04/22/why-south-korean-pop-culture-rocks-and-north-koreas-does-not I've not read it yet though.

Sakura - stick with QoT - there's a lot of funny bits to come.

DH and I only manage 1 episode of anything a night and we watch more non-Kdrama stuff together (there's a lot at the minute like Blue Lights, Wisting) but we did watch Shogun and are still watching Moving on Disney. Most of the stuff I watch is on my own and I spend a ridiculous amount of time doing it!! To be a committed kdrama nut, you need to learn to ignore your family a good bit (and the housework)!

Thanks I will read it later

I picked Thirty-nine to watch on my own thinking nobody else would want to watch and then he walked in halfway through episode 1 or 2, stayed until the end and then said he had to go back to work and asked if would wait for him for the next. That was the first one he watched. We have watched a couple that were a bit more romance that he enjoyed but on the whole he prefers the cop shows etc. He refuses to watch anything with a fantasy element which is fine by me as I don't have to wait to go at his pace. Last night I was forced to watch greys but I have to admit the last couple of episodes have been slightly better. I don't know why we are still sticking with it tbh

Holy hell. QOT baddy is such an inept fibber. His whoppers at the start of ep 15 start with such an easily, objectively verifiable untruth the whole pack will unravel as soon as the first thread is pulled. 🤦‍♀️ Go big or go home, eh?

I’ve just watched episode 15 of QoT.
I loved the My Love from the Star reference - Private Detective Hong who used to used to run a comic book shop……..I’m not sure if the couple with her are the two chaps who used to sit in the shop making silly jokes.
I’m a bit confused about memory loss. If you can’t remember your nearest and dearest how would you remember Mother Teresa or what a car crash was?

I haven't watched yet but best mate had a traumatic brain injury and actually I think that's pretty spot on about how memory loss works 😔

I’m surprised she was allowed to drive so soon after her procedure.

I thought that too!

I know the detective woman from Singles Inferno!! She's fab.

nice thread. We liked the extraordinary attorney woo series so would like to have some recommendations.

I want to try kimchi or buy / make some but I think most family receives are secret?? And passed down through generations

Welcome @Houseinawood 👋 If you can narrow down what you liked most about Extraordinary Attorney Woo then we can help with recommendations. Was it the case solving, for example, or the ensemble cast? Particular actors?

Kimchi is really easy to make but it needs to be contained or that’s all you’ll smell when you open your fridge. Between us we’ve tried different recipes and give hints and tips.

Hi @Houseinawood! Welcome.

To be a committed kdrama nut, you need to learn to ignore your family a good bit (and the housework)!

Haha! This is totally, 100% accurate.
I work shifts, so also watch on my days off when the kids are in school .....