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!

They are VERY addictive though! 🙈

Has anyone been watching Frankly Speaking? I'm really enjoying it.

Quite keen to try Kopiko too! PPL does work 🫣🤣

sakura06 - I am on ep 2 of Frankly Speaking and enjoying so far. Teens have 2 A levels papers between them tomorrow, wonder if Kopiko might help?

You KNOW they would.

Good luck a-levellers!

I was just going to comment something similar. I got the vibes from Search WWW as well - I think they maybe wanted to do it but it got pulled?

I can only think of Nevertheless, that one on Disney + that ended really abruptly (have forgotten the name - Race?) ..... there was a lesbian character in SemanticError I think but she didn't have a girlfriend, only talked about her ex.

(I love Kopiko btw 😁) Good luck to all A Level sitters!

I've been quiet on here - finished Lovely Runner which I really loved and Only Friends which I also loved (even made that one a Pride month recommendation a relative who usually does a dramatic sigh and an eye-roll if I suggest he watches anything 😁)

I’m full of lurgy and my youngest brought me a piece of the Kopiko yesterday telling me that she thought I needed it! I don’t know if it had the desired ‘pick me up’ effect but it was very nice.

We’re going to hold off on crash landing on you until the weekend as my eldest has school exams all week. The youngest has an inset day today so now that we’ve finished food shopping we’re going to watch the last couple of episodes of business proposal.

There's also LJS' ex gf in RIABB TheLoup who helps him clothes shop or does hair for FL (can't remember - maybe its her new gf who is hairdresser). A side character but at least one who appears happy and functional! And confirms everything one feels about LJS in leaving him for a woman.

@Dragonrock good luck to your teens in their A levels!

Haha! 100%
Forgot her - nice and normal and enjoying life post-feathery stroker

Thanks to everyone who recommended Stranger for MrFeatherbottom and I! We are really liking it. I also tried him with Chicken Nugget with less success. Too left field for him although we now both want to try Korean chicken nuggets which look nicer than the ones here!

I had proper Korean fried chicken with sweet chilli sauce at the weekend. It was to die for. So delicious!

I love Korean fried chicken. I want to have BBQ. There's a very big South Korean community not too far away from me with lots of restaurants but I only eat halal which they don't have at the BBQ restaurants so I'll have to go into London. DH was moving younger DD out of halls last night so I watched about 2.5 episodes of FFMY. Couldn't decide if Moobin is creepy or just naively earnest but then last episode there were some definite red flags so I've decided I don't like him. DD has raging fever and has send. She seemed fine last night, just a bit down about leaving her friends but is in a right state this morning. She finally woke us up an hour ago. If I didn't have a last minute revision class for my Y11s today I'd stay home with her. Hoping DH can get out of his work things today and WFH. Or maybe I can come back after lunch duty. Sorry I'm rambling now, didn't have a great night myself. Anyway, hoping that once she is more herself we can start a show together. She loved CLOY but hasn't watched one since. She watched the first episode of KTL and found it too cringe.

Sounds like you've got a lot going on @peanutcookie - fighting!

@Dragonrock - hope the exams are going well. I've one doing GCSEs and in 2 years, she'll be doing A-levels and her little sister will be doing GCSEs- gulp!

It's first day back after half term for me so I don't want to go in either. DS1 has GCSEs and came back unwell yesterday. Spanish this morning and the rest of the week is quite heavy. We are just hoping for a pass in Spanish so told him to stay in bed yesterday which he did and is looking a bit better today. He just needs to stay away from his sister now which will be hard as they're both very close. DH has shifted things to stay home with her and she's going to try to get an online appointment with her gp back at uni. Fighting! 💪🏽💪🏽

@dragonrock we had that a couple of years ago, just had to be as quiet as a mouse and kept offering food though via WhatsApp as just seeing me tends to set them off when they're stressed 😳 (but then they come looking for me to offload too)

@dragonrock sorry meant to add hope exams are all going well, the end is nearly in sight!

Best of luck to all exam takers.

We've also got an A level sitter this year. She's been studying round the clock the last few weeks and is starting to look a bit peaky but no spontaneous nosebleeds yet, thankfully 🫡

BTW does anyone else follow Taecyeon on Insta? I clicked on a reel he posted yesterday while I was on my lunch break and OMG it was so not suitable for work 🔥😂

@Cobol - got me! Just wasted 10 mins trying to log back into Insta to find him. Will need to dig about and make sure I find his official account. Thanks for all the good wishes, just need to keep on keeping on with those exams. One finishes this week and the other pushes on till 21st! Good luck @Cobol and @peanutcookie - think we have emptied the shops of snacks. So much that both have said to not buy anymore once the exams are over!

Sorry @Dragonrock . I didn't mean to be a tease. I'll see if I can link it for you.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7vuY6ax66I/?igsh=MTR6NmI2N25qOTl1dg==

For context normally when Instagram says xxxx has posted a new reel, it normally takes me to a scenic drone shot of an Icelandic volcano or a F1 driver doing a practise lap or similar so for the first few seconds I was seriously WTF am I watching until I realised who it was 😂😂😂

Haha Cobol that one got me yesterday in the tea room in work 🤣 had to hastily put my phone face down on the table (watched it after, obviously....). I love Taecyeon, he 100% does not take himself seriously.

Everyone in my house has a bad cold which i suppose could be covid. Ugh. At least I'm off for the next few days.

Am enjoying everyone's journeys through a first watch of FFMW - I think it's my favourite PSJ (I probably always say that) but not my favourite Choi Wooshik ....

Well that cheered me up no end! Thanks for the link, I pulled I up on my PC as well, so extra viewing angles! 😘I'm with you Loup, I really liek someone that doe snot take themselves too seriously esp when with sooooo many attributes he really could. Now heading into full filthy noona territory. He seems to have lost a lot of his some heft from his Capt Korea days, he did say he would during a Knowing Bros episode I saw...OK, need to stop now, am really over invested.

I can’t get past Taecyeon’s ears. He’s kind of adorable and quirky like a whippet, but not my jam. Great fan service on that Insta reel though. 👏

I’m caught up with Atypical Family and not sure where it’s headed. It has improved a great deal, to the extent that I’m now enjoying it.