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!

@peanutcookie I can save you spending time on Hierarchy by just showing you ads for expensive European cars and handbags! 😆You will also be able to fill your Kdrama trope bingo card.

AmVa I’m so sorry you’re poorly. I hope you feel better soon. Pneumonia is horrible - are you taking antibiotics?

Talk of RM with a sax prompted a conversation with DH about how frustrating it is not to have album cover-style credits on Apple Music. I wanted to see if RM played his own sax on Domodachi. The answer is no because (jazz hands) Apple now has full track credits - click on the 3 dots in the track, then ‘credits.’ This led to exploring some of RM’s many collaborators who have their own content on there. Lovely, but will these rabbit-holes ever end? Major time sink… 😫 (Edit: DH told me about the credit function, as he had the same frustration recently & found it.)

Okay is RM just wearing a sax around these days?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/12/jin-bts-k-pop-band-military-service-finishes-south-korea

x.com/eternalhyyh/status/1800687616737878492?t=nHo7wu4iMDEwN52KP0mGXw&s=19

Actual video footage of the RM sax playing! He must read this thread 🤣

TheGirl - oh well done. I don't have twitter on my phone as I go in and out of China too much, so getting that link has made my day! Mr Lee (the bodyguard) is back! I am so happy. My poor husband, got that Guardian story shoved in his face first thing, thanks AmVa (how you feeling, any better?). Also spotted OT7 images from inside Hybe. I didn't watch the Live on Weverse but hope to go back in later and maybe see snippets. Need to calm down...

Mild improvement! Well enough to watch a couple more episodes of My Mister today - yesterday my brain was working so slowly I didn't have the capacity to watch and read subtitles 😅

Edit: okay brain is obviously still not at full capacity as I watched some atypical family yesterday but couldn't concentrate on My Mister. So maybe it wasn't a subtitles thing, rather a new show where you're learning all new characters etc. Easier to follow when you're most of the way through the story!

JINDEPENDENCE DAY ⭐️🎉🥳👏🍾

AmVa hope you feel better soon. But not too soon, if you see what I mean. So you can get as much uninterrupted drama viewing in as possible 🤔😁

Was somewhat surprised by how happy Jin's return has made me today. Seeing the chaps together was just chef's kiss. I must have looked at that photo of them all together 20 or 30 times already, and I'm not even kidding. CATNIP I tell you.

I was especially delighted to see the sax playing in action 🙌

boaty that full credits function sounds fascinating. I'm constantly trying to find out who featured on which track. Nothing like that on Spotify, sadly. Writing credits only.

Quite a day for Army today! 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

After reading these posts yesterday I did have a chuckle this morning when my FB feed was full of RM with his sax!

Have started watching Strong Girl Bong Soon with my youngest and I was a bit surprised at the creepy kidnapping guy scenes. I had to go back and check the rating but it was just a 12.

Hope you feel better soon @AmVa

@clare8allthepies yes SGBS is a very odd mix of great romance, frivolous / ridiculous superhero family, and actually quite scary serial kidnapper.

Thanks guys for well wishes :) improving each day which is good!

Having seen RM’s sax playing I can see why he got someone else to play the sax on his album. 😄

The ML’s cheekbones in My Sweet Mobster are chiselled perfection. 👌 He is also either wearing a ton of make-up or has the most flawless skin I’ve ever seen on a man.

If that article hadn't said 'rm playing dynamite on the sax' I don't think I could have picked the song 😅😅

RM's sax playing brought back memories of when my dd was learning to play the recorder in primary school. Amva, I don't think a single note came from Dynamite.

Boaty, I even clocked the ML's perfectly smooth hands!

The voice is hilaire. I dub him Korean Roy Kent.

AmVa and Boatie - too true - do you think they lobbied to get him into a band as he is SO clumsy and likely to hurt himself and others if doing the more regular stuff? Watched those clips at the camp gates FAR too often and now can't wait for footage from the 1,000 hugs event! Sorry all non-ARMY. After mention of the ML’s cheekbones in My Sweet Mobster, went and had a look see. They sure are impressive. Seems this is his first ML, lots of supporting roles in some more heavy-weight pieces, will need to add it to my list.

I am really loving My Sweet Mobster so far and ML definitely understands the brief to perfection. Bit soft for his excellent fake gravel voice and sharp cut cheekbones and suits.
Binged through My Lovely Runner with much enjoyment although not perhaps the giddy hearteyes of others. Really loved how it leant in with joy to every trope and all the side characters.
Crash continues to be fun nonsense. I have girl crush on cool Kwak Sun Young and she makes a great combo with Minke 🐋.
Tonight's business is to catch up on Connection...

Loving My Sweet Mobster but only 2 episodes out?? Travesty!

Saw this v true post on twitter

Have to agree. 😄

HARD AGREE 👍

How frustrating is the cliffhanger ending at the end of My Sweet Mobster episode 2? MORE!!! If you haven’t already started may I suggest that you wait & bank them up so you can binge view. Sidebar: his voice! 🔥

Actually, let me rephrase through the medium of emoji: 🩲🔥