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!

AmVa it sounds like you're doing an excellent job, and I bet your speaking and listening is better than mine. All roads lead to Rome 🙂

Cheers on the congrats, chingus. DH for one will be glad when I've got the final course rounded off - it does take a sizeable chunk out of every weekend, and I take annual leave and turn into a hermit the week before each exam (told you I was nuts) to brush up all the stuff I didn't have enough time to internalise when we studied it. I'm seriously glad I've done it, though - being able to speak some of the language definitely gave me a different experience when in Korea, especially the travelling alone bits. The very best bit though has been the people I've met through it. Wouldn't change that for the world.

boaty yeah what Koreans find stereotypically attractive and what I find attractive are very different. One friend nearly spat out her drink when I said Yoongi was my BTS bias. She actually said 'but he's ugly!' And then revised it to 'plain' when I protested 😁and kept saying 'why?' disappointedly 😂I asked her who she considered handsome, and it was exactly the type you describe. I've also heard anecdotally of Korean men who are considered punching in Korea being pleasantly surprised to receive unheard of love and attention when out of their country 😁

BTS-wise, one thing EVERYONE agreed on was Taehyung's beauty. When buying BTS-branded chewing gum and sweets at a supermarket in Daegu, a tiny, fierce-looking halmoni behind me in the queue picked up Taehyung (and JK) packs, made approving noises and looked at me and smiled and nodded. YES SISTER 🙌😁

Agreement on KTH's beauty is universal worldwide I am sure

I started Night in Paradise Netflix, after reading that MSM's 1st ml is also in it. Made me realise that MSM is using the super strength filters!🙄Um Tae-Goo's natural skin is not all that!!!!

Boaty The 2ML in My Sweet Mobster has played the villain in other shows so that's currently clouding my perception of him. If he's supposed to be charming I'm going to struggle to with it.

@Saram13 - what an achievement, that is really very impressive indeed and shows real dedication. I have some serious drama catching up to do. Last A level in this house today. We've been at the coal face since 14th May and I am exhausted with 18 exams spread between the two of them and just when I think I can relax the teens decide pool parties and camping in fields is the way to go today...so still worrying!

So, Featherbottom Family update - DH loved Stranger so much that he insisted we start series 2 straightaway!

DD16 and I are watching Extraordinary You together now that she's finished her GCSEs. She is concerned about the lack of staff and health and safety breaches at the school but is enjoying it.

DD14 loved Queen of Tears so much, she's watching it again.

And my 80 year old (normally very active) mum is stuck in the house with a bad back so I recommended she watch CLOY and she just texted me to say she's halfway through and enjoying it!

Spreading the kdrama love here!!

⭐️ to MrsF for services to kdrama indoctrination. Good spread of interests and preferences there too. MrF would probably enjoy The Lies Within as well - it has a similar Scandi-noir sensibility.

How did I miss Night in Paradise. It’s just what I needed. Lots of pensive/angry Um Tae-Goo rumbling away with his gravelly voice. 👌 Is he a mainstream advent calendar oppa, or an alternative oppa?

Although if I’d played the shibal drinking game I’d be paralytic by now…

He's an Alt in my book

Good. There’s less competition for an alt oppa spot. 🤞

Night in Paradise was very violent. The bodycount racked up almost as quickly as the shibals. It was worth watching though, both for pensive Um Tae-Goo and Jeon Yeo-Been (the grieving housemate in Melo). The real star was Jeju Island though - beautiful cinematography. 👌

Really enjoying Connection. Worth getting a two week free trial of Kocowa for if you like thrillers. 4 more episodes to go, so should be able to watch to finish without paying if you download now (and cam also binge a lot of classic dramas while you have it).

Thank you to whoever flagged up Sh**ting Stars, it's good fun and I'm really enjoying it. I do like a well-known face, hamming up a small part for all it's worth 😁

Added to the list!

DD and I started Single's Inferno series 3 yesterday and I'd forgotten how much I love the commentators! So much fun.

I loved Sh**ting Stars -especially the ‘fighting’ couple.

Am I the only one who thinks it looks like a swear word because of the stars? Shitting Stars, anyone?

Definitely not @mrsfeatherbottom 🤣🤣

I think that's purposeful MrsF. I forget now but there was a similar pun in Korean title.
Looking forward to The Boyfriend Japanese gay SI-alike.

Nope, i think that every time 🤣
It's a good show, nice pace and good chemistry.

Aargh I've got so many posts to catch up on!

I’ve bookmarked this show. I can’t be bothered with the UK versions on Singles Inferno. The Korean versions have been much more interesting, though I’ll concede I am biased. The trailers for The Boyfriend look great.

I’m not posting as often due to a changed commute which sees me up earlier and falling asleep on the sofa. It’s uphill work getting through anything at the mo. I also have my 2 boys underfoot post-exams with opinions about family viewing. Sigh.

polkettle · Yesterday 14:11
I think that's purposeful MrsF. I forget now but there was a similar pun in Korean title

Re Sh**ting Stars, I found this explanation;
It turns out that the original Korean title 별똥별 is actually a pun on "celebrity poop".
It’s based on a common phrase, 별들의 똥을 치우는 별별 사람들, which literally means “cleaning up the poop of celebrities”, which was then abbreviated in korean to byulttongbyul or 별똥별 - which does mean “shooting stars

Excellent work, @polkettle!

Sorry, I meant excellent work, @Andante57! Need to stop doing two things at once!!

Thanks Mrsfeather.
The translations of K drama titles are interesting. CLOY’s literal translation is, I think, Love’s Emergency Landing which in some ways flows better than Crash Landing on You.