MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #47: Lee Min-Ho’s a no-show, Kim Soo-Hyun cried himself into a dry husk and a sweet mobster sausage supremo is currently charming the noonas. We continue our ongoing mission to spread Kdrama joy. 😘

[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 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)🌟
Missing Crown Prince (Viki)
Mr Queen (Viki)🌟
Mr Sunshine (Netflix)
My Dearest (Viki)
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)🌟
Lovely Runner (Viki)
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 Atypical Family (Netflix)
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!

Polkettle - glad to hear that as I have just taken it up again! Boatyard - I have that on my list as well. You know I really need to win the lottery so I can stop working and watch K-drama to my hearts content!

I completely agree Pol. I’m back to feeling I’m in safe hands with writer-nim. Also, I can’t think of a single time JHI or SJM have picked a dud. I trust all of them to get us to a good place at the end.

It's been a while since I posted on here so here's a quick update;
Finally got round to watching and completing Hospital Playlist. In spite of me thinking it was too medical and musical ahead of viewing, it was neither 🤭

I've been watching quite a few 1960's Korean films. Found a channel on YT that loaded tons of them. The 60's was the only decade when films were not subject to any censorship. It's fascinating seeing all actors sans plastic surgery/special effects filming!

This evening I mistakenly watched the film Officer Blackbelt. It fooled me at the start with its funny and cute first 30mins, thereafter, pure violence and dark subject matter

Oh, and 4 weeks today I will be just about taking off on a flight to SK!!

Wow! Four weeks to go? That’s exciting Aesops. I’m jealous. You’ll have to update us on your trip.

On latest NGNL was that a box of .. vibrators from around the world??

Maybe condoms from around the world?

Dildos, I think! It was so heavily blurred, it was hard to tell but I saw an image on Instagram that was less blurred and they looked like dildos or vibrators.

Yes! I did some investigating - there are apparently two versions of the show airing, one more edited than that other. And in one it makes it clearer - dildo-related spoilers at the link 🤣🤣
https://www.threads.net/@daebakpodcast1/post/DAAIQVZpD82?xmt=AQGz2pqwUjNpCf8pEuSjTxQxfuZ_VnIojybjuvMz9fKgWA

And on the same profile explanation of a couple of times when there have been differences between the two versions.

This show is so, so good. Obviously a lot more talk about sex than a usual kdrama, without sacrificing any of the great tension which is such a part of the genre. KYD is very good at leaning in to whisper in someone's ear. Both in this and shitting stars.

I'd stopped watching NGNL. Maybe I need to start again? I've been a bit distracted by the True Beauty webtoon. So far the main difference is that while Suho was away in the US after his dad got ill, Jugyeong and Seojun eventually started dating. Suho is now back and Seojun is worried about his old love rival while Jugyeong seems clueless that he still likes her. I'm on ep 114 of something like 230 odd and no clearer as to how it's all going to end up. But I cant google it, I just can't. It's like skipping to the last page of a book, it's just plain wrong 😭

I'm up to date with NGNL & LND. DH managed to walk in during the emotional scenes during both of this weekend's episodes of LND. I've had to remind him again that if I'm crying over TV to just let me enjoy it and not ask me if I'm crying and how long my episode has left 😁 We finished Lawless Lawyer (not even close to crying over) and DH thought it was brilliant, it was just ok. Then we took a break to watch the second series Alrawabi School For Girls (not as good as the first and didn't like the ending). It's set in an elite girls school in Jordan rife with bullying and staff looking the other way - very kdrama, just in Arabic. I started another Chinese one though I don't remember the name, something about a secret. Kept seeing clips on tiktok so thought I'd give it a go. Only my 3rd CDrama but I've noticed that any scene set in an office goes into far too much detail about the work. I'm completely uninterested in them doing their accounts or whatever and this particular one has some convoluted work story and hasn't explained why the FL went to head office to resign but ended up working there. Perhaps they did and I wasn't paying attention. Anyway I just want more of the romance!

@peanutcookie I have only watched one Cdrama (fake it till you make it) which I really enjoyed except for ...insane level of detail about the actual work that was going on in the office. The first few episodes in particular I remember so many long scenes about some contract negotiation that really could have been a lot less detailed. The romance ended up being so fantastic, and its a show that has stuck in my mind, but I still remember the boring business stuff.

There is variation in style and quality in CDramas but yes, they have a very particular steady pace that you either find soothing for stress or totally soporific. I get intrigued/amused by the level of State Endorsed nerd detail in some and have learned considerably more than I need about eg intangible cultural traditional embroidery practices 😁
To be fair to Fake it Til You Make It - the endless contract stuff was sort of relevant to different characters' back story and themes as it went on but yes...
Will Love in Spring is an excellent CDrama with minimal extraneous stuff if you want a recc.
Bravo and hwaiting on your pure True Beauty completion Cobol.

I'm actually really enjoying it Pol, it's such a good story and it's really well done, I can see why it was a big hit.

I think I noped out of 'Fake it til you make it' in the end because I just couldn't take all the business chat. Maybe I'll go back at some point because I liked the main story and the chemistry was good.....

I like a good c-drama but agree the pace can be glacial at times - I need to be in the right frame of mind to psych myself up for anything over 30 episodes.....

While I'm here I'll drop in a rec for J Drama "Happy Of The End" (bl).

It is very good BUT I also need to do a content warning as it is a heavy story - the main characters both have a lot of past trauma and abuse and are damaged by it. Some of the content is hard to watch, it's just so well done and v faithful to the manga it is adapted from.

Not a light and fluffy watch at all but worth it imo...

I enjoyed learning about team strategy for speed skating events and the figure skating in cdrama To Fly With You, but the pacing was typically glacial and the romance very chaste and proper.

I'm struggling to continue with Romance in the House and think I will drop it. It brought nothing new to kdrama and I'm getting fedup of the usual tropes. At least KWB's Officer Black Belt had action scenes, and I do like fighting scenes.😄

Good move, Tiggs. The FL is so utterly unlikeable it would put even the most dedicated of us off 👍

I was going to ask if it was worth watching Romance in the House so I'll not bother now. I need something to fill the gaps between LND and NGNL although I started Emily in Paris new series yesterday for some silly fluff.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cy2YY_TtcLB/?igsh=eHgweHIycDI5cGY2

Absolutely looking forward to this!

FedUp, took the words right out of my mouth. I just couldn't keep going with the FL, even though the lovely Minho was there. I am thinking of The Story of Park's Marriage Contract is it worth it?

It's above average Dragon. There were aspects to the story resolution that I didn't like, but no car crash ending or anything and some fun stuff along the way.

Yes, concur with Pol - above average but not a standout or classic.

I also concur- Park's Marriage Contract was cute. It started off strong but fizzled out a bit I thought.... I quite enjoyed My Man Is Cupid (on Prime) which followed a similar trajectory, if you are in a romcom mood....

I just looked up My Man is Cupid on AsianWiki to see who the leads are. I’ve never seen such an enormous cast! 😮

asianwiki.com/My_man_is_Cupid