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!

I presume you didn't leave it there!!

Can it parallel park? That would be genuinely useful where I live, especially if it can squueze into tiny spaces.

I think so!

It can parallel park.😁

TBH, I didn't like the self parking feature as sometimes you need to be positioned more on one side of the parking bay in order to give yourself more space, depending on how the idiot driver next to you has parked.

Ooh what's going on with Park Seo-joon's hair? He looks so different. I'm looking forward to the second part of Gyeongseong Creature, I'm so curious about how the modern day setting is going to work.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAVd5VNyNdm/?igsh=enJqa2NhNDVnemVr

I like his hair like that!

Me too I've been a sucker for tousled hair since Junho in Just Between Lovers....sigh.....Lovely Eyes....

I completely agree about tousled Junho.

I'm not a fan of the CEO hairstyle - much prefer the messy, just out of the shower look.

Overly-neat/controlled male Korean hair always makes me want to laugh 😁 there's something about it that to me suggests vanity, prissiness and taking yourself too seriously in general. This may be entirely unfair, but yeah, life's a bitch 😁

I've just had the misfortune of watching Officer Black Belt. Dear oh dear, how did they get all those brilliant actors to sign up for something so awful? I can't help but think that Kim Woo-bin is such a lovely human being that his agent said 'Woo-bin, this would be a great one for you. You get to do martial arts and save kids! Yay!' And KWB just zoned out because he heard 'save kids' and 'martial arts' and trustingly agreed. And 10 months later here we are. All the ultra-violence of Oldboy with none of the style or heart. So cliche-ridden and laid on with a trowel that I was crying with laughter in places, despite the awful grimness of the subject matter. Strong Brass Eye vibes, if that rings a bell with anyone 🤔Possibly the biggest K-drama turkey I have yet encountered.

Back to BTIMFL now [relieved sigh]. Plan to start Gyeongseong Creature 2 on Friday 🙌

Does Officer Black Belt warrant special mention on the shitlist Saram? (Edit: And I am old enough to remember and have enjoyed Brass Eye.)

With heartfelt apologies to Kim Woo-bin, Kim Sung-kyun and Lee Hae-young, all of whom are fine actors - IMHO yes. Maybe some other intrepid viewers should check it out first to check I'm not having a brain fart 🤔 I mean the guy who was responsible for this did Bloodhounds 😮which was genuinely brilliant. What happened?! 😱

My take is that after his brush with cancer, KWB/agent decided that his next parts would feature "strongman" fighting roles and to hell with the plots/stories. The real turkey for me was his previous drama Black Knight and it's looking like his role in Our Blues will be the exception to this strategy. May it end soon 🙏

Having watched Park Seo-joon in Jinny's Kitchen and other such variety shows, as well as his dramas, I can say I am there for ANY of his hairstyles😍. Miggs suspect you are right about KWB, I've also seen snippets of him in variety shows and he comes across as very quiet and gentle and well-liked, so maybe the agency wants more tough guy stuff? I was really looking forward to Black Belt and now think I will give it a miss. I got a bit behind on LND and am only in ep7, so got some back and forth still to come. Also needing to reset TV watching a bit as now the 2 x teens are at Uni, do need to work out what we can watch together apart from Strictly.

Dragonrock I hope you do give Officer Black Belt a go as I'd love to know what someone else thinks! I had a look online and it seems to be well-received on the whole (although seems to be a marmite one). Maybe I'm the weirdo 🤷‍♀️ no-one say anything 😁

I’ve started Red Swan on Disney+, my first encounter with Rain. It’s borderline bonkers and slightly plot-by-numbers, definitely skirting makjang territory. The MIL is the makjang black hole - a few more yahhing, crystal smashing scenes & she could suck the whole show in behind her. I’m waiting patiently for Rain-oppa’s appeal to be revealed. He’s chiseled and 100% rocks a sharp black suit, but I’m not getting the magic Rain factor that prompts his fans’ wild adulation yet.

Rofl boaty, because Rain's usp is that he only eats one meal a day while working out 24/7! When performing, his jeans have so many rips that the only thing holding it together are the seams. 🙄

I have a vague recollection Rain’s dancing is what ignites the Rain passion.

I’m enjoying the Gyeongseong Creature update. It’s good to see PSJ in modern togs.

Of course I HAD to look up

From15 years ago when he was pretty. The female faces say it all.😁

Thank you Migs. Nailed it. 👏 The song is rubbish. It’s more Magic Mike than a serious song, but I guess you don’t have much breath for singing when you’re rolling around on the floor. The close shots of the women in the audience are priceless. 😂 Rain-oppa needs a new washing machine. His clothes have been shredded and tatty for a while now.

Look, it's fine if others do not get Rain-oppa. His appeal cannot be logically explained. I don't really get it myself a lot of the time. And yet..... and yet ....

Migs! He's still pretty! At least not bad for an age appropriate oppa. Rain oppa

Also enjoying Gyeongsong Creature season 2. No WHJ in this one so far but Park Seo Joon is killing it