MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #48: Time for all the seasonal goodies, advent surprises and the weighing of the year’s dramas for the vote-off. Lazy holding title because I dropped the ball 😄

[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!

You need to power through to the end of episode 4, MrsF. That shifts the dynamic. I’m v invested now. It’s v well done.

Because I'm reading a ridiculously funny manhwa, I appreciate the see-through clothing on today's oppa and now await one in disguise 🙄ie wearing a see-through veil 😎Thank you bettys

I loved Shop For Killers, it was definitely one of my favourites of the year along with QOT and Lovely Runner. What is this spreadsheet?

Today we explore that favourite trope of how glasses & a check shirt can disguise a top oppa....it's Mincheol from Maybe Meant To Be. Which version would you find more attractive?
Childhood friends reconnect to marry to avoid parental nagging...but will true love flourish?

Manhwa: Maybe Meant To Be
Platform: Webtoon
Genre: Romance, Slice of Life, Comedy
Status: Ongoing

Im gonna make DH watch this with me tonight. I like horror stuff, he'll be more scared 🤩 is it Disney+?

I'll also maybe persevere for a bit with WSG - i was gonna drop after ep 2 but I'll trust in you boaty....

Was Inheritors 10 years ago? 100% agree that LMH was pushing it in the school uniform then as well (and so was Kim Woo Bin - but I was more into it with him 😆)

What the heck would his body fat % have to be to have that - what is it <peers over top of glasses> - 12 pack? 14 pack? He must have been frantically doing push-ups before striking that casual pose....
I'll allow the checked shirt if he's a lumberjack, or a Seattle based musician from the 90's < gavel >

The webtoon oppas are a bit triggering for me, as I did have a dreadful crush on Scott from Thunderbirds when I was little. I have not told many people and it has always got me the 'side-eye', so good to know I am amongst friends here.

hahaha, I love a disguised oppa!

Repeat after me @Dragonrock "I have found my tribe and safe space"....

I’m a day late with fulsome thanks to Bettys for including The Red Sleeve’s King Jeongjeo in Draw January. I’m a big fan of whip smart, feisty Deokim, the female lead, too. I love the art work, especially when the artist includes real art from that period.

Today's Draw January is a Two for One with an adorable BL couple and an even cuter baby in the mix. It's Sung Ho & Kwon Haebom from Our Sunny Days. Retired soldier with daughter moves to the countryside to start a new life and meets grouchy village head.

Manhwa: Our Sunny Days
Platform: Lezhin
Genre: 🌈 BL Yaoi Romance Smut Cute Baby
Status: Ongoing

OMG bettys, a cutie pie baby just might be the thing to swing me to a BL manhwa 👶

Aw! Our Sunny Days is so wholesome!
It's a good intro migs - all green flags,no angst .
The baby is v cute too

TheGirl I've also been listening to the ^Lovely Runner* soundtrack, the music was a large part of what I enjoyed about the show.

bettys I've started ^Positively Yours* and I'm interested to see what others you recommend. They've been quite diverse so far.

I've now started Mr Plankton, which I'm enjoying so far. I'm also trying to score When the Phone Rings and am struggling. I did enjoy it, it was quite addictive, but the end was a mess. I quite literally didn't understand what happened (before the tedious postscript bit), which is a major point-loser for me.

@Cobol bettys I've started Positively Yours and I'm interested to see what others you recommend. They've been quite diverse so far.

Oooh good, Positively Yours was one of my gateway manhwas, I hope you enjoy it! I'm deliberately choosing a wide (ish) variety of manhwas without going into the more cough specialised ones. There's a bewildering array of japanese terms for specific subject matter, but I'm keeping it general, there is a manhwa genre out there for everyone, just like dramas. A lot of the ones in Draw January are suggestions from other manhwa readers on this thread.

My favourites are CEO romances - I have had to limit the number of dark haired tsundere CEOs on the list as there are SOOO many - , reincarnation/revenge stories like Marry My Husband, fantasy Georgette Heyer-esqe isekais and soppy BLs.

As Bettys knows I am also a sucker for a CEO manhwa and you can't go wrong with any of her brilliantly curated choices. Maybe Meant To Be is proper laugh out loud funny. Sunny Days manages to combine ray of sunshine butterflies wholesomeness with delightful unabashed smut FILTH. Warms all your cockles. Basically anything appearing on Webtoons or Tapas is likely to be PG. Anything on Leizhin may have a 'full spice' approach. They are very different from KD in that respect...
For anyone newly dipping their toes in, my suggested absolute rule would be NEVER PAY TO FAST PASS any non-complete series. Be patient and wait and have enough series on the go that every morning you'll have free instalments waiting (Webtoons makes that easier than Tapas. For some you'll need to watch an ad). Once a series is complete it's up to you if you want to fork out to binge to the end more quickly but it's just daft to do it when you're still going to have to wait for a new instalment anyway but then will be tied into paying.

Pol speaks sense here. I had a giddy month when I first got into manhwa and wasted far too much money buying Tapas ‘Ink’ and Webtoon ‘Coins’. I started a £3.99pm subscription for Manta because it was all you can eat. Now they’ve introduced ‘gems’ and paywalled a lot of new series I plan to cancel my sub.

Same @boatyardblues I have just cancelled my Manta sub! Shame as the original premise was great but the gems are really annoying.

Agree with everything @polkettle says!! Buying ink/coins is a slippery slope.

Manhwa is definitely more smutty than dramas can be, and if so I have added either Smut, NSFW or 🥖🥖 for the varying levels therein.

<cough> BATO <cough cough>

Oh FedUp - that sounds nasty. Do you need a cough sweet? Here roots in handbag - try these BATO for free!

Look! Back in on my phone! It took me a full 25 seconds!

Webtoons however (with a few exceptions) must be read on Webtoons nods sagely and pops another BATO in mouth

Thank you Pol for the BATO cough sweet. So many flavours! And all for free? How convenient!

Just for Pol today's oppa is another CEO - but with a twist!!
Junhu Kang has been cursed as a Son of a B!!!!! so many times by his assistant that he gets turned into a dog, and only she can turn him back into a human with her touch. How will they navigate this tricky situation? Will they learn to get along and, maybe, like each other???

Manhwa: How To Hold His Leash
Platform: Webtoon
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Comedy 🐶❤️
Status: Ongoing

Hs anyone seen Iron Family? Kim Jung Hyun is such a good actor but I couldn’t get going with his last series, Kokdu Season of Deity.
I’d like to give this one a go if anyone recommends it.

Im going to watch episode 3 of When the Stars Gossip this evening - I hope things improve.