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!

@AmVa the movies were Anuja, Back in Action and Bogotá, City of the Lost (Song Joon-ki in wigs 😆)

The PPL in Love Scout is working. I just googled the charcoal BBQ restaurant for our SK trip. 😆

But surely you're also going to buy delicious low fat yoghurt there, too? Apparently, even people on a diet are eating it! 😬 It was one of the most forced and unnatural PPLs I've seen. The best PPL was the massage chair in Be Melodramatic, IMHO.

I also dropped When the Stars Gossip and Unmasked (Disney+) and now starting to be concerned at the imbalance of quantity over quality. 😐

Migs, I agree. I usually post a couple of instagrams each year recommending shows I’ve particularly enjoyed, but I didn’t do a single one last year.
I really hope this quantity over quality doesn’t kill the goose that laid the golden egg.
(However, I’ve downloaded the sheet music for Suspicious Waltz from Atypical Family and I’m enjoying playing that on the piano.)

Talking about awkward PPL I'm surprised the shampoo in RiF wasn't mentioned yet!! If feels more ridiculous in a variety show as if they would actually be talking about their shampoo like that 🤣🤣

I’m finding When the Stars Gossip slightly less infuriating since yesterday’s episode focussed on the action back on Earth. It probably helps the Chairman barely spoke in last night’s episode. Am I the only one still watching? If so, I am so far in now (sunk costs) that I’ll take one for the team & hang in there til the end so I can provide a final assessment.

I'm still watching as I hate giving up on things but haven't seen last night's episode yet.

I’m watching When the Stars Gossip in dribs and drabs. Agree about the awful chairman.

Hmm, When the Stars Gossip is next on the list for MrPunks and I to watch together. Worth starting or look for something else? 🤔

I burned through Trauma Code (loved it) and am waiting for MrPunks to finish Welcome to Samdal-Ri so I've decided to have my own Wookie-fest with a rewatch of Suspicious Partner. Short shorts as appropriate office wear, anyone 😆

Punks - I think it’s worth watching for sheer WTF?!? value. DH started watching with me because he’s a sucker for anything set in space. He was astonished at the budget to plot ratio. It’s got a great cast and it is well produced. It’s just bonkers. You could drive a coach and horses through some of the plot holes. I adore Gong Hyo-Jin & we don’t see enough of her, so I’m sticking with it.

Punks - I think it’s worth watching for sheer WTF?!? value.

Exactly what boaty said. It is just so weird and I hope viewers don’t choose it as their first k drama as they’ll think all us k drama fans are bonkers.

We'll stick with Plan A then, thanks 🤗 MrPunks loves an absurd plot so no worries there. He has a secret love of nonsensical, fighty, floaty-robed Cdramas, so a fairly high bar 🧝🏼‍♂️😂

🫡 taking one for the team Boaty. That's true chingu behaviour.

One for all and all for one! That’s how the filthy noonas roll! 💪 Honestly, it’s great we can cover so much ground between us.

And only 5 more sleeps until Melo Movie! 🎉

I'm still watching WtSG too, but not watched this weekends episodes yet.

DH caught a bit of today’s WtSG. “It’s like a different show!” The land based plot is more engaging, for sure. I like the potential storyline opening up about Eve’s background.

I finished up Trauma Code and did enjoy it. Been a bit in limbo as not feeling great and so struggled to get into something new. Also need to work out how to get my Viki account onto my Samsung TV. Started to look at 'older' bits as fancy a sageuk drama but really need something light. And in OTHER NEWS. I signed up for my official ARMY global membership today. Very happy indeedy. Need to pay for the teen to gets hers as well, so once any announcement on tours is made we can be in separate locations trying to secure tickets. I was extremely lucky last time and got us good seats for the June 1st concert at Wembley. Am going to need a lot of luck for future concerts + a large budget as I will fly to other locations if I can nab tickets.

@Dragonrock I can't exactly remember how I got Viki on our Samsung but I think I searched in apps

DH and I finished Shogûn and thoroughly enjoyed it - I've bought the book too, will probably start it over half term. We watched the first episode of Trauma Code, so ott I'm not sure I can persuade DH to come back to it.

I've watched the first 3 episodes of Study Group and loving it, especially the ost. What is Namib about?

@peanutcookie Namib is about a boy who hopes to become an idol and who is taken up by a woman who works for an agency promoting stars.
The young hopeful faces a number of problems and is helped and hindered by various people. It’s enjoyable.

I started rewatching Romance is a Bonus Book on a whim and I forgot how much I loved it the first time around. It was one of the first kdramas I ever watched and it was definitely a formative show in my kdrama obsession. The knitwear! The publishing jobs! Lee Jong Suk is so excellent at being elegant and stylish and desperately in love with his friend that I can even forgive the lackluster kissing / FS aspects of him.

Why do we all have husbands who are into space??? I was also saving WTSG for our next joint watch together 😅😅 we are almost finished Be Melodramatic and it is so incredibly excellent. We just had the massage chair PPL mentioned above and were seriously laughing our heads off.

Thanks, @peanutcookie I did it! I have so much to catch-up to do on Viki! Park Marriage Contract, Check-in Hanyang, Love Reset v excited.

These all sound great but I don't have much time these days. My job is really interfering with my drama watching 😒 I have asked to go down to 3 days from September and mused aloud to DH over whether I really needed to work at all. He knows me too well and just said 'Peanut you can't spend your life in bed watching kdrama". This thought had actually crossed my mind 😅

Ooh sounds good. I will add to my list

@peanutcookie I am with you there. I keep telling my husband that he has one job - win the lottery so I can retire. I was just the same as you before Xmas its no fun it it?

I’m on episode 10 of When the Stars Gossip and I must admit I’m enjoying it. I suppose I’ve come to accept the abnormal as normal.
I’m also very taken with Park Dong-a’s hospital cardy.