MsLatté’s Daebak Cybercafé (Kdrama addicts #49: Still reeling from the insanity of When the Stars Gossip, we dust off our party frocks to present Daebak Café’s 2024 best scoring shows

[boatyardblues]

A quiet corner of MN for serious addicts of Kdrama, or the K-curious. Most of our viewing is drawn from Netflix, Viki, Amazon Prime, 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 - the best are listed below.

The previous thread is here. Our list is cumulative & includes previous threads’ recommendations and favourites. Shows marked with a star are more uniformly loved or admired. On genre categories, 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. This tonal chaos is 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)🌟
Family By Choice (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)
Light Shop (Disney+)
Moon in the Day (Viki)
Moving (Disney+)
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)
I’m Married But… (Netflix - Taiwanese)⭐️
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 2024 dramas with 5 or more votes
Overall scores reduced due to more voters this year.
#1 A Shop For Killers 9
#2 Lovely Runner 8.8
#3 Let's Talk About CHU Score 8.8
#4 Family By Choice 8.6
#5 Squid Game 2 8.5
#6 Mr Plankton: 8.3
Full run down by Bettys here.

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.

Thanks for the explanation fedup. In my mind it was spaghetti eaten by a sad chap on his own!!!😂

MigsandTiggs · Today 10:36
The other thing that mystifies me is when someone introduces him/herself to a group then someone asks something like "ah X means eg Tree?". Does the meaning of a word depend on the other words it's next to

Sorry Migs, I’m being stupid but I don’t understand “ah X means eg Tree?’
I am learning Korean at the moment so I may be able to explain.

Yes, please help, andante. In Better Late than Single, one of the males gave his name as eg Xan Yan Zan and one of the females responded ah, Xan meaning (whatever Xan meant). I would have thought that the name/word Xan would always have the same meaning but the response made it seem that sometimes words can take on a different meaning in conjunction with other words, iyswi.

Apologies in advance if this explanation is as clear as mud to you!😅

edited to correct random formatting

Migs your explanation makes sense but I don’t know the answer. However, I found this:

How do Korean natives pick names
^^
There are various ways and reasons for parents to pick given names; ancestor’s name, the name of great leader or famous person, or a name with some meaning. Because there is a lot of meaning in Hanja and Hangul characters, it is becoming common to incorporate those into given names.
For example, in Korean “Haneul” – means “sky”. So a Korean name may be 이한을 (Lee Haneul).

@MigsandTiggs re: the names, what both @boaty and @Andante57 said.

I found a good explanation here, especially of why one name can be intepreted in so many ways (see Migs' original question): Korean name conventions and meanings.

Korean culture places huge emphasis on fate and predestination. Most famously, the whole 'inyeon' thing. This will be familiar to anyone who saw Past Lives, which boils down to: coincidence is not a thing, everything is interconnected and happens because of layers and layers of connections from previous lives.

This is all tied in with the significance of names. As that article explains, there are many things parents can focus on when choosing a name. It's usually a mix of honouring ancestors and trying to 'guide' your child's life by having their name say something you want for them.

I don't know enough about other Asian cultures (including those that have heavily influenced Korean culture) to say for sure whether the wider concept of fate and things that are 'meant to be' is a specifically Korean, as opposed to generally Asian, thing. I think the Red Thread of Fate, for example, is a wider Asian concept. But fate and coincidence seem to have special significance in Korea. It's all tied up with 'nunchi' (the quality of being able to read the room, highly valued in Korean culture) and 'jeong' (essentially, looking out for/caring for others, from a sense of collective responsibility as well as one-on-one affection). Essentially, nothing happens by chance, including names. All totally fascinating.

I think I have the answer from querying ChatGPT and it also explains why the female wrote the character for the name in the air, as the meaning of the name depends on which character is used.

Each syllable corresponds to a specific Hanja character, and each character has a specific meaning (e.g., “준” might mean “talented” or “handsome,” depending on the Hanja used).

It all sounds terribly complicated.😬

Better Late Than Single is already TOTALLY compelling, and I agree with everything you've all said about it already.

The men are so helpless and hopeless 😬 and, with reference to my previous post, seem to have worryingly little nunchi.

I find the no cleavage/shoulders vs so much leg you need a modesty cushion quite baffling too. I will Ask A Korean.

Re the 'what does you name mean' query, this is also a thing in Japan and I think it has its roots in the Chinese characters that both Japanese and Hanja are derived from. In Japanese there are tens of thousands of Kanji characters of which only 2000-3000 are regularly used and similarly there are around 50,000 Hanja characters of which around 2000 are commonly used. I think some (all?) Korean names are conceived in Hanja and then written in Hangul phonetically and depending on the original Hanja characters used similar sounding names can mean different things. In Japan there's been a slightly controversial fashion recently of using quite obscure Kanji characters to create unusual or unique names.

Thanks Cobol, there's so much knowledge on this thread! 💖 After Andante's response started me down a rabbit hole, that included Saram's link, Cobol's post about some modern Japanese naming is similar to the controversial, new custom in Korea, of creating 'unique' children's names with no cultural history.

This reminded me of the current method of providing 'uniqueness' in the English speaking world - giving children name spellings that are so 'unique' no one knows how to pronounce them except the originator. I believe there's even a MN thread on the subject.😂

@MigsandTiggs Yes, the fashion for unusual names does seem to be a bit of a global thing, which is fascinating in itself. I didn't realise it had become a bit of a thing in Korea as well. I became interested in Kanji and Japanese names after reading Lost Japan by Alex Kerr, an American who lived in Japan in the 70s. He renovated a traditional Japanese house and gave it a special name he came up with using an unusual Kanji character which became a bit of an issue when he discovered it was too obscure to type or print! I guess that's not such a problem these days with computers.

@Cobol really interesting about the Japanese names!

@MigsandTiggs, @boatyardblues and @mrsfeatherbottom I asked a Korean female friend and she said long, thin straight legs are seen as beautiful in Korea, and it's totally socially acceptable to show them. Cleavage/breasts are highly sexualised and it is still regarded as unacceptable/morally dubious to reveal even what we would regard as a modest glimpse. People will judge. I must say I instinctively cover up more when there than here.

This ties in with the attitudes to breastfeeding in public in Korea (generally frowned upon 🙄).

I know that flaunting legs has not always been acceptable in Korea (short skirts were one of the things cracked down on by morality police in the Park Chung-hee (70s) era). I wonder how/when it changed. Will ask around.

Our Movie is insanely good. I’m sad it’s nearly finished. However, I know I will be satisfied with however they choose to wrap it up. I haven’t detected a single bum note - the writing is amazing, the performances wonderful and the cinematography is top notch.

@FedUpWithBriiiiick I’d like to nominate Heo Jung Do - the loveable, be-anoraked cinematographer Cheolmin - for the 2025 alt oppas shortlist please and thank you. 🙏

Excellent shout @boatyardblues

2025 list COMMENCES

Excellent. He’s a worthy nomination IMO.

I second the nomination...not that you need a seconder boaty😄

I’m glad its not just me Miggs. While I admire Namkoong Min’s refined good looks and acting chops, Heo Jung Do has won me over with his open-hearted Cheolmin. He rocks a puffa jacket and I sense he might be easier company and more practical on a desert island.

Thanks for the recommendation - we’ll watch Our Movie next.
We’ve just finished Our Unwritten Seoul which we thoroughly enjoyed though the last episode dragged a bit.

That's a bit OTT Boaty. Remember Rented in Finland? He's an adult, male Korean, therefore genetically unable to be of any practical use whatsoever!!! 👻🙄😭

Fair point well made. They were absolutely useless. 🤦‍♀️

Law and the City is a bit of a curate's egg at the moment. It's draggy in parts and Lee Jong-seok seems to be playing the same character as every drama he's been in. Moon Ga-young though, is very watchable and brightens up the interactions with his character.

I agree Migs. I decided to give Law and the City a go when I realised Moon Ga-Young was in it, and she does brighten things up a tad, but I'm also finding it a bit up and down so far and now I've just discovered there's a Japanese version of Marry My Husband with Takeru Satoh on Prime so I think I might check that out instead and maybe come back to LatC later. I'm also a bit behind on First Night with the Duke as well because I'm trying to watch it properly full screen but I haven't had the tv to myself lately unfortunately. Plus I've started Head Over Heels with DH but not far enough in yet to have a real feel for it beyond struggling to accept our small town vet / trauma surgeon as a high school student 😂

My Stray Kids tickets have just landed! Getting very excited even though we may as well be at Arsenal given how far from the stage we are 🤣🤣🤣.

@MigsandTiggs- had to look up curate’s egg but agree. Have only watched the first two episodes but finding it a bit boring so far. Am enjoying Head Over Heels but agree on the age of ML. His veiny hands in particular don’t look like a teenager’s hands.

Needed something to watch with DH after Nine Puzzles so started Gaus Electronics but he hated it. It gets excellent scores so I might persevere on my own. Saw Watcher recommended by a randomer on FB so checked the spreadsheet and very varied scores on there - ranging from -1 to 9! The other option is Shop for Killers which you guys all seemed to love.

I needed a comfort rewatch at the weekend so watched She Was Pretty while fast forwarding bits. Had forgotten how hateful the awful best friend was. Loved it, though.

Need to start Our Movie.

I agree. I’m also finding LJS the dullest, weakest element in Law and the City. I like the rest of the lawyers though. I’m not persisting for the lead couple but for them. Kang You Seok is such fun. I enjoyed his puppyish role in Residents’ Playbook. He seems playful in this too. 👍

Need to start Our Movie.

Have tissues handy.