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.

Yes, sad news 😔

She was so young. 😔

I’m watching Typhoon Family which has reminded me to put Lee Jun-Ho forward for the advent calendar. And three cheers for the under-rated badass bookkeeper. Little Women had one too.

It's on my list to start, along with Walking on Thin Ice. I've loads on the go already - A Hundred Memories (ends this weekend), Ms Incognito (slightly disappointing), Would You Marry Me? (whimsical and charming), Way Back Love (loving it) and Tempest (with DH).

We’re much looking forward to Typhoon Family.
We are watching My Roommate is a Gumiho. It’s a few years old but it’s quite entertaining. The male lead is Jang KI Yong who has a good line in soulful gazes.

I see that Song Joong Ki's My Youth has ended and been given a 4/10 rating on dramabeans. So glad that I dropped it around Ep4 while also managing to dodge the A Hundred Memories bullet. 😅

Currently avoiding gardening and housework and thoroughly enjoying:
Walking on Thin Ice
First Lady
Typhoon Family
The Great Doctor (2012 Lee Min Ho)
Cdrama, Love's Ambition.

You didn’t dodge a bullet if you skipped One Hundred Memories, @MigsandTiggs - you missed a treat! It’s my favourite show this year - 10 out of 10.

Thanks @mrsfeatherbottom I'll have a look at it again but will admit that I'm not a fan of slice of life dramas or rom-coms, as I prefer thrillers, revenge, action, horror and rediculously OTT makjang dramas. 👻

Thanks to the suggestions for how I could watch Viki recently. I went for a new fire stick in the end as they were quite cheap.
Loads to watch now, but have currently started on A Good Day To Be A Dog, which I'm almost feeling guilty about enjoying as it's very silly (but I'll admit it, I like silly)...

Don’t feel guilty. Even my DH, who is notoriously uninterested in kdrama, admitted he was vicariously enjoying it when I watched it. It was utterly bonkers but charming.

Romantics Anonymous slipped down a treat. I liked that the FL is Korean-Japanese so the dialogue slides between Japanese & Korean. I loved how FL kept insulting ML in Korean and he knew she was being rude but didn’t know what she was saying. 😄

It’s a quality production, warm-hearted and the beautiful Japanese design aesthetic was 👌 I enjoyed the chocolate making, property gorgeousness, Japanese countryside and the floppy haired bar owner - the second couple had a good arc as well as the leads. Nagano has been added to the list of places I’d like to visit.

It definitely needs to go on the non-Korean recommendations.

Hello all and happy half term to those celebrating 😁. DH and I finished She Was Pretty, a bit cringe but enjoyable enough. DH and I then started Genie Make a Wish but he changed his mind after the first episode so I'm watching on my own. We have watched the first episode of Typhoon Family and thought it had a great start.

I’ve made a start on Ms. Incognito. I had avoided it thinking it was very serious and dour, but it seems a bit more interesting!

I’m watching the basement flat fight in episode 10 of Walking on Thin Ice through my fingers. I just startled the cat by yelping. It’s not for the faint-hearted. Gripping telly but no good for my blood pressure. Fortunately I have to get dinner out of the oven now so I get a breather.

I am getting pushed clips of Good News, seems it is a disaster black comedy film, but all I see clips are of a very lovely looking Hong Kyung! So think that is going on the list, might be able to convince husband. Also just seen news about Nice To Not Meet You with Kim Ji Hun and Seo Ji Hye, which has potential. Got so many dramas to catch-up on.

OMG! The end cameos of Romantics Anonymous! Love them!
Starting to recognise Song Joong-Ki’s voice even when he speaks English.

Happy days! We have a quality contract marriage drama on our hands. Would You Marry Me? has got off to a cracking start on Disney+. Jung So Min and Choi Woo Sik as the leads. A nicely daft but neat set up. I love Jung So Min and I can tell these two are going to be fun. Here goes - the Boaty signal: 🛥️🛥️🛥️

Agree - it's very good fun.

It's been raining all day here and so I binged all four eps of Would You Marry Me?
What a hoot! Woo-sik is a wonderful actor, I also like Jung So-min plus 2nd couple arc looks promising.
I like the mix of characters and the comedic set pieces had me in genuine laughter. (What Choi Woo-sik can do with just his eyes is frankly amazing.) The pace never lags and this drama is already hitting a 9 for me.

Thanks for the heads up Boaty!🤗

I love Jung So-Min. I’ll pretty much watch anything she’s in. It’s good to hear Will You Marry Me? continues well. I had to force myself to go to bed last night because I was enjoying it so much.

Edited bc I should have proof read. 🤦‍♀️

I’ve got to the second couple in the bar. 👌 2ML is Geometry Oppa - so chiselled and angular he could have been pressed from sheet metal. His park run demonstrated impressive stamina. 😁 I can’t bear the feckless ex. I know we’re supposed to hate him but he’s so 2 dimensional and shiny. I also can’t get over how many of the actors have lip filler, even the young ones. Their faces will be ruined by middle age. 😢

Geometry oppa! 🙌With a name like that he just HAS to go in the Advent Calendar.😆

Agree about geometry oppa in the advent calendar! I’ve only seen him play very serious characters but if you see any behind the scenes, he’s actually adorable! Apparently, his background is in musical theatre and he can dance and sing!

Hello chingus! Oppa advent fairy here 🧚🏼‍♀️

I see a few people have mentioned our Oppa advent calendar, so I now pronounce nomination season OPEN 🤩 🎅🏼🎄🎁

For any newbies, each year we have an Oppa advent calendar which anyone can nominate their favourite Oppa for, just let me know who you want to see behind a December door... Also any nominations for top Oppa this year would be appreciated 😍

Lee Hak-joo please (second ML from Beyond the Bar)