Dear Javabeans and Girlfriday,

My Drama First Love was Meteor Garden (a.k.a. the Taiwanese version of Boys Over Flowers). I remember watching it premiere in Mongolia when I was about 6 and being enchanted by the story. My entire extended family used come together to watch in fascination as Shancai (the Taiwanese Jan Di) beat up Dao Ming Si (the Taiwanese Jun Pyo) and fawned over Huaze Lei (the Taiwanese Ji Hoo) all while holding down numerous jobs and existing solely on ramen and pork buns.

Although I adored that drama, it wasn't until I stumbled back on it during the freshman year of high school that I realized the full extent of my love for all things Asian Drama. As I watched (and exclaimed in shock over the ridiculous fashion), nostalgia ran rampant and I felt myself falling head over heels. I pulled my first ever all-nighter finishing MG and arrived at school in tears from the lack of sleep, but fulfilled on the inside.

The summer vacation that followed was spent locked in my room with the shades drawn as I devoted more and more of myself to watching dramas and less and less to things like sleeping and social interaction. The dramas soon led to calm discussions (read: ecstatic rants/rants/arguments/frenzied and incoherent praises of post-army abs) with my newly discovered fellow drama-lovers over who the cutest BOF cast member was and eventually a renewed sense of appreciation for the culture that I hadn’t felt a part of since my departure from Asia. Watching dramas provided me with a portal to a beautiful world where an Oppa Pout Wiggle melts the hearts of even the coldest chaebols, Lee Min-Ho runs around fighting evil-daddy and exacting revenge in some rather delightful salmon pants, and, most importantly, the characters that you meet feel as real as you and me.

While my obsession over all things MG might have dulled over the course of my drama-watching history, it will always remain in a special spot in my heart for being the one that showed me how to love a drama and loved me back in return.

Happy 5th Birthday Dramabeans...U have done a wonderful job & hope U continue doing great job...Chaiyok!!!

My first drama love would be WINTER SONATA...it is the really2 first drama that me hooked to other k-drama...

First kdrama was Autumn in my heart but probs Full House fully brought me over to the dark side :D

Coffee Prince is the first Korean drama that I've been hooked to, i love the story and Yoon EunHye and Gong Yoo...however, after watching City Hunter, it became my favorite KDrama... it's currently the only drama that I've watched without subtitle (and I don't understand Korean) because I'm so excited for each episodes that I can't wait for the subtitles to be available.

Autumn in my Heart/Autumn Tale/가을동화 - I watched it with my grandma when I was...10? Or so? I'd watched other dramas before, but it was the first one that made me turn off my cartoons to watch instead. And I remember it was the saddest thing I'd ever seen...My tastes have definitely changed as I've gotten older, but it'll always have a special spot in my heart, I think.

The drama that brought me to the dark side was Stairway to Heaven. I remember watching it with my mom when i was about 9 and thinking that it was funny how they played the same song every time kwon sang woo ran. Although it created cliches for future dramas, it still stands as one of my favorite dramas :)

Dare I say it... okay I will, it is and forever will be, Sandglass.

All About Eve, my first drama that still has a special place in my heart. Even to this day, I do not think there is a drama character like Hyung Chul (Jang Dong Gun). I would not mind getting hit by his car the way Sun Mi (Chae Rim) did if I knew we would fall in love in London.

Happy 5th Birthday Dramabeans!

It was not love at first sight for me with K-drama. It took a second and a third date before I fell in love.

The first Korean drama I've watched was Autumn in My Heart, but the one that got me hooked was My Girl. The only reason Autumn in My Heart did not win me over was because I was rooting for Won Bin (he was my first Korean crush) and felt deflated when he did not get the girl.

My Girl was also my first Hong Sisters drama. It was so much fun to watch. LDH and LDW were amazing together. It was such a hoot watching them on screen that I stayed up the whole day just to finish the show in one setting. The loss of sleep was totally worth it.

I'll never regret becoming a K-drama addict. The only thing I dearly wish for now is a machine to stop time so I can enjoy more K-drama.

Thank you for this wonderful site.
Have a great new year!

My first drama was Full House (which I liked at the time though now I look at it with a bit of annoyance) but it wasn't until my second drama -- My Girl -- that it developed into full-blow love. I inhaled it in like two days. After that was Delightful Girl Chun-hyang than Who Are You? than Goong...then Coffee Prince...you get the idea, haha.

Congrats on five years! I adore your site, =)

my first drama love was definately my first, you're beautiful :)

Autumn in My Heart <3
I watched it 2 years after it was actually broadcast and in 2 sections.. the latter after 2-3 years.. The story was melodramatic but I love WON BIN ^^
I first got hooked onto Tw dramas though.. with Toastman's Kiss and Meteor Garden

First Drama Love= Sassy Girl Chun Hyang.
Han Chae Young, Jae Hee, Umm Tae Woong...regardless of how disastrous some of their future projects were, i was still a loyal fan thanks to fond memories of this awesome drama.

first drama well mine was chinese a drama called External Happiness but my first Korean drama Successfully story of a bright girl the video was RM format and the screen was so small you could barley see the white subs at all. Fell in love with the lead actress and Asian drama.

Congrats dramabeans <3 ~
For me, my first love drama was You're Beautiful! It wasn't the first asian dramas ive watched, but it was the drama that got me addicted to watch korean dramas. I thought the actors was soooo good looking, especially hongki/Jeremy! He was sooo soo cute and i just loved him already haha. And so then, i started liking korean culture, dramas and kpop! Yeah <3

So many responses!!! I watched a lot of korean dramas with my parents when I was younger but they were dubbed. I think the drama that brought me over to the dark side was called Rustic Period. It starred Ahn Jae Mo. It seems like no one here at dramabeans watched it though. Anyways, I would stay up until 4 in the morning to watch it with my dad and eventually fell asleep on his lap. We were quite addicted!

Boys Over Flowers. i had seen the Taiwanese drama before, but then my cousins showed me the Korean version. it was my crack for a summer. it wasn't like american dramas that dragged on forever, things happened fast. and the eye candy was pretty good.

[email protected]

My first ever drama that I can remember is Winter Sonata. My parents would rent the vids and we would watch together as a family even though my dad hates k-dramas.

My Name is Kim Sam Soon was my first k-drama and my first k-drama love. It was so clever and real, two things that I love most about dramas. It's been so many years already!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY and NEW YEAR!!!!!!

The drama that brought me over to the dark side is Boys Over Flowers. I had seen a couple dramas prior to BOF, but once I watched this I was hooked. Granted the drama is not that good, but nonetheless I love it. It was the drama that brought me to dramabeans as well so that contributes to my enjoyment. :)

Autumn Tale was my first drama (I didn't think I could have ever cry so much). But there were three dramas that converted me from a casual watcher into an addict. Those dramas were (in no particular order): Delightful Girl Choon-Hyang, My Girl, and Full House.

My first drama ever was Nodame Cantabile (which I still love), but the first kdrama to really hook me had to be Coffee Prince. Everyone raved about it and I couldn't help but love it too when I finally watched.

Hi Javabeans and Girlfriday! Thanks for this opportunity and I hope you guys continue to write amazing things for all of us to read =)

The drama first love that seduced me into kdramaland was Full House. It was the first time I had watched something like that, where the romance was infused with so much humour not just melodrama. To this day, I still listen to the OST and can see shadows of Full House in almost every kdrama coming out nowadays.

Cheers and happy new year!

My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, and I've been addicted to k dramas ever since, in a way that I can only assume is like unto drugs. I loved the story, acting, etc., and related to Miho a lot, because sometimes a girl just needs her some beef. And Lee Seung Gi. Or Lee Seung Gi buying her beef (and maybe a giant stuffed chicken leg). I laughed, I cried, the whole shebang.
I'm a relative newcomer to kdramas and your website, just over a year, but I've moved to the dark (sleepless) side wholeheartedly. Congrats on the anniversary, and keep up the good, entertaining work!

Goong was my first drama love and I have been hooked ever since! :)

The first drama I fell in love with was 'Tree of Heaven.' A friend of a friend gave me the DVD (bootleg), and summer of 2007 I watched it with my sisters and 2 of my cousins. Every night we'd watch 2 episodes. I still remember the moment Lee Wan's character talked for the first time around episode 5/6. We cheered. We laughed. We were so relieved.

Then it all went south. By the time the drama was over, we'd seen death, multiple stabbings, betrayal, injustices galore, and had been served a decidedly unhappy ending. My sisters and my cousins were so devastated that they decided they'd never watch another Korean drama again.

But I knew there must be something better. I turned to youtube, and my addiction was born. Even though I'm the only drama addict in the family, to this day, we all still love Lee Wan, lol.

The first kdrama that I ever watched was Coffee Prince, and that is the one that started it all and brought me over to the dark side

Congratulations on your 5th birthday Dramabeans!

The drama that sucked me into the KDrama Fandom vortex was...The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince.

Thanks to the Dramabeans Dream Team for feeding my addiction!

Who could forget "MY GIRL?" Heck my whole family loved that drama.

When it was first aired, it was so refreshing from the story line to the chemistry & fashion. It had it all. For about half a year I did nothing but follow Lee Dae Hae and Lee Dong Wook hoping that "life would imitate art."

But sadly I've gotten over it and all good things must come to an end . Now I can officially blame "MY GIRL" for getting me into all these K-drama craze. DAMN YOU!!!

The first drama that got me really hooked is My Girl. I've always been a sucker for rom-coms but there aren't too many American movies that have appealed to me. My Girl showed me what the kdrama rom-coms are all about!

Happy 5th anniversary Dramabeans! I check this site 10 times a day haha.

has it been 5 years already?!?! i started following this site pretty early on, i think when you were still reviewing Dal Ja's Spring... stumbled upon this site while i was trying to find some reviews for it and voila! the best anyone could ask for! Congradulations and well done for keeping it going this long. really love this site! it's one of my favourite blog sites with both of your awesome writing skills and great community.

Anyways... if i remember correctly my first drama love was All About Eve waaaaay back in 2000 (can't believe its been 12 years?!?!!? time really does fly when you're having fun...) that one with Jang Dong Gun, Chae Rim and Kim So Yun (who i loved to hate). Back then, I was still new and fresh to the idea of THE perfect guy (oh to have that innocence again, why can't they really exist? WHY?) and the mean girl who spoils everything. Kim So Yun was already awesome, playing the antagonist to Chae Rim's perfect sweet character (i really really hated her character).

I think it was a really good first drama, not only because the actors were all brilliant, but the storyline wasn't overly makjang (which I didn't know at the time, but fully appreciate now), yet managed to maintain my interest throughout the series. I loved the fact that Chae Rim's character wasn't one of those meek heroines which I would later on find out was a commonality in so many dramas (at the time) - every time she was put down, she didn't wait around for Jang Dong Gun (can't remember the character's name) to come and save her. Yes he was always there to help her, but she'd eventually stand up and figure the problem out for herself. To me it was a perfect introduction to the world of korean drama which eventually led me to this awesome community. Its been really fun watching kdrama over these years, especially after finding this site where I can share my enjoyment (my friends and family think i'm slightly crazy about dramas...). Thank you again to javabeans, girlfriday and everyone in this community for this amazing site, and hopefully we'll have more awesome 5 years to come!

Yay, happy anniversary! I love Dramabeans! My first drama love = All In.

Hmmm... My first love was actually the TW Drama "Mars". Who doesn't love an angsty Vic Zhou? From there it went to "Meteor Garden." Then I heard about BOF and Lee Min Ho-my-goodness sealed the deal for me for KDramas.

The best part of this is that "Mars" was suggested to me on India Forums. Which then brought on a whole thread about lakhorns and K/TW Dramas. Come to find out, my son's GF starred in a popular Thai Lakhorn about 10 years ago, so of course, I had to watch that too. (she was horrified I youtubed it!)

Now I've watched a little over 100 Dramas, much to the chagrin of my dear hubby. (But that is way less than the number of Bollywood films I've watched, so we have a deal - I rub his hands while he falls to sleep and I can stay up as long as I want with my laptop and earphones!)

boys before flowers was what made me fall in love
kim bum <33333
now im hooked for life sigh

My first love was Hong Gil Dong. It's sooo different from anything I've ever seen (mostly U.S. produced television). It was actually Hong Gil Dong that led me to dramabeans! I read the finale recap instead of waiting for the english subtitles (which I have been guilty of plenty of times since). I still have love for it, & end up rewatching almost every year since.
You never forget your first love!

The first drama that made me fall down the drama rabbit hole was Full House! Looking back I slightly question my judgement, but it is a classic in my book!!
Congrats Dramabeans!!! Love you guys <3

My best friend had been secretly watching K-dramas for a few years and eventually gave me MNIKSS one day hoping I wouldn't mock her mercilessly. Needless to say I loved it, then we watched You're Beautiful together and that was definitely the one that hooked me forever and ever. Next thing she knew I had already downloaded over 150gigs of dramas for us to watch together (After coming on here a whole lot to figure out which to download) haha oh god my life. Anyway congrats on five years guys! freaking awesome!

Seriously, how could i REMEMBER?!! XDDD
K-drama always on and off (most of the time ) for me, until i watched Ijimae(my love) now i become full time k-drama addict. ^^

Secret Garden is now my top list.

Happy Anniversary~

"Iris" was my first taste of the "stuff". I only checked it out because T.O.P was in it and I was curious. However, after the first episode, I could have cared less about T.O.P. I have watched asian cinema for years, but this was my first experience with asian television. Before I knew it, I was sucked in and my life has never been the same. I was just blown away...and I have never seen so many grown men bawl their eyes out in my life.

The first drama that made me fall down the drama rabbit hole was Full House! Looking back I slightly question my judgement, but it is a classic in my book!!
Congrats Dramabeans!!! Love you guys <3
(Sorry my email address was wrong in the previous entry!!)

The first drama that got me super addicted to korean dramas was East of Eden. It was sooo long and went downhill but the first 20 or so episodes were awesome!

I believe my first kdrama was Autumn in My Heart/Autumn Sonata (dubbed) in 2000. Won Bin captured my heart and I haven't stopped watching since.

the very first drama i watched, and fell in love with, was thank you; after my parents divorced everything was kinda shaky, and thank you was what brought us, my mother and i, together (corny i know haha) we bonded in a way that only other fellow-drama watchers could understand, the burning need to watch more, laughing over the harabuji chasing the dr yelling out, go pee hyung! and crying after the inevitable death. later, after watching many dramas, i can appreciate how this drama is focused on family, especially the strong relationship between mother and daughter, and not just on a romance between a man and a woman. this also marked the start of my undying love for jang hyuk and gong hyo jin.

anyways, thank you so much for having the time to read over all of this, and happy 5th anniversary! and thank you from all of us for taking time off your busy schedule to recap dramas!!

playful kiss first watch, boys over flowers first love...and eventual forgotten memory as i realized how blind love can be.

Winter Sonata.

Happy 5 year anniversary, dramabeans! Will grow old with you for the next 5 years and beyond, so keep it up! :)