Spill the Beans: Almost paradiiiiiiiise

95 September 15, 2015September 14, 2015

by javabeans

Thanks for sending in your drama addiction stories! We got a ton of submissions (and a lot more still in the pipeline to feature), and we’re looking forward to hearing even more!

Reading through the emails, I noticed there were a few titles that kept cropping up as addiction gateways, but none more than Boys Before Flowers (or Boys Over Flowers), which is one of the reasons I still have a lot of affection for that crazy, logic-challenged, teenage-makjang madness. Because messy as it was, it was a ton of fun to watch, and opened the door for so many.

Skipping sleep and frenzied marathons are definitely recurring themes, as Teessah knows:

Hello. Am a Dramabeans silent reader from Malawi Central Africa and been a Korean drama fan for a number of years now. Here’s my entry to Spill the Beans.

Freshman year. 2012. That’s when it all started. I stumbled upon Boys Over Flowers from one of my friends and I started watching it at 10 pm and slept after the first five minutes, not because it was boring nor was I sleepy but I had to wake up in good time to study for end of semester exams. It was during the study week we have before commencing the exams which we call Grace week. Am not really a study person so I usually put my all in that week. During study break we like to call commercial break, I and three of my friends started watching Boys Over Flowers and didn’t stop till the last episode well with only bathroom and food breaks where we had to pause and wait for whoever went out. Well from that day my life was never the same. It was not a surprise that I got a 53 on my Psychology exam as I didn’t get to study. It was the lowest grade I got.

That holiday the Internet was my buddy. All my money went to Internet bundles so I could download Korean dramas. From Heartstrings to Stars Falling From the Sky. Three years later I have watched over 100 Korean dramas which I still keep in my external hard drive because I will never dare delete them and converted quite a huge number of people who still salute my addiction coz they can’t beat it!!!! I sleep at 1 am almost everyday either watching or reading recaps. Am a big supplier of K-dramas to most people in my school because not many people know how to get them. Fortunately my boyfriend who hates K-dramas and has more access to the Internet downloads the latest ones for me. I just watched Healer which was daebak! And Angry Mom which he said he will watch. Who knows I might just be creating another addict *evil grin*

And here’s a story from Unstoppable, who lives up to her name:

I had got a big break of about 4 months as there was a delay in the onboarding of the company to which I was offered employment. As I sat there bored, I was reminded of the Korean movies I used to watch in college. Research made me shift my attention to K-drama as the thrill factor was astounding. I started off my K-drama session with Boys Before Flowers (What a start to the madness!). I finished off all 25 episodes in 2 days flat with just 5 breaks of 15 minutes each for the absolute necessities for survival… like food and bathroom visits. I think I did skip a few meals too. After the F4 mania, I did not want to stop, hence directly jumped to You’re beautiful. 2 more days of the same pattern. As there was just one laptop and the users were two, me and my brother, we would share it and I would have to resort to watching series in the small screen of my phone.

I used to watch series all night… sleep at 5:15 am only because my folks would be up by 5:30 am. My very existence would be in danger if they discovered me with my tiny phone in hand. Wake up at 8 am with puffy eyes as I could not let them know I had not slept. Encourage by brother to sleep so that I could use the laptop. By this time I had watched at least 15 series, each taking just 2 or maximum 3 days of Youtube time.

Midway through this madness, my laptop crashed and I refuse to take responsibility for it!! When asked if there is any valuable data in it, I cried about the 7 or so series that I had downloaded, some of them being Dream High, Bride of the Century, My Princess, Sungkyunkwan Scandal. How could I not cry. These were more priceless than gold and diamonds! And so when I recovered my data, the first thing I asked for was the folder in the D: drive called “Korean Series”!

But how could I survive the months without watching series? So I resorted to hijacking all available phones at home to watch them. I persuaded my dad to buy a phone with a big screen so that I could continue my saga. I would sit as close as possible to the router to ensure no buffering or lapse in the video. If the phone which I was using shut down due to battery drainage, I would run like a coyote to get another phone so that I may continue watching!

And if I could not watch it online, I would read the episode recap on Dramabeans and recreate it in my mind. I have finished 4 or 5 series in this manner.

On an average I must have watched at least 30 series by the time I went for training. It will surely continue on!!!

At least the source of conflict can also be the source of consolation. GuJunPhew, aptly named, wrote that she was “recovered greatly because of Boys Over Flowers”:

My boyfriend of 5 years always complained that I watch too much K-drama so I wasn’t that surprised when he broke up with me via text to tell me that he has found another. I was crying my eyes out when I heard Boys Over Flowers’ “Stand By Me” play on the TV (a local channel here in my country airs K-dramas daily) and all my pain has gone away. I have my F4 anyway and I don’t need him. I watched dramas and listened to OSTs and before I knew it, I had already moved on. Now, my present boyfriend supports me wholeheartedly, he even downloads episodes I missed.

There ya go, Boys Before Flowers, making friends. Fern writes:

My K-drama addiction started when I was 15, and that was back in 2009. My high school had an adventure camp at the start of the school year for all 15-year-olds, for us to step out of our comfort zones and all that. But due to some health problems, I could not go for the camp and had to join the “lame” young kids for their “lame” camp within the school. Since the school camp program was not for us, the 15-year-olds who stayed behind had a lot of free time.

So I had a classmate, whom I had only known for 10 days, with me. On the second last day of camp, being incredibly bored, we headed to the library to surf the net on the computers. And that was when I saw an article about Boys Over Flowers on Facebook. I looked it up, tried the first episode and got hopelessly hooked. I then told my friend to join me in watching the show with me. That night after dinner, we hid ourselves in the library so that we could continue watching the series through the night. Not only did we not bathe for the day, we got ourselves locked in, squealing in the dark library at 3 am. My friend loved Kim Bum, while I took Kim Hyun-joong.

I came out of that camp a converted K-drama fan. Watched many older dramas and caught up with new ones. It is unfortunate (or should I be proud?) that this addiction still goes on now that I’m in college, and sometimes I continue my drama marathons despite having mountains of readings to do. But I’ve got to say, that was probably the best camp I’ve ever had in my life. It changed my hobbies entirely (now I only have ONE hobby). And the friend I was with has now become my very best friend.

Of course, the addiction doesn’t come without casualties, like grades, as we hear from Hazel Grace.

Hello Beanies… It’s my first time contacting you guys and I just want you to know that your drama recaps and reviews keep me going with my love for K-drama. I am not very able to access dramas on the net so your recaps keep me in the know of what’s new and hot.

The first drama I fell in love with was Jewel in the Palace. Back then I didn’t even know its tittle but I loved it to the moon and back. After I went to college I found out that people have lots of K-dramas in their laptops so I got myself Boys Over Flowers during my exam week and stayed up all night watching it when I had my end of semester exams early in the morning. I got a 35 on that paper which is 5 marks short from the passing grade, but I didn’t regret it because I had just finished one of my all-time favorite K-drama. Until now am working and I still get to drop by your page and read a few recaps… Thank you very much for making my days and thanks to dramaland for creating heart fluttering dramas.

Zitless sums it up thusly: “K-dramas has taken my nights”

The relationship between me and Korean dramas is an eternal one. I didn’t like them at first but one day I hung around while my friend was watching Boys Over Flowers. That was what made me love it. I mean who can be as handsome as Kim Bum! Couldn’t wait to continue. Even stayed up all night for it, and I had an exam the next day! BOF opened a door to a world where I never get tired of staying in. I am learning Korean now, even listen to Kpop music and follow up on the news.

Still have my drama marathons at night. Don’t think I will stop anytime soon. Even got my brothers addicted to K-drama to the extent that they want to sue the writer of My Love From Another Star for the drama’s ending.

Boys Before Flowers wasn’t the first drama tapioca pearl watched, but it was the one that made the addiction take root. Naturally.

To preface this, I was never much into dramas. I thought it was a waste of time. Before we had Viki or Dramafever feeding our addiction, we used to watch them on VHS tapes, and they were dubbed in our home language. I never got over the dubbing thing, and these abridged versions always cut out the true tragic endings. Song Seung-heon didn’t die in our version of Autumn in My Heart, and Choi Ji-woo didn’t die in Stairway to Heaven. The dubbed voices and the lies muddied my view of Korean dramas.

Fast-forward to 2006. My sisters and cousins were now buying dramas on DVDs off of Yesasia.com. My sister borrowed Spring Waltz from a cousin and began it that summer. I sat with her and watched for the heck of it because I had nothing to do. Before I knew it, I was staying up late with her, watching deep into the night. We finished Spring Waltz. I fell in love with the music and the tortured pianist and Austria and all the cliches that I now barely tolerate.

I rewatched Spring Waltz twice because my 17-year-old self thought it was the greatest love story ever (I still love; it’s my sentimental favorite). I went to Yesasia.com for the first time and bought the OST. I figured out how to write money orders. And I listened to the OST nonstop for months on my Discman (still think it’s one of the best OSTs).

I only watched My Girl after that. And that was it. I stopped before it became a problem.

Until 2010, that is. I was gonna be a senior in college, and I was not working that summer, so my sister (the same one) gave me her hard drive full of dramas and innocently told me to start with Boys Over Flowers…

I watched 12 dramas in about 6 weeks that summer and never looked back.

And don’t worry, I got all A’s my senior year despite my new addiction. Korean dramas are not as harmful as people think!

What do you do when you’re in finale week of an addictive drama and your source of subtitles goes kaput? Ask Ava:

I became hooked on K-dramas by complete accident. I started watching anime in college (late night insomnia), which eventually turned into J-dramas (thanks, Hana Yori Dango, this is all your fault). A few years later I was bored and since I couldn’t tell the difference between Korean and Japanese at the time, and I just clicked on a K-drama instead of J-drama.

Well. Capital Scandal was the result. I was sucked in for 16 solid episodes. It was incredible.

This happened in 2008. I watched and fell in love with so many K-dramas that when the US economy started really declining, I did something drastic: I moved to South Korea for a year. I used the excuse that I was a college graduate with no possibility of finding work in my field that year, but really? I just wanted to see South Korea.

From December 2008 to December 2009 I taught in a Korean hagwon. The kids were 4, 5, and 6, and what little Korean I knew came straight from K-dramas.

Fast forward a bit, and Boys Over Flowers was showing. I had a basement apartment, and one night a rat clawed its way up a drain into my apartment. I ended up having to stay at my boss’ house while that was fixed. It was during the final two episodes. I had no possibility of watching except on actual TV with zero subtitles. So what did I do? I sat my boss’ son down (he was 8, one of my after school students) and dared him to translate for me! His five-year-old brother thought that would be fun and joined in. Everything I knew about those final two episodes came from the mouths of babes.

Thanks to everyone who sent in stories! To submit, email us your stories, and we’ll keep sharing them as long as you guys keep sending them in.

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Tags: Spill the Beans

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1 Gracious

September 15, 2015 at 8:12 PM

I am the opposite, Boys Over Flowers turned me off Korean dramas for a while. I was introduced to Asian dramas through Hana Yori Dango , so watching it being completely butchered in front of my eyes was a traumatic experience for me.

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바보 처럼

September 15, 2015 at 9:37 PM

I think more so than the drama itself, being able to watch it while it was airing along with all these super nutty Dramabeans fans really engraved that experience in me lol. I didn't necessarily love the drama back in those 2009 days but was totally sucked into the SQUEE caps and fervor of the Beanut Gallery. It was pure chaos!

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danarod

September 15, 2015 at 10:30 PM

I'm allergic to Boys Over Flowers (even though I didn't watch Hana Yori Dango). I dropped it a few minutes before the end of episode 4, because I just couldn't take it anymore!

If this was my first kdrama, I probably wouldn't watch kdramas at all after that, and save so much time :)

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nanner

September 16, 2015 at 12:38 AM

traumatized is a great description.
i loved both the hana yori dango and meteor garden so i was looking forward to another great adaptation but that wasn't really the case here. i stopped watching kdramas for about three months after it was over.
*shudder*
on the plus side, i was able to catch up on a lot of tw dramas i'd had piling up.

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Aigoooo

September 16, 2015 at 3:25 AM

From a male perspective, I never really saw anything special about Boys Over Flowers. I am not putting down the drama but I think I am just the wrong gender to appreciate something like that. lol

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Ananta

September 16, 2015 at 3:33 AM

I never liked BOF, a melodrama was the first drama that caused my addiction, so the complete opposite of BOF. ^^

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koalacruz

September 16, 2015 at 8:09 AM

The earliest HYD — Taiwan's Meteor Garden — started the trend.

I've seen the seen the three and was hoping to catch Mainland China's take on the series.

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Nims

September 16, 2015 at 10:48 AM

I found Boys over flowers to be the worst, maybe the inner feminist was really really offended by the bullying scenes. But as this was the start of my addiction, when right after I quit BOF, I watched 49 Days and it pretty much made up for every thing I hated in BOF.
I'm possibly the very rare breed that hated BOF

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Nerissa Anne

September 16, 2015 at 5:31 PM

I am one of those addicts who got sucked in by Boys Over Flowers. Maybe it has to do with the popularity of the drama it was the first Korean drama I watched. I think rather than drama's artistic appeal it has more do with me being introduced to a definitely different genre and type of drama from the ones that used to air in my country. The fun of fangirling along with my friends was another factor, I think. Although after after my addiction kicked in and watching tons of Kdramas and few other Asian dramas, rewatching Boys over Flowers(I still haven't deleted it from my drive :D) I just felt the drama was just OK, even I could find some parts where I felt annoyed. Still for me drama is special because it was the door that opened the world of Asian dramas

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Bex

September 17, 2015 at 4:48 PM

Same Hana Yori Dango just set the bar so high for me, it was my first asian drama and it remains one of my favs. I remember when the second season came out and I had to load the videos up and leave them for ages because of the buffering.

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2 inceptanova

September 15, 2015 at 8:30 PM

I hate you, Javabeans D: WHY. THAT. SONG.

I will now proceed to tearing my hair out while my brain taunts me by singing "Almost Paaaradiiiiise" over and over again.

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Fitri Iphiet

September 15, 2015 at 11:31 PM

MTE!!!!!

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emi

September 16, 2015 at 3:55 PM

Just thinking about the song makes me want to punch myself in the face. Its use is probably number 7 on the top ten reasons why I don't like BoF.

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3 cc101

September 15, 2015 at 8:32 PM

i'm actually rewatching BOF right now for the 7?8th time on ep 19. I have my first Stats test tomorrow :( I was only supposed to watch 1ep as a break now I'm on the 4th. I really need to stop

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4 coffeenlucia

September 15, 2015 at 8:35 PM

It was a Kdrama that pulled me into the K-world (Flower Boy Next Door, I think) but it was the community that kept me in Kdramaland (I blame Dramabeans! :P)

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Alinka

September 15, 2015 at 8:53 PM

HEAR HEAR!!

It was Secret Garden who pulled me in but it was the community that kept us afloat (Bless Dramabeans!!)

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ahsaem

September 15, 2015 at 10:15 PM

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mary

September 15, 2015 at 10:05 PM

Yeah, how come there is no story blaming this site for our addiction??? It's like a huge contributor!

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Vincy

September 16, 2015 at 12:52 AM

We don't blame them or we won't get our recaps!!!

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mary

September 16, 2015 at 1:37 AM

It's okay, it's love. >:D

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5 Kat w

September 15, 2015 at 9:04 PM

I love hana yori dango. I've watched all of its iterations. The only thing I haven't done is read the original manga. I watched the Japanese anime, then the Chinese/HK/taiwanese (don't know which) drama version called Meteor Garden, then the Japanese drama version, and finally the korean drama version.

It's funny, I liked the Chinese tsukushi best and I thought Lee min ho was the best match to doumiyoji especially physically to the manga drawing, but I liked the Japanese drama the best overall and the korean version the least. Try watching the Japanese version if you liked the korean!

That being said, I'm korean American with a white dude for the last 11 years and no family in town or korean friends. I have started to miss korean things these last few years which kdrama help fill the hole.

It's very cool to see so many fans that are not korean though!

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Moko

September 16, 2015 at 2:19 AM

It's kind of awesome how you watched every version of that story. I also watched the anime version. In fact I watched it first because I was into animes at that time.

I was bored and looked at the title 'Hana yori dango' and thought it was pretty. So I watched it, liked it, and ended up watching the kdrama b/c everyone on the internet said it was good.

I didn't like dramas AT ALL, at that time. Real life people in dramas disturbed me - before I found out that dramas exist where people act like anime characters (like Boys over Flowers)

Now that I see that nearly everyone got sucked in by Boys over Flowers, I begin to understand myself as well, finally.

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6 earthna

September 15, 2015 at 9:10 PM

You probably won't believe this but I still haven't see Boys Over Flowers to this day.

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kalel

September 15, 2015 at 11:02 PM

I also watched it too late comparing to others (I'm not a teenager, lol) but it's an undeniable fact that this drama does have a "supernatural therapeutic power". If you don't mind a tiny (OK, not so tiny) decline of your IQ rate, I suggest a few nice relaxed marathon sessions with BoF during stressful periods; the song is a catchy little tune, the boys are.., you know, boys with First World problems, there is no actual story which is a big plus if you need to "shut your engines down" for a while and last but not least, you may observe the birth of a myth, LOL!

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cmak

September 15, 2015 at 11:14 PM

You are not alone! Since there's been a bit of a dry spell with dramas lately I wanted to watch a light, fluffy drama and whizzed through "Heartstrings" in 2 days. Now that Scholar is over, I want to add another drama to my list but am afraid to start BoF because:

1) I might get insanely addicted and I really cannot afford to lose sleep right now OR
2) I might hate it and never know what it's like to join the craziness that is the BoF obsession.

I hate watched "Heirs" because I loved the cast too much but I don't know if I can subject myself to another 25 episode length's worth of high blood pressure ...

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andy

September 16, 2015 at 3:21 AM

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growingbeautifully

September 16, 2015 at 6:30 AM

I believe you @earthna, because neither have I. LOL!

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sigalltheway

September 16, 2015 at 12:43 PM

Me neither. I refused to watch it actually so it didn't ruin my impression of Lee Min Ho! lol

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7 Rachel

September 15, 2015 at 9:22 PM

Boys over Flowers is also a key point of my K-drama journey!

My first ever Korean drama was actually Winter Sonata, when I was a wee child in 2003. I was obsessed with Bae Yong Joon for a short while, but soon forgot about Korean dramas as my life filled up with schoolwork.

Then, in my GCE A-level year, 6 years later, K-drama re-entered my life in the form of BOF. I remember it was around March. I chanced on my mum watching and was hooked, but because it was such an important school year for me I couldn't afford the time to sit through and watch the entire thing.

During vacation in June, I marathoned my way through the whole series. I soon became obsessed with everything BOF. Lee Min-ho, Kim Hyun Joong (through whom I discovered SS501 and consequently K-pop), Kim Bum. Thanks to Google I also found Dramabeans, and naturally, the rest of the K-drama world. So, since 2009 (or technically 2003), I am a member of K-dramaholics Anonymous. Although Mystery Drama Theater 3000 has opened my eyes wide to the huge flaws and cringe value of BOF, I still hold that drama close to my heart for introducing me to Lee Min Ho and cracktastic dramas. I mean, COME ON.

I'm so thankful for Dramabeans which has taught me that as K-drama consumers, we can both fangirl and give valuable critiques of the shows we watch, instead of being blind defenders of cracktastic but terrible shows (BOF being a great example).

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8 Chanelboy loves Jackson Wang A LOT

September 15, 2015 at 9:25 PM

Gu Jun Pyo seriously need to be arrested for cronic virus he seed-planted on all these poor soul victim kekekke...

K-Drama is seriously black hole sucks you in without knowing how to come out, don't dare to come in if you not prepare to sell your soul whole heartly haha

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9 wapz

September 15, 2015 at 10:20 PM

Its pretty surprising that BOF is usually the first drama of many people and till date there are many people who begin kdramas with BOF despite there being much better shows now.
Is it probably beacuse most of the people start watching kdramas in their teens and a high school drama is sth that fits their needs? But there have been better kdramas too, so howcome another drama not break the BOF trend?

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Lilly

September 16, 2015 at 1:12 AM

That is a very good question. What did happen?
Why did that one go explosively global like it did?
{It was also my first kdrama}

Was it around that time that Viki and Dramafever were both formed? Did it have anything to do with coverage by kpop sites that were new?

Did the old youtube format where the bar would turn over showing others what videos were being watched the most at the moment you are on have an effect?

Something was very different about that time.
Now most new people to kdramas I come across found them on Netflix first.

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Moko

September 16, 2015 at 2:47 AM

I don't know about america, but I'm sure viki didn't exist back in the day, or at least it wasn't as big as it is today.

I remember sites like mysoju.com that provided links for online streaming sites. Back in the day it would take me 2 hours and longer to just watch ONE episode because of all the buffering and bad internet.

In some countries they broadcast korean dramas but there is nothing like this in my country. So my only source were those horrible horrible streaming sites and there weren't many. It would take hours to find a site that streamed the show I wanted to watch, and then it had to buffer every ten seconds.

I remember searching all over the internet for 'white tower' and never found it.

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James94131

September 16, 2015 at 5:49 AM

Viki started years before BOF as a fan site to sub Korean shows into English, and long before my soju which stole Viki subbed shows. Viki is where I became addicted with Coffee Prince.

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comix

September 16, 2015 at 9:29 AM

Coffee Prince, Pasta and Viki were what got me hooked as well. I had run out of subbed anime and was looking for something to watch in the wee hours. Boom -> addicted. But the DB community and the recaps kept me sane the many times I had to wait for subtitled episodes. (^_^)

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Nessie

September 16, 2015 at 5:04 PM

@ Moko

Yesss at Mysoju! There were so many websites back then which did dramas but have now shut down due to the licensing. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just watching foreign dramas online wasn't as big back then compared to now. It's the same with anime as well, majority of the big sites have shut down or been forced to shut down including download sites too.

I remember watching tv as being the only source of getting overseas dramas, and they were always dubbed as well. Ah the good times.

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fantasy

September 16, 2015 at 2:47 AM

I think it depends on suggestions too, when I was suggested to watch kdramas, all the three of my drama addicts friends suggested BOF, because I don't watch anything without knowing the premise, they told me the gists of some selected dramas, and I chose to start with IHYV and when a new drama viewer asks me to name one drama I spontaneously say IHYV even before Healer !!!!!! Surprisingly habit!!!

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Aigoooo

September 16, 2015 at 3:53 AM

My biggest pet peeve while watching older dramas on Viki is when someone would say in the timed comments that a scene was copied from Boys Over Flowers. HELLO! This drama came before BOF! Who's copying who?! lol

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10 whitewire

September 15, 2015 at 10:30 PM

I share the same opinion with @Gracious. While I definitely love Goo Hye-sun unni, Boys Over Flowers signified my days of k-drama abandonment. I fell out-of-love with kdramas and opted for Hollywood movies instead.

But, my heart ain't closed, I watched Boys Over Flowers til Ep 15, until I got weary and stopped it. Because (right until this very moment) Hana Yori Dango and Meteor Garden are still better versions of the plot. There's no question about it.

Stopped for a while, then November 5 (I think...) 2012, I am back to kdrama watching. (King of Dramas in 2012 signified my solid return)

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11 aswathy_jk

September 15, 2015 at 10:52 PM

I started watching dramas in my 8th grade back in 2005. I was then living in the middle east, KSA to be specific.And one day when i was surfing through the arabic channels searching for something to watch...boom!!!there it was..a k drama-my name is kim samsoon to be exact.the only catch was it was in arabic. But just watching the actors made me interested enf to check it out online and the result is that in the past 10 years i have watched more than 100 dramas.And my favs are the j dramas for their touching story lines.but still i am a sucker for the hot k actors:D.and now that i am in college, i have corrupted my friends into watching boys before flowers and voila before i knew it the drama wave had engulfed the entire campus. Now i dont need to download...others do it for me.

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12 varms

September 15, 2015 at 10:59 PM

Boys Over Flowers kept me watching till the end, mostly because of Kim Bum and Kim So Eun. Full House was what started me on my kdrama craze. I made my dad buy me my first VCD set (not cheap those days) and the rest is historyyy! RAIN in his It's Raining glory. Those were the days.

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13 blo

September 15, 2015 at 11:10 PM

My first addiction was due to Sorry, I Love You. By the end, I couldn't stop watching because of how depressing it was. I needed closure before going to bed. lol. And I was obsessed with the couple too. Afterwards, I watched a bunch of fanmade videos and cried all over again. I watched movies with the lead actress. The vocalist who sang the main OST got me into other Korean movies because I would look for shows and movies he had sung for. That is how I found Junki in Iljimae and Won Bin in My Brother.

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14 kalel

September 15, 2015 at 11:25 PM

"Almost Paradise" still rings in my ears and doesn't go away easily...alas! I still remember the scene that KHJ was playing the violin and that was the point of no return for me. I had never ever seen anything like that before...it was so bad that it was amusing and addictive at the same time. So, I kept on watching and I admit I had a wonderful time and no worry whatsoever while watching. I suggest Bof as a successful substitute for anti-depressants and/or sessions to therapists. It's cheaper, too...:-)

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15 Kimmy loves Bogummy

September 15, 2015 at 11:45 PM

Anyone who knows where I can download Spring Waltz and other old Koreanovelas? HUHU. I wanna watch them so bad. :((

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growingbeautifully

September 16, 2015 at 6:09 AM

@ Kimmy loves Bogummy

You can download from Dramacool and Dramafire among other sites. :)

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16 pointblank

September 16, 2015 at 12:10 AM

I'd say the main dramas that get people into k-dramas are YB, BOF and Coffee Prince. Especially as so many people usually have one of these three as their very first korean drama.

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17 Lizzie

September 16, 2015 at 12:24 AM

BOF was my first as well. I can't rewatch it because its so cringe worthy but I fell in love with it 2 years ago..and it was the start of a wonderful addiction that I doubt I will give up anytime soon. This rabbit hole also lead me to kpop...idk how that one happened but all of a sudden I was dragged into kpop as well. In any case I partially blame kdramas for failing my last semester in college..which I am currently retaking. This current drama season has been pretty dry and I have been going a lil crazy hoping for more dramas. What I like is having current dramas throughout the week..preferably multiples on the same weekdays..I think one of the best times was having 6 dramas to watch each week..

Also want to jump on what other people have said about the influence of dramabeans on my addiction..I really doubt I would have been this invested without you guys here at dramabeans and all the beanies..so thank you!! :))

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18 pohonphee

September 16, 2015 at 1:48 AM

Knowing how many people who turn into K drama addict by watching the horrendous Boys Before Flower are baffled me.

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19 bd5

September 16, 2015 at 1:55 AM

Still, seems to me that it was "Coffee Prince" which really got the ball rolling for Dramabeans (JB can correct me on this).

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20 dkaoru

September 16, 2015 at 2:17 AM

I used to scoff and laughed at my friends who love kdrama. My first k-drama was Hotelier because my mom was crazy about Bae Yong Joon. I started liking kdrama through watching Jewel in the palace ( no I didnt watch all episodes, it was tooo long). I was never a die hard fan until I found this site. I have many times stayed up late reading recaps and comments. The drama that got me hooked was Answer me 1997. I love the drama but more importantly I love the recaps and the comments everyone wrote in. These past year has been tough because I have had to make some major changes in my life. The company that I worked for has decided to shut down the research site. So at the end of this month, I will be un-employed. Years of research down the drain. I sometimes feel so hopeless and useless. When I need a break from reality, this site has been a warm n cozy escape. Dramabeans Manse!

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21 always me

September 16, 2015 at 2:31 AM

Started the kdrama journey with Boys Before Flower...fell in love with the F4 and the love stayed till the end....moved to Dream High .....the worst is that I stumbled on this site....got me hooked and its bad now....

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22 fantasy

September 16, 2015 at 2:37 AM

My first kdrama was I Hear Your Voice :) I want to know about others except BOF

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23 Rebma

September 16, 2015 at 3:52 AM

I watched BoF with my family. Suitable for all ages since it's ridiculously entertaining for family vacation. But after I've to translate every words to words for my granny who can't read Eng subs, it became a nightmare for me. Later, I decided not to nominate 20+ episodes drama for the family gatherings.

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24 Ava

September 16, 2015 at 3:57 AM

I'm like a couple of other people--I've watched all the Hana Yori Dango versions, no matter how bad or how good the individual versions are. I didn't love the first half of the kdrama, but by the second half, it felt like a different version altogether. And once you're in, you're in, I find, especially when it comes to Hana Yori Dango. The hysterical part of watching with the 8 year old and his brother was listening him translate "complicated" feelings in such a way he himself could understand it as a kid. It was almost philosophical. His brother just generally thought the kissing thing was gross and unnecessary.

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25 Sophia

September 16, 2015 at 4:03 AM

These stories are hilarious! And so like my life and how I got started. 2008 school summer holiday. Boys Over Flowers was talked about amongst my friends so decided to check it out....as they say...the rest is histories......my first crack drama and I'm not ashame to say I loved it still. Nostalgia does that. Lol. ??

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26 erghhh

September 16, 2015 at 5:15 AM

lee min ho the most overrated guy on earth.

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27 Samoa

September 16, 2015 at 5:52 AM

Until now I still don't understand why some people love this Bof drama, different world gravity maybe.

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28 Lucy

September 16, 2015 at 6:19 AM

I'm whatching BoF for the third time, using a friend that is novice on all things K-Drama as an excuse.
She is loving it, to the point that I'm jeopardizing her incoming exams.

And this third time around ¡I'm finding Jan-di less obnoxious! (I'm the first surprised by this), and the main couple are soooo adorably stupid together, as in dense, but in a cute way.
I think that is the charm of the show, my friend laughts at every turn, but we are only on episode 6, lets see when the amnesia strikes back what she thinks of this....

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29 tura

September 16, 2015 at 6:42 AM

I got addicted immediately I saw city hunter poster with him wearing that pink? pant

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30 kanz

September 16, 2015 at 7:01 AM

Tbh I quite liked it when I first watched Boys Before Flowers, back then when I was in high school and there was BBF craze all over my country.. My friends and me included.
And how one can forget the theme song "Almost Paradiiiiisee"??
LOL... Now I want to turn off everything that plays that song.

The last story is really hilarious!! Haha... I would love to come to South Korea too one day even with my very basic Korean.

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31 korfan

September 16, 2015 at 7:40 AM

To think that to this day, I still have not watched Boys Over Flowers!

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growingbeautifully

September 16, 2015 at 8:52 AM

High 5 @korfan! Neither have I. :)

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fantasy

September 16, 2015 at 9:47 AM

Hi five :)

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32 Adal

September 16, 2015 at 7:56 AM

I have to admit 200 Pounds Beauty introduced me to Korean Movies on Netflix on a Saturday afternoon when I had nothing to do, but what made me absolutely fanatic about Kdramas was Boys Over Flowers. I just wanted to watch it to go to sleep, I figured that a drama with subs couldn't keep me awake even if my life depended on it. Boy was I wrong! I ended up marathoning the drama for 24 hours straight, barely able to go to the bathroom and even skipping meals, and the rest as you say is history. I still love the drama, despite the criticisms of it. And I can always depend on it like comfort food, I go back and watch bits and pieces of it from time to time as a pick me up.

Three years later, my love for kdramas is still going strong eclipsing all other shows and most forms of entertainment. I've gotten rid of cable, follow Dramabeans religiously and subscribe to any media outlet (like Dramafever or Viki) which can feed my addiction. I also have converted my family (to varying degrees) to my addiction. I am happy to never look back. LOL!

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33 moofu baby

September 16, 2015 at 7:57 AM

Thanks for this edition of Spill the Beans! BOF was my first K-Drama as well & I loved every minute! I couldn't believe all the crazy stuff that happened in just an hour, and couldn't stop until I reached the end (several coffee and bathroom breaks later, that is!). Luckily, this was around the same time as City Hunter (where I also began reading recaps on Dramabeans), and as so many of us Beanies know... there was no coming back after the awesomeness of CH with the excellence of the DB community! So while it may be incredibly cheesy and ridiculous to the extreme, I'll always love BOF for bringing K-Dramas & DB into my life!!

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34 Moumita

September 16, 2015 at 8:00 AM

My first drama was liar game on board a Singapore airlines flight . After watching two episodes I wAs hooked. And watched the remaining episodes on you tube every evening as soon as I was back from the training I was attending in Singapore

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35 primaoptima

September 16, 2015 at 8:04 AM

Meteor Garden was actually the one that paved the way for other Asian dramas to enter the local TV scene in this country. Jerry Yan Barbie and the gang became household names.

When BOF was shown, Lee Min ho became the dream guy of almost everyone. Even my friend's seventy year old mother-in-law calling him her boyfriend LOL

I watched all the versions and the best one IMO is the Japanese but I think the Korean version had the most attractive cast except for the girl. I'm not saying she's ugly, but I think Mao is prettier.

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36 Dila

September 16, 2015 at 8:04 AM

i have to admit that Boys Over Flowers was the thing in my country back then. my junior high friends and i used to go to an internet cafe nearby to catch up with the episodes! otherwise, we had to stay up really late so we could watch it on TV, while texting each other as to not oversleep! gay ol' times. but it's true that when i rewatch it now, i can't help but cringe. i wouldn't recommend it to anyone new in the dramaland, haha.

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37 The flaming rose

September 16, 2015 at 9:41 AM

You're beautiful was my first drama- i think. But my addiction people started about three years ago and lets just say that like everyone else the rest os history. But what interests me is korean-the language and the food is interesting as well. I've given up on saeguk because of all those respective titles, customs and the list goes on

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38 MPC

September 16, 2015 at 11:10 AM

Boys Over Flowers was my first k-drama, too! I watched it on Netflix with my husband-- for the first few episodes, we played the game, "Do we find this (scene/character/plot point/etc) weird because it's a different culture? Or because soap operas are always over the top? Or is this show just uniquely nutty?"

After about episode 6, we stopped asking questions and just got swept up in the crazy...

When the show was over, I missed spending time in that crazy world! It's actually how I discovered Dramabeans, googling for more info about Boys Over Flowers.

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39 DBChen

September 16, 2015 at 11:54 AM

Ava's story was awesome

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40 llonna

September 16, 2015 at 12:09 PM

I love reading these! Thank you for sharing! This is a question for anyone who reads this post; I'm an avid drama watcher, but I've never downloaded a series. Do y'all download dramas as often as the others mentioned in this post? Is this a common occurrence, or do you all watch online without downloading series? (just curious)

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mindy

September 16, 2015 at 12:19 PM

Personally, watching streaming dramas is so much easier for me than downloading dramas. Also, if a legal option is available and free, I'll take it over the illegal option. I like to show that people WILL watch things legally if they have ease of access!

I only download dramas that aren't available on official streaming sites like Netflix, DramaFever, Viki, and Hulu.

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41 mindy

September 16, 2015 at 12:18 PM

My very first drama was not a Korean drama but a Taiwanese one, It Started With A Kiss... in 7th grade, one of my internet friends said she was watching Asian dramas. I asked her what they were and she told me to watch ISWAK... 13-year-old me became addicted to that horrible drama, even downloading episodes from mysoju to put on my teeny tiny iPod Nano screen and watch during my breaks at school. I could hardly read the subtitles, they were so small!

After ISWAK, though, I kind of forgot about Asian dramas... until I got into the Japanese idol umbrella, Hello! Project, and watched their cringe-worthy dramas. Luckily, my JDrama taste matured and I branched out to "real" JDramas.

My first KDrama was Goong, which I watched my freshman year of high school (5 years ago) and enjoyed it but ended up forgetting about it around episode 20-something. All throughout high school I just watched only JDramas... until my senior year when I gave the Korean remake of Hana Kimi, To The Beautiful You, a shot. I was honestly offended by how bad it was and was almost turned off my KDramas as a whole.

Soon after, however, I watched You're Beautiful and found it hilarious. In the year and a half since then, I've watched quite a few KDramas, although not as many as some other people. It's funny, I love dramas but I don't get addicted like some people here. The only Asian drama where I became truly addicted and had to watch one episode after another was Bloody Monday. THAT was an addictive drama! Both seasons! In most cases, I can watch one episode and wait several days before watching the next without any problem.

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42 alpha

September 16, 2015 at 2:33 PM

No matter what anyone says You're beautiful and Boys Over Flowers are the pioneers of korean dramas. Literally soooooooooooo many people started their kdrama journey from there.

I cringe now, but back then it was the shit! the epic! show that made me jump up and down in flutter and excitement.

I am baffled at how some people discard their importance now.

BOF and YB will remain in my heart as precious dramas forever. Without them I wouldn't be here right now.

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43 Kat

September 16, 2015 at 5:33 PM

BOF was my first K-drama. Back in 2012, I was bored and looking for something to watch on Netflix. BOF popped up in the "Recommended for You" section and I thought, "why not?" It was really cringe-worthy from episode 1 and I immediately thought it was ridiculous when the F4 walks in and there is a shining light over them. Also, GJP's ridiculous outfits.

But... I couldn't stop watching. Now, it is very hard for me to binge-watch anything. Even a mini series I really love can take me over a month(s) to watch. I'm not good at sitting still. I don't know why, or how, but I finished that show in 2 days. I was glued to the tv and when night came, my laptop.

Yes, it was ridiculous and yes, it was bad but I could not stop watching. Also, I think it helped that every episode ended in a cliffhanger so that I was forced to click on "next episode."
There are dramas that I have loved more than this one and that are a million times better but I sped through this one so fast for some reason.

The other drama that I went through quickly was Cunning Single Lady in 5 days. It wasn't the greatest either but it was really light hearted and easy to watch. Who knows, but BOF got me and I love it! Almost paraadiiiiiisssssee!!!!!!!!

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44 Joanna

September 16, 2015 at 7:09 PM

My first kdrama was You From Another Star because of some article I read. Next was Coffee Prince, and blam!

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45 marmar

September 16, 2015 at 7:38 PM

Wow everyone's first K-drama is BOF.My first k-drama was I am Sam...I know it's bit weird it had Big Bang T.O.P. But the drama that got me addicted was full house for sure.i watched it in a day.I remember when I was in high school I was so addicted to k-drama it was out of control.Omg who remembers mysoju I swear to god that site has every drama you can possibly watch.Thank god for viki when your beautiful came out they had the subs right away ever since that I just follow weekly dramas.but I still binge watch I-drama sometime;)

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46 tapiocapearl

September 16, 2015 at 8:06 PM

Thanks for featuring my story, javabeans!

I discovered dramabeans shortly after my addiction started, so my whole experience watching dramas has always been alongside this website. You, girlfriday, Heads, gummimochi, and anyone else who's ever recapped have been informing my drama watching from the beginning, and I appreciate it very much!

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47 i-qa

September 16, 2015 at 8:26 PM

I have become k-drama fans for almost 10 years (I feel soo old here.... hahaha). My first k-drama was Auntumn in My Heart. But Full House starring rain & song hye kyo has made me a really k- drama fans...

With my friend recommendations, me & my sister have purchase a bunch of k-drama cd. (I still wonder how come I have so many money at that time.. I just a high school student!!).. then I am.introduced to j-drama & taiwanese drama... wahh... I feel like I own this world... everyday I will stick on the tv until my father have cut all the connection to my tv... I feel like crying..I need to restrain my self until m big exam finish & made a promise to my father to.watch only 1 hour everyday... hihihi

And now... I still love k- drama & I will (need) to watch it everyday... haha.. I also have made many of my friend become k-drama fans .. I'm so.proud of myself...it is really so hard to stop when u involves in k-dramalands... my advice... do not involve urselve in k-drama... u will become crazy of it... hahaha

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48 Z

September 16, 2015 at 8:32 PM

Boys Over Flowers was not my introduction to KDramas but it was my first non-daily drama AND it was my introduction to Dramabeans!!!!!!!!

I got into dramas during college when one of the local stations would play a Daily every night at midnight and my roommates and I would quit studying to watch. I moved home in the middle of a show (Likable or Not) and, after a terrible withdrawal, went searching online to see if I could find it. I finished it and started the show that followed it (You Are My Destiny) only to have it shut down for legal reasons on the platform I was watching on. A mad google search led me to mysoju (RIP) which did not have the show I was looking for at the time but did have more KDramas than I could ever imagine. I clicked on BOF on a whim, thought the premise sounded interesting and watched the first few weeks episodes in a few days. I didn't realize that the show was currently airing so, when I ran out of mysoju episodes, I started searching for the rest elsewhere and stumbled upon this lovely little site (it was still little then) with hilarious recaps and my life was comeplete!!!

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49 Allie Nam

September 16, 2015 at 11:54 PM

Boys over flowers is a terrible drama. It is so bad that I refuse to watch it ever again. But, there is something so deliciously addicting about it that made me fall in love with it. My sister recommended it to me after I watched my first drama, Reply 1997 (still the best). I asked her what I should watch next (major withdrawals) and she suddenly looked at me so strangely and said "Go watch Boys over Flowers. Right now." So I did, and it ruined me. I've seen the entirety of the japanese version (far better than the korean one) and the beginning of the taiwanese on (storyline was getting repetitive. maybe another time). I read the manga, I watched behind the scenes for both, and my life has pretty much spiralled out of control. These major eyebags are a testament to my addiction. So, thanks a lot, big sis. You destroyed my life.

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50 prettysup

September 16, 2015 at 11:59 PM

I have never watched Boys over Flowers before. Even after I discovered the hotness of Lee Min Ho, I still couldnt bring myself to watch him in that awful curly hair lol..

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