There’s a new kid on the kdrama-streaming block, and its name is Dramafever.com. It’s free, it’s high-quality, and it’s just about to launch to the public.

I’m posting about them because I think this is something fans would love and find tremendous use in, and because the site, which is in beta, has offered to open up invitations to Dramabeans.com readers. Woo! (I’m sorry to say that this is only available to U.S.-based users, which I’ll explain below.)

The Short Explanation

Dramafever.com is a streaming site for Korean dramas. It’s free, subtitled in English, has high-quality video, and a sleek and easy-to-use interface. Best of all, IT’S COMPLETELY LEGAL.

The Longer Explanation

Yes, we have youtube and mysoju and crunchyroll, and they all have their upsides. However, they also have plenty of downsides, which you have probably experienced for yourselves at some point:

1. Episodes tend to be broken up in multiple clips, upwards of 7 parts per episodes, and sometimes it’s difficult finding a link that’s not broken,
2. Subtitles are hit or miss,
3. and when the subtitles ARE available, often they’re stolen from fansubbing groups and stripped of credit, and
4. the biggest detractor of all, the illegality of streaming licensed content. Reported links are constantly being taken down by Youtube and user accounts deleted. Threatening letters have been sent to uploaders and fansubbers for spreading content that is legally the property of broadcasting companies like MBC, KBS, and SBS.

 
LEGAL LICENSING

Dramafever.com, however, is completely legal. The founders of the site have done what no other streaming site has — which is to license the dramas directly from the Korean broadcasting companies.

That means there’s no risk of Korean broadcast stations threatening legal action and forcing sites to pull down episodes, because the licensing has been acquired.

SUBTITLES

Also, dramas are all subtitled in English. The subtitles for many series have been provided by the companies themselves, but there’s a chance Dramafever will collaborate with With S2 fansubbers to provide subtitles to other dramas in the future.

HIGH QUALITY VIDEO

The videos are unbroken into multiple parts (meaning one episode can be viewed in one single clip, rather than six or seven), and high-quality. The Dramafever team has spent a lot of time doing their own encoding to assure high quality picture with a larger viewing screen than Youtube, for example.

AVAILABLE DRAMAS

Currenty, Dramafever has licensed some of the most popular recent kdramas from MBC, including Coffee Prince, White Tower, My Name Is Kim Samsoon, New Heart, Goong, Jumong, Thank You, La Dolce Vita. Coming soon are titles like Que Sera Sera, H.I.T., Yi San, Really Really Like You.

They are in talks with KBS and SBS as well, so hopefully a slew of those dramas will be available soon.

They also are looking to acquire sitcoms and variety shows, as well as clips of behind-the-scenes action and actor interviews.

ONE KEY CAVEAT

For now, Dramafever is available only to users in the U.S. I know that’s really unfortunate for viewers outside of the States, but this because all the content has been legally licensed from companies like MBC, and the license restricts use to the U.S. If the site ever gets to a point where it can stream internationally, they hope to do so; for now, they are launching within the States.

DRAMABEANS INVITES

Dramafever.com is currently in beta, and plans to open up invitations for users in the coming weeks. Dramabeans readers will get first priority when that happens. All you do is register (free) at Dramafever.com and use the invite code coolbeans.

I recently had the chance to meet up with the guys behind this venture, and let me say that I think it’s a really exciting way to open up the world of Korean dramas to an eager audience. I hope you will give Dramafever your support, because I think it’s a fantastic idea, and I can’t wait to see it succeed.

SUGGESTIONS FOR MORE DRAMAS?

Leave a comment below! I know these guys really take user input seriously, so if there’s something you’re dying to watch, speak up!

Thanks for reading this super-long post. Now go register!