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Dramabeans 5-Year Anniversary Giveaway #1

javabeans: Happy New Year! Another year has zoomed by — time flies when you’re watching dramas, don’tcha know — and 2012 marks an extra-special moment for us at Dramabeans, because the site turns 5 this month.

girlfriday: Happy birthday Dramabeans! You’re finally old enough to go to kindergarten!

javabeans: Or advanced into middle age, if we’re talking cat years. And as we know, the internet = cats.

girlfriday: Well that explains where all the time from the fourth dimension went to, ‘cause I certainly don’t FEEL five.

javabeans: I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for half a decade. K-dramas have sucked away my youth! How is this site still going? To think, when I started in January 2007, my primary mode of thought was, “I wonder how many people would stumble onto this place randomly.” Because then that would be a measure of how many people were interested in dramas in the English-speaking world. As it turns out, a whole damn lot.

girlfriday: I find that most of life’s truths can be found in quotes from Field of Dreams: “If you build it, they will come.”

javabeans: Also “This is my corn. You people are guests in my corn.” And “I have just created something totally illogical.”

girlfriday: See? Maybe internet also = baseball.

javabeans: In any case, we decided The Big 5 called for some celebratin’, and how better to celebrate than to give tons of stuff away? It’s a month-long Anniversary Giveaway Extravaganza!

girlfriday: We’ll be raining down presents during the entire month of January, because if you’re part of the Dramabeans community, it’s your birthday too, and birthdays call for presents!

javabeans: You might want to mark Sundays on your calendar, because every Sunday (or Monday, if you’re ahead of us in the States) we’ll be giving away something super-duper-fantastico exciting. Wait, am I overselling this?

girlfriday: Only if you’re a grinch who hates presents. Every week we’ll be asking you a question, and all you have to do is leave a comment with your answer and email address, and you’ll be entered in that week’s drawing.

javabeans: We’ll select winners by random draw. Check back a week later, and see if you’ve won! If you haven’t, fear not, because we’ll be announcing the next round as well. More prizes!

girlfriday: And they get better each week!

Giveaway #1

Question: What was your Drama First Love? Tell us about the first drama you fell in love with, that brought you over to the dark side. Don’t forget to leave a valid email address so we can contact you if you win.

Prizes:

  • You’re Beautiful Director’s Cut DVD set
  • one $25 Gift Certificate to Yesasia.com
  • one more $25 Gift Certificate to Yesasia.com

Winners announced: Sunday, January 8th, at 8pm, Pacific Standard Time.* This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for entering!

 
*Or, 10pm in Mexico City, 11pm in NYC, 1 am in Buenos Aires, 4am in London, 5am in Paris, noon in Singapore and Manila, 1pm in Seoul and Tokyo, or 3pm in Sydney and Vladivostok. Okay, you get the point. (You can refer to this handy Time and Date converter to find out what this is in your time zone.)

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"Neukkim" -- "Feelings"
OMGoodLORD. WHY WAS THE SOUNDTRACK TO THIS DRAMA SO FRIGGIN AMAZING?

I was only 11 when this drama came out, and my Korean was super subpar, but this was the drama that had me struggling to really work on the tongue of my motherland so that I could understand why three hot brothers were obsessed with the wishy-washy fragile Yuri and totally ignoring the amazing artsy Hye Rin -- who also later became quite fragile. I forget if she got "sick" or attempted suicide. Doesn't matter. She was THE GIRL WHO DARED TO WEAR DRESSES OVER FLARED JEANS before it was COOL. And those cool gray colored contacts and frazzly rat's nest of a messy updo!

I loved her and the cute, round-faced girl with the dark lipstick and cropped hair -- funky style -- who was head over heels in love with "Seombaegnim!"

Kim Min Jong was an IDIOT for not falling in love with that bundle of spunky affection.

Man, Claudia Kishii would've LOVED to've gone off to this college.

Le siiiiigh. I probably would've understood more if I was older than 10 or 11 and the crackly VHS tapes came with subtitles.

And did I mention the soundtrack? This was back when CDs were still relatively new and most people still used cassette tapes.

One of my first crushes in middle school was the guy who played piano who played Park Jin Young's "Neu Yeh Dwee Eh Seo". It was my favorite song in the drama (unless I imagined it) that wasn't featured on the soundtrack.

This was the drama that introduced me to Kpop, ushering in half a decade's worth of D.J. D.O.C., KooL, Kim Gun Mo, Young Turks Club, H.O.T., Solid and the like -- and got me to open up to watching "Propose" and the amazing "Byul Euh Neh Gaseum Eh", which also had an amazing soundtrack.

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My Name is Kim Sam Soon!

Just sooo addicting. At that time, I watched it in Chinese dub. It wasn't until later when I realized it was a Korean drama and then I watched it AGAIN with subtitles.

Still one of my all-time favorite dramas.

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my first kdrama love was kim sam soon, and it will forever have a special place in my heart. it served just the right amount of funny and poignant, and with a kickass heroine like sam soon and eye candy like binnie and daniel henney, this got me hooked line and sinker! it's the first drama i vividly remember going crazy over; i think i marathoned it within a couple of days. since then, it's been years of following k-entertainment, getting addicted to kdramas and then suffering really bad withdrawal symptoms!

the things that make MNIKSS a gem of a drama has been enumerated many times on this blog, by people who can express it 78923 times better than i do, so all i can say is, MNIKSS has made such an impression on me that i still consider it the best kdrama rom com, and my number 1 favorite. and it really stands the test of time, b/c unlike other dramas, i can rewatch this baby over and over and still laugh and cry along with sam soon every time : ))

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My first crush Korean drama is Winter Sonata, Fall in love ever since with Bae Young Jun and Choi Ji woo and started to fantasies that they are really a real couple, But I am over now, although it will be great if they are really a couple, hehehe... Then I started to watch My Girl, Goong, Coffee Prince, My name is Kim Sam soon, Full House and all recomend Korean drama as much as I can, become an addict now I can say... hahahaha...

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The first drama that I fell in love with was thousand years of love with so ji sub and sung yuri. My brother and I watched it at least 3 times. Then we moved on to full house.

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My drama first love was probably Winter Sonata and Kang Joon Sang (Bae Yong Joon)'s pretty face. But I think My Girl and Kim Sam Soon brought me over to the whole drama craze. I can't forget how crazy I was when I was watching those dramas.

Email address: kimhyongeun@gmail.com

Thank you!

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The first drama i watched was Hong Gil Dong. As I was watching, I loved the fast pace intensity and the over the top funny. Now that I've watched other dramas and have been exposed to your critiquing, I've realized it wasn't the best drama with the logical fallacies and hilarious coincidental circumstances. But it's still one of my favorites and the one that pulled me into the kdrama world ^_^

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oh this ones unforgettable coz it ties in my basic foundation of all things related to being one crazy fangirl..LOL! ^_^
so first the drama that started it all was Meteor Garden..was in college by then so i had more free time in my hands..heheh..the series was just beginning on our local tv channel here in the Philippines and i think it was almost semestral break or xmas break..i forgot which just that a break was coming up that was shorte than a month..and i was sooo excited coz finally i will be able to watch it w/o interuptions at the comfort of my own home as opposed to watching it at the dorm cafeteria..heheh..and the the amaaaazing thing is that when i got home one of my highschool classmates has the complete series copied in about 25+ cds (bootleg dvds or OL streaming was not yet introduced to me..it was after this that i discovered the beauty of OL stream sites and its addictivity! LOL!)..i begged her to let me borrow it first (there was a long waiting list) and so my foray into sleepless, crazy nights started..and 6 months to a year after MG came Princess Hours/Goong which introduced me to crack like addiction of kdramas! and i think after watching it i eventually found my way to dramabeans! and ever since then it has become a never ending cycle..new addictive drama, various fave OL stream site, dramabeans for recap.. ^_^

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My first drama love was a TW drama, It Started With A Kiss, but after I had exhausted TW dramas, I started watching Korean dramas. I didn't really fall in love until I stumbled upon Shining Inheritance. It also ignited my love for Lee Seunggi. :)

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Hm.. well, I started watching dramas over a year ago, and the first drama I've ever watched was.. Heading to the Ground. The reason I watched it was because of DBSK's Yunho.. xP
But it wasn't my first drama love. The drama that totally got me hooked was Sungkyunkwan Scandal! One of the best drama ever! ^ ^ ;

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Winter Sonata was my first kdrama and I loved it, but it was My Girl that completely won me over. I still know the names of all characters, lol

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The first Korean drama I ever watched was "Boys Over Flowers" because at the time, I was on a "Hana Yori Dango" bend and wanted to watch all the available adaptations. I'd already seen the Japanese and Taiwanese version, so naturally I flocked to BOF. While I admit it is faaaaar from perfect, I remember being drawn to it because I loved that they took HYD and added little touches to make it stand out (like making Jandi a swimmer and using that to get her into the school, or even having her be the new student and meeting F4 for the first time along with the audience, instead of her being the knowledgeable student who knows better than to mess with them). So even though I've watched many more dramas since that summer, and found others that I love more and that I think are infinitely better, BOF remains the drama that brought me to K-Dramaland.

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Although I have watched some K-Dramas before 'cuz it aired on TV I was into them until Boys Over Flowers and it totally brought me to the dark side...oh boy, now I am still watching K-Dramas and almost nothing else! BoF is my first and one of my most fave dramas to date!

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The first drama that I watched that had me hooked until now was "My Girl". I saw a screen capture image (it was one with Lee Junki holding onto Lee Da Hae) on the internet and I was really interested to see who they were and how they ended up in that pose (plus they were so pretty). Now after 11 years I am still hooked on watching kdrama!!

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Somebody already claimed this one, but winter sonata for me! I usually hate tear jerkers, so of course I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I got into it rather late, in the Fall of 2006. After studying I usually watch something "light" for 30 min or so before going to sleep. Before you know it, I was up all night, crying my eyeballs out, then yelling at the computer for not streaming the videos properly... During the days my eyes were so swollen that I had to make up excuses like allergies if someone asked. It sounds funny now but gosh was I obsessed!

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I was totally hooked since Sassy Girl Chun Yang, at the time the story and the characters are fresh,fun and endearing. Never turned my back since then and there goes my youth... :D

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Ohmygosh this is so exciting! I think the first korean drama I fell in love with was Goong. It was just a feast for the eyes and Yoon Eun Hye is just so darn cute! I still love her now, even though I couldn't stomach the vineyard drama. But in Goong the chemistry was very good, and it didn't stall for too long. The ending wasn't the best, but it was my first drama love so I couldn't care less! And now I'm fully on the dark side, reading recaps daily and waiting for my cookies :D

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Coffee Prince. Before that, I had been watching J-dramas while studying Japanese and TW-dramas while studying Chinese. Then I stumbled onto CP and fell in love with K-dramas. So, I decided to quit Chinese and took Korean instead. That's how much K-dramas affected me. They guided my college career. o_O

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Boys Over Flowers

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Full House. I absolutely loved the acting and chemistry between Rain and Song Hye Kyo. This is without a doubt still one of my favourite dramas of all time!.

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First drama (came across while channel surfing) -Great King Sejong, but sucked in 100% by Coffee Prince.

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I started watching these kdramas this past summer, and i have already watched so many! So the first Korean drama I ever watched was Boys over Flowers. I was really hooked to it after the first episode since I read the manga series several years ago. Korean dramas have so many hot male actors, which makes it worthwhile to watch it. Since watching Boys over flowers, it led me to Personal Taste, My Name is Kim Samsoon, City Hunter, 49 Days, and much more! I can't stop watching all the drama happening.

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I'd have to say my very FIRST drama was the Taiwanese version of Boys Over Flowers = Meteor Garden. But my foray into K-dramas begin with Hotelier, then Full House, which got me officially hooked! After that, well, that's history =)

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Way to throw a party, Dramabeans!

I stumbled onto My Princess less than six months ago and it was the portal to a whole new world...one my family still can't suck me out of. *sheepish grin*

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The first kdrama that brought me to the dark side is definitely Biscuit Teacher and Star Candy starring Gong Yoo and Gong Hyo Jin. That drama was my first love, and it started a 5 years of kdrama manic for me. As well, as my love for Gong Yoo =)

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As far as I can remember, I think my first K-drama love was My Girl... LEE JUNKI! ^^ He was one pretty man.

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My first ever drama was actually Boys Over Flowers in which I was making fun of when I first saw it. HOWEVER after watching it, I became instantly addicted. I used to make fun of my mom of watching Kdramas but NOW I'm the one whose watching them 24/7! I actually have watched more than my mom now and shes the one whose making fun of me. BOF has definitely brought me to the deep and dark side but still..who cares? I'm happy! :)

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Coffee Prince was my first drama love and it will forever have that special place in my heart <3 I really loved Yoon Eun Hye in this and Gong Yoo...*sighh* he's just so wonderful! After watching Coffee Prince, I was pulled into the dark yet wonderful side of drama-land. I actually try to go back and watch it every year just to remember the first love that sparked my addiction for dramas!

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Ohh! And congrats on your 5th anniversary! :)

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My drama first love? PROSECUTOR PRINCESS! \ ^o^ /

I watched it without subtitles, re-watched it with subtitles, and read the recaps without missing a beat. ^_^v

Happy New Year! Happy 5-Year Anniversary!

Keep rocking on!

(≧_≦)/♥~

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First, I love your site, I check it religiously and I love your recaps, they're very insightful and really help me to understand the dramas, especially the when there are puns involved.

Second, the first drama I ever watched was Full House, when I was 15 years old. I remember falling in love with Rain and Song Hye Kyo and thinking what a great show it was (smh at my taste, I was so young). Thanks to that show I started looking for more kdramas and getting more interested in korean culture in general, even though my interest diminished a little. It wasn't until I found your site a few months ago that I got interested in kdramas again and I must thank your for introducing me to a lot of good dramas that I might have ignored otherwise.

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My first full drama was Full House. Loved it. So makjang and repetitive......... :D

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I remember randomly stumbling on an asian tv channel years back, listening to the wondrous melody of spoken korean language. I'm not sure what the drama was exactly (I still don't know to this day) but that was the first time kdramas piqued my interest. The first drama I ever knowingly watched was Stairway to Heaven, but I don't count that because I never finished it, and I didn't enjoy it that immensely anyway.

The first drama I ever finished in its entirety and fell in love with was Full House! My close second is My Girl. Looking back now, these dramas are not that amazing in quality, but evoke those tingly butterfly feelings just the same.

xx [dot] mary [at] gmail [dot] com

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Daejangeum. Haha, i remembered watching it in elementary school with my local TV network

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yjnlee [at] gmail [dot] com

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My first k-drama ever was 'endless love-autumn in my heart' starring won bin or imaybe it was 'The Truth' starring choi ji woo since those were i think some of the very first k-dramas shown in our country...and i was still kinda young (was infected with the kdrama bug at such a young age!! Hehe xD) and let me tell u i that those were the dark days since i didnt have internet then and when i had access, i couldnt find english subbed ones or even kdramas at all!!! *shudders at the memory* i thank the advancement of the world for feeding my very large (and sometimes unsatisfied) addiction of kdramas!!!

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Full House :)

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My very first drama encounter was this summer, when I randomly came across an episode of Baby-Faced Beauty while perusing the TV channels. I went online to see if I could find more episodes, and the rest is history. I have been completely and utterly sucked in by the world of Kdrama. So far my deepest drama love is for Coffee Prince and The Greatest Love, but I keep adding to my list of favorites!

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Mine would be Goong, though the very first kdrama i watched was Dae Jang Geum (which my mum insisted that we watch it with her). Still, Goong was the very first kdrama dvd set i ever bought after watching it online during my o-levels, and triggered off this whole addiction that has lasted for about 5 years (and counting...) :)

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Endless Love was my first Kdrama. But, I think I went down the devil's circle through Goong.. Oh dear...

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“If you build it, they will come.” ...and then more will come, then even more... (the internet also = rabbits). Congratulations!

The initial hook for me was The Last Scandal of My Life, specifically the immature but sweetly loving character, Dong Chul/Jae Bin.

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My first drama ever was the first Japanese Hana Kimi. My first Korean drama ever was You're Beautiful and it's still my all time favorite.

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It's Autumn in my heart, so long ago. I was hooked on Won Bin right away and loved the storyline when they were kids. Even though I quickly got bored with the storyline I just love the eye candy in this drama.

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I feel in love with My Girl...my first kdrama that I marathon for 2 days and was like a walking zombie because of lack of sleep. After that, no turning back. I watched everything I can get my hands on old and new dramas. Now I have dramafever on my Roku so I can review the dramas I love.

Happy Anniversary to dramabeans! I stumbled on this site while looking for BOF recaps...and stayed eversince. Part of my internet activity for the day...:))

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Full House! And I've never looked back since. I completely indulged and just went all-out after that. Kpop and Kdrama overload!

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ah I forgot to add something to that. Thank you dramabeans for being the source of reviews I run to to decide whether to watch a drama nowadays. Before I was willy nilly all over the place. I wasn't picky about what I chose but now I've become a jaded viewer. Thanks dramabeans! Happy 5th Anniversary!

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First drama that got me watching Korean dramas is Emperor Wang Gun. I liked the way it was made and how it portrayed the different characters throughout the historical drama. To this day, I haven't seen a historical drama come close to being as good as Emperor Wang Gun.

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Its been a couple of months, but it all started with one picture of Lee Min Ho and BOYS OVER FLOWERS. From then on I was hooked!

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The delightful girl Chun Hyang. has the magic to spell me to love Jae Hee forever.

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I've watched other dramas before Coffee Prince but CP is the one that brought me to the dark side! It was also the drama that brought me to dramabeans :D

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Funny how I did randomly stumble upon this site, and now I can't even remember a time when I didn't refresh this page to read ur recaps! LUV YOU!! <3

I fell for Coffee Prince... This was my 2nd korean drama (first was boys over flowers, but I didn't COMPLETELY fell for it... though i did fall for the actors :P), and the first one with a girl pretending to be a boy.
I never had even thought of that idea for a romance story (since i wrote stories myself)! I loved the way Yoon Eun Hye would make me laugh till I cried, cried till I had no water left in me, and go aww countless times even if the cuteness ended!

Not only that, but I loved the cute "prince gang"! I still remember when they all were dancing and playing the random instruments around... the waffle guy was so cute and funny when he started sword-fighting then started dancing with the Playboy! Or when the guy (R.I.P) was in love with "angel" and also found out Eun-Chan was a girl n slowly everybody started finding out because of him. Also that nose-picking ahjussi (forgot his name) became the first actor ahjussi that I admired... And who could forget the famous line of "I don't care if you're gay, or even an alien..." *kiss* (hehe)

This show to me is still my favorite because I was truly moved by all the actors and actresses (n who could forgot cute Goong Yoo!!) <3 <3 And because of this I watched more Yoon Eun Hye shows, then searched up more korean drama favorites to watch... and well it just went downhill (or uphill ?) from there!

~~kimluvv@yahoo.com

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Happy 5th Anniversary! :D

I was a huge fan of Japanese dramas until I watched Goong. Still a fan of J-doramas but K-dramas are refreshing in a different kind of way.

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The first Korean drama I ever watched was Winter Love Song (or Winter Sonata). It aired on the multicultural channel, and I was hooked. It was just so deliciously melodramatic. :)

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