Introducing Dramafever
by javabeans
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:
- 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,
- Subtitles are hit or miss,
- and when the subtitles ARE available, often they’re stolen from fansubbing groups and stripped of credit, and
- 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!
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151 jenny
December 27, 2008 at 10:45 PM
wow, amazing! ive been trying to watch coffee prince, but all the videos either take ages to load, or are LQ. this would be great, & i hope they accept me soon! has anyone had any luck yet and recieved an email from them?
*anxiously waiting*
:)
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152 Herminia
December 28, 2008 at 1:18 AM
GOSH I CANT WAIT, HOW LONG HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN WAITING? IVE BEEN WAITING FOR MAYBE 3 DAYS,,, GOSH I MISS GOONG!!! LOL
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153 amanda
December 28, 2008 at 5:43 PM
They should do variety shows! This is like asian hulu lol. I had to register awhile before hulu actually started running as well. I'm looking forward to being bale to sit for an hour and watch a whole show without clicking the ext link,etc.
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154 jani
December 28, 2008 at 8:53 PM
HOMG.
this is awesome!!!!! thanks so much for the info and the invite.
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155 dianne
December 28, 2008 at 9:22 PM
wow! i've long been waiting for something like this. thanks for sharing!
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156 DramaFever
December 29, 2008 at 8:07 PM
Hi Everyone -
Thank you all for your interest! We took good notes of your comments and will try to incorporate many of them as we build up our site over the coming months. We appreciate you taking the time out to write them.
We will be sending out large blocks of beta invitation emails starting this Wednesday (12/31), and just about all of you who already registered on our site with priority code ‘coolbeans’ should get access by Monday (1/5)….if you used a computer located in the US when you registered.
The reason for ours being a US-only service is due to licensing issues. We simply don’t have the permission from the content owners to stream outside of US. We hope to remedy this over time.
Please note that we’re in “beta” because the site still needs work and we need to add more content. However, even in beta, we think you will be pleased by the overall quality and speed of our videos. It will only get better over time as we fix bugs, acquire more content, and build out features that you’d enjoy.
Please feel free to contact me directly at sbak@dramafever.com with any questions or suggestions.
Sorry for the wait and we appreciate your patience.
Thanks!
Seung
Co-Founder
DramaFever.com
sbak@dramafever.com
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157 jenny
December 30, 2008 at 9:10 PM
wow, thanks for that dramafever!
what a surprise.
:)
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158 J
January 1, 2009 at 4:09 PM
Awesome! I got an email from Dramafever today and the site looks awesome. Weird thing though is that I'm from Canada and I was able to watch it. I just signed up just in case and it worked!
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159 :]
January 1, 2009 at 8:34 PM
Mars.
Please upload Mars. And Why Why Love <3
Silence would be nice too :]]
Crunchy Roll took down all their dramas && animes :[
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160 cullenhale
January 1, 2009 at 9:41 PM
I love this site. It has kinks that need to be worked out but I finally get to watch White Tower! The first episode was AMAZING. Not only do I get to watch Lee Syun-Gun "The Voice" (what a dream boat!) I finally get to see Kim Myung Min in action...
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161 Katrina
January 2, 2009 at 10:13 PM
Very impressive! Thanks so much for introducing me to this site. The videos clarity and english subs are truly remarkable. Love it!
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162 ntobrien
January 5, 2009 at 8:39 AM
Thanks for this new site. It is very exciting!
I haven't had a chance to watch any of this drama yet but would hope the English subtitles should be a good one.
I like the presentation overall.
Are you planning to post the Kmovies eventually? I am very impressed with Korean movies as well.
I am also looking forward to watching clips of behind-the-scenes action and actor interviews.
Thanks again and good luck,
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163 Herminia
January 6, 2009 at 10:15 PM
waa I didnt get to put the ''coolbeans'' thing!!!
Gosh I shouldve put it, im hella waiting like crazy
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164 rach1rur3
January 8, 2009 at 10:48 PM
I got the e-mail for drama fever... and i'm so glad i signed up! The videos where great in quality and so were the subs. I can't wait for them to add more shows! Thanks to the people who took the time to set up drama fever for us K-Drama fans! I hope you guys get the licensing for When It's At Night (cough! =D)... but I'll be happy with whatever you provide. Beggars can't be choosers! lol! Once again, Thanks!
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165 Wasabii
January 19, 2009 at 12:24 PM
Is there any way I can request My Girl? ^.^
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166
January 20, 2009 at 7:59 PM
there's another site that has eng subs out first... its viikii.net... have a look!!!
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167 M
January 25, 2009 at 8:44 PM
Romance Hunter Eng subbed PLEASE!! Ive tried for months and months...Thank you!
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168 kittykat
February 13, 2009 at 7:40 PM
Wow, I'm so glad that we have another site of English sub dramas to feed our K-drama addiction. I have a request for the drama "You're My Destiny" if possible. I've been dying to continue watching the rest of the drama, mysoju only have posted up to episode 138. Also "When its at night" I love that series. Thank you dramabeans for sharing such wonderful news with all of us.
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169 Paula
February 13, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Wow, what an awesome idea! :) I hope that it becomes available to Canadians in the future! :)
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170 Marres77
March 17, 2009 at 12:45 AM
Fantastic news!!!!!!..... but oh man.....how bummed am i that i live in Oz right now! hehehe................. oh well!
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171 leideeLuck
March 31, 2009 at 10:33 AM
Seung,
What a wonderful thought put into ACTION.
For us non-korean speakers, the subs are crucial. If you all can improve the subbing, I would really appreciate it.
Even willing to lend a hand - as am an educator . Poor subbing can be so very frustrating and we lose that meaningful moment.
For the 50 states...it would be nice to set up shop to advocate.....am willing.
best of luck Seung and partners and dramabeans
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172 maii
April 5, 2009 at 2:35 AM
What if your U.S territory?
Does that count?
I sgined up already..
I'm just waiting eagerly! n _______ n
<3333
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173 gumiho23
April 13, 2009 at 5:34 AM
how sad!!! i live in the Philippines!!!
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174 abovo99
May 15, 2009 at 12:38 PM
I signed up & registered. OMG, the quality is so good. I'm planning to rewatch my 2 favourite dramas: Coffee Prince & Boys Before Flowers. But it has some short CF during each episode. Anyway, it's so much better than other sites. Thanks so much for posting about this site. You are the BEST!!!!!
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175 girlie
May 28, 2009 at 12:59 AM
i love to watch those korean dramas but i live in Philippines..... :(( hope i can watch it soon>>>
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176 Grace
June 1, 2009 at 8:09 AM
I registered, and I love how I can get licensed dramas with subs, but for one thing... the second I signed up on Dramafever, I started getting a LOT of spam in my gmail inbox in my main email account. I switched the email address in my Dramafever account to one that I use only rarely, but junk mail kept getting sent to my main account, in addition to my alternative email. Is there any way to remedy this?
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177 JoJo-B
June 14, 2009 at 6:26 PM
Wow...this is great! Just signed up and waiting for invite. Can't wait to see other Kdramas that are not shown at mysoju.com. Thank you for the info dramabeans. M sooo exxzzited.
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178 Itzel
July 7, 2009 at 3:31 PM
I just registered!!!! it looks so cool!! i hope they have 1% of anything, recently they've been taking that drama down...... I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!
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179 TaeYangFTW!
July 15, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Aw.. I need it to become international! The site seems really legit! :D
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180 Jossy!
August 7, 2009 at 4:15 AM
aww hurry up and become universal already so we can watch as a collective!! I guess we'll be the very last to be in on the loop well, along with the south pole... *sigh
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181 Negrinha1980
October 6, 2009 at 1:26 PM
Well!!! I am so happy that i started to cry when i found out about DramaFever, I have to say that the quality is awesome, the subs are excellent and i keep spreading the word about them to my fan friends...i was so surprised that it was legal and the best of all FREEEEEEEEEE...they have so many dramas i was eager to watch..lol...and they keep adding more to the website...every night i go to sleep around 1am watching my dramas..lol..hopefully they will be able to make it international for those that are not living in America..but for sure i can predict korean dramas and talents will grow more and more here in America with this website...ah i also found out about Dramabeans at Dramafever...and i am liking this site a lot...:)
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182 Amanda
October 14, 2009 at 4:59 PM
Just testing to see if this works and Canada..
and it does!
Hurray~
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183 maltreti
October 16, 2009 at 2:25 AM
It's a pity that they only have the licence for the U.S. and Canada. I hope they get it for Europe too. This project is really cool. Thanks a lot!
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184 Amina
November 8, 2009 at 11:05 AM
SHEEEESHHH IM WATCHING IRIS N UR TELLIN ME ONLY AMERICA?? GRRRRRRRR
DO EUROPE N ENGLAND DAMN IT
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185 Liz
November 18, 2009 at 11:46 PM
I love you!! Thank you for this heads up!!! You are faboo!
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186 Tattiana
November 23, 2009 at 11:54 PM
IRIS!!! best and most epic drama ever!:D
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187 FTBOTW
February 6, 2010 at 12:03 AM
Thank you..from Hawaii to California to NY to Florida and the rest of the States. Great news.
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188 Unnursvana
February 14, 2010 at 5:46 AM
why don't they let all of us K-drama lovers watch these dramas not just people from US.. so unfair
WHY MUST I LIVE IN ICELAND T_T
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189 Retta
April 3, 2010 at 12:41 PM
Late but ....
I love Dramafever...I like that it is classy and easy to navigate. As it is now a pay site.. if you want no ads...I happily pay. I like the way the site is showing not just my Kdramas...but documentary and blogs.
I also like the quick response when you contact them...even if it's to compliment or ask for a program...
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190 ehlai06
April 22, 2010 at 6:18 AM
hi. im from philippines. can i request for personal preference/personal taste. i really love that drama. thanks. ♥
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191 ehlai06
April 22, 2010 at 6:21 AM
can u please also include the Philippines so that we can watch our favorite korean dramas. hope u grant my wish. thanks a lot. :)
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192 Jwilb Kamh
April 25, 2010 at 1:20 PM
it doesn't have prosecutor princess!
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193 Patrick
May 20, 2010 at 5:38 AM
javabeans, I think they have allow access to Canada too. I live in Toronto and I cam access the site and the videos too!
Thanks for introducing dramafever, javabeans! You're the best!
You may want to update your post and let others know!
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194 Me
December 19, 2010 at 3:27 AM
great! but too bad, i live here in the Philippines.. hope they would open up internationally.. i wanna watch White Tower
these dramas are also good:
Save The Last Dance For Me
Down With Love
Bad Family
Boys Over Flowers
He's Beautiful
Mischievous Kiss
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195 RJK
March 15, 2011 at 9:35 AM
am currently visiting in Europe..return to USA soon. Will you be showing the KDrama PRESIDENT with the great actor choi soo Jong?
Thanks much.
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196 chizzygirl
April 21, 2011 at 7:16 PM
i have been trying to send a drama request on dramafever but the process is not understandable to me..so please i would like to makee my drama request to drama fever through this sit.....please can drama fever upload the drama, "BALLAD OF SUH DONG"....I am totally dying to watch this drama!!!!!!!!!!!....PLEASE!
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197 Tamara
April 14, 2013 at 8:36 AM
I live In europe, it really sucks. Please let it beavailabe in Europe soon.
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198 Dan Strickland
October 21, 2018 at 6:21 PM
And now they're gone. I gather they had some sort of connection with Warner Bros., but it appears the licensing costs have grown too high. A shame.
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