2,410

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.)

Tags: ,

2,410

Required fields are marked *

First drama I ever watched was Boys Over Flowers. I think I was hooked after the first episode. That one started to drag on a bit near the end but You're Beautiful was next and I loved the entire thing start to finish.

Email: thomsonemerald@gmail.com

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Coffee Prince!!!!!!!!!! what's not to love???? I'd seen others before, but none of them sucked me in and made me all drama crazy like coffee prince :)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My first kdrama was probably Stairway to Heaven...not the best drama to start off with especially as an eight year old lol...couldn't watch it all the way. But my Drama first love was My Name is Kim Sam soon!! Hyun bin<3
i remember first watching the first few episodes with my entire family and not understanding it. we had borrowed the dvd, which only had chinese subs, from a family friend and since we don't understand korean, that's what we used. i wasn't all that great at reading chinese so it was kinda difficult to follow through (and we hated dubs). so i decided to watch it myself with english subs and i loved it and then became hooked on kdramas haha :)
oh! and i love clazziquai. ah "Be My Love" was so good

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

dear dramabeans,
you have been my go to source since i discovered coffee prince 4 years ago. everywhere i go, i am always proud to point to your site as the go to site for english fans. i always tell them if i want to know whats currently playing by day or a recap go to dramabeans. so, kamsamnida and happy 5 YEARS ANNIVERSARY. HEARS TO MANY MORE!!!!!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Happy 5th anniversary, javabeans! Thank you for all your wonderful drama recaps.

My kdrama first love was Autumn Love. I first watched it with Chinese dubs and was instantly captivated. The story was so moving and all three leads were gorgeous. :D

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I've watched many dramas before, but the one I really and truly enjoy is You're Beautiful.....it has its flaws, but overall, it was one of the best.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My first drama was Mars. I had read the manga and I accidentally stumbled across the live action and it was like WHOA! From then on I went from Animeland and Mangaland and stepped firmly onto the holy grounds of Dramaland. I'm still exploring the territory.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Happy Birthday to us all! My first turn on to Korean Drama was Love and Marriage - My boss and I were talking about how bad regular TV was, and she said she'd been watching Chinese and Korean dramas on TV - (she's from Hong Kong), and that if I wanted, I could watch them because they're subtitled! She then told me about Love and Marriage, and how much fun she was having watching it. Yeah, yeah. I knew my boss, and decided to watch an episode anyhow, and I got hooked. First because of the gorgeous main actors (Kim Ji Hoon is still a favorite and I wish Kim Min Hee was in more) - who convinced me that they WERE their characters, and then because the charm and development of the story sort of swept me off my feet. From that drama on, I was hooked. My next BIG drama? Boys over Flowers. Oh, there were some inbetween that I watched, but BOF really cemented my addiction and D.A.R.K. (Dramas Are Rad in Korea) obsession. Sadly, I only get 2 channels which offer Korean shows at night so I miss a LOT, and am therefore really very pleased that I can come into Dramabeans and relive my specific obsessions, find new ones, read the informative and wacky recaps, and see what other addicts are saying.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Hur Joon was the first I watched from start to finish. Got hooked in sageuks and I've never looked back.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My Kdrama First Love was Queen Seondeok.

However what brought me over to the dark side was 'Playful Kiss' (as embarrassing as it may seem). Thanks to Kim Hyun Joong, I got to backtrack to Boys Over Flowers and then to Lee Min Ho, Yoon Eun Hye and then the chain just went on and on and on.

Although I immensely enjoyed watching QSD, I wasn't at all that prepared for the loooong episodes that was so saeguk (that is probably why I hesitate watching historical dramas because of this--GF, I know, I have commitment issues too)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My Drama First Love was My Name is Kim Sam Soon and I was pretty much hooked from the scene where she fell over and rolled around on the floor. I'd been curious about K-dramas but stayed away cause the storylines just seemed so tragic. This one was anything but and I loved the way Sam Soon stood up for herself. and spoke her mind. To this day, it remains one of my fave K-dramas.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

First drama ? Goong, back in 2007, and gosh was I completely hooked. It took me some time to download all episodes, so I couldn't quite do a marathon. But once I had them all, I spent my whole Saturday on it with my sister. Despite the ending that sucked, it was awesome, and my love for kdramas has never died ever since. I've stopped watching jdramas, I'm still loyal to kdramas... Have to say that dramabeans helps me a lot to choose what to watch =)

Anyway... Happy birthday to dramabeans, and thank you for running this awesome website !

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Oops, I meant Autumn Tale. Sorry...:P

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

First K-drama I ever watched was "Full House" (I had just seen 비 in Ninja Assassin and was going/drooling "who the hell is THAT guy?"... and then, while looking for MORE 비, I came accross Mysoju and Dramacrazy (Dramafever doesn't work in my region of the world (Switzerland, Europe)) and I was instantly addicted to anything K-drama related. That was only 2 yrs ago. 2nd drama was "A Love to Kill" and the 3rd, I think, BOF.
My first love? Like in TRUE love? very difficult. I was totally in love with Full House back then, but that was only because I hadn't seen anything else :) If I had to pick one, just, one, to watch again and again, it would probably be ... (*thinks looooooooong and very hard*) "City Hall".
Ahhhh, I wish you had asked for first love in different categories!!! (like first love saeguk, first love rom-com, first love vampire series, etc.)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

for me it all started with nobuta wo produce!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My first Korean drama was Goong. I was watching online through a thai streaming website. At the time, it was airing one episode per week. After 3 weeks, I was totally hooked and wanted more soon. I found the entire drama on Youtube with subtitles. I hooked my laptop to my TV and watched it all night long. At about 4 AM and at the end of the drama, I was red eyes and in tears. My husband woke up to go to bathroom, "What in the world is wrong with you?" I just pointed at the TV. I was so obsessed with Goong, I brought the DVD off ebay. Watched it again a few more time. The DVD subtitles were not at good as the ones by WITHS2.
I discovered d-addicts and read reviews about all the other Kdrama. My next drama was "My Name is Sam Soon" and I haven't stop watching Korean drama since.
I am grateful for Dramabeans for all the recaps for the past 5 years. I've been reading since "Coffee Prince." Happy New Year and I hope you gain more readership in the next 5 years.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

It was Playful Kiss (please don't judge me for that). The characters and story drove me nuts, but I fell hard for KDramas.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Hi! My Drama First Love was You're Beautiful :) I accidentally saw it on t.v. during the episode where ParK Shin Hye gets trapped on top of the truck. At that point, I thought...what a weird drama. But days later I saw the mv shooting scene, realized it was a gender bender (I was just watching the jdrama Hana Kimi a while ago), and decided to watch it online. A whole lot of smiles later, I was hooked :D

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

You're Beautiful! I was obsessed with this drama for days. I made my sister, cousins, and mom watch it, pretty much anyone who came to my house LOL!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Goong! (a.k.a. Princess Hours)

It will always be my favourite drama <3
I fell in love with the Prince alongside the Princess (and became a Yoon Eun Hye fan along the way!). A wonderful drama that definitely brought me over to the dark side ^^

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

my very first korean drama was shining inheritance! :D i actually watched it in china with chinese subs and i remember being really confused about why eun sung and hwan would both call the grandmother "grandmother" xD only later after i indulged more in korean dramas did i understand... THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR RECAPS AND EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE! :)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Happy 5 years Dramabeans! Don't know what I would do without you.

My first K-drama was Winter Sonata. This was when I fell in love with Korean dramas and started losing sleep and having a social life :)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

The first Asian series I've ever watched was "Hana Yori Dango" Japanese version, and then came "My girl" as my first Korean drama. :)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My first K-drama was Coffee Prince, a little over a year ago. I started watching it with a school group because I was starting to take Korean classes; I had heard a bit about K-drama cliches, so I thought it would be laughably melodramatic. Turned out to be quite different from my expectations... After 3 episodes, I couldn't wait for the next showing and started marathoning the whole drama online :) Now I can't stop watching K-dramas, and dramabeans is probably my most-visited site. You guys are awesome!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

i feel old saying this, but i know how much you guys love it too- my first kdrama love was neukkim (feeling). lee jung jae and ryu shi won may be more famous now, but back then my friends and i fought over son ji chang and kim min jong. i still sing the theme song at noraebang. i've watched too many dramas since then, but there's a special place in my heart for neukkim.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Stairways to Heaven. It was the first Korean Drama i ever watched. I fell in love with Kwon Sang Woo, and have been addicted to dramas ever since. Not sure what my world would be like without dramas... Anywhooo, i just want to thank you for having such an awesome site for people like meee. hehe Happy Birthday Dramabeans ^^ Bring it on, 2012!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

That is a really easy answer, My Lovely Sam Soon. I had friends that were raving about Full House and I couldn't get past the first episode, I felt it was too painful to get past because it was my first time watching a Kdrama. Luckily I stumbled on MNKSS somehow and I immediately feel in love with the wit and charm of the story and characters. Not to mention my new found love for Hyun Bin. After MNKSS it just rolled on from there..what drama do I want to watch next? How do I know which ones are good and which ones are bad? With a lot of trial and error I blazed through tons of dramas blindfolded. Some excellent and some were just weeks of my life I could never get back until I found you. My love for kdramas still continue and I don't know if there is a cure for my sickness but I'm glad its a sickness I share with millions of other kdrama lovers!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Congrats on the 5th anniversary of Dramabeans! This site was the first K-blog I ever read for K-dramas and news from the entertainment world. THANK YOU, THANK YOU (javabeans, girlfriday, and all other recappers/posters) for creating this community here and for welcoming any-and-everyone to the darkside! ;-)

My Drama First Love was Spring Waltz. I realize it received the worst ratings/comments of the "season dramas", but I (still) LOVE IT!!! And watch it every year to fall in love with it and the characters once again.

This drama also introduced me to such plot devices as birth secrets, noble idiot syndrone, cancer/blindness/heart problems...as the illness du jour --and I was shocked (SHOCKED!!!) by all of it....until I saw these in the next drama. ;-) It's hard to believe I was that "innocent". LOL!

Happy 5th, and many happy returns!

0
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I love spring waltz too :)! It was my favorite of the 4 season dramas.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Well , my friend had been trying to get me into K-drama's for a while but i thought it would be random . I had been into Indian shows and movies but didn't really brunch out to any other stuff . AFter much persuasion i got curious and randomly clicked on a fan made video of Boys Over Flowers on youtube . AT that time i was also watching a disturbing load of American Shows i dropped them all and never looked back .
It's just a shame no one at my work place knows about the secret awesome that is K-dramas .

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

That is a really easy question, My Lovely Sam Soon. I had friends that were raving about Full House and I couldn't get past the first episode, I felt it was too painful to get past because it was my first time watching a Kdrama. Luckily I stumbled on MNKSS somehow and I immediately feel in love with the wit and charm of the story and characters. Not to mention my new found love for Hyun Bin. After MNKSS it just rolled on from there..what drama do I want to watch next? How do I know which ones are good and which ones are bad? With a lot of trial and error I blazed through tons of dramas blindfolded. Some excellent and some were just weeks of my life I could never get back until I found you. My love for kdramas still continue and I don't know if there is a cure for my sickness but I'm glad its a sickness I share with millions of other kdrama lovers!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

First, congrats on five awesome years!!!

My first kdrama love was delightful child choon chang. It's was back in 2007. I started watching it at 6pm and stayed up until I was done. I downloaded so much crap that the next night my new computer was acting funny. It was worth it. Also I was a newlywed and that night I didn't even care to greet my hubby.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Happy 5th anniversary, dramabeans. Thanks for keeping this site strong and lively. Many more 5-yr anniversaries to come!!

My first k-drama love got to be 대장금 Dae Jang Geum / Jewel in the Palace 大長今, which was also my first k-drama. Love at first sight.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Dear Java, Hi

Congratulation!

Since 6th episode of Coffee Prince (2007) , it's about 4.5 years that I check your blog every night.

My first K_ Drama was "Only You",but my ever delightful korean drama, my every night and day love was ... definitly COFFEE PRINCE.

Thanks for all of your tough efforts.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My first drama love was technically Pure In Heart 19 but Dal Ja's Spring is what brought me over to the dark side. Ever since then I've unintentionally devoted my free time to getting my fix on a regular basis lol.

Congrats on the site's 5th year anniversary, I'm sure you guys work hard, thank you for everything you do.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My first drama I ever fell in love with was All In. My friends is California sent us a copy of this drama and told us to watch it. This was the first time I had ever heard of Korean Dramas. I was in 4th grade when I watched it, and I fell in love with it. Song Hye Kyo and Lee Byung Hun had just amazing chemistry. Whenever Song Hye Kyo cried, it made you want to cry as well. I loved the plot as well. Ji Sung did a great job as well. I loved that Lee Byung Hun's character wasn't absolutely perfect, he truly loved her, but he had a harsh past as well. I also love that Park Sol-Mi stayed a good friend to Song Hye Kyo, and didn't do anything dirty to her.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

The first drama that I watched and still love is Sons of Sol Pharmacy House. I think it was perfect to start my love as it was so different from American TV but at the same time had a retro feel, TGIF shows from the 90s feel. It also helped that my mom and younger sister were also both watching with me so I had people to discuss plot points with.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My first drama was Playful Kiss, but the one that seriously got me hooked was You're Beautiful. I am now a full-fledged addict. I loved that YAB could be wacky and heart-breaking at the same time. And having JGS, LHK, and JYH in the same drama is just bliss.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

you ladies are fantastic! my most favorite procrastinating activity has evolved from watching dramas to reading drama recaps...you can cover so much more ground that way...and then after picking a favorite i spemd the mext few days not sleeping kekekeke

so muchos gracias for doing this every week for...260wweks! ...man that is a lot of weeks...

and my gateway drama was definitely Bad Family! little na rim was so adorable and kim kyung min was SO hilarious and her family was so ridiculous it was fantastic! and i think i especially appreciated that it wasnt about forming couples...the couples just formed alonf the way in a way that made sense hehehe

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Boys Before Flowers

It was like falling into the rabbit hole. Discovering this strange fantasy world that spoke to me. There is just enough cultural differences in the story telling for me to pretend that I am learning something but I suspect that I am just a kdrama addict with no rhyme or reason.

Thank you for your website. It is great having a guide into this world.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

delightful girl chun hyang will always be my favorite and the first drama i watched. all because of jae hee, need i say more?

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Autumn in My Heart and the rest is history. :)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I've been watching and enjoying Kdramas only since 2004 but it was only after seeing Coffee Prince that I absolutely fell into the Kdrama point of no return from the characters to the story down to the soundtrack. The Java Jive still rings in my head to this day. =)

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Coffee Prince was the first one I watched. Now listen to my tale, or skip it, cause I won't know if you do.

Coffee Prince was my gateway drama, and it's still my favorite. That scene where Eun Chan and Han Gyul are on the beach and he wants nothing more than to touch her, to be close to her, but he's in pain.... It still makes me teary eyed even after watching a million times.

Not much of a tale was it?

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My very first drama was Coffee Prince. 'Nuff said, right? No, 'cause you can never gush enough about Coffee Prince. One of the things I've come to appreciate about the show is that the main couple actually gets together during the run of the show, as opposed to the end, which gives us time to see them navigating their relationship together. And Han Yoo Joo is one of the best second lead females out there. Selfish, but loving in her own way, she's a second lead with a love of her own, and I love that she a Eun Chan can make a friendship out of their situation. Add Gong Yoo's face, Lee Sung Gyun's voice, and that wonderful soundtrack and you've got a show that's got my heart.

If the Dark Side is getting to watch shows with strong romantic plot lines and a definite beginning, middle, and end, then I like being here.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Popcorn in 2000!
(geesh this kinda reveals my age doesn't it?)
Wasn't the greatest drama but it got me hook, line & sinker. Who could not fall in love with Song Seung Heon on his bike despite his wooden acting? Been adding plenty of I-lub-yous to my collection ever since...

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

my love for kdramas is kind of backwards. i learned to love all things korean from tkd and a tough korean master who introduced me to korean music at my request. my love grew from there and i started watching kdramas to increase learning of the language along with music.one of my first was winter sonota thanks to bae young jun. i love the historical dramas and romance the best! oh, and the ones where the characters change and grow and improve themselves, or the evil guys who never redeem themselves,yet you sort of fall for them anyway.stumbling onto your website was the best thing ever---now i can understand some of the complicated plots of these things that i love so much. and, one thing lead to another til i just don't have enough time in each day to watch them all!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I started watching with my parents for as long as I could remember. There was this one drama where there are two girls who are best friends. One is poor and one is rich. And then one day their life switched because something happened to their dad. The drama has the two girls name but I can't remember what it was. I watched that when I was like 4 or somewhere around that age.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

My first drama was Princess hours. I was being broadcasted in Singapore during that time and I think all my friends were into it. But I finished watching the entrie drama in youtube before it finished airing. I fell in love with Chae Gyung and Shin! After watching it I searched for other similar korean dramas and found My Girl. Was addicted since then! Goong was the fluffiest drama I've ever watched at that time and though it's not the best drama out there it's my favourite and until now Yoon Eun Hye is my favourite actress. I rate all m dramas and keep a list in excel (i know it's lame) but Goong is at the top and it's unrated! =D I think I've watched it over 10 times so far!

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

You're beautiful!!!!
It's the first kdrama I ever watched! Fell in love with it immediately:D

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

Happy 5 year anniversary, dramabeans!!!

My Drama First Love was my very first korean drama You're Beautiful. I watched it back in August of 2010. It started after had just come back from college that summer, after what had been a really bad semester. A friend had recommended A Millionaire's First Love (kmovie featuring Hyun Bin) which I had watched earlier that summer (it was probably the first movie ever that had ever made me cry).
My friend had also raved about dramas (You're Beautiful, in particular) and that boring summer day I found myself searching for it on youtube. The premise was ridiculous but I couldn't keep my eyes off of it. I laughed until I cried at Tae-kyung's reaction to Min-am liking him. Cried for my baby Shin-woo. And hated UEE with a passion.

After that I found Boys Over Flowers (horrible drama, but almost like crack), and the rest is history. I think it was a blessing that I found You're Beautiful when I did because korean dramas helped me get through a depression and helped figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I decided not to major nursing (which I had forced myself into) but instead to do something I would enjoy.

I'm not sure if You're Beautiful is in my top 5 anymore, but it holds a special place in my heart.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *