Kdrama Period Fighting!!

 Korean drama is a breed of Korean television dramas from South Korea with viewers and fans from everywhere across the globe. The popularity of Korean drama was partly fanned by the Korean Wave during the early 1990s, a trend that saw the popularization of South Korean culture across the globe. In today’s post, we look at some of the most popular kdrama sites for watching Korean drama online (with English subs where possible) and a few of the newer Korean dramas you can watch on those platforms.Almost exactly six years ago, I discovered my first K-drama. It was Boys over Flowers, which I binge-watched in my pajamas over the course of Thanksgiving break. By the end, I was overly tired and in desperate need of a shower—but I also found a new love.

Coco and I built this blog because we wanted a way to connect with other fans before the widespread popularity of K-dramas hit. I know there were plenty of K-drama viewers who found each other long before 2012, but it was nothing back then compared to the widespread popularity now. Back then, I was too embarrassed to tell anyone I knew in real life (aside from Coco, of course) that I would even dream of watching a show called Penthouse.

When DramaFever shut down, it stopped mid-show on a few dramas I was avidly watching. That was a bummer, but it was nothing compared to suddenly realizing that the hundreds upon hundreds of articles, memes, and social media posts I created were *poof* gone. Maybe it seems weird to mourn the loss of fluff fan pieces like "Handsome Korean Actors Holding Adorable Kittens," but those were my handsome Korean actors holding adorable kittens, and now they don't exist. So much of my personal creative energy disappeared without warning, and that hurts more than I expected.

After a couple of big drama disappointments in the form of Mama Fairy and the Woodcutter and Fluttering Warning/Love Alert, I've found myself drifting farther and farther away from my former K-drama obsession. With that, I think it's time to take a pause on this blog.

Before we say farewell, though, I want to do one big post I've been dreaming of for years, but always felt too overwhelming to tackle.

Part 1: Top 5 Korean Drama Websites

1. DramaFever

Most popular site. Free to stream with English subtitles

2. AsianCrush

Free site, multilingual database of subtitles. Good variety.

3. Hulu

Paid subscription, free trial.

4. Viki

Free site, lots of pop-up ads though.

5. New Asian TV

Assortment of Asian dramas. Might not work in some countries because of IP restrictions.

Here are the absolute best K-dramas I've ever seen. By "best," of course, I mean stuff I personally like, which means nothing super long or historical or melo-ish. So really more like "shows that happened to strike Vivi's fancy" rather than THE best of the best K-dramas in the history of time.

1. Healer

Is this a surprise to anyone? Healer first introduced me to the magnificence that is Ji Chang Wook, and even though I'm totally not ranking these, Healer might be the best start-to-finish drama I've ever seen. (Shhhhhh don't tell the other kittens that they're not my favorites.) 

It has knee-buckling romance. It has action. It has Ji Chang Wook. (Have I mentioned how I love Ji Chang Wook?)

Full Healer review

2. Coffee Prince

How could I not list Coffee Prince among the best K-dramas? It was the one that started it all for me, and it still stands out as easily the most convincing gender-bender of all time. You have the phenomenal pairing of Yoon Eun Hye and Gong Yoo (not to mention Lee Sung Kyung, Chae Jung An, Kim Jae Wook...). And then that kiss. Whoa. That kiss alone might be halfway to blame for my K-drama obsession.

Full Coffee Prince review