There are only 4 characters in every Korean drama you really need to know:
Poor Girl whose extremely stupid/naive and always gets caught in a love triangle. She’s either really cute and happy OR always sad, depressed and would stare into space for hours while sappy music plays.
Rich Dude whose arrogant, stubborn, full of himself and doesn’t know how to show emotion. Poor Girl hates him at first but ends up falling in love with even though he treats her like shit.
Rich Dude’s Ex/First Love who rejects Rich Dude in the beginning only to want him back when him and Poor Girl gets closer. She’s the bitch you love to hate!
Rich Dude’s Best Friend who is always the nice guy and always there for Poor Girl when Rich Dude hurts her. He always gets rejected at the end.
Sometimes the roles may be switched (eg. Rich Bitch + Poor Guy).
Anyway, what are you favorite Korean dramas?
My absolute favorites are Queen of Housewives, My Girl, My Lovely Sam-Soon, Boys Over Flowers and Only You. I like a lot of the old ones but haven’t found too many new ones I really liked.
I finally got around to watching Goong and I loved it! I actually started Goong S earlier this year but it sucked (well I just couldn’t stand Se7en) so I didn’t want to watch the first one …but it’s way better. 
I’m either going to watch Soulmate next or finish Delightful Girl.
K/J-drama recommendations?
I really dislike Korean dramas. It seems like every unsuccessful relationship leads to depression/suicide. Lame.
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try peaches and cream oatmeal! quakers the brand i think, its pretty good!
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Katy
October 19th, 2009 |
I don’t like those pre-mixed ones because they’re soo full of sugar. Making your own oatmeal is fun, as sad as it sounds.
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You also forgot the fact that someone significant dies every time!!
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koots, hahaha, i would laugh if you actually watched filipino dramas… but i advise against it… you’d prolly get annoyed.. i know i am! if i want a good laugh, ill watch a very scary movie because they always get me laughing
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well now… there’s on need for me to watch any korean dramas since you’ve already summed them all up!!! I almost fell over laughing at the “stare into space while sappy music plays” description haha…
Suckers like me would totally fall for the rich dude best friend type.
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My fave is still Lovers in Paris, Full House, My Girl and My Lovely Kim Sam Soon. Stairway to Heaven is okay. haha XD
Man don’t forget the piggyback-riding couple in every series XD haha. and there’s always the crazy best friend or something. hahaa
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Katy
September 27th, 2009 |
I love those 4 dramas too, the old ones were the best! Stairway to Heaven was okay too… a bit too sad for me. I really can’t stand Choi Ji Woo because her roles are always so dumb and annoying.
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I love how there are Filipino versions of K-Dramas. I’ve seen both Filipino versions of “Only You” and “My Girl.” You’ll also almost always find those four typical characters in Asian dramas in general.
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I get all my direct downloads from http://asianuniverse.net
They require an account and frequent postings to be able to access their download contents, just in case if you were interested in other Asian dramas. =] I copied and paste the links from the page and I’m not sure if some of them are still working. If you need I can always upload episodes for you if they don’t work since I have them saved. LOL.
HANA YORI DANGO
1: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZRKH87TS
2: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ICSCDB6B
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1GE7275E **Additional link**
3: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SZF16J4A
4: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TSPW9MYL
5: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SGBAJN08
6: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=US9RYT5I
7: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5129XZHE
8: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5QDK302G
9: Part 1 – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GNIASAVI
Part 2 (end) – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U09F5M4J
http://www.sendspace.com/file/bido26 (Credit to Jeffrey)
Special: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=53G69KC7 – Only in Japanese subs
HANA YORI DANGO 2
1: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZRKH87TS
2: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ICSCDB6B
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1GE7275E **Additional link**
3: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SZF16J4A
4: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=TSPW9MYL
5: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SGBAJN08
6: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=US9RYT5I
7: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5129XZHE
8: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5QDK302G
9: Part 1 – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GNIASAVI
Part 2 (end) – http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U09F5M4J
http://www.sendspace.com/file/bido26 (Credit to Jeffrey)
Special: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=53G69KC7 – Only in Japanese subs
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Hi!! I Watch Korean dramas ALOT! Here are my favs!!!
Dal Ja’s Spring – So funny and very Good!!!
Lovers in Prague – The story line is Great and the acting is good too!!
Soulmate – Must watch and soundtrack is a must have!!
What Star Did You Come From – Very good and I love the main actress!
If you want to try Korean movies below are my favs!
A Wolf’s Temptation
He Was Cool
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Katy
September 27th, 2009 |
Thanks for the recs!
I started watching Lovers in Prague but couldn’t finish it. Have you seen Lovers in Paris? It’s the second Korean drama I’ve ever watched… loved it!
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Hahahahahahaha thanks for the heads up when it comes to the different characters!
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i think i might have to start watching Boys Over Flowers, it seems like everyone loves it. Have you watched Princess Hours? heard it’s pretty good
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Katy
September 27th, 2009 |
Yeah Goong and Princess Hours is the same thing I think… it’s good! The main girl is sooo cute (she’s the girl in Coffee Price and Take Care of My Lady). You should watch it since you probably have a lot of time on your hands in Kamloops.
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i likey korean drama over taiwan and jap
fav would be boys over flower and goong! din watch goong s cos they replaced my guy with stupid seven guy
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I’m more of a jdrama addict but I definitely second the person who recommended City Hall to you. It was hilarious, and it pulled me in so much that I was yelling at the screen and laughing and crying at it all the time!
And keep going with the original Goong, it’s lovely and OH MY GOD. The First Shop of Coffee Prince is a must watch! I’m really surprised someone else hasn’t recommended it yet!
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Katy
September 24th, 2009 |
I’ve seen Coffee Prince… it was okay but I think I have to re-watch it because I only remember the beginning.
I finished Goong two days ago and started Soulmate last night but I think I’m going to watch City Hall instead. I love Kim Sun Ah!
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How about Coffee Prince kdrama and Absolute Boyfriend jdrama? Stairway to Heaven is also good but throughout the whole show I find myself crying non-stop. I would prefer something lighter, my absolute fave is still My Girl and I have watched it more than 5 times. Btw, i love your blog and tweets
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Katy
September 24th, 2009 |
Thanks
Watched Coffee Prince but not Absolute Boyfriend. Thanks for the suggestion!
I prefer lighter and funnier dramas too.. the super sob ones are okay but they get really annoying. The girls in those dramas are usually way-over-the-top stupid and naive. Yuck.
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OH MY GOD.
I love any type of Asian drama, but I’m really into Japanese Dramas. My favorite was Hana Yori Dango – that was the J version of your K, Boys Over Flowers. I watched a bunch of random series and such, but JDramas will always be my fave! I just really love the Japanese language, and this will sound so weird, but I’ve actually learned a few words from watching shows. Odd, but so true.
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Katy
September 27th, 2009 |
You should watch the K version.. I heard it goes off from the original story line but it’s major eye candy. Yum.
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My first ever drama I watched was Full House and that got me hooked to dramas.
One of my recent favourite j drama is Hana Yori Dango. I’ve been meaning to watch the Korean version though, and I can see you’ve already watched it. Hana Kimi is a good one too. Oh, and My Lovely Sam-Soon is one of my favourites too! It’s just too cute.
Sigh.. this makes me want to watch dramas again.
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Have you seen Hana Yori Dango, Boys Over Flowers in Japanese? I guess that’s what you call the original one.. It’s so good and addicting!! =]]
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Katy
September 24th, 2009 |
I started watching it but stopped after the second episode because the quality sucked. Maybe if I find a better streaming site, I’ll start watching it again.
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Adrienne
September 24th, 2009 |
Hopefully these can help.
http://www.mysoju.com/hana-yori-dango/
http://www.mysoju.com/hana-yori-dango-season-2/
I have direct download too if you mysoju doesn’t work out. =]
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Katy
September 24th, 2009 |
That’s where I started watching it but I didn’t like the quality… it makes the show so dark and depressing! Can you send me link to the direct DL?
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Mihoriel
September 25th, 2009 |
http://silentregrets.com/completed-jdramas/hana-yori-dango.php
This is a direct DL
I’ve watched it from here and the quality was amazing!
I love this version, I never got the chance to watch the Korean version.
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I give high recommendations to the 2009 drama “Man Who Can’t Get Married”. It may seem very un-Korean in terms of character archetypes and plot style, and that’s because it’s a remake of a Japanese drama. But it’s a quality drama, funny and unique.
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I’ve never watch K-Drama before. Are they good? Do they come with English subtitles? The only Asian Dramas I always watch are the ones from TVB Hong Kong
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Katy
September 23rd, 2009 |
Yes they’re sooo good, sooo addicting and sooo time consuming. Most of them have English subs too. Check out http://www.dramafever.com
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My current fave is “Taking Care of the Lady” or it’s also known as “Lady Castle”. It’s a really new show and just started at the end of August.
It has the usual formula, rich bitch + poor dude, but the script (so far) is very well written! It has the girl from Goong and the “president” from “Queen of Housewives!” I think you’ll like it!
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Katy
September 23rd, 2009 |
I’ve been dying to that too!! Except I’m waiting for it to finish because I hate waiting for episodes.
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I loved Soulmate. They have the most amazing soundtrack. And I definitely recommend City Hall, if you love Kim Sun Ah (Sam Soon). She’s amazing in that too. You can definitely feel the chemistry between the two leads.
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im watching boys over flowers for the third time, seriously.
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My favorite Korean drama is Autumn in My Heart (aka Autumn Tale) because that’s the only one I’ve ever seen
The first few episodes detailing the characters’ lives as children never fail to make me cry.
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wow.. you are K-Drama expert! I’ll have to look into those as I’m new to the K-Drama but I really enjoy watching them.
Just start following you, great blog
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I don’t watch K-Drama but I remember I was watching one online and I ended up liking it! It’s so different compared to Filipino dramas that I’m used to seeing which is why I expected K-Drama to be the same. And you’re right about the 4 characters. There was definitely a poor girl, a rich dude, and the best friend. LOL.
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Katy
September 23rd, 2009 |
How are Filipino dramas like?
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Tina Marie
September 23rd, 2009 |
From what I remember they’ve always been based on love and jealousy or revenge between characters. You would see a lot of girls being slapped in the face by another girl, a lot of crying, yelling, violence, and gore. Not sure if K-drama has any of that but from what I saw I like K-drama better of course.
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