I mentioned in some of my other posts that I began using Photoleap, an AI text to image generator that allows anyone to be an artist and create fantastic unique one of a kind images. I love Photoleap the most so far out of all of the AI programs I have tried. Although I’m still on the waiting list for Dall-e-2.
In case you missed it, you can see some of my other AI art, mostly created with Dreamstudio.
The answer is yes. I just watched My Holo Love on Netflix. Hulu also has a lot of subbed and dubbed series that are worth considering. I am in the hospital and stuck with just the smallest iPad so I was checking subtitles to see if I could enlarge them any. That’s when I noticed Audio was listed in about eight different languages. No way I thought to myself as I switched to English audio and turned off the subtitles. It’s not perfect, no but when youre stuck on a small screen its nice. What’s wrong with it? The acting and casting is poor. At least in the one I watched Holo Love. I didn’t like the voice of the main male character in English at all. Not as good as the Korean original actors performances. I also don’t know if it’s been white washed – I didn’t watch the credits – but if so that’s another problem, hiring white actors to perform Asian roles. I dunno if that’s true though but worth pointing out that it’s a possibility.
Revision: 11/19/20: In this article I compared Wannabe Challenge’s story and character to those in the Korean Drama, My Love From Another Star, however, I originally was thinking of the Korean Drama, Goblin, and got my wires crossed somewhere. I thought about just coming in and editing it to change it to say Goblin instead of My Love From The Star, but I dunno, after thinking about it, it is rather similar to My Love From The Star too. The main character in Wannabe Challenge is a Model, the main character in My Love From The Star is an Actress/Model. The Male lead in My Love From The Star is a super natural being from hundreds of years ago who can live forever. He comes to rescue her and save her from various things. But obviously, Wannabe Challenge is still very similar to the Korean Drama Goblin, because both are about a love story between a Goblin and his bride who are tied together by a sad fate. That concept is true of both Wannabe Challenge and Goblin. Taehee even looks a little bit like Kim Shin. Anyways my original post is still here below in its unedited version.
I admit I stopped buying DVDs and Blu-rays when Crunchyroll entered the scene.
I recall back in the 90s, spending HUNDREDS of dollars on VHS boxsets of anime. Does anyone remember Suncoast Video? I’d go there all the time on birthdays with money from my grandparents or friends and family and buy anime box sets. I also would get catalogs in the mail from a company… I think it was called Funco? They sold anime by mail. I can’t remember if that was their name – but yep I’d order a TON of anime – VHS – through them.
Mulan has been under fire from all side. Whether it’s angry members of the LGBT community, or political backlash, it’s fair to say things did not go as Disney may have planned with their latest Live Action Release.
I wanted to watch it myself. I had feared it may get pulled off the site due to political pressure. Can we just leave politics aside and enjoy this for what it is, a work of fiction that may or may not be based on a historical figure. There’s still debate if Mulan was in fact a real person, or just a legend.
Ok so Goblin is one of my favorite Kdrama, like in the top 3 for sure. This is the opening song, and there are dozens and dozens of English covers of this song. Someone should make like a US version of this drama, and use one of these covers for the opening song lol. But I know it’d never be as good as the Korean version, but then I could get more of my friends and family to watch this show because it’s so good. Le sigh – lol. I seriously kinda want this song to be like my first dance wedding song. It’s nice and slow, and most of the lyrics until the last verse are appropriate. Even then, the last verse, although it is sad, especially if you’ve ever watched Goblin, even still taking it away completely from the context of Goblin, you could analyze the lyrics to be like either, you need someone when you have a sorrowful day, their love gets you through those days, or well sadly, life is cruel and in the end, you will be parted from those you love, because one of you will pass away first, leaving the other person with only memories, and since it’s the last verse, it could be after a long life together. Thus even though it’s sad, still symbolizes a life full of love and memories together. And the first few verses – depending on whose cover you’re listening to, have lines like “It’s a beautiful life. I’ll be the one to cherish you. Now and forever girl I’ll stand by you.” which definitely could apply to a wedding. And it’s just so beautiful – I tear up every time I hear this song.
So first I want to share with you the original korean version because if it wasn’t for that version we wouldn’t have any of these covers. Here is the original song from the Goblin Kdrama:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0cs6ciCt_k[/embedyt]
Next, I just found this English cover version on youtube when I was searching for the other cover(s) I’d been listening to, and this one has almost 11 million views… His lyrics are different than the covers I’d been listening to this week. He’s very talented. Check it out. This cover is by Daryl Ong. I just subscribed to his Youtube Channel.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUo9WMPmEpE[/embedyt]
And onto the English versions which I’ve been listening to all week. So good.
I started with Eric Nam’s cover here.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx-BBq4LQu0[/embedyt]
Then I discovered this beautiful duet with Eric Nam X Somi which is my favorite cover of this song.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KIyxXrZbdE[/embedyt]
And this very talented young Korean girl. Her English pronunciation is good and her voice is so emotional. Her lyrics are also a little different and I really like it!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogLCIVGc1eg[/embedyt]
And this version by another Asian girl. Her voice is so pure and strong too. Her lyrics are a little bit different, sadder I think.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpZl2FMqG4g[/embedyt]
So why not another Goblin song to take the number 2 spot. Again let’s start with the original Korean version. The English covers just can’t compare for me, the original one is so much better. I love the girl’s voice, and the guy’s voice is so deep, and they both have so much emotion and great chemistry singing together. Perfection.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcKR0LPwoYs[/embedyt]
And now some English covers, Because it’s always fun to have a version to sing along with:
This girl has that cutesy high pitch mariah carey thing going on.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDGc7Ch1ICk[/embedyt]
This next cover is by Ysabelle Cuevas – I am a fan of a lot of her Kpop covers, especially some BTS covers which I’m going to be sharing shortly. I think she has such a unique voice. Kinda deep and raspy for a girl. She also sings some parts in Korean. I can’t tell if she is Korean with a hispanic name, or half and half, or hispanic, in which case she’d be singing in 2 non-native languages. My favorite cover by her is The Truth Untold. I have listened to it probably 20 times. lol.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxTVvkgV7LQ[/embedyt]
This version is by Jason Chen. Uhm why is his dog walking on his computer desk? lol. I like this version but it’s only about like 30% English, and the other 70% korean.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUxWN0cDSms[/embedyt]
And this version is so good too, it has a duet and full English rap version too. Also great chemistry and high production values, just like the original! This is probably my favorite of the covers. The lyrics are completely different from any of the other covers. The girl’s voice is so good. She could be a professional singer, seriously.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MU8yN98HWs[/embedyt]
I can’t tell if this is the exact same version as the one above… I think so… It has the rap and the girl’s voice sounds very similar. Which means someone is stealing/plagarizing and since I dunno which one is the real artist’s youtube channel, I’ll just put both of them here and let you decide. This one has many more views and subscribers, so I’m assuming that this is the real version.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLAAYJiGZyI[/embedyt]
And while doing this blog post and seeing what other covers of this song are out there, I found this young man, and it might be my new favorite version of this song (aside from the original of course). Were you as surprised as me when he started singing? I wasn’t expecting such a deep and powerful voice.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo9fhiDiIEY[/embedyt]
I don’t know about this next cover. Completely different lyrics. I do like that it’s a duet. And they even tried to recreate the official music video from a visual sense. But I feel like their timing is off or something. Or maybe it just lacks the emotion of some of the others. Something doesn’t “sound” quite as nice in this version. I like the rap parts which very few of the covers have.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaMVDppkzHk[/embedyt]
This girl is not very popular, with only 500 views, but I really like her voice. She claims the song is too high for her, but I think she did a great job.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0UFHPdGVNY[/embedyt]
And another talented young woman also with only 500 views
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTwf4g5zcFU[/embedyt]
And this last one, is not English, but I accidentally stumbled across it. It’s a Tagalong version. She does a great job even though I’ve no clue what the lyrics actually are. She has a beautiful voice.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD9PxhtPQCU[/embedyt]
I discovered this song, and this band, a few weeks ago and can’t stop listening to it. It’s so good! By the way it’s in English so even if you don’t like Kpop, you might like this one!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj-VU9oK2Yo[/embedyt]
This one sadly isn’t in English, but it’s still good. Very catchy. I feel like the chorus parts could be a one direction song LOL. These boys are way cuter than 1D though and they’re more edgey – with lots of rap parts.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV1Es22E0RI[/embedyt]
NCT 127 is just so cute. They seem to have a lot of chemistry and a lot of fun together which makes them fun to watch on or off the stage. Here are some more candid interviews. And most of them speak like PERFECT English, without even an accent. These interviews are in English.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54WNkruOIJY[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6UErI23gY8[/embedyt]
Cute right? lol. For having just found this band, I’m already a big fan. I hope they do more English versions too in the future!
I also just discovered this guy. This video is a year old now with over 4 million views. It might be one of my favorite Kpop songs ever. It’s so good. I prefer the English version because obviously I can understand the lyrics and sing along. But the Korean one is good too.
It’s very interesting how different the lyrics are. It completely changes the whole meaning of the song. In the English version the character singing is a good person in love with a person who treats him poorly. Lying to him, leaving him, hurting him, not listening to him, etc. In the Korean version, the character singing is trying to apologize to someone he loves (and who has been loyal to him) for having hurt them (maybe physically? that’s the vibe I get, but it could be emotionally too) and begging her to forgive him and take him back. So it’s completely flipped from the English version.
I have no idea which version is the original one. They are both by Henry, and neither of them are covers. If i had to guess though, I’d say the Korean version was probably first. He has a great voice. The first time I discovered this song I think I played it about 6 times in a single day lol.
Here are both versions of the song below. Which one do you prefer? I love both of them so much!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfeEwt5_jsQ[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ3EVAR5EA4[/embedyt]
This song has such a great beat, as to be expected from Steve Aoki. This is the first time I’ve heard of Monsta X, but I love them, they’re all so cute! 🙂 Great dancers and singers too.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7IXKQzmpK4[/embedyt]
And then since I heard that great Kpop Collab, I had to re-watch Waste it On Me. I remember hearing this song on Sattelite Radio Hits 1 last year, and liking it, but it wasn’t til a few weeks later when I looked up the video that I realized it was BTS and a Kpop song. (kinda one of the sad things that happens to digital radio, you don’t have DJ’s for most of the stations so you don’t hear who the songs are by anymore. – But I also don’t like Talk radio and the commercials and so on, so overall I think Sattelite Radio is amazing. I cancelled my subscription recently which actually is what has led me to exploring more music on my own this week. There are lots of alternatives to get your music, such as spotify, pandora, youtube, amazon music, google music, apple music, the list goes on and on. But I think this was the first ever English Kpop song I’d heard, especially one so popular on American radio stations. The music video is so funny too!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIv16itYi_0[/embedyt]
Ok excuse me while I geek out for just a minute…. I literally just now as I type this… just now… discovered there is an English version of this song… It’s not a cover… it’s the real deal. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am freaking out right now. I can’t handle this cuteness!!!!!!!!! I just discovered the original Korean version a week or two ago… and now THIS!!! They just put the English video up 4 weeks ago and it already has almost 7 million views. I am geeking out soooooooooooooooo much. This should actually be number 1 on my list, because it’s that good. It’s SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :squeals:
Ok though after watching it… I still have no idea what they’re saying like 30% of the time lol. Maybe it’s too fast and their accents are throwing me off a little. Or maybe some parts of it are still in Korean? lol. Maybe it’s just me? My hearing isn’t that good anyways. I still really like it though 🙂 I came on here just to share the Korean version with ya’all, so I was so shocked to see an English version. Even if I can’t understand a third of what they’re saying lol.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvO17uPanBY[/embedyt]
Here’s the original Korean version.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaKrke1EL1A[/embedyt]
So this one actually has a REALLY interesting story behind it. Taeyang was dating his manager (I don’t know if Lydia is his manager or if she’s just doing an English cover of the manager’s version of this song… but I digress… for the purpose of this blog post, let’s just say they’re one and the same…) Taeyang then cheated on her with another famous Kpop artist. Taeyang regretted his bad decision and wrote this song to try to apologize for his behaivor and hopefully get back together with his manager. His manager then released a cover of his song, which she changed the lyrics, and posted it to youtube and got more views and more positive feedbacks than Taeyang, basically telling him to screw off. Some comments said things like “When the manager sounds better than her band”. And then the song became very popular because of the sad drama/history behind it and spawned a lot of covers, including an English cover by Eric Nam and this really great Korean duet on some show that must be similar to American Idol, like a Korean version, that has even more views than Lydia’s version. All I can say is, the story is crazy, and the song is good. I love all the versions, but I think Lydia’s is my favorite. Check out all the versions below.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjm920Fyo34[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRs_B_O2ZbU[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5IlECpDJ-g[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxMvQkcdPl8[/embedyt]
10. BTS – Truth Untold ft Steve Aoki
I hinted at this song up above when I shared some of Ysabelle’s covers of Goblin’s OST. So I thought it only appropriate to end with this song. It may be the saddest song of all time. First, the original Korean by BTS.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JVytJm8X2g[/embedyt]
And now Ysabelle’s Cover, it’s so good. I love her lyrics and her voice.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugYWg9d_dTE[/embedyt]
There’s also this cover by Emma Hesters. It has a lot more views, I suspect part of the reason why is because she’s a pretty blonde girl. Although she does have a lovely voice too. I just prefer Ysabelle’s version more, but my grandma likes Emma’s voice better and disagree’s with me which one is better. What do you think?
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ycjuNCiyE[/embedyt]
There’s a lot more covers of this song also on Youtube.
This one by Michigopyon doesn’t have nearly as many views, only 20k, but I think her voice is really soft and sweet.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yABzzTg7Krs[/embedyt]
The lyrics to this one are different. Her voice is deep and unusual too.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Nc0D1gJ2c[/embedyt]
Another one with completely different lyrics. I like when people write their own lyrics instead of just using Ysabelle’s lyrics, although Ysabelle’s is still my favorite. It’s neat to hear other people’s works.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zakP3Wjy1WA[/embedyt]
I really like Joytastic Sarah’s version and her lyrics that she wrote seem to fit the song super well – She has a lovely voice too.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP-LP75p8rw[/embedyt]
This one by a girl group is interesting… I like the lyrics they wrote. I always wondered why Ysabelle’s version changed sandcastle to “mess of thorns” 3 syllables. Sand Castle is also 3 syllables and closer to the original korean version which uses the korean word for Sandcastle. I also also thought (and sing when I sing along) that the line after “Don’t smile at me” should be “Lie to me” instead of light on me – although light on me is the same as the korean version, but Lie to me just sounds better in English – even though its in English in the korean version too. Anyways this is a great cover 🙂 Props to these ladies.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOQIAj3JNP4[/embedyt]
And some more covers:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lAQGxggS-8[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t68_PCzfUPI[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdn42tke_tQ[/embedyt]
Men are even getting in on covering this one –
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7alGNQQJS8[/embedyt]
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hJZQE27DSI[/embedyt]
I did not know the story behind this song. I had never heard of this Italian story. Recently also a map has been discovered, and it was at one time a real city. La Cita De Smeraldo. It may be the true story that led to fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast. There was a duke who fell in love with a gardener’s daughter, and bore a child out of wedlock. Because he was born out of wedlock, the duke sent the child to a far away place. The child was also rumored t
o be extremely ugly, and wore a mask at all times and locked himself away in his castle. One day a girl breaks into his garden and steals a flower. He is very angry and so he wears a disguise and follows the girl and discovers that she is very poor and stealing flowers to sell in her village in order to survive. He immediately feels bad for the girl, and he again locks himself away in his castle in order to research new flowers that will sell for a higher price that he plans to give to the girl. But the girl never returns to his garden. After some time, the boy returns to the village and discovers that the girl has died. He feels regret for never telling her his true feelings, but because he was ugly, he felt that the girl could not accept him as a man. He returned to his castle where he died alone. A very sad, and apparently true story.
Title: Mr Love Queen’s Choice
Genre: Simulation
Publisher: Elex
Platform: IOS and Android
Where To Get: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.elex.paper.lovegp
Release Date: I think I must have used Qoo App, because I am already playing the game, and it says Pre-register on the play store. Or maybe I got into beta? I am not sure, anyways, yes I am playing the game currently. You can check Qoo App, which is probably how I got it. And yes I’m playing it in English.
Overall: 65/80 81% B- “Very Good Game For Girls”
Geeky: 3/5 – Basically just a card collecting game, but with a twist, you manage a TV studio and produce various korean tv shows and commercials. The cards have different skills such as if they’re good at drama or news or gourmet cooking shows, as well as stats for things such as affinity, decision, creativity, and other skills that you would expect an idol to need to have to be successful. Some cards are more rare than others. You can also level the cards up. But nothing too complex here, definitely a casual game.
Sweetie: 5/5 – there are otome aspects, sometimes the guys will call you, and it is partially voiced in English. The artwork is beautiful, the voice acting is pretty good, and the whole Kdrama Producer thing really speaks to anyone who loves simulation games.
Overview: 10/10 Mr Love Queen’s Choice lets you run a TV studio and recruit idols, as mentioned, with various specialties and stats. The main draw of the game is collecting idols, progressing through the story, and dating the idols. I think it is a unique concept, there’s a lot of idol producer games, but not too many that take a TV Studio theme.
Gameplay: 10/10 Gameplay is pretty simple, and if you’ve played Love Nikki you will be instantly familiar with the user interface as it seems to just be reskinned and given a new theme. No, this one is not a dressup game, but the way you progress through various levels, and the achievement system and basic interface are very similar. I give full marks to Gameplay because I’m really enjoying the simulation aspects of this game, casting idols based on their strengths as to who will perform best at various assignments. You also can experience otome game elements by choosing how to respond to various parts of the story. I am not sure how much consequence your choices carry – if any at all. But it is a nice touch.
Story: 10/10 – Actually for a mobile game, I’m really enjoying the story. First of all, yes I love korean dramas, and the thought of a game that lets you simulate your own Kdrama production studio, is a huge draw, but that’s not the only thing the story offers. You are daughter of a famous Producer who has passed away and left the studio to you, but it is struggling to stay afloat. As you struggle to step out of your Father’s shadow, and take the company to new heights, you also have recurring dreams about an accident that happened when you were a child. You narrowly escaped death and now your thoughts turn to trying to remember the face of the man who saved you all those years ago. As you’re occupied in your thoughts one day, you find yourself again in a similar situation and rescued by a mysterious man. Could it be the same man from your past? And why do these men keep appearing around you? One such man tells you that you are an Evolver, and that you do not know it yet, but you will soon awaken to your true powers. Leaving you (both as the character and the person playing the game) completely confused as to what he meant. Strange things also begin happening around town – could this be related to your supposed powers? The story offers a lot of mystery, intrigue, romance, and suspense. I have not fast forwarded or skipped a single screen.
Characters: 5/10 – I’m giving 5 out of 10 here. I do like the characters, and I appreciate they have a strong tie to the story, but there just aren’t enough characters to collect for an idol simulation game. I hope they continue to add new characters in the future!
Music: 5/10 – Kinda average, I don’t have strong feelings either way. I usually play mobile games on silent while other people are watching movies or something else anyways.
Voice Acting: 7/10 – I do like that they have voice acting in the game. It is in English, and some of the actors are really good… But some of them are not as good… I’d say overall though the acting is better than expected for a mobile game.
Graphics: 10/10 – I love the artwork of this game.
Overall: 65/80 81% B- “Very Good Game For Girls”
Furthermore, Dramafever handled their shuttering of their service so poorly it makes my skin crawl. I had 4 episodes left to watch in one such “exclusive” series… But Dramafever.com did not even have the decency to email or alert their PAYING premium subscribers about their plans to end their service. Had they sent out an email a week or even 48 hours in advance, fans would be far less pissed than they are right now. Because that way, we could have at least finished watching whatever show we were in the middle of watching at the time.
To top it off, I have heard rumors on other sites, that Viki tried to purchase the “exclusive” rights from Dramafever for many of their shows before the closing of the site, and they were denied. I have heard other rumors and rumblings that Warner Brothers who purchased Dramafever just one year ago, has plans to bring out their own streaming service similar to netflix or disney, and that is why they do not want to release the rights to their shows, because they will capture some audiences who will pay to join their streaming service just for their kdrama fix. But that is merely a rumor… So in the meantime, what are the fans of Korean Pop Culture left to do? There already exists a number of alternatives to Dramafever, but none were quite as good in my opinion, and with Dramafever having several titles on lockdown, many fans are left feeling upset that they can’t see how their favorite dramas end.
I have compiled a list of places to watch Kdrama, but many do not have the exclusive Dramafever titles. However, there are a few pirate or fansites that have managed to scrape content from Dramafever over the past 9 years, so if your drama wasn’t a currently airing drama, there may be hope for you to find the drama on this list.
For me, I ended up purchasing a DVD on Ebay of the drama I was trying to finish. I liked it enough to own it anyways. I wonder if I will be disappointed in the quality of the translation. I guess we will find out once the DVD arrives in the mail. Earlier, a few weeks ago, I had added this very DVD set to my Amazon wishlist in preparation for the holiday season and people inevitably asking what I’d like for Christmas. At the time – prior to Dramafever closing – the DVD set was 20-30 bucks… However… 3 days after Dramafever shut down… It’s now $74. I found mine on Ebay, for $34 (close to the price Amazon had it for prior to the shutdown) However, it said 10 people were watching the listing and very few in stock. I struck immediately buying it in an instant.
KDrama are already obscure and hard enough to find. There are special sites like PlayAsia, but they are pricey, and older dramas that are out of print are notoriously hard to find. I have heard that the reason they are so expensive is because they are illegal in North Korea, and they think the high price tag will detour people from purchasing them there in that country. But it does make it difficult for fans who legitimately want to purchase and support their favorite series.
Still, your best bet is to buy the DVDs NOW, before prices go up even further – especially if your drama of desire is one that Dramafever had exclusive rights to.
I purchased Goblin on Ebay, and would recommend checking there first since it was much cheaper than Amazon, and both are usually cheaper than PlayAsia.
Speaking of Amazon, they fed most of their “Prime Video” streaming Kdrama through a partnership with Dramafever – I checked there to see if I could watch Goblin since I am a Prime Video customer. It still comes up in the search results, but it says this video is currently unavailable.
If anyone has enough money to pick up the licenses, it’d be Amazon – but will Dramafever let the licenses go? The future is unclear at this time as to what will happen to Dramafever’s exclusive titles.
If you really don’t want to purchase the DVDs, there are still several options for you to watch KDrama, it just may mean that you have to give up the drama you were watching and find something new to watch instead.
Here are several websites and apps, to get your Kdrama fix. As always please practice safe browsing – I cannot vouch if these sites are safe, and many streaming sites are notorious for having malware. I take no responsibility and am not affiliated in any way with any of the following sites. I can vouch that Viki is safe, but I have not yet tried these other sites.
Be sure to read the whole list – the best ones are not necessarily at the top, as I’ve researched and written this post on the fly.
Viki Rakuten – Viki is a good site with Roku and other popular streaming media player apps available. Or you can watch it right on your computer. It is free with ads, or you can purchase a Viki Pass to gain premium access without ads. They have thousands of Kdrama, but they do not have Dramafever’s exclusive titles. They do have exclusives of their own though (So I have already subscribed to them for that) And after Dramafever’s closing, they were able to arrange a partnership with Kocowa, which gives them rights to many series on popular korean broadcasting networks such as KBS, SBS, and MBC. However, shows like Goblin, are still not available in North America due to Dramafever holding the license.
Asiancrush – Haven’t tried this one yet, I saw they have a Roku Channel, so that’s a plus for me. I had bought a Roku just for Dramafever when they mysteriously cancelled their playstation app earlier this year. My first sign that something was up with Dramafever was when I went to turn on my Roku this week and it said channel no longer available – thinking they had just cancelled their roku app as they had done with their playstation app, I went to their website and was shocked to see they had shut down.
OnDemandKorea – is another “new and noteable” roku app – I have yet to check it out, I’m not even sure if it will have English subtitles, but here’s hoping. You can also watch kdrama on their website.
Netflix has a small but growing collection of Kdramas, and also has exclusives created just for them – I have found most of their kdrama exclusives to be a bit cheesy but that’s just me – you might like em, so check it out, especially if you already have a netflix subscription – As other bloggers have pointed out, Netflix makes you wait until the series has finished airing in Korea, before adding it to their platform for North American viewers. – And in some cases they buy rights to a show and do not release it at all.
Amazon Prime may still have a few kdrama available, but they lost the majority of their catalog when Dramafever closed down this week.
http://gooddrama.net – has a lot of ads, probably malware… But they DO have a lot of the previously “exclusive” Dramafever titles. Use at Own Risk. Also similar sites over the past 2-3 years have been issued cease n desist orders such as dramafire, dramacool, dramanice, etc. So watch it while you can, before it gets taken down too!
http://newasiantv.ch/ – Have not used prior to just clicking around for this blog post – it has been around since 2015. Seems cleaner/less ads than the one above. Still quite a few ads – They do have Goblin among other Dramafever “Exclusives” with English subtitles. The site seems slow, video stutters a bit. Might be worth checking out if you’re wanting to watch a Dramafever Exclusive title. – As mentioned, a lot of these sites are being shut down, so watch while you can!
http://kissasian.sh/ – This site is sister to kissanime – the kiss family of sites are very popular with fans – and also very dangerous – they are often spoofed with different domain names like kissanime.ru (I believe that one is the official real one) vs kissanime.me (a clone site full of malware and viruses) (i believe or I could have it backwards lol). A quick google shows similar case in store for kissasian.sh – I got the url from mydramalist forum, it was kissasian.ch which redirected me to the sh… They do have Dramafever Exclusives like Goblin, but they have tons and tons and tons of popups and popunders and banner ads… Seriously Use At Own Risk
Youtube can be a good source of Kdrama, but they get taken down super quickly! I was issued a cease and desist even for making a music video using clips of one Kdrama, Angel Eyes. And Youtube isn’t the easiest to search, and quality isn’t the highest. You also run into scams such as click here to watch this video which take you to unsafe malware full sites.
https://www.kocowa.com – This looks like a nice clean site with no ads and no bullshit – They also now have a partnership with Viki as I mentioned at the beginning of the list. They offer networks such as SBS and MBC. They do not have any of the Dramafever exclusives.
Hulu has quite a few Kdrama but they are hiding from you. If you look at Genre, you won’t see Korean right away, however a page DOES in fact exist for it… You can bookmark this page and hope Hulu doesn’t change their page structure lol. https://www.hulu.com/genre/korean-0ad5098f-58aa-41ae-baf3-1292970bf8c8
http://www.dramawall.com/ – has a lot of ads – and their search function absolutely does not work. They may or may not have dramafever exclusives. I type in Goblin into search and it instead lists every show, over 200 results, and Goblin isn’t on the first page – so if I had to guess, I’d guess it does not work and that they do not have dramafever exclusives and therefore would not recommend this one.
https://tubitv.com/category/foreign_favorites/s/korean_drama – looks like a nice clean site but they do not have the Dramafever exclusives either.
https://www.hancinema.net/korean_drama_Goblin.php – Hancinema may have some Kdrama, but as you can see, they do not host their own shows, and their links are still pointing to sites such as Dramafever and others which have long since been shut down.
http://www.koreantvshow.com/ – seems clean but does not have dramafever exclusives.
http://www.dramago.com – Has a lot of ads but does have the Dramafever exclusives. Use at own Risk, also as I’ve mentioned many of these sites are being taken down at a rapid pace, so hurry and watch your show before it’s gone.
https://viewasian.tv/country/korea/ – Has a lot of ads – but appears to have most of the Dramafever Exclusives. I did notice that for Goblin they only list 16 episodes when there are in fact 18 episodes… and it is a series that is 2 years old… so it’s not like they’re waiting on episodes to air… so it may be hit or miss in which dramas you’ll be able to watch there. And I’ll reitterate that these sites that do have the exclusives are being banned and removed quickly, and as more people ask, and more people answer with blog posts like this, these sites will be at greater risk of being discovered and removed.
https://www.viu.com/
Rakuten Viki Joins Forces with Twitter for the 13th Annual Soompi Awards as Voting Opens
Big Hit Entertainment’s BTS and Globally Acclaimed Series ‘While You Were Sleeping,’ and ‘Goblin’ Lead Nominees from Korean Television and Music
SAN FRANCISCO – January 24, 2018 – Soompi (@Soompi), a division of Rakuten Viki and the leading source for Korean pop culture news and fandom, today announced the nominations for the 13th Annual Soompi Awards, a yearly celebration of the best and brightest television and music that emerged from Korean entertainment this past year. This year’s Awards will also mark the first collaboration with Twitter, which will include both the highly popular #TwitterBestFandom Award and the first-ever Twitter emojis tied to Awards-related hashtags during the voting period from 23 January to 20 February 2018 PST.
Click here to browse the sale: https://www.rightstufanime.com/sales-and-promos/One-Day-Sale
Titles Include (but not limited to) 5 Centimeters per Second, Your Lie in April, Hiiro no Kakera, Emma, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-Kun, Nisekoi, Wolf Girl and Black Prince, Playful Kiss, Boys over Flowers, and many other great romance titles.
Interestingly, enough, the characters and events in this anime are based partially (although I’m sure exaggerated to a degree) on real life acquaintances and friends of the Mangaka who wrote the manga on which the anime is based.
My favorite thing about the anime however, is definitely the music. If you love classical music, you’ll enjoy this. Not only that, but the opening and ending themes are so damn catchy. I think the ending theme used in the first half of the series is maybe my favorite ending theme from any anime of all time.
Title: Nodama Cantabile
Length: 24 Episodes in season 1, 11 episodes in season 2, 11 episodes in season 3 for a total of 46 episodes.
Publisher: J.C. Staff
Release Date: January 2007 – 2010
Genre: Romantic Comedy, Slice of Life, Musical, Shoujo
Story: 8/10 I think the story, at times, suffers from some pacing issues. It can really drag and feel a bit dry even despite an abundance of comedic moments, and since it is a much longer series than similar anime (such as Your Lie in April), it can feel like a chore at times to make it through the whole thing. However, with that out of the way, I will say, that the story also is very unique. I’ve never seen an anime about someone who wants to become a conductor before. I also think it’s sweet and cute in a way (though Chiaki’s Tsundere personality definitely will not appeal to everyone). The end of season 1 is one of the most memorable scenes I have ever seen – Not to spoil anything, but when you get to the end, the scene with the taxi and cellphones. I really thought it was a very heart moving moment. You’ll see what I mean <3.
Characters: 6/10 Although Chiaki is your typical Tsundere style character, the relationship dynamics play out almost in the same way as Wolf Girl and Black Prince (Which I reviewed over here) and I enjoyed that sort of “pet and master” like dynamic. Some people may take offense to these sorts of anime as it puts the main female lead in an extremely submissive “puppydog” role. But I’m no feminist, so it doesn’t really bother me. I think it’s cute that both of the girls need to be taken care of and follow their crush around like a dog. lol. Over the course of Nodame Cantabile, Chiaki does warm up to her, and we see that he tries to rationalize and deny his love for Nodame throughout most of the first season. He is hard on her at times because he wants to encourage her in his own way, to do better, and to follow her dreams. The supporting cast is really very good too – some of them are very funny such as the timpani player, and others are interesting from a backstory standpoint such as Chiaki’s ex. I think more could have been done to create more tension and relationship drama (disclaimer I’m only one season in with 2 more seasons to go). Such as Chiaki’s ex girlfriend not wanting to give him up; or the concert master’s dependency on Nodame, (however he develops a relationship later on with another member of the orchestra who is able to become a cute little side couple). There was a brief rival also that was in love with Nodame in the later half of season 1, but they resolve that conflict quickly within 2-3 episodes also. Well deep down we all know she belongs with Chiaki anyways; but I think it would have been interesting to ramp up the tension a bit more. Some of the episodes feel pretty “dry” because they focus on realistic things like music competitions and rehearsals and the introduction of some more drama maybe would have helped spice things up a bit; however, the tensions and conflicts are often too quickly resolved, and we’re back to just Nodame chasing Chiaki again. Character development is good, especially for Chiaki, we see him go from being a very strict conductor and music teacher, to becoming able to appreciate the unique sound of each member of his orchestra, and to respect their differences. We also see him become more honest about his feelings towards Nodame. I expect that Nodame will grow more independent in later seasons in order to grow as a character and pursue her own dreams without such dependency on Chiaki; but once again I’ve only seen season 1 so can only grade my review on my own experiences thus far.
Music: 5/5 Possibly the best music score ever in an anime. I thought about grading this on a 10 point scale, but to keep it in line with other reviews I’ve done on the site for anime, I’ve kept it a 5 scale. I think, in a series about music, that the music really plays a big role. They used real symphonies to record the classical music, and the opening and ending themes are super catchy and among my favorites from any anime I’ve seen.
Voice Acting: (Disclaimer: I was sick all week (to the point I couldn’t even raise my head off the pillow) and so I watched the first season as a dub. I will eventually come back and give a score for Voice Acting when I watch season 2 and 3 which I will watch as subbed, as it’s intended to be. I won’t even bother grading the Voice Acting of the dub at this point, because dubs suck lol. Seriously, all the voices sounded the same, and why do they make everyone sound like an Alvin the Chipmunk reject? (especially the girls).)
Artwork: 3/5 For being a relatively newer anime (mid-late 2000s) with the most recent season only 5 years old, I expected more from this anime graphically speaking. I think the animation work is really well done, as it shows in detail, finger work, playing various instruments, the body (and hair flowing) movements in time with the music, and great facial expressions as well. But just the “quality” or “design” of the artwork itself, it feels very “dated”. I was shocked when researching this post to see this series is only 5 years old. It feels like an “early 90s” anime, in terms of character designs, backgrounds, colors, lineart, techniques, etc used.
Overall: 22/30 73% “Good Anime for Girls”
If You Liked Nodame Cantabile, You’ll Also Like: Nana, Fullmoon Wo Sagashite, Beck Mongolian Chop Squad, Pop Chance Session, White Album, Your Lie in April, and Love Live School Idol Festival
In my original anime-planet.com review, I reference the similarities between this anime (which is not very popular on anime-planet) and Usagi Drops, another similar anime about a young man who finds himself suddenly raising a little girl, which is immensely popular on anime-planet (at time of my original review, it was in the top 50 anime on anime-planet). I’ve removed the paragraph comparing the two anime for my reblog over here because, it wouldn’t make since to complain about their scoring system on anime-planet and people’s “poor choice” in anime haha. But what follows is the rest of the review after that initial paragraph. If you like Usagi Drops, please give Aishiteruze Baby a chance. It’s a lot better than Usagi Drops. Not that Usagi Drops is bad, but Aishiteruze is just a better anime :).
Once again, I’ve changed the scoring system to make story and characters more weighted when compared to sound and animation. Story and Characters are worth 10 each, while sound and animation are worth 5 each. And when converted to the scoring system in place here, it results in a rating of 37/40 93% A- “Excellent Anime For Girls”. To find out just why this series is so great, you’ll have to read on below, or watch it for yourself. 🙂
Enjoy my Aishiteruze Baby Anime Review 🙂
The fact that this is a complete story, gives the characters time to grow and explores the issues of what really is a family, and the lengths that we go to for our family. It showcases exponential character growth as the very immature lead character suddenly finds himself having to care for a small child. He goes from being a playboy without a care in the world, to suddenly realizing the importance of being there for someone who truly loves you and needs you, both in terms of the young child, but also a classmate / love interest that slowly begins to develop throughout the story. In the beginning the female love interest, hates the main character, but as she begins to notice his incredible transformation as he cares for the young child, her opinion of him changes.
If you enjoy watching characters grow and evolve in a series, this anime’s for you.
This drama is full of cute sweet moments, but also a lot of pain, suffering, and sadness. It is very well balanced, and not overly sugary-sweet like many anime in this genre.
The family dynamic and extra supporting cast are also very funny and unique.
Because of all of that, Story and Characters both get 10/10.
This anime is a bit older, which I’m assuming is why it’s so severely under-rated. The animation and character designs show their age. When I first started watching, I was not too keen on the character designs, but I quickly got over that when I realized how good the story was. The animation is probably about a 3/5. It’s not as “clean” or “streamlined” looking as modern animation tends to be these days.
Voice acting is excellent, especially the 3 main characters, who really convey their emotions and set the tone for the series; and music is good, but not memorable to me. I give the sound 4/5, losing some points for music, but making up for it in the voice acting.
Overall, 10/10 because Yuzuyu is fricken adorable, and so mature for her age. I really super enjoyed the relationship between her and the main character and watching how she changed him and made him into such a better person. <3
Story: 10/10
Characters 10/10
Sound: 4/5
Animation: 3/5
Overall: 10/10
When converted to our scoring system on Geeky Sweetie, this results in a rating of
37/40 93% A- “Excellent Anime For Girls”
This review was originally published on anime-planet. My username over there is Xenokitten. (You can find me here: http://www.anime-planet.com/users/xenokitten) Why not come say Hi! ? 🙂 Anime-planet.com is an awesome website that provides user generated recommendations and reviews to help you find the next anime you want to watch. For example, if you liked Chobits, you can go to the Chobits page on anime-planet and see other shows you might like, with an explanation of why the series are similar to eachother. It’s really nifty. I use this site all the time. Also you can watch the latest episodes of your favorite or hard to find anime on their site as well. But perhaps the coolest thing about anime-planet is it lets you generate a “Life spent on anime” tracker for forum signatures, or websites, etc. And you can track not only games, but also anime. Here’s my tracker (which happens to be a pic of Momo from Peach Girl):
Anime-Planet.com – anime | manga | watch anime online
And look what we have here, a review for Peach Girl (anime) (There’s also a Taiwanese Live Action series, I couldn’t get into it, despite liking Taiwanese and Korean Drama :*( — They changed too much from the original manga and anime. I dropped the Live Action after episode 2 lol.)
For this review, I’ve changed the scoring system a bit, from my original scores on anime-planet, to make characters and story more “weighted” compared to animation and sound which I feel are less important, especially given my target audience here on Geeky Sweetie. I’ve made story and characters both worth 10 points, and animation and sound both worth 5 points. This more accurately reflects my enjoyment of this series as a whole.
When converted to the scoring system used here on Geeky Sweetie this show receives a rating of 36/40 90% A- “Excellent Anime For Girls”
I wrote this review on April 22, 2015.
This is my favorite anime of all time (and I’ve watched over 220 completed series at time of this review’s writing) The reason why I love this anime so much is due to the character development and progression throughout the series. The characters are so well written and their dynamics are so intriguing. They make you feel very passionately, either strong like, or dislike, for each character.
This show has a lot of mature themes such as suicide, rape, depression, bullying, etc. This really sets it apart from any other shoujo I’ve ever watched. The characters feel more alive and real because of their flaws.
I also love how every single episode ends on a huge cliff-hanger. It keeps you watching more and more. AND it keeps you guessing. It’s not until the VERY final episode when Momo FINALLY decides which of the two men she really loves/wants to be with. Throughout the whole series she is pingponging back and forth between them, and the way in which she decides at the end is so dramatic and heart-racing.
Kyrie is pretty much one of the best anime characters I’ve EVER seen. He loves Momo so much that he sacrifices his OWN feelings (and happiness) to do anything to make her happy. He tries to help her repair her relationship with Touji time and time again, and helps her try to clear her reputation at school.
But Momo is conflicted because Touji was her first love, and they’ve been through so much together.
And meanwhile, Sae is pretty much the “worst” character ever (although that is the intention here), I’ve never felt such feelings of RAGE towards a fictional character before or again in any other anime. She just feels SO REAL. I know so many women, superficial, like this, nice to your face, then backstab you EVERY chance they get.
J-List is a peaceful island of Japanese pop culture for you
I could relate to almost every single character and circumstance in this show! It touches me deeply and the tension/drama and NOT KNOWING who she will pick ultimately, really keeps the show interesting from complete start to end.
It’s a story about young/first love, friendship, and “coming of age”. A story very real and relateable for many women in this world who have experienced love, bullying, pain, hurt, and eventually have grown through all of it, to be incredible strong independent women. I love this story and the characters.
10/10 for story and 10/10 for characters.
Animation is old. I know most people on this site don’t like older series. And I’ll admit the character designs look weird too, 3/5 Animation
Sound, was just alright, both in terms of music and voice acting, nothing too remarkable, 3/5 here.
10/10 overall for having such a dramatic intense and moving story with such a delightful (or hateful) cast of characters.
10/10 story
3/5 animation
3/5 sound
10/10 characters
10/10 overall
When converted to our traditional scoring system on Geeky Sweetie it results in a rating of
36/40 90% A- “Excellent Anime For Girls”
I do not own the rights to anything, other than the editing work within the video.
Music is copyright Coldplay Sky Full of Stars
Video footage is from Kdrama Angel Eyes.
This video may contain Spoilers for those who have not seen the show. I think I used up to episode 8 within the video at some point.
If you like this video please like, share, comment, or subscribe, and tell me what Kdrama music videos you’d like to see next.
Sorry for poor quality, had trouble finding raw HD torrents so some of my footage is only 240p. Will do better next time 🙂
