Revisiting My Co-Writers: Our First Dramas

The first Asian drama we watched, many times it's like our first love. Although we don't end up with our first love, the memories are unforgettable. The first Asian drama we watched was like the main gateway into the vast, fantastic Asian dramaland full of mysteries. Looking back, sometimes we were in awe to think how far we had ventured. After reminiscing about our watching experiences, below is the anthology of our first dramas watched. So enjoy our writings, while thinking about your own first dramas, your first love!

Cho Na's note: I'd had an idea to write about MDLer's first dramas for a while, but I didn't know where to start. Suddenly this summer, I got the idea to feature first drama experiences, not only from me but also from fellow writers who have written articles with me. Thank you to every writer who collaborated with me to create this fun writing project!

Limitations: Although we might have watched dramas from an Asian country prior to these dramas below, we only wrote about dramas from the countries featured on MDL, so you can check them out if you're interested!

LET'S START!

Although I watched Hong Kong kungfu series when I was little, I remember nothing until as an adult I found METS after seeing AsianCrush clips on YouTube back in the summer of 2019. Especially, two cute kids wearing weird garbs I'd never seen before, with a clip of the boy falling from the ladder upon seeing the girl (bottom image). That's how I got hooked onto this drama. 20 episodes of 1 hour each later, never skipped or fast-forwarded it! I was completely mesmerized by the ancient Korean culture, the elaborate royal marriage selection process, the treacherous palace politics, and the dark shamanism practice shown in this drama.

After that, I watched all the movies and dramas listed on AsianCrush and when running out of shows I started looking up recommendations online and found MDL. With METS, I fell into the Asian drama hole, and I've only watched Asian shows ever since. The Asian culture is just right up my alley.

I've never gotten back to rewatching METS, not that I don't like it, but there are tons of Asian dramas to try. It was still a great drama for me (I rated it 9.0 and won't change it), and I'm still waiting for the day when Kim You Jung and  Yeo Jin Goo (the young versions of FL and ML) will collaborate again as the adult main couple in a romance drama! Because they were so darn cute with great chemistry, and I know many METS watchers have the same wish, too!

My first drama was Playful Kiss which was the South Korean adaption of the “Itazura Na Kiss” franchise. I stumbled across this drama on Netflix in early 2012 when I was looking for more romantic anime to watch. I enjoyed watching the perseverance of our FL and how she affected the ML's attitude. There was something liberating about watching a romance where the unpopular female lead of our story wins the guy that everyone has dreamed of having, all on the account of sheer tenacity and being one’s self. This method of storytelling led me towards finding other dramas with a similar romantic vibe. I’ve always been attracted to the beginning of a love story, the initial courtship, and the moment when characters realize their feelings for each other, and the relationship changes.

After completing Playful Kiss, I looked into this drama online to read reviews and MDL came up as one of the webpages. After scrolling through reviews and comments, I decided to create an account to write my very first review on it. Afterwards, I started searching for more dramas, and with a love for the type of story, I started watching all of the adaptions to the “Itazura Na Kiss” series.

In the process of watching the adaptions, I came across the Taiwanese version of the series, which was called It Started with a Kiss. This sparked my love for Taiwanese dramas overall because they were much longer than the standard Korean drama and I had the opportunity to experience the stories I enjoyed for a longer amount of time. Looking back, there was this undeniable passion that I was fond of seeing through the romantic storytelling that led me towards many more dramas in other countries.

While the South Korean adaption is cute, upon rewatching, I have lowered my score as there are far superior adaptions to the franchise such as the Taiwanese or Japanese version. The plot is as simple as they come but I think the “Itazura Na Kiss” series is one of the most fun and comfy drama experiences I had when I started watching dramas. 

My first drama was Summer Snow (2000), which I watched in 2008. It's a J-drama about a man who takes care of his siblings after their parents die, and he starts a romantic relationship with a woman who has a heart condition. I discovered the drama on IMDb, because it had a very high rating (9.7/10). At the time, I didn't know anything about Asian drama websites, so I used IMDb to search for movies and TV shows. I was already watching Japanese movies and anime, so there was no culture shock, as I was already familiar with Japanese culture. I liked the small-town setting, the romantic relationship, the emotional scenes, and the ending theme song.

Shortly after I watched Summer Snow, I discovered JDorama.com, a J-drama review website (this was before MDL existed). I watched two J-dramas that had good reviews, Nodame Cantabile and 1 Litre no Namida, and I loved both of them. Then I took a break from J-dramas to focus on other hobbies. It wasn't until 2015 that I got back into J-dramas, and in 2016 I watched Coffee Prince as my first K-drama, and Nirvana in Fire as my first C-drama.

I never rewatched Summer Snow. I liked it, but it's not one of my favorites. I recommend it if you like emotional romance dramas, but there are other dramas that I would recommend first. For example, my favorite Japanese romance drama is Long Vacation (1996).

My first drama was Squid Game, which I stumbled upon randomly in 2021 while scrolling through TikTok. I kept seeing edits and clips, so I decided to watch it when I had some free time. 

Before Squid Game I hadn't watched any dramas. I didn't know that it was a Korean drama so I was confused when they started speaking Korean but kept watching for the plot. I initially thought it was a movie due to its length, and I was surprised when I realized it had multiple episodes. When I did more research, I was surprised to learn that the actors and actresses were older than I initially thought.

The unique plot of the drama shocked me because I hadn't seen anything like it in American dramas. It made me curious about other Asian dramas. After that I was eager for more, so I searched Google for more of them. That's when I discovered True Beauty, and paused to explore similar dramas, eventually leading me to MDL.

In my opinion, Squid Game was really good, but it felt pretty overrated. Although I never rewatched it, nonetheless, I'm glad I watched it and I wouldn't have discovered it if it wasn't getting popular. The production quality was really good, and it must have taken a long time to make. 

So I would recommend Squid Game to anyone interested in intense dramas with a compelling storyline and social commentary. I've already recommended it to others or asked if they've seen it. Nearly everyone I asked had already watched it since it was really popular. 

My first ever drama was the Chinese rom-com My Amazing Boyfriend starring Janice Wu as Tian Jing Zhi and Kim Tae Hwan as Xue Ling Qiao. Back then, I had been a K-Pop stan for about 2 years and always heard of K-Dramas, but never really looked any up. Then one day, I decided to check out what these K-dramas are all about, but I stumbled upon this C-drama on YouTube instead, because this one looked more interesting than the K-drama I was recommended. This was back in late 2017 if I'm not wrong.

To be honest, for the first few episodes, I found it very weird since it was completely different than what I was used to watching. But it was also very entertaining for the same exact reason: it was something new and fresh! The supernatural elements also made it even better since I've always loved fantasy and everything we don't have on Earth, so I really enjoyed it!

This drama was also the start of my Janice Wu fangirl era, so right after completing it, I hopped onto some of her older projects and since then, I've been waiting patiently for her new works year after year. For this reason, I was very sad when they changed the main leads in My Amazing Boyfriend Season 2,  from Janice and Tae Hwan to Yu Shu Xin and Mike Angelo. But they both did a great job! On a very positive note, season 2 introduced me to my man Mike Angelo so I'm really glad I watched it!

Now, no matter how positive my opinion about the drama is, I don't think I'll ever be able to rewatch it...

I found it really good back then because it was my first and I didn't know better, but now I do. Over the 7 years of my Dramaland journey, I've become much pickier than I was before, so I simply don't think I'd be able to enjoy such an over-the-top drama anymore. But no matter what, it'll forever stay my first drama and will always hold a special place in my heart. ❤️

I would recommend it if you're someone who likes silly romance dramas without caring about the overall quality of a series. I can't say it's not good quality since I don't remember it too well, but many people tend to avoid older Chinese dramas because of the improvement in the whole industry. All I have to say is, read through the synopsis, see the cast, watch the trailer if you'd like, and decide for yourself because nobody knows what you like better than you do!!

It’s quite hard to think of my very first drama, but I would say it's Kdrama Strangers From Hell. I was actually really into K-pop (specifically BTS) and loved Korean culture by that point. I saw a small clip on YouTube, I believe, and found the premise interesting. I found it on Netflix and binged it. 

My experience with this drama was a pretty wild one. It's dark and psychological, so I loved it and the actors were handsome so that topped the cake. I’ve always loved horror and gore, so Strangers From Hell shocked me. I knew South Korea to be a very conservative country and didn't think it would actually produce such dark media, but I was pleasantly surprised.

One of the things that attracted me the most about this drama was the lack of romance. Even though Jongwoo (the protagonist of the drama) had a girlfriend, she wasn't all that important to the overall plot. I searched and found other dramas without romance, with dark psychology, and detective themes. 

After watching this drama, I actually searched for more of the actors’ work and enjoyed quite a bit of dramas from them all. I read fanfiction and fell into the hole of Kdramas. 

I only rewatch a drama once or twice on a rare day, even if I love it. But I rewatched Strangers From Hell with my little brother, he enjoyed it and thought it was interesting. I also enjoyed the drama the second time around, and my rating stayed the same as it was pretty straightforward.

I have and would totally recommend this drama to other dark psychology lovers. If you enjoy mind games and manipulation, along with a little bit of gaslighting this drama is for you. Crazily enough, I never once hated the protagonist nor blamed him for his actions in the end. 

Strangers From Hell is a good drama, quite long and dealing with gore, psychological themes, mental health, and death. It's not for those who want happy, pretty endings where everyone is okay and everyone survives. I say give it a chance if you enjoy the above themes. 

If anyone takes a peek at my profile, it wouldn’t surprise them that the first drama I tracked on MDL was a BL series. But, if I’m being honest, I feel like I got into the genre pretty late in the game - I happened to stumble across a fan-made compilation in late 2022 of Pharm and Dean’s relationship over the course of the Thai BL series Until We Meet Again (UWMA), and that was how I found myself diving into this particular rabbit hole.

I’ve always been a sucker for rom-coms, and who could deny the attractiveness of so many actors selected for BL roles (I’m looking at you, Mr. Cheekbones-Cut-By-God-Himself, Ohm Thitiwat)? But what really struck a chord in me about UWMA was its story and the production’s ability to showcase this supernatural sense of longing and desperation, softened by tinges of sweet moments, interlaced with complex emotions that reached the audience members through the screen. 

UWMA doesn’t follow what many would consider to be classic rom-com tropes (from either a Western or Eastern perspective), and while I haven’t read the book that this series is based on, I suspect that the introduction of more serious topics helped to structure the story dynamics into what became the final product. Despite watching that fan compilation first, I’ve always believed that spoilers don’t really matter if the story is well-executed, because it should make you think, “OOH, that’s how we got here!” instead of “Oh, saw that coming already.” UWMA delivered this in spades, and I really credit the actors (and their supporting crew) for being able to hold their scenes in a grounded state to deliver impactful emotions, then shift elegantly into slice-of-life scenarios to allow the audience to relax and enjoy the light-hearted moments together.

I have not gone back to rewatch UWMA in full since I finished it, and I think a certain aspect of nostalgia prevents me from doing so. I’ve gone on to watch and praise a number of other BL series since then, but there’s always a part of my heart that remembers how quietly it ached while watching UWMA. I want my beautifully bittersweet (but happy) heart to always remember that feeling - when I had no other series to compare UWMA to in the genre, and I was just simply enjoying the story for the first time with no expectations.

UWMA was also the first Thai production I watched, which meant that a whole new world of actors and actresses was opened up to me. If there’s an important personality aspect of me that someone new needs to know, it’s that I love a good deep dive and will obsessively research a new topic that I come across. Since then, I have been diving head-and-heart first into the BL genre, and loving this journey of discovering new actors to adore, new songs to sing, and new dramas to binge. If anyone is ever interested in having deep, long, detailed, analytical discussions about why they love a series, you’ve got a friend in me.

My first drama was Pasta! I really like this type of story that doesn’t have much conflict. And it’s really fun to watch. The main leads Lee Sun Gyun and Gong Hyo Jin are such great actors!! I really like Gong Hyo Jin, I also follow her other projects, like The Master's Sun, It’s Okay, That’s Love, Door Lock, etc. I also want to convey my condolences to Lee Sun Gyun, he has gone through very difficult times! I was very shocked by this incident because I thought he would become a very big actor because his acting was very good. Rest in peace!

At first, I didn't know the cast, because I was very young when I watched Pasta on television. Also, it came with Indonesian dubbing, because I lived in Indonesia. The dubbing sounded weird to me, hahaha, but I still watched it until it finished, because I really loved the story!

After watching Pasta, I always looked for food-themed dramas. Maybe because I also like to eat, haha! Besides, my hobby is cooking. So it's really fun to see food visuals in dramas. 

Did I rewatch this drama? You bet! I've re-watched this drama over and over again and never get bored of it. I really can't re-watch dramas I've watched, but that doesn't apply to Pasta! You could say this drama is my comfort zone, if I get bored of watching I will return to this drama. I think I've watched it more than 5 times! My rating is fixed and will never change! Also, if I never rewatched this drama, I wouldn't have known that the actors and actresses in this drama are big stars now, like Lee Ha Nee, Choi Jin Hyuk, Hyun Woo, Noh Min Woo, and Ha Jae Sook. Also, since this is one of my favorite dramas, when I find a friend who has the same taste in drama as mine, of course, I will recommend this drama! 

"CHEEEFF~~~"! When you watch this drama, you will definitely understand how this word will always ring a bell. This is the word that comes out most often from the female lead, haha, you will always remember that!! (Oops, maybe this is a spoiler???)

I was happy to be asked to take part in this very interesting project. I started my very first ever K-Drama (also my first ever East Asian Drama) on Monday, May 13, 2013. As indicated above, it was My Princess.

How did I find the drama? At the time I had some friends in their teens who were heavily into K-pop and keen on watching some K-Dramas. Back then, there were no streaming services in my country and no legal access to Korean content. Because I worked from home with a reasonable Internet connection, I was happy to help out my friends by finding them dramas they wanted to watch. My Princess was one of them. I picked this drama as my first out of the selection that I had acquired for my young friends because of the reputation of Kim Tae Hee, the leading actress.

The experience of watching it was interesting. I was used to watching subtitled content from South Asia, but 11 years ago most K-Dramas were fansubbed, and this drama, along with many of the ones that I watched immediately after it, were 480p or even 360p. I watched about 8 full K-Dramas in 3 weeks after starting with this one, as I was unwell at the time and had lots of time to kill at home.  

What are my memories of this drama? To be honest, I don't think it was particularly memorable. A cute and predictable story that was a pleasant and unremarkable introduction to the world of K-Dramas. The male lead, Song Seung Heon, was famous back then for being less expressive as an actor than a dead rock, and I see no reason to disagree with that opinion. He met what was then and is still today the MOST important criterion for a K-Drama male lead, that of being really really ridiculously good-looking. Good-looking enough to distract from the fact that he had basically zero acting talent. I am inclined to say that I do not think his female lead was much better as an actor.

I haven't rewatched this drama, and never will, but it did send me down the K-Drama rabbit hole. Seven months after starting it as my first ever K-Drama, I had completed 100 K-Dramas, and many of the cast of My Princess have become well-known to me. A few have become regular favourites, actors whose performances I like consistently enough to check out dramas simply because they are in them - most notably Lee Sung Min and  Ahn Nae Sang.  I have only completed one other drama featuring Kim Tae Hee, and Yong Pal  (which I and my then-drama-watching buddies called Yawn Pal) but have watched four others featuring Song Seung Heon. One of them is a drama that scarred and traumatized me for life - Time Slip Dr. Jin. If my contribution to this article saves even one person from the unspeakable awfulness of that drama, then I will have redeemed myself for many sins. In two others of his, he actually showed signs of having mastered at least the basics of acting, Player (S1) and Dinner Mate.

In conclusion, I am not unhappy that this was my first K-Drama. Because it was so typical,  it served as a good introduction, and now, more than 300 completed K-Dramas (and more than 100 dropped K-Dramas) later,  if anyone wanted to watch it, I would not advise against it. Just don't watch Time Slip Dr. Jin!

I grew up in Asia and had the chance to watch Asian dramas since I was a toddler with my parents. I remember my very first Asian drama had a trio of colourful and interesting characters Monkey, Pigsy, and Sandy on an adventure with a Buddhist monk, fighting all sorts of demons, and I came to know later from my parents that it was the 1996 Hong Kong drama Journey to the West and was based on one of the greatest Chinese novel classics.

Not recognizing any words, nor understanding the plot, I recalled enjoying the drama for the demons battling scenes, especially of Monkey with his rod weapon, which can be extended to infinity and minimized to keep in the ear.

I never rewatched this drama, watched other adaptations, or read the novel. After JTTW, growing up, I randomly watched some Asian dramas screened on national TV with my parents but stopped for a while as school life got busy. Only during the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 did I subscribe to Netflix and start watching Asian dramas again.

Will I recommend JTTW to others to watch? Certainly yes. It is a fun family watch for parents and kids, and a great introduction to Chinese mythology and perhaps the great grand predecessor of Chinese xianxia dramas. In addition, based on Wikipedia, the original source itself (of the same title) is a 16th-century novel written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming dynasty and regarded as one of the greatest classic Chinese novels and described as arguably the most popular literary work in East Asia. So it's definitely worth checking out!

The first drama I watched was Jewel in the Palace/Dae Jang Geum when I was around 12 years old. I started watching it after hearing about it from my friends. It was a new experience as Kdramas were beginning to gain popularity in my country and there was Jang Geum fever going on. At first,  I was skeptical, but then gave in, started watching, and became hooked. Initially, I found the drama too long. But as I started to get immersed in the characters and started rooting for them, I enjoyed the drama a lot. I especially liked that the villains got what they deserved and the main pairing got a happy ending. The depictions of food and royal life were interesting to watch. I had never seen Korean food being prepared before and everything shown on screen looked delicious. 

This drama sparked my love for sageuk and historical C-dramas. I enjoy the beautiful costumes, locations, and the stories told. After the drama ended I had a lot of discussions with my friends and the local TV channel started airing Jewel in the Palace and Dong Yi which led to me fangirling so much about Han Hyo Joo. Surprisingly I never rewatched Dae Jang Geum despite rewatching Dong Yi many times. It could be due to the drama length or other factors. I did watch clips of Dae Jang Geum at certain times and would still give it 10/10 across the board. I would recommend the drama to people who love sageuks and costume dramas. Don't be discouraged because of the length of the drama!

Overall for me, Dae Jang Geum was my intro to the world of K-dramas and I am really glad that such a strong and amazing drama was my first drama!

The first Asian drama I ever watched was the Korean rom-com My Secret Romance. As one did during the first, endless lockdown in 2020 I was reaching new highs in my phone’s screen time by binge-watching every show Netflix recommended to me - or at least it felt like that.

One day a red poster caught my attention. Before I could even read the title on the thumbnail, a preview started playing and I heard a foreign language. My then uncultured self wanted to click away because watching the show would have required me to read subtitles. But something made me click it open anyway. Thinking back, I believe it was Sung Hoon’s deep voice that enticed me to go against my initial disinterest. Funny how trivial preferences can lead you to discover a whole new world.

My previous worries about finding subtitles to be a bother quickly faded as I was sucked right into the story and also discovered my first K-Actor crush, Sung Hoon. I was completely oblivious to any of the Korean customs shown and it took me a few dramas to understand things like bowing your head when you greet someone and the word “oppa” still meant “grandpa” to my German brain at the time.

Once I had completed My Secret Romance the Netflix algorithm felt like I should experience their entire repertoire and so I diligently watched one after another, as if there was a checklist to complete. Simultaneously I also found MDL and started looking for dramas all over the Internet. I began googling certain actors and watched whatever I saw someone recommend. It truly felt like I had opened the door to a whole new world that was filled with treasures all around.

It’s quite funny actually to think back and know how excited I was while watching it for the first time. In comparison to the hundreds of dramas I have watched (and dropped) since then, I can confidently say that I am glad it was my first - because otherwise, I would have probably never completed it. My initial rating was a 7/10, which I  think is quite fair but I also know that back then I did not have a rating system and 7/10 meant I liked it. I never did a full rewatch but I have definitely gone back and rewatched a few episodes or certain scenes - just to get a sense of nostalgia.

Would I recommend this drama to others? Look, everyone has a very different taste in dramas so it’s hard to say yes or no but I’d like to believe that the true romcom K-drama lovers have already seen this 2017 classic and if they haven’t, and aren’t new to K-Dramas, then there’s probably a reason for that.  That being said, it’s not the worst, there are quite a few uncommon characteristic features such as the FL’s family dynamics with her mother being a former adult entertainment star as well as the lead’s slightly scandalous meet-cute. Yes, there are many cliches and tropes but I also don’t have another drama I could compare it directly to.

I read from other drama watchers that either My Secret Romance, Boys Over Flowers, or The Heirs got them into watching K-Dramas. Although I only stumbled across it 3 years after its air date, it gives me a sense of community to know that my gateway drama also opened the door for many others. Whenever I see an actor or actress, no matter how small their role was, from this drama show up in another project I always feel like I know them a little bit more than the others. But I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed that Song Ji Eun, Kim Jae Young, and Baek Seung Heon aren’t as popular and seen on screen as much as  I thought they would be. Much different can be said about the stars of the second drama I ever watched, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon.

We believe our article not only brings back the nostalgia of our first dramas, but also enjoyment reading about other MDLers' enthusiasm for recollecting their first dramas! We're sure one of ours is similar to your watching experience, so it's your turn to share your first drama!

THANK YOU FOR READING AND HAPPY WATCHING!