This is honestly so so so so true and I'm glad I'm the only one that felt like this. I dropped so many dramas in the past two years because accessibility. Like some shows would have a couple of free episodes as they aired and then lock all of the rest (*cough* Viki and Kocowa *cough*), other shows would generally just be unavailable as they air (ALL THE DISNEY+ SHOWS DAMMIT; And The Good Detective Season 2 was put on Netflix months after it finished airing). There's only so much a girl can pay for before it becomes a chore to enjoy something. The backlog I have of shows that I have yet to start or want to finish but couldn't find a proper platform to watch them is getting miles long 😭 At this point the only shows I'm finishing are the ones on Netflix 💀

You didn't hear it from me, but...
...the solution to some of your problems could be to go *cough* ahem "unofficial". Spend your money on a computer with really good security software instead of on VPNs and streaming services.

Just make sure the security software is really, really good. Then experiment with its optional features -- these features exist because they can improve security but are optional and off by default because they can break some legitimate functions. Try turning some of them on one at a time and see if they break anything you do. But ideally you would be doing that anyway no matter you get your kdrama fix.

You're not alone with your issues @ally-le at the streaming services .The restrictions to watch want we want to watch at the time we want to are sometimes so tasking and I want to give up watching at times. I felt so with a few kdramas, and one non-kdrama like that. Now I take watch it whenever it gets available. Of course it has to be a a kdrama I'm excited and expectant of. If it's not, I guess that's the end of the road for me and the kdrama. Thankfully, they were all exciting kdramas.

I didn't watch any of the shows you listed. I only lasted 5 episodes of Snowdrop. But, anything for Yeo Jin-goo.

I'm so happy you got published @ally-le 🥳
You 1000% deserve it.

But as for the subject matter, well... I'll just be here laughing in Australian 🤭

Because I live in a small country in Eastern Europe nothing is ever licensed here. You pay the exact same price for Netflix as do people in countries with 10 times higher average salary and you still don't get any new shows you wanted to watch.

Yeah. I will live a decent life when I move to a different country.

I'm just here to empathize and share in your love of Never Give Up. I was disappointed that I couldn't watch it as it aired also, and disappointed that dramabeans didn't cover it so I couldn't even follow along with weecaps. And even after it became available, it just seemed to get no attention at all - such a hidden gem that didn't need to be hidden!

Yeah, whenever they announced a drama was going to Disney+ I would be very upset. Especially Sixth Sense Kiss, which I really wanted to see because I love the webtoon it's based on (although actually it probably is a good thing I couldn't watch it as it aired). It's hard for me to go back and watch older dramas because just keeping up with on-air ones takes a lot of time. I think Love All Play is finally available on Hulu but I have no idea when I'm going to watch it.

Thank you @dbstaff for publishing this! Not my best writing, but you always make it better! Thank you!

The K-dramas that end up on Hulu are the Disney originals. All Disney originals have ended up on Hulu, except for one on Disney+. (_Soundtrack #1_)

The ones that are licensed just for streaming rights are still not available. (e.g., _Link_, _Love All Play_, _One Dollar Lawyer_, etc.)

The only exceptions are _Snowdrop_ (JTBC) and _Big Mouth_ (MBC). (_Snowdrop_ and _Soundtrack #1_ are on Disney, not Hulu.)

Thanks, ally! This is the year I gave up. If it’s not on Viki or Netflix, I can do without it. A friend’s Mom taught her that “you can’t dance every dance”, so I’ve applied that to kdrama this year and settled for what those two options have available. Maybe that explains why I thought it was my worst year for kdrama enjoyment but I’ll never know 🤷‍♀️

Thank you, @ally-le, for your eloquent and humorous summation of the predicament many of us have found ourselves in this year. It feels good to commiserate. There are so many dramas I wanted to watch this year, but they were not available to me, so I missed out on all the fun. I see other Beanies referencing dramas I know nothing about, and it makes me sad.

I hear you. I am not adverse to watching some of these dramas on certain questionable streaming sites, but the experience is so unpleasant that I really would rather avoid it.

I will also tell you that I was dying to watch "Snowdrop," so I did seek it out on a questionable site and watched it all the way through. I lasted liked it for longer than you did--probably through ep. 10--but I don't think you need to carve out time to complete it. You saw the best episodes, imo. I also agree with you that it had the feel of a drama likely to be a hit here in the US, so I don't understand why Disney made it so hard for us to watch it.

Finally, I've noticed Hulu (which recently got "Kiss Sixth Sense") and Amazon Prime ("May I Help You" and "Hogu's Love) have some newer and older shows I couldn't watch elsewhere. So it does feel like execs aren't entirely clueless.

Congratulations @ally-le for being published. I get where you are coming from. I watched two dramas on a delayed basis this year: NEVER GIVE UP on Netflix US and TRACER 1 & 2 on Viki US. I had hoped to get to GOOD DETECTIVE 2 but it just isn’t happening.
NGU snuck into being one of my favorites of the year.

So on the subject of availability (angst) and speaking as a US kdrama viewer. In 2022 I cancelled 2 paid subscriptions both for lack of subbed (in English) kdramas: Kocowa and OnDemandKorea.
I currently have paid subscriptions to Viki US, Netflix US and a recent addition of iQIYI. I have access via my Amazon prime membership to Prime Video US. I have access to YouTube (and all those ads). I haven’t broken down yet to pay and go ad free on YT.

Disney+ is not an option in the US. I gave up on Hulu back in 2016 and I am not going back there. I made a choice awhile back not to visit ‘alternate’ sites. I am not going to use a VPN.

I am basically left with 5 streaming sources and there is enough there to keep me occupied. If a DB news report starts by saying a drama will be on Disney+ I don’t continue reading.

The accessibility issue is why I'm pretty shameless about pirating my dramas - I do not have the money for six+ streaming services, and only three of them are available in the UK anyway! I pay for Netflix, but Viki isn't good enough to take my money, and I was bycotting Disney+ long before they encroached on our territory. The others - Kocowa, Viu etc - would require me to use my VPN.
The only time I relinquished and did that was last year, when I wanted to watch the 2021 KBS Drama Specials but they were trapped behind a Kocowa paywall. I got a free trial, used my VPN, watched the specials and got out of there 😂

Great post, @ally-le, you've convinced me to put Never Give Up on my watchlist!

So many dramas I was excited to watch, then I couldn't find it, then I forgot about it, and when finally it dropped into a streaming feed, I had already heard through the grapevine the way it fell apart. So, well, I've only finished two dramas this year.

Congrats on getting published and really nailing an important issue.

Thanks for this post! All the streaming sites are frustrating! In the past I mostly watched older dramas, but this year I did try to watch more dramas as they were airing, which is hard as they were spread out over various sites. Pachinko on Apple, Beloved Summer on Netflix, Good Job on Viki...But, the older dramas are also problematic as some of them disappear from sites and are hard to find legally. Not only is it expensive to keep all the streaming sites, but I can't keep track of the passwords, so sometimes I sit down to watch, and I have to go through a logging in process. It is all so confusing and takes great skill to keep track of all the shows and where they are airing! I think it is effecting my enjoyment of the shows especially as there seems to be too much content as all the streaming sites compete with each other. Too much of a good thing...!

I'm currently watching enough stuff, but I've heard many good things about Never Give Up, I should definitely put it in my watch list for later!

My Opinion of the Disney Corporation had not been very high for a long time- but then Disney+ came along and it sank to the utter bottom.

The proliferation of streaming sites has not been any sort of a blessing.

So many shows are airing simultaneously now ,compared to earlier days , due to increase in digital streaming sites, and I really want to watch all of them live, but the time factor and being inaccessible to some sites really makes me miss out some good dramas I think it would be. Also due to this, I dont get the urge to watch these "missed out" dramas in a much later time after it finishes airing. Since I have been a live k-drama watcher from a long time now, the binge watching personality of mine specially k-dramas doesnt come out for finished shows, as I feel like I am "far" behind that exciting time the drama initially aired and my brain doesnt accept the fact I can enjoy it, unless the drama is very short. Quite weird how my mind thinks like this.

I miss the old days I used to catchup with ALL of the shows for that week from all the different channels. Too many channels, too many streaming sites now take away that magic of live watching sadly.

I feel so much of this as also a US viewer. I’m excited to find out about Never Give Up, though. I completely didn’t even know it existed. I do Viki, Netflix, experimenting with Hulu. I don’t get enough packages to warrant Amazon Prime.
I wish dramabeans could have a page to talk about Never Give Up as more people watch it. I wonder if in these splintered access times it makes sense to have a drama hangout after something finally becomes widely available.
I’ve been debating getting a vpn, but your experience does not sound encouraging! I would love to watch Link, though.

I tried using a VPN but was blocked, with a warning about losing access to the channel!!
I'm new to Kdramas so there are current and older ones I'd love to watch but can't get them in the USA. I'll find an actor I enjoy and look back to their older works but can't watch them! Frustrating.