@unit This is a good topic. I am 90% "Watch the fun, take the good moments/messages and move on" type, but once in a while I cone across an obsession like Lovely Runner and I start scouring the internet for any content on the drama/leads, be it the promotional videos, BTS or their individual interviews/comments on social media etc.,

The extra content helps to wait between episodes! We learn interesting things about the production like who thought that the noise for turning page in EY was Kim Hye-Yoon's voice!

BTS : I really like to see actors and PD discussing how to film a scene, how they give ideas, etc. I found interesting and sometimes, it confirms when I found an actor good or bad.

I'm watching the BTS of DwY and I like to see how they showed on TV was not the first idea, they tried different things to come to the final scene.

Interview : I'm not a shipper in the sense I don't want them to date in real life. But I like to watch the actors talking together because if they have chemistry, it's pretty swoony, fun and interesting.

Games : It's funny to see the real personality of actors : Some are very competitive, some are so clumsy in real life, etc.

I move on.
I hardly if not seldomly go to the add-ons, even special episodes.

The only add-ons I've seen are

Mr. Queen's special episodes.
Tell Me That You Love Me's BTS.
Behind Your Touch's BTS. I only watched episode 1 of BYT by the way.
Alchemy of Souls BTS.

I have always been an "extras" lover. I use to buy dvds for the audio commentaries and special features so that is nothing new to me. I've also been a "watch a kdrama and move on" type until recently haha (this mainly changed because in order to engage on here, I have to actually watch and think about the shows haha)

The funny thing is I usually end up watching the "add ons" way after I've watched the drama (sometimes YEARS after) unless I'm REALLY into the drama or the actors. For The Law Cafe, it was like a habit that I knew when a subbed version of the behind the scenes would be posted and it was an extention of the viewing experience for me. I looked forward to it as much as looked forward to the episodes. With Knight Flower, I watched unsubbed videos to know what would happen in the episode because they posted the gist of the episode before the subbed version came out and I wanted to know what happened, even if I didn't know the specifics of what was said.

I remember looking for behind the scenes videos for Love Song for Illusion but those weren't always subbed (fan subbed or official) and then it was like the station/network stopped even caring to post about it. I mostly watched those for Park Jihoon and watching them made me appreciate the effort that went into making the show (despite the results). Same with Lovely Runner. I don't watch many videos about it but the things I have seen about it, makes me appreciate the efforts of the cast more.

Well, in truth, I actively avoid seeking out any/all additional information about the dramas, the actors, or any other material extrinsic to the episodes of dramas themselves.

I know full well that these humans have their own lives and I wish them all the best in their careers!! I'm here for the fiction though and I like to keep the two things (reality and fiction) quite separate.

I've been known to click on the BTS videos on the Fan Wall, but I almost always regret it because it usually saps the fun out of a drama for me--I start to think about what it was really like rather than staying immersed in the story.

I guess I have a very weak "willing suspension of disbelief" muscle! 🤣

If I engaged with the extra content for every drama I watch, I would probably have no more hours left in my day haha!

My favorite extra content is the unscripted interviews with 2-3 lead cast members. I know they're given the questions in advance, and may even practice their responses before filming, but I think these interviews provide the most natural experience of the actors interacting with each other and sharing about their work, along with some BTS comments.

I don't generally enjoy videos with games. BTS videos feel a bit chaotic and often aren't subtitled. And I also don't care for the fully scripted "interviews" where they're clearly reading off of cue cards.

Even though I enjoy the interviews, I never go looking for extra content. If it shows up in my YouTube feed, I may watch. I don't use social media for personal posting either (DB is my personal social media!), so I don't follow anyone or anything drama-related other than a few k- and c-drama news accounts on X.

I don't watch any promotion stuff before a show airs. I don't watch any add-ons during a show's airing time either. After a show ends, if I care about some actor(s) so much, especially if it was the show where I discovered them, I would find BTS or press conference, sometimes interviews or reality shows of such actor(s) to watch. I'm a timid person, and I'm always amazed by the actors' ability to convey to viewers emotions of fictional characters through the screen. So the main reason I seek out those add-ons is to see how hard the actors worked to bring us that stellar performance on screen, if that artistically acted scene was that artistic in the making, what troubles/obstacles/embarrassement they had to overcome to act it out, if that sizzling chemistry we see on screen is the result of affection between actors as real people, not as characters, etc... But I must care about the actors enough to let myself fall down that rabbit hole. There are a lot of shows I enjoyed watching but never touched any add-on.

I sometimes watch add-on stuff when it comes to Netflix dramas, because that's easily accessible and often subtitled. Other than that, not really, except maybe if I just happen to come across it, but I won't actively go look for it.

Depends on how obsessed I become with the drama? Most of the time I watch and move on, but occasionally a show will get its hooks into me deeply enough that I'll scour the internet for all additional info, commentary, original source material etc.. I do tend to wait until after I've watched the show, as I want to avoid spoilers and form my own opinions first before reading other folks' takes.

I hardly look outside dramas. I would occasionally watch BTS if beanies post on their fan wall but I don’t go looking for it. Most BTS I have seen are because of beanies wall post!! ( Chinese drama Untamed was the exception that had me the most obsessed with the BTS.)
For a few actors, I might watch their interviews. Eg Cho Seung-woo and Son Suk-ku

The newest kind of add-on (new for me!) is the "cast reacts to (scenes from the drama)". I find it quite interesting. It provides insights into what goes into film-making and characterisation, which is a lot! Makes one appreciate the drama better as a viewer.

I watch add-ons to ease off a drama I really like. Oftentimes, I'd miss the characters when a show ends, so I watch the extra stuff to sort of extend my time with them.

Generally I just watch the drama and move on. There are some exceptions, sometimes I have watched edits on Youtube, or interviews, outtakes, behind the scenes... (Flower Boy Next Door, Live up to your name, The Best Hit, Twinkling Watermelon...).

And every time I finish a drama, regardless of my final impression about it, I always add my favorite songs to my k-drama list on Spotify and I create a new sub-board for that drama on Pinterest.

Dramabeans kind of is my add on! I first started reading when I was watching my very first drama (CLOY) and needed to interact with it more. So I would read the recaps after I watched the episodes, and it gave me a chance to relive all my favorite moments from each one. I don't really look for behind-the-scenes stuff usually, but might go back and look at some of it way after the drama has aired. In the moment, if I'm enjoying it enough, I generally want to be as immersed in the story and characters as much as possible so I don't necessarily want to see the actors being themselves on the side.

It all depends on the drama, the actors, or my level of obsession because like @Unit says, it is exhausting and time-consuming and can 100% ruin the immersion. Sometimes I would watch the extras while the drama is on the air, and other times I'd watch after the drama ends if I can't move on. BTS and interviews are fine as the actors are still in character, but variety shows with the actor's real-life personality can ruin my immersion.

Since this Drama Chat is about Kim Soo-hyun, I was obsessed with Kim Soo-hyun during It's Okay to Not Be Okay, so I rewatched his Infinite Challenge episode from 2017 (I miss Mudo!), and his real-life personality is so different from his onscreen character that it took me out of the drama. I stan K-pop idols for their personalities, but I stan actors for their fictional characters.

I am more the watch the full episodes and move on. There would be instances I come across behind the scenes stuff on my meme and reels browsing time but that is all. On the rare instance I love the drama so much I may watch the special episodes. But mostly I would not bother like in QoT since I see the bts clips in YT and other social media eventually anyway.

I usually don't watch any extras, but I thoroughly enjoyed BTS clips of Like Flowers In Sand.

It really depends on what the drama is, how deep into the drama I get, who comprises of the cast, and what I can get and feel from the cast when watching the drama— all of which will then decide how attached (or not) to the drama and the cast I get and if I feel like I want to see more or need to see more outside the confines of the drama itself and the drama characters themselves… Like, do I really actually wanna see how X actor/actress is behind the scenes because I like said X actor/actress or is it because I can’t get enough of the character they’re portraying? 🤔

I usually only watch add-ons if social media algorithms showcase them.

Sometimes if I want to geek out, I would watch add-ons where the PD, writer, and/or actors react to scenes and talk about how the scene came about/was constructed/was filmed as it adds depth to my viewing experience.

Otherwise, as I am generally a fan of the arts, I may read or watch general interviews featuring my favourite K-Drama actors or those known to have excellent craft as a point of interest. Same as I would reading/watching interviews with my favourite music artistes, authors, poets, painters/sculptors etc.

I end up seeing a lot more add-on content because I follow Netflix Korea and Tvn on IG. I like the previews and fun content, but stay far away from behind the scenes... They take me out of the drama, especially if they are showing emotional or romantic scenes being shot. I like to believe in the characters themselves, and sort of enter their world completely, especially if it's a show I'm totally invested in.

The only add ons that I remember I religiously watched were Just Between Lovers’s bts (this drama just sucked me in I swooned with romance and pain every night the new episode came out and then feel miserable for having to wait a whole week for the next episodes) and Love Alarm’s interview because the trio dynamic were so much more fun and entertaining, more than the drama itself.

I know that I really love a drama when I start seeking out that stuff. I don't really do extras or BTS (I don't know what's going on during them, anyway) but interviews, promos, relationship charts, etc? Heck yeah.

I think I am part of people who watch add on, due to algorithm. For example: Lovely Runner never came to my watchlist but due to me being Woo Seok insta followers, I get stumbled upon his recent drama 😬. That is why I did the marathon for 10 eps in one go 🙈.

BTS is so (at least for me), kinda connect me with whole drama. JBL, My Beloved Summer, AoS, BP, IONTO, and many more 😅😅😅. The YT algorithm as well as in Insta will pickup so much if I'm watching any kdrama.

Best add on would be Dramabeans here as I love to read each and every beanie's thought about their drama choice. Discussion sometime helps me to discover many things that I missed (due to language nuance), plus appreciating many PoV apart from myself. During old days DB, the recap is sooooooooo long but with satisfactory explanation *thanks to Javabeans and GirlFriday*. I love how DB itself growing with many excellent recappers, their style of concise and uploading within 1 or 2 days after weekly drama episode. @unit , thank you for bringing up this topic 🥰!

I am frequently the sucker who watches the add-ons, like promotional videos, clips and BTS videos--before I get into the drama!

It is really weird to me that k-dramas so frequently include BTS scenes for the kissing. It seems like the audiences for the dramas do not understand that kissing scenes are acting. It's like they always have to make these disclaimer videos to explain what is happening on screen is just pretend. I can't decide whether people in the West need these scenes less, or whether we might need them even more!

Tale on the nine tailed. omg I had to find everything. I couldnt get enough of these brothers. then I watched everything with Kim Bum alone. so Rang-obsessed

I'm not enough of a social media butterfly, so I usually only watch the add on content that other people have posted. I would probably watch more add ons, but its a chore to try and find stuff that is subbed, and I'm not interested enough to watch unsubbed stuff.
I did watch a Salon drip episode with the QoT leads that someone had posted, and I really enjoyed that. The actors talked about stuff that was not drama-promotion, and it was interesting. KSH seems a bit of an obsessive type. No wonder directors love him if he engages all that focus to whatever he is doing. ( as well as being handsome of course)