We’ve talked about it before, but it’s been a hot second, and there are also a lot of newer Beanies that probably haven’t had a chance to devour our favorite topic yet: gateway dramas.
Everyone’s got one, because getting “into” K-dramas isn’t the same as entering any other fandom, really. I’ve shared my own gateway story in the past, but I never get tired of hearing other people tell theirs.
One day, someone will aggregate this data and be able to predict the “gateway factor” of a K-drama, and the aspects of it that act like glue on its audience. Was is the terrible perm, plot, music, and platter of tropes? (I’m looking at you Boys Before Flowers). Or was it the feeling that you’d just stumbled upon something wonderful, that would give back in joy what you put in in hours? Maybe it was both.
What’s your gateway drama? What sent you plunging down the rabbit hole into dramaland? How hard did you fall?