The point of the Plus Pass is to offer exclusive Kdramas from the three major Korean broadcast networks: KBS, MBC and SBS working under the twisted umbrella that is KOCOWA.
“So what’s your problem? It’s old news,” some may say. Well, my problem is that they’re running two concurrent services: One on Viki and one on their own streaming platform. I’m no business tycoon, but even a silly person like yours truly knows that you can’t have two similar products on the market. It causes confusion among customers and it leads to dwindling sales. How do you solve this? You pick and choose, of course. Not KOCOWA, though. No, Sir, not KOCOWA. Their answer was to make one platform more exclusive than the other… More exclusive!! Basically, they’re forcing customers to buy the same product… Twice!! And No, I’m not talking about the girl group, either. It’s definitely not right. Frankly, I’m glad the service never reached European shores.
Paying customer: “Is this drama on KOCOWA?!”
KOCOWA: “Yes, it is, but not on the KOCOWA for which you are already paying.”
Paying customer:
KOCOWA: “Give us more money!!”
Paying customer:
I’m so annoyed I won’t even watch any of the Kocowa shows on Viki. Was really annoyed about Nokdu, but I found it on ODK with English subtitles. I’ve heard Kocowa also made a deal with ODK. I only watch whatever I can see through Roku on my tv. Most of the Kocowa dramas lately aren’t the best production quality either. And as long as we’re complaining, the best kdramas lately are from the cable channels, which Viki can’t seem to get licensing for. Top quality is so expensive we end up getting garbage?
I’m mainly watching Chinese dramas because of this mess, but they’re getting fewer and fewer on Viki. Tomorrow I’ll find out whether or not the only one I’ve really been looking forward to (The Legends with Xu Kai) will air on Viki Roku because today it still says it’s restricted to my tv app.
Asian dramas have become incredibly popular in the West, so distributors are charging more than before. Still, it’s not fair to pull exclusivity tricks like this… Anyway, I’m glad you found it somewhere else.
It says “Today” on my computer and my tablet, but on Roku TV where I watch everything, it says “restricted access”. I’m waiting on pins and needles until tomorrow!
DISCLAIMER: This is my own post for which I take responsibility, since I truly believe that the Internet should be free of any corrupt lawmakers and greedy corporations.
Anyway, there’s a bunch of them, but I personally recommend Touch VPN to by-pass such unfair restrictions. On mobile, under no pressure whatsoever, simply install the app from your device’s store, if you so wish. It’s the same with Windows 10 and its store. If you’re using Chrome, you can install it from the Chrome Web Store, in the form of an extension.
As long as you’re still watching ads or paying for a subscription, helping out the service in the process, I don’t see the problem with these VPNs. Of course, this is just my own strict personal view on the matter. I don’t want to influence anyone.
There you go, my hopefully politically correct post.
Do you need an account with bank datas for that free streaming page?
Many years ago when Europeans didn’t even have Netflix I wanted to watch a free US show on Hulu but couldn’t because of geoblocking and for a Hulu account no matter if it is the free or the subscription version one needed to insert bank datas so I just skipped it and waited… and at some point it was on Youtube for a while.
I love Cdramas, but they are too slow subbing. I have Viki pass, but have KOCOWA separately. I’m not sure if the drama subbing is due to subbers not available or the Chinese ban, due to 70th anniversary.
I’m actually pretty upset about it. I’m also relived that the Plus Pass isn’t available in Europe.
I’ve heard of the site before but I thought you had to pay in order to watch anything. I was wrong. Thank you, 
