20201208 Winter Sonata

 Tuesday, 08 December

#Today I wanna write about a Korean drama, Winter Sonata. I heard that it was a good drama, like Autumn In My Heart. But when I saw the lead actor, I didn't know why I didn't interest to watch it. So, I watched this drama many years later, maybe around 6-7 years after it was released.

https://images.app.goo.gl/n2Zu9fbTfpW34eHB8

Winter Sonata (Korean: 겨울연가; RR: Gyeoul Yeonga; also known as Winter Love Story, Winter Love Song or Winter Ballad) is a South Korean television drama series that aired on KBS2 in 2002. Starring Bae Yong-Joon and Choi Ji-woo, it is the second part of the season-themed Endless Love series directed by Yoon Seok-ho. Filming primarily took place on the resort island of Namiseom and Seoul.

The series is widely considered to be the Korean drama that launched the Korean Wave throughout Asia and worldwide. It has also been adapted into an anime series and a stage musical.

The story begins when Joon-sang (Bae Yong-Joon), the son of an eminent musician, moves to Chuncheon, a rural city in South Korea. As an extraordinarily talented student, Joon-sang is welcomed by his fellow students as well as his teachers but remains a quiet, introverted teenager. As a result of the belief that his biological father is dead, and serious disagreements with his mother, Joon-sang believes that no one truly loves him.

On his way to school one day, Joon-sang's classmate Yoo-jin (Choi Ji-woo), while sitting next to him on the bus, falls asleep on his shoulder. After a few weeks, the two forge a close friendship. One day, Jooh-sang convinces Yoo-jin to escape school together. On the way, Joon-sang soon falls in love with Yoo-jin, who opens her innocent heart to him. One fateful day, when Joon-sang pays a visit to Yoo-jin's house, he comes across a photo in their photo album. Their love, however, is cut short after Joon-sang is badly injured in a car accident and, due to brain damage, suffers from amnesia, unable to remember anything prior to his accident.

Joon-sang's mother, yearning for Joon-sang's love and respect, has Joon-sang brainwashed by a hypnotist hoping to erase Joon-sang's memories of his painful childhood as an illegitimate child. As a result, Joon-sang's memories prior to the accident are erased. Joon-sang's mother decides to move to the United States with Joon-sang, where he can start a new life under the identity of Lee Min-Hyung. His friends and teachers are told that Joon-sang is dead.

Ten years later, Min-Hyung is an award-winning architect in the United States. He does not remember anything about his life in Korea. He is completely different, now an open-minded person who cares about other people. He returns to Korea and Yoo-jin sees him on the street, prompting her to put off her engagement to her childhood friend Sang-hyuk (Park Yong-ha). Little does she know that Min-Hyung is dating her friend and past rival Chae-rin (Park Sol-mi). The story's plot thickens when Yoo-jin's interior design firm is awarded a project by Min-hyung's architectural firm and has to work with Min-Hyung. Yoo-jin sometimes wonders if he is her supposedly dead first love Joon-sang.

After a few months, Min-Hyung also falls in love with Yoo-jin, fueling the anger of Chae-rin. Chae-rin sees Yoo-jin as a third wheel and attempts to draw Min-hyung's attention back to herself by lying about Yoo-jin. However, her plan is exposed when Min-Hyung accidentally overhears a conversation between Chae-rin and Jin-sook.

Winter Sonata is credited with causing the second wave of the Korean Wave and extending it to Japan and the Philippines. It improved the image of South Korea among the Japanese and set fashion trends throughout East Asia. The series was a commercial success; 330,000 DVDs and 1,200,000 copies of Winter Sonata novelizations were sold. The series yielded more than US$27 billion when taking into account the profit it contributed to tourism. The number of visitors to the island of Namiseom (where the series was shot) grew from 250,000 to over 650,000 after the series was aired. A statue of the main characters can also be found on the island at the spot where they first kissed.

The series shot actor Bae Yong-Joon into stardom in Asia, and he became especially popular among middle-aged Japanese women. When he first visited Japan in 2004, more than 3,000 women guarded by 350 policemen gathered at the airport to welcome him. Junichiro Koizumi, the Japanese prime minister at the time, was quoted saying that Bae was more popular in Japan than himself.

The series was also aired in the Philippines from November 17, 2003, through March 5, 2004, via GMA Network's primetime block under the title Endless Love II: Winter Sonata and one of the highest-rated shows at that time. As a result, it also brought the Korean Wave to the Philippines. Just like in Japan, Bae Yong-joon became popular among middle-aged women.

The series was a success in Asia and America as well.

(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Sonata)

#enoughfortoday #qmo