Winter Sonata


Winter Sonata 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.

Synopsis

The story begins when Joon-sang, 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, while sitting next to him on the bus, falls asleep on his shoulder. Joon-sang soon falls in love with Yoo-jin, who opens her innocent heart to him. 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 psychologist, so that Joon-sang will not remember 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. Little does she know that Min-hyung is dating her friend and past rival Chae-rin. 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.

Cast

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 when taking into account the profit it contributed to tourism. The number of visitors to the island of Namiseom 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 the America as well.

Ratings

In this table, represent the lowest ratings and represent the highest ratings.

Original soundtrack

#TitleArtistNotes
1처음부터 지금까지 Ryu Si-won
2"My Memory"Ryu Si-won
3처음
4그대만이 Ryu Si-won
5처음부터 지금까지 Instrumental version
6"My Memory"Piano and violin version
7보낼 수 없는 사랑 Kim Wan-sun
8시작
9그대만이 Piano and violin version
10"My Memory"Piano version
11잊지마 Ryu Si-won
12기억속으로
13연인 Ryu Si-won
14제비꽃 Ryu Si-won
15그대만이 Piano version
16처음 Piano version
17제비꽃 Instrumental version
18"Love Hurts"YirumaEp. 1
19"When The Love Falls"YirumaEp. 2

In addition, "Moment" performed by Ryu and available on his album Ryu 2 is included on some bootleg versions of the Winter Sonata soundtrack.

International broadcast

The drama first aired in Japan on NHK in 2004; it was dubbed in Japanese and edited into 60-minute episodes. The final episode recorded ratings of 20.6% in Kanto, 22.5% in Nagoya, and 23.8% in the Kansai regions. The series as a whole had an average viewership in the 14% to 15% range. Due to overwhelming demand from viewers to watch the series in its original format, it was re-aired on NHK's satellite channel BS2 unedited, beginning December 20, 2004.
It was the first Korean drama that ushered in the Korean Wave in Malaysia, when it aired in 2002 on TV3 dubbed in Mandarin with Malay subtitles. PMP Entertainment later released the drama in VCD and DVD format under the Bahasa title, Kisah Cinta Musim Salju. A Malay cover version of the theme song was released with the title "Sonata Musim Salju".
The drama aired in Nepal on Kantipur Television Network in the mid-2000s dubbed in Nepali. The drama triggered the Korean Wave in the country and its lead star Bae Yong-joon became very popular amongst women in the country.
In 2006, pan-Asian American network AZN Television bought the rights to air Winter Sonata in a 24-hour marathon with other Korean dramas.
In Asia, the drama is available to stream via Iflix with English, Indonesian, Malay, Simplified Mandarin, Sinhalese, Vietnamese and Burmese subtitles.

Anime

An anime adaptation of Winter Sonata premiered on Japan's SKY PerfecTV! on October 17, 2009, consisting of 26 episodes subtitled in Japanese. Directed by Ahn Jae-hoon and written by Kim Hyeong-wan, the program featured 23 members of the original Korean cast voicing the characters, including Bae and Choi who reprised their roles. The role of "Sang-hyuk", originally played by Park Yong-ha, was voiced by singer Kang Yo-hwan and "Chae-rin" was dubbed by newcomer Lee Se-na in place of Park Sol-mi. During October 2011, Animax Asia aired the anime in Korean audio and English subtitles across South and Southeast Asia. In 2019, Allen's Television Network revived the anime with Tagalog subtitles in the Philippines. Allen Cañada revived the theme song of Di Ko Na Kaya by Faith Cuneta.

Voice cast

Korean version

Soundtrack

Version 1

  1. 最初から今まで - instrumental 2009
  2. サラハムニダ:初めて2
  3. たった一歩だけでも
  4. いつでもただ君だけを - Lee Se-jun
  5. 聞きなれない声
  6. 凍りついた視線
  7. To My Dearest
  8. サラハムニダ:初めて2
  9. 逢いたい - Yoo Hae-joon
  10. Mystery Episodes
  11. 氷の湖
  12. RUN
  13. ソナタ - Kang Yo-hwan
  14. 最初から今まで - Ryu Si-won

    Version 2

  15. 雪の森
  16. サラハムニダ:初めて2
  17. 届かない想い - Kang Yo-hwan
  18. 真冬の散歩道
  19. 記憶と願い
  20. 踊らないオルゴール
  21. サラハムニダ:初めて2
  22. Polaris
  23. 思い出づくり
  24. Invisible Love
  25. サラハムニダ:初めて2
  26. ソナタ
  27. 君と永遠に - Shin Min-chul
  28. Believe You - Yoonji

    Documentary cast (episode 26)

Winter Sonata marked its 10th year milestone with a staging of a new musical adaptation that ran from September 27, 2011 to March 18, 2012. Yoon Seok-ho was the producer and art director, with stage direction by Yoo Hee-sung and musical score by Oh Eun-hee. The leading role of Yoo-jin was portrayed by musical actress Choi Soo-jin.
The Winter Sonata musical first premiered in 2006 in several cities in Japan, including Sapporo, Tokyo and Osaka, and popular crossover tenor Im Tae-kyung drew crowds. It also completed a run in Busan and Seoul, from late 2010 to early 2011, with stage direction by Im Do-wan and musical score by Lee Ji-soo.

Cast

2006

2006

#TitleArtist
1"Overture"
2"Endless Song"Park Hong-joo
3"My Great Proposal"Lee Pil-sung
4"I Will Be Always Waiting For You"Lee Pil-sung
5"I'm Your Girl"Jiny
6"Confusion"Lee Sang-hyeon
7"Light Of The Life"Shin Bok-ja
8"Is This Love"Im Tae-kyung
9"Can't Love Another Day + I Won't Alone"Lee Sang-hyeon
10"For Your Memory"Im Tae-kyung
11"Now I Remember"Im Tae-kyung
12"Eternal Love"Lee Sang-hyeong
13"Missing You"Lee Pil-sung
14"Remember"Lee Sang-hyeon
15"My Memory"Im Tae-kyung

Manga

A Japanese comic has also been published of this story, using photos of the series as covers.
IssueISBNPublish date
1July 8, 2004
2July 8, 2004
3August 20, 2004
4October 20, 2004
5December 20, 2004
6March 1, 2005
7April 28, 2005
8June 30, 2005

Video games

Two pachinko simulation games called Pachitte Chonmage Tatsujin 10: Pachinko Fuyu no Sonata and Pachitte Chonmage Tatsujin 15: Pachinko Fuyu no Sonata 2 were made by Hack Berry and released on January 25, 2007 and December 25, 2008, respectively and for the PlayStation 2.
A Nintendo DSi enhanced called Fuyu no Sonata DS was released in Japan by D3Publisher on December 17, 2009.

In popular culture

In episode 5 of Da Capo II's first season, two main characters go to a movie called Fuyu no Anata, which is clearly Fuyu no Sonata. One of the Fuyu no Anata posters visible in the Da Capo anime episode looks exactly like the first Fuyu no Sonata manga cover.
In the Family Guy episode Candy, Quahog Marshmallow, Peter, Cleveland and Joe become obsessed with a Korean drama called Winter Summer, a parody of Winter Sonata.