Winter Sonata (2002)

This was the first Korean drama I've ever seen, and it's been around 13 years since the first time I saw it. I decided to rewatch it after the OST popped up on my YouTube recommendations. The emotions I felt on my first watch immediately surged upon listening to the OSTs again.

The first thing I want to say about this is simply: masterpiece. Yes, it has all the Korean drama tropes you can think of, but if you set that aside, you're in for a ride. I was impressed to see the different themes and issues brought up in this drama, partnered by the amazing performances of the cast and perfect soundtrack. I could not stop bawling my eyes out every episode because of how moving everything happening was. I am in love once more and would want to have fun winter experiences with a lover, too.

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O Clássico Melodrama que Definiu uma Geração

"Winter Sonata", transmitido pela KBS2, é talvez um dos doramas mais icônicos de sua época, marcando o início da Hallyu (Onda Coreana) e deixando uma marca profunda no coração dos fãs de melodramas. A história é uma saga romântica que se passa em um cenário frio e nevado, refletindo a melancolia e a beleza dos temas abordados.

O enredo segue dois protagonistas que se conhecem na juventude, mas são separados por tragédias e mal-entendidos, apenas para se reencontrarem anos depois, sob circunstâncias inesperadas. O romance é carregado de nostalgia, sacrifício e dor, com o dorama abordando temas como perda de memória, destino e o poder avassalador do primeiro amor. A cinematografia é deslumbrante, com paisagens invernais que simbolizam o frio emocional que os personagens precisam superar.

"Winter Sonata" é conhecido por suas cenas emocionalmente carregadas, uma trilha sonora inesquecível e performances poderosas dos atores principais. Ele se tornou um marco cultural, sendo ainda lembrado como uma das histórias de amor mais tristes e tocantes já produzidas.

Este dorama é altamente recomendado para aqueles que apreciam melodramas intensos e emocionalmente impactantes, onde o amor parece ser eterno, mesmo em meio à tragédia.

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Kdrama history

My first kdrama ever. The moment it aired in my country 19 years ago, i became hardcore fan of kdrama ever since. The up & down of k-wave.
I am so thankful to the writer and director and all the actors.
Some of the plot are considered cliches by todays term but bare in mind this drama was aired almost 20 years ago.
Cinematography is superb make me want to travel to korea at once.
The main leads are so adorable and cute.
The highschool story bring me down to memory lane. The ost are addictive. Many translate and sang them in different languages.
Overall this is a memorable drama that ever kdrama fan should watch. This is one of the golden ticket that bring todays kdrama to worldwide level.

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Romantic makjang blockbuster

It has been over 2 decades since the release of this drama. This drama marked the advent of Korean dramas outside of Korea. It took the drama scene by storm at that time and Bae Yong Jun became the heartthrob of Asia.

While I had watched the Untold Scandal (movie) and The Legend (drama), and was impressed with Bae Yong Joon's acting skills and certainly his good look, and heard a lot of the Winter Sonata, I had never watched this drama, partly because of it 'low' rating on Mydramalist. With the large number of dramas to choose from, I typically do not pick a drama with rating less than 8. This time, I decided to give it a go - afterall, it was once a blockbuster and a classic.

I highly appreciated Bae's and Choi's (the main leads) acting and their onscreen chemistry in this drama, it had a very good cast and the cinematography was great. However, this story was not my favourite genre - the melodramatic romantic makjang with sobbing being the mainstay, but I had enjoyed most part of it. The entire drama would take you on an emotional roller coaster. And it is slow-moving as it worked to build up the emotions - given my impatience to get to how the story would develop, I clicked the forward button many times.

It had all the classic cliche of a makjang drama - love triangles, a scheming love rival, an upright patiently waiting fiance, unreasonable parental objections, unexpected death, dramatic return of an old flame, amnesia, attempted rape, flirting with incest, deceits, blindness, unwavering love, birth secrets and more. (Makjang = highly melodramatic, outrageous storylines that keep viewers hooked despite how exaggerated the stories become.) While all these can happen in real life, you have it all played up in one makjang drama. It played up my emotions so much that I was irrationally thinking: yah, just eloped together, who cared if you were half-siblings if you loved each other so much and had gone through so much together (although I did suspect that they were not real half-siblings).

Then, there was all these coincidences : the right / wrong person hearing what they should not hear, walking into the person you wish to see etc. I had encountered walking into classmates in countries away from where we had studied, seen incidences of being caught between 2 lovers, unexpected deaths, read in news about incest of siblings not knowing they were closely blood related. But they were few and far apart. Certainly the triangles were resolved quite quickly with little ramifications - there is a life to live, move on.

And definitely the moral of the story is: honesty handled with tactfulness is the best policy. Also, stop deciding for others what is best for them, let them decide for themselves. The obsessive, neurotic Kang mother in the drama and the two male lead characters certainly had lots to learn from this. If the mother was honest, a lot of anguish would have been avoided and certainly the accidents.

However, if makjang is your thing and you enjoy the emotional roller-coaster, then this is a must-watch for you. But if I rewatch, I do wish to find a version of the videos which are played in its original size and not stretched to fit the screen size of newer computer/TV screen, which makes it all blurry and the characters look fat.

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Torturous! But good.

My goodness. This show. Wow. I mean, it was a great drama ok, very melodramatic. But the thing is, it's probably the most sadistic drama I've ever seen! hahah, they just twist and turn you up and down, up and down, up and down, it just never stops man. They just torture you and brutally play with your emotions all throughout the show. Especially starting around episode 8 and then it just keeps going until the very end. They just don't let you have any peace! I mean, oh my god. I don't think I will ever watch another drama like this. I think that after this one, no other drama will torture as much as this one, and I'll be emotionally prepared for anything that comes my way! Lol

Watch this, but beware! You will be taken for a difficult ride!

Damn Koreans! They make the best dramas! lol

It was hard to even feel happy at the end because of how damaged I felt throughout the whole thing! lol

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The greatest First-love story ever told; still as current and as palpitating as ever!

I re-watched this drama (more like, binged) after a more than 10 or nearly 20 year gap. My goodness! I still love this drama with a passion. Nothing much seems out of place for this drama which was produced 22 years ago. The music still sounds current and surprisingly, the clothes too.

First, to get the cons out of the way - I didn't give the drama a 10 because I didn't like the scenes with the very possessive and persistent second leads and the very selfish elders who messed up the OTP's lives. What I love about the drama is the acting and of course, the OST. The first half of the drama is much better than the second. Pace is very very good, with lots of twists and turns right to the last few minutes of the final episode. Some people have called the drama boring or draggy. However, I have no complaints about the pace of the drama. The actors, especially the OTP, acted with passion, nuance and were totally in character, pulling me in and leaving me entranced. I hung onto every word and never had to skip when the OTP were together. I loved the OST to bits when I first watched Winter Sonata in 2004. Now, after 20 years of watching dramas, I conclude that Winter Sonata has the best OST ever. I still tear up just watching clips of the drama with the various theme songs in play. The song "Don't forget me" never fails to move me to tears. You guessed it, my favourite song of all time is "Don't forget me". As for the tears, time made me forget how much tears I shed before throughout this series. Only this time, I think I shed more tears! I read somewhere in the Comments or Review section here that one has to be a masochist to love this drama. Perhaps I am a masochist! I will keep on re-watching Winter Sonata in future when I need a nice cry, and to experience once again the magic of the greatest First-love story ever told.

I would watch this drama again!

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