gorgonite Winter Sonata is a highly regarded popular Korean melodrama with great reviews. The series features a small cast and focuses on the love triangle between:i) Jun-sang, a bastard, born from the embers of passion between Gollum and a village hound dogii) Yoo-jin, a feisty pretty young thingiii) Sang-Hyuk, the boy next door.Jun-sang is actually a good guy, but is hypnotised by Yoo-jin, and begins wearing big scarves and ladies mittens. Sang-Hyuk is like a brother to Yoo-jin, and rival to Jun-sang, but he has no job and is no good at fighting. Watch out for danger woman, Chae-Lin!So the story begins with the courtship between Jun-sang and Yoo-jin at their high school. The other cast are introduced who are the school friends and also the elders. Then tragedy strikes......One of the characters headbutts a Volvo. It's OK though, the Volvo survives and is sent to the repair shop.Fast forward 10 years later and the high school students are now working in Seoul. Coincidentally all have kept in touch and are either living, working or drinking together. Jun-sang has disappeared from the scene but has been replaced by another actor who looks very much like him and is called Min-Hyung. Min-Hyung is hypnotised by Chae-Lin and starts to quote Confucius and wear turtle neck sweaters. Everyone misses Jung Soon and hates Min-Hyung.Next everyone start fighting with everyone else, each fall over or go to hospital one at a time, everyone bows a lot and finally Yoo- jin makes a decision.*********************************************** The End ***********************************************The Good - Performances, heart (first few episodes)The Bad - Predictable, Cliché, Overlong (next 14 episodes)Overall - Dour

bekzod1988 I was at high school when this TV-series was shown on TV. First I didn't have time and thought it was just another love story which has a happy ending. But after few months because of a very high demand they showed it again so I had a chance to watch and it grabbed my attention from the beginning and I watched it over and over. Last time I was watching it on the internet in original language with English subtitles. Beautiful!!! If they play it again I'll stay watch and enjoy the beauty of the love. Acting is perfect! One of the thing that caught people's attention was music. So awesome! It's no wonder the actors were found to be the best in 2002. If you haven't yet, I suggest you watch it! It's a must!

inyaespel I thoroughly enjoyed this series, though I won't try to say that it is one of the best series I have seen. Far from it, actually. However, the acting of both Yong-Jun Bae (who played both Jun-Sang Kang and Min-Hyung Lee) and Ji-Woo Choi (playing the part of Yoo-Jin Jung) make the series worth watching, as both can very convincingly convey the emotions that can haunt the human condition. The overall plot of the series is somewhat stereotypical of the genre, a bit thin to be honest. With that said... I hate how this series ended *lol* It's far too... perhaps proper, for me. Emphasis is placed on the 'right' thing to do for someone else, instead of the right thing to do for oneself. I think, though, that that may be a more eastern belief. And there's nothing wrong with that. I just feel that, with matters of the heart, one has to do what is right for his or her own self. I don't know. You might differ on opinions from me, but I liked it and would recommend it. And whether or not I have bad taste... well that's a matter of opinion as well.

omelethtr There are so many worse Korean soaps out there--at least this one's decent. But I hate how they intentionally make you want to cry at something that really makes no sense at all. Half the time the actors are crying and the background music is some dramatic tear-jerker. Bae yong joon is GREAT! He's the only one who made an effort at this subpar script...i mean, yeah, the drama was okay, but come on...all the main girls just stare with their big round eyes (with or without surgery) and 1) cry 2) stare 3) look surprised. The director for this drama also directed the other "seasons" dramas, Autumn Story and Summer Scent. Autumn Story was good, but Summer Scent was just literally unwatchable. I don't see how the actors ever got through to saying their lines, they're so lame and cheesy. Personally, I like winter better than autumn, but I think Autumn Story was just a little bit better than Winter Sonata...for one thing it has better looking guys (LOL) and it was SHORTER, which is what the editors for Winter Sonata needed to do...they stretched out a 10 episode drama into 20 episodes and it was just soooooooo looooooooooong and booooooooooring by the end!!