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 Jun-sang has disappeared from the scene but has been replaced by another actor who looks very much like him and is called Min-Hyung.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

as all korean dramas go, this series drags on unnecessarily for twenty episodes. the characters remain static throughout every episode. all the situations concocted in this series could only happen through huge, unlikely coincidences. this series is interesting in the beginning, but after the fifth episode it is a waste of time. if you've seen 'autumn story' this series is practically the same plot. the creator/writer/director/whoever needs to think of a fresh plot and stop reusing his material. everything that could go wrong, goes wrong. the characters are indecisive and none of them have a backbone. this series could have been cut down to five episodes and would have made everybody's life happier. your time would be better spent watching something else.

My wife bought this on DVD and wanted me to watch it with her. I was pretty skeptical at the time because I don't care too much for love stories. After watching the first episode, I changed my mind - this is really good. It did make my wife cry through the whole show and it almost brought a tear out of me. Now, it takes a a lot to do that to me.If you haven't watched this yet, please do. You won't be disappointed. It has everything - great acting and directing, beautiful scenery and music.Overall rating: 10 out of 10

Winter Sonata is one of the best Korean dramas I have ever watched. Many will claim that the plot is trite, overused, typical, and predictable--but keeping in mind the fact that this drama came out in 2002 and that it was really what spurred the entire Korean drama craze in Asia, you've got to lend this one some credit. It begins with a cheerful girl named Yu Jin, along with her childhood guy friend Sang Hyuk, who attends Chun-Chuan High School. Sang Hyuk likes Yu Jin, but Yu Jin only thinks of him as a friend/brotherly figure. One day a strange new student arrives named Joon Sang--he's very quiet, aloof, and has this dark/intense look on his face at all times--who came to the high school in search of his biological father. Through a series of coincidences and amusing events, Yu Jin and Joon Sang become attracted to each other. On his way to meet Yu Jin for a date one night, Joon Sang is hit by a truck and he passes away. Ten years later, Yu Jin is engaged to Sang Hyuk; however, she spots someone who looks exactly like Joon Sang, and that's when the plot thickens.I can't say too much without giving away everything, but this is really a very good drama. The scenery is extremely beautiful, and coupled with the sad piercing music, this drama can really bring out bucketfuls of tears. The actors and actresses (especially the leads) are extremely talented and can convey all the grief and pain that they feel inside and engage with the audience on a personal level. This drama is so captivating that you really will not regret watching it. It is my favorite Korean drama and if you give it half a chance, it'll be your favorite too. :)