Here’s an interesting piece of news I picked up while browsing through animenewsnetwork.
The 2002 KBS korean drama Winter Sonata will be adapted into a 26-episode anime, scheduled to air this 2009. It will be a joint production of Japanese and Korean animation companies, and will feature the original cast as seiyuus (voice actors) for the characters. You can read more about this news HERE, and you can view the homepage/trailer of the Fuyu no Sonata anime HERE.I initially didn’t know how to react when I first read about this. I am well aware of the unbelievable phenomenon that hit Japan when Winter Sonata was first aired in their local network in 2004. It practically melted the political and cultural barriers between the two countries, and ushered in the Korean Wave into Japan. I’ve heard of stories of how tourism boomed in South Korea as hundreds of thousands of fans of all ages went on tours to visit the different locations featured in said series. I know how Bae Yong Joon's career immediately catapulted to its height, supported by millions of admirers hailing him as Yong-sama, and his face plastered almost everywhere promoting almost anything. I’ve even heard that Winter Sonata merchandise immediately became a hit, with items ranging from collectibles like DVDs, CDs and mangas, to fashion trends reminiscent of their stylish winter clothing, and even to stuffs like coffee mugs, keychains, dolls and toilet papers(?!!).
So I guess learning that an anime is in actual production right now should not be that surprising. But I was still honestly surprised. I didn’t know if I should be happy or excited about it, cos it just seemed ... weird. XD I thought that the Winter Sonata mania in Japan has already died down (since that was already like 4 years ago!). And I wonder how the general public will receive this, since majority of the Yong-sama followers are obaa-sans (but then anime is well-received by all ages anyway so I guess this wouldn’t pose much of a problem).
I’m not complaining by the way. I’m just venting out some thoughts. XD And I must confess, I was a huge follower of the Winter Sonata series back when I first watched it in 2002. At that time I recorded every episode with our trusty VHS player, and mulled over the joys and sorrows of first love. It was the very first k-drama I’ve seen, and IMO, the most beautiful and purest of all the Endless Love stories. It also threw me, my mom and my aunt into our own Yong-sama craze (especially my aunt who eventually bought all of Bae Yong Jun's series, including those dramas when he was still so young! XD). And I guess it was also the key that started my interest in other Korean entertainment as well. So I'm not really complaining, but just quite surprised. It was an unexpected news for me I guess.
Anyway, I took screenshots of the trailer and the art looks pretty impressive and realistic. And it seems to have a general nice and familiar feel to it, so we’ll just see how it will turn out.
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