This is the thread dedicated to Winter Sonata, the Korean Anime based on the Korean Drama of the same name. Right now it is being simulcast in both Korea and Japan, with subtitles in the later. If you have not watched it yet I would suggest you do, the visuals are stunning.
From what I can gather this is an unbelievably convoluted story. If it's anything like Wikipedia's synopsis it may not be for the casual viewer.
From Wikipedia:
"The story begins when Joon-sang, who is 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 teachers, but remains a quiet, introverted young man. As a result of his belief that his father is dead and serious conflicts with his mother, Joon-sang believes that no one truly loves him.
On one fortuitous day on the ride to school, Joon-sang's classmate Yu-jin interrupts him on the bus. Joon-sang soon falls in love with Yu-jin, who opens herself to him with an innocent heart. Their love, however, is cut short after Joon-sang is involved in a serious auto-accident and, due to brain damage, is unable to recall his past life.
Joon-sang's mother, desiring Joon-sang's love and respect, has Joon-sang brainwashed by a psychologist, so that Joon-sang will not remember his painful memories of growing up 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 Li Min-hyung. As such, both his friends and teachers are told that Joon-sang is dead.
Ten years later, Joon-sang is an award-winning architect in the United States. He does not remember anything about his life in Korea. He is completely different, an open-minded person who cares about other people, including his mother. He returns to Korea and Yu-jin sees him on the street, prompting her to put off her engagement to childhood friend Sang-hyuk. Little does she know that Joon-sang is dating her friend and sometime rival Chelin. The story's plot intensifies when Yu-jin begins work at the firm where Joon-sang is employed, and tries to find out if he is her lost lover Joon-sang."
Episode 00 is out so grab it and watch it now. From the looks of it SFW is working off the official Japanese subtitles as the spoken language is in Korean.
So far, like I said, the artwork is amazing and shares a similar style to series like Monster. I'd have to say that it took me a bit to warm up to the Korean VAs, especially since they are regular actors first. The entire cast from the KDrama have returned to voice their old rolls so hopefully you can expect a quality performance. However I would say that the lead actress, Choi Ji-woo, does not do a very good job. She seemed very monotone and disinterested throughout the first episode, though hopefully this changes as the series goes on. I am really interested in how well this series translates to an English speaking audience as it was extremely popular in Japan, supposedly being a trigger to a Korean pop culture wave in Japan. Hopefully it will be at least as good as My Beautiful Girl, Mari, which though it didn't translate as well, was a good story.
So has anyone else caught it yet? What are your thoughts? Discuss amongst yourselves.