Winter Wonderland - Anime Insider Magazine (USA)
Winter Wonderland
Korean ‘Sonata’ anime wows Japanese audiences
This last decade has seen some huge strides in entertainment breaking down cultural barriers, and now Japan’s relationship with Korea is getting warmer thanks to one “cool” anime debuting this month on TV.
Winter Sonata was a 2002 live-action TV drama series that was so popular in its native Korea that it managed to cross over to Japanese TV, with similar results when it was broadcast by NHK in 2004. Its main male star, Bae Yong Joon, achieved a level of fame among Japanese women that is unusual for foreign stars, and was even dubbed “Yon-sama” by his fans. When Key East and Total Promotion announced that they would produce an anime version of the hit story, fans were even more excited to learn that Bae Yong Joon would provide the voice for his character, as would several other members of the cast.
Winter Sonata follows the love triangle between Yu-jin and Sang-hyuk, two childhood friends, and Joon-sang, a newcomer to their school. Even though Yu-jin’s in love with Sang-hyuk, she fall in love with Joon-sang when he saves her from a terrible accident. However, it’s not too long before another accident ends Joon-sang’s life. Yu-jin and Sang-hyuk get engaged, but the appearance of someone who looks exactly like Joon-sang years later sets off a series of unusual events.
The animation of the series was completed by Real Thing, home of director Daisuke Nakayama (episode director, Tweeny Witches). Nakayama also took charge of character design duties, with key animation from Masae Nakayama (Mind Game) and art direction from Hiroshi Ohno (Kiki’s Delivery Service, Le Chevalier D’Eon.). The character design of Joon-sang is directly based on actor Bae Yong Joon’s appearance, something sure to excite his devoted Japanese fan club.
The manhwa adaptation of the original Korean series has already been translated into Japanese by Ohzora Publishing. The TV series is set to debut on both Korean and Japanese TV this year.
~Summer Mullins