Kdramafan

I read Jeffrey Robinson's DVD review of Love Letter (MBC TV Series) (US Version) at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=15389 and...

then I tried to purchase the DVD. I tried Amazon, but it wasn't there. Then I saw "YesAsia.com" and went there. I bought Love Letter a few hours ago. I can't wait to see it. My friends are all hooked on Korean TV dramas, and I thought I'd check them out too. They recommended I watch "Damo," "Dae Jang Geum," Stairway to Heaven," and "Love Letter." I'm so happy I found Love Letter.

It's good to see Korean dramas being reviewed on DVD Talk.

kahuna

I was surprised to see a review of a korean drama on dvd at dvdtalk.com. I am a big fan or korean dramas. Fortunately I live in area where we have a korean channel that airs korean dramas on tv. In fact they are responsible for subtitling the korean dramas others see on tv in the states. In the past year or so their english subtitles are finding there way onto these korean drama dvd sets.

Korea has three major tv stations that produce korean dramas. They are SBS, MBC, and KBS. Only in the last few years have they started releasing these korean dramas on dvd. In the past there was no english subtitles. But more and more are being released with subs. But still alot make there way into the market place without english subs.

In my collection of korean drama dvd boxsets I have Autumn Story, All About Eve, Winter Ballad, Damo, Let's Go To School Sang-do, Rooftop Romance, Full House, Legend of The Fox with Nine Tails, Hotelier, Oh! Pil-Seung and Bong Sun-Young, More Beautiful Than A Flower, Love Letter, My Love Patzzi, Ruler of Your Own World, Phoenix (aka: Fire Bird), Sweet 18, & Dae Jang Geum Vol. 1-3.

My next purchase will be Emperor Of The Sea Vol. 1-3, $90 for each volume.

A good site to find info about past, present, and future korean dramas coming out is at Korean Wiz's site.
http://www.koreanwiz.org/

GeoffK

We've got a review of Damo up as well!

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=15492

- G

thunnus

Yes, I agree...it's great to see reviews of Korean TV dramas here at DVDTalk. I happened to like Love Letter very much. I thought the characters, especially the secondary ones, were portrayed in a much more balanced and realistic manner than some of the hyper-evil/conniving antagonists that commonly occur in K-drama. The religious aspect was handled nicely without being overbearing or preachy. I especially liked Soo Ae's performance, even though she was a bit too old to be believable as a high school student at the begining of the series. One of the hallmarks of any great K-drama female lead is her ability to pump out copious amounts of tears on cue and Soo Ae has that gift.

Of the dramas that I have recently watched, the one that has impressed me the most has been Ruler of Your Own World. Like Love Letter, it doesn't have the big name actors or actresses but it's smartly written and superbly acted. Very highly recommended if you want to see an excellent Korean drama. Now if they'd only release a subtitled version of MoRaeShiGae (The Sand Glass)...

thunnus

I'm not sure if the subtitles on the DVD's produced and released by Yesasia are the same as the ones broadcast in Hawaii. From what I recall (my parents are retired in Hawaii and I visit them once a year), the subtitles in Hawaii are better. As noted in the DVDTalk review of Damo, the Yesasia translations can be awkward at times.

thunnus

That's incorrect. The DVD versions of Love Letter and Damo (among others) were packaged and released by YesAsia. When I said "produced", I meant that YesAsia negotiated the DVD release rights from the original Korean TV studios and put them on DVD with English subtitles for sale in the US.

Josh Z

I discovered that about 30 seconds after I made my post, which is why I deleted it. You just happened to be reading right before I did.