''Love Rain'' () is a 2012 South Korean television series directed by

Yoon Seok-ho Yoon Seok-ho (; born 4 June 1957) is a South Korean television drama director. He was the director of four TV series produced by KBS that are sometimes collectively referred to as '' Endless Love'', each containing the name of one of the four ...

. Set in the seventies and the present day, it tells a love story over two generations, with

Jang Keun-suk Jang Keun-suk () is a South Korean actor and singer. He is best known for starring in the Korean television dramas ''Beethoven Virus'' (2008), '' You're Beautiful'' (2009), ''Mary Stayed Out All Night'' (2010), '' Love Rain'' (2012), ''Pretty M ...

and

Im Yoon-ah Im Yoon-ah (; born May 30, 1990), known mononymously as Yoona, is a South Korean singer and actress. After training for five years, she debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-Oh!GG) in Augu ...

playing

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

s. It aired on

KBS2 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...

from March 26 to May 29, 2012, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes. Despite low viewership ratings in Korea, it was popular overseas and was the most expensive

Korean drama Korean dramas (; RR: ''Han-guk deurama''), more popularly known as K-dramas, are television series in the Korean language, made in South Korea. They are popular worldwide, especially in Asia, partially due to the spread of Korean popular cultu ...

presold to Japan in 2012.

Synopsis

It's love at first sight when Seo In-ha (

) and Kim Yoon-hee (

) meet as shy university students in the seventies. It takes time for the hesitant pair to finally voice their feelings, but circumstances beyond their control send them down different paths. In 2012, In-ha (

Jung Jin-young Jung Jin-young may refer to: * Jung Jin-young (actor) (born 1964), South Korean actor * Jung Jin-young (singer) Jung Jin-young (; born November 18, 1991), professionally known as Jinyoung, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, record producer ...

) is now unhappily married to Baek Hye-jung, one of Yoon-hee's former best friends. He has never gotten over his first love, and when he runs into Yoon-hee (

Lee Mi-sook Lee Mi-sook (born April 2, 1960) is a South Korean actress. One of the best-known actresses of 1980s Korean cinema, Lee's most famous films from this era include Bae Chang-ho's ''Whale Hunting'' and ''The Winter That Year Was Warm'', Lee Doo-yong ...

) after so many years, the two reconcile and look forward to making up for lost time. In-ha's son Seo Joon (

) is a photographer, and he bumps into Yoon-hee's daughter Jung Ha-na (

) by chance. Unlike her mother, Ha-na is a cheerful and vivacious girl, and though they initially find each other troublesome, even as they argue, they can't help but be drawn to each other. In search of house, she rented place at Seo Joon and started sharing their day-to-day activities together. Gradually their feelings develop, and Joon and Ha-na fall in love. Unaware that their children are dating each other, Seo In-ha (

) and Kim Yoon-hee (

) announce that they are getting married, which will make Joon and Ha-na step-siblings. As both couples deal with the shock, Joon and Ha-na struggle with sacrificing their love for their parents' long-aborted happiness. But when their parents get to know about their love they risked their relationship for their children and breakup. After some time Yoon-hee goes overseas for her eye operation with her daughter taking care of her while she and pursued her gardening career there. After some days of caring her mother she left her mother with In-ha's care, so they can again purse their relationship there without any hurdle. Seo Joon and Jung Ha-na get married with blessing of Seo Joon's mother.

Cast

;1970s *

as Kim Yoon-hee *

as Seo In-ha * Kim Shi-hoo as Lee Dong-wook *

Son Eun-seo Son Eun-seo (hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for th ...

as Baek Hye-jung *

Seo In-guk Seo In-guk (; born October 23, 1987) is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actor. He launched his singing career after winning the talent reality show ''Superstar K'' in 2009, and made his acting breakthrough in ''Reply 1997'' (2012). Since ...

as Kim Chang-mo *

Hwang Bo-ra Hwang Bo-ra (born October 2, 1983) is a South Korean actress. Hwang made her acting debut in 2003 and became popular after she played a quirky-looking "cup noodle girl" in a ramyeon commercial. In 2007, Hwang played the daughter/narrator in bla ...

as Hwang In-sook ;2012 *

as Jung Ha-na (Yoon-hee's daughter) *

as Seo Joon (In-ha's son) * Kim Shi-hoo as Lee Sun-ho (Dong-wook's son) *

as Seo In-ha *

as Kim Yoon-hee * Kim Young-kwang as Han Tae-sung *

Oh Seung-yoon Oh Seung-yoon (; born March 27, 1991) is a South Korean actor. He began his career as a child actor. Filmography Television series Web series Film Voice acting Film (Korean dubbing Dubbing (re-recording and mixing) is a post-p ...

as Jo-soo *

Park Se-young Park Se-young (; born July 30, 1988) is a South Korean actress. She rose to fame in 2012 with supporting roles in the television dramas ''Faith'' and ''School 2013''. Park has since played leading roles in '' Sincerity Moves Heaven'' (2013) an ...

as Lee Mi-ho (Dong-wook's daughter) *Lee Chan-ho as Jang-soo *Shin Ji-ho as In-sung *Kwon In-ha as Lee Dong-wook *

Yoo Hye-ri Yoo Hye-ri is a South Korean actress and model. She is known for her roles in dramas such as Golden Pouch, Sweet Home, Sweet Honey and You're Only Mine. Personal life She was married to actor Lee Geun-hee in 1994. She met him when they were pe ...

as Baek Hye-jung *

Park Ji-il Park Ji-il (Korean: 박지일, born September 1960) is a South Korean theatre, film and television actor. He is known for his supporting roles in various TV series and films. His better known works are: 2011 TV series '' The Thorn Birds'', 2013 ...

as Kim Chang-mo *

as Kim Jeon-seol (Chang-mo's nephew)

Production

''Love Rain'' reunited director

and screenwriter Oh Soo-yeon; they previously worked together on ''

Autumn in My Heart ''Autumn in My Heart'' () is a 2000 South Korean romantic television drama starring Song Seung-heon, Song Hye-kyo, and Won Bin. The series is the first installment of season-themed tetralogy '' Endless Love'' drama series directed by Yoon Seok ...

'' and ''

Winter Sonata ''Winter Sonata'' () is a 2002 South Korean television drama series, starring Bae Yong-joon and Choi Ji-woo. It is the second part of the season-themed tetralogy '' Endless Love'' drama series directed by Yoon Seok-ho. Filming primarily took pl ...

'' a decade before.

and

were costars in the films ''

The Happy Life ''The Happy Life'' () is a 2007 South Korean film directed by Lee Joon-ik. The film sold 1,263,835 tickets nationwide . Synopsis Sang-woo, the leader of college rock band Active Volcano, dies and sets up a reunion for Gi-yeong and the other m ...

'' (2007) and ''

The Case of Itaewon Homicide ''The Case of Itaewon Homicide'' ( ko, 이태원 살인사건; translit. Itaewon Salinsageon) is a 2009 South Korean film, based on the true story of the Itaewon murder case, which shocked Korea when Hongik college student Cho Jung-Pil was f ...

'' (2009).

and Yoo Hye-ri were costars in the television series '' You are My Destiny'' (2008) and '' Cinderella Man'' (2009). ''Love Rain'' began filming on September 24, 2011. The first day's shooting for the '70s' era took place at Keimyung University in Daegu, South Korea. The drama was featured at the MIPTV, an international event for marketing and purchasing entertainment content held in Cannes, France in April 2012.

Soundtrack

''Love Rain'' also featured non-Korean background music, such as "Verden Vil Bedras" by

Sigvart Dagsland Sigvart Dagsland (born 18 October 1963) is a Norwegian singer, pianist, and composer. Career Dagsland writes and performs in various genres, his more recent albums being pop-rock. He has recorded 18 albums and performs 30–50 concerts every y ...

in episode 6, and "

(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story" is a popular song published in 1970, with music by Francis Lai and lyrics by Carl Sigman. The song was first introduced as an instrumental theme in the 1970 film ''Love Story'' after the film's distributor, Para ...

" instrumentals in episodes 1 and 3. Also the song " Vem vet" by Swedish singer and songwriter

Lisa Ekdahl Lisa Ekdahl (born 29 July 1971 in Hägersten, Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish popular music singer and songwriter. She has so far released 10 albums, most of them in Swedish but some entirely in English. Her voice has been described as "child-lik ...

is used several times during the series.

Reception

''Love Rain'' received low ratings domestically, with an average of 5.1% nationwide. But due to the Korean Wave appeal of its lead stars Jang and Im, of all the

s sold abroad for 2012, ''Love Rain'' went for the highest price to Japan before it was even broadcast in Korea. It cost per episode, adding up to some (or ) in total. It has since been exported to 12 countries in Asia and Europe including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, and Singapore, recording around in overseas sales.

Ratings

Awards and nominations

Plagiarism lawsuit

Egg Film, the production company behind the 2003 film '' The Classic'' filed an injunction at Seoul District Court against Yoon's Color for copyright infringement on June 6, 2012. In it, the motion sought to ban any future broadcast of ''Love Rain'' and any subsequent production and sales of the drama and its related products. Egg Film claimed that the TV series' plot and characters were too similar to the film, specifically the themes of a couple breaking up because one chose friendship over love, and years later their children falling in love with one another. Yoon's Color disputed the claims, stating that the themes were common to the melodrama genre, since several scenes of ''The Classic'' were also similar to

's earlier TV dramas. They accused Egg Film of "trying to jump on the bandwagon" given the overseas success of ''Love Rain''.

Film

''Love Rain'' was re-edited into a two-part film which screened in Japanese theaters. The first part, composed mainly of scenes set in the 1970s, was released on September 20, 2013, while the second part, which focuses on the present day, was released on October 11, 2013. The film later aired on cable channel WOWOW in August 2014.

References

External links

* * * * {{KBS World TV program, 848 2012 South Korean television series debuts 2012 South Korean television series endings Korean Broadcasting System television dramas Korean-language television shows Television shows involved in plagiarism controversies South Korean romance television series South Korean melodrama television series