Heartstrings Review

photos from koreandrama.org
edited by cheerfulnuts

Heartstrings is a 2011 Korean romantic-comedy drama directed by Pyo Min Soo, most notable for his award-winning drama Full House. The lead character, Lee Gyu Won, is played by Park Shin Hye who became famous for her Mi Nam in You’re Beautiful. The leading man, on the other hand, is played by CN Blue’s lead vocalist Jung Yong Hwa. It is his first leading role. The supporting roles are performed by Song Chang Ui (Kim Seok Hyun), So Yi Hyun (Jung Yoon Su), CN Blue’s drummer Kang Min Hyuk (Yeo Jun Hee), Lee Hyun Jin (Hyun Gi Young), and Woo Ri (Han Hee Joo).

Heartstrings

Korean Title: 넌 내게 반했어

Alternative Titles: You’ve Fallen for Me, Festival, You’re into Me

Chinese Title: 你為我著迷
15 episodes, 1 special

Genre: romantic comedy, drama

Telecast: 2011

Synopsis:

Lee Gyu Won is the sole granddaughter of Lee Dong Gun, a famous Traditional musician in Korea. To follow her grandfather’s footsteps (and as her grandfather wishes), Gyu Won majors in Traditional Music and practices her gayageum everyday. She meets Lee Shin, a major in Applied Music who plays in the band “The Stupid”. Because of their differences, Gyu Won and Shin loathe each other.

Kim Seok Hyun, an alumnus to Gyu Won’s university, arrives from the United States to direct the school’s 100^th year anniversary musical. He is forced to work with his ex-girlfriend Jung Yoon Su, a former ballerina who is now a professor in school. He has his special eye for Gyu Won after hearing her sing at a local bar. He wants her to become the lead actress of the musical. However, Han Hee Joo , the school president’s daughter, is eyeing for the role. She and her mother will do anything to make sure Gyu Won doesn’t steal the spotlight.

Gyu Won becomes a slave to Shin after losing in a contest. She runs errands for Shin – from buying him a cup of cappuccino everyday to cleaning The Stupid’s practice room. As they see each other more often, Gyu Won unknowingly falls for Shin, and Shin becomes less hostile towards her. However, when Gyu Won finds out about his long-time affection for Professor Yoon Su, she tries to convince Shin to stop pursuing the professor. This angers Shin and their “friendship” is once again strained.

Despite the tension between Gyu Won and Shin, the anniversary musical puts them together. Shin is assigned to compose the ending song for the musical. He needs to incorporate some traditional music into the song. Not knowing much about traditional music, he needs a little help from an expert – Gyu Won.

As they work more closely together, Shin, unknowingly, starts to fall for Gyu Won, too.

Cheerfulnuts' Review:

Knowing that Heartstrings falls under the romantic-comedy category, I didn’t expect much from this drama. Heartstrings caters to a younger audience. Still, the first few scenes (shot in Jeju Island) captivated my attention. It may sound cliché, but beautiful scenery plus some good looking actors seem to be the perfect ingredient to a great drama.

The story is set mainly in school, which makes me reminisce about my own school days flashback to many years ago. I’m not a Korean, but Heartstrings gives me an “at home” feeling. Actually, most school dramas make me feel nostalgic.

The first few episodes are just okay. After watching for several hours, I couldn’t seem to grasp the gist of the story. There were too many characters all at once. Lee Shin is a real jerk at the beginning of the drama. I think having a jerk lead male is a trend in romantic-comedies. As I watched Shin being mean to Gyu Won, I couldn’t wait to see how he’d fall for her. I wished he would have a hard time pursuing her haha.

Episodes 7 to 9, in my opinion, is the best part. In the entire 15 episodes, these are the parts that I would love to watch over and over again. The awkward transition from being an enemy to a lover is very interesting to watch. When Shin realizes his growing affection for Gyu Won, he doesn’t know how to show it to her. The subtleties of his actions – the stares, the secret smiles, and the hidden meaning beneath his words – made me swoon.

Heartstrings is about music, so expect a lot of singing and dancing here. This is great especially if you love the songs. CN Blue fans will surely appreciate it. Since it was Jung Yong Hwa’s first leading role, his acting is just so-so (though he had improved a lot throughout the series). I think the music had helped a lot in setting the mood right. I also found myself swooning every time Yong Hwa sings. I’m not familiar with CN Blue, so it was really a pleasant surprise to see the drummer Kang Min Hyuk sing in the drama. What a transformation it was when he sings - from being a silly and clumsy Jun Hee to a cute rockstar!

Having a young couple as the main characters makes this drama very “sweet” and somewhat “innocent”.  The plot is underdeveloped though. I like the characters, but they aren’t that special. The presentation of the story is a bit confusing. Moreover, random things happen just to have an “excuse” for more drama. You see them crying and you wonder, is this really necessary? The dialogues are not that strong either. Nevertheless, I find Heartstrings very entertaining to watch.

My conclusion is: Heartstrings is not for everyone. If you’re looking for an excellent story that will make you think hard, don’t watch this. But if you enjoy a light romantic comedy or if you want to feel in love, Heartstrings may be your cup of tea.


Cheerfulnuts' Verdict:

6 out of 10 stars