Heartstrings: Korean Drama Review

Tags
Heartstrings, Jung Yong Hwa, Lee Dong Gun, Lee Kyu-Won, MBC, Park Shin Hye, You've Fallen For Me

It’s been a while since I watched a drama without skipping some or probably most of its chapters. I think the last Korean series I watched without missing even one episode was Boys Over Flowers. Perhaps it’s out of habit. If the story gets too boring and dragging, I can’t help but resort to my fast-forwarding syndrome.

Heartstrings (You’ve Fallen For Me) was a surprise. I don’t have any expectations before watching this. All I know is that the leads were in He’s Beautiful and I was curious how Park Shin Hye would look as a normal heroine. I thought this was just one of those series I’ll end up skipping half of it but to my amazement I didn’t even miss a single episode of this drama. And I even spent 17 hours watching this series straight. (I started at 3am and finished at 7pm. Kaadikan ko lang. Haha.)

Title: 넌 내게 반했어 / Neon Naege Banhaesseo English title: Heartstrings Buy: Amazon Genre: Romance, Music Episodes: 15 Broadcast network: MBC Broadcast period: 2011-Jun-29 to 2011-Aug-18 Director: Pyo Min Soo Screenwriter: Lee Myung Sook Cast: Jung Yong Hwa as Lee Shin Park Shin Hye as Lee Kyu Won Song Chang Ui as Kim Suk Hyun So Yi Hyun as Jung Yoon Soo

Lee Shin (Jung Yong Hwa) is a university student majoring in modern music. He is also the vocalist and guitarist of the band “The Stupid.” Shin is known for his good looks and strong passion for music, but in reality he is cold, lacks interest in anything unrelated to music and has neither dreams nor plans for the future. He initially likes Jung Yoon Soo (So Yi Hyun), a dance professor at university, but this all changes when he meets Lee Kyu Won.¹

Lee Kyu Won (Park Shin Hye) is a bright and outgoing student who was born into a prestigious family and is majoring in traditional Korean instruments, especially the gayageum. Kyu Won’s grandfather, Lee Dong Gun, is one of the top 3 traditional musicians of his age and his biggest wish is to see his granddaughter become a traditional music prodigy. Trying to live up to her grandfather’s expectations, Kyu Won immerses herself in training and becomes a university student who knows nothing outside of her studies. As her friends are fans of “The Stupid”, she was forced to go to the band’s concert with them. There she saw Lee Shin performing live, and is immediately captivated by him.²

Sorry! I can’t find a copy in English.

The plot was pretty normal. It’s not over the top and can even be considered plausible. There’s nothing exceptional with the story but the directing, soundtrack and the cast’s performances made this drama revitalising and a whole lot of fun.

What I appreciate most in this drama are the character development, back story and the story flow. It wasn’t dragging since the biggest conflict in the story was immediately presented and resolved in the first 6 episodes. It also had strong back stories for the characters not only for the hero and heroine but for the secondary characters as well. It’s nice getting to know the people in the story bit by bit.

The most prevalent character development in the drama is with Lee Shin. I had fun watching him fall in love with Lee Kyo Won. Nakakakilig! It was so nice being young. Ha-ha. Don’t you wish guys like them are real?

I also liked that their love story is not the typical boy-meets-girl-then-falls-in-love-and-the-two-are-against-the-world kind of crap. They didn’t go overboard making the characters head-over-hills in love with each other. And the heroine didn’t fall in love with the guy at first sight. Though the enemy-at-first angle of the story is very common, it was still effective since the first 6 episodes focused more on Lee Shin’s feelings towards the professor.

I’d share with you some of the lines I loved most from the series.

I am going to do what you want me to do. From now on, no matter who you like or how much you’re hurting because of her, I won’t care anymore. I… don’t like you anymore. - Lee Gyu Won, Episode 7

Do you want to know my wish? I wish that you would like me again. - Lee Sin, Episode 10

Don’t you wish love in real life is as sweet as theirs? Oh and I’m totally captivated with the song I Will Forget You.

Jung Yong Hwa and Park Shin Hye have a very refreshing chemistry. It’s one of the things you’ll initially notice in the first few episodes of the drama. The setting is a plus too. It was very nice that this was filmed in spring which made the scenes pleasant to watch. And it added up with the drama’s romance.

As much as I adored this, there are still things it lacks. On top of my list is the physical aspect of Lee Shin and Lee Kyo Won’s relationship. For goodness sake they’re both 21 years old in a mature relationship and all they share is a few chaste kisses. Let me reiterate that—few chaste kisses. Chaste na nga kokonti pa. It might have something to do with their culture or the audience perhaps but they could have shared one real kiss! I’m just asking for one!

See what I mean?

There are also too many performances not related to the story. I understand that this is a Musical drama but they should have lessened it. It wouldn’t make less of the story anyway.

And last was the conflict they had before the series ended. Can’t they think of anything else? Or I would have appreciated it more if they extended it for at least two episodes to show how the two patch things up. It’s as if the ending was rushed and the reconciliation was abrupt.

I originally wanted to give this drama 3 Kiss Marks but since this is my favourite for the time being and I haven’t found a series that would match or surpass my enjoyment in watching it, I decided to give it 3.5 Kiss Marks. And because I don’t have 3.5 in my ratings, I’ll use the 4 Kiss Marks picture. Another reason is I realized Jung Yong Hwa’s cute!