Monday, August 29, 2011

Heartstrings/You've Fallen For Me

Heartstrings Synopsis: (from DramaWiki)
Lee Shin 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, a dance professor at university, but this all changes when he meets Lee Kyu Won.

Lee Kyu Won 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.

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
Woo Ri as Han Hye Joo
Kang Min Hyuk as Yeo Joon Hee
Lee Hyun Jin as Hyun Ki Young
Im Se Mi as Cha Bo Woon


My comments:
I found the first episode of Heartstrings (MBC, 15 episodes) bland and I stopped watching by the 20th minute of episode 2 and didn’t plan to continue. Since I didn’t have anything to watch instead, so I resumed watching this drama. By the end of episode 2, just like Kyu Won fell for Shin, I fell for this drama. Shippers of Jung Yong Hwa and Park Shin Hye in You’re Beautiful (not me) will be happy for their reunion in this drama and they matured a lot compared to almost 2 years ago.

The pacing of the drama is inconsistent as it can be at times long and boring but then things can move pretty fast. I find it hard to believe by how fast (less than one episode) Shin can move on and fall for Kyu Won after Yoon Soo’s rejection because he was really infatuated with her at first. The so-called love square (is there even one?) was bleh. It’s sure that Shin and Kyu Won would end up together because there is no way that they would end up with the professor and the director. Now that would be weird and creepy! The last episode was kinda unnecessary as it just dragged the story and I wonder how much the story changed because of Park Shin Hye’s accident.

Park Shin Hye and Jung Yong Hwa’s chemistry is more evident here. They make a cute bickering and sweet couple. Who would expect Shin to turn out to be such a caring, understanding and supportive boyfriend judging from his aloof and cold behavior from early episodes. The supporting characters are adorable, especially Kyu Won’s best friend, Bo Woon, who just has perfect timing in interrupting Shin and Kyu Won’s important moments. Even grandpa despite being harsh and critical over Kyu Won, but whenever he tells his very long and boring autobiography, it’s just priceless! Every scene with the The Stupid guys and The Windflowers girls is a delight to watch.

There is nothing to rave about the acting but everyone was serviceable and I give them credit for the singing and dancing segments. The OST is really nice to listen. So, overall a feel-good youth drama about young people achieving their dreams; but honestly less addictive than Dream High.

* Opening credit of the drama

Jung Yong Hwa and Park Shin Hye from You're Beautiful (2009) to Heartstrings (2011)

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