2011 End of Year Reflection -- Part 2

So after reading other end of year reviews from other bloggers who are more familiar with the K-dramaverse, I came to the conclusion that I am really a green newbie in this arena. I'm a whole lot more forgiving about certain drama series than others and I realized that I understand the situation. Where I stand with Hong Kong drama series is the same as where all the veteran K-drama netizens stand with their Korean entertainment -- tired, picky, grumpy, seen that, been there, why isn't there anything more refreshing?, and so on and so forth... It's like there's a want for new blood (or something like that).

HOWEVER, I will not refute the fact that I am a very simple person and that any television viewing experience can easily become entertaining for me. Case in point: I watched Taiwanese Idol drama Brown Sugar Machiatto and actually enjoyed it despite its total lack of a story line or great acting. It was funny, it was cute and it had the element of The Cute and The Pretty. I got out of it what I had expected going into it: A whole LOT of FLUFFY.

I'm not professional enough to determine whether or not Hong Kong drama series are on par with Korean drama series, or if they're better or worse. In my opinion, they are by far NOT as great as the few K-dramas I've watched in the past five months (then again, it could be because of the refreshing new experience I got watching them). I won't a hundred percent say that Korean dramas are worlds better than the stuff that TVB (main HK TV studio) churns out because I HAVE already encountered few series that were somewhat questionable. And as for TVB, it has its moments where a gem is created; this is not a regular thing though. I have in mind a handful of personal favorites from TVB that I loved deeply, but then there is also that ocean of series that really just stunk and survived on loyal viewership. I mean, for the Cantonese speaking population, TVB is really all there is because their competing TV studio doesn't quite make the cut.

And so maybe this is why I've come to my K-drama obsession so quickly -- there are a lot of refreshing plot devices, great actors, beautiful settings, and a whole new culture to experience. The humor is quite different than Hong Kong's humor and, by far, the people are a LOT prettier (men included). TVB has its crop of great actors and actresses (few of which I find attractive, and yes I CAN get superficial), but they are often led astray by crappy story-telling and poor direction. And while I've always loved TVB, I know that they COULD stand on par with K-dramas (the ones what aren't trying too hard to BE K-dramas with their perpetual dramatic cliches or the ones that are more serious than senseless -- yea, lately, TVB has developed a need to try imitating the K-drama trend of angst and makjang, but they don't quite do it right).

Basically what I'm saying is that like the K-drama veterans, I'm a grumpy TVB viewer -- more demanding, less forgiving, extra pissy at the poor quality of recent dramas being produced. I'm not saying that were a K-drama veteran to start watching series from Hong Kong that they would be giddy with excitement, but I'm saying that because of my grumpiness, the fresh new Korean culture has been quite attractive for me, personally.

Nonetheless, I have my few classic favorites that may not be the best series in the world, but they definitely hold memorable places in my heart. This will be left for a later post at a later time wherein I walk down memory lane and recount the various series from Hong Kong which have captured my heart for good (meaning that I would definitely re-watch them again when I'm in the mood and still enjoy them fully). For now, we'll focus on the more significant K-drama obsession at hand and discuss briefly my experiences with K-drama in this year of 2011. First of all, I'll note the few 2011 drama series I've watched for this 'Part 2' of the End of Year Reflection. Because my ramblings have ended up getting rather long, I will follow up with a listing of all the K-dramas (including series from other years) that I've watched and how they rank for me (including the ones from 2011), and then include any other little blurbs about K-drama that might seem significant, for 'Part 3' of my long-winded-ness.

So without further ado on my extremely extended introductions:


2011 Dramas
I will be listing them in order of my viewing of them.


Heartstrings

Following the first Korean drama series I watched in 2011 (You're Beautiful) I followed through quite quickly with Heartstrings (aka You've Fallen For Me). I'm superficial when it comes to romantic comedies or any type of story line based on romance; Park Shin Hye and Jung Yong Hwa were charming in You're Beautiful and left me with that aftertaste for more of them. When I find a particular actor or actress who interests me, I search for other projects said actor or actress may have had in the past or will have in the near future (that's pretty much how I roll sometimes). And so imagine my contentment when I found out that they would be teaming up again in another series, nearly two years after their first collaboration. And better yet, I had just gotten into K-drama in 2011, which, omigod, ended up being the year that their newest series was due to be broadcast. A week or so after I officially finished viewing You're Beautiful, I climbed onto the Heartstrings bandwagon like the rabid fangirl that I am.

I've stated before: Heartstrings is really just a simple love story set in a youthful world of a college campus. It was fun and amusing in its own rights and I thoroughly enjoyed the most of it. Being one of the first K-drama series that I touched, the concept was fun and refreshing for me (because I'd just dropped off of a long line of shoujo manga and the like with bubbly, bumbling idiot female protagonists in every corner). Lee Gyu Won (Park Shin Hye) is a young woman who is anything BUT a bumbling idiot female protagonist; she's got zest, sass, ambition, dreams, and most importantly, she's got the charms of Park Shin Hye. And I loved that she was such a practical, down-to-earth type of young woman as the lead of a romance drama.

By all rights, Heartstrings really is as simple as a simple love story with side dishes of youth drama incorporated. The reason why it was fun was because it was about young people. The reason why it was heartwarming was because it showed a nice love line that made you smile at every and all antics. From Lee Shin (Jung Yong Hwa)'s development from jerk-face to perfect boyfriend to the build-up of our 100th Anniversary University Musical Performance, everything was just simple and fun.

And so it's rather unfortunate that the series ended up finishing on a rather lame note. Could it really have been that the production team was strapped for time after that unfortunate accident? Or was the series already starting to decline in its attractiveness? I don't know if there was really a way to tell. But one thing is for certain, the series really ceased to entice after the love line officially got its main couple to pair up; when Lee Shin confessed that he liked Lee Gyu Won, the story seemed to lose all of its steam after that. What was left was the anticipation of how the musical performance would pan out -- but even that ended up settling on dead weight (because we don't even get to see the entire performance).

Heartstrings is an entertaining series if you enjoy youth romance and lots of good music. For the most part, it didn't quite make it to the ending in a tightly wrapped package with a pretty bow on top. A lot of significant side plots were created and then resolved forcefully because it seemed like time was running out. However, as one of the first series I watched in my K-drama viewing experience, it's actually a rather memorable one.


City Hunter

Action, adventure, romance, revenge, justice, comedy (and angst)... With all of these genres packaged delightfully into an entire series, City Hunter ended up being one of my favorites for this year (and overall of most of the K-dramas I've seen total). Based on a manga of the same title, its only unfortunate downfall was advertising that connection as its selling point; because from what I found out among netizens, the Korean drama series itself was nothing like the beloved manga. I'll never know the difference considering I won't be enticed enough to read the original manga, but from what I ended up experiencing off of City Hunter... I'm not sure I really care.

As a series that starts off with suspense, action and a revenge plot to build its basis, City Hunter easily became so much more. I could go on about City Hunter; in fact I'm sure I did and ended up rambling on for far too long. City Hunter was my first Korean drama love. From the heroic and kickass hot Lee Yoon Sung (Lee Min Ho) to the spunky and fearless Kim Na Na (Park Min Young) along with the underappreciated, but beloved Kim Young Ju (Lee Joon Hyuk), this series boasted a lot of great story telling, direction and pacing, beautiful scenery and zippy camera angles as well as deep characterizations. The basic plot of hunting down five different baddies, one after another was also a really intriguing follow along -- although as I had mentioned in my discussion, I think I would have liked it more if the viewers could see the investigation more on Lee Yoon Sung's side, not knowing who the next target would be until he's revealed so that we could play detective too. Nonetheless, this wasn't just a series where you were intrigued by the suspense in the story line and awed by the action sequences; this was also a series where even the characters become relatable in such a way that you become invested in their plights -- even the supporting characters had background and lives of their own.

On top of all of that, character relations were quite complicated, but at the same time full of juicy detail and delicious excitement. You became attached to the love line, you "aww-ed" at the Yoon Sung/ahjusshi guardian/son relationship, you held your breath at the father-son struggle and intrigue, you grinned giddily at the potential bromance between secret hero and public defender, and then you cried for the hero's inner struggles and horrific revelations. And on the side, you had fun with all the side characters who lent to the growth of our hero. Everything about City Hunter hinged on Lee Yoon Sung's every action and reaction, but all of his actions were based upon his interactions with the rest of the world.

City Hunter is like crack for the K-drama addict's soul. It's not a perfect drama, but it really hits all the marks perfectly when you allow it to suspend you into its world.


Scent of a Woman

I really don't know what I can say about Scent of a Woman. It was a nice journey, to say the least, but in the end, the beauty of the series can easily be replaceable by any other melodrama masked as a rom-com about a dying woman's journey. Did I like Scent of a Woman? Yes. Will I remember it six, maybe seven months from now? I'm not sure the answer will be a positive one. Was there anything memorable at all about Scent of a Woman? Yes. Did I really care for most of them? Not really.

Uhm Ki Joon was a great asset to the series as the socially awkward, yet loving and caring doctor and friend to our heroine, and in fact, he's the only character who actually stood out among the rest. The beautifully shot scenes and the lovely soundtrack might be a factor that can be noted, but I may not be able to successfully detail why. Lee Dong Wook and Kim Sun Ah had great chemistry with all of their passion and breathtaking sensual-ness zeroed in on their tango scenes. As individuals, however, I'm not sure I would really say that they stand out.

Lee Yeon Jae's refreshing take on a dying woman's last few months of activity was actually rather nice, though. Instead of being melancholic, she chose to face her world and make the most of her life. Instead of waiting out her days until death, she chose to live until she died. There has been speculation about some of her actions: 1) Why didn't she just tell her mother about her cancer? It would have been less of an issue if she had just been honest? 2) Why did she choose to fall in love when she knew she was dying? It was unfair to Kang Ji Wook that he had to go through the pain of losing a loved one. Again.

While these thoughts had crossed my mind as well, I can't a hundred percent say that I'm resentful towards Lee Yeon Jae for all of this. For one, how easy is it to tell your own mother that you're dying; especially after she had already had to suffer through a husband with terminal cancer. Lee Yeon Jae's fear should be understandable; not everyone is a self-less noble who knows immediately what would have been the right actions to take. Maybe it would have been better if she'd told her mother earlier; but we don't know that that's a fact.

Secondly, everyone is entitled to live their life in their own flair until the day they die. Does a dying woman not have the right to fall in love? Lee Yeon Jae was acting selfishly, but she was giving herself a chance to be alive for once in her life. I can't completely condemn her for following her heart. Honestly, people were born to die; today I could get hit by a car, tomorrow you could fall off a building or have a heart attack. This is life. Knowing these things, we all still continue to live anyway. What makes anyone else's lives any different from a dying cancer patient's life? One happens to be shorter than the other, but by how much?

It's a controversial subject, I know, so I'll leave it at that.

Scent of a Woman was one of those experiences wherein it's awesome and exciting and touching, all at the same time while you're in that moment. I will agree that the meddling chaebol device was pretty much frustrating and unnecessary. There's no need for more angst when the main female lead is experiencing a natural angst of her own already. Setting all of that aside, the series itself wasn't too bad. But just as soon as the excitement is over... well, it's simply over. That's how Scent of a Woman felt to me: it came and went and now it's just a distant memory that I may or may not recall when in reflection a long time from now.


Warrior Baek Dong Soo

We all know how I felt about Warrior Baek Dong Soo. So let's make this short and simple because its not the prettiest picture I've ever painted (with words). I love action, adventure and martial arts combat. I love a good Chinese wuxia themed series. I love watching the "incompetent fool" to "seasoned hero" progression. And I love the side plots of romance, honor, brothership and justice. This is what Warrior Baek felt like to me as I cruised through each episode, one right after the other. It was an adventure in a world where there is no full out Black and White and where even the publicly acclaimed "evil" side has its own codes of honor and may not necessarily be the straight up "evil" side.

Baek Dong Soo (Ji Chan Wook) was the arrogant, unskilled brat turned great hero. He had a lot of unique, immature, cheeky moments during his younger (?) intervals of the series. It was one of those devices wherein it's only fun because you get to follow the brat as he matures and "levels up" through obstacles of heart, mind and physical training. These are the things that make up a great hero progression story line. And along the way, you get to meet all of his interactions: a love line, a brother-in-arms, an honor code, a master, an alliegance to a leader...

And it was ALL there in Warrior Baek Dong Soo.

But somehow, the progression hit a nice little snag as well as multiple time skips (which I realize were employed to force a new plot twist and a new story arc per each time skip). The obstacles became mere anecdotes that were never elaborated and the side plots for supporting and/or second main character growth hitched on the side of the road. While we continue to follow the protagonist and antagonist pair, the rest of the world started to simmer slowly until everything just boiled away without a trace and we're left with a scorched pan without even understanding why (the fire was turned off too quickly yet everything STILL disappeared).

Warrior Baek Dong Soo ended up a chaotic mess of "we're not sure where this story is taking itself, but we REALLY want to go from A to Z as we skip around some letters, leave others out and then also include some symbols and double digits." It got REALLY messy. Because as the viewer, you KNEW where the story line was leading, but when it never got to its intended location and instead detoured a few times before getting onto the wrong track or just simply falling off a cliff, things just started going terribly wrong.

I enjoyed Warrior Baek Dong Soo if only for the opening scene and the glory of Yoo Seung Ho's Yeo Woon. The bromance wasn't too bad either, but that's a moot point when the ending came into play. The setting was beautiful, shot with gorgeous background scenes accompanied by a score of wonderful music numbers and insert songs. And to be fair, the direction was also done very exceptionally well. It was the story line that pretty much broke it for Warrior Baek: lost story arc conclusions, incomprehensible build up, strange plot twists that lead nowhere... And the romance? Don't even get me started on the pathetic love lines.

The only reason I would ever rewatch this series, I think, would be for the action sequences (which were merely decent, at best), Yeo Woon, and the great Choi Min Soo. Was it memorable? Yea. Unfortunately it was memorable for all the wrong reasons, which doesn't make it a good thing.


Lie to Me

I am hesitant to talk about this series because I may end up ranting off onto an entire ten pages worth of Lie to Me hopes and disappointments. To be brief, as many would point out, it isn't easy to take an overdone cliche and turn it into a refreshingly unique story. The contract relationship has been done to death already, but we still love this device because (like my favorite cross-dressing love) it has potential to spiral into all sorts of amusing fun and delight.

Lie to Me had two great things going for it: Yoon Eun Hye and Kang Ji Hwan. In fact, I considered watching this series only because of Yoon Eun Hye and finally picked it up and sat through it because of Kang Ji Hwan. And so, as I have mentioned time and time again, I really, really, REALLY tried to like this series. I kept giving it more and more chances and I kept making up excuses for it.

Fact was, when all a series has is a premise without a well thought out story line, you end up like all the unfinished rom-com stories I have ever started writing -- you lose sight of where it is you SHOULD be going and come to a road block. But in the case of Lie To Me, we climbed over that road block and tried to force our way through the unfinished construction so that we can get to the other side of the bridge. And so you see only the road leading into the mess and the small strip of concrete on the other end. In the middle, it's just chaotic and unconnected and you wonder why you even bothered to travel this disheartening distance that the workers have no intention of fixing.

And THAT was Lie To Me in all its disappointing glory. On the off chance that such a series had been created for a two-hour movie and had cut out all of that awkward mess of scattered plots in the middle, I think the story would have fared a whole lot better and we would still be able to get out of it the fluff piece with Yoon Eun Hye and Kang Ji Hwan, but with more optimism and more forgiveness. I'm more forgiving when it's a movie with time restraints that creates the excuse of having no time for development of more plot -- Lie To Me could have totally used something like that.


Flower Boy Ramyun Shop

This is the newest drug on the market; it's like crack boiled into the soup base of its ramyun delicacies.

I'm not quite sure that I can completely give justice to the greatness that is Flower Boy Ramyun Shop without taking up five or six separate posts (just like I've been doing for the entire month). There is just so much about this series that makes it such a symbolic, unpredictable, unique piece of work filled with what javabeans likes to call the "Trifecta" of great drama creation: story, direction, and acting.

I've been in awe of the editing, the pacing and the smooth transitions from one mood to another from the first episode onward. There has been over-the-top hilarity which eventually slides into more melancholic mood swings which then throws us for a loop with some heartwarming moments. And never once have I ever felt awkward watching these scenes play out; okay, maybe once, but it wasn't really a big deal and it still worked even if it was only slightly awkward. But for the entirety of Ramyun Shop's greatness, I'm willing to overlook a few flaws here and there.

As for the story and the writing -- I don't remember the last time I've been this satisfied with every direction that a series has been taking since day one. My true love of this series has mostly to do with the fact that, while it employs a lot of common tropes and cliches, it doesn't drag them out into exhaustion. We start up one plot device as a short story arc and then we resolve it within two episodes (or less) and then we move onto another one. And as most would have never believed possible, each little story arc helps to progress the main story line forward as we watch the series' characters grow. On top of that, the attention to the smallest, most trivial details had me so impressed: from Ba Wool and Eun Bi's Coca Cola substituted for soju drinking scene, to that darn Pororo blanket that Daddy Cha ended up becoming jealous about, and also Chi Soo's continued vanity for his physical appearance.

I will admit that the main basis of the story line isn't exactly readily picked up by viewers who don't fall into Ramyun Shop's addictiveness immediately. Is it about a makeshift family banding together to run a little ramyun shop? Is it about a noona-dongsaeng romance? Is it about our spoiled, rich brat's development into a more normal, compassionate human being? Or maybe we're actually following the self-discovery of our main female lead as she learns to accept herself for who she is. Ramyun Shop is all of these items mixed together, I would say, and so, so much more. It might sound like a chaotic mess of a story line, but when it all comes together, everything falls right into place.

What takes the cake for Ramyun Shop is one factor whom I've been doting on since the moment he started becoming a temper tantrum of immature man-child: Cha Chi Soo played by the ever awesome Jung Il Woo. To talk about this guy, both actor AND character could take days because there is just so much love going into my impression of him. But there is no doubt at all that, if City Hunter was the crack that started me in on my K-drama addiction, then Jung Il Woo's Cha Chi Soo will be the supplier who's giving me the means to continue my addiction -- and happily at that. Of all the 2011 series I've seen (which are few) Cha Chi Soo is definitely my pick for favorite character, hands down.

I think the only unfortunate set back about this series (as if there really were a set back) is that in order to love it, you have to be sold on its comically created over-the-top world. Once you've entered it with all the love you have, there is really no turning back.


Me Too, Flower!

There was a quirkiness to Me Too, Flower! that had drawn me into it. It could have been the non-standard character roles of a cheeky and easily tempered heroine, a sardonic and also cheeky hero, or even the asshole of a shrink (also cheeky) who was delightfully likeable at the same time. Maybe it was The Pretty (a Yoon Shi Yoon young'un trying to act like an ahjusshi who's pushing thirty with all of life's experiences and who drunkenly points at little Jo Maru and calls the kid "Baby" when obviously he's the one with the eternally baby-looking face). It could have been the well-written recaps at Dramabeans by orangy911 which allowed me to understand the premise of the series before I even started watching it.

The idea of the female protagonist NOT being a bubbly dimwit, but on top of that having an easily tempered personality and possible mental instability was attractive -- her depression and sense of self-worthlessness is also a nice area to explore since all rom-com female leads have always been the standard bubbly, cheerful type of bunny sunshine optimism. The male protagonist with a dark past is an overdone cliche in a lot of stories I've read, so that part wasn't as intriguing -- however, the willingness of Seo Jae Hee to break down and show his weakness to Bong Sun was a refreshing concept from most recent episodes.

No matter what it was that had me watching Me Too, Flower! doesn't matter anymore. What mattered to me was that I was sold and I was hooked. Of course, I DO admit that the extremely non-standard hot kissing scene (though forced into the story line) did sort of motivate me to start watching the series from beginning to its current status.

To be honest, everything about Me Too, Flower! had been going alright -- in fact, I might be brave enough to say that this series is one of the better ones I've seen in a while. There were a lot of obvious editing issues when certain sequences ended up presenting a bit awkwardly (such as the forced kisses, which were also forced kissing scenes) but they were happily overlooked for the bigger picture. There is a lot to explore concerning the human mentality of emotions, and when your biggest enemy or rival happens to be your own self-conscious, it gets a little more enticing. I mean, who needs actual, physical human love rivals when Cha Bong Sun's own emotional instability starts rearing its ugly head against her chance at a happy love line? Of course, I will admit that I'm very forgiving in my drama series viewing (just like I've been quite forgiving about Seo Jae Hee keeping secrets even though I know that Bong Sun has every right to be upset with him for a long time to come).

The only unfortunate turn out of this series so far, however, is that it's starting to fall into a more standard rom-com progression, utilizing all the frustrating cliches that we love to hate. Noble Idiocy takes a swing, and even though it didn't last long, it still hurt. And now we're seeing the rise of the "evil female love rival" who'd been simmering in creepy possessiveness from Day One of the series and then subjecting one of the more potentially likeable side characters into that resentful chess piece position. We have a "Project: Break-Up the Happy(?) Couple" on the horizon (and I use the term "happy" loosely just because this couple really has more inner demon struggles than even any love rival can supply). Why another standard cliche that will only end badly for everyone involved? And then the other issue of our psychiatrist making the moves on his patient; while I like seeing the main male lead get all worked up and jealous over his girl, I really hope that our lovely Dr. Park will only remain as a good friend and lend an ear rather than try to worm his way into the fluffy romance.

And now finally the all aggrieved BIG MISUNDERSTANDING plot device, which leads into more little misunderstandings, which eventually build into "all the reasons why our main couple cannot be together even though they're hopelessly in love".

Needless to say, I'm getting frustrated, but I still want to see how the rest of the series pans out.

To put it simply: I'm a sucker for fluff. I know that the current angst and frustration is anything BUT fluff, but by golly if the main couple didn't have such crazy, goosebump inducing fluffy romance montages when they were happy together! I haven't been this giddy about a lovey-dovey couple in a LONG time, and at the risk of turning the series into a monotonous dribble of cute, lovey-dovey fluff and nothing else, I am really, really shooting for seeing more of Seo Jae Hee and Cha Bong Sun just amping up the adorable sweetness. In all honesty, this is what's keeping me glued to Me Too, Flower! right now: the rekindling of the love line after a frustrating non-break-up and The Cute factor. Jae Hee and Bong Sun just seem to fall into place together after they could finally admit their feelings for each other; it's only unfortunate that they suffer from a common relationship cancer (of sorts) called "Lack of Communication" thus leading to "Lack of Honesty" which will eventually develop into "Lack of Trust." If only they could climb over that barrier and be The Cute that this couple can manage, then I'd be extremely ecstatic.

What I wouldn't give to have a female lead NOT have the heebie-jeebies whenever her boyfriend gets force-kissed by a persistent home-wrecker. Then again, it wasn't like Jae Hee was trying that hard to resist; I mean, how much of a force is Kim Dal anyway? It also doesn't work in his favor that he's currently 2 for 3 on secrets kept and NOT revealed by himself to his girlfriend -- can't expect a girl to give you trust if you haven't exactly been very convincing.

Looks like this ended up becoming an update on my opinions of this series... Must learn to shorten ramblings in the future. My apologies... With few episodes left for me to watch, I've been struggling about writing more discussion articles to follow along with Me Too, Flower!'s progress.

On a side note, I'm not opposed to getting rid of the string puppeteer, Miss Creepy Possessive Representative, which would solve so many problems, so that our couple can focus on working out their own inner demons (which will probably take another five extra episodes to fight about) to bring the originally quirky and non-standard story line back on track.


Girl K

What can I say about Girl K? It was action-packed, it was dark, it was moody, and it really was just an adrenaline rush of excitement. It was carried by great atmosphere and acting and housed a spectacular break out performance by Han Groo in her first ever role in a drama series. It was everything you could have ever asked for in a story line following a teenage assassin. For all its brief glory, Girl K was an absolutely addictive watch carried from beginning until the end in fast-paced action and the strength of raw emotions.

And to be totally honest, I see Girl K more as a three-part extended movie rather than a three-episode mini-mini-series. Because Girl K reminds me of the action-packed, young girl kicking ass as an assassin movies (none of which I can recall right now). And I think its success is truly the abruptness of its crammed story arcs. And so I disagree with a lot of netizens that Girl K should have been a lot longer in order to elaborate on the little side plots that revealed themselves: the could-have-been cute high school love story, the revenge plot, the high school girl moonlighting as a trained assassin basis...

As it is, it gave you small bits and pieces of temptation and then left it there for you to interpret as you liked it. And it concluded rather nicely without too much dead space filled with unnecessary detail.

Because essentially, Girl K follows, more than anything, the revenge-motivated actions of our teenage assassin; once that's over, there's nothing else left for her. From the moment that she is set on avenging her mother, she has been able to see nothing else and so I'm almost too glad that her revenge was executed early and we give her a chance to rekindle a reason for continuing on with her life in the form of the BIG BADDIE, her biological father. This was a story arc that gave her reason and allowed her to continue on as well as allowing the viewers a hopeful open ended conclusion to Girl K's short three episode run.

There is one thing I DO agree with, however, and that is that it would be nice to see a sequel which would utilize our Girl K and her skills for some other reason. Maybe these three episodes could have been a prelude to a longer running episodic drama series in the near future, setting up Yeon Jin's training and knowledge of the darker aspects of the world, and then catapulting her into a young high school (or college, I guess) student moonlighting as an agent of some form.

I can see that happening and I would jump on that bandwagon pretty quickly.


Protect the Boss

I first picked up this series right after I completed Heartstrings. I watched the first episode and then I dropped it because it didn't quite pull me in. In fact, I never even really finished the entire first episode those few months back. After watching a movie that had Choi Kang Hee, I considered picking up Protect the Boss once more, but that was merely a flitting thought. And then I read about the raving of Kim Jaejoong's break out performance and saw a lot of the hype going around about how Protect the Boss was such a great series. It even got an extension (which doesn't always mean it's a good thing) but which means that the series was so popular that the production staff felt inclined to continue the hype by tacking on three more episodes.

So far, I've finished the first three episodes, and I must say, I'm quite sold on this world. I think I've been hovering around so many formulaic rom-coms in recent years that I grasp onto any chance that a drama series is NOT a typical romantic comedy with all the typical romantic formulas. I'm also a sucker for kick ass strong female leads, and so when No Eun Seul opens the series with a "gang fight" during her high school years, I wanted to like Protect the Boss. Why it didn't hook me in the first time around, I don't know. But I'm certainly intrigued by it now and am willing to sit through it despite all the mixed feelings that netizens are harping on about.

So far, I'm sold. Every character is so non-standard (ever since Me Too, Flower! I've been using this description too much, methinks) that it's actually pretty refreshing. Everyone seems to have an awkwardly insane (term used true to definition rather than for sake of slang complimenting) quality about them. No Eun Seul is already quite plucky as the fighting, easily tempered female lead with half a brain; Cha Ji Heon is the typical arrogant second (or third, I guess) generation chaebol son who has his OCD-laced, child-like tendencies of immaturity wielding the other half of that brain. Then there's Cha Moo Won who is like the omnicient gentleman, confident and reliable, but strangely turns sixteen years old in mentality at all the right(?) times when faced with Cha Ji Heon's own immaturity. Finally, Seo Na Yeon... well, let's just say that she's not that refined and classy young lady with that true to form holier than though attitude that most female love rivals are known for (nor what I'd expected). Instead, she's still the arrogant rich chaebol daughter, yet houses a much more comedic and screechy (causing my WTH blinkiness) unstable personality of a twelve year old brat who must resort to telling herself that she is "an educated person" so that she won't rush across the room and rip another girl's hair out.

Current impression of what I've seen so far: I'm liking it. I will continue to watch it. Because as outrageous as these characters seem to have been created, I kind of like the dysfunctional world they encompass. Cha Ji Heon's family also gives me that WTH vibe as well, but in a good way.

At risk of being flamed by JYJ fans, however, I DID want to mention that I'm not quite seeing the "breakout performance" of Kim Jaejoong -- yes, he performs decently, but it doesn't really seem as outstanding as everyone is making it out to be. Maybe I'm just not seeing that charm, or maybe he's being overshadowed (severely) by Wang Ji Hye's Seo Na Yoon, whom I am extremely loving as opposed to her role as Kim In Hee in Personal Taste.

***

And so there you have the 2011 K-dramas that I managed to watch within the past five months. While Me Too, Flower! has recently finished airing, I haven't had the chance to finish it yet, but I will be looking forward to the end (and hoping that things turn for the better). I will finish watching Protect the Boss fairly shortly as well as I'm quite enjoying the strangely weird characters; unless something else comes around to entice me, this will be the next series I finish. I make little mention about Tree With Deep Roots only because I haven't been following it even though I saw the first episode; everything I wanted to say about that first episode is included in my first impression post, so I would just be on repeat if I talked about it here too.

Soon will be Part 3 of this End of Year Reflection. It is unfortunate, however, that there's a possibility it won't be posted until after the new year. This is what happens when I'm drowning in ramyun, flowers, and laziness.

intro info: Heartstrings (Korean)

(넌 내게 반했어 - Neon Naege Banhesseo)

Jung Yong Hwa as Lee Shin
Park Shin Hye as Lee Gyu Won
Song Chang Ui as Kim Suk Hyun
So I Yeon as Jung Yoon Soo
Woori as Han Hee Joo
Kang Min Hyuk as Yeo Joon Hee

For more information on Heartstrings: Heartstrings @ dramawiki

***

As an introduction, this is the first of the "intro info" articles for my drama series. It really is just a means for me to make sure I can introduce any series with a summary and brief thoughts without giving away too much of the plot (of which I ended up doing in my more in depth thoughts articles). Each series I write about will include this brief introductory piece along with the more in depth analysis and extremely detailed opinions that I give.

In addition, I will include in these particular articles the link to each new related article that I add to my blog. Each new article added about a series will ultimately include a link at the beginning that guides any possible reader to the intro info post for the purpose of not giving away spoilers too early until the reader is ready to read the more detailed articles.

So... without further ado... or something like that...

***

Taking from my first impression post, Heartstrings is summarized as a college romance that takes place in a fine arts university wherein music is incorporated as a background theme. To put it simply, the story line basis for Heartstrings is first and foremost a sweet and fun little love story between the long awaited favorite onscreen couple by fangirls all over the world who obsessively followed the You're Beautiful popularity.

Lee Shin is a student of applied music theory, the leader of a band called The Stupid, and an extremely popular campus celebrity among the girls. Lee Gyu Won is a student of traditional music, the unofficial leader of a group called The Windflowers, and plays the gayageum, an extremely large stringed instrument that must be played sitting down, as a result of her grandfather's influence.

In the typical romantic comedy formula, Heartstrings starts off our main couple as two people who just can't seem to get along with each other. For the most part, because Lee Shin is a very indifferent, heckcare type of guy, he doesn't see any reason to be nice to people who aren't important to him. While most girls seem to fall for this type of guy as law, Lee Gyu Won enters the scene comprising of the one and only girl who doesn't care for his arrogance and uncaring attitude, especially during situations that seem to matter to her. Watching him very rudely reject girls and then blow her off as just another girl vieing for his attention, Gyu Won is determined to hate this guy. But as fate would have it (as dictated by the ALMIGHTY DIRECTOR) Lee Gyu Won eventually ends up falling for Lee Shin's mysterious and somehow attractive bad boy attributes after becoming his slave for one month.

Having been described as a girl who easily puts people's hearts at ease as her main attractive trait, it would only be a matter of time before Lee Shin also falls for Gyu Won.

Included in the story line alongside the main love story are two other side romances as well as the 100th Anniversary Celebration musical for the college to participate in. Kim Suk Hyun, a successful director who just returned to South Korea from Broadway, has been asked to help put together this musical because he is an alumn from the university. A predictable meeting with his ex-girlfriend, Jung Yoon Soo, currently a dance professor, catapults old feelings as well as the anger and sadness from their unsettled break-up from long ago when Yoon Soo left him to pursue her dancing dreams in New York.

Yeo Joon Hee is the adorable young drummer of The Stupid who has the appetite of a starved bear and always runs around dressed like a mess unless he's performing with his band. After a chance encounter with Han Hee Joo during her dance practice, it seems to be love at first sight as Joon Hee immediately claims her as his goddess and pitifully follows her around, deciding that they are meant to be a couple. Han Hee Joo, unfortunately, seems to think differently, only caring about her dream of becoming famous. As the daughter of the school board director, she has been given the advantage in her dreams as well as a spoiled and arrogant personality that pretty much causes her to have no friends or allies in her battles.

Heartstrings had started off as a gift from Korean drama to insiginificant little me, just as it had been for nearly all the fangirls out there who hoped and prayed for the fated pairing of Jung Yong Hwa and Park Shin Hye after their excellent chemistry from You're Beautiful. It was a delight just to be able to watch these two people interact as the developing main couple and when the time came for them to officially get together, I'm sure all fangirls were squealing in delight.

It is unfortunate, however, that Heartstrings is just like any other romance series with the same plot devices and the same formulas, following along the same predictable trail. After the couple got together, while there were a lot of entertaining and fun, sweet moments, the series itself seemed to lose all steam. In fact, even before the couple got together, Heartstrings was slowly becoming "just another common anecdote on the streets." Without a fairly stable, strong story line to follow, I suddenly began to recognize this series for it's intended value: a place where everyone's favorite people could come together and tell an attempted outstanding story; a place where everyone's favorite couple could become a love story.

This is not to say that I didn't really enjoy Heartstrings... because I did find it a nice experience from beginning to end. There were not too many complicated love triangles or strange conspiracies, and aside from the ending, there weren't too many unnecessary conflicts occurring. This story, was a straight forward, "How we got together" type of deal and it worked out just like that. It touches slightly upon the importance of pursuing one's dreams and how hard work and persistence may or may not pay off in the end. But then again, what series doesn't touch upon some inspirational quote like that sometimes?

The actors were good solid talent as far as Asian drama standards, although there was a lot of stiffness coming from some of the more amateur actors such as Jung Yong Hwa and Kang Min Hyuk, one who seemed to have trouble conveying more than one emotion and the other who seemed like the was simply reading directly from the script, respectively. Park Shin Hye was her utmost charming self as a more experienced actress among the crowd and sparkled in her role. The adults were kind of insignificant, really, and the Kim Suk Hyun/Jung Yoon Soo romance really didn't do anything for me.

The music was wonderful to listen to as it was probably the more significant element in the series, comprising of songs sung by Jung Yong Hwa, Park Shin Hye, C.N. Blue, F.T. Island, and many others. I especially liked to hear the combination of The Stupid and The Windflowers playing, fusing modern music with traditional music, giving off some very beautiful sounds for the audience to enjoy. Comedic antics weren't always the laugh out loud type, but were nonetheless good attempts at humor, and the chemistry between the cast members was undeniably wonderful.

While not the best drama series this year, it is an enjoyable experience if you're looking for something entertaining to keep you occupied before the next big thing.

***

Related articles:
thoughts: Heartstrings - a more in depth look at the series in discussion
first impression: Heartstrings - a first look at the series from day one
news: Heartstrings dropped to 15 episodes

***

thoughts: Heartstrings (Korean)

(넌 내게 반했어 - Neon Naege Banhesseo)
You've Fallen For Me

Jung Yong Hwa as Lee Shin
Park Shin Hye as Lee Gyu Won
Song Chang Ui as Kim Suk Hyun
So I Yeon as Jung Yoon Soo
Woori as Han Hee Joo
Kang Min Hyuk as Yeo Joon Hee

For more information on Heartstrings: Heartstrings @ dramawiki


With the ending of Heartstrings, of course, comes a whole new review post full of spoilers and personal opinions formed from various matters occuring, even within this simple college love story.

Because this post includes a lot of spoilers and may ruin the series' fresh viewing experience, a warning is now being issued to proceed with caution. For a shorter, less revealing article about Heartstrings, check out the related introductory post: intro info - Heartstrings.

If you don't like spoilers, I would suggest reading that one first for summary info and brief thoughts about Heartstrings by this blogger.



Heartstrings is a series that follows Lee Shin and Lee Gyu Won through their trials and tribulations (if you can even really call it that) as they meet, greet, and fall in love. Of course, their course isn't as simple as falling for each other instantaneously; however, their story isn't as complicated as a Romeo and Juliet melodrama either (although it could have been). The series begins as a simple college love story waiting to blossom and up to the very end, it remains a simple college love story developing into a happy ending.

My only complaints about the series include: 1) the sudden male ego trip that Lee Shin goes through at the end of the series that brings up the age-old soapbox of irritation that I try not to storm into too regularly -- although it may be addressed in another article at some other point in time; and 2) the fact that the story line sort of loses it's "go power" mid-way through the latter half of the series making it feel more like a "when is this story ending" type of deal rather than a "I can't wait to see what happens next" type of anticipation.

The backdrop of Heartstrings surrounds music and depicts the musical performance that comes as the most important event to occur for the university of fine arts students.

Jung Yong Hwa and Park Shin Hye release all of their charm and acting charisma for this sweet and fun series from beginning to end, presenting their characters in all their glory.

Lee Gyu Won is portrayed by Park Shin Hye as a bubbly, head-strong, sweet and duty-bound normal girl. Raised by her grandfather to respect and be influenced by traditional Korean music, Gyu Won really knows nothing else about the life around her. Because she loves and respects her grandfather, Gyu Won is hard pressed to do anything that will upset him, because ever since her father was kicked out of the home, there is no one else around to take care of the old, stubborn fool of a man, Lee Dong Jin.

On a side note, despite his stubborn traditional ways, Lee Dong Jin is actually a rather adorable, interesting, and entertaining grandfather figure. His relationship with Gyu Won really isn't as bad as it might have seemed and his way of caring about her is fairly different from even a tough parent. He worries about her and does his share of housework as well as spends his time fretting about Gyu Won's future in traditional music, playing the large stringed gayageum. He even goes all the way to the university to cheer Gyu Won on with her competition against Lee Shin's band, The Stupid; and then he shows up to the musical despite his dislike for it and claiming time after time that he would not bother with anything related to Western music.

He gives into Gyu Won time and time again, allowing her to do as she pleases, and forgiving her despite her blatant disobedience to his demands. Even though he openly treats her with loud commands and slave-driving force, it is all in his form of expressing his love and care. It basically comes down to, "You are Lee Dong Jin's granddaughter. If you're going to do something I don't approve of, you better make sure you be the best, no matter what."

It is a strange one, the relationship between Gyu Won and her grandfather, but it is also one that makes for a heart-warming trait in the series. As far as Lee Dong Jin goes, in spite of his stubbornness, I really did enjoy his presence and the series wouldn't have been the same without him.

Back to Gyu Won, despite her intended description as a plain and unattractive girl, I'm sure that no one in their right mind would believe the presence of Park Shin Hye to be unattractive. While Gyu Won seems to be a carbon-copy created character for Park Shin Hye, there is no doubt that the actress gives the role her own adorable spin and charm that brings Lee Gyu Won into the limelight readily. There is a certain charm that Park Shin Hye possess that makes it hard not to follow her closely in her role as Lee Gyu Won, and makes her a readily loveable main female protagonist. The onscreen presence of Park Shin Hye is something to reckon with and in the future, I have high hopes that she will become a big hit no matter where she goes.

Lee Shin is a cold-hearted (supposedly), indifferent guitarist and singer. As his biological father notes, the life of a musician is a lonely one, which is what it seems that Lee Shin is trying to project to the audience as well as his fellow college mates. He does what he wants and doesn't bother to care about anyone else, speaking little and ignoring what he wants to ignore. Jung Yong Hwa pulls off this personality quite well, being his second series in a major role; instead of acting out the charming and sweet princely character that his debut in You're Beautiful is loved for, he manages to do a complete one-eighty with Lee Shin and simply act out a jerk face without a care in the world.

And so it is no surprise that Shin and Gyu Won start off on the wrong foot with one another starting from episode one. Gyu Won plays witness to his arrogance when he rudely rejects a girl asking him out, telling her simply that he doesn't like "ugly girls." Even I had thought, "Ouch, that was harsh." He even goes on to call Gyu Won an "ugly girl" as well and I was shocked that anyone, even in the fictional world, would call a woman like Park Shin Hye "ugly." And so, no doubt, it was definitely NOT love at first sight for these two. Because even with Gyu Won's attempts at being a civil and sincerely kind person towards Shin, he doesn't reciprocate and continues to treat her like dirt; even after he starts to warm up to her a little bit due to their little master-slave contract.

Of course, Shin is the type who can't seem to figure out his own feelings anyway. He's obsessed with being in love with the dance professor, Jung Yoon Soo, who has hinted time and time again that she doesn't want him acting that way. She claims that his love for her is more like having pity for an injured animal than anything else and so even the viewers wonder: did Shin really harbor real feelings of love for this woman like he claimed? Because after meeting with Gyu Won and slowly letting her grow on him, he seems to very easily switch his heart's direction towards the bubbly girl. He's pretty easily moved by her confession as well as her declaration to him that she will forget and move on when he doesn't reciprocate her feelings. He starts to look for her all the time, wondering how she's doing and worrying that she's struggling with her feelings. And then eventually, he starts to fall for her.

Lee Shin might have been attracted to Jung Yoon Soo in the beginning, but before he even moved on from the dance professor, he'd already slowly allowed Gyu Won into his heart, even if he wouldn't admit it. Because throughout their hostile relationship, he still seems to find the time to look for Gyu Won or think about how he will tease her or the like. For an indifferent guy like Lee Shin, to even put that much effort into another person is a rather significant feat.

In a sense, it could really be said that Lee Shin's feelings for Jung Yoon Soo really were just a simple child's crush for a woman he couldn't have. They weren't strong enough that he could smile so warmly at the thought of Gyu Won's strange and petty actions like claiming that she'd spit in his coffee.

And so, even as it is evident that our main couple is none other than Lee Shin and Lee Gyu Won, the series does a rather good job of laying the foundation for their eventual getting together plot. The fact that they come together as "frenemies" who bicker all the time, then as Gyu Won harboring a crush on Lee Shin, then onto being awkward friends, and finally lovers... It just seemed like a really natural process.

The rest of the characters and their side plots play off rather nicely, but seemed like they were just a bunch of anecdotes that didn't quite know where they were headed. And so before things could become more complicated for anyone else, a considerate resolution was presented to them, courtesy of the ALMIGHTY DIRECTOR AND HIS WRITERS.

Kim Suk Hyun, played by Song Chang Ui, is a former alumn of the series' university, a man who has returned to his country after a successful run as a director for Broadway musicals. He has been asked to return to the college and help put together the 100th Anniversary Celebration performance. Using his name, apparently, will bring in the fame and really good sponsors. Opposite him is So I Hyeon's Jung Yoon Soo, the dance professor and choreographer for the celebration performance.

Very early on, we discover that these two have an untold, melancholic past wherein Jung Yoon Soo, due to her pursuance of her dreams, leaves Kim Suk Hyun to go to New York. Of course, then she comes into a bad accident and ends up coming home to teach at the university. But because of her abandonment, the now Broadway director has been harboring ill-met feelings of hostility towards her, even rewriting the celebration performance to mirror the history between the two of them just to humiliate her. This hostility between the two seem as if there requires an act of god to fix since neither of the two are willing to talk things over despite still having feelings for one another.

But then that act of god (a la the ALMIGHTY DIRECTOR) really DOES step in and has Suk Hyun forgiving Yoon Soo out of the blue and asking her if they could start their love story all over again. She agrees and the two start seeing each other as a more matured version of the love story, wherein Yoon Soo will take a level-headed stance on their relationship so as not to screw things up with Suk Hyun again. And so it seems that no matter what happens with our beloved Director, Yoon Soo is willing to stick it out with him, standing by his side to support him. Even the rumors that are spread about him and Gyu Won don't do anything to destroy this newly reformed perfect romance. And from then onward, their relationship continues to progress in a very stable fashion without unnecessary complications or the like.

It is a very refreshing concept in terms of the drama land romance genre. Once they got together, these two just stayed together and it was nice. Granted, it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference if they'd hated each other at the beginning or not since their relationship sails smoothly for the rest of the series. This is a striking contrast to a lot of different young romances which allows both sides to easily let go of their anger and their misunderstandings so that they could be together once again; the adult way of handling a relationship, no doubt and allowing for none of that BIG MISUNDERSTANDING turning point, even though there were hintings at a possible complicated "love rectangle" between this couple an the main couple.

In a way, even though the series kept trying to hint at that complicated love rectangle, I'm glad that it was easily dropped and forgotten. There was no need for a strange Kim Suk Hyun/Lee Gyu Won/Lee Shin mix up at all. Kim Suk Hyun's interest in Gyu Won remained strictly professional -- he saw her as the next big hit in musicals and that was all.

To the rest of the school, to Gyu Won, and even to Lee Shin, Kim Suk Hyun was merely the mature and wise Broadway director who would mentor and lead them through one anecdote in their lives. At first, while he seemed like he would be an arrogant man who thought he was good stuff just because he'd come back from Broadway fame, his encouragement, his actions and his words were actually really rational and professional. He knew what he wanted and he knew how to treat the "kids" in order to have progress in their goal rather than causing problems.

Of course, his talent doesn't go without complications. And so we can see that, whether as young teenagers, adolescent college students, or even full blown adults of society, there are always petty jealousies and the tendency to use back-handed methods just to get rid of what you don't like. Im Tae Joon's role was very apparently the failure of an antagonist to Kim Suk Hyun who seems adamant that things should not be left up to the Broadway director if he has anything to do with it. But time and time again, his methods seem to be blown off, and aside from the Gyu Won/Suk Hyun scandal, nothing else he does seems to work and he eventually has to admit defeat to someone's who has always ousted him in his own department.

"He's just like a puppy!" - Cha Bo Eun

Yeo Joon Hee, played by Kang Min Hyuk who is a fellow C.N. Blue member alongside Jung Yong Hwa, also plays the role of a drummer in the college band. He is friends with Lee Shin and encompasses an adorably fun character with an appetite that can never be quenched. Of course, his character's existence, aside from looking pretty and being cute, is rather flat and insignificant. I'm sure rabid fangirls out there will disagree with me, but the fact of the matter is, what does this guy actually contribute to the series by being in random scenes where he's reciting strange poems and crushing on Han Hee Joo? I agree that he is a very adorable, puppy-like boy and I enjoy every scene that he's in. And maybe his existence is to help counter Han Hee Joo's selfish, rude, arrogant, spoiled personality and turn her into a better person. He certainly DOES manage to slowly change Han Hee Joo's heart as he persistently wiggles his way into her life, showing her the friendship and care that she's probably never seen before.

But ultimately, there's nothing else that he does, which very easily renders him as a very minor supporting character. Because even Han Hee Joo (Woori) has a much more significant presence than he does -- her homework is to allow the character to develop and grow into a nicer person. Yeo Joon Hee, on the other hand, starts off as an adorable puppy and ends off as an adorable puppy with the same sweet, friendly, and strange personality from beginning until ending.

Moving onto Han Hee Joo, I will definitely say that this girl has, tacked on her forehead, "A List of Reasons Why You Should Hate Me." It's very blatantly obvious why she has no friends and why so many girls talk about her behind her back. As the school board director's daughter, she is arrogant and rude, looks down on almost everyone else, and truly believes that she's better at what she does than anyone else in the school. And she's petty too, using meaningless prattle to try to put other people down, but ultimately making herself look kind of stupid.

And so it's not very clear to me why Joon Hee falls in love with her so unhesitatingly. Is it because she's pretty? Because she was a dancing goddess when he first saw her? Does love at first sight really work like that? And even if so, wouldn't her personality eventually repulse even the strongest of men? Or is this something that men actually like to be around? Or maybe it IS just Yeo Joon Hee's strange taste in women...

I don't really get it. She certainly didn't win ME over. But then again, I'm not a young, naive, hormone raging boy. No offense to the Yeo Joon Hee lovers, but I'm afraid there's a bit of judgement impairment in his choice of female suitors. Granted, she DOES redeem herself by the end of the series, but throughout the entirety of the beginning of the series, I couldn't really find anything about her that I liked, except for maybe her undying determination to be the best. But even THAT I ended up finding rather annoying.

Her case against Gyu Won was actually pretty reasonable, though, since it's true that she's worked hard her entire life to see her dream through, whereas Gyu Won's intended contribution to the celebration performance was merely in the music area to begin with. And then suddenly she gets thrown into the acting division to take away what she never really wanted in the first place. But then I thought, who is Han Hee Joo to decide who's worthy of being in the acting division and who's not? So my one attempt at finding something about Han Hee Joo that I could admire was dropped heavily into the ocean.

Because Gyu Won was right: Han Hee Joo worked hard to attain her dreams, but she's not the only one who has worked hard. And so her consistent attempts at putting Gyu Won down were simply without rationale and kind of futile anyway, making her seem more like a fool than anything else.

I think the last straw for me and my attempts at finding something to like about Han Hee Joo were broken when she used Joon Hee to help secure her position as main female lead and to get rid of Gyu Won from the performance altogether. Joon Hee is an innocent boy who really only wants to love and be loved by his "Natasha" goddess. Even though I don't know why he started liking Han Hee Joo in the first place, there's no questioning that as he continued to pursue her, he began to admire her strong determination and her hard work and her passion for the arts. Joon Hee is a kind young man with a very, very good heart, but because he thought that he would get Han Hee Joo into trouble, he agreed to lie for her, telling people that he was not with her on that fated day that the students were to perform for the sponsors. Han Hee Joo, being lured away by Joon Hee's kindness and lots of "non-fattening" foods, misses the practice performance showing, allowing Gyu Won to shine in front of all the people. And so she is even more determined to get rid of Gyu Won, and in order to do that, no one could find out that she'd snuck away with Joon Hee and had her phone turned off.

And so she goes and tells him to lie for her, not even bothering to tell him that because of this, very dire consequences would come to take place. And so when Joon Hee realizes the seriousness of the situation, he begins to feel guilty and stressed out about it. It is even described that he has stopped eating -- for him, the stress was really just too much to cause him to lose his appetite like that.

How can you possibly let such a sweet and pretty boy go through this kind of trauma? He's an innocent and he doesn't deserve to be made into a guilty party like that. How could anyone stand to watch as the poor guy stops eating like he normally does and is constantly conflicted over his own little lie? I would never be able to watch such an innocent puppy look depressed and traumatized by his own guilty actions.

And so despite her repentance by the end of the series wherein she merely stops being a rude and bratty girl, I still can't really forgive her for what she did to Joon Hee. He may like her a lot, but I don't really harbor any feelings of like in this girl at all.

But of course, just like the rest of the series' side plots, this little side romance is resolved rather flatly. Basically, Han Hee Joo just grows accustomed to having Joon Hee around and is touched by his constant kindness towards her. And then the two unofficially get together. Case closed.

Han Hee Joo's mother suddenly has the need to admit that she'd been too hard on her about being the best and being the most popular girl. This really came out of nowhere. Im Tae Joon, the guy who was causing all the rumors and wanting to get Kim Suk Hyun out of the picture suddenly just stops trying to make trouble and accepts defeat and so along with him the rest of the professors admit their defeat as well. But this is never really shown and is actually assumed when no one tries to fight Kim Suk Hyun's ideals about the celebration performance anymore. Hyun Gi Young's stage fright tendencies were solved before the series even started rolling and there were no signs of relapsing for him, so really, was that anecdote even necessary to appear in the series at all?

Lee Dong Jin stops opposing Gyu Won's desire to do something else with her life rather than playing the gayageum because Grandfather wants her to. This happens because Shin's younger sister has a sudden interest in traditional music and so Grandfather decides to raise a whole new apprentice, finally giving up on his own granddaughter. And so all is forgiven and fixed.

The awkward tension between Gyu Won's father and Lee Shin's mother happens and then just disappears as quickly as it appeared. They were two lovers in the past who missed out on an opportunity to be together, ended up regretting it even after all these years of marrying other people and having children. And then they reunite as friends. Are there really no more strings attached to the relationship that could have been? No lingering feelings of regret? This side plot was let go of almost too instantly.

All of these conclusions seem to just drop out of the sky from the ALMIGHTY DIRECTOR'S tablet of answers. Of course, this might have been forced out since the series was robbed of one episode due to Park Shin Hye's unfortunate car accident causing her to become hospitalized for a duration of time. The writers chose to rewrite some of the script and then had to rush a conclusion in order to wrap up the story within fifteen episodes.

Still, there was a very evident deflation in the story line's development as it progressed after the script change. Nothing else felt exciting anymore after our main couple got together. As Lee Shin holds Gyu Won's hand and tells her that he wished she would fall in love with him again, fangirls all over the world squealed in delight. Even I felt giddy for the newly formed onscreen couple's official getting together. But unlike the rest of the fangirls in the rest of the world, I found that the rest of the series lost steam after that confession was made.

All of the half-begun complications and side plots were forgotten. The series' main goal from then on was to finish off the 100th Anniversary Celebration performance and show a few trials that the couple has to go through in order to end the story with closure.

Sure, I enjoyed following Shin and Gyu Won on their random dates and watching their sparkling interactions with each other. But nothing seemed to excite me about the series anymore and it just felt like watching any other real life couple going around and having fun. It was nice and it was fun and it was enjoyable, but the story had lost it's power suddenly and the authors were trying really hard to fill in the vacant spots with substance.

And so rather than rushing those conclusions, maybe the authors could have used what filler scenes available to them to figure out better ways to finish off the series.

Then again, maybe this is the charm of Heartstrings up until the very ending. It's a simple love story and it remained as a simple love story. There were no extraneous complications and there were no reasons to make things more complicated. We want to end on a happy tone and that's what the fangirls truly want anyway. It's admittedly a refreshing way of bringing about a love story -- no third wheel, no love triangle, no strange conspiracies... just a simple ending. All other side plots tapered off with justifiable and decent resolutions and some side plots just tapered off without a proper resolution. This is real life anyway -- not everything can be resolved and we just have to deal with it that way.

A sweet and simple love story...

Or at least it would have been an ideal simple ending. Because -- SPOILER ALERT -- suddenly we input the BIG MISUNDERSTANDING into our main couple's love story as is apparently necessary in every romance which causes them to separate for a while and have to have a warm reunion where there are hugs and kisses and the like... Totally uncalled for, really, but if that's what the authors were shooting for... I guess... All the power to them. It certainly didn't really do much to make things any better.

Lee Shin didn't need to get hurt and end up having surgery. He also didn't need to push Gyu Won away from him or break up with her. And she should have been given the choice to either leave and pursue her career dream, or remain and pursue the man she fell in love with. That would be her choice ultimately. Or they could have come up with a good solution wherein Shin has his surgery and Gyu Won can STILL go on her one year sabbatical to become a popular celebrity and musical performer.

These kids are too young to be thinking that they don't have other opportunities.

It wasn't like Gyu Won would be leaving forever. After a year of being away for her new career opportunity, she can return to her home and return to Lee Shin and continue to be their lovey-dovey couple. At least during her year away from home, neither of the two would have been so sad and depressed as they ended up being.

So the ending separation and heartbreak was really unnecessary. Why couldn't we just let things be fine and Gyu Won just leave in peace and return to reunite with Shin after her career got jump-started? Why on earth did he think that keeping secrets from her and then breaking up with her would be the right answer? You know, maybe if you hadn't kept your problem a secret in the first place, she wouldn't have been worried to the point that she'd give up her opportunity at being famous to stay with you.

Honesty, apparently, is not common courtesy anymore. His heart was in the right place, but his methods were a little foolish. Once again, this type of plot device just opens up all sorts of soap box ranting that needs to be set aside for a different post later on. Really, this device is used so much for the necessary separation of the main couple that it DOES become kind of tiring sometimes. Especially if the separation was really unnecessary and the story could have just ended "happily ever after" without it and NOT making viewers wonder what the writers were trying to accomplish. In some instances, the BIG MISUNDERSTANDING resulting in their split-up is written rather well and runs smoothly and I find them pretty reasonable, but in other instances, you really just wonder why it was there in the first place.

In Heartstrings, it's obvious that the break up and separation was really unnecessary.

Nonetheless, the series ends on a happy tone and all is well.

The series, despite losing it's power partway through the latter half of the story line was still a delight to watch, just for entertainment value's sake. Ultimately, Heartstrings is a simple love story of how Lee Shin and Lee Gyu Won fall in love. Once they officially become a couple in the series, the story pretty much is done and over with, and so this in itself might be the reason why the story loses its steam by that point in the telling. There's nothing else left but to figure out how to conclude the rest of the series.

The actors were solid and wonderful, the chemistry was great, and scenes were interesting even if the story didn't add up anymore. The date scenes between Shin and Gyu Won were fun to watch and the musical performance (what little of it you get to see) was rather interesting. Although without actually knowing what Kim Suk Hyun had intended to convey with his performance, I don't think I would have figured it out just following along with the musical's story line.

The Windflowers

The Stupid

One factor I wanted to point out were the two music groups introduced in this series: The Stupid and The Windflowers. The Stupid is the college band comprising of four boys who play regularly at a bar called Catharsis in the series; Lee Shin is the leader of the band and pretty much the main reason why the band is so popular since girls all over campus are in love with him. The Windflowers are the five girls from the traditional music department comprising of Lee Gyu Won, her best friend Cha Bo Eun and three others. The ultimate combination of these two bands, western music with traditional music, was a delight to follow along with and the interaction of the members of both groups, though seemingly little and insignificant, was quite nice to see.

"Excuse me.  Can I come back in?  I really don't have anywhere else to go."

Cha Bo Eun, played by Im Se Mi, was a wonderful friend of Lee Gyu Won's to watch during her appearances. Being a great source of comedic relief, I really grew to like her almost immediately, especially during the time she seemed to "keep interfering" whenever Shin wanted to be alone with Gyu Won. The scene where she makes up an excuse to leave the room so that the couple could be together was hilarious and I laughed out loud at her, "Excuse me. Can I come back in? I really don't have anywhere else to go." And she was directing the question at Shin, trying extremely hard not to get on his bad side; after all, the last time she'd done that, he took revenge on her by tricking her into sitting and listening to Gyu Won's harabeoji tell his tale about Lee Dong Jin's life story.

This series boasted a lot of fun and cute scenes, good looking faces and excellent talents and skills. The music was amazing and the singing was on par with excellent. There were little details about the story line that were simply enjoyable during the moment, such as when Gyu Won gets drunk at the senior citizen's home and Shin has to piggy-back her all the way home; or when the couple goes to the art museum for the first date; or even when the entire group of students stays overnight at the school for practice purposes and ends up trying to scour the school for a ghost. It was all in good fun and reminds you of those cute little young adolescent movies or series featuring a group of kids just hanging out at camp or the like.

Nostalgia much...?

Also, Lee Hyun Jin as Hyun Gi Young was a very delicious presence to squealy fangirls (myself included) because, well, aside from having a very radiant smile and a wonderful singing voice, the personality of Gi Young was pretty down-to-earth. He did not present as an obstacle for anything and he was... well...

O.O  Hmm....  O.O

There's you're fanservice, courtesy of an innocent and simple and sweet romantic comedy suitable for young girls. Have at it. I think I pretty much dropped my jaw, lost some breath and wrenched my eyes open to ogle stare at this boy when his shirt was torn off during the musical performance.

Yeah... I think I rather enjoyed the musical... fanservice...

But, moving along still...

The actors were what kept the series going, I believe. Despite this being Jung Yong Hwa's second drama series, he does a very good job of portraying his character to a very standard 'T', bringing out the character and then making it his own. I have high hopes for this guy in the future and will continue to follow him if he continues to pursue acting as a side career next to his music.

Does anyone else want that hoodie that Gyu Won is wearing?  So cute!

As for Park Shin Hye, there's no doubting that there is a certain charm to her onscreen presence that not very many actresses have nowadays. She's beautiful, adorable, and normal, all at the same time. You can't help but to be drawn into her character as she presents her role to the audience. No doubt, Park Shin Hye will become the next big hit following her various main lead roles from the past few years and will soon catch up to the likes of other romantic comedy queens or even drama series famous actresses.

Heartstrings... I would recommend this as a source of entertainment to follow along with when you're waiting for something else to watch. But for merely something to become hooked onto; I'm not sure if this would be the one. Highly enjoyable and good fun. Great music and lovable characters. But that's about it. This was, after all, evidently, a series created for the fans.

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Related articles:
first impression: Heartstrings (Korean) - a first look at the series' beginning
news: Heartstrings dropped to 15 episodes

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