Reviews

As a person who's watched the Itazura na Kiss anime then, the first 90's Japanese version drama of Itazura na Kiss, then It Started with a Kiss, then They Kissed Again, then Playful Kiss and now this recent adaptation I have to say this is the best version of this manga once you minus the over the top cartoon like antics they give Kotoko in all the other versions which makes her borderline annoying and make you cringe in pity for her character when you just want someone to step in and save her from herself and the coldness of Irie / Zhi Shu / Baek Seung Jo as she faces endless rejection over and over again.

There is a refreshing open emotion in his facial expressions to this Irie that the other versions do not touch on. There is a real sweetness to this version that should not be over looked. I'm only on episode 9 but I love how they gave a cameo appearance to the 90's original Japanese versions actress as playing the nurse if you ever sat through the old crazy 90's version you know that woman's ears a mile away lol. It too is also comical given how the character eventually becomes a nurse so it's a strange little full circle moment there between the past and present actresses and how she stumbles as if to say Irie and then flees the room lol.
I find it unique how the writers in this are combining scenes from both the Taiwanese version and the Japanese versions together and meshing them together. I dunno how this version is going to end but I'm really looking forward to the coming ep.'s to see any of the more changes they have made.

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Considering the last drama I watched was Fashion King (which was a pile of poop), anything would be better than that! Heartstrings is thus titled as a "recuperating" drama, where viewers recuperating from Go Mi Nyeo and Kang Shin Woo not ending up with each other (in the "You're Beautiful" drama) can have that satisfied, or viewers recuperating from wretched previous dramas can enjoy the lighthearted mood of this one.

And that's basically it; this drama is mellow and for the ones that are content at heart! The acting is great, the characters are very adorable and mild in temper (Hee Joo was technically capable of more damage), and the story line is very stress-free and happy! And, of course, the music is awesome (as expected, with the cast being, well, the cast!)~

I recommend giving this drama a watch for several main personal reasons: it's short, it's mellow, and it'll leave you smiling at the end! :)

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I don't know where to start! My drama friends have been trying to get me to watch this for awhile and I was hesitate when it was being broadcasted because I was watching too much drama. So finally I took the challenge of marathon watching this. Man, am I glad that I did. Let's start with the acting:

Everyone did a fantastic job! From Lee Jin Wook as Sun Woo to Jeong Dong Hwan as Choi Jin Cheul! I loved the way everyone played their parts and held your attention whenever they were on the screen. Jo Yoon Hee as Min Young was simply charming. I have to point out that my favorite was Sun Woo's buddy played by Lee Seung Jun was amazing! His portrayal of Han Young Hoon was STELLAR! He amazed me with his expressions, his tears, his joy, just about everything.

Music: I loved how you had a blend of every type of music from the 90's, whether it was western or korean; just about everyone was featured. I loved how the music fit the scene and helped, you the viewer feel what was going on in the scene.

Action: AMAZING!! That's all I need to say!!

Direction and Writing: This team of Director: Kim Byung-Soo and Writers: Song Jae-Jung, Kim Yoon-Joo; they must continue to work together. Studios? Just keep them together!! With this being their second work together (Queen InHyun's Man being the first), this is a team that no other can match!!

Romance: We got real kisses, folks!! Big smack-a-roos and deep soul kisses! I have no complaints on the romance! No deer in the headlights for this drama.

So is it worth 20 hours? Damn right!! Will you be bored? Most definitely not! The ending kind of left you open but what do you expect for time-travel where the cause and effects are definitely shown here brilliantly!! This is now my #1 favorite Fantasy drama!!

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What a roller coaster this drama was! I'm glad I picked this drama back up, cause I went a while without watching it, and I gotta say the twists and turns only get better as this drama progresses. **Small Spoiler: They get better specifically when he regains his memories.** The plot, in my opinion, never had a dull moment. This drama was filled with a lot of drama and suspension, but still slipped in some comedic relief. Not much romance, since they had a slow progressing relationship, but definitely had their share of cute and light-hearted moments.

I actually liked the cast. I've watched Kang Ji Hwan in previous dramas, so I knew he would deliver well. As for Hwang Jung Eum, this was my first drama of hers, but I thought her performance as Bok Jae In was so good. This particular character could be difficult to portray, but she did it very well without going overboard.

I personally didn't think the OST was that bad. Definitely downloaded a few songs and momentarily listened to them on repeat, although they were nothing I got too excited over.

I probably wouldn't rewatch this a 2nd time, since almost every person in this drama managed to piss me off at least once at some point, but regardless this drama was great and beautifully written. Something you've got to watch at least once, so I highly recommend this drama. It will leave you on the edge of your seat every episode!

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This drama has all the possibilities of greatness, but it fails miserably. The ending is even ridiculous. The writers are just dreadful...lol...that is why I gave the story a 2. There were so many great things they could have done with the concept of the story which I thought was pretty interesting. Long lost brothers and mother, betrayal, romance, murder, and attempted murder...sounds like a great drama waiting to happen. However, a lot of the characters are inconsistent and undeveloped. Plus, I would have liked to see more of the brothers together.

Lets start with the really bad acting of Shin Se Kyung. I admit I knew what I was doing when I started watching it. The weird thing is that Mi Do is so much like Ga Young (Fashion King)...neither characters are ever happy no matter what the main lead or even the second lead does for them. Regardless of the character, Shin Se Kyung can't act. She isn't believable. At least her face changed expression a few times in this drama. Still, it is just blah!!!

OK, enough of that.

I know there are many viewers out there that don't like Song Seung Hun, but I love him. He has in the past had an eye bulging problem when trying to show surprise or anger, but he kept that totally under control. Tae Sang felt authentic and I really like the mix feel of bad boy, gangster with naïve and soft lover and friend. He is the best part of the whole drama.

Yun Woo Jin had no hope of showing his acting skills, because Jae Hee is an atrocious character. For someone that is so smart that he went to college abroad...blah...blah...blah, why did the writers turn him into a total idiot. Are we supposed to believe that "When A Man Loves" he does a 180 in character? That is all I get from his role.

There were a lot of unnecessary characters. However, I enjoyed Kim Seo Kyung acting as Roy and the adoptive father as well.

The music is fine.

I will never rewatch this.

I won't recommend this drama. I will end with this. If you liked Fashion King, then this drama is for you. If you didn't like Fashion King, then this drama is only marginally better...you have been warned. If you have never seen Fashion King, then good for you...don't watch this either. :-)

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This drama was...okay. I liked it, but it didn't have that *OMGHAVETOWATCHTHENEXTEPISODENOW* feeling I get with some dramas. I definitely liked You're Beautiful better.

To be honest, I think the main thing that was lacking in this drama was chemistry. I know a lot of people liked Park Shin Hye and Jung Yong Hwa together, but I just didn't feel it.

The plot was pretty good, though. I liked how the story progressed and Park Shin Hye's dilemma over classical versus contemporary music was interesting to watch.

Overall, this drama was a bit of a letdown compared to all the hype I saw on the internet. It was definitely cute, but not life-changing.

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Let the bells ring of love. This drama had it all comedy, romance, and amazing acting so I know people are wondering why I give the drama such average scores with the exception of acting. Allow me to explain myself first.

The story actually had a great start. Instead of skipping the two main leads Zheng Xiao Xiang(Chang Janine) and Ren Jia Kai( Ho Peter)the writers allowed us to see their background story and how they met before they are separated due to events. When they meet again the love they had for each other, but never blossom blooms as they face problems to keep the love intact. I loved the story. I thought it was original and fresh.
I had no major problems with the story with the exception of the tug of war girls, but they are not the reason I gave Story a 7, the pace is. The show started with a nice pace, yet towards the end in my opinion the pace slowed as the twist and turns surfaced. The ending was a nice one I just wish the pace didn't slowed down as much as it did. You could tell they were trying to drag the story on around episode 13. Other than that great story.
The music is similar. At first I loved the twinkle little star song and it played at appropriate times, yet towards the end it played seemingly whenever. One of the hardest thing about a show is the music. If there is no variety in the bgm(background music) it becomes repetitive and people start to hate it. I think that if they added a few more songs it wouldn't have been so bad.
My favorite thing about this drama is the acting! All the characters held an important role in the story, well except the tug of war girls. Ho Peter is a great male lead and him and Chang Janine had great chemistry. You would think they were a real couple. The chemistry between Chang Janine and the second guy Wang Ke Jie(Xiu Jie Kai) was also good, however the adorable little girl Duo Duo stole my heart. Deng Tracy is one of the best child actors in the Asian drama world. When she cries you cry with her, she is that believable. Never had I felt so much raw emotion from a child actor her age at the intensity I did in this show. I hope I see more of her.
I hoped I explained well enough about my scores. Overall, I liked this show and I would watch it again. I'd have to skip Duo Duo parts to avoid crying. Its a really nice show and regardless of whether or not you agree with this review I hope you check it out.

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Ignore the amount of points I gave to the rewatch value... no matter how good a drama is, I don't think I'll be able to watch it all over again :P
That said, I can continue by expressing how good this drama is. What most stood out to me:
a) The hilarious scenes, which were sometimes paired up with funny melodies. I really did enjoy that.
b) The amazing acting, especially from Cha Seung Won, who plays one of my favorite and funniest characters of all the dramas I've watched, Dokko Jin.
c) The music was also quite good, I loved the entire OST.
I had to give the story an 8, though. In the final episodes I sort of lost interest. But then again, those were the episodes that got more serious. And I guess that an immature 16-year-old like me would obviously prefer the hilarity of the previous episodes. Don't worry, unlike other dramas, the last few episodes aren't filled with useless crying.
Who I'd recommend this to? Anyone who is in for a cute yet more serious romance, hilarious scenes, and wants a break from all the tears. Also, if you're in the mood for some funny engrish, The Greatest Love is for you!

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I'm no expert on the Korean high school experience, but I found myself relating to several issues brought up in this show about the school system, like suicide, overbearing parents (on both their children and teachers), grades and the pressure that comes with it, loneliness etc. I suppose this is what makes the show 'realistic' as these are live issues. These tugged at my heart throughout the show. This is as much a show for students as it is for teachers. It looks not only at the pressures on students but also on teachers.

Interestingly, modern themes like social networking etc don't really figure much in the show, but it doesn't bother me. Every generation will obsess over something trendy, but the friendships and relationships formed around these trendy things will be universal from generation to generation. Where there's a classroom with students, there will be gossip, some troublemakers and lots of friendship. As for modern technology like tablets and smartphones, and why they don't appear much in this show, my guess is this class is mainly made up of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, so they don't possess such expensive gadgets.

As others mention, there is no romance in this show. Personally romance didn't figure in my high school experience, so it wasn't a big factor for me. In fact I preferred that way as I could then focus on other themes I felt were more important. The tone of the show is certainly gloomy. Its pace faltered, especially at episodes 10-13. I could feel like some plots being rehashed at some points. But happily, it picks up at episode 14.

Many episodes brought me on a roller coaster ride of emotions - from moments that made me sob like a baby, to moments where all I wanted to do was bitch-slap some of the villainous and know-it-all characters in the class. Well, all in the day of a Korean drama watcher.

On the bromance point, it is resolved quite soon in the show, leaving us with a good balance of passive-aggressive expressions of concern for each other, and cute moments of friendship and brotherly love among the characters, for better or for worse. I do hope to see Lee Jong Suk and Kim Woo Bin more on the Korean drama and movie scene soon (doesn't hurt that they're pretty cute haha).

I was particularly moved by Jang Nara's performance as the caring homeroom teacher of the class. I could feel a teacher's sincerity through each gentle word of encouragement or comfort she spoke to her students.

On previous criticisms that the ending is 'abrupt' or too open-ended, I feel the tone of the drama would have been disrupted if the ending was too neat or fairy-tale. Students' lives won't necessarily be transformed and their problems won't be instantly solved because of one good year with one good teacher (not doubting the transforming power of one good teacher though). In addition, the fact that the characters are young students means the future is always open-ended and open to change. So I actually really like the ending.

All in all, a good line from the show to sum it up is: "It's not yet time to let go of the kids' hands."

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This is one of the goofiest shows I have ever seen. Seriously.
Basically the whole idea of characters that understand the "bigger picture", as it were, sounds really kind of strange going in...and it just keeps getting stranger.
There's a lot of humor in this show that wasn't laugh-out-loud funny to me, but it was funny in a kind of "oh, boy, that was a bad joke" way...and there are a few facepalm moments in there too.
I love the whole idea of the characters being able to step outside of the story and see what "has to happen for the story to move forward" and things like that. There are a lot of remarks made along those lines, particularly from the captain.
I also love the show's attitude when it comes to the fourth wall. Basically, from very early on it's like the writers said, "The fourth wall? Pshhh, what's that?"
Over all, really goofy and funny show. I'd recommend to anyone that likes mysteries but wants a bit of a parody or play-up of those kinds of scenarios. Oh, and be prepared for a VERY unusual ending.

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I must say, going into this I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into. I like George Hu and I've seen enough of Park Shin Hye to know she's a good actress, so I thought I'd watch this.
Personally, the acting was spot on. George Hu and everybody else did a really good job. From what I've seen of Park Shin Hye, I always seem to watch the dramas where she plays a VERY naive innocent kind of girl, which is not a problem because she's good at it.
The only thing that REALLY bugged me about this drama was the voice-over they had to do for Park Shin Hye. Because of that, I probably won't watch it again (at least not any time soon), but this was an enjoyable venture for me. The story was cute, the characters were well-adapted (I've never seen anything of the manga or anime, so I really have nothing to compare this to, but oh, well), and the script had just the right balance of touching, goofy, serious, and downright facepalm moments. I'd definitely recommend it if you like silly and somewhat ridiculous plot lines with a few touching moments on the side.

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