# Heartstrings (2011)

> A stubborn gayageum prodigy and a cold, famous band vocalist at a Korean university clash over their music and slowly fall in love.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/36021

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 15
- Episode runtime: 66 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: romance, comedy, drama
- Network: MBC
- Cast: Park Shin-hye, Jung Yong-hwa, Song Chang-eui, So I-hyeon, Kang Min-hyuk, Kim Yoon-hye, Lee Hyun-jin, Im Se-mi
- TMDB rating: 7.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2623064/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: breezy, witty, sincere, wistful, playful

## Synopsis

Heartstrings (2011) is a South Korean MBC romantic comedy-drama miniseries, a single-season run of fifteen episodes, set in a contemporary Korean university. Park Shin-hye plays Lee Gyu Won, the daughter of a celebrated pansori maestro and a gayageum protégé who enrolls in the traditional gugak program. Jung Yong-hwa plays Lee Shin, the cold, taciturn vocalist and guitarist of the popular band The Stupid, who scorns gugak as boring. Their daily collisions over the value of their respective music become the engine of the show, pushing two proud, headstrong students toward a relationship neither expected. Supporting principal characters, including Song Chang-eui as Kim Suk-hyun and So I-hyeon as Jung Yoon-soo, widen the circle of classmates, bandmates and rivals. Each episode is built from campus rehearsals, performances, family expectations and small romantic skirmishes. The tone is breezy and witty with sincere, wistful undercurrents, and the music itself gives the series a distinctive texture. Fans of Coffee Prince and You're Beautiful will find resonance in its mismatched leads and youthful sparkle.

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