Beethoven Virus

I'm making my way through some of the more popular Korean dramas available on this site and through other providers, and this one may be the best. It's a very moving, intelligently written, drama with wonderful performances. Unlike other shows, this one is bittersweet, much like real life, in that not all dreams come true and there are constant big and little battles that need to be fought and may not be resolved. The battle of wits between the two male leads, whose characters are both named "Kang Gun Woo" but are better referred to as "Nice Gun Woo" (the young one) and "Mean Gun Woo," (the tempestuous maestro conductor) is what binds the series together, but the supporting roles add considerable depth. Please HULU, continue to provide this type of quality entertainment, wherever it may originate from!

I picked this show up because I fell in love with Jang Geun-Suk in You're Beautiful and Marry Me, Mary! I'm not a fan of his short hair style but his cuteness comes out in spurts throughout this drama. Although he plays a 2nd lead he turned his character into an admirable person.Beethoven Virus didn't have the strongest start. It took me until episode 3 to really grasp what happened in the first two. Kang Gun Woo Sr. is a trip! You'll love to hate him. His performance is what kept me watching through some of the weaker episodes. As we near the half way point the story picks up the pace and you really start to feel the characters love for music and their devotion to the pieces they play.Other than the slow starting pace, the only gripe I have is that I didn't find Rumi appealing as a lead female (greatly outshined by secondary actresses by the way), Her character's personality and situation was almost pointless. All it did was enhance the performances of the lead males. If she weren't in the show at all, the drama wouldn't suffer.This isn't one of those cutesy-poo romantic comedy Kdramas. This one maintains a serious tone. There's lots of side-story telling full of close-to-home style tension involved with the other characters. In the end I was left smiling and satisfied with the result.

Such a great show! While there is still some of the typical drama clichés, it also approaches real-life issues in a relatable, realistic way. I thought Du Ru-mi's deafness was a little far-fetched and generally unnecessary to the plot, but the romance was downplayed which is something intriguingly unusual for most Korean dramas. Most significantly, the entire orchestra's constant struggle with finances and recognition really hit home for me. As someone who has played in orchestras throughout my schooling, I really appreciated a Korean drama that maturely approached themes I have enjoyed for years.Really, the only thing that bothered me about this show was the fact that some of the actors obviously couldn't play their instruments. However, compared to other music shows I've seen, they seemed to have worked very hard to be able to fake relatively well.Beethoven Virus has indisputably the best music/soundtrack of any Korean drama I have ever seen!