She Was Pretty (2015)

She Was Pretty at first seemed to me like any other drama... apart from the strong best friend relationship that's clearly visible in the first episode. I was totally addicted to the friendship of the leading women in this drama.

Then there was this cute story of this long lost first love, that due to all kind of shitty life things, got lost. And whoo, after so many years they find each other again and it's just hilarious.

THEN there's Siwon. As there is no other way to describe, he's just the life of the party called She Was Pretty. When everything in the storyline went a bit bad - there was Siwon. And I loved his role in this drama.

It was fun to see a bit of in depth 'magazine making' and just the general message of "follow your dreams - even though life is hard and you don't really dare to dream so much anymore". I loved it. This is a the kind of drama that picks you up after a long day at work (or school/uni). Or just when you just had a really shit day. It's like a warm blanket of happy and fuzzy and cute.

Also this is my first time writing a recommendation/review - I've watched many drama but never really found it necessary to write a review. So yay, She Was Pretty! :D

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I started watching this because I wanted to specifically watch a romance, and not something emotionally heavy. This definitely was the right choice for that kind of drama, though what I really liked about it was unexpected.

The story is extremely basic as far as romances go. There's nothing new about a pretty girl pretending to be her supposedly less attractive and insecure friend. There's nothing new about a second lead who has no chance with the main girl. There's definitely nothing new about a makeover, that you know is inevitable from the title alone. Dramas use clichés because they work. The romantic plot is far from original, but the love story is still very sweet.

What was unexpected is that the romantic chemistry is not the main thing that kept me watching. Hye Jin & Seong Jun make a cute couple, but I didn't like them much in the beginning. Seong Jun's abrasive personality, and borderline Asperger's social skills, were a bit of a turn off. He is a jerk so often that it was sometimes hard to actually like him. Hye Jin is the exact opposite. She is nice to a fault, and for the majority of the show she overreacts to any and everything wide eyed and very LOUDLY! She easily says "ottoke" well over a thousand times during this drama, which was becoming annoying, not endearing. Their chemistry, and backstory, does make up for it, but starts to get really extra cheesy in the last few episodes. If The romance alone carried the show It would have gotten old very quickly for me (even with the kissing scenes).

The relationships I actually loved more than the main romance were the friendships with the two supporting leads. Ha Ri and Hye Jin's friendship was so great to see. It felt good to see two friends love and support each other that much. Their friendship is what made watching the love triangle so engaging. I was more concerned with their friendship than with which girl would get the guy.

Then of course there is Si Won. I already read about him stealing the show in reviews before watching, but didn't really think much of his character at first, because he was so silly. After a while it was clear that he was not only the true star of this drama, but also hands down my favorite character. His scenes made me laugh (the "Jackson" thing was so funny to me) and broke my heart (had me literally tearing up). Soon I was more invested in his friendship with Hye Jin than the main couple. Whenever he wasn't on screen he was missed (Ironically I felt the exact opposite way about him in "The King of Dramas")

The rest of the cast was good, and I did like the staff at THE Most (especially the ridiculous Kim Ra Ra, who was consistently doing "the most"), so the scenes regarding the magazine were entertaining. The magazine plot does start to take up most (pun intended) of the show's time in later episodes, but there wasn't much to that story either. It was clear throughout this drama that they were trying their best to stretch the story out to fit 16 episodes - which of course means plenty of flashbacks, frustrating coincidences, and scenes meant to sell you a particular Nikon camera lol.

It's also been a while since I liked a soundtrack, and I liked this one. They even threw in the song from "A Tale of Two Sisters", for dramatic effect, which is one of my favorites. I'm also a fan of the Carpenters.

I don't know if I would rewatch anything more than specific scenes. There were just too many filler moments to make me want to watch the entire drama again. However, I did end up marathoning through it in 3 days (so it wasn't too boring), and I really did love the ending. Not only did I love the way they wrapped up what happened with all the characters, but the overall moral (about being supporting characters vs leads in our own life stories) really touched me.

Overall, As rom coms go, I was not disappointed. The plot is far from perfect, but characters were the driving force in this drama, not the story. Being predictable didn't stop me from wanting to watch it all happen anyway. If you watched "Kill Me, Heal Me" and wondered "what if..." then you may get a kick out of just seeing Hwang Jung Eum and Park Seo Joon together again. If you even slightly like Si Won, you should definitely watch him in his element. I hesitate to recommend "She was pretty" in general, because there's nothing extraordinary about it, but it still delivered what I expected it to in an entertaining way. Sometimes a simple love story, with some laughs, is all the drama you need.

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2nd ML was the MVP

There is second lead syndrome and then there is whatever I got with this show! Honestly for me the 2nd lead stole the show, he was the show! He could have easily come across as childish, irritating and annoying (and sometimes he did) but most of the time he was instead charming, fun and sweet, all these thanks to the actor. The FM had practically the same characteristics as the 2nd ML and was supposed to come off as quirky and likeable, but in reality, she was just annoying and childish. I think although the actress is a really good one, she just couldn’t pull out this kind of character.
I won’t say I have second lead syndrome because:1)Honestly for me the 2nd ML was the main character for this show and 2) I don’t think I wanted him to end up with the FL, she just doesn’t deserve him.
Also, it kind of bugged me that they tried to tell us the the FM was ugly because of the hair and the red spots! She was just not!
All in all is not that I did not enjoy the show, I did and the chemistry between the characters is there but there were some things that kind off took me out of it and didn’t really allow me to fully embrace it!

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Such a weird drama. I'm a sucker for office-based romances and Park Seo-Joon, and I do enjoy Hwang Jung Eum as an actress, so my expectations were over the moon for this one, but the writing is so bad I don't even know what gave me the strength to finish it. Probably because the direction and the cast are great and they do wonder to save this, which is also the reason why I'm giving this a positive rating too.

But the writing... I don't even know how to begin. There are a lot of gross behavior from most of the characters and it's never addressed in a proper way. ML seems like two different persons throughout the drama, the way his character is built doesn't actually showcases any changes towards his rude behavior, at least not in a believable way. He didn't have to be as unpleasant as he is, even if we consider the 'reason' behind his actions. Then out of nowhere he is a loving and caring person, and we are supposed to accept the mistreatment he delivered towards everyone as something okay??? And of course, the problematic behind the FL being considered 'ugly' just by having frizzy hair and freckles is indeed terrible, and the way things go is as predictable as you may expect.

Overall, 1/3 of this drama is kind of unbearable and annoying, 2/3 is kinda cute and sad and 3/3 is beautiful but a little boring. I don't think I'll re-watch this ever and I don't exactly recommend either.

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A Rom/Com with strange comedy

A light rom/com that has a great concept but misses the mark with the wrong kind of comedy. I’m not sure if it was the script or the actors. I wasn’t a fan of Choi Si Won in this drama, he rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. Maybe it’s because he uses his odd facial expressions too much. He tried to play the part of a love interest that just didn’t work. I like Park Seo Joon and Hwang Jung Eum, so I was drawn to the drama.

It was easy to watch and doesn’t have a lot of twists and turns. It has a sweet romance that will make you smile. Jung Eum is a beautiful actress and even when they try to make her look ordinary, her beauty shows through. She has a great smile and an x-factor vibe. Her comedy is a little weak but her romantic chemistry on screen has no limit when she’s on her game. The story kind of ruined the strength of the romance with so many side antics, so the chemistry between the leads was not earth shattering.

The romance didn’t knock me over but it was there. They took the couple to a happy ending which I always like in a drama. The strange comedy kind of overpowered everything including the romance, and to be honest it wasn’t funny most of the time. But if you like that kind of comedy you may love this series.

Hye Jin, the FL, was fun to watch most of the time. Halfway through the series she went from ordinary to beautiful. There were a few things that didn’t work for me, mainly her interaction with Shin Hyuk. He constantly belittled her and made her the brunt of his jokes. She acted like a naïve school girl around him that made her look weak. Late in the series Shin Hyuk sweeps in and takes her to an amusement park for the day. Doesn’t she know how to say no? She’d already committed to Sung Jun by this time. To me this is strange. You go on a date with a guy who has confessed to you a dozen times when you have already committed to someone else? It just isn’t right. The last hug near the end and the constant reminiscing scenes of the two made me ill.

Sung Jun stayed with his character and handled things fairly well considering he was tricked by the two women. Once he committed to Hye Jin at least he didn’t go on dates with Ha Ri. Once again the comedy comes in during one-on-one moments and some of it was just silly.

Shin Hyuk was obnoxious and overbearing most of the time and constantly tried to be funny. I didn’t see much comedic timing. The script tried to make him a love interest by treating Hye Jin like a buffoon? Was this some kind foreplay to a love relationship? It makes me wonder what kind of relationship experience the writer had to make that connection.

Best friends betraying best friends is always wrong. No matter how it turns out, it isn’t good. The rules of life: you never like, date, kiss, or anything else with a person that’s important to your best friend or sibling, without clearing it with them first. Just avoid those types of encounters, no matter how attractive they may seem. It doesn’t look any better on-screen and it diminished the friendship between Hye Jin and Ha Ri, which they spent so much script time building up.

I like rom/coms where you don’t have to press for comedy. When it’s done right it’s just there without any of the screaming and jumping around.This drama is worth watching if you like rom/coms with the emphasis on the over done type comedy.

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If you're looking for a feel-good romcom without too much makjang, She Was Pretty will deliver. After some initial complications, the story does wind down towards the end - with some revelations and business/magazine arc taking over. The storyline and the chemistry between the cast does make this drama a very easy watch, though the pace does vary quite a bit between the episodes.

I adore the message that the drama conveys and it was really nice to see a love story that wasn't a makjang fest but just a story of the characters finding love and finding their sense of identity and dreams. I really like how the drama doesn't fall onto stereotypes and cliches too often and attempt to subvert the K-drama standards most of the time.

I think the acting was solid throughout the drama - there are many characters who had impeccable comedic timing, such as Choi Si Won and the MOST team, and they really brought life into the drama. Park Seo Joon was great and had awesome chemistry with Hwang Jung Eum, who I think is a great actress and demonstrates her versatility in more emotional and reflective scenes (though she does overact at times).

Rewatch value is good due to its feel-good vibe as there isn't anything that will make your blood boil or that taints the drama too much.

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If I had to describe She was Pretty in one sentence I would say that this is a really average rom-com that will give you a far from average second male lead syndrome.

This is it. That's it. Well I can rant some more if you want me to.

The pros of this drama are really average like : the male lead is hot, it's sometimes funny, the female lead is great when she's with the second male lead ( which makes this advantage kind of a disadvantage).

The cons are weird for me, because I have never experienced them before. For example in every Korean rom-com the male lead is probably the most interesting and diverse out of all the characters and in this drama...I just didn't care about him, he was so basic and boring. Sure he was hot and cute but that's it.
The past and the future in this drama has no connection, because why not. Seong Jun went from a cute boy, to a douche who can't control his emotions. And Hye Jin previously a perfect angel, became a dork (which I don't really mind, but c'mon it doesn't work like that!)
And the worst thing is THE SECOND MALE LEAD SYNDROME. Sure it might be enjoyable at times but in the end you're heart broken thinking about him while the main couple is kissing right in front of you and that, kids, is the epitome of bad writing. Second male lead synrome shouldn't exist. You should care about the main lead more, you should like him more, it's just the law of nature. Ugh...sorry, I am slightly mad. :)))

Nonetheless the drama wasn't bad, it's far from good either, but if you have nothing better to do and want your heart broken then go ahead, watch She was Pretty.

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First, I hesitated to watch the Drama, because at first I didn't like the story. But now I have to say, that I would had been regret it.

Story: Like I said, I didn't like the story at first, but after I watched a few episodes the story got better and better. In my opiniont the story grows more and more from episode to episode until the end. Honestly I liked the 2nd half more than the first half.

Acting: I watched the drama because of Hwang Jungeum and Park Seojoon. Both of them are very good actors. Their chemistry as siblings in 'Kill me, Heal me' was excellent. So I began watching this drama and was excited to see their chemistry as Ex-Classmates. HJE is an ecxellent actress. I learned to know her, when I watched 'Secret'. She is so emotional that I can't name many other actresses like her. Her role was at the beginning (for me) a little annoying. Sometimes I thought "How dumb can she be?". But I liked how her role grows in the drama, so in the end I like Kim Hyejin.
PSJ played Seongjun and I liked him. My first drama wirh him (Which I have finished) was 'Kill me, Heal me' and if Ji Sung hadn't played his role so perfect I had loved him even more (Maybe a second Lead crush^^). But now he was the first Lead and I think it was a better role than in KMHM for him.
Go Junhee acted really well, but her role was annoying. I didn't like her and every time I saw her, I was like 'Oh no, why is she so bad?' And Choi Siwon was good, too. Normally, I don't like many Idols who act, but some of the can act. In my opinion Siwon is an Idol who can act better than he can sing. His role was funny and I think, that he could play a funny and crazy role better than a serious person. The best was "Jackson"^^. I laughed really often. Then ther were two other actors whom I liked. Park Yoohwan and Shin Hyesun. Both of them were so cute.

Music: The music suits the theme of the drama and I like it. The song from Siwon was the best, I think. But the drama as other amazing OST.

If I have time in the future and no other dramas to watch (But I doubt it) I would watch this drama again.

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First of all - the idea for the plot was really great; but it wasn't developed in 100% proper way. Sometimes I felt like the backstories were more interesting that the main story. The love story progress was kind of messy and at times it felt more like a brother/sister relationship to me. Ha Ri's character, even though the actress did a great job, was sort of boring and predictable; she didn't add much to the drama. Her relationships with parents/step-parents/love interests were a big mess. Other supporting characters' stories were great though - especially Siwon's one.

I'm not the biggest fan of Hwang Jung Eum's acting. She's a bit too much for me - this time it wasn't THAT bad, although it made me cringe from time to time. Park Seo Joon started off as a typical, cold, flowerboy-ish character, which isn't really my cup of tea and doesn't really show his acting abilities, but later on when his character changed a bit - it was really pleasant to watch. He has a really cute smile and is great at acting adorable and goofy. SIWON THO - the most shining part of the whole drama. It made me feel like even the producers and writers didn't predict how great his character would be - which led to the feeling of him being more important than the Seo Joon's character. His scenes were more meaningful and symbolic and he kind of just eclipsed the main characters. The Most staff had its better and worse characters: shout out to Shin Dong Mi as the fashion director - it was a minor role, but it was really warm and perfectly created. The worst character was Ra Ra - throwing random phrases and acting all exaggerated is absolutely not my type of humour. Park Yoo Hwan and Shin Hye Sun's roles were also a great addition to the whole drama.

The OST is really good - and while I don't think I'm gonna download the album and put it on repeat - the songs sit in your head for quite a while after watching another episode; especially Siwon's You're the Only One and Kim Min Seung's Thumping.

I rarely rewatch whole dramas; sometimes I just go back to certain scenes (like I did with Coffee Prince or Reply 1997) and this time, the only parts worth rewatching are mainly Siwon's parts - he did a really great job and should definitely receive some kind of award for his portrayal.

Overall - it's not a bad drama and I've watched it whole since I was up to date with the episodes (always watching next one right after it aired); but if I had started watching it later when all of the episodes came out, I don't think I would have watched it all.

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For the hype, I was pleasantly surprised at how well this drama turned out. I am a nut about romantic comedies and this one didn't disappoint!

Story | Typical plot where beauty changes with one of more characters and a love story is produced. Except, I don't know if this is just me, but I have never watched a drama where a main character went from pretty to "ugly" before. I wasn't sure how I'd like this concept since i expected something different with the leads but the way Hye Jin's character was written made this storyline more enjoyable in my eyes.

Cast | Can we all just take a moment and applaud how great The Most staff was. As much as I loved the main leads, the supporting actors were incredible. Anyways, Hwang Jung Eum and Park Seo Joon was such a nice couple to watch. Their chemistry throughout the entire drama was perfect and for me, was a huge reason why I enjoyed this drama. At first I was expecting to find flaws about Jung Eum's acting (or more how she was to play her character) but I think there was a certain charm she gave Hye Jin that made her extremely likable. Park Seo Joon was the perfect Seong Joon. Maybe it was just my preference, but the way he acted with certain facial expression really made me fall in love with his character. And please tell me I'm not the only one who kept saying "my god, Siwon stop" during the entire drama! I admit though, he brought a unique feel to his character and one couldn't help but love his weirdness.

Music | Insert songs, ending music etc were all nice and fit the scenes/drama as a whole perfectly. Genre isn't really my taste but still nice to listen to.

Rewatch | Probably in the future, the whole cast made this drama great. It's only a matter of time before I head back to episode 1.

Overall | Honestly, for how much I praised it, probably could've have been a little better towards the end. I was hooked from episode 1-11 and 12-16 weren't terrible or didn't drag on too much but it seemed like there was a spark missing. Or maybe if the story happened a little differently the last 5 episodes wouldn't have felt so lackluster. It was still enjoyable to watch! I say give it a try, in my opinion, it was worth the hype.

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Male love interests not nice people

I actually had to stop watching this. My problems are:

- Not an amazing OST
- Acting was so-so
- Storyline is clever idea, but pretty bland

My main problem:
Both male love interests are not nice people. The main treats her awfully at the beginning and even after he starts to warm to her, he ends up being mean just because he feels like he should hate her? Because he feels like he's betraying the fake Hye Jin? Like, what?

And when he thinks she's not interested in him romantically, he starts to act distant and really horrible. Like, just because she said no to being romantically interested, that gives him a reason to act like he doesn't care anymore? That childhood friendship doesn't mean much to you once you find out you're not going to be her boyfriend, does it?

The main male character has a boring personality, nothing stands out, he's just so bland.

The second male character is a little better. He's charming, nice, funny, plays tricks on Hye Jin, listens to her, helps with her problems. But then when she turns him down, he starts ignoring her, acting miserable around her, deserts her. Tells her he can't be her friend.

Both love interests are despicable people, and I really don't have an interest in watching this strong female lead get pushed around just because she says she's not interested.

The one saving grace of this drama is the friendship between Ha Ri and Hye Jin, they would be the only reason I keep watching. They have a strong friendship and so much trust.

Hye Jin girl, ditch the two trash men and be with Ha Ri, in my opinion.

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Choi Shi Won and Go Joon Hee were making the show really worth watching. It's a light, positive and fresh series to watch, nothing too complicated but is pretty moving.

I like that story is about a person who tends to be overlooked, it's a lot of emphasis on that. Even as the story progressed and it may look scattered, I get the emphasis on "watch the overlooked people". I find myself moved by the characters who is on the side (Shin Hyeok mostly, and Ha Ri) instead of Hye Jin or Seong Jun. Shi Won was super CHARMING and believable in his character. He made the character as deep and heart-moving as it should be. I adore it (10/10 from me). His character SHOULD BE made into a spin-off. Total love. In fact I finished watching the show because of him. The girls friendship is super adorable and really isn't often seen in dramas I watched (perhaps even never). I also love the fashion seen here, especially what Hye Jin wore during The Most 20th anniversary event. Shin Dong Mi was really good as well, very interesting to watch and actually notice-able in all her scene.

Now things I like the least is Hwang Jung Eum as Hye Jin (3 /10 from me). I find her character has multiple personality disorder, depending on what looks she has at the time. When she's young (smart, rich and pretty), she's elegant. And when she got less pretty she got goofy, overacting, loud, and clumsy (what happened?!?) and then when she used makeup, she will act like a normal person. What's with that?!? This fact is the reason I barely hold on to watch her scene, except when Shi Won (as Shin Hyeok) was around.

To conclude, I enjoyed the show for Shin Hyeok (I know, I may be his fan now) and the friendships shown. Its fresh, light, nothing complicated story line was perfect for me. But truthfully, lead character Hye Jin needed a lot of help (psychiatric *cough*) and since she got most scene, well...

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