She Was Pretty (2015)

Some dramas start off with a punch to the feels, keep you there for an episode or two, and then taper off somewhere into the overdone and dull. Other dramas start off mediocre and gain momentum as they go. For me, She Was Pretty started off annoying as all heck, gradually improved, annoyed me again, and then finished off with one of the most satisfying endings of any drama.

Hye Jin is a typical over-the-top, blundering female lead: jobless, frazzled, and quirky. Usually, I can sympathise with those types and find their clumsy approach comedic, but something about Hye Jin just drove me nuts. Before I'd even finished Episode Two, her dramatics had almost made me quit the whole thing. I'm glad she improves throughout the course of the drama, and I suppose that's more realistic than having her suddenly change into a fashion-savvy bombshell overnight. But it was really frustrating for me until her amazing best friend, Ha Ri talked some sense into her about making an effort.

Let's talk best friendship, now. One of the best parts of this drama was the closer-than-a-sister relationship Hye Jin and Ha Ri had, despite the huge secret Ha Ri ends up keeping that threatens to ruin their friendship at one point. It was played off so realistically it hurt my heart., and I loved so much seeing a solid girl-best-friendship in a drama, rather than the stab-you-in-the-back evil wench syndrome like most have.

Now, the side guy. I'm sorry, but Kim Shin Hyeok annoyed me through the whole drama even more than Hye Jin at the beginning. Maybe I can see how some people find jokesters like that endearing, but I just find them obnoxious and cowardly. When no one can take a word you say seriously, and you get your kicks by making people buy you things and mocking everyone around you, I don't think that's cute, that's just being a stupid jerk. I usually fall for the side guy, and hardly ever do I fail to sympathise with them. Not this time. This time, I couldn't wait for him to get out of the scene and go away. I've known too many people in real life situations who behave like that, and you can call it cute and fun in a drama, but when you're dealing with it firsthand, trust me, it gets really old, really fast.

Thankfully, he wasn't enough of a presence to ruin the drama, though! And Ji Seong Jun was so utterly adorable as a fat kid, and as a man in love, that I think he made the whole drama.

The ending, as I said, was amazing. I'm a big fan of prolonged happy endings, and the final episode gave plenty of closure, happy wrap-ups, and scenes to make you cringe from the cuteness. My favourite! So although I was ready to quit this drama early on, I'm glad I stuck it out, because it's one of my favourite last few episodes of any drama in the rom-com genre.

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Great cast with important themes about true love, friendship, and beauty; nice pacing, often hilarious, touching, and with a satsifying ending. It’s not a 10 for me because I felt HJE was often over the top in her acting, which can be the director’s fault. But I didn’t enjoy the shouting and grimacing. Within the story itself, I felt PSJ’s character was the one who needed more attention by the writer since he rises above the lies that are told to him because of his love for HJE’s character. His character truly understands what love is, and I’m not sure any of the others really did. PSJ as usual was pitch perfect, truly one of Korea’s finest actors. In every scene, though, because he is so good, it was as though he was in a different drama, on a different level.

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To be honest, I intended to watch this drama, whether I liked it or not, because my favorite actor of the Korean Drama land - Park Seo Joon. And I kid you not, this drama was full of surprises and not what I expected at all.

From the trailer and the plot summary I was certain that this series was going to be full of roses and very smooth going. But it was not what I expected at all. Starting with the genre of this drama, I think it would've been a brilliant comedy on its own, without any romance elements. It was quite a rocky start for me to fall in love with the jokes and the romantic aspects in this drama, but as it progressed, it grew on me more and more.

And the most important thing that made this drama memorable for me were the characters. As I said in the beginning, I was anticipating to root and fangirl over Park Seo Joon in this drama. However, I was caught up in something known as the "second lead syndrome". Editor Kim - he's the man that stole this whole show! Man, his jokes are superb, and the "Jackson" joke is going to stick with me for the rest of my life and remind me of his cheerfulness and that awkward and goofy man. In my opinion, the female lead, Kim Hye Jin, was too psychotic and unrealistic, but nevertheless, she's brought a fresh type of character into the Korean Drama world. Also, the whole staff of "The Most" magazine made me fall in love with them and their little family at the office. The character side stories were very interesting and I would love to see more Korean Dramas with a similar family-work environment.

Briefly, it's been quite a rocky start for me and this drama. Notwithstanding, it gets better and better and the series continues as the characters bring out many unique aspects of their lives and stories. It's a brilliant comedy story that makes you believe in first love once again!

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This drama is so cute and funny! At the beginning, it may be a bit hard to get into the drama, but, it's gets so much better once you do. I found this a really refreshing drama. Sure, it had some cliche parts, and you weren't too surprised by the twists, but it was really lovely. Everyone can really watch this drama and enjoy it.

At first, I found it quite weird because Siwon was the second lead and I wondered how I could handle it. But, as it turns out I just wanted to marry him during the entire drama. I was perfectly fine with our main character getting the first lead. Siwon stole some of the spotlight of these two leads by making me fall for him every moment he was on the screen. This is definitely some of Siwon's best acting. When the drama got a little boring, there was Siwon to brighten it all up! Dude, that man is awesome! Siwon may have not gotten the girl but, he sure did make his way for my heart.

Well, enough about him. The other two leads were pretty awesome together, and they were right I was not reminded of the other parts that they play in Kill me, Heal me. They were completely different here, but, I definitely enjoyed seeing their chemistry.

There are few dramas which I think flow as a movie would. But, this is one of them. I think this will definitely have to go on my top ten list. Sorry, to the drama that gets kicked off that list, I still love you.

If you want to see good acting, laugh a lot, aww over sweet romance, and see a lot of sismance ( bromance but, cool friendship between girls instead. They were the best of friends!), then this is the drama for you.

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The story of She Was Pretty is nothing new here, childhood sweethearts who grow up looking for one another except with the twist of puberty not being too kind to our female lead while the ugly fat duckling grows up into a cool handsome swan. However despite the cliche premises, I adored the story and all the extra elements they injected, such as the metaphorical 'hidden character' in the painting which is symbolic, and the mystery behind several characters. And lots of squeal-worthy, cozy moments to be had here if you're looking for that.
The other characters and secondary relationships are also strong in this one, that to say it is complimentary to the main story does not do it justice. What made the series alive to me was that the other characters outside of the main couple, also faced very real problems and did not get cheated out of a good profile or storyline. Yes I'm talking about Siwon's Shin Hyuk who might just be the best Second Lead ever (possibly even more popular than Sung Joon the male lead).

I would also like to defend Hwang Jung Eum here. I see enough criticisms about her overracting, but I simply think that Kim Hye Jin was written to be this clumsy, OTT bumbling fool, a rather stark contrast to what she was in her childhood heydays, and a complete opposite to the calm, collected and cool that her childhood sweetheart had become. Her over-the-top antics is therefore necessary, and big part of the comedy here. Siwon does not disappoint either with some very natural comedic chops and Park Seo Joon can deliver the different sides of his character when needed while stealing a couple key scenes.

However with all the potential presented for a great story which I could only describe as strong in the beginning, it started to become underdeveloped as the show went on. Not weak or bad, but fell somewhat flat considering the promise and places it could go from all the ideas writers were throwing at us in the beginning.The latter half did not live up to what was built in the first few episodes.

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just watched because of park seo joon

so how should i start... i never really liked Hwang Jung‑eum like every single person out there is always going on and on about how he/ she loves kill me,heal me but seriously i am unable to complete that show just coz of Hwang Jung‑eum's acting and the same problem was in this one too!!
like okay fine girl this show is a romantic comedy but acting like a crack person, screaming randomly at anywhere anytime.. bumping into stuff unnaturally isn't really my definition of "comedy".
the acting frustrated me so damn much till the very end and watching this show was more like doing it just for the sake of completing it was more the case..i seriously watched it with the episodes just playing in the background or me just fast forwarding it just for the sake of it...
the only character i actually liked was of Choi Siwon who turned out to be the only one who actually was kinda fun with on point acting without much drama..being a park seo joon super fan i was actually disappointed with this drama so very much..
i just wish that the story was dull without much spark, the music was one to not be remembered, and in the end there wasn't really anything much special about it:(

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So I didn't go into this drama thinking I would love it. In fact, I thought it was just going to be something I went into to pass the time and when it would be over, I'd be like, "Well, that was nice."

I really adored this drama though. I thought these actors were great, even though I hadn't seen many of them in anything else. I thought the main actors had great chemistry and they were very good.

I love the story! There were times where I was like, "I don't know about that..." but when it all came down, it would end in a more "believable" end. I liked how the two main characters' relationship is kind of put to the test, and how they ended up falling in love.

Honestly, I adored this drama so much. It has a special place in my heart and even though it's a more "light, happy" feeling drama, I really liked some of the messages it shows. Like how, *KIND OF A SPOILER - KINDA* the main guy falls for the girl, despite her being "ugly" or "weird". Furthermore, I love how, even though she ends up making herself pretty, she finds comfort in how she looks and what she wants from her future, and goes back to her "ugly" self, as well as her roots in her career aspiration. Then of course, Siwon's character is just omg. You really fall for him. (I still rooted for the main guy though - he's so sweet and dreamy in the drama - most of the time)

Now, is the drama completely perfect? No. It has some iffy parts. BUT it is definitely worth the watch.

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Never really rooted for the main couple to get together and there are a couple of reasons to that.
1..I watched Kill Me, Heal Me before this drama (they were siblings)
2. I couldn't get over how horrible he was to her at the beginning
3. Siwon is the best second lead male EVAAAA

I couldn't finish the drama. My heart wasn't in it when it came to the main couple and then the story line starts to get very slow. So slow that I dropped it at ep 12 BUT if you are a person who wanted them to be together in Kill Me, Heal Me you will enjoy this drama.If you like lighthearted dramas then this is definitely something you can like....this particular one just wasn't for me.

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