She Was Pretty (2015)

Beautiful Romantic Comedy

Perfect for the times when you need something simple and sweet as there isn’t even a villain or nasty jealousy in this drama.

Typical for these types of drama, there is a high degree of coincidences which lead to many characters somehow bumping into each other and getting intertwined with each other. It was well done and created many feel good moments especially how the second ML tries to help our the FL.

It was nice to see that the story didn’t go overboard in the beginning when there was friction between the ML and FL. The tension created here was much better than in Secret Garden as the ML here was basically just reprimanding the FL for her mistakes which came about as she was afraid of being found out. Once she stopped making those bumbling mistakes, the scolding stopped too.

For most parts, I found the FL’s acting enjoyable to watch especially the warm moments with her best friend, her nervousness and clumsiness and her touching moments with the ML. Unfortunately, I found her loud yelling behaviour to be out of character. It was a big stretch for us to believe that she developed this rough loud behaviour just because her family became poor. If she ended up mixing with people who had this behaviour, it would have been understandable, but her best friend whom she lives with has a ladylike personality.

I enjoyed many of the conversations in this drama as it was open and honest. Watching the ML tell the FL why he loves her made my heart melt. There was some self sacrifice and misunderstanding but thankfully not too much. One stand out scene for me was when the ML and FL had a long phone conversation talking about everything under the sun - very real and brought back fond memories of my own experiences.

The ending was not rushed and nicely stretched out with a few interesting elements. This drama left me feeling good and happy.

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I thought this would be very heavy on the topic of insecurity and social standards of beauty, which would have made this a really heavy watch (like My ID is Gangnam Beauty), but this was actually a really light rom-com from start to finish.

None of the conflicts really stressed me out, except for maybe how harshly the male lead treated the FL at the start. It was understandable though, KHJ is really over-the-top clumsy at the start for a few episodes, and I'm sure that put a lot of people off. But her character ended up having one of the largest hearts I'd ever seen, especially when it came to her relationship with her friend.

That was the best part, undoubtedly. You don't see a lot of sismance in dramas, and with the way the plot played out, I was worried we wouldn't see it in this one either. But the characters actually were really mature about dealing with issues, and you could tell that the two best friends had such a powerful bond with one another despite some real missteps.

I know a lot of people had SLS in this one, and I thought I would too; I'm a huge fan of the goofy, weird ML. But the second lead was a little too immature for my liking, and the male lead was pretty soft as well — main lead's character was just more intriguing to me.

With that being said, there were a few subplots in the drama but they felt oddly lacking in development and detail: Hye-Jin's sister could have been so much more than "I don't want to be ugly like my sister," Ha-Ri's family issues could have been paced better, and the whole "who is Ten" felt very forcefully thrown in.

With that being said, I still really liked how they went about the first love situation. I was worried it would become one of those fate and destiny tropes, but I was really glad they didn't do it like that. The characters simply fell for one another a second time, and it was really beautiful to watch.

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perfect rom com

this drama was absolutely perfect. the chemistry between seo joon and jeong hwa was amazing and i was bummed to find out they didn't have any other work together. jeong hwa is one of my favourite actresses because her acting is so fresh and funny and seo joon does the rich business man character extremely well and i knew he wouldn't disappoint with this role. siwon was just as perfect in this drama, he did funny, sad, serious all so well and showed that he definitely has other talents besides singing and dancing. the side couple was also so extremely cute and they really made me love the drama even more. 10/10 would recommend.

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Желание посмотреть что-нибудь легкое, романтичное и немозговыносящие подвело меня в просмотру этой дорамы. И она полностью оправдала все мои ожидания. От нее остается послевкусие счастья, радости и любви. Вот что значит, когда играет счастливая женщина. Плюсом очень хорошая динамика между главными героями, раз и между главными героями и Шивоном, два... Последний открылся мне с другой стороны - теперь я понимаю, почему его считают веселым парнем, строить такие рожицы - это талант. А Хван Чжон Ым такими темпами начнет мне очень нравится. И отдельное спасибо Хван Сок Чжон, ее мадам Ра Ра празила меня прямо в сердце.

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Kim Hye Jin's rise from loser to writer

Even though it has many faults, even if it has its mistakes and excesses, it is a watchable series. It was nice, it was fun. What I don't like is the lame events. Everyone together crushes one person. What is this Korea's national longing? They are not afraid to show it off. They are very proud of other things. I don't like this at all. There are 10 employees. Everyone gives a job to someone. The one who is oppressed, God willing, acts beyond naivety. After this ability, a WRITER springs forth. He is also a UNIVERSITY GRADUATE. So it's not much? Is the person who wrote this so naive, or are those who watch it so naive? These are big mistakes. Or their lifestyle. An adopted move. It's KEEPING it there like a bastard.
For example: The girl from Support Services, she also just got a job. They say do this. I AM FINALING MY NAILS RIGHT NOW. Let the loser do it. He immediately says sir and jumps. THEY ARE CONSTANTLY CLOSED TO HIM. SHE CONTINUES TO DECORATE.
What's this? Fun or Funny? Scraping? Why is our friend so naive? So it's in the middle. Sometimes he says, "Oh, I'm busy, you gave me 10 jobs, at least don't give me the 11th one." He's a university graduate. There is also age. We shouldn't expect such things. SO THESE HAPPENED A LOT IN THIS SERIES.
Hwang Jung Eum portrayed this naive, loser but friendly personality, attached to his past and his family and friends, well. It was the engine of the series. So it was his dynamo. Excellent acting from start to finish. Park Se Joon pales in comparison. He tried to accompany. It was fine. But I think it's overshadowed. Si Won perfectly portrayed the mischievous child, that is, the crazy character that is the exact opposite of our naive character, that is, the naive and clever one. His character is a friend who cheats on a friend, but still proves his loyalty to his friend, and his character is slightly flirtatious, and he shows this in our eyes with the way he dresses, and it suits him. Goo Jon Hee was also pretty good. I like. It was different. Shin Dong Mi. I liked it very much. Experienced actress Hwang Seok Jung performed an act with an extravagance far beyond her own, congratulations. Jung Da Bin. was also successful as a child actor. As he grew up, he played good roles. But he couldn't get over himself. In my opinion, it couldn't make the expected explosion. The actors were good. In my opinion, extremes, over-understanding, and seeing this as normal were the mistakes of the series. It was wrong. Maybe it might work in Korea, I don't know, but I didn't like these. The rest is couple harmony and acting. Shooting and management were good apart from these. It was a good romantic comedy. It could have been much better. Despite all my negative comments, I enjoyed watching it.

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The drama should have a higher score, compared to other romantic comedies. It obviously has flaws and one can criticize it in many obvious ways, but gosh, as the story goes, it is such a Renoir, giving off this warm and giddy vibe about the truly good things in life – love, friendship, and family, and even camaraderie at work – indeed it’s that pair of rose-tinted glasses on human relationships. You need it every once in a while – particularly on rainy, gloomy days.

I really don’t want to “criticize” so much as to make suggestions to the plot in hopes that writers all over perhaps could take the frame of the story and add their brilliant touches for the masterpieces to come. There is a Chinese version already, garnering pretty good reviews, that I now must check out to see what their writers have done.

I agree with those that say the arc of the story finishes in 12 episodes, with the last four episodes mainly to wrap up everything and tie in all the loose ends. I wish that the arc would branch out further and use all that white space at the end to detail more instead the beauty spots of the story. For example, the friendship between Hye-Jin and Ha-Ri needs to have more hurdles to prove the strength of the girls’ soul sisterhood. Ha-Ri as a character needs more development because the way it is, she’s a major character of the story not to have more background. We know she’s well-off from her dad, but with a broken family due to a missing mother and a mean stepmother, Ha-Ri is ripe as a character for more complex internal interplay. Her sole anchor in life is her friendship with Hye-Jin but her relationship with her dad has poorly influenced her perception of men, to the point where she’s simply using most men for short-term flings, to be discarded once she becomes bored.

This is a person very useful as plot device to build bitter tension between the main couple only because she is quite capable of doing both good and evil. Her heart is different from Hye-Jin’s, whose inner beauty always shines through and very willing to suffer self-sacrifice for her friends and family. Ha-Ri should’ve been more daring, manipulative, greedier, all the time being confused over what she could potentially lose in order to gain the love of the one man so different from all the rest she’s had before. At what point does Ha-Ri realize that her need for this man is more a possessive act due to her miscast feelings about the sexes as the result of her upbringing? At what point does she recognize that she will lose her life-long friend just by standing in between them, keeping them apart, and thus breaking the hearts of two good-hearted people in love? These questions can be quite interesting to explore for the drama just by adding a few more calculated mishaps caused by our confused catalyst.

Then there’s the character of Sung-joon. I may upset a lot of star-gazers but PSJ looks simply too polished as a male model to play a character like Sung-joon, a chief editor of a fashion and style magazine, whose hobby is life sketching, and who has introverted pursuits like secretly drawing Hye-Jin biting on sea-weed at the seaside. PSJ looks too sharp and white-collar chic, gawky as a male specimen belonging in the photos of The Most rather than one of those in the shadows making it. It’s the difference between Shin-Hyuk as Editor Kim and Shin-Hyuk as Ten photographed in that last issue of the magazine. The two can be equally amazingly handsome but style-wise, PSJ does not behave like a frenetic, work-absorbed man bordering slight-autism whose awkward aloofness melts away next to the spunky, child-like Hye-Jin.

The role is difficult because in many romantic comedies, the male lead is put on a pedestal and his personality is pretty much written in stone to be unbendingly arrogant, tough but suave in order to attract and sustain female desire. Sung-joon is a hardcore romantic, who frequents art galleries and prizes a jigsaw puzzle because it’s a leftover from his childhood. It is difficult to get through to Sung-joon since he lives in his own world most of the times, people can’t read and understand him, and more importantly he doesn’t allow many to enter in that world - that is, unless it’s Hye-Jin. He has never forgotten his childhood sweetheart because she alone was able to break past that thickly woven layer of disassociation from reality having lost his mother at a young age.

The two of them together felt right as rain to him, and he seeks to recapture the spirit of their romantic friendship the same way he keeps listening to Carpenters’ bluebird song. That is why it is all the more compelling to him that a complete stranger, a new intern in office who looks nothing like the Hye-Jin he knew and loved, could so easily give off that familiar vibe and make him feel at home again. The drama is most fun when the two of them are together, recognizing each other but pretending not to. There should’ve been a few more escapades of the lovebirds struggling over how to behave and contain themselves as they walk the line separating work and enjoying each other’s company in order to fulfill another deadline. It is only because Sung-joon is quite abnormal personality-wise , and not just another handsome face, that in time, the heart wins over the head to validate his suspicion that Hye-Jin is his Hye-Jin all along despite the evidence otherwise presented by Ha-Ri time and again.

That is why PSJ, although he’s fine in the drama, falls short somewhat – because he hasn’t delivered a Sung-joon that has been lovesick his whole life and bumbling over how not to be a fool standing in his office as the boss. PSJ shows us his cool and collected, while Sung-joon is really a floppy mess, but they can both be very handsome men still, right?

And what about Shin-Hyuk, who is like a Joker thrown into the mix. His role is not unlike Ha-Ri's by way of effecting the relationship of the main leads. Another plot device, he mainly exists to pull on Hye-Jin and create a love quadrangle of sorts for the drama. For the amount of white space available, why not add another layer of complexity by giving his particular friendship with Hye-Jin more detail? Like Ha-Ri, Shin-Hyuk is underused as a character, whose flair comes in none other than as comic relief with signature jokes and poignant lovesick stares. Indeed, precious little is said - albeit purposely - about his unique personality and background until the very end. The character grabs so much of most viewers' sympathy, so why not more of viewers' memory too by slowing down the transition of his feelings from friendship to that something more. Rather than the abrupt disclosure at the end, give more room all along the way to spotlight him as a personality in need - someone who realizes himself through his quasi love friendship with Hye-Jin the atypical quality of his own family or upbringing - such that viewers understand - gingerly - his impulses to fight tooth and nail to hold on to the thing he's got with Hye-Jin. He could still be a character shrouded in mystery - following the path the writer's set up - simply because he loses his will to wreck the main couple and advance his own fantasy, as he confronts something new to himself little by little: Hye-Jin's own waking feelings for Sung-joon.

Finally, there's Hye-Jin, our bubbly protagonist whose force of personality holds in orbit the other characters. Here, I have to compliment HJE as an actress. She adds such vivacity to her character, with loud squeals, cackles, and tons of quick facial expressions that are a delight to behold but nevertheless would be a concern for someone keeping up a goddess face. She got my attention early on with her energy and comic timing, which is so lacking in female leads since many have such boring body language, either at best lounging themselves on the men or at worst just sitting or standing pretty. Instead, she is so game to play for laughs and go against type that for me, the show became a love at first sight. I want so much to see a heroine who can be silly, awkward, and ugly – in adorable ways. HJE delivers just that.

Now, I must mention a fundamental flaw in the storytelling I believe with the character of Hye-Jin. Her attraction to Sung-joon was too quick and easy, it was like she was ready and willing as soon as he started his pursuit. Exactly what was his record in the story other than acting boss-like, yelling condescendingly “You Intern!” everywhere like she was his servant, and generally being the stoic, arrogant alpha male to stoke female desire. Yet, for a woman like Hye-Jin, who sees past this kind of thing and is more unencumbered by superficiality (supposedly she lost her childhood pretty face and was used to playing second fiddle to Ha-Ri her whole life in attracting male attention) Sung-joon for much of the first half of the story offers little of the qualities that reach deep into her heart other than the stereotypical fancy of a trophy boyfriend. Another example, Ha-Ri gives her a really expensive and fashionable pair of shoes, which doesn’t interest Hye-Jin at all. To Hye-Jin, beautiful though they may be, the shoes are uncomfortable and just don't fit her kind of person. In a way, Sung-joon is no different from those brand name shoes that only Ha-Ri seems to desire.

Nothing is explained about why or how Sung-joon becomes special in her eyes, other than their sharing a childhood past at one point - a past that initially Hye-Jin was ignoring despite a stream of emails from him asking for a catch up but that midway into the story suddenly became a past for which she was beholden, one where he was now quite meaningfully her childhood sweetheart. It would have been much better storytelling to have Hye-Jin not fall so quickly in love, to be more on guard, to have her even avoid or hide wearing those unfit shoes so to speak, to have the two of them stumble over antics and mishaps in order for them to confront growing feelings that they are in fact perfectly matched, just like they once were. Hye-Jin should have resisted Sung-joon a lot longer – first because of barriers set up by Ha-Ri and Shin-Hyuk and later because of Hye-Jin’s own wrongful, preconceived notions about Sung-joon from the beginning. The moment she sees him as "her" comfortable Sung-joon - the same, pudgy but lovable boy of her childhood - she accepts him wholeheartedly despite the changed appearance.

For a show that makes much ado about breaking with image, I think the end would have been sweeter to have the he’s and she’s recognize that for all their prettiness it is still the heart that matters most - gorgeous appearances included, of course.

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A Great Office Romance - Love it

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2015 South Korean Drama with 16 episodes (60 minutes/episode).Kim Hye-jin once had it all - a wealthy family and beautiful looks. However, her family's business goes bankrupt and she quits taking care of her appearance due to the hardships associated with surviving. As a child she befriended Ji Sung-joon (Park Seo-joon) who was a hefty kid with few friends. They become best friends but eventually are separated when their families go their separate ways. When Sung-joon returns to Korea he wants to unite with his childhood friend she panics at her current state and asks her attractive best friend and roommate Min Ha-ri (Go Joon-hee) to pretend to be her. As fate would have it, Min Hye-jin winds up working for the same magazine where Sung-joon has just transferred in as deputy chief editor. Kim Shin-Hyuk (Choi Si-Won) is Hye-jin's immediate supervisor and befriends her early on.

Spoiler 🚨 I enjoyed the entirety of this. I liked how she evolved and how things in her life improved. I loved the relationship she had with her best friend/roommate. When she got the job at the magazine it was fun to watch the interplay between all the characters. The romance was believable and the story wrapped up nicely. Park Seo-joon starred in "Fight My Way" and I enjoyed his acting and character in that one. This was a very different role where he was not Mr. Nice Guy all the time. Kim Shin-Hyuk, Hye-jin's supervisor is hilarious. That character made me laugh a lot and reminded me of some of the pranksters in my life.

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The last time I was super duper excited to write a drama review was while writing for Scarlet Heart Ryeo. SHR was my most favourite drama of 2016. She Was Pretty came out in 2015 but for me, it has been the best drama for this year because the drama scene has been very disappointing this year as compared to the year 2016. She Was Pretty is a typical romantic comedy that you watch when you are looking for something sweet and funny to unwind and relax. I had not binged on a Korean drama series in a while so last weekend I decided to catch a fun show and finish it in two days. And I could have finished this drama on Saturday itself had my mother not scolded me for staying up late to watch a drama. This drama was funny and highly engaging. I could not wait to reach the show finale. Had I to have my way I would not have left it without finishing all 16 episodes in one sitting.

Let’s weigh She Was Pretty on our show beam balance and see what is ‘pretty’ and what is ‘ugly’ about this drama.

Good Weights
Hwang Jung Eum: Kim Hye Jin, the goofball, is the reason why this show is hilarious. Actress Hwang Jung Eum’s comic timing and natural acting are laudable.  I loved her weird expressions that flit from excited to bewildered to bemused to annoyed to God knows what not in nano seconds. Hye Jin is crazy and I mean it. She has no inhibitions whatsoever and often ends up making a fool of herself. This is the reason why I found it difficult to relate to the younger Hye Jin who looks sorted and sophisticated, unlike Hye Jin who is completely cracked in the head. Her tiffs with Seong Joon are funny while her weird encounters with Shin Hyeok are hysterical. Yes, she does tend to overact in certain comical scenes, but she does it effortlessly which is what I like the most about her.  

Park Seo Joon: I have seen Park Seo Joon in Hwarang and I wondered why he was the main lead in the drama because I wasn’t very impressed by him. In fact, I liked everybody on the show except him. However, She Was Pretty changed my opinion about him as I loved his portrayal of Seong Joon. Seong Joon is a perfectionist who believes in pushing his employees hard to get the best out of them. I felt that Park Seo Joon does not have that ‘boss’ look and he was not very convincing with the stern boss look. But he was not horrible because I genuinely liked his character and Park Seo Joon has evidently played the character with a lot of sincerity. I probably still feel that Aaron Yan is the best ‘boss’ out there and maybe in comparison to him Park Seo Joon seems to fall short. Park Seo Joon does play the ‘lover boy’ well and looks as lovable as a male lead should in a romantic drama. His chemistry with Hwang Jung Eum is good and I loved the couple’s love scenes.

Choi Si Won: If you are not aware of my love for second leads then click here and here to know of my adoration for them. Choi Si Won’s wacky character Kim Shin Hyeok made me laugh and cry. His crazy antics at pulling Hye Jin’s leg used to crack me up. I especially loved to hear him call Hye Jin ‘Jackson’. The most painful moment on the show for me was when Hye Jin talks to Shin Hyeok and receives a call from Seong Joon asking her to meet him as he now knows the truth about her. Shin Hyeok begs her not to go but she cannot help it as she has answers to give Seong Joon. He repeats ‘gajima’ (don’t go) so helplessly it pained to see him like that. It was the most heartbreaking scene I have seen of a second-lead. Actor Choi Si Won is absolutely adorable in his eccentric role. He looks the part with his dimples adding to his character. I hope I do not have to see a character like him as a second-lead ever again because I don’t think I can bear this kind of pain once more.  

Friendship: Hye Jin and Ha Ri are best friends and inseparable. They trust each other blindly which is why Hye Jin sends Ha Ri to meet her love Seong Joon without feeling any kind of insecurity. Ha Ri becomes a little selfish and tries to keep Seong Joon by her side despite knowing what Hye Jin feels for him. When Hye Jin discovers Ha Ri’s truth, she does not attack her with accusations but instead gives her a benefit of doubt. Ha Ri too feels guilty of her wrong actions and makes it up to Hye Jin. I liked the fact that the writers did not turn Ha Ri into an evil friend just to make her a villain. Ha Ri is a good character who loses her way but then regains the lost love with her repentance. I like Ha Ri and Hye Jin’s friendship and the fact that they really are loyal supporters of each other. The are several dramas showcasing bromance but very dramas promote sisterhood and I am glad that this drama did it in a very believable way. I liked the fact that the writers did not turn Ha Ri into an evil friend just to make her a villain. Ha Ri is a good character who loses her way but then regains the lost love with her repentance. I like Ha Ri and Hye Jin’s friendship and the fact that they really are loyal supporters of each other. There are several dramas celebrating bromance but seldom do they promote sisterhood and I am glad that this drama did it in a way that is relatable.

Sweet Moments: This drama is high on comedy and does not have a lot of hard-core romantic moments. However, there are enough of saccharine moments that make the drama endearing. The drama has several of those lovey-dovey moments that romance lovers savour the most. For instance, Seong Joon and Hye Jin find themselves alone on an overnight outing. On their way, they happen to eat at a restaurant but are unable to pay for the food so the restaurant owner makes them do some labour work to recover the money. Now Seong Joon is a rich guy who probably has never even seen cow dung, unlike Hye Jin who has faced a tough life. He cribs about touching manure and cries when he accidentally touches fresh cow dung with his gloves on. So, he basically strongly detests manure. While working in the cowshed, Hye Jin loses her employee ID card which she treasures a lot considering she landed her dream job. She returns to retrieve her ID card but is unable to find it. Seong Joon knows how important the ID card is for to her so he searches through the manure for her ID card and hands it over to her lying that he found it fallen on the ground. Seong Joon cringes at manure but for her sake, he does something that he dislikes the most. Similarly, there are back-hugs, piggy-back rides, soft kisses, forehead kisses and a lot of love that you would want to see in a K-drama.


Bad Weights
Faulty Details: The script has loopholes that are way too glaring to be ignored. For instance, Shin Hyeok chances upon Seong Joon’s house access card when he helps to drop an unconscious Seong Joon home. After that Seong Joon never asks him for his access card. Shin Hyeok thereafter enters Seong Joon’s house as and when he likes and Seong Joong does not question even once of how he gained access to his apartment without his permission. Also, I found it difficult connect with the young Hye Jin who is calm, civilised and nerdy which is very different than the restless, hyperactive and effervescent older Hye Jin. Yes, people do change with time but when they showed flashback scenes of Hye Jin with Seong Joon, I found it difficult to believe that it is the same girl because nothing about young Hye Jin gave a vibe of the older Hye Jin. It is quite possible that the difference in personality was deliberate so Seong Joon does not identify her easily but still, isn’t he supposed to be conflicted with what he believes and what Hye Jin wants him to believe? Also, the supposed ‘suspense’ factors in the drama were too easy to predict. I couldn’t help rolling my eyes when the suspense was finally revealed as I could bet my life on my guesswork.
 
She Was Pretty has more of good weights than bad weights which means that it is a treat to watch. Despite its gaping plot holes it never ceases to entertain so do not miss it for anything. It ends on a sugary sweet, positive note that will make you miss the drama terribly after it has concluded.

This drama has a good start and a smooth ending which left me with sweet memories of the show. If rom-com is your genre, then go for this one without thinking too much. It is highly entertaining and worth your time.  

Originally posted on www.alphagirl.in

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After watching 7 films from the Ju-On franchise to the point where Kayako visited me in my dream, I decided to freshen up first by watching a non-horror title, I really wanted to watch something that made me doki-doki. Coincidentally the last K-Drama I watched was Business Proposal and many said BP reminded them of this drama, that's why I decided to watch this K-Drama.

To be honest, a lot of things remind me of BP, from the trigger of the conflicts is the 1st & 2nd female leads who do somekind like swap identity to trick the 1st male lead, or the 1st male & female lead just goes on a business trip, it reminds me of BP but still provide a different experience.

I had a great time watching this series, there are also a lot of social comments delivered here, especially those regarding work really hit my heart. If I say, this series is only fun until episode 12, after that it feels draggy, like Shim Hyuk who feels bored around these episodes, I also start to feel bored a lot.

As for the characters, I honestly like Shim Hyuk, played by Siwon of Super Junior, if he is with his group members he is the saneest but here he seems to be venting the madness of his members which he has absorbed for a long time, also he's provided the 2nd lead syndrome here. For the other characters, I feel they are standard, more than enough to run this series.

So this series is entertaining, i just found it run too long.

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What makes this show so special?

It's really not your typical Cinderella story, where an unattractive (???) girl gets a makeover and suddenly the man she likes, swoons over her. It's a realistic and believable portrayal of the struggles a person faces in realizing what makes her beautiful to herself.

With a trend of female hating female existing in K dramas, Ha Ri and Hye Jin's relationship is serious friendship goals. Though they see a few downs in the show, they still support and love each other regardless. Their friendship is goals and absolutely adorable. Jun Hi played the role of Ha Ri really well and I loved her chemistry with Hye Jin, she was really cute and I wish she was given more screen time at the end of the show.

I also, loved how Hye Jim's transformation was not too drastic. She was already gorgeous, but she simply tidied herself up more and did what she did, not because of a man, but because of her goal. It was awesome seeing her back to her old self, showing how she truly accepted herself by embracing her looks and Jung Eum was absolutely a treat to watch! Her comedy skills were mind blowing, she is a wonderful actress.

I have had waay too many second lead syndromes than I can count. However, most crack by the time the respective dramas are ending since these men are either made to be less cooler than the first leads / turn out to be evil / their screen time is taken away from them. However, Reporter Kim - Choi Siwon was incredibly charming, I am not the one saying it, look at the comments lol. Reporter Kim was a total clown, annoying and to others he looked like a wacko, yet he cared a lot for Hye Jin. Even till the end, he did everything to stop Hye Jin from crying. Not because he expected her to come to him, but because he genuinely wanted her to be happy. Even Deputy Chief agreed that he couldn't do anything, so everyone agrees that the second lead was much better, how many shows do we see with such realistic writing?

*Spoiler*

A lot of people, give Deputy Chief flak for being obsessive about his childhood friend Hye Jin and call him a loser. However, I would like to disagree since without knowing the real HJ he became attached to her and started loving her. To him, whether she was HJ or not didnt matter, since he came to truly love the beautiful person he met and spent time with. This is the strength of the story line. Also, Park Seo Joon played the role really well! From a rude Deputy Chief to a doting, clumsy, cheesy person, he made us accept the result of him being first lead. I loved his acting much more than Hwarang and if you want to watch him in more shows, watch Fight My Way, Kill Me Heal Me and a few others!

So, in short. This show deserves to be seen. It's now in my top list of K dramas because it's an extremely refreshing, realistic and funny show. Do give it a watch, you won't regret it!

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A pleasant watch

This was a lighthearted drama that served its purpose as a welcome relief in-between other dramas with more heavy content. That said, it was a mixed bag of sorts.

The good:
I like the message of looking past your flaws and learning to stop underestimating yourself as the FL conveys. Other highlights would be an outstanding second lead in Choi Siwon. I didn’t experience SLS but his character was easily my favorite. A little crazy, a little annoying but lovable and a great friend to FL in their time of need. The other positive was the female friendship. There are countless shows with bromance but not enough with a female bond. I loved seeing the two friends as they navigated through their own journeys, while supporting each other and remaining close despite various conflicts.

The bad:

FL in the second half of the series. I can’t tell if it was Hwang Jung Eum‘s acting or just the way her character was written but she got more and more loud and obnoxious overtime. I also hated typical cliche makeover that was far too sudden and thus unrealistic. I was planning to give the show a lower rating because of how annoyed I was, but thankfully, the last episode was more like the first half of the series and managed to redeem some of the negatives.

Overall, this was a show that had more positives than negatives. It was not a novel concept, nor was it particularly memorable. However for the most part it kept me entertained so no complaints.Watch if you want something fun, just don’t set your expectations too high.

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