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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Too much
Honestly the drama in the beginning was really good, but from Episode 12 forward nothing happened. It also made me mad how she choose sung- joon instead of Shin-hyuk. Joon treated her like an asshole in the beginning while hyuk was always by her side. Yes, maybe hyuk was creepy at first but later you realize that he was just trying to find someone he caan be himself with in korea since he was all alone. Is it second lead syndrome? idk but it made me really angry. Also the acting of the two Main leads was honestly terrible, it was too cheesy and they didnt fit together at all.Was this review helpful to you?
About the story, I have a problem with "Ugly Betty" romances, but even when the story goes to that a little, it is so irrelevant that didn't change almost nothing. Did I think that was forced at this point? Yeah, a little bit, but nothing that was a big problem. The most disturbing part for me was to deal with Min Ha Ri (Go Joon Hee) attitude. I really don't buy a friendship so strong being disturbed by a so stupid act. I know, they are friends, good for them, but I really didn't understand people who do such a thing, even with the "love excuse". Maybe I'm being a little rigid here, but it's my point of view when we talk about real friendship. It was a lie too big for me.
About the actors, I will maintain what I said in "first impressions"... Park Seo Joon, my handsome and amazing actor even performing a tree. Hwang Jung Eum as Kim Hye Jin was a great thing! Her expressions and exaggeration were in the right place this time. I love Kim Shin Hyuk (Choi Shi Won)! I hate love triangles, but I think he was incredibly good at this. He was so fun and cute, I really appreciate the character!
I have to say... THE OST! Guys, the thing that I love the most on dramas is the OST's, no doubt! The songs were amazing and delivered emotions just right! I love hearing "Close to you" and this made me want a song theme for my relationship, hahaha.
So... For me, this was a PRETTY GOOD ONE! ( ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★) As Kim Ra Ra would say... BRAVO, AMORE MIO! haha If you wanna laugh and watch something without thinking too much or suffer too much, this is your drama! Go for it!
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Kind of feelgood, not too serious
This was OK entertainment - I watched quite a lot of the episodes rather rapidly, but then I had a longer break before I watched the remaining episodes in "pulses". The story is kind of feelgood romance, not too serious and without any heavy conflicts or strong story arcs.The acting was OK; I would say Park Seo Joon (ML) has developed as an actor since this.
Choi Si Won (2nd ML) did impress me, even though I found his character to be a bit "over the top" for me.
The FL Hwang Jung Eum had some weaker scenes, but was overall good.
What I did like with the story was how wholeheartedly he (Ji Sung Jun) loved.
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Cute and bubbly and inspirational - but ... fluffy shalow
I watched this long time ago and I do not remember the details, but only what stuck to me.The acting of that 2nd ML made it fun bc he was always into antics
FL was a clutz so she was rather boring and frustrating to watch.... by default, the "loser" irrational women are boring to watch....
however somehow only her image stuck in my head from that kdrama, which means that she acted very well. I think what was impressive is letting her friend run out of steam on pursuing the guy... ? Or how hard she tried to do well at her job? I am not sure why I remember that actress in that role. There must be something genuine in her acting and/or script.
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This review may contain spoilers
This was a very entertaining romcom. The entire cast was great, Park Seojoon did not disappoint & Hwang Jungeum was especially great, this was my first time seeing her in a drama, but I do remember her from Runningman, she turned out to be a surprisingly skilled actress.This drama is very similar to Fight for My Way & Secretary Kim, not because of the main male lead, but rather it has a similar vibe overall. Here unlike in the 2 mentioned above there is stronger triangle/square, but luckily compared to other kdramas they didn't overdo the makjang & the second leads gave up before I lost my patience with them.
I loved episodes 13-16, essentially we've gotten like a 4 hours long happy ending, they didn't even overdo product placements, most brand names were taped over.
I'm detracting a point from my rating, because the big misunderstanding took way too long to resolve... Sure the story is a bit of mess at times too, but it's not like we watch this genre for the story, right?
(The foreign actors were terrible as per usual, even the English phone conversations were embarrassing to listen to, but this is the same in all kdramas...)
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She Was Pretty (2015)
A decent to alright show at best. For a romantic comedy, the romance was just alright and the comedy was, again, just alright. The 'long lost childhood friend turned lover' trope is very sweet and endearing but it lacked a certain oomph to really sell it as a top tier romance. The show has a bit of a rough start and the ending sequence felt a bit off pacing-wise. An ending sequence that was annoyingly fulfilling despite how average everything else was prior.The worst sin committed were some of plot devices abused to conveniently and awkwardly move the story along.
- Male lead has PTSD triggered by driving in the rain but the plot has him constantly doing so. Why can't the guy occasionally check the weather app so he can take a cab or something? Can't the guy take the bus or train?
- Female lead halfway through the series finally decides to clean up her look after years and years of looking raggedy. Why? Just because she visited her father's workplace one day and saw how much labor and abuse he was going through? You mean to tell me only _now_ she notices it?
Character wise, the male lead's character, while fine, had too much leeway in the story. The secondary characters felt much more enjoyable to watch especially the secondary male lead. Such a fun character who at times felt like an extension of the audience. The female lead's acting was... a bit too pathetic. A bit too cringe. A bit too over the top. A bit too goofy. A bit too unrealistic. Which is a bit of a bummer because the supposed charm of the show was showcasing the fact that all this time, she was pretty.
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Detailed:
Last time I saw a drama with Hwang Jung Eum was Kill Me, Heal Me - and honestly I wasn't the greatest fan of the over the top shrieking so I went into this one looking to see more from this actor and how she is in other roles. Have to say, thoroughly enjoyed her work in this one, rather than the shrieks in the car of the other drama, this one has much more comically timed reactions and she plays the comedic role well. The counter play between her and Choi Shi Won's character is brilliantly written and brilliantly portrayed and they provide a really nice mischievous comedy element. The comedy tends towards the usual type i've seen in K-drama, a bit over the top, but there were numerous laugh-out-loud moments and most of them were this pair.
The premise of the drama is that as a young girl she was beautiful and was best friends with the boy who lived next door, an overweight lad with some issues, they bond supporting each other and have a great friendship until his family moves away. Many years later, there is the opportunity to re-unite, but as she no longer feels she is the same pretty person she was, she asks her best friend to stand in for her. It's just a recipe for things to go wrong really!
There's a couple in her workplace who I found really entertaining to watch, I'm a fan of Shin Hye Sun's work anyway so I always enjoy seeing her on screen but really found her character development to be fun to watch.
Overall, this one is quite light hearted, some really funny moments, but also some loud ones so if you're watching this one late at night on the main TV be prepared to be as shocked as the FL is and ready to turn the TV volume down :)
It's also one of those dramas that has the really nice long ending so you get to enjoy some of the happiness that was worked for so hard during the main part of the story. Very nicely done.
There's a really nice overall message about self confidence in this drama, the title and description presents it as being potentially superficial - but, hey, you should know better by now, that's not how these things work, there's a lot more to it :)
Great fun, been hooked watching it from start to finish!
Highly re-watchable too, there are some clever reveals and secret identities but honestly I can't see it being any less interesting even if you know the answers to those questions.
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Rich, handsome boy meets in the office the humble and unpretty worker: a combo that no one would think could work. I feel like I have seen many shows with this plot, and the strongest point of all of them is the incredible chemistry between the two lead actors that prove the audience they were wrong. She Was Pretty is not an exception, but I think its strongest point is rather the unexpected events and the countdown to see the truth being unveiled than the chemistry of the leads. I loved the early episodes because of the thrill of Sung Jun finding out who Hye Jin was, and I also loved the second half of the drama for the romance. All in all, She Was Pretty did quite well with the execution of its plots, even though you can feel it is kind of slow-paced sometimes.
I love it when fictional characters prove they are humans by making mistakes and making up for them afterward. The characters of She Was Pretty are all very realistic in a way that all of them are near to the actual reality, but what makes them more realistic than anything is how they gradually change for different reasons: they realize they mess up, they realize it is not that bad to change for someone you care, etc. I truly love this, and I think She Was Pretty has done this better than most of the dramas I have seen so far; especially with the friendship between Hye Jin and Hari.
Was the cast a fit for this drama? I think so. I think Park Seo Joon and Hwang Jung Eum did exceptionally well with their roles, some goes with Go Joon Hee and the co-workers at the office, especially for Hwang Seok Jung, and except for Kim Shin Hyuk / Choi Siwon; probably because he was a character that constantly got in my nerves for his sudden changes in personality and the empty scenes he was involved most of his time in the drama.
The soundtrack from this drama still makes rememorate scenes from the drama, and it is great when a song creates such a special link with the drama. Having among more artists Kihyun from Monsta X, Soyou, or Park Seo Joon himself as the lead singers for the songs of the OST, every track work well for She Was Pretty.
She Was Pretty is a cult drama for many reasons. Great cast and superb acting, well-defined places, a good script, and exceptional chemistry between the leads, whether it comes to the main couple or the friends, can be translated into an 8 out of 10. It is usually pretty hard to make a drama of this genre work if we keep in mind the number of cliches that can be found in it, but She Was Pretty meets all the expectations by far.
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Let me start with the negative points: 1) Hwang Jung Eum - you will love or hate her acting. I fall in the latter category. It is a known fact among seasoned K-drama watchers that her acting is so over-the-top, most of the time unnecessarily so. She was the main reason I found it so difficult to get through the show.
2) The central romance was not really convincing. It felt rooted in the childhood stories of our main characters, but it didn’t convince me that those childhood feelings translated into adult feelings of love.
For the positive points: 1) Siwon is hilarious in this role. It is just perfect for him and I think it gave him a chance to explore a character with a backstory and more emotional turmoil.
2) Park Seo Joon. I have yet to watch his other projects and I’m definitely looking forward to checking out his other dramas.
3) Notwithstanding a somewhat unconvincing central romance, due to the chemistry between Park Seo Joon and Hwang Jung Eum, there were still plenty of cute moments and fluff to make this a crowd-pleaser of a drama.
I would recommend the show for a fun, light and cute watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
Attachment to who the people were in the past, not to who they are now
I liked this drama but1) if you watch it on DVD (official or otherwise) you will find that there are alot of English subtitles missing- like things are just not translated ( I know this because I speak a good bit of Korean!)
also;
I don't think the writers did a good job because they wrote a character that does a 180 degree turn about in how they treat a girl just because of her identity. (Yes, it's fiction, but honestly in fiction or in reality; Guys that are worth having treat ALL women with respect, not just the one they are crushing on !). The romance for me was a bit off because the attachment is to who the people were in the past & not in the present. it was sad that they were not attracted to each other for exactly who they were as a complete person in the present. The writer's somewhat redeem themselves by giving us a good happy ending where you can see the girl can be herself and the guy is fine with her not fussing too much about her looks, though, dang she could put a tiny bit of effort into it !
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I just finished re-watching this k-drama that stars the vastly entertaining Hwang Jung Eum as Kim Hye Jin, a woman who was the beautiful, popular girl who became "plain" when she got older, and the vastly adorable Park Seo Joon as Ji Seong Jun, the man who was the tubby outcast boy who fell in love with her but is now attractive, fit, and successful. This show is, really, the reward for the Second Lead Syndrome caused by Kill Me, Heal Me - where Park Seo Joon's character does not get Hwang Jung Eum's character as a romantic partner. As wish fulfillment for Second Lead Syndrome it suffers a bit early on by just how awful a human being the adult Ji Seong Jun has become. It takes a little bit overly long for him to turn into a human being again - during which time, one gets the chance to absolutely fall in love with Choi Shi Won, who plays Kim Shin Hyeok, a goofy and good natured writer who loves the "ugly" Hye Jin just the way she is. (In fact, when she has the inevitable make-over mid season, his reaction is shock and dismay 'But you were so pretty just as you were!') Luckily, Seong Jun does become human eventually and the wrap up of the romance is charming, sweet, and satisfying.
And almost secondary to the real shining relationship in this drama, which is the womance between Kim Hye Jin and her roommate/best friend Min Ha Ri, who is played by the stunningly beautiful and doll-like Go Joon Hee. Very often in k-dramas, the two women who fall for the main guy are catty and awful to each other. Even when they have otherwise been friends, introducing a guy to the mix often ends up with at least one of them turning to Leona Helmsley levels of evil. Not She Was Pretty. The love these two friends have for each other shines through from beginning to end in this show and is the real reward for watching. The love and support they show for each other is envy- and awe-inspiring. And worth every single moment of screen time. There's more than one moment in the show, especially early on, where I think that these two could just go off and leave all the guys behind and it would be one of the most satisfying love stories. :) I would seriously watch it again and again just for their story lines.
I do love the interactions between Park Seo Joon and Choi Shi Won, too.
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