She Was Pretty

"She Was Pretty" tells the story of Hye Jin, a woman who was beautiful and popular as a child, but now as an adult she has no self-esteem and doesn't care about her appearance. She reconnects with her first love Sung Joon, but when the two arrange a date, Sung Joon doesn't recognize her since Hye Jin looks completely different from her younger self. Hye Jin makes a plan to use her friend Ha Ri as a replacement, the problem is that Sung Joon is Hye Jin's new boss.

As they work together, Sung Joon continues to see similarities in Hye Jin to the Hye Jin of his past, the things that made him fall in love with her in the first place. These conflicting feelings cause Sung Joon to treat her badly, because he is feeling guilty for liking someone else when the girl of his dreams is in his life now. The situation becomes complicated when Ha Ri falls in love with Sung Joon and wants to keep up the lie, as a way to keep seeing him. There's also Shin Hyuk, a very strange and funny person who is interested in Hye Jin.

Hye Jin and Sung Joon are very cute together, but I have to say that I rooted more for Shin Hyuk, for me he was the person who really liked Hye Jin for who she is, with all her quirks and I also couldn't forget how Sung Joon treated Hye Jin in the beginning, always pointing out the flaws in her appearance, but I can't say that Hye Jin and Sung Joon aren't a good couple, the two have great chemistry and it's very cute to see them together.

The story is a cliche, an "ugly" woman transforms, becomes beautiful and wins the guy's heart, but there is a different message in the drama's story, since Hye Jin only changes for a while, her true self is always there and Sung Joon learns to love her new version, since the person from his past no longer exists, everything she went through changed her. It also shows that you shouldn't change for someone else, just be yourself and the people who really like you will stay by your side.

Si Won <3

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Likeable show, but...

I found this a fun watch all the way, and wasn't as bored at the end as a lot of other reviewers seem to have been; there were some loose plot-ends, but they weren't crucial. And I liked the FL. Yeah, she's a yeller, but she's also a loyal friend and a hard worker, she gets a lot of personal growth in this, and I enjoyed her enthusiasm and good people-skills at work. I also liked that she knew her best friend was kind of flaky and loved her anyway: the sismance was solid here. The supporting cast was fun and the SML was an extremely fun and charismatic character who was really well-acted. I enjoyed him too, but I could also see why she wasn't likely to fall for him. What I wasn't so sold on was the main romance. It's sweet; it's totally plausible given their background; PSJ is a good actor, and he's undeniably drop-dead gorgeous. But it was also kind of boring, because although she obviously cared for him a great deal, I didn't feel the chemistry and I never got the impression that she fiercely wanted him. Ehh, could be my western predilection for strong passions, but I felt that the SML's feelings were dramatically stronger than the main couple's, and that left me feeling unsatisfied.

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This is one of those dramas that I wish I had watched when it was airing so I could have joined in with all the drama lovers out there who squealed and swooned and fell in love with these characters and story. It's pretty close to perfect in my books, even if it has a couple flaws here and there.

First off, I was genuinely surprised, given the year She Was Pretty came out, at how consistent the storytelling is, how good the pacing is, and how well-written the characters are, not to mention how delightfully free it is of draggy plot points and noble idiocy and name any another irritating trope you might expect from a Kdrama. Given She Was Pretty came out in 2015, I was expecting some of these oft bemoaned elements to arise, but they never do.

I will acquiesce that the conceit of the drama, Hye Jin's best friend pretending to be her, does go on a bit longer than it should, and I felt some frustration with her character for not manning up and admitting to the lie. I empathized and sympathized with her deeply, but I also wanted her to stop putting herself in a situation that was only going to cause everyone hurt. Ultimately though, the drama's main conceit is used in an effective way that doesn't leave you hating any of the characters. I was sad for Ha Ri that she was so desperate for love she would lie, and I walked away from the story very happy that she finally decided to do the thing she really needed to be doing all along which was pursuing her own purpose.

I was admittedly not totally on board with the writing decision to have the OTP get together immediately after Sung Jun discovered that Ha Ri had been impersonating Hye Jin. I knew he would be angry with Ha Ri for what she had done, but I expected him to be angry with Hye Jin as well, since she was the one who asked Ha Ri to pretend to be her initially, and I figured he would assume she had asked Ha Ri to continue the lie as well. In retrospect, having now finished the drama, I'm glad the writers didn't go in that direction, because it would have probably meant last minute shenanigans the story did not need.

I think it is a fair critique to add here that while the first half of the drama spends some time exploring what it means to be the main character and what it means to be a side character with the female lead seeing herself as someone not all that important who just lives on the sidelines, this all kind of disappears for much of the second half. The last couple episodes bring it back in a really lovely way with the female lead deciding to be the main character of her life, but I wish the drama had explored this more before then. For example, I was hoping the drama would show us what it was like for Hye Jin and her family to go through the financial struggles they did and just how that impacted Hye Jin's self-esteem, but the story never goes there, and I don't know why. Of course, the female leads makeover and her honest and determined effort to succeed at her job at the magazine are intended to be an unspoken exploration of the main-character-versus-side-character theme as well as aid in her ultimately deciding to stop standing on the sidelines of her own life, and I think it is all very beautifully done.

The romance is pretty solid. Sung Jun starts off as an unnecessarily harsh boss, but he isn't the sort of jerk that's typical of older Kdrama's. There's no manipulation or abuse toward Hye Jin or cruelty or real insult to her appearance or personality. He is unnecessarily unfair to her in regard to the quality of her work, but he treats all of the magazine employees that way, not just Hye Jin. I do think the drama could have evened things out a bit by showing him being mean to the other employees a little more often, because it does seem a bit like him singling her out at times, but he is still quite mean to the other employees. He's just a little extra mean to her on a few occasions.

Of course, then he begins to fall for her (before the makeover ever happens, which I absolutely love), and he really begins to soften. By the time Ha Ri is caught in her lie, Sung Jun's pretty much gone for Hye Jin and hasn't been even the tiniest bit harsh to her for some time. In fact, he softens with all of the magazine employees over the course of the story and sort of becomes part of the work family.

Some people probably aren't going to like his harshness in the beginning but having lived in Korea for a time myself and knowing a little bit about Korean workplaces, I don't think his behavior is all that out of place, unfortunately. In fact, Sung Jun is downright nice compared to some bosses.

My only complaint with the subplot of the drama, the magazine possibly shutting down, is that the reason for it makes no sense. Businesses close because they're not making money or they're actively losing money or it's a small business and the owners don't want to run it anymore and a variety of similar reasons. No business is going to shut itself down because it's coming in second place in sales compared to another business. Second place...is profitable. Second place...is keeping the lights on. Second place is solid. Despite this illogical aspect of the subplot, the drama does show a strong portrayal of the magazine team working to turn things around, and Most's inevitable ranking as #1 is, in my opinion, appropriately bittersweet. If they had saved the magazine and everything had ended on a perfectly happy note for everyone involved, it would have been way too cliche and tied-together with a bow. Shin Hyeok's sacrifice for the magazine is absolutely beautiful and moving and made the win feel earned rather than simple and easy. It also made me cry.

Speaking of Shin Hyeok, I now understand what all the hype is about around his character. He was a constant ray of sunshine, provided at least half of my smiles while watching, and I loved him So. Dang. Much. It hurt to watch his heart be broken, and it hurt to watch him push through it to still be Hye Jin's friend and to help the magazine survive. If Shin Hyeok were ever to spring from screen as a real, living, breathing human being, I would gladly fill the hole in his heart.

I haven't talked about Hye Jin yet, but I honestly have no end of good things say about her character. Hye Jin is such an 'I'm gonna face whatever comes my way head on' kind of character, and it was so incredibly easy to both like her and root for her. She obviously struggles with her self-esteem due to her appearance, the way people clearly treat her because of her appearance, and the financial struggles her family experienced while she was growing up. But even when she's struggling, she doesn't quit on herself. Some people will think she's too 'positive' and 'upbeat,' that she's not realistic, but it's exactly her positivity and upbeat-ness (and her deep, un-ending well of kindness) that make me like her so much. I personally struggle with depression, finding my purpose, with insecurity and self-loathing. Hye Jin was a timely and hopeful reminder that I Am the main character of my life, and I should never give up. I really quite love her, and I may end up adding her to my favorite female leads of all time.

This is somewhat to be expected of a drama of its era, but they definitely don't do a great job of making Hye Jin's skin 'condition' look believable and realistic. Technically, it's not a condition. The drama treats it as the natural way her face looks, and when she has her makeover, one of the characters even comments that she's lost all of her freckles, so I guess that is supposed to be part of what was going on. But it's obvious to everyone watching that that is not how people's faces normally look. I'm truthfully not all that bothered by this so I'm not docking the drama any major points, but I do think they could have gone with a skin condition like rosacea to give it more believability.

Finally, I know Kdrama lovers don't typically like their romance dramas to spend too much time with the characters after they've already gotten together, because it's all about the lead up to the relationship, but I enjoy a good romance where we get to see a couple be a couple (case in point, the Jdrama We Married as a Job), so I loved the finale episode. All of the major plot points of the drama are mostly wrapped up by the next to last episode, so a lot of the finale is our leads being cute together. And they are very cute together, lol. But there was also a really nice amount of focus on Hye Jin pursuing, and succeeding, in her goal to be a writer as well as becoming fully comfortable with her own body, freckles, red cheeks, and all. The three of those things combined make the finale more than worth for it me.

While this drama doesn't quite make it to a perfect ten-out-of-ten rom-com for me, it gets pretty dang close. I'm just sorry I waited so long to watch it. 2015 me really missed out.

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She was pretty made feel like I wanna stop the drama because I feel really sorry for our female m.c.. And also her best friend and her crush give a hard time.
In that drama all the m.c. make a mistake so anyone is really very inoccent(what make the script more real).
That drama also show to us how a friendship of years can be break but also show us that can be fix.
The main couple is really cute and make me sorry for the short cute parts(but the ones that appear are really specials)
The puzzle also give problems but is also really really important.
That drama shows that to dreams to come true need us to fight and never give up.

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First of all, I just want you all to watch this drama. Promise that you will love. This drama story is so lovely and all of casts are really good at their roles. Story is not only for the main characters but also for the supporting characters as well. You will never get bored when you watch this drama. I am pretty sure that I will re-watch this drama again. I am regret that I did not watch this earlier because no one suggest me to watch.
I am not the type of person who like to watch all the Korean Drama weather it is good or not.
I do not waste my time on bad movie and drama so if I recommend you to watch that's mean a lot.

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SIWON, I THINK YOU MADE BIAS LIST!!!

The show was AMAZING!! I can't believe it. I think out of all the dramas from Korea alone that I've watched, this one hit it out of the park!!! I loved the story and what it meant, that we are the stars of our own story and that no matter the bad, good would always fall into place. I couldn't stop crying, however. This hit me in the feels so, so, so, much! Everything about it. And as an American K-pop stan and me always going after Leeteuk and Heechul as my Super Junior bias wreckers I must say Siwon Choi really did it for me. I wanted so bad for everything good to happen for him. It was the first time ever where I actually wanted the second male lead to get the girl. I was rooting for him so bad. He was just pure, kind, funny, charismatic, and just full of love. He was good and happy. I loved the characters. And of course Park Seo Joon I can't wait to see you make your Hollywood debut in the new Captain Marvel movie!!! And yes, I'd rewatch it again!!!

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This was my first drama and the one who got me into the kdramas world!
It's such a classic and a must watch even though it's not perfect *shrugs*. It contains the most important clichés: the FL is "poor and ugly" while the ML is "rich and successful", they're childhood friends who re-meet after years, plus you will suffer from 2nd lead sindrome so much *sighs*, even when the whole drama is about secondary characters!! *facepalm*!
Anyways you will feel so many emotions through this drama: you will laugh a lot, sometimes feel sad, sometimes annoyed by the male lead but he will also make you fall in love...
Overall a really good drama :)

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This isn't bad. A typical rom-com fun story with a great cast and a good OST. I gave it a good 8.5/10. Recommend? YES. A memorable K-Drama series? I'm afraid not. There are many others better. But is this worth a watch? Yes.

The main leads are really good. The female lead is truly a wonderful actor. The male lead is not my cup of tea, but I was able to enjoy his performance. The secondary leads are very very memorable. The support cast did a fantastic job.

The story is decent. The drama is steady in keeping your attention because it is light and fun. No real twist and nothing to upset the audience. I'd say you get what you paid for. Is it obvious? A bit yes, but a fun watch nevertheless.

I'm glad I finished this Drama. I didn't waste my time and I didn't feel upset. It's a good one to binge and a good one to watch with gf or family. A good K-Drama.

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A wonderful ugly duckling meets CEO office kind of a fluffy drama. Strong themes of friendship, self confidence and believing in yourself no matter what comes in life. It does have a second ML who is so charming, light amount of jealously and unfortunately lights on physical chemistry. I was interested in everyone's story and not just the leads! Very well written with lots of bubbly, quirky, pretty actors. There were times when the FL was a bit annoyingly over the top loud, super energetic behavior. The OST...I am not sure it even contains anything memorable at all.

She Was Pretty is a typical romantic comedy that you watch when you are looking for something sweet and funny to unwind and relax, with a guaranteed happy ending.

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A MUST WATCH!!!!!!!!!!! SO WORTH IT

I watched this drama about 2 years ago and I liked it then. For some reason I decided to rewatch it... and let me tell you, it was so much better the second time around. I was laughing to myself at odd hours in the morning as I rewatched it. I loved how the events played out. I didn't hate Min Ha Ri for what she did... in a way, I understood why she did what she did.... and her guilt in the end made her actions worth being forgiven.
There wasn't much skinship between them but the chemistry between the leads was off the charts. I really enjoyed it
I would recommend anyone to watch it. I'm already looking forward to rewatching it again

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