What do you mean this isn't the original?!?

Like many of the other reviews left, I also initially dropped the Korean version of She Was Pretty because of the length, draggy plot, and annoying acting - pitfalls that this drama manages to avoid because of its shorter length and excellent acting choices.

As usual, Nakajima Kento really suits the role of male leads who are stand off-ish and initially mean to the female lead. He can be a slightly mean boss in the early episodes, but never in a bully-like way that makes you think it would have been office harassment in real life. The mean person also gets stripped less than halfway into the drama and he becomes super lovely and nice from then on.

The way the show also handled the concept of being 'ugly' was maturely done. Sato Ai is never naturally ugly, she's just never really taken time to invest in herself - physically and otherwise. Multiple times in the show, it is reiterated that everyone (not just Ai's character!) has the potential to be beautiful when they are given time and support to explore their interests and develop themselves. I also liked how the transformation wasn't a fix-all but just a step to show how Ai had started to step up and really decide to live a life she wanted that was beyond mere survival. The cute romance is just the cherry on top of it all.

Second leads were also realistic - bordering on annoying at times - but while they weren't perfect characters, they had more to their characters aside from being an obstacle towards the romance of our two leads and were characters that I was at least mildly invested in as well.

As many have said, weak points of this drama would be the rushed final episode (so many things happen!) and a reveal about some support characters that weren't fully fleshed out. However, this one 'weak' episode isn't really any worse than your standard romcom drama episode, and overall this still remains a sweet + non-annoying romance drama if you need a quick pick-me-up.

On a less important note - I can't be the only one with Natsu no Hydrangea stuck in my head after hearing that song for over 15 times in a 10 episode drama, right? ?

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Deceivingly stupid but surprisingly smart

Like everyone else has been saying, this show is a hundred percent full of clichéd tropes, flimsy logic, and plot holes. However, that is the point of this whole series - that our FL, Chen Xiao Qian has made a drama so hilariously bad that her planned ML outright refuses to act in it. The way that the show frequently pokes fun at itself and acknowledges the ridiculousness of it all transforms this show from unbearable to enjoyable.

At times, the acting - especially that of the FL's - can border on annoying and one-dimensional. but the show provides a whole slew of entertaining side characters. The attendants of the leads in particular are endearing, provide great comic relief, and grounds both the ML and FL when they get too wrapped up in their respective schemes.

Plot wise, everything goes at a fast pace and any storylines get wrapped up in two episodes at most. Unlike other shows where you have to keep up with the main plot and a thousand side-plots as well, this show escapes that by making most side characters (justifiably) disposable and makes fun of this fact along the way too! This works to its advantage, because more often than not, the plot is (probably meant to be) weak. This does not mean to say it doesn't try though. There are some moments, especially near the end, where they try to tackle gender issues - albeit in a very superficial manner. Nonetheless, given the nature of the show, they handle these as smartly as they can by packaging deeper issues in lighthearted scenes.

Where this show really shines best is just brainlessly going along for the ride and watching Xiao Qian and Han Shou become increasingly besotted with each other. These types of shows don't require you to think too hard, and it is honestly best enjoyed that way. This is objectively an 8 for me, but in terms of enjoyment and experience can probably go up to a 9.

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