Ela Era Bonita

I waited until the end to write my review and well, i liked it! I'm totally fangirling over Siwon and loved his role in it the best. I wish his ending was a bit better though. The male lead was really obnoxious at first but thankfully grew out of it; i'd have thought knowing his background he'd have been a bit nicer to the underdog but i guess there's a story to tell. The humour was great (the port-a-loo/toilet scene in the countryside was the BEST) and well, as predictable as it was it was a nice, happy show with a feel-good vibe and good laughs :)

After 15 years apart first love school friends plan to reunite but their circumstances have changed and one decides to get her friend to pretend to be her. A simple plot in which the storyline is predictable but what makes this really worth watching is the comedic talent of the star Jeong-eum Hwang who is outstanding. An excellent supporting cast with well rounded characters all add to make this series a highly recommended romantic comedy

I totally enjoyed this series! I literally only started watching it because I watched Itaewon Class and enjoy watching Park Seo Jun. His role in this drama is so different to the other two shows I've watched and he is very good in this one too! I loved the themes in this drama. Friendship, what's pretty, how we don't back ourselves... it's a pretty show to watch with some very funny scenes and colorful side characters. Also the male second lead ... very cute!!! I recommend watching this pretty show!!

This is what I wrote after just first two episodes:

I am only on episode two of this series and am already frustrated with the extreme overacting of the female lead. She is presented as "ugly" even though she is quite decent looking. I don't know what the hell Korean beauty standards are. And then her ugliness entails being extremely loud and clumsy and doing completely stupid things that you would never expect from a 30 year old. And on top of that Park Seojoon's character is shown as so arrogant and demeaning. He just insults her to her face. In any workplace that would be grounds for dismissal. I am not sure how much of this drama I'll be able to tolerate before I quit.

Now, after finishing the series, here is my genuine review: Really liked the whole series except for one glaring flaw. There was no reason for the leading lady to undergo the transformation that she does in the second half. Everything was going her way- her job was good, the male lead was falling for her.. the series did a bad job of explaining the transformation. And then, when she becomes a writer she goes back to her previous self. It's weird. Anyway, there were several things I liked about this series. The biggest one was that the male lead falls for the girl BEFORE the transformation and isn't just miraculously struck by her beauty after the transformation. I think that is what made it realistic and likeable. Also, the side characters are not annoying like in other dramas which is so refreshing. I didn't have to skip the parts with side characters. Also, I really liked the second female lead.

Let me start out with the positives, because there are some. I liked the chemistry between the actors, and it's very easy to tell that they got along on set. I also enjoyed the comedy of this, I found myself laughing a lot during it.

The problem is mainly with one aspect of the show, and unfortunately it's a big one. The writing for this is awful. The choices that the characters are not only nonsensical, they're choices that no human would ever make. The main story doesn't flow, and there's a huge plot shift part way throughout the show. There's also this mystery which I already knew the answer to the first time it's brought up. Another thing which got over very irritating was the music, whenever the characters were silent they would play this music which would describe how they feel. Seriously, we know what's going on, we don't need this music.

I'll talk about the four main characters. The main lead's is one of those clumsy characters you either love or hate, I personally found her irritating, this type of character was done much better in other shows such as Ugly Betty. The male lead...okay I guess, though the actor wasn't as good as his costars. The second female lead had the best subplot, and she has several interesting dilemmas. But the spotlight was stolen by Choi Siwon's character, Shin-Hyuk, mainly because the man was hilarious and the character knew how ridiculous everything going on was. Seriously, Shin-Hyuk needs his own spin off, that's how funny he was!

Overall, this drama does have some good moments, but if you're going to watch it throw logic out of the window.