Overview/Comparison/My Random Rants:
If you have seen the original or previous remakes of this drama, you are in good hands! This remake definitely lives up to the hype. If you have not seen the original or previous remakes of this drama, don’t worry, this is also a good place to start.
If you haven’t seen the previous version of this drama, feel free to skip to the story section since this part is just comparing this version to the previous ones.
The original Korean version, “She Was Pretty”, was a pretty decent, solid drama. I felt like the main purpose for the original drama was to give the main couples a chance after “Kill Me, Heal Me” where Park Seo Jun was in an unrequited love triangle. Besides that, I think “She Was Pretty” was a good drama. It was enjoyable but not a super memorable drama.
On the other hand, the Chinese version “Pretty Li Hui Zhen (2017)”, was about the same as the OG. Everything was basically the same, except the story got dragged out. Personally, I found that annoying but oh well, it wasn’t terrible.
For this version, “Kanojo wa Kirei datta (2021)”, I fell in love with this version! Personally, I like it even more than the OG. Reasons why:
1) It wasn’t too draggy. Ten episodes summarized the whole plot perfectly.
2) Male lead isn’t a douche half of the time. (Okay, maybe like the first four episodes).
3) Female lead’s character development was more prominent.
4) Main lead’s chemistry was on FIRE!!!
Currently, I’m still watching the Thai version, “Me Always You (2021)”. This one hasn’t been my favorite. In fact, from what I’ve seen so far, I’m not a huge fan. I feel like they over cartoonized the female character, but that’s just Thai dramas in general. In many of the Thai dramas, either the main girl is super quirky, strong, and independent, or the main girl has no backbone and is in a toxic relationship with the male lead (insert smiling clown face). This one has to be a mix of both from what I’ve seen so far. Hopefully it will get better and won’t drag out too long.
Overall, my ranking for these three dramas are
1)Kanojo wa Kirei datta
2) She Was Pretty
3)Pretty Li Hui Zhen
4)Me Always You (2021)


Story: 9/10
Where do I even start? The way the writer edited this story from the original version was just beautiful. In the original version, I always contemplated if the male lead really loved her for who she is, not just because she turns out to be his childhood crush. As a recap, this story revolves around the female lead who used to be a beautiful young girl who everyone adored for her looks and intelligence, including the once chubby male lead who was ignored and bullied by everyone. However, in a turn of events, the lives of the leads are now flipped. The female lead is now “unattractive” and is constantly bullied for her looks, and is also struggling to find a steady job. On the other hand, the once chubby male lead is now a handsome, fit, and domineering deputy chief at a famous editorial magazine. In a matter of seconds, fate brings them back together. However, due to the change of appearance of the female lead, she decides to keep her identity a secret from the male lead as she continues to work alongside him.
What I liked most about the story was the character developments within all of the four main leads. It was refreshing to see how the same things like words of assurance and a little pushing can really affect someone in the long run.


Acting/Cast: 10/10
The cast was perfect. I could see a lot of similarities between this cast and the Korean cast. Koshiba Fuka, our female lead, did an amazing job. I could feel her emotions and felt all of her happiness and sadness. Her character was easy to understand and felt very natural. Next, we have our male lead, Nakajima Kento. Lowkey reminds me of Simon Dominic, and boy, are they both hot! He played his character well but on the other hand, his character is confusing. This is the same for all three previous She Was Pretty. He was a sweet innocent kid and then boom, he’s a domineering jerk. Like, what happened in the middle? A + B = C …. But what is B? Sweet and innocent + ? = Domineering Jerk. Regardless, you start out questioning whether you like him or not and then you end up loving him. Akaso Eiji and Sakuma Yui also did a pretty good job with their characters. They didn’t overshine the ML and FL, but their addition to the cast and character really made this drama shine even brighter.


Music: 8/10
The beginning and ending songs were typically pop songs. They were refreshing to hear throughout the drama.


Re-watch Value: 10/10
By the time I have released this review, I have already re-watched this drama 3 times. (Edit: 4 times). It’s just a very simple drama to watch whenever you are bored or need to pass time. Every time I watch it, it feels refreshing. I’ll probably re-watch it a few more times before I go find another drama to do the same.


Overall: 9.5
Overall, probably the best version of She Was Pretty. There wasn’t much to complain about the storyline nor the cast/acting. It was a pretty wholesome drama and good production quality.


Spoilers and Beautiful Moments:

Honestly, the ending was so beautiful. The moment when Hasebe put his hands on her cheeks and said, "Ai, you've become so beautiful" was such a sweet moment. The way Sato Ai smiled and looked like she was about to cry was so beautiful. The theme of finding your inner beauty and accepting yourself as who you are was such a beautiful theme. Although this theme was also carried out in the previous versions, this one felt more realistic and awe-inspiring.