Series Review - My Lovely Girl, aka She's So Lovable

This series started out light and breezy. Nothing much really happened but it was something you could enjoy without thinking too much.

Rain stars as Lee Hyun Wook, a brilliant, successful composer-producer who dropped out of sight three years ago after the tragic accidental death of his girlfriend, Yoon So Eun. (It really is tragic and accidental. No one could foresee a truck blowing a tire, flipping over, causing another truck to jump it and flip over and slam into a parked car on the side of the highway.) He still gets panic attacks whenever something reminds him of that day (like a song on the radio). So Eun's only surviving family is her younger sister, Se Na (Krystal Jung).

(Ra Eum, Shi Woo, Hyun Wook, Se Na, Hae Yoon, and Jae Young)

Hyun Wook reconnects with Se Na via a little magic, as Se Na calls her sister's smashed, dead cell phone and Hyun Wook is able to listen to her message even though the phone has been kept in a box for three years without being charged. Because she's so discouraged on the message, Hyun Wook sets out to find her. Unfortunately, it's a little more challenging because she's on the run from loan sharks -- because anyone down on their luck borrows from loan sharks. They reconnect, though, when Se Na uses her best friend's name to get a job at a resort hotel and Hyun Wook just happens to stay there.

While at the resort, Se Na witnesses the humiliation of idol, Shi Woo (L), as he gets dumped by the girl he likes. He humiliates her in return and she stomps away thinking he's a real jerk. Hyun Wook's detective discovers her identity so Hyun Wook hires her as his dog sitter. (And unfortunately, adorable Dal Bong is diagnosed early with inoperable throat cancer. The writer had to give someone cancer and so the dog got it. The dog that used to belong to So Eun.)

Dal Bong shows why he's the character that you care about the most in this drama.

Hyun Wook makes it his mission to help Se Na succeed as a song composer. Luckily, he's just been maneuvered into taking over his father's music agency (AnA, so he's able to use his clout to get Se Na a trainee gig. He doesn't tell anyone except Bae Sung Jin (Alex) who Se Na is, not even his best friend and Oppa girl, Shin Hae Yoon (Cha Ye Ryun), the director of AnA. Hae Yoon is sharp, so she quickly figures it out, and then she has to watch as Hyun Wook falls for another Yoon sister.

How about that chemistry between the OTP?

As I mentioned in the beginning of this review, the series started out light and breezy. But nothing really ever happened. I almost recapped it. I had high hopes for the series. The Se Na-Shi Woo relationship had nice chemistry and Hyun Wook's relationship with her seemed really brotherly. (Plus, Hae Yoon was *pining* for him.) I thought that maybe, just once, the Oppa girl would actually snare her Oppa and Shi Woo would get a girl who wasn't after him because he was an idol. Did that happen? NO. Episode 8 had Hyun Wook kiss Se Na for the first time. And it only went downhill from there.

Couple with actual chemistry

I mentioned before that Hyun Wook used to date Se Na's sister. This was his reason for *not* liking her, one he eventually tosses aside. Even after they 'like' each other, he doesn't tell Se Na about their connection. Around Episode 11, Hyun Wook's nemesis, Jae Young (the rivalry is lame and doesn't warrant discussion) gets wind of Se Na's identity as So Eun's dead sister. What does Hyun Wook do, when he discovers that Jae Young knows? Does he tell Se Na? No, he tries to run away with her instead. This is the point that I stopped watching the show. I was annoyed when their 'love' blossomed. When it devolved into this, I couldn't take it any more. Instead of real drama, the writer gives us false angst and stupidity. I read the recap for the final episode and got even more disgruntled, because the whole episode Hyun Wook and Se Na are broken up and angsty FOR NO REAL REASON. Just more stupid writing that Rain couldn't even save.

If it was an emotion other than happiness, Krystal's expressions looked like this.

Some of my objection to the series goes beyond the trite and trope-filled story to the acting. Rain was great, as usual, but the OTP had no chemistry and Krystal reminds me of Kristen Stewart in her range of facial expressions. Nuanced she is not. Even the mustache-twisting character, Jae Young, left me apathetic. I wouldn't mind nothing really ever happening (action-wise) as long as the acting is good, but in this series, it wasn't. This is the first series where I didn't care how it finished and could care less what happened with pretty much anyone. Even being a fan of Rain couldn't save it for me.

My review of this series would be to skip it, even if you are a die-hard Rain fan.