My only reason for watching Pretty Man is Jang Geun Suk. But I was in for a surprise. After watching so many dramatic series prior to this, my heart is broken in so many pieces. But Pretty Man proved to be funny, witty and refreshing. Yes, there are some aspects of it that falls in the plot cliches but for the most part it actually tries to steer clear from it. To me, the concept of this show is refreshing. Instead of romance or family being the focus, it's money or rather, climbing the social ladder. Now, that sounds something rather different doesn't it? Yes, I liked the concept that the show takes on. Narcissist, charismatic yet lacking the knowledge, money to be rich and pretty face, Ma Te (oppa)'s mission to conquer ten different women to climb the social ladder is somewhat refreshing to watch. It's also interesting how Ma Te, who is poor and lacks the basics of making money would use only his pretty face to get to the top. And of course, I thought "FINALLY! A show without complicated family drama cliches!" And boy, was I wrong? Yes, I was. At the last minute, the show fired off two family dramatic "twist" which also proved to be its dramatic climax and well, downfall. I get it. Revealing it towards the end to fire off the suspense and create tension in this somewhat funny and laid back series. However, it also becomes a weakness because not only is it important and crucial but it doesn't allow room for the characters and the audience to take in. And then the show ends. The subsequent actions and events that took place aren't enough of a reflection for such a big bomb being dropped. The show also lacks cohesiveness. For a plot where there are ten women, I expected all those ten women to be "successfully" conquered in a balanced and clarified manner. However, some of the women have longer spotlights than others. Some were not even "conquered" or nothing was learnt from them. They are merely Mary Sues for Ma Te to be successful so you question the credibility of his success. Can he really be independent? Also, I would have appreciated the end for Ma Te to put into action or summarize all the things he learned from these women. Still, I love how the password concept came into play. And what it turned out to be becomes crucial to the characters. The only cohesiveness I found here is the connection between the three leads and the family minus the women. It's true that they were pacing problems, the first few episodes were taking its time and then towards the end, it felt rushed, that's why the women concept didn't successfully worked towards the end because of the pacing. Ma Te is such an interesting character. From a nobody to a somebody. It's a struggle. And he's changed in some way. To me, this series isn't really man vs. man, yes, there were some aspects of that but for the most part, it's man vs. self. Ma Te's struggle to become a somebody. I maybe biased here because I love Jang Geun Suk but as always, he never fails me with his acting whether witty, serious or romantic. Though Ma Te still has some fragments of Tae Kyung, Jang Geun Suk's iconic role. It's exciting on how with every women, his hairstyle changes. IU, playing Bo Tong is probably one of my favorite characters. Not only is she cute but she's innocent, naive yet passionate, determined and strong-willed. And what I love the most about her is she never ever wallows in her self-pity. I love how she doesn't give a damn about being poor. Of course, her undying love for Ma Te is also admirable. She's this hopeless romantic. She's like my animal spirit. But truth be told, as much as I love Geun Suk. I believe that Bo Tong would have been more suitable for David Choi. I think that his love is more sincere and more passionate. Geun Suk actually takes Bo Tong for granted and it raises my eyebrows whether he sincerely likes her or because she's the only one he has left. But I guess, it's Bo Tong's life long dream come true. Oh, I love how the show didn't fall into the romance cliches: 1) There wasn't any repetitive I-love-you-but-I-have-to-let-you-go back and forth going on. IN FACT, there's only ONE. 2) FINALLY, the girl who's in love with the lead for so long gets to be with the lead. I hate this romance cliche the most, character C in love with character A for YEARS but character A choose character B. This is such a painful cliche. 3) It's not forbidden love or a love that's like me-and-you-against-the-world despite the fact that Bo Tong thinks she's just down there. But that never became an issue in the story in general, perhaps in the characters only. 4) Bo Tong loves Ma Te for so long. They didn't need to get to know each other to fall heads over heels for each other. At least no disaster or fate or coincidence happened for them to meet. It just happened, like life. So as a whole, the series does shy away from cliches. I think this series is one of those underrated series and that's a pity. I like how the artists here aren't also a repeat of the others, they're all fresh faces unless Geun Suk.