My ID Is Gangnam Beauty (2018)

It Was Just OK

So, I originally watched this drama because of Cha Eun-woo. I had seen him in True Beauty and really enjoyed it, so I figured I would give more of his dramas a try. However, this drama just seemed to miss the mark for me. All of the characters seemed very bland and one-dimensional. It seemed like Cha Eun-woo only had one facial expression the entire time. The two leads had barely any chemistry at all and all of their scenes together just felt very awkward. Honestly, the best thing I got out of this drama was that I discovered the song "Something" by george and Gang Haein (because they played it EVERY SINGLE CHANCE THEY GOT). This drama was entertaining at best and I will most likely not rewatch it.

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This is such a lovely drama. I was amazed I liked it so much, because I had just finished rewatching The Master's Sun (one of my favorites). I was hesitant to watch another drama, because I felt it might pale in comparison. Surprisingly, it didn't do that. The story is very thought provoking. It gave me a whole new viewpoint on plastic surgery, beauty, and prejudices. I have never judged anyone on their looks, but I also never understood why someone felt the need to do plastic surgery. However, seeing Kang Mi Rae's way of thinking, certain prejudices I held really changed. Kang Mi Rae is reserved, due to her insecurities, but she is also strong, and doesn't let herself be pressurized into anything. The male lead, Do Kyung Suk, is one of the best I have ever seen. He is caring, and respects boundaries, and women. He has a very straightforward manner and how he doesn't judge people on their looks. The acting is amazing. You can tangibly see the chemistry between Kang Mi Rae and Do Kyung Suk. Each episode was well done. The story's pacing was just right. One of the things that stood out to me most was the music and sound effects. This is the first time I actually took notice of them. The music is so pretty, and they are tailored to each scene they are added onto. This is such a charming drama. I would really recommend it; it will not disappoint.

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Well this one focus a little bit on a heavy subject but it is portrayed pretty well and in a very respectful way.

It shows the hardships of a girl who was born so to speak with an "ugly" face and goes through a lot of hardships growing up and in her school life. So when she thinks to herself that enough is enough and that she doesn’t want to suffer anymore she tries to commit suicide but a woman passing by stops her and with a few kind words she convinces her not to do it.
After that she gains a bit of courage and with the help of her mother, she decides to schedule a plastic surgery to her face before entering her new university life (all this behind her fathers back) and with her mother being super supportive and i really loved it,

It's a very sensitive subject and people are quick to judge and point fingers, once they know or notice that you did plastic surgery of any kind. People shame those who do it to get “artificial beauty” and that's why there's a saying about gangnam beauty being equal to plastic beauty, it's not a compliment but a slang word to shame that person saying you got plastic surgery to look pretty, you don't deserve to be pretty or to even be on the same level as those born with natural beautiful features. (bunch of BS and it totally triggered me to think that there are people like that for real in the world who take pleasure in shaming others for whatever reason, just to make themselves feel better....ugh...makes me so angry...)

Either way, the story is great and the actors did an amazing job, they look comfortable together and make the scenes light and funny and even in the serious ones, they are very well done, there are so many life lessons to take off from this show that it really warmed my heart to watch it.
At some point you end up hating some of the characters ( some were really annoying to me and i just wanted to slap some sense into those lost souls -.-") but that just shows that they did a great job.

Really a must watch on my book. <3

I have to confess, i got a 2nd male lead syndrome with this one because i think the actor who played him is so handsome and sweet you cant help but to fall for him, omg i was really sad for the guy that i wanted to take him home with me XD

Even tho there’s not a lot i would like to point out in this drama, there was just one thing that bugged me a little bit, and since i was talking about the 2nd male lead, i just got the feeling that in all the scenes they did together, the female lead had more chemistry with the 2nd guy than with the male lead, to me it felt more natural so to speak.

Don’t take me wrong, i loved the main couple scenes together but there were some scenes that looked a little bit stiff, i dunno how to explain it.
Maybe because of the director/writter and the way his character persoanlity was written because i did noticed that the male lead is super shy and an introvert (not very social at all unless is really necessary, not many friends except to one or 2 real close, a guy of few words and a lot of feelings bottled inside but on the good side, he is a guy that knows what he wants and goes after it! loved it :D) so that might the reason behind it.

But over all, it's such a sweet drama to watch :D

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Mediocre at best [mild spoilers]

This is my first review, and I would like to start by saying I watched this show a year or two ago, and only now have I decided to begin writing honest reviews and reflections for the shows I've watched.

To get it started, I only watched this show because I had heard it was pretty good. I am not into idol stars, and had no idea who the idol was until I read other reviews that were along the lines of "to those who think [] can not act," etc. With that being said, I just found the entire show overall to be very... lackluster. Reflecting back, there was nothing notable I could recall, contrary to shows that I've watched before where I could definitely recall and say "wow this show made a good point" or "this specific moment was so touching."

Story:

I understood sort of what this show was trying to go for. Without spoiling it majorly, I personally felt the show was trying to give the story of acceptance of yourself, or how beauty doesn't really matter? I'm unsure because I never got a solid identity from this show besides that. Personally, I felt they didn't do that justice. Compared to "Cheese in the Trap," of which was even rated lower, I never really saw a struggle in the female lead (of which in the mentioned show, I really empathized with the female lead, cried with her, and understood the clear frustrations written). I always remember it as "boo-hoo, I got plastic surgery now I'm sad because people know." I know for a fact that ever since I watched the show, this is all I could remember. That's all I could take from it.

I felt no romance either. I know there was some silly scene where he sleeps over and then there is a joke about there being cameras in the room, but that's all I can reflect on. I never felt like there was truly a romance in this show that built up over time, such as in shows like "Romance is a Bonus Book" or even "Kill me, Heal me." I know these are different shows, but maybe the point of this show might not have been to be a really heavy romance show but to send a message (Of which I still think was done poorly).

What especially bugged me was how horrible the writing was for the villain/antagonist. The only, ONLY scene I could remember where the villain actively tried to do something was "oh my god she spilled this on me on accident let me go clean up" and then there was nothing wrong with her. That's it? The villain/antagonist was constantly giving me.. frenemies vibes? It even devolved into a "let me help you because I know you have issues even though you are [attempting to be] mean to me." This felt really sucky for me because there are especially some shows that really drive a good villain who actually creates an impact in the female leads life besides an inconvenience, such as "Strong Woman Bong Soon." Again, another comparison, and I'm sure maybe the show wasn't written to have a major villain or antagonist, but it felt so random that they included this aspect but it was so weak when it especially could have been malicious towards the girl and her surgery history. I know said villain also meddled in the affairs and relationships of other people, but really? I feel like her meddling was more antagonizing than anything she did to the female lead.

Acting/Cast:

I felt the acting was fair. I thought it was decent, and like most of the shows, I've watched. However, maybe because of the writing or possibly the actors, I felt no real emotion towards this show. I had no empathy or romance or anything, compared to other shows where I can really empathize with issues the female lead goes through or can really despise the villain because they're acting that well (Search: WWW I felt had excellent actors, just as an example to a "villain" I really, really hated because they acted it so well).

Music:

I felt the music was fair too. There was nothing memorable that I can say about the music, I didn't particularly enjoy any of it, but it wasn't bad (compared to the Kill me, Heal me soundtrack, which I felt was spectacular, or the soundtrack for Something in the Rain).

Rewatch Value:

I wouldn't rewatch this. I feel like if you want to rewatch a show, it's because you really, really enjoyed it the first time you've watched it, and that you want to rewatch it may be to approach memorable scenes, or because you just simply liked it. I would not rewatch it since I just didn't enjoy the show (a show I did rewatch, however, would be "Secret Garden" for comparison).

Overall:

Overall, it's not bad. It's not terrible. It's watchable. I didn't enjoy it, but clearly, a lot of people did, so maybe I'm just picky. It's a cliche show you probably would enjoy if it were your first kdrama, but I feel like if you've watched a lot of them, this show just isn't enjoyable despite it being "cliche" in my opinion. I don't think it does anything well personally, besides having pretty actors and an idol which many people seem to watch the show for. I wouldn't rank this show higher than some poorly rated shows that I feel fall in the same category (Protect the Boss, My Secret Romance) because I just feel like this show didn't have anything memorable to me or enjoyable rather than the, in my opinion, mediocrity.

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What?

The word 'What?' constitutes around 80% of the dialogue for our titular heroine. I wondered, at one point, whether there would be a Big Reveal that she's been brain-damaged, or her hearing impaired, during her plastic surgery. But, no, this was just her personality, such as it was. It would be a good drinking game to take a shot every time she said 'What?' but you'd get drunk pretty quickly.

She also remained completely blank-faced through most of her scenes - happy, sad, angry, peaceful - who could tell? Through the botox nothing penetrated.

Jo Woo-ri was convincing as the cliched 2nd female lead - bitchy and conniving - and the young lads playing the male lead(s) were fine, but the character around which the drama was based was badly written and badly acted, irritating and depressing.

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Average Drama way to many episodes

This could have been a 12 ep series. 16 eps is a bit much.

I realliy liked the actor playing the ML, Cha Eun Woo. I liked his character too. I loved the actress Park Yoo Na playing Yoo Eun.

The story is rather compelling. Since it dicusses the issues surrounding plastic surgery and the unbelievably high Korean beauty standards. I think it's wild that so many young people have the kinds of plastic surgeries the character received. That being said if you want to change something about yourself to make you happy then go for it! Who's to say what's right for you.

I did like that MiRae the FL struggled with being attractive. It's a huge thing to change your entire face and no matter what you look like, good or bad, there will always be someone who has something to say about it, good or bad. My biggest gripe with the story is that MiRae took too long to get over caring about what others thought and it took waayyyy to long for ML & FL to have a kiss!!

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“An interesting show that got many pro and contra in the beginning but end up success with high enough rating”. I already read the webtoon version and because of it I watched the series so I can make a review about it before it’s too late.

I must appreciate the original writer, Gi Maeng-gi for brave enough to create such a atory element that brought many controversies in South Korea, especially about the plastic surgery and how society see it in general. There’s differences about the story in the show and the webtoon itself so it was not fully adapted. And because of that for all of the viewers that have read the webtoon first, don’t be surprised about various events that did’nt happen or exist at all suddenly pos up in show. Though I can tell you that the differences did’nt affect or change the whole main story, maybe just the pacing of how fast or slow the story is. Okay so I thought the story was well written, I love the characters, the college background that quite rare we see in any story genre, the conflicts and finally the atmosphere building process. Maybe you will get “unsafe” feeling when you watch this at the beginning about how the potention of the story evolves or could I satisfied by watching it or something like that but in the end you’re not gonna disappointed, because although it was slow process, they succeed to evolve both the story and the characters into 16 episodes that highly recommended for all of you who love romance, drama and comedy genre.

For the cast of this show, I’m sorry but I have to say this, Jo Woo-ri is one of the reason that made me want to put 8,5 for this section. Why? Well let me ask several questions then. Which character that constantly and secretly spreading hateness to every other character that exist in the story? Which character that made the audience pissed whenever they showed up? Which character that affect the main conflict and make a good impact for developing the main character? And the answer to all of that three questions is the one and only, Hyun soo-a. Her detailed character and how the writer describe her as a natural beauty but lacks of good personality is the most succesful character of this series. And for the record, Soo-a’s character developed till the end. Joo Woo-ri suits the character very well. The main characters, Cha Eun-woo and Im Soo-hyang suits Do Kyung-seok and Kang Mi-rae too. Though at first “the accusation of Eun-woo for didn’t suit the character and worst, he cannot acted well” that got viral really concerns me at the beginning. I knew him as an ASTRO member but this is my first Cha Eun-woo dramaso I couldn’t compare his act to his previous drama. But I can assure you one thing, “Cha Eun-woo CAN act.” He absolutely received awards not because lack of talents but by proving something with his character to the audiences. Is he good enough for playing his character? Yes. Is his acting well to describe his character from the beginning till the end? Well maybe not. At first, I admit that it was kinda stiff or other viewer may found him awkward but if you watched the show carefully you know that is only his character’s personality and for a bonus, his acting improved a lot through the end of the series. I personally love the relationship of Mi-rae and Kyung-seok. It will make you cringe indeed but definetely they deliver good chemistry. Woo-young seonbae is another second male lead that falls for Mi-rae and like any other character like this usually ended their feelings with disappointment (hehe if you know what I mean). Well, watch it for yourself if you want to know how supportive he is in this series.

“Something in your eyes, tell me who I am. And something in my highs, whenever you’re near~”I can’t move on with this OST.A good music for building romance aura. I felt cringey when I heard it for the first time but it becomes one of my fave right now. They carefully feel in the music part, though I dunno if I’m allowedto say this or not, the scene when one character rejected then “Love Scenario” song played, it honestly feels like a small portion of advertisement there. But I don’t mind that because I loved that song very much.

This drama is worth to be rewatch. The characters are lovable and I’m not gonna liehow good-looking “he” is made this drama so popular indeed. But more than that, the strong delivery message about how you should see yourself and others by mirroring (thinking other people’s problem on their own shoes) so we can understand people’s act is a valuable lesson indeed. I do realize that the word of beauty in this series is not physically beautiful but many hidden things is beautiful just the way it is. It is not about why someone could do a surgery to fix their face or their body to be beautiful but it’s about how people in society judge about this matter easily while they didn’t know the reasons at all. Beauty is not physically beautiful neither because of natural born nor the surgery, beauty in this show means “appreciate”. Appreciate all of the bauty that existed in our society and of course that include how we see towards each other.

I don’t get it if someone say this show is lack of story message because in fact there are plenty good message about it. How the story delivers to audience may not described explicitely but the viewer’s will know if they truly watch this show and try to understand the characters. I highly recommended this drama to all of the girls that have low self esteem out there, it was a great motivation but not to be dreaming about the possibility of finding boyfriend as handsome as Do Kyung-seok or Cha Eun-woo but to live your own life full with smile and pride then till you could say this to your own self and other’s around you, “Everyone is beautiful. And “everyone” includes me”. Love yourself, nothing more.

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Not as childish as I had expected, but often too forced

I didn't have high expectations about this, as I had already read the synopsis and figured it was a common bullying story. I had no idea the lead guy was an idol and also wasn't aware that the lead girl was much older until I started watching it - and, to be honest, I could tell she wasn't in her early 20s like her character, which seemed too forced for me at times. The actress herself looks young, and she is talented, but I could just... tell that she was older somehow, and it took away some of the possible enjoyment I would have had while watching it.

When it comes to the lead actor, it seemed to me that they went a little overboard with the "serious, cold guy" trope. He didn't smile at all until the 15th episode (or something like that), and watching his scenes became such a bore. It annoyed me even more when I finally saw him smile, because he seems like such a cute and likeable guy. His character had zero charisma to me, and I didn't see any chemistry between him and the lead girl (probably just because both had the personalities of a door).

The 2nd female lead was surprisingly interesting to me, as I initially assumed she was just a classic Regina George. I felt that the drama did a good job with the pace in which they revealed what she was doing, as well as what her intentions and motivations were. Her acting was simple, and I thought it was really good and believable (even if in a cartoon-ish way, since she was still very much the popular, pretty girl that didn't like the main character).

Also, the supporting characters, which were mostly students at their university, had different/recognizable personalities, which I thought was well done. Many of them came across as people I could have befriended in university, and their interactions made sense, too. The first few episodes after they all met and started to hang out together felt realistic in a way.

I might recommend this to people that want a drama that's somewhat light to watch (although they keep bringing up bullying in this, none of the scenes were overly dramatic, and many more of them were humorous). Plus, it's a school drama with a tone that's more fun than sad, regardless of the backstory.

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Transformations have to be more than skin deep

9/10 is my rating. This 2018 South Korean Drama spans 16 episodes (~60 minutes/episode). Kang Mi-rae (Im Soo-Hyan) has been bullied her whole life for being “ugly” and decides to have plastic surgery to improve her appearance prior to starting college. She hopes for a new life and to leave her troubled childhood behind. Do Kyung-seok (Cha Eun-woo) is as attractive as he is cold and distant. He was a classmate of Kang Mi-rae during her middle school years but then disappeared to another school during that timeframe. Once bullied for being ugly Kang Mi-rae begins to experience bullying for a whole new reason – being too pretty. Do Kyung-seok defends Kang Mi-rae and comes to her rescue on multiple occasions.
This seemingly light romance explores a deep issue. What does it mean to be pretty? Do attractive people really have it easy? What would it be like to become beautiful overnight? I thought it was interesting because pretty and handsome people do have to develop some interpersonal skills around that distinction. Too nice and everyone is approaching them for relationships. Too cold and they are seen as stuck-up. Early on you see that Kang Mi-rae is struggling with how to be pretty. She goes along with people as she always has and lets people in that she likely should close out. Jealousy is not something she easily recognizes and thus she has people pretending to be close to her yet stabbing her behind her back.

Spoiler ? I loved the love story. Usually the male lead in Asian dramas starts as sort of a jerk but in this one he is really sweet to her the whole way through. Super sweet. He was a perfect male lead.
0-;''

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Doesn't follow the typical easy drama format

(One minor spoiler regarding the couple)

I'm surprised by just how good this drama was. I thought it would be on the same level of ridiculousness as True Beauty but it's actually very real, sensible, mature, and genuine.

The ML is not like the typical cold and jerkish MLs who only later become "good" guys who are really still jackasses who don't apologize for their mistakes. He is nice to who he wants to be nice to and isn't to others. Simple. The rest of his "coldness" is just his sarcastic and dry humor he naturally has. He also doesn't fall for the traps set by the opposing FL like so many other MLs do. Not once. In fact, he catches the lies very easily and isn't fooled by crying or anything. That was so refreshing to see!

The misunderstandings between him and the FL are very few and are resolved quickly. He doesn't generally assume she had bad intentions or believe what others tell him about her outright.

Sometimes I got a bit annoyed with the FL but I understood why she still struggled with confidence issues and standing up for herself. And though she grew slowly I was proud of her journey.

The message is also incredibly well executed. We can diet to lose weight and get plastic surgery to "fix" our face but that won't necessarily make us confident or make everyone leave us alone/treat us as normal. In fact, it can bring more attention to us than before and cause new issues we never considered.

And there is nothing wrong with wanting to be skinnier or getting plastic surgery, just like there is nothing wrong with Not wanting to lose weight or Not getting plastic surgery. But understand that it won't make life perfect. It won't "fix" you. Your mindset is the biggest problem. And while you may be struggling with just being okay with yourself it isn't okay to push your insecurities onto others by rating their faces or judging them based on their looks.

Just a side note: There wasn't a kiss until the second to last episode and I didn't find myself caring one bit. I didn't even realize it until I finished the drama.

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Best freaking drama ever. Story on point. Well executed. I love the ost. The love story between Kang Mi Rae and Keong Suk was so adorable, I almost cried.
The characters were not annoying. Unlike most dramas, the damsel in distress did have a tongue and could speak for herself. The drama dealt well with mental health issues and also portrayed well the pressure of looking beautiful by the standards of the society.
It is an amazing drama with extremely cute casting and to those people who didn't like Cha Eun Woo's acting, please take a note that the character was MEANT to be aloof and different.
This drama was such a great watch, I don't understand why one won't like it.

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So first of all,
This drama is probably my all time favorite. The story was new, the acting was enjoyable and I personally don’t understand the hate eunwoo got. His acting was on point as for his role. He really improved his acting skills in this drama.

Main Leads :
Their chemistry was brilliant.
A mix of everything. I loved how caring they were towards each other. I can’t express how much I loved seeing them together.
They both developed their characters together throughout the show and that’s what a healthy relationship is about. Helping the one you love and making him/her a better version of themselves they are confident in.

Story:
I never thought I could love a plot as much as in this drama. The story is definitely not your typical romance. But definitely what you are looking for if you look for a drama to distract yourself from reality.
The story deals with topics everyone has dealt with about self love. It’s important that finally a drama has talked about it.

Soundtrack:
Of course some songs were repetitive but not to the point I got annoyed. I hate watching a show and hearing the same song over and over again. But in this show I actually enjoyed it?!

All in all,
I am a person who really gets bored easily by a drama in the first episodes so I stop watching it. But this drama was interesting from the start. I can’t express how terrible I felt if an episode came to the end and i had to wait a whole week before I could watch another one.
Also this is the only drama show I watched 2 TIMES because I missed the characters so much.

Go watch it! You will regret not watching it!!

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