You're Beautiful

An Adorable Classic

I originally watched this during the airtime and didn't like it. I had rated it a 6.5. I think this is my first re-watch where the score is higher! At the time of this drama, we were peak "girl disguises as boy" style and it was exhausting.

I appreciate the actual story of this drama, ignoring the bits where they do attempt to bring in these side stories that don't stick, despite it being relevant to the main story. The ML and FL love story is a great progress. It isn't instant and then constant situation after dramatic situation. They start off at ends and progress beautifully. It is a bit toxic at times, but I feel the majority of the toxic nature stems from the third wheel to the love triangle. It was possessive and awkward.

The acting was great for the type of genre it is. That over-exaggerated, dramatic pause, comedy type drama. Everyone sold their characters appropriately, although I do feel Lee Hong Gi sent a little too over-exaggerated and it came off cringe and forced.

One thing I will always give credit to is the soundtrack. It's a great one and the songs are catchy and fun.

I rated the re-watch value high because not only did I re-watch it, but it wasn't a painful re-watch. I'm pretty sure I completed it faster this time than the first watch. I would probably give it another watch at some point down the road if I needed a filler.

Overall, this drama has endearing characters and an adorable love story that isn't immediately doomed because the relationship progression is actually staggered.

Read More

Enjoyable Watch Despite Flaws

When this recently appeared on Netflix I jumped at the chance to see Park Shin Hye as a 19 or 20-year-old - the age she pretended to be in the recent series Undercover Miss Hong. The Miss Hong series had the good sense to poke fun at the idea that a 36-year-old Shin Hye could pass for a 20-year-old new hire. In this series, we get to see her as she was way back then.

This romantic dramedy appeared in 2009 and was an early effort by the Hong sisters who also wrote The Master’s Sun, A Korean Odyssey, Hotel del Luna, Alchemy of Souls, Can This Love Be Translated, and the upcoming Grand Galaxy Hotel, a sequel to Hotel del Luna.

Shin Hye plays both genders in a boy-girl twin duo. This girl lives in a convent and works at an orphanage where apparently she and her twin brother grew up. She is a devout, innocent and very clumsy novice about to leave for Italy to become a nun. Her twin brother, a major rock music star, develops a health problem and is secretly sequestered in a US hospital. His agent persuades her to assume her brother’s identity and join an existing popular rock band as the new fourth member temporarily until her brother returns to resume his identity and continue his career. So we have her trying to pass as a guy, and as her secret gets revealed little by little, the romantic angle emerges because the innocent novice has strong primal urges towards one of the rock stars, and of course, he returns the favor. Dramatic complications set in when long ago connections among parents begin to slowly emerge. Lots of secrets that cause pain as they get revealed.

Is there such a thing as identical boy-girl twins? No. There can only be fraternal twins. Does she look and act remotely like a guy? No. So that’s why this leans towards a 16-hour-long situation comedy. A situation comedy is based on dumb decisions and plot twists that are at best highly improbable, and we get an abundance of both. We have to overlook the obvious that the characters in the story seem oblivious to.

The biggest flaw is in its direction. Perhaps because the situations are so outlandish, the director decided to run with it and apparently had his actors and, in particular, the two leads, Shin Hye and Keun Suk, display over-the-top exaggerated facial expressions. I found myself in several scenes reimagining how the actors might have done the script lines minus the exaggerated expressions and acting we were treated to. This is particularly true for Shin Hye. The direction mishaps are not limited to facial expressions. In an early scene, Shin Hye is sneaking through a room using the high stepping Pink Panther walk! Or she does this tiny mincing walk that no guy would ever do. I’m sure she was directed to do that. And I suspect she and they were encouraged, if not outright told, to perform as they did. I suspect once this series was released these flaws pretty much ended the director’s career.

However, despite the above points, I couldn’t resist and looked forward to watching each new episode, and that was because the story was well written, and the heart of the characters came through strongly.


Possible Spoiler Below




A weakness in the script was the lack of an attempt to put the twins together in the same scene, something hard to do for obvious reasons but noticeably lacking. There were needed script additions to cover glaring holes. Throughout the story, the girl never talks to her brother by phone which would be so easy to do. Towards the end, when he returns to Korea, it is inconceivable that they would not get together to exchange information. As she uncovered certain truths and secrets regarding their common past, it is extremely unlikely she wouldn’t tell him. It was therefore necessary to deal with the fact that she would contact him and he would have reactions to these truths which would impact his presence in the rock group. At a absolute minimum there should have been at least a few lines, perhaps a phone call, in which she indicates she told her brother something of these important details, e.g. their mother is in fact dead, how she died, THE MOTHER’S NAME! The script, perhaps because of budget issues and time constraints, left these gaping holes and kind of too hurriedly finished things up.

The ending between the two leads felt truncated. Usually, we get more satisfying wrap-ups and we learn more about the happy ending, but this one just had one real feel good scene and then left us hanging.

Despite these flaws, I found it an enjoyable watch and well worth the time.

Read More

Jang Keun-suk & OST are great, story is dated & ending is "meh"

I've watched this 2 times & I liked it enough to buy it but end was very typical for K-dramas, but for me, not enough romance & concrete resolution as I would have liked. Music is great . Real reason to watch ? Jang Keun-suk ! His, facial expression are captivating. This was one of the first K-dramas I watched & what drew me into the genre. On second viewing I was disappointed that it wasn't as wonderful. Lead guy is really harsh (even though why he's like that is well explained) Lead girl is over the top clumsy & it grated on my nerves as I don't enjoy that kind of comedy in large doses. The sadness of the second lead (guy)pursuing & breaking & rebreaking & rebreaking his heart over lead girl was not great. The only consolation the viewer has is that he's available for the viewer to love without competition ! The music was good . Ending is SO typical for this genre & left me flat. Still, this series holds a special place in my heart because it was a first love when I was first introduced to K-dramas & really it's a classic, but I will wait another 5 years before watching.

Read More

Cult Classic

I think that is the easiest way to explain this drama concisely. It's a cult classic. If you read some of the critical reviews, I'd tend to agree with them, but the thing is it's what makes it a cult classic in my opinion.
The acting isn't perfect and the dialogue can be weird at times, but that makes it even funnier.
I think if you go in knowing it's not a serious tv show, you will better be able to enjoy it. You can't compare it to highly choreographed big budget tv shows of today because that's not what it is. But if you go in and just accept it for what it is, a lower budget old funny spoof on some cliches, I think it's pretty solid and has pretty good rewatch value

Read More

Timeless charm ❤️❤️

I initially avoided You're Beautiful due to its unappealing wallpaper, lackluster print, and an ordinary synopsis. But to my surprise, I had completely underestimated it. While the first episode was a bit of a slog, after skipping through some cringe-worthy parts, I reached a point where the story truly became engaging.

Though it may not be the best drama by today's standards, back in 2009, it must have been a blockbuster. Watching it made me nostalgic for the days when concealer doubled as nude lipstick, and bold pink blush was considered high-end fashion.

The plot is cute, old-school romantic, sweet, and family-oriented with a delightful comedic touch. And most importantly, there are no overly dramatic kisses—sometimes going back to basics can feel so refreshing! The chemistry between Park Shin Hye and Jang Geun Suk is absolutely heartwarming, and I found myself falling in love with this couple. It reminded me of Boys Over Flowers with the girl being adored by three boys, but in some ways, this one was even better (no sudden trips abroad to separate the leads!).

What’s fascinating is seeing so many familiar faces from modern K-dramas, like Park Shin Hye, Kim In Kwon, and Sung Byung Sook. The drama also showcased Korea’s impressive technology, which was already advanced back in 2009, and it's clear that even before the global Hallyu wave, Korean dramas were making their mark.

All in all, You're Beautiful may have flown under the radar for some, but it's a drama that still holds its charm and is better than many overrated modern shows. It’s sweet, nostalgic, and surprisingly refreshing!

If you wanna experience the feeling like sitting in the sun on a cold afternoon, this one will make you feel that way ... Please give it a try and you will not regret ...
XOXO

Read More

My man, this show has the cringiest and darn sweetest stuff in it, it's crazy!!

Just watched this through the second time and I'm sure there'll be more.
Main thing of this drama: it's very GOOFY!

Other main thing: THE MAIN GUY!
He is basically holding this whole show together and leading it. He has the most entertaining (and prettiest) face ever. He seems the most confident actor out of the four main ones, and he definitely makes his weirdo/cool character feel alive. The others are pretty much over/underacting like all the time... but you can get used to it, because the main guy has the most screen time THANK GOODNESS! The main girl cries well though, I have to admit.

And yes, she tries to be in disguise as a guy and looks nothing like a guy, yes, yes, the usual, it's okay, let's pretend is works... maybe one day they'll cast a guyish looking girl for a role like this...

So I don't know who wrote the first few episodes, but it feels like they might have changed the guy as the show went forward THANK GOODNESS! Survive the first few episodes please, it's worth it! It has the most disgusting humor and lame slapstick, horrible camera angles like a really cheap comedy. But it gets so much better not much later, I swear they must have changed someone on the crew. But even later the story is pretty much nothing or just drama, it just exists to create situations where the romance can thrive or bump into obstacles honestly.

Misunderstandings, drama, lies, villains: CHECK... Sadly it has too much of these, but someone might enjoy them, I don't that much, but I can get through them. There were some frustrating ones though by the end.

So why the extremely biased high score when I keep saying a bunch of flaws... well my friend, because the romance IS WORTH IT! (if you like the main guy, that is) It's the sweetest stuff, definitely up in my alley of the hate to love category. Also more eyeliner guys to the world please!!!

Also I don't really like the too romantic pop music in k-dramas but here the songs they sang were pretty good and catchy I think.

I laughed a lot, shed a tear here and there, cringed a lot, and fricking exploded from the cuteness! If you can see beyond the frequent poor acting skills and occasional lame humor, you can actually find a unique treasure, I think.

Read More

I'd already watched this drama earlier but I started watching it again on a whim yesterday and couldn't stop watching even though I already knew the story. I realized all over again how much I loved it. I've never actually re-watched a drama before, just thought I could and would. That says a lot about how much I liked it.

The story in itself is nothing noteworthy. It's a simple plot-line that branches out into a couple of other directions interrelating subplots. What made it special were the characters. Though a little unrealistic and impractical, they were really endearing. You grow to love them and go from twist to twist hanging onto them for support. This is the reason Korean shows had me hooked onto them in the first place, their ability to make me a part of themselves. Being able to emotionally connect with the characters in a show that you KNOW isn't real doesn't come easy for a realist like me, that's what makes it all the more special.

And what made the characters all the more amazing? The actors. Jang Geun Suk is a show stealer through and through. If at all possible, I loved him all the more after watching the show again. There's something innately charismatic about this guy. He can be cute and grumpy in one second and serious and heartbroken in the next with the transitions being so smooth. Lee Hong Ki and Jung Yong Hwa did pretty well too. Park Shin Hye was.. good in some places but sometimes she felt off. She fit the role but I couldn't really connect that well with her acting, nothing personal, I haven't seen her in any other work.

What can I say about the music? It's a sensation as far as Drama OST goes. I was listening to a couple of the songs and that's what made me watch the show again. That's the kind of music this show has. I didn't really cry throughout the show even when I saw it the first time (there are more funny scenes than sad ones) but both the times I've seen it, I always cry in the finale when Tae Kyung sings "What Can I Do", first off the song is really beautiful and JGS sings it quite nicely. The songs fit the scenes, don't feel off anywhere, nothing is overdone. The music stays with you even after the show is long done.

I don't really need to give a verdict after all that I've said, watching it for the second time even though I have loads of other dramas lined up, says more than enough. If you haven't already watched this, you're missing out on one of the gems of Korean Dramas.

Read More