True Beauty

This drama will be most likely disappoint you if you love webtoon. I really like the webtoon, even though the character development was slow, which many did not find likeable.
The growth arc of most characters in the drama was very significant and enjoyable to watch. I love jugyeong’s character arc the best. At times a found the show too cringey to watch, but the humour made it up for the cringe.
I was one of those people who was team seojun even before the drama started. I realised jugyeong doesn’t have any feelings for the 2ML, so I thought it was fine if she did not end up with him. Coming to Suho, I liked their relationship in high school. He left to the US as his father was sick, which was very understandable. But the moment he ghosted jugyeong, I was annoyed. They could have communicated and had closure for their relationship, without both of them suffering. He came back as if nothing happened and they’re back together again.
I wish they gave a happy ending to seojun with a new person or something.
The sidekicks were the best!!! I liked all the side couples, they adorable 🥰. In the end, soo jin was forgiven, which was okay.
The drama was too cliche for me, I would have definitely dropped it if was a normal drama. I just had to complete the drama because it was based on a webtoon I like. I adore the cast, Eun woo did improve his acting and I absolutely love moon ga young.

Read More

Second lead won my vote

I loved this series so so sooo soooooo much. honestly it was so refreshing to see her embracing her beauty, her friends embracing her too. And the men around her seeing her beauty with and without makeup.
Now I have to be honest that I was so split on the last few episodes, which was such a twist. I love Han Seo Jun, I loved him the entire series. There was no "questionable" moments that usually comes when learning about the second male lead that pushes you to root for the male lead. He was sweet, tough, funny, and his love for her was selfless. He fought to protect her, didn't care if he was teased for his constant care and wasn't expecting anything in return for his love.
I honestly had this momentary hope that instead of running to "stop" Su ho, she would walk towards the entrance then stop and race after Seo Jun and find him crying. Embrace him and they can reminisce about how much they grew together over the years. How he was more of a partner to her, supported her and loved her over the years.
Yes, I know Su Ho was set in between a rock and a hard place when they broke up, but their relationship was a high school, first love romance. They didn't really go on proper dates or grow together since it was a constant battle from the get go, that excited rush of the honeymoon period. So to have them instantly get back together just seemed a bit cliche since it was Seo Jun who gave her the care and love, spent years as her friend and built a real foundation together.
Don't get me wrong, I know the heart wants what it wants, sometimes you just don't have those feelings for someone. Su Ho is a great character and I do like their love story but I just rooted for Seo Jun a bit more in this. RaWr.
I also was in tears with his singing the song in the end, his raw emotions. I just wanted him to have a happy ending too.

Read More

I loved the first half of this drama so much - I was laughing so much and I was rooting for the main characters. The the second half happened and I ended up skipping through so many scenes. I finished it and my final verdict: SO DISAPPOINTING.

I am so done with Cha Eun Woo. We can all agree the boy has a face sculpted by the gods but his acting reminds me of someone being forced to act in the school play. I am not convinced and he looks uncomfortable the whole time. I've read reviews that apparently he's improved since his other dramas! Man, I don't even want to know how those go. It's a pity he was pitted against Hwang In Seop, who pulled me in with his yearning gazes, his pain and his sincerity. I was rooting for him and Ju Gyung. Their chemistry was way better, I was glued to the screen for their bits because they're on fire when they're together! I was bored for the scenes with Ju Gyung and Lee Su Hu. Nope. Not convinced.

And why did they have to villainize Kang Su Jin! I appreciated her character so much at the start and they dragged her through the mud only to give her a pitiful redemption arc at the end. I skipped through all that drama of the school finding out about Ju Gyung's real face etc etc. Honestly maybe I'm just getting too old for high school dramas, but you'd think these kids in school would have better things to do than pore over one student's misfortunes. Also the way they dealt with Ju Gyung's bullies left a lot to be desired. It was funny how they handled it - but the bullying they did merited way more than a comedic handling of the situation. I would have much preferred a very real way of handling those bullies. With words, or with authority - because that fist fight didn't convince me that those girls would be changing anytime soon after it. Disappointing after all the horrible things they did to Ju Gyung and Hye Min.

My favourite character was definitely Im Ju Yeong, Ju Gyung's younger brother. He was so funny and lovable and such a dork! Absolutely amazing work by this actor! I loved Han Seo Jun without a doubt. Ju Gyung was fine but I cringed at her childish way of speaking. I don't know if the actress just speaks like this or if she puts it on for her character but it made me cringe. I hate when teenage girls, let alone adult women put on an aegyo act, or a little girl voice - its so weird and Ju Gyung had it going on real bad. Her sister was so much cooler, I loved her sister and her grapefruit love a lot!

Music was pretty forgettable. Rewatch value not great - I'd say I'll just rewatch the funny parts. The biggest problem with the acting was Cha Eun Woo - so its unfortunate how he was one of the main characters.

I'm highly disappointed. If you had asked me what I'd rate the first half of the drama, I'd have told you 9. Now, after watching it in its entirety, I'm gonna give it a 6.

Read More

I think I need some soap...

To wash my ears after these cheeky dialogues!! AH! I understand cringe and I like rom com, but this was straight out embarrassing! *hides*

It's a fact that I never read the original webtoon when I started watching this drama, but when I met reviews and comments I realized there is something wrong and read first few chapters to get acquainted and I fully realized pain of those who saw the webtoon first. After all it's really hard to watch adaptation after reading the original at any time. You can't help but subconsciously compare the two. I don't mention the fact that when adaptation does not follow the original to a t it also becomes confusing. And I repeat, I read only few chapters!!
And I could tell the difference right away. Even the female lead gave me completely different feeling, not only because webtoon has truly ordinary looking girl (she has average looks, she doesn't manage her body shape and weight), but idol dramas simply won't EVER take a challenge of finding an actress that at least partially would resemble such ordinary girl and with a true make-up (like contact lenses, stickers for double eyelid etc.). Because I'm so sorry FOR HAVING EYES. I look at her beautiful fatures that can't be masked with reddish skin and overdrawn brows . Huh~ Ironic, right? The story about make-up and the rash face looks like that *wink*. The girl to me doesn't look ugly, her body also looks great, but she needs dermatologist. But such idolish dramas don't allow the big contrast. Again let's not forget that original LJG didn't have good face AND body, she worked hard to achieve a beautiful shape, so the starting line here and there are completely different. Mun Ka Young looks amazing btw, very beautiful. Second thing that made me have very different impression is how the story started. Webtoon LJG gave me more free-wheeling feeling, she wanted to blend into her new school, but she never looked as scared? She just found the make-up as her ticket to being more than what she is. Drama LJG knows what a school violence is (sorry everyone, but what they do is not on a bullying level to me, this is violence), so her trauma comes from there. The stakes of the first episode are really high, all the bullying, crying, attempt at s*. It's understandable that she wants to hide herself. But here again is where things are different to me and why I mention original and drama difference of female lead. Because webtoon LJG was SO different, she almost wanted to attract attention to herself and be liked, but since drama LJG kinda wants to blend and the liking from others isn't really important, she's more about doing things she couldn't do prior (like doing the girly stuff with girlfriends). Oh remember that scene where she walks into new school for the first time? So exaggerated, so embarrassing :D

You don't need to be a guru writer to see for yourself, the script was cut and chopped and reassembled A LOT. Why? Because when you cut it like that and reduce its' significance it becomes less needed. Okay, maybe needed, but I still don't understand why you need to include that baseball player (looks bad, his lines were so cringe "strike right into my heart" *rainbow vomit*), or why would you include that playboy (I mean, in webtoon you understand that it's a plan to keep LJG away from LSH, but here... I'm speechless). Anyway, the writer included some really embarrassing lines in the script, my skin crawled a lot.
But still here we are, following this story of 'true beauty'.. or in other words more like a kiddy version of - everyone, bullying is bad, your face is not important, what is important is your heart~ <3 *kiss*

As for other characters:
I never knew who Cha Eun Woo was before watching, I only heard his name and saw few shorts, but you must admit he IS handsome and sounds handsome. It's the type of correct beauty, yet recognizable. And even if his character setting was more of a stone-faced handsome guy, yet when he smiles his eyes shine. He is the first to find about LJG and although they have such a start, he still gets points for treating her well. It's a spoiler, but with their love for each other going strong, I really didn't get why writer forced that break-up, I'm sure both would have waited for each other. I know that the one who loves can let go, but it was awkwardly written and it felt bad to me.. maybe I'm wrong, but in my impression it felt like LSH breaks up and makes up one-sidedly, like where's love in that?
Han Seo Jun's role was pretty okay. But despite his love he really felt like a good friend. And don't start with me on who is better. Both had good and bad sides.
What impressed me the most unlike the above was Kang Soo Jin! WHAT DID THEY DO? Like WHY?! Just to insert a love rival between girls you first write KSJ into this heroic handsome woman, I was totally up for it! But then they turned her into this! Just why? Wouldn't it be okay to keep her good? I mean, LJG's previous bullies could easily play the role of villains till the end and KSL would stay awesome, but I think her character was flushed like that. At least in the webtoon KSJ was a complete snake from the very beginning, she WAS that bad who could use anything to make LJG and LSH not together (you could feel her obsession), but in the drama she was introduced so handsomely and walked away like that (also, she felt plastic when it came to emotional scenes against LSH). I was so surprised they crossed out such a beautiful female friendship they created.. but I suppose they created it just to give a twist. I'm sure writers thought it was cool and they were smart *shakes head*.
Honorable mention: LJG's sister and teacher are cute, okay?
The story was okay, nothing bad, the script and dialogues could be better, characters more consistent. Not a horrible watch, but I must confess at times I struggled watching it.

My struggle was with humor! I'm all for humor, I'm all for healthy cringe. I like rom com. BUT! I think they overstepped sporadically here and there. I honestly didn't need making faces, poop and fart jokes during important emotional scenes and some of the body comedy to keep up. For example, LJG's dad that was hit by a pan with eyes open and tongue out..why? Or her little brother farting on the stairs. A lot of poop jokes btw, noticed? And they're sporadic and not needed imo. E.g. Both sisters talk in bathroom suddenly there's pooping little brother behind. HSJ searches for his brother and finds him in the toilet pooping. At the end LJG is so stressed that she's costipated, it comes as a topic during emotional talk (?_?).
Acting should be acting, even in comedy, the more natural it is, the better, sometimes I felt like seeing too much. Even there were scenes that gave me impression as if actors themselves looked like - do we really need to play it like that? embarrassing. can we go home and hide?
All in all it was like that. Not entirely good and not entirely bad. My respect goes for the topic of external beauty, especially in Korea where it's such a big deal. I think it should be brought up and explored to give a positive example. We should take care of ourselves, love ourselves. World would be a better place if we weren't hung so much on beauty and a person does not deserve bullying and hate for the way they look.
<3

Read More

Enjoyable!

I've seen most of the criticism of this series being who the Jo-Kyung ends up with in the end. Unpopular opinion: I never had a problem with that. It was foreshadowed pretty much from episode one.

My beefs with this show are:
- plot hole from ep one regarding a voicemail left for the mother. It just never comes up again
- I'm not a huge fan of the "actually they knew each other years ago" thing. It pops up in a lot of dramas, but this one used it better than most, I will say. It's still a pet peeve of mine
- Soo-jin was turned into a woman scorned for no reason at all, in my opinion. Why must female friendships involve this type of plot?
- The last episodes were annoying with the time skip and then back and forth with Su-ho in a way that just felt odd to me?

Anyway, I enjoyed this show. I've watched it twice all the way through and I've laughed out loud both times. It's fun, it's cute, the vibe is entertaining and light throughout the majority of the show. I love the music. The acting is great and Moon Ga-Young is so charming and adorable! Perfectly cast! Definitely a recommend, especially if you're new to k-dramas.

Read More

A decent drama, but not for everyone

I was a fan of the webtoon in its early days. Back then, all I desperately wanted was for the webtoon to become a drama. Eventually, I drifted from the webtoon (partly because I didn't like where the story was heading). But I kept my eyes and ears open for any news regarding the drama. After a year and half of waiting, my dreams finally seemed to be coming true. Cha Eun Woo was playing Lee Suho, and I couldn't be happier! But now that I have finished this drama, I have conflicting thoughts.

Story-wise, I liked the message behind the show, throwing light on the 'pretty privilege' that goes unreviewed even in today's society. I liked the comedy in the show. In the beginning, it's a bit overboard, to the point where instead of laughing you are just cringing and/or feel like dying because of second-hand embarrassment. But after a few episodes, it is laugh-out-loud funny. Also, I feel like the story had a lot of unutilised potentials. The writers wasted too much time on the main couple's romance. They could've easily used that time for the development of certain characters. I don't know why they kept pushing the love triangle even up until the last episode. Inevitably, the ending was a bit rushed. It felt underwhelming. But the writers' handling of heavy topics and comedic elements is commendable, and I don't have any complaints regarding that aspect. Some heavy topics in this show can trigger some audiences. I have mentioned them at the end of this review since might be considered as mild spoilers.

Lim Ju Kyung was cliche makeover kdrama female lead. She was the usual pitiful, weak female lead with almost no likeable trait. Lee Suho too was the cliche, too-perfect-to-be-true, wealthy, cold male lead. Even Han Seojun's character was of the typical second male lead; the bad boy who's soft on the inside. Still, I might've liked him more than I want to admit. I assure you by the end of the drama you will fall for SJ real hard. Kang Soo Jin was a well-written and complex character, for a change and I enjoyed her quite a bit. The side characters were quite refreshing and made the show much more fun for me. They made the show much more bearable for me. Ju Kyung, thankfully developed as a character by the end of the show and I am pleasantly surprised!

As a now die-hard Seojun fan, I want to take a moment to appreciate the man. He deserves the whole wide world. I cannot tell you the numerous times I have had to pause the show to scream about how precious Seojun is and the fact that I won't be able to meet a guy like him. And the okey-dokey dance. Holy~! I see that scene every time I close my eyes and I am so not complaining. I have nothing more to say. I gonna stop now, or I will just burst into an unintelligible blabber about my love for Han Seo Jun.

I feel like I was not as invested in the main couple's romance as I was in Hee Kyung and Grapefruit's romance. Maybe it's because of my clear bias towards HSJ, or maybe it was because I LOVED their chemistry!! Hee Kyung and Grapefruit were the opposite of the cliche couple in a kdrama. Their romance was food for my soul. I enjoyed it so much! I also thoroughly enjoyed the Go Woon and Ju Young's little romance. The Lim family was quite an entertaining mess. I like how all the characters developed through the show; how they all became more sensitive towards each other and how they always had each others' back through thick and thin.

Moon Ka Young's acting was top-notch *chef's kiss*. She played JY perfectly. Cha Eun Woo is particularly chosen for roles like Suho's, and he plays them pretty well. This drama was the first time I had seen Hwang In Yeop act, and I was pleasantly surprised. Park Yoona did an amazing job playing Kang Soo Jin. She made me love and loathe her character just right, which I think is one of the qualities of a good actress.

The music was pretty decent. HIY's vocals gave me life, and so I will die for them if I have to. The other songs weren't particularly memorable.

Overall, the drama was different from the webtoon but still predictable. It is not a drama everyone can enjoy. Don't expect too much from this drama and you will enjoy it! I was a bit disappointed because I kept my expectations too high, but it might be different for you.



*Trigger warnings for suicide, bullying.*

Read More

Strong and original in the beginning, predictable and cliché ending

So, here's the thing. For me, this drama started out strong. It was refreshing, had a good positive message and had me laughing out loud at times, while being super heartfelt at other times.
The actors did a fantastic job in my opinion. Hwang In Yeop (Seo Jun) is obviously a very skilled and versatile actor, and he definetely stole the show. He stood out to me as a second male lead, even though the second male lead arc has been (over)used time and time again in kdramas. I am not the biggest fan of Cha Eunwoo's (Suho) acting, but he definetely improved from his acting in My ID is Gangnam Beauty. Instead of his usual tsundere/stoic character, he got to show more range and he was pretty convincing in this drama. Don't get me wrong, he still has the tsundere feel, but he had some touching and sincere acting moments where I almost felt the emotions along with his character.

It was pretty good, and then, somethings changed and more and more clichés piled up. I started feeling less connected to the story around the 13th episode, but I really felt disconnected by the time I reached the 15th episode. In the last two episodes, too many things with the story felt wrong for me to keep enjoying the story fully. Borderline creepy behaviour was played off as a romantic gesture, there were a lot of filler scenes, and all trace of originality in the storyline seemed to have vanished. At that point, I didn't care much about the romance, or even the plot as a whole. The only scenes I looked forward to were the ones where I got to see Hwang In-Yeop. He was so so wonderful in his role, dealing with both a really sentimental and comical sense to his character.

I think the main problem with this drama is that it is too romance focused rather than dealing with its actual subject. Had it dealt more with their subject of "true beauty" and the actual challenges the main character lives because of her appearance, things would have felt way better in my opinion. It feels like they pretty much forgot what they were trying to say by the end and only focused on the romance aspect. They resolved her worries too quickly. It's a shame, because I think this drama could have had a good message, but it was drowned out under the weight of the romance.

To be fair, I didn't HATE the ending. I just wished it was a bit more original, as it felt like I had seen this "perfect" ending 100 times prior. However, I have to say I do like open endings or bittersweet endings, so it may only be my taste that didn't suit this ending.

Quick note on the OST: it was great. I litterally have nothing to say. The song written by Suho and SeYeon is so so so beautiful.

So, I'm definetely not saying "do not watch this". I think it's a pretty good drama. But I think keep your mind open to the fact that the ending is pretty predictable and things don't make sense sometimes (like the fact that we are meant to believe that Ju Yeong (Moon Ga Young) looks unrecognisable with makeup, when she just looks like herself with bad skin). That's probably okay too, after all, kdrama endings are usually predictable.

Overall, I would recommend it, if it's your style. I probably won't be rewatching this though (maybe just compilations of Seo Jun's scenes...)

Read More

If you've read the manhwa, just.. don't watch it.

Ok, so to be honest I had high expectations for this drama. First of all the cast was splendid! Cha eunwoo fits the suho role perfectly! He's so beautiful it hurts!!! aaaahh, ga young also did really well! AND OF COURSE OUR SECOND LEAD HWANG IN YEOP, he gave justice to seo jun's character!

BUT, I have to admit, I could not push myself to finish the drama. I know yall will tell me, of course the plot/ script wont be a duplicate of the manhwa, but as a manhwa reader of true beauty, I was greatly disappointed on how the story unfolded. Not gonna lie, I was so excited and invested in watching the first few episodes! But as the story progressed, it was just whack. They did my mans dirty, SUHO WAS NEVER TOXIC IN THE MANHWA! Seo Jun encountered a lil bit of insecurity probs which lead him to become a lil bit toxic, but he handle sit pretty well in the manhwa. ANYWAY, my main point is-- they did my mans suho dirty in the kdrama. UGH but whatever

ANYWAY, if u havent read the manhwa then this paragraph is for you. If you want a feel good kdrama, cliche, just rainbows and unicors, an ugly duckling who can turn into a beautiful swan, ML falls for her eventho shes in her ugly duckling state , lowkey a fairytale, FL attracts males, then this kdrama is for u. It can be a little childish tho, but wat do u expect? its a highschool love story.

ANYWAY, I think this series is a lil bit overrated and was oversold by the manhwa fans. You're better off watching Mr. Queen or Uncanny Counter. That is all, Good Day!

Read More

True Boredom

True Beauty is essentially the high school version of My ID Is Gangnam Beauty.
It has its good-hearted, clumsy girl who was bullied for her looks, its cold and extremely good-looking male lead, who is again played by Cha Eun Woo, its second lead, for whom the viewers root more than for the main lead because he is a better person, and a group of supportive friends. The story is a cliché – one of those in which you have no idea why the male lead fell for this particular girl and you are not motivated much to care about their romance. Furthermore, it requires you to suspend a lot of disbelief because the idea that someone can wear enough make-up to transform her face completely and no one will notice that thick layer of make-up is ridiculous.

The couple in whose story I was invested were Soo Ah and Tae Hoon, the classmates who have been together for a long time and still managed to be more interesting than Joo Bal and Su Ho. The other thing that kept me watching until episode seven was that I wanted to know what happened to Su Ho and Seo Jun's friend and if the two of them will become close again – they had more chemistry with each other than either of them had with Joo Bal – but I eventually stopped caring about that too.

Overall, this series did not manage to hold my attention because it is too predictable. Unless you enjoyed My ID Is Gangnam Beauty a lot, you like the actors, or you want to watch sixteen episodes of Cha Eun Woo's being handsome, there is nothing interesting to be seen.

Read More

Great drama

Now at first I had pretty low expectations for this considering I’m not into high school rom com genre and I wasn’t gonna watch this at first but after seeing it everywhere I decided to watch it to see what everyone was so excited about. Honestly after the second episode I found myself really into this series and wanting to watch more. I literally spent a whole night catching up to the series. Ngl tho I prefer the drama over the webtoon, I just like the character interactions, lovable characters and the overall story better. Reading the webtoon and watching the drama we’re two different experiences for sure. But yeah this definitely exceeded my expectations as a fun lighthearted rom com.

Read More

Hilarious, Interesting, Light & Less Frustrating, Cliché story

I will start off with saying that not everyone will like this drama. If you're looking for a unique story with major plot twists, then this drama isn't it. It also isn't for you if you can't watch a high school story / drama and want something mature.
This drama is based off a webtoon and the drama's story is a lot similar to teen / young adult romance stories or manga.
I did search online about the webtoon and will have to say I'm glad they altered the drama and didn't follow the webtoon completely.
There may be love triangles, but it's very obvious and not like the webtoon where there's uncertainty and could lean to either side. But what I do dislike about the drama is how they left you with an aching heart for one of the characters in an unrequited love.
I also loved a lot of the characters in this drama and the variety of characters they showed.
Ju Kyung's family are fun to watch. Her sister, Hee Kyung's reversed role relationship. I loved seeing her act in a way that most men are expected to behave in relationships and overall.
The story may be cliché , but I still had a great time watching it and was laughing through a good portion of the entire drama. All of the bromance scenes they showed were pretty fun to watch as well.
As for the story's message and how it was handled, there's not much to expect. But I do know that most dramas really don't emphasize much about the message and often stray away from it to not seem like it's a lecture. But I do wish they at least show consequences of bullying instead of a slap on the wrist like most dramas show.

Acting- I've seen a lot of bias hate towards idol actors like Cha Eun Woo and have to say that CEW did a decent job with his character. I've seen him in MIGB and his character from there is somewhat similar to Suho's. But in this drama, I could see that he's improved more than before. For me, Hwang In Yeop stole the show. He was just enjoyable to watch.

I would re-watch it only for my favorite scenes. I don't think I would watch the entire drama all over again.
As for the OSTs, I have to say they were wonderful, especially Chani's "Starlight".

Read More

True beauty - a kdrama which definitely I enjoyed watching

I wanted to rate this drama 9. 5, but I changed my mind and give 10.
1. Story - In my opinion the story is simple and can be found in other movies or kdramas.
It's possible that also in future to be done other movies which will be similar, because of that I cannot give a bad rating.
2. Acting / actors
Lim Ju Kyung :
- definitely this character is very well build.
- she is the centre of this kdrama, her story and the way it is presented will make the viewers to watch this drama in order to see how she manage to survive.
- I really liked how this character was performed, it felt so real her suffering and her love that definitely I had tears in my eyes watching this drama.

Seo Jun :
- his character make me laugh, cry and wishing for a second sezon.
- he definitely was very well performed and I enjoyed each scene.

Soo Jin :
- I know that her character, it's a turning point of this kdrama and her role is very important.
- unfortunately I could not feel intense emotions as friends (Soo Jin and Lim Ju Kyung) or love (Soo Jin and Su ho) ; I had felt passing thru the screen, a little spark of hate between her and Seo Jun, which really impressed me.

Su Ho:
- I really was impressed, why?
I was aspecting something boring with a neutral face were all the people bound in front of handsome guy, like he don't need to send any emotion, because his good looking face will be enough, in order that the viewers to watch this drama.
- this character was well performed, I really felt his emotions, in his love relationship with Lim Ju Kyung and his friendship with Seo Jun.
-his character make me laugh and cry and wishing a second sezon just to see his reaction and how would he evolve as an adult if Lim Ju Kyung will not be part from his life.

I write above impression about main leads, but I have to say that the entire cast did a great job and I enjoyed every scene.

3. Acting / scenes
- there are some scenes which are missing from school trip (what happened with Seo Jun bracelet, the way back home from trip, how they stayed on bus? )

I think that viewers need to take in consideration that this kdrama needs to respect age category (15 ages or more ), so it's possible that scenario and acting was adapted in order to respect this aspect.

I rate 10, because I saw this days another kdrama, which I enjoyed, was very emotional, had a good story and great acting, but I didn't laugh or cried, as much as, I did on True beauty...

Read More