sls ran me over so i'm a blobby mess now and i hate love triangles as usual!!
(If you don't know who the main character ends up with, yes, there are spoilers below for that)I've never read the webtoon, so I'm not sure how well they stick to it or whether the characters are on point or not, but still, I pretty much loved this drama.
I found this drama pretty sweet and very, very hilarious, I couldn't stop laughing, which sold me on this drama because I love to laugh. It brought up a lot of important messages on bullying, mental health, empathy, and inner beauty and explored great family, friendship, and romance relationships. I loved Ju Kyung, especially when her bare face gets revealed. At first, she was just a super funny, kind girl who had gone through a lot in the past because of her "ugly" face, but she developed into a (still) funny and extremely strong person. I loved how we got to see her transform from a girl who believed she was nothing just due to the fact that she wasn't pretty or smart into a confident girl who knew what she wanted to do.
Fair warning, you WILL get second lead syndrome. Maybe you think you're prepared because you've heard a lot of other people, but I'm here to tell you YOU ARE NOT PREPARED. Seo Jun's bad boy with a heart of gold vibes will literally capture your heart. He's not even that much of a bad boy (although at first he kind of seems like it), he's literally the sweetest and most selfless person ever. This is the first time I've ever gotten SLS (in a love triangle, specifically), and I was not read for it, it broke my heart ;-;. I was not fond of the ending they gave him, just because I'd like to see his life after spending three years of it liking ju kyung.
The story is pretty cliche, but I did like the way the actors carried it out. The characters in this drama are so lovable. Ju Kyung's older sister is so badass, I love her and the power she radiates. Honestly, her whole family is a mess but hilariously lovable, and I love how she and her mother's relationship develops later in the drama. Everyone is amazing is their own right––Ju Kyung's family, her friends, her classmates. The seo jun and su ho bromance is quality, literally forget team su ho or team seo jun, I'm team sujun/seoho/whatever.
As for the main couple, I got a bit bored and irritated by them from episodes 12 to 15, but they were pretty cute in the finale. I think after I thought, "hey, su ho and ju kyung are pretty cute," long enough I was just questioning why I was being shown some of their scenes. Ju Kyung, while still cute and very sweet, loses some of her spunk when she's with su ho. Still, their relationship was supportive and understanding and the related to each other nicely, which I liked. I think I might just be a little sick of this cold male lead trope, but su ho also has his own cute points.
The synopsis may seem a little shallow as it's all about beauty, but honestly, the drama isn't shallow at all. Again, I loved Ju Kyung's strength, and the bullying she went through isn't a joke or any small matter. It's serious and I really think it shows how strong she is that she was always smiling and continued to be happy. Se yeon's (seo jun and su ho's best friend) storyline was another important story and it made me cry so, so much. It might be a matter of preference or age––maybe this drama might seem immature to some people, but I really enjoyed it.
Least favorite part of the drama was hands-down the love triangle. First of all, it was barely a love triangle. Second, it dragged on for way too long. I understand that one of the main plot points of this drama was the love triangle, but I honestly didn't see any reason to draw the love triangle out past episode 11 or so. I just got bored of it, and then frustrated at the fact that the writers wouldn't let Seo Jun move on (I love Seo Jun, okay, just let him be happy ;-;). It began to get unnecessary, especially considering the fact that again, it was BARELY a love triangle.
The cast: Loved Moon Ga Young in this, she made me fall in love with Ju Kyung's character and nailed all of her emotions, personality, and humor. I obviously love Hwang In Yeop for his amazing portrayal of Seo Jun. His charm is amazing and he portrays seo jun's charismatic, hilarious character perfectly. Eun woo also brought su ho to life very well. I liked the way he integrated su ho's adorable awkwardness in with his cold exterior. The casting of Ju Kyung's parents is just PERFECTION. I have zero complaints about this cast.
The humor is on point––a little slapstick-y, but not to the point where it makes you cringe. I found it hilarious. Love triangles suck, but this drama is something you should definitely try! It takes an episode to really get into it, but I'm glad I stuck around. (Seo Jun deserved better, 2k21 ;-;)
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WELL DONE!!! TWO THUMBS UP !!!
First off, I'm a huge fan of the Webtoon, started reading it when it came out in English ...Was super excited to see what they would do with the adaptation, it was really good, I enjoyed every episode.
The writers did one hell of a job!! All the characters were great, but that is obviously mainly due to great actors, even the younger ones were top notch.
I already liked Moon Ga Young, but now I totally love her...Cha Eun Woo, well he was awesome ...he was the only one for this part and he killed it!
What I did not expect (because Cha Eun Woo is ..well...perfect...in every way) was to have such a bad case of SECOND MALE LEAD SYNDROME ...at first I was... WOW...this dude is like Seo Jun in 3D ... every scene had me like ...wowing all the time... BEST CASTING CHOICE EVER...I did not know the actor (sure gonna be correcting that) ...hahaha...
If you read the Webtoon like me...don't expect anything...just let your mind and your heart enjoy it for the fun and heart wrenching moments the drama brings you... the drama caught the essence of the Webtoon and made it work...
It's a total 10 on the rewatch ..it's so worth it... It's been ages since I watched a Korean drama (of this genre) that had me this excited...and happy...
Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!!
XOXO
Uni
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Beautiful Story
this was my first KDrama and I'm really glad i watched it. I felt like the acting was on point. I relate in different ways to the main character and it brought a lot of tears to my eyes in some of the scenes. I really enjoyed the story line and the acting, never having read about it or seeing the webtoon. It's made me a huge fan of Cha Eunwoo and Hwang In-Yeop. I definitely plan to watch more dramas that star those two. They had great acting chemistry and each twist and turn my heart want to reach out to both characters. This was an excellent casting choice and I absolutely loved it.Was this review helpful to you?
The messages that the writer wanted to show us
I started True beauty without any expectations. However, this drama has left a deep impression on me and here is why:1) the insecurities and hardships that teenagers have to deal with;
2) how the teenagers are responding to their insecurities and their hardships;
3) what the definition of true beauty really is and the acceptance of it;
4) what the value of true friendship should look like;
5) how to be logical and when to let go if you cannot be with the one you want; and at last but not least
6) how to be confident and not to let go if you are certain about things.
The story is well written and the actors managed to convey all of the above messages. The focus points of this drama was never about the love triangle, but about how to deal with your own insecurities, hardships, value of true friendships and being logical.
Overall: I would say that the story is a 10/10 and the acting is 10/10 as each actor has portrayed their roles really well. The OST's are also a 10/10 and the rewatch value is 10/10.
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This review may contain spoilers
it was competely the best dramagot huge loads of second lead syndrome
a few parts were sad and made me cry
definitly wanted the the FL to end up with SML
hwang in yeop rocked the bad guy look
cha eun woo was also good
the FL did a pretty good job as well
one thing i can guarantee is the as u watch the episodes, you will start understanding why she chise the ML
great chemistery between all the leads
for me,
it is a one time watch cause my heart was taken away by hwang in yeop and i still after looking at ML and FL wanted him to take the FL away
but no worry
it was still a great drama
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Skinshipy high school drama
I won't get into much detail because I rarely get inspiration to write a review lately, but I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of skinship and kisses and 0 awkwardness between the leads considering this is a high school drama, it even got a bed scene? School 2017 and its approximately 0 kisses could never.I loved all the characters with all their flaws and even the evil ones. Besides KSJ turning into a b*tch, I feel like everyone had a reason to be. I hated what they did to KSJ but the redemption kind of felt good, although pretty rushed.
LJG and LSH are definitely meant for each other and I loved how their relationship was really pure, genuine and healthy, despite the parting and occasional secrets. HSJ definitely deserved better and my heart hurt for him a lot, but I agree with some commenters saying that him and JG weren't really a good match. I know they date for a long while in the webtoon, but for what we got in the drama, they would just not match.
I'm with most people on this: it wasn't the best drama, wasn't all that great, many clichés and ridiculous moments, but I enjoyed it a lot and it kept me watching for a long while. It's still very funny to me that all LJG had was some acne, pinkish skin and eyebrows, yet people acted like she transformed herself 100%. Still, I would recommend this drama for a light and fun watch with some drama going on.
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Must watch Rom-Com
Im enjoying watching this drama. It's so funny and entertaining to watch. One of the best romcom i have watched. I love the chemistry between the leads and and the second lead. The cinematography is so perfect. The story so good and very well finished. I like the acting of the cast. Cha Eun Woo, Moon Ga Young and Hwang In Yeop did very well in acting. The OST are so beautiful and Im inlove in every song. I love Love so fine by Cha Eun Woo and all of the OST. Surely I will rewatch this someday when I have time. :))Was this review helpful to you?
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Not really recommend
Pros:I really liked Han Seo Jun, of course bc he´s handsome, but also his character, the way everyone misunderstands his character but in the and he is a really nice person and there is always reasoning in the things he did.
What I also liked is the way the characters personality changed and they learned from their wrongdoings like Kang Soo Jin (I really like her character improvment, even though I think what she did was really bad and disrespectful.)
The acting was also pretty good even though I don´t really know a lot about that topic.
Contra:
I didn´t like the ending (last 2 episodes), but I won't talk about this since I don´t really want to put a lot of spoilers in this review.
The way they represented being "ugly", its true that there is a lot of mobbing and a lot more in korea because of that reason, but i don´t like how they represented it since the fl was (in my opinion) not really ugly without make up if u would´ve fixed her hair a bit and changed her glasses, she would have been completley average, but thats just me.
Exept that it had so many cliches, for example the fact that the male lead said that she´s beautiful "the way she is/ in her ugly form" , I found that really bad.
I just all in all I didn't really like it , but I think its worth a watch in a day where you don´t have anything else to do.
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Different from the webtoon but still a lovely drama! I love you Hwang Inyeop :)
With any romcom (romance-comedy) Korean drama comes its many clichés and tropes. Though “True Beauty” has some of the most common stereotypes (love triangles, the Cinderella story, childhood friends, etc.), it has proven to nail them fairly well and even add its own twists to them.“True Beauty” is about a high school girl, named Lim Jugyeong, who is bullied due to her bare face being “ugly.” However, she learns how to apply makeup from YouTube. When she transfers to a new high school, her classmates call her a “goddess.” The only person who has seen her bare face is the cold and handsome Lee Suho.
Story 8/10
Since the Kdrama is based on a webtoon, the show was definitely humorous and comical, but unfortunately quite unrealistic at times. That aspect never really bothered me, but it may bother other viewers. Personally, I enjoyed the cheesy and cliché moments and found them to be really entertaining. The show focuses most of its attention on the ever-so infuriating love triangle, and to add to that, the female lead is clueless about the love triangle. If you are not a fan of the common love triangle trope, then this show is not for you. As frustrating as some of the episodes ended, I still found myself eagerly waiting for the next episodes to air. Though it did feel like the ending was getting rushed and there was not as much closure to the characters as I had hoped, the storyline kept me thoroughly engaged and excited to see what would happen next.
Cast and Acting 9/10
The show did a great job at casting the actors, as each one of them perfectly embodied their characters. Moon Gayoung did an amazing job playing Jugyeong, her acting made Jugyeong relatable and likable. Hwang Inyeop’s acting was my personal favorite and he portrayed his cool yet adorable character really well. In my personal opinion, I think Hwang Inyeop and his character carried the show and made it a lot more worth watching. As a fan of Cha Eunwoo myself, I was extremely elated to see him play the lead role. Though his acting was a bit stale at times, he improved a lot with Lee Suho’s emotional scenes. I couldn’t have asked for better casting and I was overall satisfied with the acting.
Music 9/10
Typically, when I finish a Kdrama, I would find their OST (original soundtrack) album and only download a couple of songs. However, I found myself downloading almost all of the True Beauty OSTs. The songs were extremely catchy and stuck with me even after I finished watching an episode of the show. Hearing the music constantly reminds me of the wonderful moments in the show and even have me rewatching my favorite scenes.
Rewatch Value 8/10
Though the show may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I found it to be extremely entertaining, heartfelt, and comedic. Most of the scenes I would rewatch are those that had Han Seojun in them, his character and Hwang Inyeop’s portrayal of him kept me wanting more moments of him.
Overall 8.5/10
Since the ending did not go according to my unrealistic hopes for the show, I found myself feeling bittersweet knowing that the show was finally over. Although I found a few characters’ endings to be unbearable and/or unsatisfying, I would have to say that I did enjoy the journey of the show in its entirety. I also loved the message of the show; watching Jugyeong learn to love and accept herself for who she is, reminded me to do the same. The lovable characters and cast definitely played a huge role in keeping me entertained and engaged throughout the show. Though the show could have done a better job at giving closure and better endings for specific characters, I enjoyed my time watching the show and waiting for every new episode to air. Also, I just caught up with the webtoon, and though they are strikingly different from one another, just having some of the main characters and their personalities, I like to see these as their own respective artworks. I love the webtoon AND the drama! Thank you for all the wonderful memories True Beauty. <3
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Lately there have been a lot of dramas that start off great, then just fall flat in the last remaining episodes. Sadly, True Beauty turned out to be one of those dramas. By the last episode, I was skipping through every single dialogue just so I could finish the drama and get it over with. One scene in particular struck with me in the last episode. It was when Seo Jun urged Ju Gyeong to visit Su Ho, declaring that he was leaving for America (?) again. Ju Gyeong goes to him and begs him not to leave, crying and telling him she cares for him, causing the pit in my stomach to grow bigger. Su Ho was the one who left her messages on read, couldn't express what he was feeling clearly and left her in the dust, but ultimately the female lead had to be the one begging him to stay as if she was the one in wrong?
Also, the redemption arc they gave to Kang Su Jin after illustrating her as the biggest villain of the show did not move me in the slightest. They could've just skipped that scene just as much as they should've skipped making her a villain to begin with. They introduced her to be the outstanding, noble character and as if flipping a switch turned her into a hating, venomous person just like that. On the other hand, Ju Gyeong's sister, played by Im Se Mi was a great character, but I really couldn't understand how she stayed with Ju Gyeong's teacher after all the mixed signals he sent and him not being to tell her or know what he even wanted.
However, I must say that the acting was good, Moon Ga Young was exceptional and I couldn't envision anyone else in her role. I was a little unsure about Hwang In Yeop in the beginning, but by the end he'd sold me over.
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I really empathize with HWANG IN YEOP :")
I'm really looking forward to the ending of this drama. I'm also following the webtoon "TSOA" and i like all the characters in the drama they have good chemistry. YOU GUYS DID WELLto be honest I like this drama because the cast is Eunwoo and I also follow the webtoon. but why do I feel this is completely different from the original story on the webtoon and the drama also finishes the story first. will there be a plot twist in the webtoon ??? I think the story will be very WOW if there is a season 2, how about our seojun!? previously I watched 18 again and I thought this was the same character as Hwang In Yeop and I also felt sad. Please don't make Inyeop the second lead in the next drama: "(
When I watched it I didn't know who it would end with ,because the original story wasn't finished yet ..... and when I found out the ending in the drama why am I so ordinary ??? whether it will be different from the story in the webtoon I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS, at the end of the drama I couldn't choose but in the webtoon I chose Seojun with Jukyung.
PLEASE I WANT SEASON 2
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A good coming of age rom com!
True Beauty has it all. Humour, drop dead visuals, great cast, interesting story line, commendable acting, good music and a certain raw sweetness to it. I’ll admit that I was totally biased going into it as Mr Cha is my darling but hardly two episodes in and I’m totally into all the lead actors and supporting cast especially Hwang InYeop. That is one fine looking, talented man. I will admit that I’m extremely superficial when it comes to picking dramas as I do like to look at pretty things and nothing gets prettier then these three leads. That the villainess is pretty darn cool is a bonus too! So my advice. Sit back, enjoy and try not to judge too much. It’s a commendable, light drama that makes you feel surprisingly good! Special mention.. the female lead’s sister is the bomb! A woman after my own heart. She knows what she wants and goes out and gets it. Enjoy!Was this review helpful to you?
