True Beauty (2020)

Better than so many teen dramas and not as shallow as it sounds

True Beauty has been a popular webtoon for a few years now. I've always put it off, thinking I would pick it up someday but I ended up watching the drama before. I read a few chapters of the webtoon only and discontinued after being warned that the drama wasn't really following the original plot closely. It figures since the original is a love triangle and this is just a high school drama. I wouldn't call it the best drama ever, but hey- it's fun and has some good messages.

STORY/PLOT:
Its idea is a lot like like older animes/mangas- Kare Kano or Switch Girl. This premise is hilarious but unbelievable. From the beginning we pity Ju Kyung for being labelled as 'ugly' and getting bullied and teased to no end. I am not sure how realistic it is, because I've never seen anything like this in real life. I liked Ju Kyung getting her confidence when she put on makeup but ultimately that was a facade. It brought her temporary relief and denial, but she had to accept what or how she really was physically. I believe the process of her becoming more confident should have been focused on more than they liked to talk about it in the drama. However I do love the message of people will love you for you - those who love you for your looks aren't real people. Also 'True Beauty' is a fitting title because throughout we see the stark contrast between the 'ugly' Ju Kyung and the 'pretty' bullies, which I really liked.

ROMANCE & LOVE TRIANGLE:
I must say, I was disappointed with how Seo Jun was written. He acted and did all the things the ML would, but we were being cheated. Su Ho was a great character but let's be real- he was the ML just because it is a Korean drama. Throwback to Western stories/series and only characters like Seo Jun ever win in the end. Well, we all knew it deep down, didn't we? I would say the romance didn't matter much to me. It was cute but more cliche than anything I've seen in a while. It had all the standard tropes of a Kdrama thrown in till the end. *eye roll at hospital visits 3000 times*

FRIENDSHIP:
Meh. It was super cute until cliches kicked in and it sort of cheapened the story for me. However the people who remained loyal, stayed so even after Ju Kyung's 'reveal'.

ACTING:
Moon Ga Young is a pretty decent actress. I was so skeptical of her playing a school girl but she did her job wonderfully. Rest of the cast is pretty decent too but I'm bored of Cha Eun Woo playing the pretty but reserved boy again and again.

OST:
Forgettable but still nice. The SML actor is talented at singing.

OVERALL:
I think it was such a nice high school drama. I miss that Korea doesn't make much of these but when they do, they are usually quite good. I'd say this drama is enjoyable if one doesn't get into the shipping stuff. That takes away from the comedy and heartwarming moments shared between many of its characters. I wish this drama hadn't gotten boring because it was amazing till ep 6-7 and from then on it had its high and low moments but never stayed high. The episodes could have been shorter tbh. But I want to ask those who didn't have faith the drama would be good because the webtoon "didn't have a plot" would be surprised that this is actually decent.

I recommend watching this.

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THE BEST ENDING

Well, this drama has the last episode that I have always wanted!
The time they had after getting back together was properly used for concluding every part like Seojun's career, Heekyung's marraige, Soojin's character development, Jukyeong's and Suho's future career and other couples I love this drama so much.
Yes, I was and forever will be Team Suho and I have my reason to be Shin-Shin shipper.
This drama was one of the basic drama with the love triangle, BUT! the female lead had a goal, she found her true beauty so this made the drama more lovable.
And Seo Jun, what a friend you are!
It is quite amazing that Seojun, Ju Kyeong and Suho will be working together as Idol, makeup artist and producer respectively.
Many of u hate the last episode but I LOVE IT

About the drama,
In a whole this gotta be be of my faves. It had superb comedy!
Ju Yeong is litteraly the comedy King and the best kiss interupter...Dude literally saw his whole family kissing..
The father scene with Suho...UNFORGETTABLE..
The hospital bromance? GOSH ! not even 1 sec was boring....That cake scene too!

I am totally gonna rewatch this drama! This is soo good! I am looking forward to the whole casts futre projects.

Watch this drama if u had a low day ;)

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such a lovable drama!

This drama looks like a highschool drama, but actually the storyline is much deeper than that.
The combination of love story, family relationships, friendships, comedy, and teenage problems in general really make this drama worth watching.
The casts are perfect for each character, even for casts with the smallest parts are good, the director did a good job choosing all casts.

We'll feel the happiness, the sadness, the laughter, and also the bitterness of the story.

I think this drama delivers its message so well, about first love, family and friendship.

And, i love the songs in it too! Great drama OST!

If u havent watch it, please do.

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Alright to start with but became boring later on...

Love the lead guy and the second guy....but the lead girl is too corny and way overdone with her childish acts. Even when she smiles it looks fake and forced.
Apart from the lead girl, the casting was good, most of the supporting actors did a good job playing their roles. I certainly like the second guy, his acting was so great that I felt a second-lead syndrome.
Nothing in this drama that stands out from all the other romcom out there. I would not recommend this show unless you're desperate enough. If you're a Cha Eun-woo fan I suggest you watch "My ID is Gangnam Beauty" it's way better than this one by a mile.

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'True beauty' is my first kdrama & after all these times, even the dramas that claim to be the funniest, couldn't make me laugh the much 'true beauty' did. I remember my falling from bed, splitting water from mouth, choking food, couldn't catching breath & opening eyes from laughter watching this amazing show. There were numerous times, I paused the ep & laughed non-stop for few minutes. I rewatched the funny moments so many times but can't seem to get over it. I've searched google "shows like true beauty" many times & watched a lot of shows that says would give me a good laugh but nothing could compare to 'True Beauty'. Every character in this show was hilarious especially Ju Kyung & her family was really something. Ju Kyung & Seo Jun the comedic duo made me laugh every time on screen & it was the 1st show where I suffered from serious SLL. This show is worth watching over & over again.

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I LOVED everything about this drama, all the characters and character development

Watched this whilst it was ongoing, thought I'd write the review now despite it being almost year since I started the drama. It was a very memorable drama.

I haven't read the webtoon and I never will (I've read parts of it online). But, from what I heard, the webtoon isn't very good mostly because it lacks character development, something this drama did not have an issue with. Do not come into this drama expecting it to be like the webtoon.

I loved all the characters in this drama and I was actually able to understand them all (excluding Soo Jin). This drama deals with a lot of big issues such as suicide, bullying, depression, loss of a parent (2 actually) and abusive parents. It's also about following your dream. It's not just about romance, the drama doesn't start with romance (though it does have a lot of chemistry), it grows into romance in a not slow (but not fast) pace after delving into the friendship of all the characters. Despite the serious issues this drama deals, it is still a hilarious romcom and doesn't gloss over the trauma all of the characters had to deal with.

I found Ju Gyeong relatable in many ways. She was bullied at her school for the way she looked, despite what a great person she was. She was betrayed by her friends and she hated herself because of how people judged her solely based on her looks. Her parents didn't understand her or even attempt to (until the end), and out of all her siblings, she was the least academically smart (and least good looking) and was often overlooked by her family. She made herself "beautiful" using makeup as her shield to protect herself from people bullying her at her new school. She had a lot of trust issues and didn't think that people will ever like her if they knew how she really looked. I loved that the drama delved into this a lot and had her finally accept herself and be okay with people knowing what she looked like without makeup, it stopped being her lifeline.

I loved Su Ho and Seo Jun. Despite having a little bit of a second lead syndrome, I loved that Ju Gyeong ended up with Su Ho though. Su Ho and Seo Jun both lost there best friend which caused there friendship to break up. They were the best of friends, they were so good together both when they hated each other and when they loved each other (a lot of people ship them). They both lost a parent, but whilst Seo Jun was really close to his mother, Su Ho hated his father and wasn't close to anyone. He was the most lonely character in this drama which is why it was perfect that he and Ju Gyeong ended up together, whilst also maintaining an amazing friendship with Seo Jun,

I LOVED the second lead couple. They were the perfect role reversal couple. I loved their screen time and I loved that they didn't take all the screen time (like the second lead couple in Reply 1988), despite the drama showing their relationship from the very start to their marriage at the very end.

I liked Soo Jin at the start, a lot. But there was always something dodgy about her and you could see it. She later became the character I hated most and I didn't think she would be redeemable at all. I wasn't expecting to ever like her again, but at the end I started to love her and you could really see her character development through her expressions alone. Park Soo Na did an amazing job portraying Soo Jin, you could really see the darkness behind her eyes when she was facing a lot of abuse from her family and when she was no longer "good" and became Ju Gyeong's bully. The one thing I couldn't understand about her is how she could so easily betray such a loyal and sweet friend. Which is why I prefer Soo Ah and Ju Gyeong's relationship, the only friendship where Ju Gyeong wasn't betrayed.

I loved the acting in this drama. Despite Cha Eun Woo being criticised for not showing any emotions in this drama, it was his role to play the "cold' character and he did show a lot of emotions as did all the other main leads. All the main leads had at least one really emotional breakdown and I loved how Moon Ga Young portrayed her character, the most emotionally revealing and yet reserved, main character.

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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

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Making use of tropes and following conventions the right way.

Yes, one of the main criticisms of this drama is its overuse of tropes and conventions, which even I must agree with. I have not watched enough korean dramas to be aware of all of them, but even from the few I have watched I can see this. However, this is a rare case where these tropes and conventions are utilised in a good way for the majority of the time.

I will keep this short and spoiler free. Where other dramas will use tropes and conventions to create cringey and awkward situations, True Beauty actually creates many comedic and engaging scenes through these same methods.

The story of the drama is very solid, focusing on the FL learning to be comfortable in her own skin, and with the main trio all having great character development.

The soundtrack is what stands out the most, with both the ML's contributing and not a single song disappointing.

The casting was done very well. I have not read the webtoon, however in terms of aesthetic likeness to the characters, the drama's casting crew nailed it.

Overall this was a very enjoyable watch, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys (mainly) lighthearted rom-coms, with a few slighly darker sub-plots.

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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.

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