Birth of a Beauty (2014)

Decent drama, Decent actors, Decent watch...

This drama is as I put....decent. The fact is most of the time, it is only represented as a transformation movie while once the drama starts it takes a darker turn. The two main characters compliment each other, and you find yourself wishing them to have happiness.
You find yourself constantly saddened by things that happen, and find yourself asking, " Is beauty really that important?"
It has the same lip quivering I want to kiss you scenes as other k-dramas, and some truly funny hijinx.

All is not what it seems, and as the story goes on you see the parallel lines for what they are.
The supporting cast is good, and sometimes seriously hateful. You see the two main fall in love, but it's sort of stilted between scenes. In the end everybody gets an ending, and it isn't that bad as everything goes.

This drama is worth a watch, because it can get really exciting. You just have to get past the first couple of episodes to when it really gets started. You'll wonder what is wrong with people when you watch this one, but in time will watch the normal climax of a normal transformation k-drama.

Leggi di Più

Finally, i couldn't wait for it to end. It was getting on my nerves with the drag. It started out so well and interesting and funny but after around ep 5 it just got draggy and by the end it got ridiculous. I watched the show coz of han tae hee coz i just watched him in queen seon duk and was attracted to him.han ye seul is very pretty which suited this show but sometimes the acting speaks louder than looks. She had this cute expression at first but it started getting plastic and her feelings couldnt be portrayed earnestly. So many extended glances and unneccesary scenes. Han tae and sara were cute together but the cheesiness...... aa jinjja, i found myself looking away. In all seriousness, saras acting was just ok. the two step brothers min yuk and tae hee were eye candy. Though min hyuk was the protagonist, he was actually hot and sexy evil. I want to see him in more roles with that serious manliness. The director dint do good job on making the cast look good. The drama was more focussed on saras fashion and beauty, it felt like she was a rich girl who got the role for her looks and everything catered to her. Shes not a bad actress, its just this show dint do much justice. I couldn't stand chae yeon and kang joon
well the good part was the story itself and the lesson learned. Also they had really great wadrobe stylist and great ideas. I liked Kang joons dad, he was like one of the most real and good actors. The revenge was appropriate and sara matched well with her costars i like her with min hyuk too.
I dint care for the ost it was in fact annoying. Recommendation well if u have no problem forwarding then its good for u. Its cute and cheesy

Leggi di Più

Story: 10.0
The storyline was one, I’ve seen before involving the plastic surgery to become beautiful. But the murder thrown on top was just the perfect touch for me. I know some people didn’t enjoy how long it lasted but I quite enjoyed the added the suspension at the end. If they had tried to end it 16 episodes it would have ended in a blur without a full follow up on some questions, so 21 episodes was a good length.
One thing I enjoyed about this drama was the two themes that played out. That truth will win out in the day, and that actions have consequences. For me, those are something I always remember, and I really do enjoy it, when dramas actually show it.
Also I liked that they didn’t really take Plastic Surgery with such a faint heart. Yes she had it, but she suffered consequences from it. They weren’t exactly completely against it, but it was more, of a way of warning that you shouldn’t chose plastic surgery just become pretty.

Acting/Casting: 9.0
For me, the acting was great and I thought the casting decision was spot on. I felt like the main actresses acting could have been a tad more realistic, during a couple of her crying scenes, more towards the beginning than at the end. It hadn’t felt like she was fully developed in her character during those moments, but it improved as the drama went on. The seriousness that she brought to Sara tied with the old sa Geum-ran’s character traits really was very delightful to watch. The reason I was pulled into this drama though, was because of the acting of the supporting role, yet a crucial one of Hae Jae-sook, she played the first Sa Geum Ran, and she fit perfectly in a way that wasn’t so over the top. it had that despesperation that the character needed. She as was so wonderful, had me in tears.
I always give props to the villain of the group, because if you can make me dislike you so much, you did a wonderful job. Wan Ji-hye did a fantastic job as Gyo Chae-yeon, I couldn’t have asked for a better main antagonist.
Everyone did a wonderful job in acting out their own characters, and I also did enjoy the lead male, but the woman in this show for me outshined in a way that made it enjoyable.

Music: 9.0
I loved the music. It felt really fitting for this drama. I always teared up when I heard Jonghyun’s voice come in for the main theme. His voice was very fitting for this drama. The music never once took me out of the story plot, but I’m always unsure about music because it’s not exactly my forte.

Rewatch Value: 3.0
Though I enjoyed the storyline the first time, watching a second time would probably bore me since I know what is going to happen. I think this is a good drama to watch once, and maybe come back to again after a couple of years to rewatch it, once the storylines becomes a little faded. But as I always say, rewatch value is always up to you!

Leggi di Più

Loved it! I'd like to describe it as a light-hearted rom-com which does have a slight twist.

I'm sure for some, the storyline in general may be meaningful in the aspect that outward appearances should not define a person and how people are not as they appear. The realism of this opens up the emotive aspect of this drama, being that you really should treat people equally and with respect, otherwise as a person you change and lose such dignity. It's also fair to say there is a revenge theme present
(karma if you'd prefer).

So I thought I'd break it down based on certain features:

Cast: The lead roles chosen couldn't be any better in my opinion. Sang-uk Joo, played a comedic and very loving partner and gosh that smile! And Han Ye-seul is just beautiful. Through the heart wrenching parts, I felt them and yes, there were tears. Just even the small aspects such as camera angles and the focus of other bodily actions to represent internal pain makes you connect to the characters in depth. Honestly the comedy aspect of it did have me feeling second-hand embarrassment too! How anyone can think of half the things these two were thinking just baffles me..

Music: I'm a bit particular when it comes to OST and I was pleasantly surprised by the songs chosen. So I decided to put some in rating order to show my personal best..
1) Gemini- Only I didn't know https://youtu.be/Xrmmg3I2M9k
2) Lee Hyun- Though it hurts, it's okay https://youtu.be/bVi3ZybRt_w
3) Jong Hyun- She https://youtu.be/uUbTdVZxjig
4) M.C The Max- Looking at you https://youtu.be/tUQY28L7cCU
5) Veloce- Like it's all forgotten https://youtu.be/XhkUMuXhXz8

Honest opinion is that I also did find it somewhat repetitive in some parts of the drama where you're sitting there like "come on let's just speed this up a bit" however I found that it was an addictive drama to watch. For the re-watch review, I can honestly say there are many Kdramas that I have seen more than 3 times and this for sure is one of them. The chemistry, heartache and the comedy is a perfect balance and the underlying meaning is clear to viewers. Give it a shot and see where it takes you!

Leggi di Più

As with a lot of Kdramas, the first episode is the set up to the story, so please at least watch through the 2nd episode before deciding whether to follow through. I like how they handled the plastic surgery part of the story. I think the story was good, but could have been tighter. It dragged in some places and the storyline could have used a little tweaking, but was still an enjoyable watch. Joo Sang Wook as Han Tae Hee was super cute in this as was Han Ye Seul as Sara. The actor that portrayed her husband was hard to watch, but it was partly due to the character he was playing. My dh loved this drama more than I did and thought it was very re-watchable. I watched it with him after watching it by myself, and that was plenty for me.

Leggi di Più

At Long Last, I dragged myself to finish this drama... I decided to write a review because there are like so many points to consider if you have not watched this drama.. Though I am not sure if it's gonna make you want to watch or not.

First up: story... I am evaluating here based on 2 main criteria, first as a romantic comedy and second as a revenge story.
* Romantic comedy wise, the main couple are cute together, typical story line, though I think in that context, 16 episodes are quite enough ( if you're new to kdramaland, you might enjoy having extra episodes/ But if you've been there for quite some time, you'll definitely think it's too draggy)
* Revenge plot, usually this kind of things are what truly attach you to a drama, sit on the edge of your seat, and stuff, the revenge is done nicely (yet I think nice here is not good enough) I started seeing lots of plot holes in the revenge scheme along the episodes, which kinda ruined it for me, also the extra added episodes made the revenge plot look a bit ... well overly exposed I suppose


Every thing looked average, nothing really to hook you up to it, average music, averagely simple characters

As for the Acting: Male actors all-in-all are doing a good job, Ladies are not good enough in my opinion.
Whatever happens, I don't think I'll ever think about rewatching

Leggi di Più

I really could not finish this, I got halfway through and realised I was just wasting my time I could spend on a good show. So keep in mind what I write about this is only for the first half.

I really wanted to like this, I did. I wanted a nice rom com with Joo Sang Wook, because he was amazing in Cunning single lady. I wanted a light but really funny drama but this was not it and I couldn't stick this one out.

First of all the start is so rushed and nothing is kept secret. I think if they had gone into detail and stretched the first 5 or so episodes out the drama would have been fine. But no, this plot is a bonafide crazy mess! I had no idea what was coming and there was no logic to anything! Definitely makjang.

The worst thing for me though was how I felt they were cruel to Hae Jae Sook. I found a lot of her scenes unnecessary and cruel. I felt bad that this actress (who was awesome in Protect the Boss) had to do whole scenes about how ugly and fat she is that Tae Hee ( Wook) is disgusted by her and blah blah. It's sort of like, I see where this drama wanted to go to address inner and outer beauty...but it made a huge mess of it. I found in these moments that it opened up the fourth wall for me, feeling bad for the actress and being drawn out of the story.

This is a makjang crazy mess. The only good things about is is Joo Sang Wook and the very very rare funny scenes...

Maybe I'll finish the rest of this drama, or maybe not.

Leggi di Più

It's obvious that they tried to make many parts comedic, but those seemed flat and the silence from within me left me with a feeling of awkwardness trying to find the right moments to laugh but never finding a reason to do so. The romantic moments were cliche once again with long periods of staring; I have to admit that the back hug was kind of cute in this one though. The most romantic parts seemed to be between Min Hyuk and Sara, which sort of gave a Richard Gere/ Pretty Woman feel. Judging by the poster where he's not even included, I don't think that this was what was intended. I continued to watch the show, however, because of the popularity of this show until episode 6 where I found a new reason to watch. This show may not have comedy or romance despite being a romantic comedy, but it has the best grudges, characters full of hatred, and a strong sense of revenge; many times I thought this could fit into the thriller genre. The power struggle is entertaining to watch and leaves you wondering who will come out on top, hoping it's not Tae Hee's judgmental and unapologetic grandmother.

As a side note, and I usually don't mention this because I'm not a very fashion-conscious person, but I thought the clothing looked outdated and they have a good looking cast but the hair stylist put too much product in Wang Ji Hye's hair to the point that it looked oily and they could've done more to Han Ye Seul's hair to make it shine or look glamorous since she's the birth of a beauty (Pinocchio had a good hairstylist).

I don't even know where to start with the acting. Joo Sang Wook seemed like a good actor and sometimes his actions reminded me of So Ji Sub in Master's Sun. I think he would've acted better though if he played this role alongside a different actress such as Gong Hyo Jin because while Han Ye Seul is beautiful, her acting skills weren't too believable to me many times, especially when she tried to act cute, innocent, or does what I consider a fake laugh. To her defense, it's hard to be cute and pretty. When she tried to act innocent though, she seemed to just open her eyes wide and stare blankly, and instead of the simple-minded cute that I think she was trying to go for, it came off as a little dim-witted. A weird thing is that unlike many actors who can play cute but not serious parts, her crying was actually okay; if they added fake tears and an eye irritant to make her eyes a little pink then her crying facial expressions would seem realistic I think. Because of her narrow range of emotions, I'm a little hesitant to watch Couple or Trouble now which was supposed to show that her acting skills improved, but seems iffy to me since she should be more experienced in this drama that's filmed eight years after the praise she got for that one. Wang Ji Hye and Jung Gyu Woon's jealousy and apparent desire for revenge are a major part of what made this so interesting to watch, but while I was a big fan of Wang Ji Hye from Protect the Boss, I noticed that she has a weird look that she overuses sometimes - I still think her hissy fits were entertaining though. Jung Gyu Woon played crazy quite awesomely and reminded me a lot of Light Yagami from the anime, Death Note. Lastly, I'd like to mention Han Sang Jin. Even though Joo Sang Wook is handsome and a good actor, he had the same problem that Ji Sung had in Kill Me Heal Me- despite cute or romantic lines he's fed and facial expressions to match, he didn't have that quality about him that makes you hug your pillow really tight and hold your breath while your heart is beating in suspense for the next moment on screen. Surprisingly I did feel a little bit of this when Han Sang Jin was on screen, and maybe if he was younger or didn't look his age I would be squealing over him right now. He played both the few romantic parts he had and a villain quite well; I think his innocent-looking face made him that much scarier.

As for the music, I'm pretty sure I've heard Lee Hyori sing the "I'm a Beautiful Girl" song on Family Outing before even though it didn't come out yet; it sounds just like it though. Other than that, the music didn't seem memorable and I don't really rewatch shows.

I'd recommend this show if you like dramas, because there's a lot of entertaining scheming and plotting with alliances formed almost every which way, but don't mind the female lead's acting and that it's not really romantic or comedic despite being a romcom.

Leggi di Più