True Beauty (2020)

Cringy but worth it

This is my first time writing a review so if I make any mistake I'm sorry!

I've read the webtoon and watched the kdrama and I gotta say It's different but both are amazing to watch!
True beauty was a fun kdrama! I never got bored of it which is such a good thing!! It has so many cringy scenes but sometimes I enjoyed it! I hate how Seojun and jukyung didn't get that much scenes which I didn't like :/ But I love the bromance with Suho and Seojun ! My favorite scenes is when they both clipped eachother toenails! I really like Suho and Jukyung Scenes! They were enjoyable to watch.

The actors was great and I hope to see more of them! The characters development with each characters are amazing.
Jukyung character development was SOOO AMAZING !!! I loved every characters ! My favorite characters was Juyoung and Gowoon, They was so cute ! People say Cha Eun Woo didn't do a great job at acting but I think he did amazing! All the actors fit with the characters.

This drama isn't my favorite but overall I really liked it and I hope many people enjoyed it too!
Please don't hate on any of the characters ! expect for the bullies but don't hate on them irl. ANYWAYSSS IM ON TEAM SUHO HOW ABOUT YALL!!?

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A good one for youths to watch on a boring weekend

This is a lighthearted drama that makes easy watching for all. It is a story that revolves around school life, how one chooses to be with someone or not and how much one cares about fitting in.

I am not sure about the need for the sad background (bullying) to make a good ending. However, many dramas are often made of such.

What I like about the show? There are a few..
Ju-kyung is a realistic character of someone who decides very quickly that she needs to be pretty and becomes desperate trying to make it happen. On the other hand, she maintains a consistent side of optimism towards developing friendship with her peers.

It is great to see Su-ho not caring about looks but I am not sure whether the dialogues between the two were anything much to make of that which to build a relationship.

Seo-jun is a genuine portrayal of one who is brash and impulsive, and who seemingly doesn't seem to care much about Ju-kyung. When he realises that he does, i was drawn by the extent of initiatives that he takes to win her over and also how gracious he was when he gave her up. I especially like the scenes when Ju kyung turns up playfully and how a happy person as her could impress Seo-jun to want to do more.

There were many great acting in the show. It was an enjoyable watch indeed.

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Good escapism!

Spoilers after my general thoughts section!!

tw: suicide/self-harm. I haven't seen it mentioned enough so just to warn anyone who hasn't seen it that True Beauty mentions suicide and bullying a lot. Please look after yourself if this is a trigger for you <3

Ok, so I'm just gonna do a list of points on how I feel because I'm lazy and a combination of lockdown x uni has ruined my ability to write properly. None of this is in any proper order I'm just rambling after episode 16 finished.

General thoughts:
- I loved this drama!! The writing and characterisation were all over the place but it just came at the right time for me.
- It echoed noughties highschool kdramas, full of classic tropes - the love triangle, time skip, and some slightly problematic themes for us tired 2021 folk (ok it just made me think of boys over flowers a lot)
- A lot of people have said it was cringey but I live for all of that
- If you follow the webtoon you'll recognise certain scenes but it's a much more condensed/altered story
- The show did deliver with its comedic scenes. I found myself laughing a fair amount because some lines/plots were just so silly
- Its themes seemed to live up to the title more than webtoon but still didn't really deliver
- There are a few angsty/serious parts but for the most part, it's a wholesome story of a girl learning to rebuild her self-esteem after severe bullying
- The love triangle took up too much of the story but I did enjoy the romance for the most part
- It was cute and quite frankly I needed some fluffy relief and impatiently waited for each episode every week

Love line:
- I feel like I've been watching kdramas for so long I just don't get second lead syndrome anymore.
- I understood the hype for both Suho and Seojun but I can't be disappointed because I never allowed myself to have expectations
- Thank you to the ship wars for not being as toxic as Start-Up. Gosh, that was a rough couple of weeks.
- Seojun deserved better and we didn't need to see him pining for that long
- I also adored Seojun but I wanted him for me, not Jugyeong lol
- That gal was blind to anyone who wasn't Suho and that was obvious.
- I kept going back and forth with who I liked more between the male leads. I am a fickle woman.
- They made Suho too stalkery and possessive in episode 15 and it's just so not a cute or redeemable feature why do so many dramas do this
- I'll just say as a society we have moved past the need for love triangles. It's exciting for all of 5 seconds but when the toxic jealousy comes in it's just like let's stop and all be friends, please
- Also, the we-met-as-children storyline is so overdone. It can work sometimes but felt wholly irrelevant in this story!!
- It was a pipe dream but we all know Soojin x Jugyeong (in the first half) and Suho x Seojun would have been more powerful than anything.

Random plot points that I can remember and need to discuss:
- I know kdrama magic is a thing but it stressed me out how quickly they healed after the car accident. All those piggybacks after those broken limbs made my heart race.
- Also that car accident scene of Suho flying in the air? Just wow. Classic scene. Was crying of laughter. I'm sorry it was just so silly. And adds to my concern about the injuries. The boy's back should've been broken!
- Was a bit annoying to see how overdramatic people were about acne?? Like come on, it's perfectly natural, especially in teenagers. To all my fellow people with facial skin conditions - we're beautiful with or without makeup!!
- I am glad they showed Jugyeong happily wearing her bare face in the end though she was glowing!!
- I needed the suicide attempt to be discussed more?? I mean it's a kdrama and I had low expectations but it felt so negligent to not explore mental health when it was so important to understand the actions of the main characters
- These mains ALL need therapy T_T
- The time skip/break-up just felt pointless to me. Make Suho work harder to earn your love back please, Jugyeon. It just added to Seojun's pain :(
- The ending of them holding a book called the ending sksksks um how deep

Characters:
- How beautiful was this entire cast? A visual treat!!
- Jugyeong was the cutest and I wanted the whole world for her. So happy she was succeeding in the end
- They did Soojin dirty and we all know it. Yes, I've read the webtoon so I knew she was bad in that but gosh these writers made her so good at the beginning!! Happy she was redeemed-ish in the end but it wasn't anything huge
- I'd do anything for Heekyung?? What a woman. Her relationship with the teacher was adorable.
- Juyoung and Gowoon were cute
- Sooah was tiny and so cute too. I just say cute a lot but yeah many a cute character in this series.
- Seojun was the superior character. Great son and brother, respects women and mental health, can sing, is in a band, and looks like that?? I need a sequel just to see him succeed in life and get a juicy story where he's loved back
- The writers just did not know what to do with Suho's character. But thank you for letting us see how much Eun-Woo's acting has improved
- Hot take: Drama Suho was worse than webtoon Suho but webtoon Seojun was better than drama Seojun.
I mean, Seojun was so fantastic in the drama too but we're given so much more in the webtoon. Why steal half of Seojun's scenes and give them to Suho?? A lot of people say Suho was so bland in the webtoon but the boy was very clearly depressed and needs some love!!
- I loved the bromances in the show!!

Music:
- I'm in the moooooddddd for dancin... why did this song disappear so soon this rendition was so cute
- Did we ever get a full version of that how do you do song because I need it??
- I really loved that missing youuu song
- Seojun for the rookie band of the year

To conclude: Well written? Nope. A bit of tropey fun with a little bit of angst that helps you escape for a while from these hellish times? yes yes yes :)

I feel like this is usually like an 8 or an 8.5 for me but I'm feeling generous and looking forward to this every week has made this lockdown a little better.

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Such a hilarious drama

I will give a review as a non Webtoon reader and I'm really like this drama!! I wonder how good the original Webtoon is because I see lot of people keep comparing to it and feel dissapointed at the end.

The storyline is very simple but not simple as ordinary school drama. I don't know how to explain but it's very precious to me. It's called True Beauty for something. even the drama not really have a plot twist like every Korean drama, it's still enjoyable and HILARIOUS!!

The Acting is kinda problem here actually. Cha Eun Woo acting is still not 'wow' yet but he is improving since Gangnam Beauty. Moon Ga Young is really good actress but why she looks so fake in this drama?? Like she fail potray the character neutrally. the other rests are so good even some of them is still new in K-drama industry.

All the OST in this drama is perfect for me. Literally no skip especially 'I'm in the mood for dancing' and 'Love So Fine'

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Not like other high school dramas… Sike

And another webtoon adaptation. True Beauty bears many similarities with the slew of new romcom entries in kdramaland. As much as I love romcoms, I stay away from “high school” backdrops because I find the premise constraining. Its focus on firsts (e.g. first love, first kiss, etc.) leads to predictability. True Beauty benefits from a wealth of original material but still struggles to shine amongst numerous similar titles.

Story:
Adaptations are a double-edged sword. The original must have been well-received to be adapted, and the adaptation will naturally be compared against it. Any changes are seen as significant risks. I have only briefly scanned a couple chapters of the True Beauty webtoon, and it is clear that the webtoon contains a ton of content distilled down to 16 episodes.

Without reading the original content, one senses the webtoon omissions through the shallow side characters in the drama adaptation. Relationships with side characters go from one stage to the next without sufficient scenes. Even the finale is rushed to reach an ending for the main leads. With such gaps, the drama feels surprisingly empty despite its quick pace.

Acting:
As if comparison to the webtoon is not enough, Cha Eun-Woo’s True Beauty character has the same feel as his character in Gangnam Beauty: cold but caring, cares what is inside more than outside. Can an actor be typecast this quickly? His acting in Gangnam Beauty exceeds the expectation for idols, and his performance in True Beauty is at least as strong. I have not seen his sageuk drama but look forward to him trying different roles in the future.

Moon Ga-Young is Moon Ga-Young, cementing herself as a pillar among kdrama actresses. Just look at any popular young actress list on MyDramaList. The entire drama revolves around these two, and their acting is the main draw that distinguishes the drama from the webtoon. Beautiful actress cosplays “ugly” girl is suspect, at best, but Moon Ga-Young’s overall performance is great (shifting body language from unconfident to confident). The young actors’ ability to carry this drama highlight the bright future ahead of them.

Music:
Idol concepts weave itself throughout the drama and the music. The OST is even being repackaged like a kpop album with photocards and merchandise. Unsure whether this is common for drama OSTs, but the OST artists fits the image. Solos from idol groups like GFriend and SF9, Chani himself. Cha Eun-Woo and Hwang In-Yeop also contribute. Final shoutout to Car, the Garden ~ Happy Ending.

Rewatch Value:
I realize MDL lists two additional “main roles” which I mostly passed over. Park Yoo-Na’s character is the most shortchanged from the adaptation (my guess) and is the only reason I may try to read the webtoon. The rewatch value of the drama is low, and, ironically, some of the memorable scenes were actually the hilarious Extraordinary You cameos. Definitely give Extraordinary You and Gangnam Beauty a try before, or after, True Beauty.

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True Beauty

Genel olarak yeri geldiğinde güldüren yeri geldiğinde üzen bir diziydi. Bazen sinir etse de izlemesi keyif verdi. Ama bazı karakterlerin harcandığını düşünüyorum. En büyük örnek Seo Jun 3 yıl boyunca kızı sevdi ve kavuşamadı :'( Suho webtoonda bana hitap eden bir karakter değildi ama dizide biraz daha sevdim. Ayrıca kızların arkadaşlıkları çok sevimliydi. Dizi de Chani'yi daha fazla görmek isterdim oralar bana biraz kopuk geldi. Kesinlikle çok kaliteli bir kadro vardı dizide hepsi de manken yani. Seojun'un hayatına biraz daha girilmesini isterdim. Misal babası niye yok vs.

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This was a wonderful drama! Hilarious, touching, sweet, angsty... allowing the actors to truly spread their wings with various emotional scenes ranging from funny to absolutely heartbreaking. And the chemistry between the leads was simply off the charts!

When you watch the BTS vids, you can see how fantastically everyone got along and it truly showed on-screen. It was a real pleasure to watch the scenes with the main three - Cha Eunwoo, Moon Ga Young and Hwang In Yeop - whether they were humorous or sad, they played off each other wonderfully. And the interactions between them were my favorite ones, both the romance and the bromance.

I think that my favorite moment out of all the great moments that this drama is full of was the one with Suho and his father at the hospital, when Suho broke down and everything he’d been keeping hidden all the years spilled out. That whole scene was just heartbreaking, the way it was shot, the fact that all the important people left in Suho’s life got to witness it... it was honestly perfect. Everything I wanted and more. And that following it, Suho and Seojun started repairing their broken friendship was a bonus!

There were so many things that I loved about the drama. The older sister and her teacher chicken of a boyfriend! The way Joogyung’s whole family finally found a common ground! Suho and his father! The mystery of Leo! Soojin’s downfall and redemption! Seojun’s family! The friendship among Suho, Seojun and Seyeon before everything went downhill! That we saw the characters grow up and become adults, start a career and find a purpose in life! All that and more.

To sum it up, I loved the drama. Sure, it took an ep or three to find its feet but I’m so glad that I stuck with it till the end. It’s definitely my favorite Cha Eunwoo series and I’m so glad that he starred it in.

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It is in the middle of good and bad

As a fan of dramas (whatever language it is), I have watched different storylines or you can say many of them even have identical build-ups. In this particular drama, I could say it has its own positive feels but at the same time it also has negative sides.

Story

First of all, I like how fun and light this drama is. It can be easily loved by people especially the newbies in the Kdrama world. The plot is not complicated to be understood. It is typical for Korean dramas to be laid down this way and we call it clichés. Daily lives of high school students who try their best on coping up with their grading marks and lessons.

But the catch on the story is the discrimination in the female lead's physical appearance. And antagonist students do this in the way of bullying. No matter where you go, that kind of discrimination is really not that uncommon. The solution that the female lead thought of is through the use of make-up or cosmetics. Well, her mother kind of tried to consult with a Plastic Surgeon but changed her mind afterwards. This is the fundamental difference if I were to compare it to My ID is Gangnam Beauty.

Acting/Cast

At first, I watched this entirely because of Eun Woo. As an Aroha, I can't let this slip away from my watchlist, can I? But the additional team up with Ga Young and In Yeop? Definitely a new and fun team-up. I first saw Ga Young in Princess Hours which was way back 2007. She started off with supporting roles but slowly went to main ones such as in Great Seducer. She's a great actress for sure. Her expressions are in synch with Ju Kyung's role.

Secondly, In Yeop is a really perfect casting for second lead role with antagonistic behavior. Not that I am saying he is only good for being a second lead, he will also slay a main lead tho. I would like to ask this since I am here giving a review, how can he have that kind of face when he's a freakin' 30 years old? 😭 I think South Korea is the only country that can pull this off? Giving a 30-year old with a high school student role.

Thirdly, Eun Woo's acting skills are definitely improving. Besides him, we know so many Idols who have great compatibility with acting such as INFINITE's L, GOT7's Jinyoung, and EXO's D.O. Eun Woo as Lee Su Ho is perfect. He's great at portraying tsundere-type of main leads. Showing poker faces at all times and rarely smiles? It's just a walk in the park for him. Someone can say he is bad at expressing emotions but for me it's exactly the opposite. Outside of acting, he's a cheerful and funny guy.

Last but not the least, the supporting roles such as Ju Kyung's family is composed of great actors for romcom dramas such as this. But we won't forget Kang Soo Jin here. She's a badass character. She got temporarily on the wrong path but stood up and strongly faced all consequences.

Music

The OSTs for the drama are so good especially In Yeop's version of Missing You. The feels are everywhere. Starlight by SF9's Chani and Ha Sung Woon's Fall In You are in my Top 3 picks for the drama as well.

Overall, I'm only gonna rate this as 8.5 because such storyline already exists and there's nothing new except for the setting and line-up of actors. If your preferences include light stories, romcom or school dramas, this is definitely your cup of tea.

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neomu BeAuTiFuL

so first of all , i wasn't going to watch this drama but my friend told me to give it a try and here i am satisfied . this drama was everything , funny , sad , romantic and in some type of a way heartwarming . the cast was on point , every actor and actress did their job perfectly and i'm saying this to those brats that be saying that eun woo can't act . bruh just because he is handsome and pretty doesn' tmean he should suck at acting . there's so many funny scenes that made me wheeze in the middle of the night while everyone is sleeping lmao . i foundit a bit exaggerated how she was afraid and anxious if her classmates about her wearing makeup cuz whats the big deal but than thats korea so maybe thats the case there idk . i was team suho all through the drama so i was completely satisfied with the ending but team sejun on the other hand... of course he doesn't stand a chance cuz he's just a second lead what did u expect ?
the high school vibes made miss my high school days .

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All cliches in one drama but still a fun watch.

I love the message of the drama. But as time went the story lost its focus and all focus was on the aggravating love triangle, and at that point the characters just looked pathetic. To make it worse, the FL is so clueless it's frustrating. Anyone can watch this but I definitely think the drama is geared towards younger audiences. The best thing I love about the drama is the characters, some of the characters had so much depth and shined anytime they appeared on screen. They really elevated a story full of cliches.

Now as for the love triangle, as someone who never gets second lead syndrome this was very hard to watch. Writers need to stop this trope where the second male lead is left sulking for the girl even after time jumps. How about introducing another love interest, at some point it gets tiring to watch and I hope they never make another drama regarding that. I was stupid enough to expect some kind of change in the last two episodes, but it had the same cliche ending. Overall, this wasn't a bad watch, I love how they wrapped up everything. 

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Felt my brain cells atrophy with each episode

Watched this because of Cha Eun Woo. Could not finish it.

It was so predictable and stupid. The protagonist's problem is not so much that she is ugly but more so that she is dumb. She has the voice of a preschooler and just comes across as an absolute bimbo. If I could retitle this show it would be "A Schoolgirl's Manual for Transformation into a Date-Rape Target". She comes across as self-absorbed and lacking in any self-preservation mechanisms for her own safety. Going on blind dates with older men while dressing up as an older woman; giving her number to strange men just because he asks for it; letting men invade her private space; having an imbalanced response to just being a victim of upskirting. If I had a teenage daughter, I would keep them away from this show or at least let them know this is brain fluff and not to be taken seriously. At all.

JG's voice grated the entire time. She is immature, does not care about anyone at all except her own issues. Sure, it's to escape bullying and such, but having achieved her objective of being allowed to live her own life and not be bullied, one would think that someone in that situation would at least spend that time on SOME amount of planning for her future. Hell, no. She has no mental ambitions at all and is quite happy to have her grades be as low as her skirt is short as long as she is considered pretty. Why bother being left alone when you're not going to do anything with your life? Even Han SJ's younger sister has more ambitions than her. I watched on because I was fascinated with her cool older sister but the r/ship with the teacher was unnecessarily angsty and weird that it wasn't enough to keep me invested.

Pretty much every episode has a kdrama romcom formulaic slo-mo clumsy moment from the protag that involves falling and getting caught by the handsome male lead and then this time-stood-still stupid, googly-eyed stare at him. Once in a while is tolerable but this was nearly every. Single. Episode. On some episodes, any close contact with the male will lead to her having heart palpitations while in others, she's quite naive to invading their personal space and being oblivious to their reactions i.e. with Han SJ. Like, really?! Very convenient. Who goes around roaring like an idiot up close to the guy? Bimbo JG, apparently.

The mother's treatment of the father was appalling as well. Flip the genders around and see a husband treat the wife the way the mum treated the dad and what would one think? She's unsupportive, verbally and physically abusive. She puts him down when he's trying out new ideas and having new interests. She's the type of partner that wants to keep the other one meek so she has the upper hand in the r/ship. She's shallow AF and so is her bimbo daughter.

I can't believe this got as high a mark on MDL as it has. Cha Eun Woo reprised his role as a tsundere handsome boy in My ID is Gangnam Beauty but that show has 100x more depth than this absolute... WTF.

Immature. Shallow. Stupid. Formulaic. Don't waste your time on this.

Addendum:
Regarding viewing this show as just a brain fluff, easy watch, yes, I totally went into it knowing that it is just such a show. There wasn't an episode that went by that I didn't roll my eyes but I reminded myself that, "it's just brain fluff. Just for a brain turn-off watch". And I accepted the rules that were set that in this parody-esque romCOM dictating that the protag would be the "norm" for cute and desirable. The problem I had was that even the writers didn't stick to their own rules so why should I?

Part way through they intro'd a new char of Go Woon, the bad boy Han SJ's younger sister. GW is the cliche char that's meant to showcase the vulnerable side of the bad boy tritagonist and also provide multiple excuses for the protag to be in close proximity to SJ whilst having the setup be construed as totally innocent and coincidental i.e. she just happens to be at their home when SJ is prancing around, headphones in ears, in nothing but his underwear and a loose robe; convenient. And predictable. As a third function, GW is also the mirror image of JG, sharing the same "wounded" background as JG, albeit younger. JG is able to save her in a way that she was never saved herself and this helps to soothe her own past wounds. The problem with GW is that she is superior to JG in every way.

When we get intro'd to her r/ship with SJ she is maternal and independent. She cooked her own ramen and SJ loves her cooking and commented that it was delicious. When next we meet them in a family setting again she is with the mother, the matriarch of the family, and she is shown to have folded the clothes and instructed her brother to take his underwear and head off to the room in a very un-younger-sibling-like way. She is mature, has ambitions (wants to get into Music Academy) and, unlike JG, only uses makeup for the stage and her performance, not to maintain a duplicitous life. She is aware of the benefits of makeup for its effect on an audience and does not need it in real life, not even in school. When the part-time job comes up at the comic store, she's there in a flash, securing an income before JG does even tho the latter frequents the shop more often than she. In terms of guys, she knows what she wants and doesn't want and has strong boundaries and knows how to set them. Most of all, she has a normal speaking voice and does not have a predilection to trip over herself every episode so we can get the cliche time-stood-still-slomo catch/rescue from a guy. In fact, I doubt she really needs a guy to rescue her. When her bro wants to sort out her bullies, she insists she'll deal with her problems herself. Even had JG not have stepped in, I believe she would've found a way to do so. Maybe she'd have missed that one performance but her eyes will still be set on the Music Academy. What's the use of a small high school performance when she'd be unhindered in a larger platform later on? It's obvious that the teacher recognised her talent. She would've had no problems getting recognised at the Music Academy later on too.

At the same time, we get the parallel to JG. She decides that she doesn't like the baseball player and starts to kinda set her boundaries, in a much less confident voice than GW and only, if I recall correctly, after seeing Lee SH set his boundaries with someone who'd known him in the past (that no one knew or have seen and have seen after). I don't recall ever seeing her do something adult like cook in all the 9 episodes. She only stepped in for the family and did the cleaning once the dad was gone and when he was around, she was daddy's girl and princess and did not do any cooking of her own. Tho an older sister, her r/ship with her younger sibling seems to be more like she's his younger sibling. He always seems to have the power, using his upper hand to blackmail her into things and they are constantly bickering . She showed no initiative in getting a p/t job until later even tho she would've passed the job sign at the comic shop often and she only got her job through SJ's help. She also never had any ambitions until later, in fact, it's not till after she's met GW that cosmetology crystalises in her mind. In all these ways, she is inferior to GW and the show itself got changed in tone because of this juxtaposition. As a viewer, I now have the option of something "normal" and superior in GW. The problem is she's only a side char with the role of fulfilling a bridge function for the WTF protag. Her romance arc would've been either that she rejects JG's brother totally or that she gets charmed by his sincerity in the end or, worst yet, she might've been subjected to having a crush on a yet unknown pretty boy char so that the stereotypical love triangle can be expanded to a love decahedron to fulfill the quota for the kdrama romcom theme of it's-not-as-much-about-love-as-it-is-about-how-many-trophies-of-alpha-males'-hearts-you-can-get. Gawd knows they tagged on the Kang SJ love interest to make it a love pentagon (along with the baseball creep) when she'd been pretty ok with a friendship with Lee SH for TEN YEARS. They even changed her capacious char to be a conniving, manipulating wench just to fit this pentagon arc. WTF. I couldn't bear to watch GW's char be subjected to a cliche in the short moments that I'd get a glimpse of her.

Because of these reasons, that the writers showed it was possible to get a normal, functional female char, the show pushed itself out of being just a brain fluff, easy watch offering into something that needed to be considered properly. In those terms it failed miserably.

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