True Beauty (2020)

'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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A good drama but not a excellent one

STORY: The story was pretty much the same as most of the high school dramas and it contained all the clichés the kdrama land has at first it went on good but after that it just became repetitive and the last 2 episodes were so rushed.
CAST: All the actors potrayed there character very well especially Park Yoon ah/Kang soo jin her character was really beautiful one in the drama but they spoiled it really badly they could have done better to her.
OST: Well the OST were fine but not for my taste i listened to them twice or thrice and got tired of them i think i kiked only one OST all of them.
REWATCH VALUE: Sincs i don't rewatch any drama i gave it a 1 but if i keep that aside and deside to rewatch i would be skipping half the things and the 16 hours drama would be finished in 4 hours .
OVERALL:Its fine but after some episodes the plot got lost her getting bullied and why she put on make up became secondary and her falling for the main lead became the primary thing they didn't depict the main reason properly in drama and it was shown more of like bits and pieces after ep 4.

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The Ugly Duckling Story

I did not read the story's webtoon, yet it still was very predictable, at least for me. When a story becomes predictable, then you know it's cliche. A girl bullied because she is "ugly" then becomes "beautiful," and now everyone loves her. Even until the very end, including the romance, was predictable. It might be something the majority of the viewers enjoy but definitely not me. I really liked the acting of all the characters but the main female lead. Her acting kept reminding me that it is a show and she is an actress. In other words, to my eyes, it was forced. I am sure other of the roles she played are great. But, I don't feel there was a connection to the webtoon's character other than their physical resemblance. Regardless, the comedy was there. It was pretty enjoyable because of the other couples whose interactions were great. The bromance was good. After two episodes, I was tired. I would not rewatch it. But if you want, give it a try. This is only my review and my take on the drama. You might have a different perspective.

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WHAT IS THE HYPE FOR ?

If you are looking for something new , this is not it ; yes I agree all the leads are eye candy but story ??????
Quick summary
Ugly girl , boy knows , becomes beautiful; boy recognizes , secret out , boy protects , they date , seperate , meet , seperate , second ml lead's sacrifice , happy ending
What I Liked ?
1.As I said male leads are eye candy so if you wanna watch for the actors go ahead .
2.Second female lead is absolutely great , she is not the psycho who chases after the male lead and has her own struggles
3. The cast has done an amazing job but the story lacked
What I disliked
The Not Good story , same old tropes , also the male lead gets toxic while dating , I mean the directors tried to merge fluffy with lil bit sadness but just NO .

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if you like rom-coms true beauty is a must watch

I loved this drama! It may seem like your typical cliche drama, but the story actually builds quite nicely. I liked how there were serious topics being brought up, while the comedy level wasn't lacking and was compensating for all the underlying sadness. Plus, (I don't want to sound cheesy but..) the level of cute high school romance was enough to give me butterflies. Anyway, I almost never cry when I'm watching a movie or a drama, but unexpectedly, I cried for this one. This made me realize how much the characters grew on me and how much I loved True Beauty. All of the cast members did so great with this drama, almost to the point where I didn't feel like they were acting at all. Ga Young, Eun Woo and In Yeop have seriously grown on me and I will continue to keep tabs on them.

This drama is for sure a must watch and should be put onto your watchlists, but there were some areas I wish they did better on. One major thing is that the supporting characters are really underdeveloped. Other than being friends with the main cast or going to the same school, the viewers don't know anything about them. It didn't affect the storyline or cause confusion, I just wished we got to know the supporting characters too, since they also play a big part. Another downside is that the beginning and the end of the drama were the best parts. The middle was a little uneventful and it made the drama seem heavy at times (if that makes sense). Regardless, you should watch it! There are so many references (to other movies and dramas) and familiar faces (guest actors) that made a cherry on top. So get your stuff together and start binging.

(I didn't read the web-toon)

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Suprisingly I enjoyed this drama. And Han Seo Jun became my second Chilbongie, just the nicest soul through and through. And Hwang In Yeob was such a scene stealer. His comedic timing was superb and such a treat to watch him on screen. And I think out of all the cast he was the an absolute perfection in being cast as Seo Jun. Moon Ga Young was always a cutie and no difference in this drama either.

Cha Eun Woo's acting wasn't much of my cup of tea. But I can see him improving in future. He was so handsome on screen I got distracted half of the time. Especially in Ep 16, his visual was just on fire. I felt he was very stiff in most scenes. Wish he could improve more because he looked like he was working hard.

Story wise I am more happy with the drama than the webtoon. They def did more justice to the characters and the plot than the manga.

Anyone who would like a nice easy rom com, def give it a try.

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Let’s talk about

At first, it was okay. They showed Jukyung’s back story which is good because they didn’t specify in webtoon (maybe they did but i stopped reading). I liked the beginning but it starts to go downhill. The plot was the same as other kdramas. The acting was a lil cringey imo. I dont know why they made Mun Ka Young’s voice like that. It doesn’t really suit her. She was talking in baby voice which kind of annoyed me. Eunwoo needs to get casted with different roles. His roles are always the same, stalker type roles. Seo joon deserves better because he was waiting for Jukyung but she still went back to the boy who ghosted her for 2 years. Overall I didn’t really like the drama. The webtoon has been going on for long that they’re stretching it out. But if you like these type of dramas then maybe you should check it out.

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