A decent rom-com that benefits greatly from its cast.
If you are looking for a super deep and unforgettable series, that will be stuck on your head days after its end, that will become THE romance drama to beat... this is not the show for you. If you are, however, looking for a pretty decent romantic comedy, this is a solid choice."The Beauty Inside" is a story about two people with unique features (to say the least): a woman that changes appearance out of nowhere and a man that can't recognize faces. Body swapping isn't a particular groundbreaking plot device at this point, but it does its job in providing entertainment most of the time (otherwise we wouldn't see so many works with this narrative out there) - which luckily was the case here. It is supposed to be a nonsensical plot, don't take it too seriously, and don't expect great explanations about supernatural events. Once you face this as a good drama to sit down and have some fun on a Sunday afternoon, without trying to give or find too many deep meanings to it, you will have a great time watching it.
I think the most important thing here was the cast. Seo Hyun Jin and Lee Min Ki were both good choices as leads and they did their job with their respective character's narratives and as a couple as well. It wasn't a once in lifetime chemistry but it was believable and good enough to carry the drama. The same can be said about Lee Da Hee, Ahn Jae Hyun, Lee Tae Ri, and Moon Ji In. They were all great in their own merit. Personally, this was one of these dramas where the second main couple interested me (at times) more than the main couple did, partially because their story was really interesting to watch but also because of Lee Da Hee and Ahn Jae Hyun chemistry, which was superior to the latter. If I had a choice, I would rather watch a drama with Sa Ra and Eun Ho as the main storyline rather than Se Gye and Do Jae's story. Luckily we have many moments between them to enjoy throughout the show.
The plot has several weaknesses, the main one is not being strong enough for a 16-episode drama. I think maybe 12 episodes would suffice for the story they were trying to tell. As a watcher, I did get a little tired towards the end but it was still enjoyable enough to finish it without dragging too much (I think I took around 3 days to watch the whole thing). We have enough comedy to keep the fun going, the romance didn't feel forced and the sad moments were somewhat decent. I feel like this show is the definition of an 8-score-rom-com. Nothing more and nothing less. Some plot points were resolved in a pretty disappointing way but the cast managed to keep things together. This show would not have worked with a different set of actors.
The photography was pretty, the soundtrack was just okay (none of the songs will make it to any of my playlists and I don't remember one specific track being more iconic than the other - they were all just fine). The costume design was great, as one would expect since Hyun Jin's character was an actress. She looked stunning throughout the whole drama, as did Lee Da Hee. The male characters also looked great.
It was an overall fun experience. I will probably not rewatch it, though. If I do, I will only watch Sa Ra and Eun Ho's storyline and skip everything else. I recommend this drama for those that like romance and are not looking for anything too hard to digest. It serves its purpose.
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The beauty of chemistry
This is an excellent storyline centred around the ability/power of female lead. This powers results in confusing and compromising positions with various characters of the story.Leaving the main leads out, the story around the second lead couple is amazing. The chemistry between the second couple is beautiful. This is to the point that I would have loved to have more scenes between them and development of their relationship.
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Too many episodes for the story
This story was done very effectively in the movie version. Sadly, I felt that this show had too many episodes. There were many, many times that I fast forwarded through scenes.Acting: I really enjoyed all the actors, for the most part. Seo Hyun Jin, as usual, is very good. She's tremendously self-centered and over-the-top at the beginning, but eventually settles into her role. She has a sweet playfulness about her that I really enjoy. I have to say, I don't particularly care for Lee Min Ki as an actor in general. He's too much like an automaton. There is one scene where she smiles at him and he's completely gobsmacked, but in general, the fact that he remains expressionless is a problem for me. I didn't care for the second couple, she was completely unlikeable throughout. I liked both her agent and his secretary.
This show had the problem that it didn't really know what it wanted to be. Is it a comedy? A melodrama? Her disorder seemed to, for the most part, be played for laughs, but when it switched to seriousness I wasn't buying into it. His disorder is SO overused in K-dramas! I was loving the fact that he could recognize her in any body she was in, then they went and tipped that on its head. That bothered me as well.
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Okay if you’ve nothing else to watch
I watched this in between shows. I think this would be a good palette cleanser if you’ve watched something heavy or if you’re in a slump.This story was a bit too hard to believe; I felt like I had to leave my brain at “the door” before watching it.
I found the ML Lee Min-ki to be off putting; between the dead, soulless eyes and the stiff, almost sociopathic acting, nearly made me dump the show more than once.
it had its funny moments and I will say that episode 10 caught me off guard and made my sob like a baby. there was some great acting from both the FL Seo Hyundai-jin and the mother Kim Hee-jung.
Overall, not a great show but something to pass the time!
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stoic character done right
yes it dragged a bit, but it was still a really nice story. The male lead seems stoic, but is actually very up front about his feelings and shows it. Female leads acting was top tier as per usual. honestly skipped the second couple, oopsit addresses all the problems very realisticlly...well at least as realistic as a fantasy drama can be.
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Beauty Inside had a great start and just continued to get better with each episode. They had great actors, music, and fashion throughout!
The characters and actors compliment each other so well! It made for a truly good drama! I love how the characters come to different realizations about themselves and others. You get to see the characters really grow and develop with different ups and downs. Even though the exact situations the characters deal with are a bit different than what you might deal with in real life, the meaning is true and genuine. What they go through and think are things every day people would, so this series is very relatable.
I'm super glad I decided to watch this one!
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This review may contain spoilers
O enredo foi se perdendo.
O Dorama começou bem, tinha tudo para ser perfeito, mas no meio pro final estragam tudo!A temática era diferente, passava uma mensagem bonita, os personagens eram bem elaborados, mas parece que faltou criatividade pra finalizar. Teve uma hora que eu não aguentava mais a Prota, até desejei que o principal encontrasse outra mulher e esquecesse dela. Para mim teve uma hora que ela não estava merecendo um homem perfeito daquele.
Achei também que ficaram pontos soltos no enredo. Não teve uma explicação plausível do porque ela se transformar em outras pessoas durante um período de tempo. Eu até cogitei com minha mente, que vai além, que ela possa ter adquirido esse poder do pai que sumiu. Teria até uma lógica. Pois o pai poderia ser alguém que conheceu a mãe dela em um corpo diferente. Mas eles simplesmente esqueceram de se aprofundar nessa parte.
O casal tinha uma química legal, e os personagens secundários também eram bons. Pena que o escritor se perdeu no meio do caminho.
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When an adaptation done well
This drama just turned one of the scariest fantasy-romance plots to me, into something so beautiful. I mean... almost every scary presumption that we had in the original Korean movie was straightened out by this drama, especially when Se Gye realizes the beauty of her own curse, the universe chose her because somehow she was the only one who can pull it of while helping other lives. I didn't even think that far.Everything about this show is very progressive.
⚬ Character-wise, this drama is just full of strong independent women!!! yet not even one obnoxious lead dude!! Ugh, I love this. Not to forget that there are no unimportant supporting roles, everyone had an influence for the main story to grow.
⚬ Story-wise, it was impressive how they didn't drag anything, instead, they brought up the new matters to the table and let the characters develop each episode. Se Gye changing into a boy for the first time finding herself the joy of being someone else, changing into a kid and learn new stuff about her mom while helping the other mother, changing into an ahjumma to let her mom know the truth in the piece, changing into an elderly and let Soe Do Jae learn that he can love her even like that. Everything was impactful.
⚬ Plot twist-wise, I was a bit pissed on the "runaway" cliche, but I do think it's necessary, to shift the story from regret into relief. Plus, Seo Hyun Jin is so good, that I still cry when they break up when I obviously know that they will go back together👍
There is nothing I can hate about this drama..... The amazing siblings chemistry, the unbelievable convincing couple of Se Gye & Do Jae, the adorable not so naive couple Eun Ho & Sa Ra, the comical frenemies duo of Woo Mi & Joo Hwan, our lovely King Kang, and all of that equipped with witty dialogues, basically we just finished watching a bomb a** freakin good drama!!! I can't wait to see more of their project in the future❤ ♡ ♥
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Not enough story to go around
The first part of this drama was lovely. I thought the characters were well fleshed out and the concept was interesting. Also, Lee Min Ki made my heart flutter with his unique deadpan charm that I love so much. However, after the couple gets together halfway through, there is not much left but filler and fluff. And the fluff isn't even good fluff. It is boring, predictable, repetitive, cringe-y fluff. Like, we get it. They love each other but that's just not interesting enough to keep me interested for eight more episodes. The one conflict towards the end just made the FL seem fickle and immature. Like come on, toughen up and face the problem head-on instead of living up to the rumors and running away, this time for real. That was IMO pretty poorly written.Couples getting together early in the drama need not be a disaster. It has been done successfully in many other dramas, but this one just failed to deliver writing-wise. I actually ended up skipping through a lot of the main couple's scenes in the second half because it was just them playing cards, jogging, saying I love you. Like okay. Can't you even give us something interesting in which to set all that fluff? The second couple was more interesting in the second half but not that interesting to make it worthwhile.
The main concept of the FL changing faces was IMO also not utilized properly. It all felt like a poorly patched together and thus ill-fitting mishmash of heavy drama suddenly shifting to unfunny comedy (comprised mainly of one character hitting another) suddenly shifting to tasteless and boring fluff. Most importantly, the second half just did not make me feel anything at all. It was like an empty void filled with senseless stuff. This would have worked better if they had ended it at episode 8. There just was nothing much left after that to hold the drama up.
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This show was amazing in total. I watched it on Viki so I saw other comments. The actors really portrayed their roles very well and it all seemed natural. The music was amazing as well. I loved hearing Davichi and Wendy it helped the mood seem better. The only thing I'm mad about is that we never saw Woo Mi's wedding nor her boyfriend/fiance/husband. But other than that I love love love this show. The second couple was very very VERY cute but I personally preferred the main one because there's seemed more realistic with all the fighting and stuff because most couples fight and make up. I like this one more than the movie for some reason. This one seems more interesting while the movie puts everything in your face at once. Here you gradually get to see the characters develop so it's more fun. Was this review helpful to you?
