The story is unique but cliche at the same time. I like the message of this drama, that it's okay to have plastic surgery.
It was really slow at some parts and you kinda get bored but it's worth it. The main lead was realistic, she was still insecure about her looks and that's totally understandable. I liked that they told Soo Ah's(second female lead) backstory that really changed our perspective about her at the end. It was a pretty realistic drama.
The actors were good, even though Cha Eun Woo's acting was a bit emotionless(he's so handsome btw). Im Soo Hyang portrayed Mi Rae well.
If you like heartwarming and realistic dramas then I would recommend!
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Well-developed, thoughtful, heart-melting romance
One of the most well-developed, thoughtful story lines and cast of characters I've seen in a while.Some random thoughts while I was watching and after:
- People judge each other so openly about their appearances, and it seems almost expected by the one being judged. Like the overweight girl in their circle of friends was barely fazed (at least externally) when the guys started commenting quite blatantly and harshly about her weight and needing to go on a diet. I feel like that would never be socially acceptable in the US. People do judge each other but it's not done so openly or set up on this high pedestal of ultimate importance like it is in Korea.
- I love all the other side stories and relationships. There are so many cute couples that are easy to ship.
- The show has perfect pacing with the story and character development, and I was impressed by how the writers were able to organize it to include satisfying side relationships alongside the major one.
- Do Kyung Seok is ultimate boyfriend goals. And can I just say, his mom is like "coolest mom of the year" award-worthy?
- My only complaint about this show is that it ends too quickly. I felt like it could've gone another 1-2 episodes to completely wrap up the side plots. And of course I could've done with more of Kyung Seok and Mi Rae and their adorableness overload! But overall it was a very satisfying ending.
Best quote:
"She's neither pretty nor ugly. She's just herself." -Do Kyung Seok
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What really made me watch the show were the interesting storylines and the secondary characters. Sua, the second lead, Mi Rae's best friend, the class rep, their seniors, all of them had really interesting stories. I personally loved Sua's story. Very rarely you get to see such 3 dimensional antagonists.
What I don't like is the exact same reason. The secondary characters were so great that I felt least interested in the main leads. The main guy, never had a personality apart from being "Good Looking". His other moods were - Emo, brooding, or getting angry whenever our girl talked to any other guy.
I liked our main girl Mi Rae, she was still relatable and I understand that the whole point of the show was to develop a certain feeling of self love and show that as character development. But seeing her act stupidly, and wide eyed really made me cringe and skip forward a lot. They were seriously bland for most of it. If you make me least interested in the main leads then what is the point of the drama?
Some of the college scenes were nice, but I still felt that inspite of having progressive themes, the attractive male lead was shoved in our face. Anyways all the points is mostly for story and deducted for acting. Plus 1 for Sua.
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TLDR, I'd recommend this drama mainly because the plot is meaningful, but also because the acting is good.
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This review may contain spoilers
Im Sohyung's play was really not weak!
Im Sohyung's play was really not weak!Meera was a girl who suffered from severe lack of self confidence and this was completely understandable.
Mirae's self confidence and character were eaten and humiliated in all the years of his life! You didn't expect that would be sociable after the beauty procedure and start talking and laughing with everyone?
Like many of us, she has built a safe fence around herself and placed herself behind it. she is afraid of being judged. Mirae was only nineteen years old and her only lifelong friend was Hyun Joong. Now she has entered a bigger environment with a new character and her dark past has caused her to behave strangely. easy to trust, hesitate to defend her right and be polite in public. In difficult situations, he would leave the group and hide behind his safe fence.
We saw the growth of Mirae's character during the series. At the end of the series, Mirae had more social experiences.she did not run away from her problems and her self confidence had increased.
This is a correct evolution of personality.
Im Soohyung portrayed this evolution very well and it was tangible for me.
Please don't look so shallow
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Light-hearted and fun drama
To be honest, I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this series. It did take me over a year to finish (just took a break from watching kdramas at all) but I'm really glad I continued watching. Though the story isn't something very grand or complicated, it's really enjoyable to watch. It contains some serious themes surrounding appearance, (self-)love, friendship, etc. without diving too deep into them, which makes it very light-hearted overall. Before this I had just finished watching World of the Married which often left me feeling very upset regarding the heavy topics it discusses, so if you're looking for something that does the opposite I really recommend watching My ID is Gangnam Beauty.The acting is good, nothing really outstanding but the actors are capable of making everything seem very believable. However, I kept in mind that this story is based on a webtoon so this results in the story and characters seeming a bit unrealistic/cartoonish at times (especially their obsession with looks and their ridiculous reactions where you'll just laugh at how silly it is).
I however LOVE LOVE the OST. It's so dreamy and it's one of those osts that doesn't make you feel annoyed any time it repeats.
I also consider this drama having quite a good rewatch value. Though the story is calmly paced, I can imagine putting this on on a rainy day and watching it with my bf.
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The plot is very interesting. The main couple is very cute together. They are so shy and awkward. You will definitely find yourself shipping them together. Aside from their love story, there are several other pots going on at the same time. There is a more sinister storyline with the character Soo Ah.
I think the characters were perfectly cast. I loved Im Soo Hyang and Cha Eun Woo as Kang Mi Rae and Do Kyung Suk. It was my first time seeing them in a drama. I will definitely check out their other work. Cha Eun Woo did a great job of acting as the aloof yet shy Do Kyung Suk. Im Soo Hyang really portrayed the heartache of being bullied from a young age. I did find myself crying during some scenes while watching this drama. If I cry during a drama then I will consider it good.
The music in this drama is so good. If you listen to K-pop then you will like the music in this drama. Artists that you can hear in this drama include MOMOLAND, HEIZE, BLACKPINK, EXO and BTS. The playlist is really catchy and I have already downloaded on Spotify.
I would definitely rewatch this drama. The main couple is so cute together, the other characters are not so annoying that you can't stand them, and the plot is very interesting. I would recommend this drama if you like school/college- based dramas like Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo.
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✂ Social Zombies & Ginger vs Maryanne ⚗ °7.5° °VG°
Who doesn't like looking at pretty things? Who doesn't like looking at pretty people? Living with them is something different, though.MIDIGB is a 2018 release consisting of 16 60-minute episodes. It floats by as lightly as oil over water; smooth & without ripples. It's not devoid of meaning, but its delivery is cotton balls on a pillow: Soft. The screenwriter, Choi Soo Young, also penned the marvelous Love to Hate You-8.9, which similarly sends a high IQ message with medium IQ verbiage (plus it's full of fun). MIDIGB is prescribed for when one wants to turn h/h brain off and escape. If one is looking for substance or isn't a romcom fan, look elsewhere.
MI-rae (Im Soo Hyang from Graceful Family & Five Enough) has been an outcast all her life. The kids at school say she's ugly. The bullying is so painful that she retreats within herself and tries very hard to not be seen at all. It would have been unbearable except for her best friend and the solo dance parties she has for herself in her room all alone. She's smart, one of the top in her class, so she's admitted to Hankuk U - and she doesn't want college to be a repeat of HS. Even though her father, who adores her, prohibits any kind of plastic surgery, her mom breaks the bank as soon as HS graduation ends. They order up the all-inclusive plastic-redo sampler platter. Mi-rae has the whole summer to recover.
Soon, Mi-rae will realize that it wasn't her body that needed work done so much as her unhealthy mindset. Now she gets attention of the opposite sort and is utterly unaware of how to act. She remains uncomfortable in her own skin. Quite coincidentally, my watch roulette landed on a string of shows dealing with appearance and/or body swapping, listed in order of quality: Abyss-4.7 (plenty of good elements and promise, but It ultimately fails miserably) 200 lb Beauty-6.5 (excellent elements but they fail to wrap it in a tight & neat fashion) My Runway-7.5 & The Miracle-7.7 (both are great for tweens & older), and now this. It's a common device, useful for putting our mind and emotions inside of another person for a new perspective.
From one perspective, MIDIGB is complete fantasy: These are college kids in the chemistry program, yet it's full of attractive females. Some of them are super attractive. My niece was a chemistry major and, being the only girl in her department, she was enormously popular. What went around the department was that they should treat her nicely because she's a “unicorn,” being both female and a minority, so she's a rare item indeed. (Our family all thought it was hilarious). Anyway, if you're a dude, and you watch this, and you want to major in chemistry to meet the women, fahgettaboudit.
The acting is competent but all the performances teeter & totter. It's enjoyable. It has its sparkle & flash in places, but it's alittle bit like soda that's lost half its fizz - part of it falls flat. It's missing that /something/ that would make it really special. Its message never gets old. Like vitamins, we need to ingest these truths more than once in a lifetime. Its low points are the attempted comedic scenes right after they make the relationship official, which are so moronic it hurts. Thankfully, those moments are few & clustered in one episode. Some of the costumes are drab, but some of the wardrobe is awesome. Mi-rae wears revamped men's dress shirts. They're so cool I wanna try doing that myself.
New look, new school, new people, new problems. At the after-orientation party, Mi-rae starts learning that she doesn't blend into the background anymore. She's singled out at the talent competition - ‘win one for the team!’ ‘We KNOW you can!’ PANIC❗ Wait… she's been practicing dance moves in her room alone for years. Mi-rae manages to pluck up the courage and does her thing. She's fabulous. She catches the attention of Do Gyeong “Seok” (Cha Eun Woo from Rookie Historian-7.6 & Wonderful World-7.8). He already had /her/ attention. She remembers him from middle school. He already had everyone's attention. He's smart, his father's a wealthy politician, and he's very, very good looking. Cha Eun Woo is a fabulous male lead. So much of romance is conveyed through the eyes. He does a great job with that.
Im Soo Hyang does a nice job playing the pretty girl who feels inadequate. When she gets attention, it happens too fast and there's way too much of it. The show is not instant coffee, it's a slow brew. She may frustrate viewers for taking a long time to sort out her baggage. The truth is that the programming we write about ourselves as children is so baked in that it never comes completely off. What's authentic about Mi-rae is that she still acts like an ugly person who feels s/he must cower in front of others & apologize for h/h very existence. She's certain she's not good enough, and the thought of being gossiped about triggers deeply implanted pain avoidance - understandably so. Another thing that positively nauseates her is to hear a guy tell her that he likes her because she's /pretty/. Hearing that paralyzes her. It repulses her.
Also new are some friends. These school friends are a mostly pleasant group, albeit closer to 2D than 3D. The TA who also likes Mi-rae is a total stud. Not merely nice looking, he is kind-hearted, caring, and protective. "I'm just frustrated that all I can do is punch people," he's shaking his head. I want to punch people who act horribly, also, but I won't get away with it. People who are considered as handsome as he is do get away with a lot of stuff. It's another truth we need to be aware of: A person's appearance affects how we judge their actions! That truth extends beyond the concept of attractiveness. Skin color and ethnicity also pressurize our judgment. That should not be.
Sua is the department belle, and the least pleasant of the bunch. She wants to be important, she wants to be worshiped, and she wants the best guy - the guy who everybody else wants. Guess who that is? She's manipulative and sneaky. I can identify with MI-rae who didn't make many friends in the run of her life. Therefore, she was ill-equipped to deal w/ the potency of a pretty person paying attention to her - someone who acts friendly but stabs her in the back. Mi-rae's a sheep among the wolves - even moreso now that she's pretty. Sua is motivated by pride. People gossip, laugh at, and pick on others to feel better by comparison. It's repugnant. A deeper look at Sua's life informs who she is at present. Strange & obnoxious behavior is often due to pain.
Gossip is a theme. Gossip hurts. Gossipers are just zombies - always👄consuming, always 👄tearing & 👄chewing. Can they be appeased? It's better to beat them back, b/c there's no winning against these mindless mandibles. The nature of attraction is frequently at odds w/ the social zombies who tear at every precious soul. Mi-rae watches them chew up the chubby girl & the guy who likes her as she is. There's many men who want an extra huggable woman. They're shamed into liking something different by the 👄chompers. Next, the girls are “rated” by every duffer & punk-jack@$$ in the school. None of these guys are anything special themselves. In a display of rank irony, Mi-rae, who had been brutalized for being ugly, is subjected to snide remarks about being a Gangnam Beauty, now that she's beautiful. Gangnam is an upscale area and GB means plastic or fake. Mi-rae starts to live in 😱 that someone will learn of her secret: She's NOT pretty; she's just an ugly girl.
"You know, I think my life could have been much easier had I been born less pretty," says our ML‘s mom. Ugly people are treated differently, & so are pretty people. Being beautiful creates a smooth road for life, but it can bring all kinds of wrong attention & get in the way of accomplishments. Over time, the inside of a person shines brighter than their outside facade. The heart & soul can make beautiful people ugly & plain people attractive. I have friends who were gorgeous when they were younger & it netted them nothing. They married the wrong husbands & now they're divorced & unhappy. “A beautiful 🌹. Back then, I had no idea that those words would end up shackling me down,” Seok's mother reflects. She was scooped up for marriage like a pretty ornament. Then, too much pressure was put on her to take on a strictly traditional role & give up her dream. She has a passion to make perfume, but the expectation put on her was to look good & do nothing else. While Mi-rae grew up in a humble but warm home, Seok's living conditions were wealthy, cold, & quickly broken.
Emotional pain can be worse than physical pain. Ask the doctors who fix cleft palates for Operation Smile if plastic surgery can change lives. Anyone who has a feature (like an unattractive nose) that grabs all the attention shouldn't be criticised for tweaking things. Life becomes much easier with the absence of deformities. Just like exercise, however, as something useful, plastic surgery also has potential to morph into an unhealthy obsession. In a world where people are getting "work done" on their gen¡tals, we cannot deny that the looks obsession is out of control. That, coupled with the fact that people no longer value good character and general decency, makes the world a horrible place.
Let's not be zombies. Let's treat everyone with dignity. ‘Beauty is skin deep.’ ‘True beauty always comes from within.’ ‘Confidence is the sexiest thing of all.’ ‘No matter how beautiful a woman is there's a man out there tired of putting up with her $h!+.’ How many ways must we hear it? Looks matter because people are shallow and they will treat people differently based on looks. Shining the light on this social and emotional ugliness is the way to combat it. Even more bizarre, is that women do this crazy stuff more to impress other women than to actually appeal to a decent, mature man - a man who wants a mate for love and companionship, not as a conquest or arm candy. What men and women find attractive is quite different. Gilligan's Island is a silly little show about a diverse group of people stranded on an island. There's two young females in the group: Ginger, the glamorous movie star, and Maryanne, the farm girl. Maryanne is in denim shorts and a gingham shirt. She's in ponytails. She's perky. She's /not nearly/ as attractive as Ginger! Every girl wanted to be Ginger. BUT❕ The polls consistently showed that men prefer Maryanne! Being approachable and comfortable to be around will draw the right people in. Spend that energy working on a sense of humor, but primarily on good character. That is what will draw the right mate in.
QUOTES🗣
You know what's more irritating? I keep trying to fit myself into their standards unconsciously.
A true strong person is someone who tries not to hurt the people who are weaker than them.
The wounds caused by other people get cured by people.
〰🖍 IMHO
🎬7.6 📝7.3 🎭7 💓7.5 🦋7 🌞6 🎨7.4 ⚡4 🎵/🔊 7.5 😅2 😭4 😱3 🤔5 💤3 🔚7.5
Age 12+
Re-📺? Couldn't say, but he's a fantastic ML
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The main leads were phenomenal. Every second the actress playing Mi Rae was on the screen, me heart melted. She was perfect for this role. Her whole appearance shouts sexy, but her character is not that. She is a shy, adorable girl. This alone is a great way to express one of the major themes of the drama, that appearances aren't always related to who that person is.
It's essentially taking the theme of Frankenstein, but adding a new twist to it. Instead of the monster being killed, what would of happened if he suddenly became beautiful? He would be the same person on the inside, but no longer shunned. How would that play out?
This drama is one of me top 3 favorite dramas right now. I still randomly think about it to this day.
I highly recommend this drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
Boring but I had fun
It was boring at times but generally entertaining. I think it gave a good message but I hated the part where the male lead was legit bragging about "not liking pretty girls" and flat out called the female lead ugly. That is not a flex?? It was a simple problem that could've been fixed with him saying, "You are beautiful to me. You just aren't the beauty standard." Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. the villian was extremely interesting and the actress portrayed her very well, I wanted to punch her and comfort her at the same time. I also liked how it was a turned into a revenge fantasy against self entitled nice guys every women has to deal with. Overall it was boring though, it got too mundane at times that I watched some parts by speeding up, so no rewatch value. The selling point is the message it gives and the lovely cast.Was this review helpful to you?
