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Not worth your time
If I had to resume this kdrama in one sentence would be: Why?Why the ml loves the fl?
Why the fl doesn't have a personality?
Why the villain hates so much Mi rae and wants to destroy her?
Theres no answer to these questions. Drama with poor writing and a boring plot. I wasted my time.
They could have done so much better with the subject, but decided to take the easy route instead of going in dept about beauty standarts, plastic surgery, bullying, divorce and domestic violence. They missed the mark big time.
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This drama entails the life of Mirae post surgery and all the obstacles she faces even though she is now considered pretty. It shows how one can still be insecure even if people call you pretty, because when you’ve been bullied and looked down on your entire life, you need time to accept and love yourself regardless of what others think. As the title states, Mirae is called a Gangnam beauty (meaning someone who has had a lot of plastic surgery) and is still judged. Even after she’s become “pretty”, she is still insecure.
I loved how awkward Mirae and Kyungsuk were and their relationship. He helped her a lot to come to love herself completely.
There are some parts of the drama that are a little unrealistic, for example the fact that the majority of the guys were pretty shit people. Most of them only cared for looks and had no respect for females, and were desperate for Sooah. That annoyed me because the college is full of other girls yet most of the guys only had eyes for her. I personally thought it was unrealistic.
The acting was alright. Cha Eun Woo did improve as the drama progressed imo. There are a few blank stares and he seems to take a while to speak lmao but I guess it adds to his character.
I think Im Soo Hang portrayed the character of Kang Mirae pretty well. I haven’t read much of the webtoon but I think she did Mirae justice. She made it easy for you to believe the character had a lot of insecurities.
The music wasn’t anything to remember. It fit with the scenes and the OST was fun but nothing amazing.
Overall, I think the drama did portray a good image of someone who is insecure and has to overcome her own demons and love herself first. It has it’s cliche moments as many rom coms do, but the leads’ chemistry made it cute. I do feel like the ending was a bit rushed though. I would’ve liked to see more about what happened to Kyungsuk’s parents, his mother in particular. There wasn’t really any closure between his parents; their scene in the last episode felt random and rushed.
Also what happened to Wooyoung and Hyunjung? I also would’ve liked to know more about what happened to Sooah. I hate open endings. This drama isn’t perfect, there are a few things that could be improved but I think there’s also a few things that people can take away from this drama.
Most people will watch this for Cha Eun Woo, if that’s the case you’ll probably like it. If you’re looking for a serious drama about plastic surgery, you may not like it as it is a rom com. However, if you want to watch a drama about young people and how society can affect them and force them to do certain things, then I’d say give it a try.
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Good intentions that did not really deliver then...
So, as I just watch anything with Cha-Eun-woo these days, I also finally watched this drama which I had on hold for years.Long story short: while this had good intentions, it simply did not deliver in the end.
It was Cha-Eun-woo's first main role as far as I know and it's obvious as he is not bad, but if you watch more recent dramas with him, his acting abilities developed quite obviously and were not that present in 'Gangnam beauty'. I have to add though that the script writing probably didn't give him much more to work with as well.
The FL is... difficult for me...So it's obvious why she got cast for this role as the whole story is about a young girl/woman who felt so ugly and bullied with her face that she had massive plastic surgery at a very young age to me more pretty and not get bullied anymore. While this would be rather understandable, it's hard to follow this idea as the FL herself seems very fixated on being pretty, and on how pretty others are all the time.
I found her acting ability in this rather hindered by - her massive plastic surgery. She could or did not move her face at all throug all the episodes. She only has one facial expression which is eyes wide open in either fear or even pain - which simply is not very attractive no matter what a face looks like. She is described as intelligent by ebing a chemistry student, but her role doesn't make her seem very intelligent - or very likable for that.
And that's the point; the storyline wants to sell to the viewers that visually ultra attractive people like the ML do not care about looks (mostly not true) and that this particular very attractive ML would spend 15 out of 16 episodes to run after the FL for? well, I don't really know what for as these two sadly had NO chemistry at all to begin with, and in their roles they never really talk, in fact they only avoid to look at each other (especially the FL) and don't speak more than 2-3 word half-sentences, which always seems painful for both of them. That is not a slow-paced romance, it is exactly that - painful to watch and totally unrealistic.
The side storyline with the ML and his mother - again, good intentions, but it didn't deliver for me. To spin this whole story around perfume (and I say this as a perfume fanatic and niche scent collector for at least 15 years!) and then only over obviously promote and advertise this one perfume brand EVERYwhere in the drama (the store, the cupboard of the FL's room, her bathroom, pictures on the wall at school with the logo of the brand? WTF?) - was just too artifical - and I say that while I actually like this specific brand and have several of their scents - but that was just too much for a realistic story.
So in the end, it takes 15 out of 16 episodes with about a hundred 'more of the same' the ML is bluntly obviously running after and courting the FL, while she is steadily looking wide eyed, open mouthed and in physical pain, avoiding him over and over - only for it to result in a very awkward 'stop motion not really'-kiss in episode 15 and them claiming they are a couple then while they absolutely do not act like one. Sorry, but not good enough.
P.s.: so, I now made the effort here too to look up behind the scenes with these two - and now that's weird (and unfortunate for the drama), because in the behind the scenes these too are super cute with each other, and actually seem to have good chemistry Oo - seems like the writing and directing for this drama just totally failed to transport any of it, uughhh...
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I didn't have high expectations for this story and to be honest I don't think many people had. But this drama completely opened my eyes to different things. The main idea of the story is to tell the beauty comes from within and even though your appearance changes you're not changing who you are and for that Im Soo Hyang was perfect for the role. Her portrayal of Kang Mirae, a timid girl with low self esteem despite getting plastic surgery to be prettier told something important from the start. Though Korea as a country is very obsessed with good looks and beautiful women, the characters in the drama were completely normal and looking like your average classmates in school. And Kang Mirae being timid and insecure shined new light to people’s expectation and stereotype on what pretty women are like. Some people go through a hard time because of their looks and even though she didn't have a choice in order to live a normal life it reflected all the way in the drama. Not until Do Kyung Seok, played by Cha Eun Woo from Astro changed her view on life and on people. Their relationship progress was cute and awkward, but as they both were always single before meeting each other the whole progress of life, love, relationships, friends and family was joined really well in the drama. I was reading the webtoon at the same time and noticed immediate differences, but the flow in the drama was much better as things made sense and was put out in a more realistic way. Overall this drama is really good to open eyes on how you start to look at people. Your view of what beauty is differs from another people and that there is someone for you out there that would accept you as you are. A wonderful drama with a warm story with a little bit of thrills on the side was a nice bonus so it wasn't all the same and for so plain. Was this review helpful to you?
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very mediocre drama
the story has potential and it conveys many good messages, like accepting yourself for who you are and women should not be reduced to their physical appearance. however, this drama is so slow-paced and honestly... boring. i'm at episode 15 and struggling to finish it. since i'm so close to the end i'm going to force myself to watch the last episode. the acting is extremely mediocre and the drama has gotten even more boring when the main characters started dating. such a boring relationship and such boring characters together. ugh.Was this review helpful to you?
It's intriguing to see how a person doesn't change overnight even if her face does. This drama has also given me a new perspective on plastic surgery, removing the stigma around it. I actually quite like the chemistry between the main leads. Eunwoo is doing great considering this is his first main role. And the soundtrack! I died hearing The Truth Untold playing at a pub scene (yes I'm an army).
Super excited for the upcoming episodes! Do watch this drama :)
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This is officially my favorite drama! I love the feeling that came with it. I was always looking forward for the next episode, I would count down the days,and even the hours. With this drama I was re-watching the episodes while I waited for more. Lol not to mention the number of times I repeated some scenes!
I find the sorry and the message it puts across very interesting. I enjoyed the main leads together with side characters. It was sooo refreshing watching all of them.
The music was a on whole new level for me in a sense that some background music that was played in some scenes caught my attention. I even searched and downloaded some. I am aware of K-pop but with this drama my interest has grew. D-day by jungigo is my favorite OST and is currently my ringtone. I have also introduced songs like MELODRAMA by IKON,FAKE LOVE by BTS, and ALWAYS YOU by ASTRO to my playlist. I know the latter,ALWAYS YOU wasn't played in the drama,I found it as my obsession with Cha Eun Woo began and I totally love it ,and his group members as well.
Over all,this drama came with good and positive vibes and Am glad I watched it, and it will forever be in my memory !!!
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i love this series
I love this series so much, the story, the acting, the leads, everything.Kyungseok gave me higher standards for what a male lead should be. He was always so supportive of Mirae and was on her side in every situation. He basically flat out ignores nearly everyone else in the show, but from the start he has an obvious crush on Mirae and treats her well. It's so nice to see after countless dramas where the male leads treat the female leads horribly.
When i saw the trailer I thought it would be a typical "boy treats girl like shit, but then she has a glow up and he suddenly likes her." But he always likes her no matter what basically. And he immediately figures out the villain and despises her.
The FL was great too. I like how she's feminine but always stands up for herself in her own way, it took her maybe a bit too long to figure out the villain, but I liked how once she figures it out, she cuts her off and confronts her.
The social commentary on beauty and the lengths people will go for popularity is also thought-provoking.
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Too boring and slow!
I have not read the webcomic, so I don't know if the original story is like this boring as the drama. The pace is so slow that I fast forward many scenes in order to finish this drama. The ML has a poker face with zero emotion all the time, and the FL have a constipated face the entire show. Maybe it's based on the original story where the actors need to portray that kind of boring personality, or these two actors really need to improve a lot their acting skills. I don't know how they could fall in love, they have no chemistry. You won't see any romance until the last 2 episodes, but still feel very bland and no much development.Was this review helpful to you?
