True Beauty (2020)

Was Great until the Last Two Episodes

True Beauty starts off as a show with a good balance of entertaining and lighthearted highschool angst with a backdrop of mainstream issues faced in school, such as self-image, understanding love, and bullying. I enjoyed how the drama touched on real-world issues in a way that wasn’t hard to stomach. My highschool self would’ve love this drama, and to be honest this drama had the potential to be so much more. However there is a tonal shift that occurs in episode 14 that completely ruined, and changed, my opinion about the drama.

My verdict for the show is that episodes 1-14 were highly enjoyable and had a great balance of drama, angst, and fun, but after episode 14 it goes downhill when the lightheartness of the show disappears and instead is filled with only drama and angst. The characters even shift, which created a bunch of characters who don’t feel true to their, episode 14, prior selves.

For me, the Han Seo Jin after episode 14 was disappointing. I had hoped he would get over his highschool love and move on, but instead you can see that he has not moved on. And it takes until the last episode for him to fully move on. The love triangle after episode 14 becomes uncomfortable to watch and is no longer fun.

I noticed that one overused plot element is that characters in the show only mend their relationships in relation to a an occurrence of a negative accident. What I mean by this is that, when there is conflict that needs a resolution the drama will introduce an illness or trauamtic event. These negative accdients have to happen before the character talk openly, so it never feels like the characters have open communication. For example, Seo Jin and Soo Hoo only talk about their past, once they have the car accident and are forced to share a room-- and I loved this element, however what I didn’t like is when this same element is used to mend Soo Hoo and his father’s relationship. The father having an illness felt very unneccessary. The subsequent move that Soo Hoo makes to America also feels unneeded. It would have been okay if Soo Hoo didn’t break up with Ju Kyung, but the break up was the straw that broke the camels back for this drama. It was very out of place for Soo Hoo’s character. One of my most hated elements of a drama is when long-distance is used as an excuse to break up, instead of having open communication between the two characters.

Soo Hoo is a character who gets closer to people through hardship, so his distance with Ju Kyung, after his move to America, does not make sense to his character, and instead creates anger for the audience wehre we have to suffer an undeed plot element because the writers thought it would be a good idea--and it indeed was not.

My disappointment in the show stems from how much I actually enjoyed it in the first 14 episodes that is why it's so heartbreaking to see the lazy writing the drama takes in the last two episodes.

I would recommend only watching up to episode 14 and skipping the end. The first 14 episodes are filled with fun youthfulness and the struggles of youth, but in a tolerable light-heartend tone that makes it enjoyable for the viewer.

My favourite character is Ju Kyung who stays true to herself throughout the drama. She uses her love for makeup to transform her life, but in a positive manner. At first she is sure that she is unworthy, but her character develops and she releases that makeup is not a clutch but an asset.

Soo Hoo, up until episode 14/15, also has great character development. He becomes more open about his struggles and emotions and begin to rely on Ju Kyung and Seo Jin for help when he is feeling down.

The way Seo Jin is portrayed makes me respect him, he remained in conflict over the ethical nature of his relationship with Ju Kyung, when she was dating his friend Soo Hoo. Initially he wanted to steal her from Soo Hoo, but once he lets go of the resentment and sees Soo Hoo as a friend he ends up growing as a character. Seo Jin’s character is a positive contrast to Soo-Jin, who destroys all her friendships over her crush with Soo Hoo.

I genuinely feel so much frustration over the last two episodes, even though the characters physically age they seem to mentally regress. In an ideal world, the way I would’ve wanted True Beauty to end is with Han Seo Jin, during his highschool times, learning how to grow from the difficulty of his unrequited love and fully moving on. I wanted to see Soo Hoo have a healthy covnersation with his dad, without the need of an illness to force him to have that conversaion. And for Soo Hoo to fully commit emotionally to Ju Kyung, so that the break-up would’ve never happened. My whole love for the show shattered with that breakup by Soo Hoo, and despite the happy ending, it feels soured because of the messy writing for the ending.

If you were also disappointed by the show and need a better drama to watch, you should try Something in The Rain, its much more heavy-hearted but the way the characters deals with their conflicts is very mature and satifsying. Or you could go back to our OG Crash Landing on You for a nice all-round drama.

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I loved the first half of this drama so much - I was laughing so much and I was rooting for the main characters. The the second half happened and I ended up skipping through so many scenes. I finished it and my final verdict: SO DISAPPOINTING.

I am so done with Cha Eun Woo. We can all agree the boy has a face sculpted by the gods but his acting reminds me of someone being forced to act in the school play. I am not convinced and he looks uncomfortable the whole time. I've read reviews that apparently he's improved since his other dramas! Man, I don't even want to know how those go. It's a pity he was pitted against Hwang In Seop, who pulled me in with his yearning gazes, his pain and his sincerity. I was rooting for him and Ju Gyung. Their chemistry was way better, I was glued to the screen for their bits because they're on fire when they're together! I was bored for the scenes with Ju Gyung and Lee Su Hu. Nope. Not convinced.

And why did they have to villainize Kang Su Jin! I appreciated her character so much at the start and they dragged her through the mud only to give her a pitiful redemption arc at the end. I skipped through all that drama of the school finding out about Ju Gyung's real face etc etc. Honestly maybe I'm just getting too old for high school dramas, but you'd think these kids in school would have better things to do than pore over one student's misfortunes. Also the way they dealt with Ju Gyung's bullies left a lot to be desired. It was funny how they handled it - but the bullying they did merited way more than a comedic handling of the situation. I would have much preferred a very real way of handling those bullies. With words, or with authority - because that fist fight didn't convince me that those girls would be changing anytime soon after it. Disappointing after all the horrible things they did to Ju Gyung and Hye Min.

My favourite character was definitely Im Ju Yeong, Ju Gyung's younger brother. He was so funny and lovable and such a dork! Absolutely amazing work by this actor! I loved Han Seo Jun without a doubt. Ju Gyung was fine but I cringed at her childish way of speaking. I don't know if the actress just speaks like this or if she puts it on for her character but it made me cringe. I hate when teenage girls, let alone adult women put on an aegyo act, or a little girl voice - its so weird and Ju Gyung had it going on real bad. Her sister was so much cooler, I loved her sister and her grapefruit love a lot!

Music was pretty forgettable. Rewatch value not great - I'd say I'll just rewatch the funny parts. The biggest problem with the acting was Cha Eun Woo - so its unfortunate how he was one of the main characters.

I'm highly disappointed. If you had asked me what I'd rate the first half of the drama, I'd have told you 9. Now, after watching it in its entirety, I'm gonna give it a 6.

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Hilarious Coming of Age Stuck-Between-Two-Loves Drama

I was going to just try one episode because i heard people is watching it right now. But the plot is funny enough to continue for another episode.

As i watch it, i fell in love with Su Ho character first. The possessive behavior is cute. The longer you watch into later episodes, the scenes are even more funnier, it made my stomach hurt from laughing. The other boy interest is showing his fun part too later on in the process.

I’d say this is one of the drama i will re watch later for its funny scenes, reminds me of Reply 1988 masterpiece for its family daily shennanigans. Worth your time!

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The ratings are too high for this drama

People out there definitely rated this drama so high because of the cast cause there's no way this drama deserve such a high rating otherwise the plot is a total disappointment I really liked how it started but then around ep 8 the story started going downhill , the last 2 ep were so rushed and bad I can't believe they really tried so hard to make us believe the 2 leads were so much in love and all but it came out as a totally forced one . I didn't like how they focused the last 2 eps on suho even though he was not around they could have gave seojun a chance to build his relationship with the FL but no . I don't ship seojun with jukyung because I don't think they gave us any chance to ship them they hardly had any cute scenes together apart from friendship which I really liked btw but i knew from the beginning she's going to end up with suho ofcourse but they could have made it a little better.

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Waiting for the next episode patiently.

I'm so excited with this series for 2 reasons

1. I love True Beauty, it's the 1st and only webtoon I really read and followed and I imagine Cha Eun Woo as Lee Su Ho while reading this. Having Cha Eunwoo as the ML is a dream come true for True Beauty readers like me.

2. I miss Cha Eunwoo in a drama. I've watched Gangnam Beauty several times already and never get tired of it.

I can't wait for the next episodes. I don't usually watch dramas that has few episode because I'm used of binge watching, but I cannot wait to see the episode so I started watching True Beauty even if it just started.

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Started good, but ended weakly

I walked into true beauty not expecting much, but right off the bat I was introduced to a colorful cast, big personalities, and an easy to follow and pleasant storyline. I began enjoying it a lot and it quickly rose to become one of my favorite kdramas. In the beginning what charmed me about true beauty is that it knew it was cliche and used that to its comedic advantage and didn't take itself too seriously which allowed me to enjoy the cliches. This ended up being its undoing later, but I'll get to that.

also one thing i'll (SPOILER) is that I try not to fall for the second lead/ship him with the female lead because they usually don't get the girl, but HAN SEO JUN. I seriously fell in love, he quickly became my favorite kdrama character EVER. And his chemistry with the female lead jugyoung (gayoung) was off the charts, seriously one of the best I've seen in kdramas period. It made watching true beauty ten times better for me :)

But alas the things that made true beauty charming didn't last. You see true beauty never had outstanding writing, but it was enjoyable and it made sense, plus the characters and ost made up for it, but about halfway through the show true beauty started to go downhill in the writing and production. The writing increasingly didn't make sense and had characters act weirdly, it even made characters I liked in the beginning dislikable for me : / an example is with the male lead suho who i adored episode 1-5, liked episode 6-7, felt okay with ep 8, and straight up disliked ep 9 to the end. It's even worse when you used to like the character or especially when he is the main character. (SPOILER) Just the way writers wrote him as possessive, and downplayed it as romantic did not sit right with me, the way the writers wrote him it seemed as if he was more focused or acted/thought that "jugyoung is mine" which I hate that mentality. Even if the writers didn't have him explicitly say it, his actions implied it. So sadly that ruined his character and the main ship for me : /

not to mention that this show is heavily promoted as a love triangle but it is not! it is very much centralized on suho and jugyoung, and the writers do not give seojun a real chance (like bringing in suho between every seojun jugyoung scene lol), but the most disappointing thing for me was that they did not include the seojun jugyoung relationship from the webtoon. also if the time skip was gonna happen and they kept seojun's feelings idk why they didn't go that route (honestly they were probably too scared to haha). but honestly its disappointing that they removed an entire relationship (and the only one) from the webtoon to the drama. :(

ok now onto the title 'true beauty'. what initially attracted me to the webtoon was the title and the concept of inner beauty and societal standards and what not. but in reality that is not the real focus of the drama. the drama focuses more on the love triangle, and at most points inner beauty is pushed to the beginning and the climax. i would've liked to see an actual journey and focus on the growth, but the show didn't let us see jugyoung's growth and instead wrote a rushed sudden confidence burst. (now i'm all for gained confidence), but the message wasn't there. for people who relate to jugyoung i don't think that it portrayed realistic growth or self-love. it is hard it is a process, it doesn't happen overnight, and most importantly it doesn't come from what others tell you (though compliments are nice) it comes from accepting yourself and forgiving yourself which is HARD. just writing this because the title indicates much larger of a focus than there actually is in the show, and there is no strong or impactful message on "true beauty".

lastly the writing. i mentioned earlier that in the beginning the show didn't take itself seriously in a charming way. later on that ended up biting it back because it started taking itself seriously in the worst way. the writing became cliche and it didn't make sense. they would create drama and drag it over four episodes only to leave the last two for a rushed ending. the show was doing so well with pacing that it really was remarkable how bad the pacing got.

the worst part about true beauty is that it started off so strong but started downward spiraling to a weak ending. if the ending and later half of the drama was better this would probably be one of my favorite kdramas ever.
though I do not regret the experience because through the first half of the drama I met many loveable characters, cried, laughed, and enjoyed myself :) i would suggest watching true beauty, just be prepared for a lotta frustration towards the end lol

ps: if you're like me and fell in love with han seojun (who wouldn't lol) then be prepared for heartbreak and frustration because tvn walked all over his character and gave him a mediocre but honestly unhappy ending (: lol not to be pessimistic though y'all have good taste ;)

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ONE OF THE BEST DRAMAS I'VE WATCHED~

Okay, I've currently completed all 8 episodes, originally I was going to hold off and wait until it finished airing because I HATE watching dramas that aren't yet finished. BUT, I just could not resist this one!

I've watched many kdramas but this one has a very different kind of feeling, it bring butterflies to my stomach with every episode I am on. I usually get bored easily watching most dramas because of my short attention span but THIS drama already left me SPEECHLESS. With every episode it just got better AND better, all the actor/actresses did a PHENOMENAL job *especially Moon Ga young*. It never got boring watching these episodes, the plot really added flavor to each scene. ALSO, a lot of the scenes were very funny, and left a smile on my face!

Lastly, I have literally felt EVERY emotion watching this drama... whether it was crying, smiling, laughing, getting annoyed, AND squealing at every interaction between the main leads!

I would honestly recommend this drama to anyone, and I'm pretty sure these next few episodes will NOT disappoint us.

+ a hint I'm loving the behind the scene clips, they all have amazing chemistry and it just adds on to how good this drama actually is :) Happy watching!

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as someone who read the webtoon before watching the drama, i must say that conversion from webtoon to a kdrama version is done pretty well. i know not everyone is going to agree but with a solid cast, it was quite entertaining to say the least.

while i'm not the fan of the way kdramas insert a love triangle and that too make it instense when the drama is about to reach its climax, i personally still enjoyed the drama. the cast did a wonderful job on their roles and i can not help but praise the performances of moon ga young, cha eunwoo and hwang in yeop.

although i preferred a story centered around jugyeong working on her insecurities and confidence and a support group consisting her gal pals and broski with a supportive mom, i pushed everything away and came back to the reality that this is still a high school cliché drama.

as the episodes went on, i can't deny that the story got quite boring. while the scenes were hilarious, i just wished they didn't drag much of jugyeong hiding her bare face. the title is true beauty and i get that the romance is a central point but i feel like jugyeong's character development was short lived? i genuinely didn't like how suho literally followed jugyeong around just when she had the chance to move on. for real, it literally makes no sense for suho to come back and get back with jugyeong but.... this is a cliché kdrama and i need to remind myself of that point.

all i can say is seo jun deserves better. the guy finally had the courage to confess after 2 years but the writers said "you're a sl. you have no right." i would've accepted it more if suho came back because he wants to make amends with jugyeong but not to be in a relationship. i guess i'm asking too much because...... this is a high school cliché drama.

however, this does have its charming points. seojun's group of friends and tae yoon had me wheezing. jugyeong's sis and her grapefruit was a breath of fresh air. su ah's conversation with jugyeong about su jin was a lot to think about. while i didn't like how su jin's character was handled (tho it was reasonable), it was nice to see her live for herself and not under her dad's abuse.

overall, this drama was cheesy yet enjoyable if your cringe meter is turned off and you're in for cutesy vibes.

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Hilarious rom-com - a parody of its genre and everything the original webtoon failed to be

I wonder what people were thinking when they started the drama to comment later that this was predictable. Like literally what were you thinking this was? Misaeng? Stranger? Voice? Why would you even start a high school drama with the 18 years old "ugly" girl with makeup and 2 hot boys in love with her to begin with expecting the twists of say..Penthouse ? If you have watched enough k-dramas you would know that this drama was literally parody of many typical k-drama plots and has cliche plastered in it's poster. It was made to be laughed about and it was almost a satire of its own genre.
It can be many things including predictable, but boring? oh no, that it isn't.
I didn't like the webtoon but I am here because of my girl Moon Ga Young because I love her acting! The direction was also really good and it was hilarious! They have diverted from the webtoon as much as possible so I was happy with the plot.
The sad parts seemed to be well potrayed possibly also because of MGY's great acting. I gotta say that the cast is seriously full of good looking people, including the friends, the parents, the siblings and so on. But they are also really cute. I liked all the side characters. I am a big fan of the actress who plays the older sister and the character she is portraying. I am hoping that unlike the webtoon, this will show positive values about beauty and character development.

The reason I like the main couple is that the director never failed to show they were even for a second. No misleading scenes despite sweet/sad/cute scenes with the second lead. Her feelings were clear, not like in Start Up where the FL kept staring/following around/was in love with HJP for 15 years and 9 episodes and the whole audience was extremely confused and some were so even until the penultimate episode.
The male lead here has a messed up childhood and adolescence, with his orphan life, bad father and death of the closest friend and loss of all friendships. Human interaction is not something he has had much. The main female lead had a pretty sad growing up too until recently with so much bullying and even her own mom making her feel worthless. Then one day he finds this one and only person who can make him smile and she finds this one and only person who can make her feel loved and beautiful for who she is. They are so emotionally intimate with each other even before the kiss that it was just right: the right amount of vulnerability, the right amount of awkwardness, the right amount of friendship and understanding. They are teens and they are perfectly fine both as themselves and as a couple.
It litterally gave us a sensible breakup for such a young couple with actual COMMUNICATION and the most realistic way in which people go back together (and COMMUNICATE about what went wrong before) and how some move on with life but their heart never does.
Their going back reminded me of some meetings in my own life that I should never have had and the meeting of Reply 1997 of the main leads after 6 years. I will never forget those iconic words in his thoughts when he saw her again:
"Because of you I avoided reunions and visit your parents the day before you would come. On holidays, I lie about having enteritis or eye infection. I've made all stupid excuses for past six years. But you're made all my efforts go powerless at once. Si-won Sung, you bitch. Everything went back to the first day of our high school back in 1996, to the day of out first kiss in 1997, to the day when I was crying like a madman in 1998. Everything went back to that winter. To be more accurate Yoon Jae Yoon from the 90s has just come back." This pretty much what happens if you just move on with your life but keep your heart parked at one single crossroad forever.

I love the drama much more than only the love line. I love the second lead and his whole family. I love all JK's siblings. I love all the side love stories, the friendships and the funny scenes which are actually funny and the acting of the cast and what else can I even say. I didn't even want to start this because the lost plot of the webtoon and the lack of any type of character development were not my cup of tea but I did, for MGY and I don't regret it one bit

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I haven't read the Webtoon, so I don't know exactly how different the drama is, but I love this drama! I'm only recently into k dramas, but I feel like I should have started watched them sooner.

As for the story, here's a questionable amount of accidental contact in the beginning. Like, that doesn't happen often in real life. And also how does the FL have flawless, smooth skin with her makeup on? It's not that easy make your skin look smooth with makeup when you have acne/ pimples. I loved the bromance and how the ML and Seojun got back on good terms. I experienced second lead syndrome with Seojun. He handled the news that the ML and FL were dating calmly and didn't try to sabotage them. On the other hand, that is not the case with Kang Soo Jin. She tried to sabotage them and even exposed the FL's secret.

Don't worry, there's character development. Kang Soo Jin's parents divorced at the end of the drama and she got a reality check. The FL's mother was a jerk in the first half of the drama, but after she found out she was bullied, she treated her nicer and supported her dream.

And honestly, the FL isn't ugly. She just needs to take care of her skin.

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Would I rewatch? I already have lol

Cheesy? Yes. But when you sign up to watch True Beauty, you already know that you're in for high school drama, and it's definitely the best one I've seen so far. I was in awe that this teenage drama made a 30 something year old get this hooked.

The story is very cute. Many times the female lead in a story like this doesn't have that many qualities to admire and you end up wondering what the big deal is. Jukyung is bubbly, a great friend, driven (but for her own aspirations, not just for the sake of winning) into metal music and horror manga. Lee SuHo and SeoJun were likeable on their own tights, despite portraying flawed teenage boys.

I was happy to see everything tied together nicely at the end, without the drama being drawn out unnecessarily. I looked forward to my Wednesday and Thursday True Beauty watches for some great few months there, and I was sad enough when I had no episodes that I would rewatch what was out. But nothing is worse than a show being ruined for the sake of making more money and keeping it alive for years (I guess that's what's happening with the webtoon).

Some other highlights: great use of music (including intro), superb acting by FL, iconic moments (okey dokey yo, otoke otoke), strong second female leads (including vegan sister).

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A true romcom worth watching

This is a good romcom but it makes a couple of mistakes that keeps it from being truly great. It’s not a bad drama, I enjoyed it, but it could have been so much better. First, it makes the second male lead too perfect. He’s almost irresistible to the audience. Few people can resist the lure of a super hot bad boy that’s manly and tough on the outside but a sweet wounded little puppy on the inside. And then matters are further compounded by not giving him a love interest of his own to turn to for comfort. No, instead we always see him off by himself in some corner crying his eyes out. Their making him so pitiful only fired up his fans. People were firmly on either “team Suho” or “team Seojun.” Any drama that creates a strong second lead syndrome like this should expect mixed reviews with some loving it and others hating it depending on whether or not their crush got the girl. And those negative reviews will only end up hurting viewership and ratings.

The second mistake they made was that the only thing they focused on for 10 straight episodes was the misunderstandings between the main leads and the female leads fear of being seen without makeup. The story just didn’t have enough depth to hold my attention span for that long. It was cute in the beginning but got tiresome after a while. I can see why some may have dropped it. Fortunately around episodes 11-12 it gets better. The story finally gets a villain and bullying and unrequited love are addressed. The side characters become a bit more fleshed out too, often providing comedic relief during the sad and angsty parts.

The one thing that really confused me was why everyone was calling this a love triangle when it clearly never was one. The dramas description only mentions two characters, Joo Gyeong the makeup goddess, and Suho the boy who helps her “find her true beauty.” It even describes these two as “finding love with each other.” So one would have to be a fool not to know who the main leads are and who the girl will end up with. And in the drama the female lead never flirts with or leads on the second male lead. It’s very clear that she only sees him as a good friend. So the whole “love triangle” tag and those who commented about how angry they were when she chose the male lead had me scratching my head. I mean, did you even read the dramas description? Is it a love triangle? No. Is there unrequited love? Yes.

The second male lead having a big fan base might lead you to believe that the main male lead isn’t that good. But nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is he strikingly good looking, but his portrayal of the sad, lonely chaebol that is tortured by the death of his best friend is spot on. Having lost his mother early in life and then having his father neglect him and leave him on his own since middle school has left him emotionally stunted. His character growth is touching. You can’t help but love him. It’s no surprise that he has a huge fan base of his own rooting for his character.

One thing I really liked about this drama is that it continues to be a romcom throughout, never spiraling into a melodrama at the end. It stays true to its genre with lots of great comedy and romance. There is some sadness and angst but it’s never overly sad and the misunderstandings aren’t drawn out for too long. It has more of a light fun hearted feel to it.

That being said, the comedy was exceptionally good and had me literally laughing out loud. I would rewatch this drama just to relive some of the funny moments. The other great thing about this drama is the romance. The main leads have great chemistry and real kisses. There were at least a half dozen kisses and they were all long kisses too. There’s also piggyback rides, hugs, cuddles, and surprisingly enough, a bed scene. High School/college romcoms don’t usually have that much skinship so I was quite surprised. This drama is worthy of a watch just based on the comedy and romance alone. But be prepared for things to drag a bit in the middle and to have your heartstrings pulled by the second male lead. I did like that the story had a positive message of how true beauty isn’t superficial but it’s really about what’s inside that makes you truly beautiful. It’s not perfect, but definitely worth watching.

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