True Beauty

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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Cliché but I couldn't drop it??

This drama would've been awesome if it was released in the early 2000s
the story is predictable, believe me when I tell you they literally used every kdrama and shoujo manga cliché here!
it's not for someone who watched many Kdramas but a good start for newbies I guess.

I feel this drama didn't focus on its message "True Beauty" it was just another love triangle story 🤷🏻‍♀️
I expected to see more things about make-up and the beauty of the inner self but it was mostly about 'a person without makeup (ugly?) ending up with a natural hottie' and that's the relationship of 99% of the characters!

and don't get me started about the acting! tbf idk if it's the directors fault or the nature of the story that made it this way.. the acting was.... stiff? especially Eunwoo's (sorry Eunwoo fans..) most parts felt forced, I didn't feel the chemistry between the leads.. 😔
tbh it's the side characters that made the drama a bit interesting but oh god they were all lamb sacrifices for the plot between the female lead and male lead!

If you read my review you this far, I bet you're wondering if I'm more on the negative side of this drama WHY did I bother to finish it?? I have one word for you dear MDLs... 🥁

HWANG IN YEOP!!!

he was the saving grace of this drama and kept me going! he's EYES! he's CHARISMA! he's acting SKILLS! he stole the show along with my heart! this's why I gave "Acting" a generous 9/10

trust me it's not just me who think this I'm not being biased at all! for me this drama was worth watching for Hwang In Yeop so I'll recommend it, if you wanna be charmed away and suffer major 2nd lead syndrome!

OSTs? I don't even remember them lol was there any other than "Missing You"? I loved that one

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The cheesiness can cause cardiac arrest

I only read a few episodes of the webtoon so i cant make a comparison between the webtoon and the drama.
However, the drama was so-so, the acting was good and the story was cute BUT the cliché was over the top and too many. A little here and there would have been okay but i found it was too unbearable to watch some scenes, it made me cringe. The episodes were predictable and i knew how this was going to end, i did not really enjoy the drama as a matter of fact i skipped a lot of scenes from various episodes.

If i had to compare this with My ID Gangnam beauty, Gangnam beauty takes the cake.

This drama was not to my liking, however, if you like cute girly romancy lovey dovey chessy drama, then this one is for you.

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Better than so many teen dramas and not as shallow as it sounds

True Beauty has been a popular webtoon for a few years now. I've always put it off, thinking I would pick it up someday but I ended up watching the drama before. I read a few chapters of the webtoon only and discontinued after being warned that the drama wasn't really following the original plot closely. It figures since the original is a love triangle and this is just a high school drama. I wouldn't call it the best drama ever, but hey- it's fun and has some good messages.

STORY/PLOT:
Its idea is a lot like like older animes/mangas- Kare Kano or Switch Girl. This premise is hilarious but unbelievable. From the beginning we pity Ju Kyung for being labelled as 'ugly' and getting bullied and teased to no end. I am not sure how realistic it is, because I've never seen anything like this in real life. I liked Ju Kyung getting her confidence when she put on makeup but ultimately that was a facade. It brought her temporary relief and denial, but she had to accept what or how she really was physically. I believe the process of her becoming more confident should have been focused on more than they liked to talk about it in the drama. However I do love the message of people will love you for you - those who love you for your looks aren't real people. Also 'True Beauty' is a fitting title because throughout we see the stark contrast between the 'ugly' Ju Kyung and the 'pretty' bullies, which I really liked.

ROMANCE & LOVE TRIANGLE:
I must say, I was disappointed with how Seo Jun was written. He acted and did all the things the ML would, but we were being cheated. Su Ho was a great character but let's be real- he was the ML just because it is a Korean drama. Throwback to Western stories/series and only characters like Seo Jun ever win in the end. Well, we all knew it deep down, didn't we? I would say the romance didn't matter much to me. It was cute but more cliche than anything I've seen in a while. It had all the standard tropes of a Kdrama thrown in till the end. *eye roll at hospital visits 3000 times*

FRIENDSHIP:
Meh. It was super cute until cliches kicked in and it sort of cheapened the story for me. However the people who remained loyal, stayed so even after Ju Kyung's 'reveal'.

ACTING:
Moon Ga Young is a pretty decent actress. I was so skeptical of her playing a school girl but she did her job wonderfully. Rest of the cast is pretty decent too but I'm bored of Cha Eun Woo playing the pretty but reserved boy again and again.

OST:
Forgettable but still nice. The SML actor is talented at singing.

OVERALL:
I think it was such a nice high school drama. I miss that Korea doesn't make much of these but when they do, they are usually quite good. I'd say this drama is enjoyable if one doesn't get into the shipping stuff. That takes away from the comedy and heartwarming moments shared between many of its characters. I wish this drama hadn't gotten boring because it was amazing till ep 6-7 and from then on it had its high and low moments but never stayed high. The episodes could have been shorter tbh. But I want to ask those who didn't have faith the drama would be good because the webtoon "didn't have a plot" would be surprised that this is actually decent.

I recommend watching this.

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It's fine

I have to say that this drama kept me glued to my seat for say like 12 episodes ,after that it went downhill. The plot overall for the starting episodes was really really interesting, but as I went forward with this drama I lost my interest. I have to admit that i really had a great laugh watching it but it was quite unrealistic to some extent. It was just heartbreaking for me to see how a person who was there for her always got heartbroken, i expected some kind of change in plot in the last two episodes but no it had the same cliche ending. Second lead left heartbroken and the first lead getting the girl. The ending according to me was quite rushed, the directors gave no justice to seojun's character and made it all about suho and jukyung. If you have read the webtoon and are here after reading it, don't watch this drama, it will disappoint you just the way it disappointed me. They followed almost nothing from the webtoon and gave most of the scenes of seojun to suho. And to the people saying that seojun got a happy ending , no he didn't , are you guys blind or something lmao. I loved the cast and the acting though. At last i wouldn't recommend you guys to watch this IF you have read the webtoon. Otherwise go ahead and watch it you'll have a great laugh.

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With dramas like this, I don't know how useful it is to critique them based on any sort of serious metric. True Beauty was never going to be deep-thinking or artistically minded or particularly focused on it's writing, and you're setting yourself up for disappointment by taking it too seriously. So while it ultimately doesn't have very much depth, I'm not upset about it. I just wish I'd been able to finish the drama with the same level of enjoyment as when I started.

Unfortunately, the reality of dramaland is that for some dramas, the first half feels one way and the second half feels another, and you don't know how to feel about the drama as a whole, and that's definitely what True Beauty was like for me.

The first half was my jam. It wasn't stellarly written, by any means, but it did all of the things I wanted it to with a cast of likable characters, and that was enough. But the second half was equal parts plodding, occasionally frustrating, and sometimes even boring. The theme of confidence and self-acceptance and what beauty really means really takes a backseat. There are a number of genuinely moving moments, but the drama ultimately doesn't do a very deep, or consistent, exploration of these issues. And then the last two episodes not only have very little to do with any of this but they also focus on secondary issues that don't make sense being so far in the forefront of the story.

If you want a drama that broaches it's topics with thoughtfulness and some level of depth and consistency, you're better off watching a drama like My ID is Gangnam Beauty. While not perfect, ID understands it's subject matter and commits to it while True Beauty mainly uses it as a means of getting it's leads together. If you're not concerned with any of that and just want something fluffy and teen-angsty and cute and pretty, then by all means, watch this drama. You'll probably like it well enough.

Ultimately, True Beauty is a surface-level teen drama, and it knows it and does it well.

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THE BEST ENDING

Well, this drama has the last episode that I have always wanted!
The time they had after getting back together was properly used for concluding every part like Seojun's career, Heekyung's marraige, Soojin's character development, Jukyeong's and Suho's future career and other couples I love this drama so much.
Yes, I was and forever will be Team Suho and I have my reason to be Shin-Shin shipper.
This drama was one of the basic drama with the love triangle, BUT! the female lead had a goal, she found her true beauty so this made the drama more lovable.
And Seo Jun, what a friend you are!
It is quite amazing that Seojun, Ju Kyeong and Suho will be working together as Idol, makeup artist and producer respectively.
Many of u hate the last episode but I LOVE IT

About the drama,
In a whole this gotta be be of my faves. It had superb comedy!
Ju Yeong is litteraly the comedy King and the best kiss interupter...Dude literally saw his whole family kissing..
The father scene with Suho...UNFORGETTABLE..
The hospital bromance? GOSH ! not even 1 sec was boring....That cake scene too!

I am totally gonna rewatch this drama! This is soo good! I am looking forward to the whole casts futre projects.

Watch this drama if u had a low day ;)

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Cliché but make it fun

Now let’s be honest the idea of the drama is somehow cliché but the story itself is not! It was such a fun ride I enjoyed almost every moment of it and the comedy was such a top notch I don’t even laugh on popular comedy dramas but I laughed on every episode of true beauty, if you didn’t read the WEBTOON you will never know where the story is going actually and this is a good point because it will keep you entertained
The casting of the drama is brilliant I can’t imagine any other actors suited to the main roles, moon ga young nailed her role, in real life of course she is beautiful but she still pulled off the ugly look and her acting of course is amazing, in yeop was just amazing he made the character more outstanding with his acting, and eunwoo with his visuals and good acting, and park yoo na was such a girl crush which I live for and all the cast was amazing ,so-ah and her boyfriend, lim jikyung’s brother and sister and the cast in general were such an eye candy and well chosen
The music was nice it was fun and suited to the vibe of the drama not every ost stood out to me but still i liked it in general
Rewatch it? For me yess!! actually I rewatch every episode with my sister and still have fun as if it’s our first time watching it and I think if i get bored in the future I’ll definitely rewatch it
Overall it was soo fun and amazing for me and I definitely recommend it especially to rom-com fans I don’t think anyone will find boring

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eye candy cast, shallow story

I was ultimately disappointed with the ending and overall message of this drama, but I knew it was going to go a certain way from episode 1. I didn’t finish the webtoon but I knew where it was headed and I didn’t want it to end differently. But perhaps I played myself for thinking that in an eunwoo drama the FL wouldn’t end up with him.
I find Um Ji Gyeong somewhat relatable with wanting to fit in and for once be considered pretty by those around her, and I understand why she lied about her identity, but she was a bit too whiny for my taste. I felt so annoyed whenever she had a sad/crying scene because it was so obnoxious to watch her sorry not sorry lol.
Cha Eunwoo’s performance as Suho was about what I expected. He played the role he always plays-the popular smart good looking guy who’s cold to everyone and only has two facial expressions. In the previews and interviews he said he feels he improved but I digress. I feel like he showed the same side of him we always see, only this time his character was a little bit more emotional. It’s clear he gets casted in these roles because of his looks, but I crave to see him play something more challenging. But maybe he only gets these types of roles because that’s all he’s capable of doing. All I know is that he really didn’t improve besides being a tiny bit less stiff, but that’s about it.
Hwang In Yeob was unanimously the breakout star and the showstopper from this drama. His role was the stereotypical bad boy with a soft heart, but I found his character way more interesting than Suho. Not only that but HIY served visuals that are unique to what I’ve seen in dramas. Looking forward to his next work! Overall I give this a 6 out of 10.

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I don't want to be one of those, but the Mang... The webtoon did it better

Well this is my first review, and it will probably be my last because I don't actually like to write reviews, I am a nobody. BUT this drama, in particular, made me write one, just because it made me so mad.

I am a webtoon avid reader and since quarantine, I have watched so many dramas that I feel like every drama is repetitive.

I am up to date with the original webtoon of True Beauty (TB). This is not my first drama base on a webtoon, but definitely is the first one I have read the webtoon before watching the drama.

I mostly read action webtoons, but for some reason, the premise of TB interested me when Cha Eun Wo announced for the main lead. I watched ID Gangnam Beuty (IDGB) and liked Cha Eun Wo acting, especially because I follow Astro and I know his real personality, so that's why I started reading TB

First. It was a really big surprise how the TV industry it's so out of themselves to not follow the original material. Yes, a few things are kept, but the amazing story made by the original author was sent to trash and decide to just make a cookie cutter of a drama. The story is quite repetitive and almost a copy of IDGB. TB's original story is pretty good when I read it the first time.

What I liked was its original plot progression. Lim Ju Kyung never dated Lee SuHo during high school and in college, she did end up dating Sea Jun. When I read that part I was surprised because after watching so many dramas, this was the first story I have read for a Korean writer to actually give the idea of a second lead chance with the main protagonist, and no a fling, like an actual big relationship. The webtoon is still going and the story is developing in more of an American series type story. Something that I thought was impossible by Korean writers because you know in every drama the two main leads will end together, second leads are just there to look pretty.

So I was an expectation for the first time a drama to make something different. TOTALLY disappointed when they make it a cookie-cutter. Nothing new, the drama was just predictable. All my expectations went to the drain, the drama keep some original plot but it was just too spicy it a little to then follow by a "sike". I finish it just for the sake of it, and because I didn't have anything better to do.

One thing that I did like, and that is something I have to praise about drama writers is that all characters have their part and their stories no matter how small they are. For example, the roles like Ju Kyung's sister and brother, and Kang So Jin in the webtoon are just there for props. But all three in the drama had their own arcs. The one I feel the most grateful for is Kang So Jin in the webtoon I could see the author trying to make her an antagonist from the very beginning but at some point, she just vanished like Thanos just snapped her.

My conclusion is that even though dramas have gotten better in terms of cheesiness, directing, and writing since 2017-18, they are still doing the same old story just with a different path and story backgrounds.

Dramas have become just predictable. I can count with two hands the few dramas that actually can differentiate from the rest, and normally those dramas are the more mature and risky in topic dramas. And I am referring only to romance comedy. Other genres are very original.

And that just... doesn't seem right. These rom-coms can actually have a twist and be original, they don't have to follow the same formula, they can actually take a different approach in the plot to make it good. The reason why the rom-com genre has lost so much rating is that the public knows how it will end.

One drama I can call original is SEARCH WWW, wao 10/10 writing. Even though we have our typical happy ending is actually the drama was more drama than romance. The romance was just a side dish, the character development of the three protagonists was the real main dish. Dramas like this can be refreshing from time to time.

I like romantic comedy-dramas because is an escape from the suffering of the world, I have too many problems to watch super dramatic and melancholic dramas or suspense or crime dramas. But seeing the same story just with a different mask is making it hard and hard to actually keep going into rom-com dramas.

Come on Korea you are just one step closer to make a difference.

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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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