True Beauty

Much more depth to the story than I expected

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2020/2021 South Korean television drama with 16, 73 minute episodes.

Lim Ju-kyung (Moon Ga-young), feels like she was cursed as the only ugly child among her siblings. As somewhat of a self fulfilling prophecy her vision of herself and lack of confidence has led to bullying at school and less than kind comments even at home. Looking for a solution she stumbles upon internet makeup videos and learns to expertly hide her cosmetic flaws just Asher family moves and she transfers schools. The makeup enhances what is Ju-kyung’s underlying beauty and her new schoolmates think she is beautiful, like a goddess. Her newfound confidence is fragile and she is determined no one at her new school ever see her bare face. A mutual love of heavy metal type music and horror comics leads Ju-kyung and her extraordinarily handsome classmate, Lee Su-ho (Cha Eun-woo), to cross paths when Ju-kyung is not wearing makeup. Ju-kyung is convinced that the difference is dramatic enough Su-ho will not connect the Goddess with the ugly duckling she thinks she is without makeup. It is not long though before Su-oh realizes it is the same girl and Ju-kyung strikes a bargain with Su-oh to keep her secret. Su-ho and his former friend Han Seo-jun (Hwang In-yeop) had a falling out over a tragic incident in their past. At first Seo-jun pays attention to Ju-kyung to bother Su-oh but soon discovers he also likes the beautiful and sweet
Ju-kyung. The boys grow closer as they rival each other for the girl’s attention and begin to learn about and resolve issues from their past. Will Ju-kyung realize her true potential and gain confidence even without makeup?

I absolutely loved this drama, every minute of it. The casting was near perfect as they looked so much like the Manga characters. There was a strong social message about bullying and the detrimental effects on self esteem. I liked how she found solace in the transformative power of make-up. I would have happily had her end up with either 1st or second guy. I loved her sister and her confident p, go for it, tomboy attitude. The way her little brother and her constantly teased, scuffled and irritated each other but, when the chips were down, they were the first to jump to their siblings defense. Su-ho was handsome and popular and seemed to have it all but his mother died at a young age and a misunderstanding had him estranged from his famous father. Su-ho and Seo-jun and Su-ho used to be friends but a tragic event caused a seemingly insurmountable rift to form between the two friends. It also explored the very deep topic of suicide and the lasting impact it has on the loved ones of the person who ended their own life. Love and friendship builds up Ju-kyung to the point she is no longer afraid of the bullies nor her unmade up face. I did not follow the web too but my daughter explained and showed me relevant parts. She said it was a perfect balance of following the Webtoon to capture what made it a success while departing, as needed, to make it work wel, in a shorter format. I highly recommend this wonderful drama!

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THIS IS MY FIRST KOREAN DRAMA THAT I HAVE WATCHED!

I was searching for a drama on YouTube when my friend suggested this one, and I just watched the first episode. Oh my god, it was incredible, especially the second hero, who was so adorable that I wished he would be my future husband. The main character, however, was very attractive, but I am not interested in him. My love for Korean dramas was ignited by this one. I wish there was a season 2 of this drama because it taught me a valuable lesson about not giving up and not hiding from people.

Anybody interested in a love story should watch this drama. Korean dramas are the greatest.

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BEAUTY/LIFE STANDARDS

Best drama..👍👌👌🤗loved it too much..the triangle little had me tear up a little..

The love triangle had me tear up..but overall this drama was the best...it had everything in it;comedy😂😂😂, romance😚😍😍😘,skl life and etc .loved it so much..somehow didn't like tht suho was away from Kim ju gyeong for so long...and Han seo Joon still didn't make to confess after years..howevee still like this drama..as well as it being so popular drama and comic book.

edit 20/8/24 ...this drama has great visuals...as far as I remember after finishing this drama, I started reading the webtoon which this drama was adapted from and it really goes deeper than the drama can capture. the webtoon is more exciting and has more drama and detailed life story of the couple which I like more. the webtoon also has a dating life of Lim Ju Gyeong x than SEO joon. the webtoon focuses on a lot of aspects such as cyberbullying, beauty standards,comedy, romance,melodrama, her sister's love life,family, friend life and her social life.. it still is a happy ending although I still need to finish reading it(on the side stories) every1 gets a happy ending of their own (no more spoilers)

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Typical Cliche KDrama YA Romance Series

I had been dying to see this series for a while especially after I wacthed My ID is Gangnam Beauty but It's not on any streaming service in the US so it took me a while to watch. At any rate, it's not as similiar to My ID like I thought and I liked the FL a lot more in this series. Both deal with Korea's ridiculous beauty standards but in different ways.

I enjoyed this series overall for the most part but I absolutely hate the poorly written BS they handed Seo Jun and I'm not a 2ML person. I hated that it happened at all and especially in the last 2 eps. Like WTF was that and why? One of my biggest issues with kdramas is how they have these love triangles between friends and they want us to think it's somehow romantic; these unrequited feelings that never get shared unti it's too late. Way too many cliches in this and yes I get this was made 4 years ago. Also, not a fan of time skips without true growth for the characters.

Anyway, I did enjoy the majority of the cast/characters just wished the story had been better.I really liked, Su Ah, Hee Kyung, Joo Young and Go Woon characters the most. Would have given this series an 8 overall had it not been fir the last 2 episodes.

9/30/24

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Adored this series so much that now I have post series depression (':

Absolutely adored this series! At first I was a bit unsure about it because there were scenes that cringed me out, but as I kept watching I became invested in the storyline, mainly because of the acting and I related to some of the characters in a way. I will never forget the times I laughed, cried, and squealed throughout this drama, this is definitely is one of my new favourites! It might not be the series for everyone if you don't like friendship to lovers tropes, cheesy pick up lines, but if you love series with a bit of romance and comedy and you can mind the tropes and pickup lines I would 100% recommend this! The chemistry the main actors have also is incredible, I shipped so many people together because they a lot of them seemed to work together (Mainly Ju Kyung with Soo Hoo and Kang Soo Jin and Soo Hoo and Han Seo Jun), I didn't really ship Han Seo Jun and Ju Kyung that much like most people because I felt like their chemistry wasn't as good as Soo Hoo and Ju Kyung's like the hugs around the last few episodes from Han Seo Jun and Ju Kyung were a bit awkward in my opinion and I didn't like how Soo Hoo came back from the USA and tried to get with Ju Kyung again like he didn't just break up with her over the phone but other then that I really liked the story and the character development with some of the characters such as Ju Kyung and Kang Soo Jin, I loved the part where Ju Kyung decided to be brave and become more comfortable not hiding her relationship and mask of makeup and Kang Soo Jin realised how wrong and messed up she is for what she did to Ju Kyung and went out of her way to protect Ju Kyung and find where she worked to apologise in person. In conclusion, there are some bits I dislike from this Kdrama but there are a lot of things I like that outweigh the negatives I have about this drama.

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A cliche but I enjoyed it!

I totally get why some people didn't enjoy this show. The plot had a lot of overused tropes like love triangles, bad boy falls in love with the nice girl, etc.
But nonetheless I still really enjoyed this drama, the comedy in it was good as well! At least to me lmao. Almost every episode was hilarious to me. I really liked the bromance between the main lead and the second lead, and their friendship with their friend who passed away. I appreciate and respect that they shed light on important topics such as suicide, grief, school bullying, and beauty standards in this series. The last episode really moved me, and I was sobbing my eyes out.

i didn't like the webtoon and dropped it, but I think the kdrama gave it justice. I feel like a lot of people didn't like this drama because of the webtoon. If a series moves me and makes me feel emotional then it was great, but everyone's experience is different. One thing I don't like about this series is how they used a trope that I hate, which is when the second female lead is being treated with less love compared to the second male lead. It's a huge trope that female second leads are vain and cruel, unlike their male counterparts who are loved. Kang Soo-Jin had a lot of potential so I'm glad she got a little redemption in the end, although I couldn't forget about her actions and how it caused pain to everyone she loves. I still love her though; I just wish she was written in a better way. Nonetheless I managed to look passed this trope, because I treated this show as a fun little drama that I watched to distract me from school lol.

The OST is also really great it ranges from fun to emotional depending on the plotline and I enjoyed them all!

Anyways just because I liked it, doesn't mean you will! So, if you can't look passed the cliche love story and tropes in this series then this kdrama isn't for you, but if you want to watch a kdrama that might give you a boost of serotonin then I suggest giving this a chance :)
In the meantime, I'm just going to go cry over my boy Han Seo-Jun

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Excellent show about bullying and learning to love yourself

The actors in this series, including support actors, really portrayed their characters well. Although the storyline contains scenes that are hard to watch due to the bullying, it also has scenes that are funnier than any series I've ever seen (her dad seeing her kiss Cha Cha, the animal print boxers dancing scene, and many more). I've watched this series several times and believe I will continue to rewatch it. All the lead actors are seriously good at their craft and I wanted each of them to have a happy ending which they did.

I did wonder about the dad of Cha Eun Woo's character. Did he pass away in America? Is that why the son seems so sad when he returns to Korea? I'm guessing we are suppose to think that as the son has been away for so long.

I also loved the music for this series and enjoy listening to the soundtrack.

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True Beauty is an excellent adaption!

As with all Manhwa to Live action adoptions, if you are looking for an exact copy, you'll be disappointed. However, the writers definitely captured the essence of the source. There are several moments where I was like, hey, that happened in the manhwa! And while many things are very different, the story is mostly the same.

This drama is great even if you aren't a fan of the manhwa. The characters are so full of depth and have their own motivations, the drama branches off into B and C plots, and it takes you through an assortment of emotional topics such as grief, abuse, betrayal, suicide, bullying, etc. Some parts were so cute and made me laugh out loud, I loved the references to other dramas (shout out to goblin) and then other parts had me nearly in tears. I would definitely recommend this to others.

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EhHhHhH. okay.

This drama is so... cliche. There's nothing really new about it and it just seems recycled from "My ID is Gangnam Beauty."

I first watched this drama because of Cha Eunwoo, as an Aroha I wanted to support him. The first 2-4 episodes were fine, I was watching another drama at the time because it was airing. Somehow, I always forgot what happened in the previous episode. Was it that forgettable? Kinda....

{spoiler alert in the next paragraph}
It's really predictable what happens. Like when Suho got hit by a car he would go to the hospital and Ju Kyung would come running. When Soojin turned evil, she would soon regret it and apologize to her friend. It's very.... easy to predict. This is what made it boring. There was a "cliffhanger" with the eps, but its just so easy to predict what happens and thats what made it boring.

I have two good things I liked about this drama, however. One, the OST. They aren't exactly my favorite, but they are pretty good and I liked them. The second thing was the meanings that this drama taught viewers. That society doesn't define you. You define yourself. There's more to it.
1. Society doesn't define you. You define yourself.
2. If you love someone but they don't love you back, move on from it. Staying in a place won't help.
There's probably more but I watched this a while ago so I don't remember too much. (exactly. it's forgettable).

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