This review may contain spoilers
At first, I really liked it BUT too much changed from the original story, things were handled messily, the end felt incomplete, and it lost its meaning. It was altogether disappointing because it had so much potential that was wasted and overtime some main characters began to annoy me.- Seojun was treated like a side/therapy character with one-sided love who never got anything in return
- Suho never got the help he needed and became some toxic-possessive-stalker but it was played off as being "okay" since he was the girl's destiny
- Jugyeong was overly dense and made into a character that needs a man's validation
The whole thing was just so unrealistic and sloppy, especially the rushed ending due to them dragging things out. So many scenes were taken and given to different characters and the whole plot was practically changed. It felt as if the writers just took the idea of True Beauty and re-wrote it into something completely different when they could have made the drama far more fair. It definitely didn't feel like an adaptation. There are just so many things that were wrong with it I'd practically be writing an essay, but I hit some main points. (If you want to know some things I may have not hit, @hiycatboy made an "everything wrong with true beauty" thread on Twitter) Overall, the drama was a disappointment for me, especially if you've read the webtoon.
Now, you may like this drama if 1) You enjoy cliche's 2) You're fine with predictable endings 3) You enjoy cringy love moments 4) You're part of a younger age demographic.
One thing I must admit that they did right: choosing the cast. They were all so loveable and amazingly talented, but I honestly don't believe this drama deserves the hype or views. However, if you are what I listed above or just want to waste your time then go for it lol
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This review may contain spoilers
The Typical Story Drama!!
Please tell me where and why you agree and disagree with me after reading this review.Suggestions are welcomed.
BE CAUTIOUS, SPOILERS AHEAD!!
Getting to the drama~
I have actually dropped it at episode 15 but I guess my review might still be helpful.
Story: 4.5 ＞﹏＜
So, this was a typical high school drama with two male leads chasing a beautiful female lead, the two male leads used to be best friends but after the death of their third friend they decided not to talk to each other due to some misunderstandings, the best friend of the female lead was in love with the first male lead, the first male lead was undergoing misunderstandings with parents, the second male lead's mother was very ill, the second male lead has dreams he doesn't want to fulfil due to damned reason, the female lead is misunderstood by her mother, the female lead's best friend undergoes many hardships such as being tormented by her father and all.
Too typical of a drama.
The 4.5 points are only because of the good imagination of the director/producer or whosoever for some scenes, like the scene from extraordinary you. (Thanks to this drama, I'll be watching that next).
So for me, this storyline was very humdrum.
Acting/Cast: 7.0
⨠Moon Ga Young as Joo Gyung, her acting was quite fine as an overall, although in some scenes it seemed lame, I guessed it's her acting that's lame because I quite liked the webtoon.
⨠Cha Eun Woo as Lee Su Ho, his acting was pretty alright as well, he seemed expressionless all the time but this time I think it's the character.
⨠Hwang In Yeop as Han Seo Jun, the badass boy and the little caring side to the cute shy boy (in some scenes including the underwear thing) was very well played. I would say I had the second lead syndrome throughout the drama.
⨠Park Yoo Na as Kang Soo Jin, I totally loved her acting as the strong lady with soft heart. The brightest smiles have the deepest secrets, she fits this motto really well.
And
I would like to especially appreciate the acting of a support actor:
⨠Kim Min Ki as Joo Young or Joo Gyung's younger brother, he totally rocked the naughty brother role.
Music: 7.0
The music was quite alright throughout.
Rewatch Value: 3.0
Since the storyline isn't that beautiful, the rewatch value totally sucks. Though you can still replay the particular scenes of the couple you ship.
Overall: 5.0
But still go ahead and try watching it since the tastes of each person is different, maybe you'll like it.
Hope it wasn't boring.
Lots of Love <3
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This review may contain spoilers
Steaming hot pile of cliche!
Bad acting, bad direction, bad story line - sorry non-existent story line; if all that is not enough, there is bad romance to boot.I hated what they did to Park Yoo Na'a character. Poor Kang Soo Jin . They left her character suspended in middle of mental breakdown. Surrounded by selfish classmates and brainless bimbos, Soo Jin looks like a moon fairy captured by a curse and left trapped in a place she doesn't belong.
There is no proper conclusion to any relationship except the main one. The show survives on very standard school comedy and disparaging remarks made by family members against each other. Excitement lasts till episode 4-5. It is all repetitive from there.
The sob story about dead friend had no use whatsoever except for creating a nonsensical hostility among characters. Sister-Teacher romance was pure cringe and not at all funny. I would not advise anybody to watch it. Pretty pointless and you don't even feel satisfied at the end.
It's a stupid drama with no justification to its title "True Beauty". Maybe they should've read Keats:
A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Its loveliness increases, it will never
Pass into nothingness;
Or George MacDonald:
“For essential beauty is infinite, and, as the soul of Nature needs an endless succession of varied forms to embody her loveliness, countless faces of beauty springing forth, not any two the same, at every one of her heart-throbs, so the individual form needs an infinite change of its environments, to enable it to uncover all the phases of its loveliness.”
― Phantastes
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Cliché & Cringe
As a fan of the webtoon this was such a horrible adaptation. I will admit I’m biased towards SJ. This drama started to annoy me when they gave SH a bunch of SJ’s scenes. His personality is so dry. Their chemistry is so dry. Their chemistry doesn’t even compare to SJ & JK. That’s why they had to give SH scenes from SJ and also create this childhood backstory. Even with the scenes that didn’t belong to him their relationship was so flat, boring, & cliché.He leaves for 2 years while SJ is there for her and he comes back & gets the girl back almost instantly. Barf. SJ who did more for her than SH ever did gets left broken hearted. While SH the wet blanket gets the girl with barely any effort after breaking her heart. This drama was so cliché & predictable. As soon as the childhood scenes & stolen scenes it was so clear who she gonna end up with. It’s like they didn’t even try. They could if at least given SJ his real part and made it really unpredictable as to who she was going to end up with. Even if she had ended up with SH after all that I would of given this a much better rating bc at least SJ got his fair chance like in the webtoon. I only finished it because I started it with my sis- in law & she made me finish it with her. If it wasn’t for her I was fine with never watching the super cliché & predictable final episodes of this drama.
The only good thing about the drama was the cast. I think they picked perfect actors that really portrayed the characters great. Too bad the writers / director really dropped the ball with the story. I’m so sad how this drama destroyed SJ amazing character. I’m so confused as to why everyone loves SH so much. Even in the webtoon he’s such a weird, awkward, & boring guy. His pretty face is the only thing he has. SJ has a pretty face and a bomb personality. #TeamSeoJun ALWAYS!
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the worst adaptation in the history of webtoon adaptations
i'm not even sure this can be called an adaptation.... taking character names, their basic traits doesnt make it adaptation.i`ve been reading true beauty since 2018 although i dont even like it anymore drama made me drop webtoon completely. basically drama and webtoon have nothing in common names and few aspects aside. story is non existent, character personalities are pretty much changed from original and i knew it will be usual highschool drama cliche from the moment it was shown that suho and jukyeong knew each other as kids. actors did pretty good job, but ones who rewrote whole story didnt do nothing better from original.
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I was super invested but was it worth it?
Is this concept new or fresh? Is the storyline free of cliches? Well it’s a no to both those questions. However they do it right- balancing humour and romance with a tinge of melodrama carried by a talented actress in the leading front.The main romance is not my personal favourite part as I do not feel the chemistry and also suffer from SLS but many may enjoy it, and if they do there’s a fair share of love dose of the two so you’ll be satisfied. The best chemistry on this entire show is still between the 2 boys in all honesty.
One of the best things in this show apart from Han Seojun (honestly Hwang In Yeop NAILED IT) is JG’s family dynamics and her badass sister and her love story. Their ending was also the most satisfying for me.
The story is very predictable and honestly it is very clear from the get go who the girl will end up with as JG’s heart never wavers. Still the writers do a very good job of instilling hope to all those in favour of the second lead by dragging the love triangle right till the last episode. We as viewers know we are being bated but to watch the true beauty that is Han Seojun was enough for me.
Everything was going fine till episode 13- our main girl JG even musters up the courage to accept her appearance and face her bullies which is the most important part. Suho and her are happily dating too. Ofcourse in the very next episode due to his father’s illness our main boy Suho has to leave. Owing to the great ‘struggles‘ of their long distance relationship, Noble Idiocy takes form in the name of Lee Su-Ho as he decides to break up with JG- this entire drama would make sense if there were repercussions of their distance and break up in the relationship when he returned. All it takes is a day after he returns for them to get together and act like they did in high school when the dated for a brief period. Don’t get me wrong- I knew they would end up together, but is this the best way to bring last minute drama into the show? Completely unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the drama. They even make Seojun cry in pain during the finale as he gets rejected- They do make up for it by making him debut as an idol as he sing 2 songs while looking flawless and being beautiful as he is.
However, I simply can’t deny how invested I was in the show. If you like high school dramas, typical tropes, love triangles and slapstick humour you will definitely enjoy this show. I was totally in the mood for something that satisfies the criteria above and thus I enjoyed it for the most part. If you’re looking for something more serious, deep or different this is not your pick.
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Drop this
I’m dropping....the girl is still annoying......what’s with that character .....I thought it was a good entertaining series , what a waste of time...........what’s with the way she still talks ....c’mon is the director retarded....I’m sure she can act a little mature in the end now.....it’s a caricature , yes, but it doesn’t have to be so retarded......the screeching childlike talking, I’m sure this actress doesn’t talk like that ......I’m upset with the way this series progressed....blame on the director ....the story can be really cute but this main lead girl is annoying seriously I have to stop watching....it’s a shame ....🥴🥴🥴🥴🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶Was this review helpful to you?
Very comfy, binge-worthy show.
I liked the concept, and I was rooting for the heroine throughout the entire show. The side characters and all dynamics were likeable, and many heartwarming scenes that make you emotionally invested. Also, I had a preference in the love triangle, but I don't mind how things ended either.Some things didn't make this show almost perfect. I wanted more exploring of themes about accepting your beauty possibly without romantic involvement too much but the show was so fun that I glossed over these issues.
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Indian fan
I m the biggest fan of kdramas.. Being an Indian out of all kdramas I found this one to be very interesting... This drama is something u can't ever stop watching.. Like I watched 8 episodes in 3 days.. First of all I couldn't stop myself from laughing during some scenes...this drama is very entertaining.. The chemistry of chaeunwo and moonkayoung is The best... Love u so much.. Best recommended drama ever ...wanna meet this superb cast... The story is just amazing about a real life of a highschooler ...enjoying it so much..!!Was this review helpful to you?
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What is true beauty?
Not bad, light hearted. With pleasant to look at "eye candies" AND with decent acting.What bothers me is the obsession, this and few portraying pimples , eye glasses = ugly; to be beautiful = make up, surgery as solution, when there is other way to it like skin care , contact lens, wisdom, character,.... The world is not this small and narrow. No one deserves bully because of their look.
I am not even sure if I like her character , when she is not even dare to admit SH her boyfriend, her reaction in the hospital after found out SJ was there by the side, still the look more important than boyfriend?. I am those who will be more attracted to Soo Jin's character before she turned bad as a love rival.
Finally, my favorite episode perhaps is episode 13 when she finally stands up for herself.
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an okay kdrama
final review: so i decided to finish this drama and i can say that it's just fine. nothing new and nothing fresh. personally, the ending could have been better. the second lead guy should have been more happier after respecting the lead's relationship. the resolution of soojin's character with other characters were abrupt. she disappeared then return and that's it. this kdrama would have been better if the last episode is more polished or a little more episodes were aired to develop the ending that they want. overall, this drama is okay. the ending was a little bit dissapointing.initial review: 5/10, 6 episodes seen
"going to be a disappointment if the story continues to go around in circles"
the preview for the episode 7 proves how this drama is going around in circles. basically the plot is the guy and girl like each other but every single chance they have will be ruined by an annoying thing that will separate them apart. seriously, they keep on dragging this for a few episodes already, and when it looks like the leads are patching things up in ep 6, that ep 7 preview showed up and it looks everything will go back to the start where they will misunderstood each other and separate AGAIN. it's especially frustrating and disappointing since you have to wait every week for almost the same thing you already saw the previous week. like wtf, give us something new. and boy, cha eun woo needs some acting lessons when crying. it looks half assed. it seems he is confused of either crying completely or just doing that poker face while crying. well i guess, i'm not surprised with everything that i've said since many people have already said that the webtoon itself is cliche and goes around in circles. it's hard to make something good out of a mediocre/ bad source material. if they want to redeem this drama, they better hire a new writer/ go a different writing direction.
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WHAT IS THE HYPE FOR ?
If you are looking for something new , this is not it ; yes I agree all the leads are eye candy but story ??????Quick summary
Ugly girl , boy knows , becomes beautiful; boy recognizes , secret out , boy protects , they date , seperate , meet , seperate , second ml lead's sacrifice , happy ending
What I Liked ?
1.As I said male leads are eye candy so if you wanna watch for the actors go ahead .
2.Second female lead is absolutely great , she is not the psycho who chases after the male lead and has her own struggles
3. The cast has done an amazing job but the story lacked
What I disliked
The Not Good story , same old tropes , also the male lead gets toxic while dating , I mean the directors tried to merge fluffy with lil bit sadness but just NO .
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