Another drama that suffers the being-too-long curse
Don’t get me wrong; I think this drama is really entertaining. Mun Ka Young delivers an amazing performance, and Cha Eun Woo and Hwang In Youp are absolute treasures to watch. However, I feel that this drama is a bit too long.It begins nicely, conveying important messages about bullying, beauty bias, and the impact of words on one’s mindset. The high school scenes are somewhat realistic, the family dynamics moved me in various ways, and the friendships throughout the drama brought me a lot of joy. I also loved the relationship between Hui Gyeong and Prof Han. Not only did they break the rules surrounding gender roles, but they also provided some of the best support in the drama – both as a secondary couple and as individual characters interacting with the main leads. They were definitely two of my favourite characters.
So, overall, I believe that for the genre of high school romantic-comedy drama, this show performed well, and I can understand the hype surrounding it.
But I must be honest – the plot loses momentum when the main leads admit their feelings for each other, followed by a time skip and a breakup that extends a storyline that should have been resolved already. And while I appreciated Seo Jun’s character, and ultimately wanted him to get the girl, it felt somewhat cruel to continue his struggles, especially since his role was clearly meant to be that of a secondary male lead. Their trial-dating didn’t seem to add anything substantial to the plot.
In the end, I found myself dragging my feet through the last few episodes because I genuinely wanted to see how the drama would conclude. I was simultaneously disappointed and delighted.
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I can't believe this drama is made in 2020
I guess people were so bored during the pandemic that they made this drama. This is a 2012 type of Korean show. I can give you a lot of old kdramas that have exactly the same flow and plot. Yes, it has its own twists, but not exactly new either.The only thing worth watching in this show is the relationship of the older sister of Im Jukyung, which is Im Heekyung and Han Joonwoo. I like the character of Heekyung here, a strong and cool woman (I'm trying to be like her fr). And my baby Kang Soojin (Park Yoona) also did great. This is also the first drama of Kim Minki (who plays the younger brother of the female lead, Im Juyoung) where I saw him, and he did not disappoint.
I only give this a 5.5/10. Let's be real here: if the two male leads are not handsome, people won't love this drama that much.
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na época era boa
Eu acompanhei esse dorama desde a prévia, lançou em 2020, nessa época ninguém ligava para uma história surpreendente, um bom casting ou ost, atualmente há milhares de doramas muito melhores que essa bomba.Creio que oque carregou este kdrama foram os atores, a história é chata, ultrapassada, clichê demais da conta, cansativa, os episódios podem até serem bons e avançarem de uma forma boa, mas o final parece que volta para o começo, não tem um enredo legal, não tem um significado, os episódios parecem que não tem caminho, e simplesmente avançam para o óbvio, o menino bonito fica com a menina que sofre bullying, ou que se acha feia, tudo acontece de um jeito tão tedioso.
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What "my ID is Gangnam Beauty" tried to accomplish, True Beauty succeeded
The first half of this drama felt like one of those guilty pleasure dramas that don't necessarily have the best story, are usually cliché, but they still make you giggle incessantly. Somewhere around the middle mark is when it hits you that the story really is just about a girl wearing makeup, and her having to constantly get out of a situation that could show her real face. Drama which could all be avoided if she just put on makeup before she left the house.I am not saying this is a bad drama. What I mean to say is that it's very one-dimensional, but that that's what actually makes it good! That is until the episodes go by, and you're nearing the end, and you realize they NEED to add some drama because there hasn't been that "big" problem yet which needs to be solved. And as predicted they added the most unnecessary drama, and also decided to push the love triangle that should have been solved long ago.
Besides that, the acting was good. Ga Young was brilliant. The way she carried herself differently with makeup and bare-face was really amazing. It almost felt like 2 different characters, and I think that was an intentional choice. She is stiff and nervous in makeup because that is not her. Then, when she removes the makeup she is relaxed and outgoing.
Cha EunWoo.... uhh. How do I put this nicely? If you took his character from my ID is Gangnam Beauty and related it with this, there would be absolutely no change to the story. They are the same person. I dont know if this was intentional, but it made for unavoidable comparisons throughout the whole series. The character was painfully boring. I began referring to him as "white bread" after just a few episodes. He has a pretty face. That's it, that's the character.
In Yeop. Oh boy. It is really rare that I get "second-lead syndrome", and I had it BAD. I won't go into detail, but if SuHo is white bread, Seojun is tiramisu.
In conclusion, do I recommend? Yes, if you enjoy cliché drama that would almost never happen in real life (and I do). Would I watch it again? Maybe, but I would skip the last couple episodes.
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This review may contain spoilers
Uma adaptação gostosinha de assistir
Na época em que o dorama foi lançado, eu estava no meio da leitura do Webtoon. Estava super empolgada, principalmente porque o elenco é muito bom, mas acabei abandonando na metade. Agora que faz tempo desde que li o Webtoon e consegui ver o dorama sem me influenciar demais pelo que eu já sabia da história, foi uma experiência muito gostosinha.A história tem suas inconsistências, o Seo-jun não tem chance alguma nessa adaptação e isso talvez faça até mais sentido por se tratar de um dorama e a possibilidade de se apaixonar por ambos os leads ser muito nula, algo que só pôde existir no Webtoon. Até hoje não entendo porque a possibilidade de ir a um dermatologista não é explorada na história, já que a questão toda da Jugyeong é a acne, mas gostei de ver como nos últimos episódios ela começa a tratar a maquiagem de maneira menos obsessiva, usando-a quando deseja. Achei infantil a maneira como os colegas de classe reagiram de início ao saber que ela era tão diferente sem maquiagem (o que é risível porque ela realmente não é tão diferente assim sem maquiagem), mas que bom que o dorama seguiu uma abordagem mais "tudo vai dar certo no fim" e acabamos por não odiar nem culpar nenhum personagem, pois todos demonstram uma certa evolução do começo até o fim da história.
Gostei muito da atuação do Eunwoo aqui, sei que muita gente não gosta tanto do seu trabalho como ator por achar ele inexpressivo, até eu mesma já pensei assim, mas sinto que pelo que o personagem Lee Suho exigia, ele foi excelente.
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True Beauty Review - ZyKuu
"Makeup cannot conceal your character" - The story is amazing and does a great job at illustrating the relationships and realistic scenarios a highschool teenager can face. From topics such as career choice, true friendships, and self-confidence, this drama does a fantastic job at labelling these topics and teaching the viewers a valuable lesson. Bullying was a big plot point this drama harped on, and I admired the way the story unfolded whilst solving these problems. Do not be a bully, instead be kind! The cast was beyond incredible. I loved the main leads Ju-gyeong and Su-ho, but surprisingly my favourite character throughout this dramas entirety was Seo-jun. I loved his character and morals regardless of any situation. Su-ho and Seo-jun had a bromance throughout the series which was heartwarming to watch. I was really a fan of Ju-gyeongs family especially her siblings. Both siblings served as a comedic relief and had adorable relationships of their own which were unique. Ju-gyeongs friends were also amazing and they were perfect pieces placed around her whilst she was attending school. The OST is incredible! Overall, this was a beautiful drama that I will dearly miss, and I highly recommend you give it a try!Was this review helpful to you?
It's a so-so drama.
Personally I think this drama is quite consistent till episode 9. As an individual who's been watching dramas since 2018, especially romance dramas with portions of drama and family I could already predict what would happen in these mainstream romance dramas. Honestly this drama had me very intrigued for most parts and the cliff hangers left me persistent and longing for the next episode. It's a very heart-warming and enjoyable drama, the drama is suited to the mood of casual enjoyment. It's very cute , love the camera work, outfits, setting and cast. OK so HONESTLY, it's quite funny, like at numerous scenes I was laughing in the dark in my room, trying to not burst into high volume laughter in case of waking anyone up. I recommend this drama to anyone who wants a some-what steady paced drama and anyone who is a beginner will really enjoy this.Was this review helpful to you?
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Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze?
I watched True Beauty with no context of the webtoon. I followed Cha Eun-woo here from Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung. This drama is somehow extremely cliche, but also incredibly stress inducing!! There is way too much back and forth in the plot in an attempt to keep viewers hanging. It was like a slow, emotional torture. I was rooting for Cha Eun-woo, but I was still driven crazy by the back and forth of it all, though I knew she would likely end up with him.They will not let you be happy or relaxed for a single episode of this show. And yes, I mean that in a bad way. It isn’t that you can’t figure out what will likely happen…just think of the thing that will make you cringe/you don’t want to happen, and that is EXACTLY what will happen. Some of the mean girl stuff, not just the blatant bullying, but the betrayal of her friend gave me major anxiety. It was disappointing and stressful.
I thought they did a good job adding humor. The acting overall was really great. I am new to Cha Eun-woo, so I am confused by anyone who thinks he can’t act?! His character, demeanor, EVERYTHING was SO different from Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung. Hwang In-youp did a great job and was one of the most lovable second male leads I have experienced.
I agree with some comments about them not properly fleshing out some big points like: inner beauty, self-confidence, suicide, mental health, etc. I don’t think that the FL was as helpless as some reviewers believed…she did some things I wouldn’t have, but I think that it could’ve been landed better. In a country known for TOXIC beauty standards, NO girl has Cha Eun-woo holding her hand through the school day or running all over Seoul to console her. I wish they had a better message surrounding this.
Overall, I watched this to spend time with Cha Eun-woo, and while he served some major ~looks~ in this show, I didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I hoped. I liked his Mr. Darcy vibe, but there was too much imbalance of stress vs happy moments in this show. I felt like I only got 3 good smiles—boo!! Every time something good happened, I was filled with dread of a bad thing to off set it. If you have anxiety, depression, etc., you may find the juice here to not be worth the squeeze. If not, you may find this okay to watch, as long as you don’t fall for Hwang In-youp, which is also a challenge! Fighting!
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From a webtoon to a drama, a really good adaptation
*SPOILERS ALERT*Having read the webtoon first, I was curious at how they would handle all the drama with Su Ho moving away in the States and Joo Gyung/Seo Jun relationship in only 16 episodes. I think they handled it pretty well even though it dosen't follow the original story. It's maybe for the better considering that Su Ho continues to talk to her when in the US, at least at the beginning before the break up (I still think his reason for breaking up in the drama is pretty weak but it was inevitable).
I saw a few comments here saying that Joo Gyung is weak and cowardly for far too long. Well, I can't say she isn't but considering her past and trauma, I don't see this as a real problem. The journey to love oneself is long and tortuous so how could we have such a character overcome her trauma and insecurities in just a few episodes ? Even she admits that she is cowardly and tries to do better. I could totally relate to her and I was overall happy with her character development.
The one thing I was disappointed in was the horrible reaction of her class after discovering her "real face" and her being bullied at her old school. Even Joo Gyung's so called bestfriend flee the scene and later tries to guilt trip her into thinking that she was the one in the wrong for not telling her friends everything about her past. I don't think a friendship like that is worth having honestly, especially after having Soo Jin betray her first in such a cruel way. At the very least you can try to reach out when you see that your bestfriend is absent from school the next days but no she doesn't even do that (we can only say thank you to Su Ho and Seo Jun for showing a little humanity *irony*).
Concerning the love triangle, I can't say that I'm not happy with this ending but my heart was torn between the 2 male leads during the whole show ^^' why can't they shoot an alternative ending/special episode in which Seo Jun gets the girl ?? I admit that if the roles were reversed and it was actually Seo Jun from the start, I would have been sad for Su Ho so yeah it was a difficult choice... It just proves that the actors did an amazing job in playing their characters!! The casting was indeed top notch. And the OST was amazing too!
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All Hail Hee-Kyung Eonni
If you're thinking of starting this drama, you should definitely consider watching Extraordinary You first. Trust me, it'll make watching True Beauty all the more fun.This drama would be worth watching for the eye candy and fun references to other k-dramas alone, but it had so much more to offer!
The first few episodes were totally chaotic, extra and over the top. Kinda crazy, but a lot of fun! Then a few more serious topics like low self-esteem, bullying and psychological trauma were brought up. Honestly, the show struck a good balance between kooky and serious. It was funny and lighthearted, but also emotional and deep in certain aspects. It succeeded in making me laugh, swoon and pulling at my heartstrings.
And the casting! The 3 main actors look like the webtoon characters come to life. Which is insane. And they delivered solid performances all around. But I have to admit the older sister completely stole the show. All of her scenes were hilarious.
I absolutely loved this show and would recommend everyone who loves romance dramas watch it.
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