True Beauty: After

Same flaws as part 1 but worse because of the liberties taken with the source material

If part one was disappointing, part 2 was worse. There were some differences with the source material that really further impacted negatively the overall interest of the story.

I was glad they avoided the childhood connection trope but truly disappointed at how they handled the Sun Ho (aka Kanda Shun) and Seo Joon (aka Igarashi Yu) storyline. The band twist did not work as well as what happened to their bandmate. It dramatically reduced the stakes of their relationship, and I would truly have preferred they went the idol road, like in the source material.

There were other poor scenaristic choices : all the storyline around Kanda Shun mother did not work, especially because of the clunky acting of Watanabe Keisuke who had chemistry with no one, making neither the romance nor the bromance work nor the painful family aspect. The way they concluded the romance was also a mistake in my opinion...The many writing issues, combined with poor acting and mediocre chemistry, really made the second part of this adaptation annoying to watch.

I would not recommend this to people as I don't like how they dumbed down the plot...Not saying that the source material was without flaw but I think it was an error to adjust the background stories of the male lead and the second male lead. Unfortunately, the heroine felt so bland that I struggle to find anything worth mentionning regarding the character. To be transparent, I am influenced by what I know from the original material and from the South Korean drama, if you haven't seen / read it, maybe you will appreciate it more than I, without the disappointment factor.

Read More

If you're confused, you might as well skip the movies.

First things first. Don't judge me, but as someone who doesn't watch Kdrama, I have NOT watched the Kdrama or even read the original webtoon. So the "Megami Kourin" Before and After movies is the only version of this story that I am familiar with. I believe that's good, because this way I won't judge it based on the original webtoon or the drama, and will have a relatively unbiased perspective, compared to the ones who have watched and read those.

Another thing- my almost sole reason for watching this movie is- Tsuna Keito. As he himself said in a live event, this is his BIGGEST WORK SO FAR, both as an actor and a singer. So I'll probably talk a whole lot about him in this review. You can skip some of those parts in case you don't care about him.

One last thing, I'm reviewing both of these movies as one whole story, instead of considering them as two different films. I binged them, so they feel more like 2 episodes of the same drama to me. So that's another thing to note before you read this review.

Oh, and SPOILER ALERT. With that out of the way, here's another review from yours truly.

Plot: 7/10
There's the girl, Reina, who was bullied because she was less than great looking in school, causing her to close herself off from the world for 2 years until she learned how to use makeup and decided to go back to attending school again. By chance, she meets someone (Shun, the Ice Prince) from her school who shares her interest in horror films, at a place she frequents, and he sees her without makeup. He recognizes her in her "goddess" form at school and that's where the story begins. Oh, and one time, Shun's ex best friend (Yu/the Heir, or more like the superstar singer) randomly stands up for her against her former bullies at her workplace. I later discovered that this is not as random and over the top as it was shown to be, it has to do with the fact that Reina happens to be co-workers with Yu's younger sister, Rin. So, Shun and Reina bond over horror films, while Reina and Yu bond over them both knowing Rin. It is pretty dumb, but Yu falls for her when they both go to buy a birthday gift for Rin.
My experience with this adaptation was maybe different in the way that the primary couple takes a loooooooong time (3 years in the story, for goodness' sake) to happen, despite there being obvious mutual attraction from the start. Oh, and I didn't completely hate the main male lead, despite him having a sadistic (no offense to the fans of Shun/Watanabe Keisuke) kinda look on his face whenever he wasn't genuinely smiling.

If the "True Beauty" Kdrama wasn't so popular, and I hadn't Googled the Japanese name of the movie and seen the Kdrama poster in the search suggestions, then I probably wouldn't have known that these movies were adapted from a Korean webtoon or that it had previously been adapted into a Kdrama. Without taking that into consideration, the plot is pretty much run of the mill Shoujo manga plot. There's a girl, a boy... And another boy. And as someone who has accepted the fate of having eternal chronic second lead syndrome, I had totally quit watching Shoujo manga adaptations... Until I saw this movie's poster, heard that Keito will be a singer... And here I am, fan girling over his songs.

Cast/Characters: 8/10
Reina was alright. Typical Shoujo manga lead. Hated that her trust issues decided who she ends up with. Kōki was alright considering she had basically zero acting experience. But yeah, like some others said, she wasn't great with the comedy scenes. I wonder who they would've selected for this role if good acting was a deciding factor.

If I just glance at the actors, and state my opinion, I think Keito is definitely better looking than Keisuke. It has to do with the fact that I like a softer, kinder face (Keito) than an edgy, sharp and colder face (Keisuke). Nonetheless, they're both pretty good actors, so the acting was alright from them as well. I keep thinking though, if they only cast the characters based on looks alone. Because in an interview, the author Yaongyi mentioned how similar Keisuke looks to the drawing of the male lead...

If I look at Shun individually as a character, he's actually quite okay, surprisingly, since I usually saw that Shoujo manga main male leads have an unlikable personality. His story was alright too, he had to take care of his mom, poor guy. And then he moved to the US to live with his dad. Got the girl, succeeded in his desired career. Happy ending. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Now, my main topic, Yu. I'll remind you that I have chronic eternal second lead syndrome (many times, it has been caused by Keito himself). So despite every ridiculous thing, I ended up on Yu's team. I mean, if I had someone with a singing voice like him chasing after me, I would've agreed to marry him after listening to the first line. Not to mention, he even looks better than Shun, in my opinion. And fortunately, despite being the second lead, his character got a decent amount of character development and focus, not the romantic focus, though.

The rest of the cast was good. No complaints there. More about the cast coming up in the next section.

Production: 7/10
If you couldn't guess from the visuals, this production has a fairly high budget. The cast cameos it had amd the name of the studio attached to it is proof of that. I wish that they utilized the budget better, though, instead of spending all of it on the cast, marketing and aesthetics. And they definitely should have inserted the "Unmei Dayo Na" song in the movie. If you're gonna produce it, then why not insert it in the movie?

Music:9/10
My highlight and the best part of the movies. It has been my dream to hear Keito sing more solo songs since 2020. As someone who is IN LOVE with his voice, I find the biggest, and perhaps the sole success of these movies to be the 3 songs sung by Keito- 2 versions of Tokubetsu Nante and Unmei Dayo Na. Tokubetsu Nante is a super sad song about unrequited love that goes with Yu's story in the films. I usually don't listen to songs like this, but I had to make an exception for this one. I have a soft spot for acoustics, so the acoustic one wins for me.
Unmei Dayo Na is a hopeful song, even though it is still a love song. I wish Yu's story turned out to be more like this song. And I also wish it was inserted in one of the movies.

Besides Keito/Yu's songs, the ending theme song of the film, Tokimeki by Kucci (who also wrote and composed all 3 of the songs from the films) was alright. It contrasts Yu's softer, slower Tokubetsu Nante, and goes well with the Shoujo manga genre and visuals. I will say though, that I'm not fan of such loud songs. Thus, the less than perfect score.

Rewatch value: 2/10
If not the music videos and Yu's performance parts of the movies, I'm not gonna rewatch this adaptation. Who wants to rewatch heartache? Not me. I'm certainly hoping this is the last time I have to see Keito play the second lead in a movie. And I most definitely hope that this is the last Shoujo manga adaptation that he gets involved with.

Overall: 6.5/10.
Other than Tsuna Keito/Yu and his music, this story is not worth watching, in all honesty. If you don't care about Shoujo mangas, or the cast or the original webtoon, or the Kdrama, skip the movies. However, DO NOT skip Yu's music. You'll love the music, no matter what.

Read More