MinJi23

So, as I just watch anything with Cha-Eun-woo these days, I also finally watched this drama which I had on hold for years.

Long story short: while this had good intentions, it simply did not deliver in the end.

It was Cha-Eun-woo's first main role as far as I know and it's obvious as he is not bad, but if you watch more recent dramas with him, his acting abilities developed quite obviously and were not that present in 'Gangnam beauty'. I have to add though that the script writing probably didn't give him much more to work with as well.

The FL is... difficult for me...So it's obvious why she got cast for this role as the whole story is about a young girl/woman who felt so ugly and bullied with her face that she had massive plastic surgery at a very young age to me more pretty and not get bullied anymore. While this would be rather understandable, it's hard to follow this idea as the FL herself seems very fixated on being pretty, and on how pretty others are all the time.
I found her acting ability in this rather hindered by - her massive plastic surgery. She could or did not move her face at all throug all the episodes. She only has one facial expression which is eyes wide open in either fear or even pain - which simply is not very attractive no matter what a face looks like. She is described as intelligent by ebing a chemistry student, but her role doesn't make her seem very intelligent - or very likable for that.

And that's the point; the storyline wants to sell to the viewers that visually ultra attractive people like the ML do not care about looks (mostly not true) and that this particular very attractive ML would spend 15 out of 16 episodes to run after the FL for? well, I don't really know what for as these two sadly had NO chemistry at all to begin with, and in their roles they never really talk, in fact they only avoid to look at each other (especially the FL) and don't speak more than 2-3 word half-sentences, which always seems painful for both of them. That is not a slow-paced romance, it is exactly that - painful to watch and totally unrealistic.

The side storyline with the ML and his mother - again, good intentions, but it didn't deliver for me. To spin this whole story around perfume (and I say this as a perfume fanatic and niche scent collector for at least 15 years!) and then only over obviously promote and advertise this one perfume brand EVERYwhere in the drama (the store, the cupboard of the FL's room, her bathroom, pictures on the wall at school with the logo of the brand? WTF?) - was just too artifical - and I say that while I actually like this specific brand and have several of their scents - but that was just too much for a realistic story.

So in the end, it takes 15 out of 16 episodes with about a hundred 'more of the same' the ML is bluntly obviously running after and courting the FL, while she is steadily looking wide eyed, open mouthed and in physical pain, avoiding him over and over - only for it to result in a very awkward 'stop motion not really'-kiss in episode 15 and them claiming they are a couple then while they absolutely do not act like one. Sorry, but not good enough.

P.s.: so, I now made the effort here too to look up behind the scenes with these two - and now that's weird (and unfortunate for the drama), because in the behind the scenes these too are super cute with each other, and actually seem to have good chemistry Oo - seems like the writing and directing for this drama just totally failed to transport any of it, uughhh...