#the psychological horror of transitioning and realizing you look just like the father you hated

[atlas-affogato]

Making Finn look exactly like his horrifically abusive dad may be the evilest thing I did

[onceuponakdrama]

True Beauty KDrama Review

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Bingo Card For True Beauty

Synopsis: Im Joo Kyung is a high schooler who is upbeat and positive about most things, except for her appearance! She hates the idea of being seen in public without makeup, but fortunately has become a self-taught makeup expert, with a little help from a plethora of internet video tutorials. What she has learned online has transformed her life. At school, she is known as one of the prettiest girls in class, although she secretly lives in fear of her schoolmates discovering what she looks like behind the makeup. In fact, there is only one person from school who has ever seen her minus her “mask” – Lee Su Ho. He is a top-grade student with impressive basketball skills. He is also dashingly handsome, and many of his female classmates have a crush on him. However, Lee Su Ho harbors a few dark secrets from his past, and shuns attention in class. Slowly, these two individuals become drawn together and learn more about one another’s secrets. 

Overall Main Plot: Rating - 8 out of 10 

Personally speaking, I really like dramas that center on the conception of beauty (although it is problematic because she IS pretty and it’s seen without her makeup, but like whatever I guess). I think the main thing that drew me to this point was the fact that insecurity is a big thing in this drama and watching the main lead (Ju Kyung) progress over time and grow more confident with her bare face, along with making real friends who don’t judge her from her face alone. Since that’s the main plot that drives the story, there were a couple of points that threw me off. 

High School Dramatics - maybe it’s because I’m older, but there were so many high school antics that were happening. I understand that, in Korea especially, there’s the issue of high school bullying but it was just so... dramatic. Especially with how Ju Kyung was being discovered as... ugly? I don’t even know if that’s how I would describe it. Although, I do understand that these characters are young, but the dramatics of it all in high school was more funny than annoying for me. 

Trauma - one thing that I felt needed to be addressed more was the trauma, especially Suho’s because homeboy has been through a lot. What I appreciated was the representation of him having a panic attack, but that was the only time it was addressed that he’s developed a lot of psychological issues. Obviously, Ju Kyung also has psychological issues due to her insecurity and her mother (until the end-ish when her mom found out that Ju Kyung was getting bullied, but again, a WHOLE different story). I just felt like there was less closure about these things and I really hoped that Suho would get the help he needed after everything he’s been through. 

Characters: Rating - 9 out of 10 

↣ Lim Ju Kyung [played Moon Gayoung] - wowowowow. I absolutely loved her character and her character development. She was the stereotypical female lead, but she’s absolutely precious and watching her grow as a person was so satisfying. I felt for her so much because she’s gone through so much and that’s impacted the way she’s viewed life and I just wanted her to be happy. I ultimately give her a lot of credit for trying to move on from Suho though and knowing where she wants to take her life (especially after dealing with all the heartbreak). The only real problem I had with her was her center on romance even though she couldn’t even get her grades up, but also like... it’s a romance drama, what was I supposed to expect? But she did have her own interests (make-up, horror comics, etc.) and her own personality to things. Overall, I thought she’s a great female lead and she’s absolutely precious. 

↣ Lee Suho [played by Cha Eunwoo] - okay, he’s also precious. It took a bit for me to warm up to him, but after seeing what he’s been through, I get why he would keep his distance from others. What I didn’t like was the fact that he broke up with her and then comes out of nowhere, which then he proceeds to take a longer time to apologize to her for even though he could have just... texted her, called her, something. He acted like nothing happened when he was the one who broke up with her (for a good reason, but it was still stupid to have a break up sequence that felt unnecessary). Anyways, I did like his development and how he came to mend things with Seojoon and it didn’t ruin their friendship. I also liked how he grew to have an interest towards creating music, especially after what happened with Seyeon. There was also his relationship with his father, but it was still unclear as to what happened after his mother died. But yeah, he’s also another precious bean and Suho and Ju Kyung are a great couple. 

↣ Han Seojoon [played by Hwang Inyup] - second lead syndrome hit real hard here. His character is so great, probably because he’s the soft bad boy that everyone dreams of having. I didn’t like him at first because he pushed all his anger and frustration onto Suho and tried to use Ju Kyung as a way to hurt Suho. However, he grew to understand what actually happened and also, the way he cares for his family is super cute. His friend group is also super cute because they look like a bunch of gangsters when they’re just a bunch of idiots.Again, I noted this with Suho, but when the two made up and became friends again, even though they liked the same girl... Love, love, love. Obviously, he’s also super handsome and had so many chaotic, but iconic, scenes. His character is just so great. He was casted so well and your heart hurts when you look at him. 

↣ Kang Soojin [played by Park Yoona] - okay, Soojin [episodes 1 to 9] is the best. She was so iconic and such a girl crush. After that? So far downhill that she doesn’t get recovered until the last episode. The writers did her so dirty and that’s a hill I will die on. Lowkey, Soojin and Ju Kyung should’ve gotten together but they didn’t because this is not a girl love drama and that was a major missed opportunity. Anyways, while I hated her as a second female lead, I understood her motives, in the sense of the household she was growing up in. This was important because of her character development when she apologized to Ju Kyung and realized her mistakes. It also wasn’t just out of the blue; it was a slow progression that built up to the climax and it was absolutely heartbreaking to watch because Ju Kyung and Soojin lost a best friend. But yeah, the writers did her dirty and I was crying on the inside when they made her a second female lead, when they could’ve just made Ju Kyung fall for her instead. 

Personal Notes: A major strength of this drama is the character development, for all of them. Watching them grow from their problems was so satisfying and the only reason it got docked off a point is the fact that the writers did Kang Soojin so goddamned dirty and her redemption was saved for episode 16 and I will always be angry about it. They also made Seojoon to be a more sad character who didn’t get the girl, but notes about the drama compared to the webtoon will be made in a later section. 

Romance: Rating - 9 out of 10 

I actually really liked the main couple. It was clear there was chemistry and, while I didn’t really like Suho trying to blackmail her, it was also kind of sweet because he just wanted to spend more time with her and she was just.... so dense. While Seojoon provided hard SLS, I liked Suho with Ju Kyung better because he’s seen her at a low point and so has she and they both try to support each other. They were really cute together too, especially since they spent a lot of time at the comic shop because of their aligned interest of horror comics and then they would go to the movies too to watch, even though Suho is scared. I think my favorite scene is when he took her to see Selena and she visibly brightened up. The only reason it isn’t 10 out of 10 is the one scene where Suho was jealous about Seojoon and was super possessive, but he also apologized and admitted his mistake. There was that and also the break-up, which, again, wasn’t really necessary but for the sake of the drama, it had to be there. 

Second Plot/B-Plot and Secondary Characters: Rating - 10 out of 10

Okay, first things first: Hee Kyung and Mr. Han are the cutest couple in this drama. I looked forward to seeing their romance progress more compared the main couple, primarily because they were not the standard couple we see in kdramas. The traditional gender roles were switched with Hee Kyung pursuing Mr. Han and I ate it all up because they are just super cute. Anyways, I think the secondary characters really did a great job of amping up the main plot and the romance, which is the whole point of these characters. I really didn’t like the mom, but it did transition to a better mother-daughter relationship (even though it happened near towards the end). The villainous characters got what was coming to them; the actors made me hate their characters really easily and it was amazing how upset I got at the bullies and when they got beat up, I was laughing on the floor. Again, the secondary characters really complemented the main characters and overall plot line. 

Additional Notes: 

Comparisons to the Webtoon - they really did manage to make this a kdrama. If you’re a fan of the webtoon, there are clear differences that make this a stereotypical kdrama, but (personally) I think it worked fairly well. This also meant major changes to a lot of what happened in the webtoon, so it felt so... interesting. The drama and the webtoon each have their strong points, so, while they stem from the same plot line, it was interesting to see the different routes it took. 

Bromance - Jesus Christ, I LOVED the Suho x Seojoon bromance. It was so nice to see their friendship mended and how they didn’t let romance break their bond. A lot of people talk about the bromance in this drama and it’s actually worth it. There wasn’t just the bromance between those two, but also Seojoon’s friend group, there was also Taejoon and Suho, and there was also Ju Kyung’s younger brother and Suho. It was all so great. 

The Conception of Beauty - okay, this is a major problem in a lot of Korean beauty standards, but like.... Ju Kyung isn’t ugly. I think a lot of people can agree that the whole, pimple face + glasses combo is kind of old. Compared to My ID is Gangnam Beauty (completely different dramas, but still centered on the theme of conceptualized beauty), they didn’t show the face of the “ugly” main character and I really appreciated that because it meant that the main lead perceived it as ugly rather than putting the face of “ugliness” on her. But, I really do like that the drama itself is centered on self-confidence of her bare-face, but... everyone was making it seem like she was really ugly, but like.... come on. 

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10

Recommended? 

↣ Yes: it’s a youth/school drama (most of the time), so if you’re into that, I would recommend it. Again, one of the strengths of the drama is character development and growth. Another reason to recommend this drama is that the main female lead is very lovable and you always root for her and for things to go well for her because of all the shit she’s been through. There’s also the whole concept of self-confidence, which she gains, and it’s an overall satisfying drama to watch. 

↣ No: if you’re a webtoon fan, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it because it definitely strays from the original idea and that’s a bit off-putting to some people. This drama also has hard SLS, so if you don’t wanna have your heart broken, not recommended. They also talk about suicide and if the topic is triggering, you shouldn’t watch it. There’s also the annoying beauty standard that makes the main lead ugly and, if you’re the type to be annoyed at that, this isn’t a drama for you.