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I've watched this about a year a ago so this might not be the best review. It's not the most memorable series. It's slow paced with lot's of filler scenes. I personally can watch the types of series but if you can't i'd say on't watch. There was a good bit of character growth which i was glad to see the different sides of the charterers. I was very surprised to see that Soo Ah was living in a small flat with nobody. I personally found the charters a bit irritating especially Kyung Suk at first but over time they became bearable. I like this show but it's not really my time of show to watch anymore. I hope this was helpful to someone. Was this review helpful to you?
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I drop this drama and rewatched it since I don’t want to regret not watching it later. Since I drop quiet a few dramas before I go back and find it interesting but for this drama it’s not a regret but more like I just got over my curious of this drama. I didn’t find this drama interesting due to the age gap since since Cha Woo have such a baby face, compare to Im Woo, and Im Woo just doesn’t fit these kind of school roles for me. (My personal thinking) but she is still an amazing character and understand that’s how her role suppose to be. I personally think Park Yoo Na make a good match with Cha Woo I also notice that she also play in another drama with him, love her in both drama. Hoping to see her play FL, otherwise I still find this drama amazing due to Cha Woo role, Not like any other drama where the ML will always be the nice guy(quiet dumb and fall for the scheme) who show sympathy to the support female casting in the love triangle. Love how he picks up Soo Ah tricks and his cold side. But otherwise the chemistry in this drama is pretty dragging Was this review helpful to you?
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Lacking in certain places but makes up for 10 times over
So, I'm not going to pretend that this show was just an extremely well done masterpiece with A+ acting and story. The leads are a bit stiff and show could easily fall into the sea of school romances with cute aloof boys and wide-eyed girls. However, My ID is Gangnam Beauty makes up for the overall averageness of the show in three major ways.1. The message: It was actually so refreshing and mindblowing the way show handled beauty standards, especially ones unique to South Korea. Plastic surgery is everywhere, obviously, but South Korea is on another level. Our protagonist is one such person who decided to undergo the knife, but show never condemns protag for her actions. She is an adult who chose this for herself and, other than certain characters bullying her for it, there's no actual message that what she did was wrong or shameful. What the show does condemn are beauty standards and the pressure for women to attain something that is ultimately unfulfilling, whether you're conventionally attractive or not. That's the true beauty of the show, how it conveys that patriarchal standards of beauty are oppressive to all women, and digs into our psyches enough to evaluate our own worth and value.
2. 2nd Female Lead (Antagonist?): I actually dislike the tendency for kdramas to try to put a sloppy resolution by showing the antagonist's trauma and having that speak for their actions. I think it's oftentimes lazy and doesn't work with the story. Plus, just because bad actions are explainable doesn't make them excusable. But I felt like show actually did a successful character arc with Soo Ah. We're first presented with her as this total b*tch who is just a bad person, but slowly we see the cracks in her own facade. We see the different ways that patriarchal beauty standards affects her life. It's revealed Soo Ah is from a very poor family, and so the bitterness she feels toward Mi Rae (in her viewpoint) buying a pretty face, when for Soo Ah it's been a "blessing" and what's gotten her what she wanted in life, is more understandable (not excusable). I think women against women is one of the strongest weapons of the patriarchy and we see it happen in this show. But, even though Mi Rae and Soo Ah will never be close friends, there is a very satisfying resolution to their conflict, with both realizing just how much of a victim they both are to oppressive beauty standards. Soo Ah is a very well written, complex "antagonist" who brings so much depth to the show. Show could have gone down the route of just letting Soo Ah be a catty mean character; instead they showed how even conventionally pretty people are trapped and unhappy when a person's worth is connected to their beauty, even if it seemingly benefits them.
3. Wish fulfillment sans jerks: The reason I could never get into shows like Boys Over Flowers or Playful Kiss was just how much the male leads actually suck as people. Like, objectively. Doesn't mean I don't like the aloof boy trope, but it typically came with the as*hole boy trope. My ID is Gangnam Beauty gives me all my wish fulfillment with cute, smart, aloof male leads but one's that actually aren't complete jerks. The bare minimum is respecting your partner, and show met this standard on both ends of the relationship. Really appreciated how OTP treated one another. Even if the acting was a bit stiff, emotions still got through and was more or less believable. Most importantly, it was all very cute lol.
The above major factors are what made this show top 5 favorite kdramas for me. Outside of the OTP (which, I still very much like and squeal over despite its one note-ness), I think there was a lot of depth in the show with its characters and themes. Not that show didn't have its faults (why is Mi Rae's beauty suddenly validated because she gets a hot boyfriend? The incredibly poor taste diet product ad placement during Soo Ah's eating disorder), but overall I just appreciated immensely how show handled the complexity of self worth through appearance. And I could go way more into it and analyze the nuances of the show and its messages (whether it's promoting plastic surgery, toxic behavior displayed by certain characters, etc), but as a seasoned kdrama viewer, it was an enjoyable college romance that packed a bigger punch than expected. The deeper exploration of the relationship between beauty and worth, and how this creates a violent environment toward women, was just really refreshing to see handled in a romcom-type drama. With shows like True Beauty that touched on similar themes, I just feel like My ID is Gangnam Beauty handled the topic with more depth and complexity (still think True Beauty is cute, just didn't love it). Overall I enjoyed this show a lot and have already rewatched it 5 times over.
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Frustratingly slow
Male Lead is plainly smitten right away, but is frustratingly clueless about declaring himself. Again the thing that is the major problem is the very old trope of lack of communication.I'm going to blame the director for having Cha Eun Woo do most of his emoting with his eyes & clenched fists. You accept it because, well, it's
Cha Eun Woo ! Unfortunately, it quickly gets frustrating to watch. His character is written so broken & emotionally withdrawn & yet we never get a good explanation besides his mother leaving. It really needed to be plainly shown that his father's being emotionally distant/selfish/demanding/uncaring is the cause. It was annoying that Alot of his actions & attractions are simply inexplicable. The series stylist did an unflattering job with Im Soo Hyang. Her look was flat & not as attractive as she really is so it was hard to see her as the super pretty. She also was not given much in the way of direction or something as she too often came across dim witted & dull. The premise was interesting & there were alot of good point about appearance, but the series was also heavy on being preachy about beauty standards & attitudes towards females. I was not fond of the OST. I wanted to like this, but it was a bit of a waste of time because of the pace & the flat characters. would not watch again, even for Cha Eun Woo
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You can't stop!
I am a huge fan of Cha Eun Woo! As I have seen all his dramas and I am curretly watching True Beauty, I slowly slowly discovering he has done a very good acting in this drama!Here you'll see a ganagam beauty (means one who has fixed hee face or any other body part to beacome beautiful) named Mi Rae! She isn't very preety neither is she average! Since childhood she ks only being bullied for her looks!
But then one day when she meets Do Kyung Seok, she realises what true beauty is! And then their chemistry starts!
If you are a fan of jealousy scenes this drama is best for you!
If you like dramas with little romance go and watch it it has only 1 passionate kiss that too in second last ep!
I really reccomend you to watch it!!! You'll love it for sure!
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beauty is not everything
this was my first Korean drama which i watched in 2017 ?and i watched it 3times in the same month.....i liked the story and the concept of the story how much one suffer who is not beautiful that much or feel insecure about himself , thinking about others...how they are watching me or thinking about me?this really happens in this real world too....but the ones who love you will always love you no matter how you look good bad beautiful. the leads were amazing,eun wu was amazing..the story of Kang mi rae was heart touching ????Was this review helpful to you?
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At first, in the first and second episodes especially, I wasn't in the 'love' stage, as I felt some of the story and acting was a little sloppy, but the performances in the episodes after that truly made up for the first two episodes.
I have seen a recurring theme that most K-Drama only have on season and sixteen episodes, considering its now 2020, I don't think there will be another season, but I still strongly suggest to anyone who likes romance to watch this!
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an entertaining watch overall
This drama is worth the watch for a certain audience. This is the first drama that I’ve wanted to watch all the way through in a long time and I do not regret it. It portrays the dark side of beauty standards really well and traversed darker areas that I wasn’t expecting the show to go in, which I do appreciate. The only downside I had while watching this drama is that it could be quite frustrating by feeling drawn out , alongside some minor frustrations with how they portrayed the main character. However, there is much to be learned by this show and it is worth the watch if you want to support a show that talked about difficult subjects. Overall 7/10 - not the best I’ve seen but certainly not the worst.Pros:
- good cinematography
-portrays real world issues well
-wasn’t afraid to talk about uncomfortable subjects
-the romance is cute
Cons:
-main character can be frustrating at times
-feels slow at certain points
-acting can be awkward in a few places
-chemistry is eh
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