This review may contain spoilers
I really don't know whether I can actually write a review for this without giving any spoilers. But I'll try, so here we go. This. Drama. Is. HILARIOUS. I mean, I know different people like different kinds of Humor but this one would definitely tickle your funny bone. Whether it's Hwang Tae Kyung's duck pout or Go Mi Nam's aunt's butt slapping or Jeremy's sexual orientation dilemmas or lots of other things that might get to you. But it'll surely make you laugh! The story is awesome and refreshing in the most cliche way. A girl dresses up as a guy and works with guys and falls for one of those guys. But out of all Gender-Bender stories, this one would definitely stay with you forever. I mean, I've literally had moments where I suddenly zone out and start thinking about random scenes from this drama and laugh hysterically, and then people eye me like, "Did you just have a crazy-woman episode?" and I can't explain it to them because they just won't watch the effing drama! I mean, come on, it's weird explaining.
Coming to acting. EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THAT DRAMA IS EPIC. Like, seriously, all the characters, even Jung Yong Hwa (playing Shin Woo) who people keep dissing saying he's a horrible actor, is just EPIC in you're beautiful. The actors playing even the smallest characters are epic. The music is mind-blowing. Definitely on my top 5 Korean drama OST (and you know how much competition the K-drama OSTs have). "Without Words" by Park Shin Hye has so much meaning to it, it just gives me goosebumps. Whoever wrote that song, HATS OFF! I have watched this drama twice and keep searching funny clips on YouTube and rewatching them all the time.
So, in conclusion, everyone should watch this drama. It's a rite of passage for every Korean drama watcher. But I guess most of us have watched it already, but still. If you haven't, you should definitely put this one on your PTW list :)
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You're Beautiful conveys both so well :D
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The story, the characters, the music,the actors, i will never forget this drama, it actually opened my apetite for dramas.
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Let me start with the plot. It isn't the most original of all, but I don't consider this a flaw, per se. Few things are more satisfying for a romantic than a woman compelled by circumstances to live under the same roof with 3 good-looking men. Season this with music, humour and a lot of misunderstandings, and you have the perfect material for a great drama.
My problem lies with dialogues and execution. The first are childish and repetitive, the second is average. I can see for myself that the actors are good looking, but that's the extent of their charm.
Park Shin Hye is insufferable. She displays two emotions only here: surprise - round eyes and O-shaped lips - and desperation - a river of tears. Her character has no real development: a nun who changes her love for god with love for a star, without learning anything whatsoever from the experience, neither wisdom, nor self-assurance or pride. One more apology from her mouth and I'd have strangled her. And don't let me started on the way she walks, as if she were trying to apologize for her existence too.
Out of the three guys, the only acting chop I'm ready to salvage is Lee Hong Ki's. He looks like a puppy, but is endearing and changes throughout the show. Jang Geun Suk uses too many exaggerated facial expressions and Kang Shin Woo too few. The result is forced. One is reminded every minute of the show that these people are staging a drama.
The character of Uee is your usual spiteful duck, whose purpose is none other than add the nth foot walking all over humble Go Mi Nam.
And Grey Eminence the lost twin brother must be the most useless character ever created, who comes back, takes all the glory he did nothing to obtain without as much as a thank you, and even has the guts to start an affair with a woman who has made his sister's life a living hell.
I have admitted before at not being a K-pop fan, therefore I didn't really like the music. But this is my problem, and it would be unfair to judge an original OST only based upon my taste. I thought some songs were used too often and they annoyed me in the long run.
Re-watch value is obviously in line with the general liking of a drama. If one has fallen in love with it, one will probably want to revive the experience. If this is not the case, why re-watch something average when tons of other dramas are still to be seen?
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My biggest turn off was how they dressed/styled Park Shin Hye. Since watching You’re Beautiful I have watched Coffee Prince and Yoon Eun Hye was such a more convincing boy. Even back when I had watched this drama, before having seen Coffee Prince, I was disappointed with the effort they put into Park Shin Hye as a boy. Shin Hye is definitely feminine and beautiful even with neutral makeup and the short hair, it wasn't enough to disguise her. I wanted more effort in the styles they dressed her in, though I couldn't honestly pinpoint any specific ideas. It just fell flat for me. Also, her actions and mannerisms weren't masculine. I know it is a TV show and I should suspend my disbelief and just accept that the members of the band would look at her with her short hair and accept that she was a boy. But I can’t, she was still just too pretty for me. Anyway, even though I can’t really give meaningful ideas on how this could be improved, it was what made me not emotionally invest in the show as much as I could have.
The thing I liked the most was the Bromance between the band members. I thought they cast the band perfectly. Each one represented a different quality/personality. Their interactions with one another were very enjoyable. They were like brothers and best friends throughout the whole of the show. Jeremy was so adorable and innocent. His fun loving attitude made him my favorite of the band members themselves. Though I think my most favorite thing about him was the fact that he read the fan-fiction about him and the other band members, that was just an absolute hoot. I like that Kim Shin Woo was the calm one, the voice of reason. He balanced out Jeremy's eccentricities and Hwang Tae Kyung's diva/narcissistic personality. Then Hwang Tae Kyung was the perfect leader role, he was pushy and needy but also really did have a desire for the band to succeed. The writers did a great job with the band as a whole.
Kim Shin Woo also gave me yet another seriously heartbreakingly painful case of second male lead syndrome. I wanted him to get the girl so badly. However, it frustrated me how he went about getting the girl. His plan of attack had so much to do with why he didn't end up with Go Mi Nyu. I wanted him to get the courage to talk to her long before he confronted her in the chapel. If he had been more open with her and let her know that he was in on the secret, well it could have been a totally different story. So I both loved his character’s story and disliked it.
I also appreciated Uee in this drama. She did a fantastic job with portraying her role. I totally believed that she was a spoiled brat who had the whole nation fooled. Additionally, I think she did a great job as her part as a villain. Though I think the best part was her redemption wasn't completely out of left field, she grew as a character but didn't escape the natural boundaries they’d set up in the beginning.
However, out of everything I think I loved the music the most. This is only one of four OST’s that I’ve actually purchased. It helped that the songs were actually performed by the actors, it gave it a very real feel throughout the show itself. If A.N. Jell was an actual band I would buy their music in a heartbeat.
Though I do really like this drama, it just never really reeled me in through the feels. I think it had the most to do with it being a gender-bender story. I just couldn't completely invest myself in the story as it unfolded because I found it so very unbelievable. But that doesn't stop me from giving it a high rating, in the end it was an enjoyable ride and I’m glad I watched it.
Noona's Rating
Overall: 7.8 (I rated this 4 stars on DramaFever.com)
Story/Writing: 8
Cast/Actors: 8
OST: 9
Sets/Costumes: 7
Feels: 7
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The thing is: a good drama for me doesn't need to be filled with moments that will make you suffer with the characters and it can't be that foreseeable. And You're Beautiful it's just this. You can fully understand the depth of the characters within some episodes, and if you try to take a guess on what they will do next, probably you'll be right.
There's no need to keep hammering a single point in the story, and still, they do this all the time. At one point, I got tired of gritting my teeth and screaming to the screen, cause I had already seen what was happening another billion times. It's repetitive, and even though I've kept rooting for one specific character, I knew since the beginning he wasn't going to get the ending I wanted, because, once again, the story is foreseeable.
The plot was a good one to work with - it never was supposed to be a deep story, but it could be better than what we had. The drama could be finished with only ten episodes, excluding unnecessary and dull interactions between the characters and mysteries that aren't really that mysterious. The music is ok, the few tracks we have are good, but I find myself really annoyed by the fact that, one, it seems like we only have five songs along the whole drama (and three of them are different versions of the same track), and two, why do they put such a tense instrumental in moments that doesn't have the need to it?
The best point for me is the acting - all the actors besides Park Shin Hye did a fairly good job. I kept wondering, why does she represents like this in this drama? I mean, Heartstrings was ok, Heirs too, and Pinocchio is her best drama without doubts, but her acting in You Are Beautiful annoys me so much. I don't find it cute, neither funny, nor girly. It's just annoying and the scenes I liked the most were the ones she wasn't trying so hard (episode 12, the greenhouse part, is one of my very few examples). Maybe she matured since then, and for me this one is her worst drama.
I can't say the drama isn't funny. It was one of the few things that saved it for me. I laughed so hard in some parts that it wasn't all lost. And if I ignored the existence of two of the three main male characters while Go Minam was interacting with one of them, I could go through the scene without any unneeded anger. It was silly, and sometimes fun, but not my piece of cake.
All in all, I would never rewatch it, but if you like silly thingies (and amorous triangles), if you're bored and want something to entertain yourself a little bit (only until the very first cringeworthy moment), you may want to give You Are Beautiful a try.
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Story: 8/10
The characters and actors did a really good job. The only character that seemed flimsy was male female lead. Ugh, so much aegyo. You get over it. Everyone else was really good. I enjoyed the witchy-ness from the lead antagonist.
Characters/actors 9/10
Music was outstanding. It will get stuck inside of your head. Awesome. Loved it.
Music 10/10
Rewatch? I wouldnt. Not because its bad, but because I don't rewatch.
Overall 8/10
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In Short: Fun situational comedy, but the heroine in this drama is far too idiotic for my taste. The boys are great though.
Pros: Fun and silly premise. The boys are great, though the idol house seems unrealistically great.
Cons: Super-idiot female lead who constantly speaks formally to everyone. Does not get less annoying with time.
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While I liked the concept of the genderbend plot and the way it was used, I felt like sometimes it tried to be too "draggy" and some situations were questionable. Why?
1. Go Mi Nyu's being a "nun in-training" didn't manage to excuse her overall Marry Sue-ish dullness. I understand up to innocence, naivety and inexperience, but a naive and innocent person doesn't particularly also need to be dull. Sure, I can believe it up to the point she believes all of what she is told and is easily manipulated (which was a pretty funny element and lead to interesting situations in her case, actually), but I can't forgive her lack of deduction and connection skills where "information" is served to her on a silver plater. I found it an incoherence in her character to be able to "read" between the lines in certain situations, but not in others, maybe more important ones.
2. Go Mi Nam's character. Despite him being the cause and trigger of all the following situations presented in the drama and he presumably cares a lot for his twin sister, I found it disappointing that he never made a "proper" appereance where we actually could have been able to figure out what he thought and where he stands.
3. Shin Woo's relationship with Go Mi Nyu. While I do like Shin Woo's character, I never got an actual "genuine" feeling from his relationship with Go Mi Nyu. I kept feeling that he was getting "used" throghout all the drama to trigger certain events or simply to make us feel sorry for him... Which.. wasn't very nice thing to do...i don't think Shin Woo got a very big character development, which is a real shame. (Yonghwa FTW though)
4. While definitely part of the comedy and it was hilarious most of the time, Tae Kyung's self centered attitude was also often annoying (exclusively) in the last part of the show, simply because the situation didn't require his sassiness.
5. Most of the scenes in the last 2 episodes felt "useless". I did really appreciate it's attempt to close up all unresolved issues, however, but I didnt find necessary the whole dramatic dispute between the main pairing of the show. BUT, in the end I was able to forgive it because the last 10 minutes of episode 16 made me fall into a deep case of giggling and fangirling. *wink wink*
Now the good parts ! As I said before, "You're Beautiful" offers a type of comedy that can't possibly not make you end up giggling in a corner, but it's also not only about that, It has an involving plot regarding other serious issues too, how kpop idols live and maybe a bit of reality on kpop fanclubs and how idols have to deal with the reporters, which was a very nice inthrough.
Character wise, Tae Kyung definitely got the most character development, and I never imagined it any other way around. It's funny now when looking back to the first few episodes. While I did complain a bit about Shin Woo, however, I do consider Jeremy also had his share of development, despite being a comic relief, and was able to provide us with his own moment of "maturity". The side cast was also extremely enjoyable for their roles.
The cast was great. Excepting when Park Shin Hye seemed to have ler legs tied when walking, I don't even know who even came with the idea of making her walk like that...xD but even she did a good job on portraying what she needed to portray. And I always remain fascinated by her sobbing skills at least in this drama. Jang Geun Suk's acting was probably my main source of entertaining alongside Hongki's. JGS's evil smirks and jealous sulky expressions and Hongki's laughs and weirded out, desperate faces made me not able to look at them without cracking a smile. I don't really know what to say about UEE, but she was good enough to make me believe in her He Yi's "bitchie" attitude.
The OST is amazing. enough said.
And my final vote is 8.5. I would have really wanted to give it more, but because of those things above that quite bothered me in the end I couldn't be THAT biased and lean towards the 9. But 8.5 is still a pretty good rating ! I recommend it to everybody, or at least all of you who like romantic comedies or are into "otome games". You'll understand what I mean, after you watch. *wink wink*
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