Marshmallow-Chocoholic
Europe
True Beauty; “ A Love And Hate Relationship”
Let’s be honest. The original webtoon of “ True Beauty” has always had either a “ love and hate” relationship even amongst fans; the main heroine has little character growth, her relationships and decisions are questionable ,and the storyline hits a major snag after the halfway point as well.
Respectfully we should always try to take a step-back when watched a drama adapted from an original webtoon, novel or a reboot as a standalone production; writers often make very different decisions ( whether for better or worse) than the original creator with either storyline, themes or characters, and it is certain to say that writer Lee Shi Eun , did make some necessary and unnecessary changes in TVN’s latest eponymous drama adaption of the webtoon.
The biggest change to note is the predominant setting of the drama on our female lead Lim Ju Kyung ( Moon Ga Young) in high school for a major proportion of the series. Whilst naturally this did see the series brush over some notably darker issues of bullying, abuse and academic pressure, this also gave writer Shi Eun more playing ground with the joys and delights of intrinsic “ teen angst” and overused teen drama cliches. From the evident love interests of Suho ( Cha Eun Woo) and Han Seo Jun ( Hwang In Yeop) for our female lead, to other issues of bullying and love rivals on top, Shi Eun pulls at all the stops to make True Beauty, an overly cliche and “ sugarsweet” romance drama with more and more ridiculous tropes and scenarios as the episodes progress.
Nonetheless it is wrong to write off that the show didn’t do anything well either, in particular towards our actors.
Whilst Ga Young did have a couple of questionable acting moments, for a major proportion of the series, she perfectly captured the awkwardness, humour and more angst-ridden moments of our female lead. Similarly whilst Eun Woo is certainly a fairly veteran actor within romances , some of his past “ leading man” performances have come off as a little “ wooden” and lacklustre . It wouldn’t be lying to say that his role as Suho doesn’t not stand out as much as some of his previous works , however, it is prominent that Eun Woo did add a level of genuine heart and comedy to his role as Suho as well. Notably rising star Hwang In Yeop ‘s performance as Seo Jun has caught a lot of attention by viewers and fans with a surprising level of awkwardness, emotion and angst behind Seo Jun as a fleshed-out character, something which certainly must be given praise for as well.
This of course does move on to the show’s tackling of characterisation throughout the series, with some notably mixed results by the ending . The biggest elephant in the room must be addressed through the character of Kang Soo Jin ( Park Yoo Na). Similar to her original webtoon character, Soo Jin is sighted as a “ natural beauty” who lives in an abusive household and has a complicated relationship with Su Ho, however, the most notable change from the webtoon occurs within her 180- degree personality change in the beginning from a conniving social media influencer in the webtoon , to a studious and angelic friend for Ji Kyung during the drama. Honestly, Soo Jun’s character introduction had a lot of potential in comparison to her webtoon counterpart , with a seemingly strong of morality and strength by notably helping Ji Kyung out from an awkward situation during their journey to school on the bus before even getting to know her.
As most romantic cliches have proven, however, female animosity is the adored cliche of screenwriters, and it soon provides a downwards slope for Soo Jin as both a character and an individual as well. It is important to advocate that it is not necessarily Soo Jin’s feelings towards Soo Ho which make her suddenly a “ terrible person” over the course of the series, but rather how screenwriter Shi Eun unevenly mismatched Soo Jin’s later actions and decisions ( especially towards Ji-Kyung) near the finale.Whilst Shi Eun attempted to amend this in the final episodes, the damage had already been done quite irrevocably, possibly making Kang Soo Jin, the epitome of writing a terrible second female lead.
On a more positive note, however, the most prominent praise for characterisation must be given to Ju Kyung’s development as our heroine ( especially in comparison to the webtoon). Although it was a little painful that Ju Kyung did not talk out about her more dire decision in episode 1 to her family and still retained oblivious naivety at times ( stereotypically to Soo Jin’s feelings) , she did gradually begin to learn to grow more self-confidence and respect for herself as an individual ; something which is an important stage for any healthy relationship.
Equally Suho upon first glance, was intrinsically cliche and effectively a “ Mary- sue” of the drama and webtoon world ; overly” good-looking” , stylish and intelligent, however, alongside Seo Jun, Suho had some notable character growth as a character passed off as “impassive and aloof”, to being a notably non-judgemental individual towards physical appearances, but rather assessing someone based upon their individual personalities and actions . ( Perhaps the one aspect which would have intrinsically explained this more to
watchers, would have been to have the included the key aspect of Suho’s background as a ‘ half Japanese-Korean’ , resulting in him often being bullied from a young age and determining physical appearance as meaningless ; something clearly left out of the show in order to avoid controversy by Shi Eun.) From opening up about some aspects of his difficult past and childhood, his buddying friendship to blossoming feelings for Ju Kyung as well as refreshingly partially- reconciling with Seo Jun, did allow Suho to have some decent characterisation(despite the array of cliches that the show threw in our way) .
So, this leaves us on the big question; is it actually worth watching? True Beauty will always have a love-hate relationship with drama and webtoon fans - the storyline is sugary sweet ( with little sense of realism or grittiness despite the “ angst” apparent in the storyline), the tropes overtake actual story investment and some of the characters are fairly abandoned by the ending of the drama. Nevertheless there are some good things to note about the show; the OST is fairly catchy, the cast help to flesh- out all of our characters and the majority of our main protagonists have some deeper character development over the course of the series. Therefore it is fair to say that it really depends what you are seeking from this show; a cute, fluffy and unoriginal teen drama which you can binge watch? Then, definitely. Something to actually invest time into an original portrayal of the difficulties of romantic relationships as students? Then, probably not as there are certainly better dramas out there to consider.
Respectfully we should always try to take a step-back when watched a drama adapted from an original webtoon, novel or a reboot as a standalone production; writers often make very different decisions ( whether for better or worse) than the original creator with either storyline, themes or characters, and it is certain to say that writer Lee Shi Eun , did make some necessary and unnecessary changes in TVN’s latest eponymous drama adaption of the webtoon.
The biggest change to note is the predominant setting of the drama on our female lead Lim Ju Kyung ( Moon Ga Young) in high school for a major proportion of the series. Whilst naturally this did see the series brush over some notably darker issues of bullying, abuse and academic pressure, this also gave writer Shi Eun more playing ground with the joys and delights of intrinsic “ teen angst” and overused teen drama cliches. From the evident love interests of Suho ( Cha Eun Woo) and Han Seo Jun ( Hwang In Yeop) for our female lead, to other issues of bullying and love rivals on top, Shi Eun pulls at all the stops to make True Beauty, an overly cliche and “ sugarsweet” romance drama with more and more ridiculous tropes and scenarios as the episodes progress.
Nonetheless it is wrong to write off that the show didn’t do anything well either, in particular towards our actors.
Whilst Ga Young did have a couple of questionable acting moments, for a major proportion of the series, she perfectly captured the awkwardness, humour and more angst-ridden moments of our female lead. Similarly whilst Eun Woo is certainly a fairly veteran actor within romances , some of his past “ leading man” performances have come off as a little “ wooden” and lacklustre . It wouldn’t be lying to say that his role as Suho doesn’t not stand out as much as some of his previous works , however, it is prominent that Eun Woo did add a level of genuine heart and comedy to his role as Suho as well. Notably rising star Hwang In Yeop ‘s performance as Seo Jun has caught a lot of attention by viewers and fans with a surprising level of awkwardness, emotion and angst behind Seo Jun as a fleshed-out character, something which certainly must be given praise for as well.
This of course does move on to the show’s tackling of characterisation throughout the series, with some notably mixed results by the ending . The biggest elephant in the room must be addressed through the character of Kang Soo Jin ( Park Yoo Na). Similar to her original webtoon character, Soo Jin is sighted as a “ natural beauty” who lives in an abusive household and has a complicated relationship with Su Ho, however, the most notable change from the webtoon occurs within her 180- degree personality change in the beginning from a conniving social media influencer in the webtoon , to a studious and angelic friend for Ji Kyung during the drama. Honestly, Soo Jun’s character introduction had a lot of potential in comparison to her webtoon counterpart , with a seemingly strong of morality and strength by notably helping Ji Kyung out from an awkward situation during their journey to school on the bus before even getting to know her.
As most romantic cliches have proven, however, female animosity is the adored cliche of screenwriters, and it soon provides a downwards slope for Soo Jin as both a character and an individual as well. It is important to advocate that it is not necessarily Soo Jin’s feelings towards Soo Ho which make her suddenly a “ terrible person” over the course of the series, but rather how screenwriter Shi Eun unevenly mismatched Soo Jin’s later actions and decisions ( especially towards Ji-Kyung) near the finale.Whilst Shi Eun attempted to amend this in the final episodes, the damage had already been done quite irrevocably, possibly making Kang Soo Jin, the epitome of writing a terrible second female lead.
On a more positive note, however, the most prominent praise for characterisation must be given to Ju Kyung’s development as our heroine ( especially in comparison to the webtoon). Although it was a little painful that Ju Kyung did not talk out about her more dire decision in episode 1 to her family and still retained oblivious naivety at times ( stereotypically to Soo Jin’s feelings) , she did gradually begin to learn to grow more self-confidence and respect for herself as an individual ; something which is an important stage for any healthy relationship.
Equally Suho upon first glance, was intrinsically cliche and effectively a “ Mary- sue” of the drama and webtoon world ; overly” good-looking” , stylish and intelligent, however, alongside Seo Jun, Suho had some notable character growth as a character passed off as “impassive and aloof”, to being a notably non-judgemental individual towards physical appearances, but rather assessing someone based upon their individual personalities and actions . ( Perhaps the one aspect which would have intrinsically explained this more to
watchers, would have been to have the included the key aspect of Suho’s background as a ‘ half Japanese-Korean’ , resulting in him often being bullied from a young age and determining physical appearance as meaningless ; something clearly left out of the show in order to avoid controversy by Shi Eun.) From opening up about some aspects of his difficult past and childhood, his buddying friendship to blossoming feelings for Ju Kyung as well as refreshingly partially- reconciling with Seo Jun, did allow Suho to have some decent characterisation(despite the array of cliches that the show threw in our way) .
So, this leaves us on the big question; is it actually worth watching? True Beauty will always have a love-hate relationship with drama and webtoon fans - the storyline is sugary sweet ( with little sense of realism or grittiness despite the “ angst” apparent in the storyline), the tropes overtake actual story investment and some of the characters are fairly abandoned by the ending of the drama. Nevertheless there are some good things to note about the show; the OST is fairly catchy, the cast help to flesh- out all of our characters and the majority of our main protagonists have some deeper character development over the course of the series. Therefore it is fair to say that it really depends what you are seeking from this show; a cute, fluffy and unoriginal teen drama which you can binge watch? Then, definitely. Something to actually invest time into an original portrayal of the difficulties of romantic relationships as students? Then, probably not as there are certainly better dramas out there to consider.
Was this review helpful to you?
