Lim Jun Kyung is a bright young girl that doesn't fit the standard ideals of beauty: she wears black, chunky frame glasses and has some skin issue and she's bullied by her classmates only because of these reasons. After suffering yet another humiliation, she reaches a building rooftop and, just when she decided she doesn't want to die, she's pulled away from the edge by an unknown young boy.
In the process, Jun Kyung loses her glasses so when she transfers to a new school she doesn't recognize
Lee Soo Ho as the one who saved her.
To be fair, Soo Ho doesn't recognize her either because in between the transfer Jun Kyung learned how to hide her 'imperfections' with makeup and she's now one of the prettiest girls in the new school. She's able to befriend Soo Ah and Soo Jin and finally gets to do all the things she couldn't before: hanging out at bars, going karaoke, and such.
More or less at the same time, another student transfers: Han Seo Jun, former k-pop trainee and also Soo Ho's ex-best friend. The two grew apart after the death of their common friend Se Yeon a year earlier and now can't stand each other.
Soo Ho is the only one who knows how Jun Kyung looks like without makeup and takes advantage of this leverage once she begs him to keep her secret. Meanwhile, both Soo Ho and Seo Jun start developing feelings for her, leading to some quite painful confrontations and recriminations about their past...
My Opinion👍
For the first half of the drama, I thought ASTRO's Cha Eun-Woo, who portrays Lee Soo Ho, have been relegated to the 'copy and paste' role he had in 'ID: Gangnam Beauty': the most beautiful, smartest guy in the school, motherless and with some deep relationship issues with his father (read, no relationship at all), taciturn and unapproachable. I wasn't convinced by his acting either, but I personally saw some major progress in that field from the 10th episode onward.
Han Seo Jun is basically the fairy godfather of the series: he genuinely likes Jun Kyung and stays by her side when she thinks Soo Ho doesn't like her back and even after they start to date.
He may look like a thug on the outside when he's actually a golden boy and a lot of the fans of the original webtoon and the series started the #TeamSooHo / #TeamSeoJun trend on social media.
Given the common topics of beauty standards and bullism, if we compared 'True Beauty' to 'ID: Gangnam Beauty' we get to see some differences in the protagonists as Jun Kyung may be aware she's not the typical beauty but she embraces it and tries her best to not let it affect her mood while Gangnam Beauty's Kang Mi Rae let all critics go under her skin and opts for surgery as soon as she was able to have it.
I totally agree with a comment I've read on Instagram, stating that Ju Kyung isn't actually ugly but she's the personification of what society considers 'failed beauty standards' - kdrama.scene1 wrote it oon her IG stories.
I think the main goal of this drama is to highlight how much society set beauty standards influence us.
Let's set aside all the clichè and overly exaggerated cringy scenes, I actually like how Ju Kyung's character changed and became more secure first thanks to makeup and later when she understood her friends would have accepted her either way.
What I couldn't stand was how childish and totally un-adult like the teachers and parents were, they have been reduced to caricatures and I think it ruined what could have been a great confrontation starter point.
Special mention goes to Seo Jun's squad: this group of loud and carefree friends, they were the show stealers and authors of some hilarious scenes. If I were the character of a drama, I'd hang out with them hands down!
Final thoughts: I'm still surprised by how much I liked 'True Beauty'. My sister and I kept on discussing how wicked and mean people can be, what could drive someone to behave in a certain way, and how the consequences of your action have an impact on others too.
I'd totally recommend the view and, while the romance side was cute and heart-melting, I'd suggest you focus more on the important and serious topic shared.
Rating: 4¾/5
Ph: hancinema.net and screenshot
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