My ID is Gangnam Beauty (2018)

Well-developed, thoughtful, heart-melting romance

One of the most well-developed, thoughtful story lines and cast of characters I've seen in a while.

Some random thoughts while I was watching and after:

- People judge each other so openly about their appearances, and it seems almost expected by the one being judged. Like the overweight girl in their circle of friends was barely fazed (at least externally) when the guys started commenting quite blatantly and harshly about her weight and needing to go on a diet. I feel like that would never be socially acceptable in the US. People do judge each other but it's not done so openly or set up on this high pedestal of ultimate importance like it is in Korea.

- I love all the other side stories and relationships. There are so many cute couples that are easy to ship.

- The show has perfect pacing with the story and character development, and I was impressed by how the writers were able to organize it to include satisfying side relationships alongside the major one.

- Do Kyung Seok is ultimate boyfriend goals. And can I just say, his mom is like "coolest mom of the year" award-worthy?

- My only complaint about this show is that it ends too quickly. I felt like it could've gone another 1-2 episodes to completely wrap up the side plots. And of course I could've done with more of Kyung Seok and Mi Rae and their adorableness overload! But overall it was a very satisfying ending.

Best quote:
"She's neither pretty nor ugly. She's just herself." -Do Kyung Seok

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MY ID IS GANGNAM BEAUTY is an amazing college drama, one of the best in the difficult task of showing how girls live the hard competition for getting boys attention, and how they use many methods, from innocent lies up to plastic surgery. The theme of lying is explored in all contexts, from politics to divorce, but in the end sincerity, symbolized by perfume, prevails in all of them. A lot of psychology is used in writing this screenplay, and the direction is unprecedented for the detailed reproduction of human emotional engagement, making each emotion to show in every scene in a way that is at the level of the best anime. The cuteness of the romance between the two leads at some point remembered me of anime masterpieces like Kimi Ni Todoke, and that is probably the greatest compliment you can do to a school drama. Awesome.

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This drama is one of the most progressive Korean drama I have seen. Talking about various mental health issues, beauty standards, feminism, body shaming, invasion of privacy, stalking this drama started out really well.

What really made me watch the show were the interesting storylines and the secondary characters. Sua, the second lead, Mi Rae's best friend, the class rep, their seniors, all of them had really interesting stories. I personally loved Sua's story. Very rarely you get to see such 3 dimensional antagonists.

What I don't like is the exact same reason. The secondary characters were so great that I felt least interested in the main leads. The main guy, never had a personality apart from being "Good Looking". His other moods were - Emo, brooding, or getting angry whenever our girl talked to any other guy.
I liked our main girl Mi Rae, she was still relatable and I understand that the whole point of the show was to develop a certain feeling of self love and show that as character development. But seeing her act stupidly, and wide eyed really made me cringe and skip forward a lot. They were seriously bland for most of it. If you make me least interested in the main leads then what is the point of the drama?

Some of the college scenes were nice, but I still felt that inspite of having progressive themes, the attractive male lead was shoved in our face. Anyways all the points is mostly for story and deducted for acting. Plus 1 for Sua.

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I really liked the plot, which I feel sent a very meaningful message to viewers, and caused me to become reflective as well. The main reason why I thought this drama was good is because of its message and story that it tells. Though some felt that Cha Eunwoo's acting was bad, I personally feel that he was just portraying his character's stoic and rigid personality, and it is not that he is unable to express emotions. Kang Mi Rae grew on me as well, even though I did not particularly like her at the start, the actress did a good job at portraying her character as well, and it allowed me to become understanding of her character. I also think that the other actors did good jobs as well.
TLDR, I'd recommend this drama mainly because the plot is meaningful, but also because the acting is good.

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Im Sohyung's play was really not weak!

Im Sohyung's play was really not weak!
Meera was a girl who suffered from severe lack of self confidence and this was completely understandable.
Mirae's self confidence and character were eaten and humiliated in all the years of his life! You didn't expect that would be sociable after the beauty procedure and start talking and laughing with everyone?
Like many of us, she has built a safe fence around herself and placed herself behind it. she is afraid of being judged. Mirae was only nineteen years old and her only lifelong friend was Hyun Joong. Now she has entered a bigger environment with a new character and her dark past has caused her to behave strangely. easy to trust, hesitate to defend her right and be polite in public. In difficult situations, he would leave the group and hide behind his safe fence.
We saw the growth of Mirae's character during the series. At the end of the series, Mirae had more social experiences.she did not run away from her problems and her self confidence had increased.
This is a correct evolution of personality.
Im Soohyung portrayed this evolution very well and it was tangible for me.
Please don't look so shallow

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Light-hearted and fun drama

To be honest, I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this series. It did take me over a year to finish (just took a break from watching kdramas at all) but I'm really glad I continued watching. Though the story isn't something very grand or complicated, it's really enjoyable to watch. It contains some serious themes surrounding appearance, (self-)love, friendship, etc. without diving too deep into them, which makes it very light-hearted overall. Before this I had just finished watching World of the Married which often left me feeling very upset regarding the heavy topics it discusses, so if you're looking for something that does the opposite I really recommend watching My ID is Gangnam Beauty.
The acting is good, nothing really outstanding but the actors are capable of making everything seem very believable. However, I kept in mind that this story is based on a webtoon so this results in the story and characters seeming a bit unrealistic/cartoonish at times (especially their obsession with looks and their ridiculous reactions where you'll just laugh at how silly it is).
I however LOVE LOVE the OST. It's so dreamy and it's one of those osts that doesn't make you feel annoyed any time it repeats.
I also consider this drama having quite a good rewatch value. Though the story is calmly paced, I can imagine putting this on on a rainy day and watching it with my bf.

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I thought this drama was excellent. Although the main character is a girl that got plastic surgery, the drama addresses issues about beauty and prejudice.

The plot is very interesting. The main couple is very cute together. They are so shy and awkward. You will definitely find yourself shipping them together. Aside from their love story, there are several other pots going on at the same time. There is a more sinister storyline with the character Soo Ah.

I think the characters were perfectly cast. I loved Im Soo Hyang and Cha Eun Woo as Kang Mi Rae and Do Kyung Suk. It was my first time seeing them in a drama. I will definitely check out their other work. Cha Eun Woo did a great job of acting as the aloof yet shy Do Kyung Suk. Im Soo Hyang really portrayed the heartache of being bullied from a young age. I did find myself crying during some scenes while watching this drama. If I cry during a drama then I will consider it good.

The music in this drama is so good. If you listen to K-pop then you will like the music in this drama. Artists that you can hear in this drama include MOMOLAND, HEIZE, BLACKPINK, EXO and BTS. The playlist is really catchy and I have already downloaded on Spotify.

I would definitely rewatch this drama. The main couple is so cute together, the other characters are not so annoying that you can't stand them, and the plot is very interesting. I would recommend this drama if you like school/college- based dramas like Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo.

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Everything about this drama captivated me. From the story to the characters. This drama did a very good job expressing the complex emotions of outward beauty that run our species. Everything about it was really well done.

The main leads were phenomenal. Every second the actress playing Mi Rae was on the screen, me heart melted. She was perfect for this role. Her whole appearance shouts sexy, but her character is not that. She is a shy, adorable girl. This alone is a great way to express one of the major themes of the drama, that appearances aren't always related to who that person is.

It's essentially taking the theme of Frankenstein, but adding a new twist to it. Instead of the monster being killed, what would of happened if he suddenly became beautiful? He would be the same person on the inside, but no longer shunned. How would that play out?

This drama is one of me top 3 favorite dramas right now. I still randomly think about it to this day.

I highly recommend this drama.

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To be honest, I didn't have particularly high expectations going into this drama and was pleasantly surprised. It's possible that my rating is a bit higher than it deserves because it was so much better than what I was expecting. I did enjoy it, though some of it was pretty rough around the edges story-wise. It was an interesting conceit: Young woman who grew up being teased for being ugly fixes the outside, but still has all the same insecurities and problems on the inside that she had before the surgery. Therefore, she has no coping skills/mechanisms for her new life as someone pretty enough to garner regular attention just for her looks. The story kept /almost/ introducing plots and then abandoning them very quickly, like they were afraid to full commit. Poor Cha Eun Woo. So much flat effect. I was not particularly familiar with him prior to this show but having seen him on promotions in some variety shows, I feel like the choices to make his character so flat effect don't really give him any time to shine here.

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Boring but I had fun

It was boring at times but generally entertaining. I think it gave a good message but I hated the part where the male lead was legit bragging about "not liking pretty girls" and flat out called the female lead ugly. That is not a flex?? It was a simple problem that could've been fixed with him saying, "You are beautiful to me. You just aren't the beauty standard." Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. the villian was extremely interesting and the actress portrayed her very well, I wanted to punch her and comfort her at the same time. I also liked how it was a turned into a revenge fantasy against self entitled nice guys every women has to deal with. Overall it was boring though, it got too mundane at times that I watched some parts by speeding up, so no rewatch value. The selling point is the message it gives and the lovely cast.

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I was hooked to this drama by episode 3/4. I waited impatiently every friday and saturday night for the subs. This is a nice, easy to watch drama. That’s not to say that it’s all fluff, the drama is about more than just the central romance. It tackles issues such as body image, self confidence, gender inequality and different forms of abuse.

The pacing was good, the story didn’t drag. The acting was good, the lead actors really embodied their characters and they had chemistry.

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The second female lead character was mean, self-centered and two-faced. It got very annoying how much she tried to interfere with the main couple. She had some serious issues. They do give some background at the end as to why she acts that way but while I did pity her a little I didn’t sympathise with her as much as I think the writers wanted me to.
It was refreshing though how the male lead saw right through her and didn’t buy her fake nice act.

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A drama that I think was created by the writers to really make the audience think about what we think about beauty and how we treat people who we think have it, and how we treat those people who we think do not have it. The characters in this drama really speak. Mi Rae gives insight into the deep pain and hurt of those who have suffered rejection, abuse, and torment from the prejudice and cruel behaviors of ignorant people who reign down hateful comments and behavior on people who look very different from others. The character of Do Kyung Seok is the exemplar of what a true friend is and how a boy can love a girl completely, honorably, and benevolently and not just because of her looks. Do Kyung Seok is the hope that we should all have in regards to what true love should be and how it should behave. Soo Ah shows us how the pursuit of beauty can go badly wrong and can cause self-infliction as well as social drama by employing undermining behaviors on others to maintain high status among peers. The drama does a good job in showing just how ugly, demeaning, and disgusting it looks to objectify women as only sex objects. Finally, I think the writers delivered an overarching message that seeking only to be beautiful on the outside is superficial compared to being healthy and well on the inside. Do Kyung Seok, Soo Ah, and Mi Rae were the three most beautiful characters in this story in regards to their physical appearance, yet they are the ones that had the most issues in regards to their own happiness and health----more so than any of their peers.
Due to the complexity of the topic and the many messages that I think the writers were trying to convey, the drama has a very slow start for those who are looking strictly for a good romance story; however by the half-way point of the series, the romance part of the drama kicks into high gear and I binged watched the last 8 episodes. This is a drama that has a satisfying ending and a great message.

I want to take a moment to say how proud I am of Im Soo Hyang who I first saw in the drama "Five Children". I loved her role in that series and I thought she was a wonderful young actress who I felt would only get better as she would eventually receive bigger and more complex roles. She did not disappoint in her performance as a female lead in a K Drama and I will continue to follow her career. Finally, I would like to say how much I loved the actors who played the parents for the character Mi Rae; they were realistic in their emotions for each other and for their daughter and so loving with each other and funny together. I also have to give a standing ovation to Park Joo Mi who played the mother of the character Do Kyung Seok. What a great performance she delivered. Her character was someone who truly exemplified beauty both outwardly and inwardly. Her character would also be the best example of someone to emulate in life because she became successful through hard work, determination, and keeping her values and integrity intact. She managed to find her success and regain the trust of her children in spite of the many obstacles, scars, disappointments and regrets that she faced.
If you can get through the beginning episodes spent on laying a foundation for the multitude of messages and stories lines that needed to be developed, then I think you will enjoy the second half and the ending. At the end you will have an overall feeling of contentment and gratification for having watched the show.

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