Anjelle
Nothing new and yet I watched it from start to finish.
As of today, True Beauty is the only drama from this season that I've finished despite many others finishing earlier on in the season. Other than Mr. Queen, it's the only one I consistently kept up with. This is despite the fact that it had the weakest, most basic story of every other drama that I was watching. And that isn't to say the others were bad - there were plenty of unique, fun dramas that grabbed my attention more. And yet here I am. Let me explain.
I went into True Beauty without the intention of liking it. I only wanted to try it out because I tend to give most dramas a one episode trial before deciding if I should watch them, and to my shock and horror, I kinda sorta enjoyed the first two episodes. It was that turn-your-brain-off kind of show that I need every now and then when work gets hard or life gets stressful. While the pandemic and 3-month-and-continuing lockdown messing with my mental health, this drama was so far from reality that it allowed me to forget for 2 1/2 hours of the week everything that was going on outside my door. And so I kept watching it. When other dramas started to lose their humour in favour of telling a story, when plots grew bland and lost what I was enjoying in the earlier episodes, and whenever I needed a pick-me-up, True Beauty came around midweek and gave me that happy moment that I couldn't find anywhere else.
True Beauty is nothing new. The plot is small and shallow and, having read about half of what's out of the webcomic previously, they changed a lot of aspects of the original story. And I mean a lot. I understand how upsetting that can be to fans of the source material because there were points that I, myself, went "wait, but that shouldn't happen, he was like THIS in the comic--" It's easy to get frustrated by that, but it's also easy to see why that was done. The story that needed to be told had to fit entirely within a 16 episode window. Webcomics aren't really known for their well-contained stories, and to keep it clean and simple changes are always made. After the first few weeks, I didn't really mind the changes. It's important to separate the webcomic and the drama going into either one of them. You can enjoy them on their own, but comparing them might leave you frustrated.
The plot is simple and basic but it stays fun and engaging throughout. Coming from the director that worked on Extraordinary You, it maintains that fun, silly atmosphere that makes both shows a treat to watch, even when nothing is happening and we're just watching characters go throughout their days. It doesn't take itself seriously, and that makes it easy to like. When watching it, I honestly felt like the characters were living in the world of a webtoon just as they were in Extraordinary You, and suddenly all the silly comments and over-the-top gestures made a lot of sense. The characters, while different from the source material, were charming. Whether it's the romance between her older sister and teacher who play role-reversal with typical kdrama stereotypes right up until the bitter end, Seo Jun and Su Ho whose friendship is one of the most easygoing and likeable I've ever seen between rivals in a love triangle, or any one of the students who are shown throughout, it was hard to dislike anyone. Even if they were cringy and hard to watch at times. I think the characters are one of the drama's strengths. They may not be too deep and their stories are ones we've seen before, but even as paper-thin as they are we see character development and changes throughout their stories. And can I just say props to Seo Jun for being one of the least petty SML I've seen in a long time.
Let's be honest, it's not for everybody. It's not a melodramatic love thriller. It's not a serious high school romance. There's no fantasy, even if it feels like the characters are living in a webtoon. The issues brought up are only lightly touched on and aren't delved into too deeply. If you're looking for something that will move you emotionally, you're not going to find it here. But if what you want is something stupid, silly and fun to take you away from the sorry state of the world in a time where we're spending our days staring at the same four walls, I think this is the perfect fit.
It's a story that does cliches well, that has a lot of heart and just a little plot, and I loved every minute of it.
I went into True Beauty without the intention of liking it. I only wanted to try it out because I tend to give most dramas a one episode trial before deciding if I should watch them, and to my shock and horror, I kinda sorta enjoyed the first two episodes. It was that turn-your-brain-off kind of show that I need every now and then when work gets hard or life gets stressful. While the pandemic and 3-month-and-continuing lockdown messing with my mental health, this drama was so far from reality that it allowed me to forget for 2 1/2 hours of the week everything that was going on outside my door. And so I kept watching it. When other dramas started to lose their humour in favour of telling a story, when plots grew bland and lost what I was enjoying in the earlier episodes, and whenever I needed a pick-me-up, True Beauty came around midweek and gave me that happy moment that I couldn't find anywhere else.
True Beauty is nothing new. The plot is small and shallow and, having read about half of what's out of the webcomic previously, they changed a lot of aspects of the original story. And I mean a lot. I understand how upsetting that can be to fans of the source material because there were points that I, myself, went "wait, but that shouldn't happen, he was like THIS in the comic--" It's easy to get frustrated by that, but it's also easy to see why that was done. The story that needed to be told had to fit entirely within a 16 episode window. Webcomics aren't really known for their well-contained stories, and to keep it clean and simple changes are always made. After the first few weeks, I didn't really mind the changes. It's important to separate the webcomic and the drama going into either one of them. You can enjoy them on their own, but comparing them might leave you frustrated.
The plot is simple and basic but it stays fun and engaging throughout. Coming from the director that worked on Extraordinary You, it maintains that fun, silly atmosphere that makes both shows a treat to watch, even when nothing is happening and we're just watching characters go throughout their days. It doesn't take itself seriously, and that makes it easy to like. When watching it, I honestly felt like the characters were living in the world of a webtoon just as they were in Extraordinary You, and suddenly all the silly comments and over-the-top gestures made a lot of sense. The characters, while different from the source material, were charming. Whether it's the romance between her older sister and teacher who play role-reversal with typical kdrama stereotypes right up until the bitter end, Seo Jun and Su Ho whose friendship is one of the most easygoing and likeable I've ever seen between rivals in a love triangle, or any one of the students who are shown throughout, it was hard to dislike anyone. Even if they were cringy and hard to watch at times. I think the characters are one of the drama's strengths. They may not be too deep and their stories are ones we've seen before, but even as paper-thin as they are we see character development and changes throughout their stories. And can I just say props to Seo Jun for being one of the least petty SML I've seen in a long time.
Let's be honest, it's not for everybody. It's not a melodramatic love thriller. It's not a serious high school romance. There's no fantasy, even if it feels like the characters are living in a webtoon. The issues brought up are only lightly touched on and aren't delved into too deeply. If you're looking for something that will move you emotionally, you're not going to find it here. But if what you want is something stupid, silly and fun to take you away from the sorry state of the world in a time where we're spending our days staring at the same four walls, I think this is the perfect fit.
It's a story that does cliches well, that has a lot of heart and just a little plot, and I loved every minute of it.
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