DRAMA|True Beauty — First Impressions (Ep 1-2)

HI BAYOG FAM! It’s yo’ girl, Mintyyyy~ And yes, that’s right. I’m finally back with a drama post. I know. Real People Stuffs and dramas are ‘sposed to be my thing, but I’ve been neglecting it. Again, I put dramas on hold since like March cuz all my dramas were too serious, dark, and heavy. Literally my last 8 series were back to back series that involved psychopathic killers. I like keeping a balance when I read or watch stuff. I needed a brighter drama to balance it out, but there wasn’t any that I really found interesting. Also, I just hadn’t really been in the mood to watch anything. That’s why I spent the past 9 months mostly reading manga/manhwa/webtoons and novels instead. Anyway, I already told you how much I loved the webtoon [True Beauty]. So of course I would be covering the long awaited live action drama series! I figured it was a great excuse to start getting back into my K-Drama grind.

I planned on this being a quick first impressions post on the first two episodes since those are the only aired episodes so far (at the time of me writing this post anyway). However, there is alot of stuff to unpack since I did want to compare it to the webtoon. While the bros have 3 episode tests for their anime series, y’all know I do 5-6 episodes for my dramas. So I’ll be sure to be back with a more proper assessment and comparison when we get there~ I’m also going to warn you that I’m hella out of it. So I’m sorry if I’m just kind of incoherently rambling or not articulating my points too well…

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Again, keep in mind that this drama is an adaptation of the popular webtoon of the same name. While True Beauty is the official English title, the original Korean title is 여신강림, “Descent of a Goddess” or “Descent of an Angel”. It’s also known as “Secret of an Angel”. Like I said in my previous post, I was a big fan of the webtoon. So I am familiar with the original story and characters. So of course I’ve been hyped for this drama since when it was first announced ages ago. It’s also expected that I’ll do some comparisons. I’ll be touching on just a few things in today’s post. Of course, proper comparisons will be in the next post after my 5-6 episode test~

Another note: I could not take screenshots from Viki. They’ve implemented copyright protection that makes the image just appear as a black screen. So I just tried getting whatever screen grabs I could from the teasers on YouTube.

Synopsis:
Ever since she was little, Im Jugyeong has always been teased, criticized, and bullied over her appearance. It led to her having a complex in regards to her appearance. Now a high school student, Jugyeong is traumatized from being bullied and humiliated over her looks. Jugyeong ends up learning about the world of make up through online posts and tutorials. Thus she learns to use make up to hide her natural face. She’s basically a pro at it as she basically transforms herself into a goddess. Jugyeong finally has a fresh start after moving and transferring to a new school. Now, she’s recognized as a beautiful goddess. She keeps her natural bare face a secret. Now what will happen to Jugyeong when she starts to get involved with two of the hottest guys in school? Will her secret be found out? Will their opinions about her change? Or will they see her for her true beauty?

(I know…it sounds corny as hell.. I’m bad at writing summaries…)

Genres/Themes: Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life, Drama, Shoujo, Idol, School Life
Network: tVN
Episodes: 16
Status: Currently Airing (Dec 9, 2020 – Jan 28, 2021)
Watch It: [Viki]

⚠️[!!!TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNINGS!!!]⚠️

Before you start this series, please know that this series does contain and portray some sensitive topics and scenarios including:
-Bullying
-Depression
-Suicide

[Warning: There May Be Some Spoilers Ahead]
⚠️The above topics will be discussed ahead⚠️

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CAST

I’m legitimately surprised. I just realized Moon Ga Young was the little sister from Heartstrings. She was like a little 15 year old kid, and now she’s all grown up! (I know… I’m officially an ajumma, but damn…) Anyway, Moon Ga Young is actually really pretty. I’m ok with her acting. However, I do find it a bit too extra and cringey for my liking. I don’t really think that’s her fault though. Rather, I think it’s more how they wrote and wanted to portray the drama version of Jugyeong. I actually had some doubts of the live action drama when the first teasers dropped. Particularly because of the “ugly” version of Jugyeong. In the teasers the “natural” face looked like it was obviously make up. For the [first teaser] I saw, it didn’t even look like she was “ugly” or had any skin problems. The eyebrows really bothered me most I think. Especially in some other teasers I saw. Like even though Jugyeong’s natural and original brows are thicker and darker before her makeover, it still looked too neat and clean to me. Basically it looked like she already had her brows done. However, it actually did seem to look more natural and decent in the actual episode. Although, it still looked like it was somewhat already cleaned up brows. I was expecting more obvious messy and bushy brows. There is some noticeable differences between drama and webtoon Jugyeong. They definitely invested more into Jugyeong’s background and cause of her complex with her appearance. We’ll get into that in a bit though.

There’s only one little thing that bugs me about drama Jugyeong though. It sounds to me that Moon Gayoung is using a constantly forced timid and sweet baby voice to portray Jugyeong. I assume it’s to show how sweet, nice, naïve, and innocent Jugyeong is. However, it just sounded really forced to me. I also just found it somewhat annoying since it was used constantly as Jugyeong’s default voice. Look, I know people’s voices change when they’re speaking, depending on who they’re speaking to, their moods, situations, etc. I myself tend to talk in a higher pitched, quiet, and sweeter aegyo voice at times. That’s at times though. It’s usually sometimes when I’m nervous, excited, happy, or messing with my friends. That’s how it usually is for most people (at least every Asian girl I know). With it sounding obviously forced, it just seemed painfully fake to me and just annoyed me. It was just a bit too much… even for me. Mind you, I purposely do [extra cringey aegyo] with my family when we joke around. It made it a bit hard for me to connect to drama Jugyeong as a character. I do believe Jugyeong as a character is supposed to have some aegyo. However, I think it should be natural charm and aegyo. It shouldn’t feel hella forced and cringey.

First off, I love Cha Eun Woo~ I liked a couple tracks from his group, Astro, too. I know alot of people had been hoping for him to be live action Suho even before the drama was announced. He’s definitely a good looking dude, and called a face genius IRL. The last drama I watched with Eun Woo was [Gangnam Beauty]. He’s been alright so far. However, I will say that drama Suho isn’t really how I imagined Suho to be like. In Gangnam Beauty, he was the male lead Do Kyung Seok. To be honest, the drama version of Kyung Seok was kind of different from what I expected and from the original webtoon version. Oddly enough though, the drama version of Suho is basically what I had expected Do Kyung Seok to be like. Both characters have alot of similarities, but I just imagined Suho to be a bit more cool/chic. In the webtoon, I felt like Suho had a cold, prickly, unsociable, annoyed of people, pretty indifferent, yet still kind of mature vibe. He was also really smart and observant, and it’s also pretty obvious that he’s a rich kid. I feel like he also had an air of mystery to him. Especially regarding his personal life and relationships. I feel like in the drama he comes off more like a cold, prickly, unsociable, but angsty teen. Despite his appearance, Suho is an avid fan of horror comics and movies. That’s how he first starts to interact with bare faced Jugyeong in the webtoon. However, he’s still pretty chill and cool about it. Meanwhile, the drama version is a much more obvious fanboy who takes his love for horror comics very seriously. He was really upset and went on a rant to the comic book store owner about how the comic was missing the first page. He seems less chic and mature, and somewhat more like a normal angsty teenager I guess.

I know alot of people were skeptical and quick to criticize Hwang In Yeop when it was announced that he’d be Seojun. I think one of the factors was his age. He’s older than the other main actors. Cha Eun Woo and Park Yoo Na are ’97 liners, and Moon Ga Young is a ’96 liner. Hwang In Yeop is a ’91 liner. Honestly, I normally would think it’s weird to have someone who’s almost 30 (I think he’s already considered 30 in Korean age) to be portraying a high schooler. Like it’s already kinda weird when actors who are in their mid or late twenties have to portray young kids. Or honestly even when it’s someone in their early or mid-thirties is portraying young college kids (freshies/sophomores). Like with [Cheese In The Trap], I was just so distracted by how Jung Hae In looked more like he could be an older TA than a 22-24 year old college student. I spend more time thinking they don’t fit in, rather than immersing myself in the series. However, I wasn’t bothered at all by Hwang In Yeop portraying a 17-18 year old. To be honest, I wouldn’t even have known that he was several years older than his castmates. I had no idea he was about my age??? He honestly looks like he’s about the same age as his castmates. So despite being older, he doesn’t look older at all. Look wise, I think he really did look like Seojun. Granted, he only just made his appearance in Episode 2. Still, I thought he looked like a perfect Seojun. As for drama Seojun’s character, the vibe and personality was also a bit different from what I expected.

In the webtoon, Seojun’s appearance does make him look like a rebel or bad boy. His friends also do look like delinquents, but they turn out to be really nice dudes. Seojun is sociable, has a wide circle of friends, is fashionable, and wears some make up too. Although he does seem to pick fights with Suho and can get rather angry, Seojun is pretty chic and cool. He’s a dude with confidence and is about doing whatever Seojun does. He’s also just busy hustling to help his mom and pay the bills. The drama version does look cool, is fashionable, wears make up, and does look like a rebel. He also does have friends who you’d mistake as a group of delinquents. However, drama Seojun also seems more like your typical drama/manga rebel dude with a bit of an attitude and gets into fights. In the drama version, he meets Jugyeong very briefly as he’s running away from a group chasing after him. They punch him and are about to fight, but Jugyeong manages to help him. He realizes she’s in the same school and tries to find out about her connection with Suho. In the webtoon, bare faced Jugyeong has a brief encounter with Seojun’s friends. Seojun was there, but they didn’t really interact. As he’s walking down the hall at school, he notices glammed up Jugyeong (unaware that he saw her before without make up) with Suho. They also had a brief run-in at a noraebang (karaoke joint).

Like Cha Eun Woo, Park Yoo Na also previously had a role in Gangnam Beauty. Much like her character in Gangnam Beauty, her character in True Beauty also went through alot of changes from the original character in the webtoon. So the webtoon version of Kang Soojin is a popular girl who’s known to have a really voluptuous and unreal body. She’s rather famous and popular for posting her pictures online; Especially the ones that show off her figure and some skin. She’s also known as an attention seeker, and is kind of a bitch. Soojin is the type to think she’s superior to everyone else, and she wants to be the center of attention. She has her sights set on Suho and doesn’t like how Jugyeong is suddenly close and hanging out with Suho. Girl is jelly because she believed herself to be the closest girl to Suho. Although, he seems kind of prickly and indifferent towards her. She pretends to get close to Jugyeong for your classic jealous and sabotaging bitch character reasons. She just thinks Jugyeong is a stupid bitch, and even tries to set Jugyeong up with a sleazy player. In the webtoon, Sua, who is already friends with Jugyeong from the start of high school, is wary of Soojin. She doesn’t trust her and thinks she must be a bitch. Although Soojin is a two faced bitch, she does have some issues and complexes of her own.

In the drama, Soojin is known as a pretty, popular, friendly, and nice girl. I think she’s also like the class representative or something. She’s really close friends with Sua. Along with Sua, she becomes one of Jugyeong’s first friends after her glow up and transfer to a new school. She also seems to have a sense of justice. She calls out a perv on the bus for taking an underskirt picture of a sleeping Jugyeong. Homegirl then gets off the bus, chases after him, and epically catches him. In the drama version, it seems that her family and Suho’s family are close. It’s to the point that apparently she’s the only girl that’s closest to Suho and that he talks to. Ironically drama version of Soojin is what the webtoon version of Yoo Na’s character in Gangnam Beauty was like. In Gangnam Beauty, Mirae didn’t have any friends. However, she finally managed to make her first friends with Yoo Eun and Choi Jung Boon when she enters university after her drastic plastic surgery. Yoo Eun was really close to Mirae that she was basically Mirae’s confidante. They made Mirae feel happiness and finally feel like she had friends and a place to belong. Ironically those characters’, especially Yoo Eun, interactions and significance were pretty much cut out in the drama. Yet, that’s exactly how it played out in True Beauty.

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Nitpicky and Random Comments Section…

I’m usually pretty chill and try not to be too nitpicky. However, there were some little things that bugged the living shit out of me every time I saw it on screen… Before I get into my actual first impressions and analysis, I just want to talk about my nitpicky and random comment stuff first.

The damn wallpaper at the school. That floral wallpaper is bright and ugly as hell. Honestly, the whole interior of the classroom and school is ugly as hell. It does not match the outside of the school at all! Outside it looks like a fancy private school in Europe with a stone/brick (?) building that’s covered in ivy. But inside? It’s got grandma’s yellow floral wallpaper with blue/turquoise wood panels and trimmings…. It’s ugly. It does not fit the vibe of the exterior at all. It doesn’t fit the vibe of a freakin’ school! I get this school might not actually be a fancy or prestigious school. However, it just doesn’t look like the interior of a school period. Not even a hella basic public school would look like this. I hate this interior and it kills me inside every time it pops up on the screen.

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AYYYY they used a track from my favorite K-Drama [Goblin]!~ Goblin references are freakin’ everywhere I go. I can’t escape it, but I’m okay with that LOL

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It’s not really a complaint, but rather a “That’s different from what I expected” moment I guess… I kind of expected drama Jugyeong’s look to be a bit more ulzzang style? I know she’s wearing circle lenses in the drama. However, they seem a bit too natural. Honestly, it didn’t even look like she was wearing circle lenses, but just regular contact lenses. For all y’all who don’t know WTF I’m talking about, circle lenses are contacts that cover a larger diameter. They’re pretty popular and common in Asia. Originally, the most well known and popularly used lenses were the GEO contact lenses. They had a thick and noticeable circle around the edges of the colored part of the lenses. Hence, “circle lens”.

Also there are a variety of brands, colors, and styles. You have more cosplay type of lenses, and more natural looking ones. These lenses basically gave a pretty noticeable effect on making your eyes look larger and more dolly/doe like. In Thailand, they’re literally called “big eye lenses”. There are also the extra large types of lenses. The diameter of the colored part is even larger, thus giving an even more noticeable effect on the appearance of your eyes. If y’all know K-Pop, circle lenses are basically always used by K-Pop idols.

Yeah, it’s really noticeable if you wear circle lenses. This was also shown in the webtoon too. Jugyeong was like, “WOAHHHH” because it made such a big difference. However, drama Jugyeong just looks like she’s wearing regular lenses. There’s a part where she’s getting ready and putting on choco-brown contact lenses, and you can see that they are circle lenses. Yet, later on it doesn’t even look like she has circle lenses on. In fact, there are some close up shots at the school where it actually looks like she’s only wearing regular clear contact lenses. While circle lenses can give an “extreme” change to your eyes, they are commonly worn on the daily. So you can’t really argue the “They wanted her to look like a natural beauty instead of looking extra”.

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Now my only nitpicking about the make up… Am I an expert? No. However, I have been using make up for over a decade now. I think I’m pretty decent for the average, non-professional make up user. I’ve also been a fan of K-Pop, K-Dramas, and K-Beauty for yearssss. I’ve been following the trends for over a decade. So I think I can critique the make up and stylings a bit here. Although I admit that I probably won’t articulate my points here too well… Still… Look, Jugyeong is supposed to be really gifted with make up. Yes, she started off being really bad at it. However, she ends up being passionate about it, and ends up being pretty gifted at it. To be honest, I was kind of expecting a more dramatic difference between her natural bare face vs her glammed up one. Originally, Jugyeong is supposed to look drastically different from her natural self. It’s to the point that people wouldn’t even be able to really relate the two. Like her make up was supposed to look somewhat seemingly natural or on the lighter side, but still a drastic difference from her bare face. However, I didn’t think she looked all that different in the drama version. She just looks like she took care of her blemishes, redness, and evened out her skin texture. But whatever. I get it, Moon Ga Young is already naturally pretty. Still, I kind of expected a more drastic difference between barefaced Jugyeong and goddess mode Jugyeong. Also, the make up style in the drama is okay, but it just wasn’t what I expected. I was just kind of expecting some glam, yet more natural or subtle looking make up styles like the ones Pony has done.

However, my only real issue is that the make up in the drama doesn’t seem consistent. One thing is Jugyeong is good enough at make up where people can tell she’s wearing make up, but it looks natural. It’s not supposed to be obvious that she’s got make up caked on. It shouldn’t look too heavy or obvious. Her glammed up self is supposed to look like a natural beauty that’s enhanced a bit by make up. Again, they don’t know what her natural face actually looks like. She comes off looking as a natural beauty to them. That’s just how good her make up skills are supposed to be. Like no one is supposed to suspect a thing. For the most part, drama Jugyeong does seem to have a more subtle-ish make up look on. However, it gets pretty inconsistent because in some scenes it’s painfully obvious. It looks super heavy and caked on. Which would be an issue because, again, no one is supposed to suspect that Jugyeong wears so much make up that it had completely transformed her face. On another note, I was like, “GIIIIRRRLLLL!! NUUUU!!” In that scene where she’s just swiping a shit ton of foundation on her face. It was way more than what anyone should, or even would, use. That right there IRL would come off hella cakey. Also my heart cried cuz that’s a waste of product. Jugyeong has problematic skin, BUT that’s still too much foundation. I get it was done for comedic effect, but… anyone who knows make up, knows that that’s a a no-no.

My other nitpicking issue was the lips… Although this is an issue with alot of K-Dramas. The make up for the lips did not look that good… The lips look dry and chapped. Which, again, is a common occurrence in K-Dramas. I get it. It’s most likely due to the weather. Especially because they’re shooting when it’s much colder weather now. However, the color of the lip products are settled into the very obvious cracks and lines of the lips. The lip products are also not really blended out well. So gradient lips were a big trend in K-beauty. Although the execution and appearance of gradient lips have changed a bit over the past decade. I think right now full lips are more in trend. However, gradient lips are still commonly used as they do add a nice soft look. It adds color to the lips, but makes it look a bit more natural than a full lip. There are two basic ways to do a gradient lip. First method is a sheer amount of the lip product all over the lips. Then another layer or two in the center of the lips. Then blend and feather the edges out. The other, and more common method, is to apply a lighter color as your base. Then the darker color in the middle and then blend and feather the edges out. Some people also use a bit of concealer right on the very edges of the lips to give it a softer look. However, the blending of the lip products in True Beauty were not good. Other than the lip product obviously settling in the cracks and lines, the color also just obviously sat on top of the lip. I swear I kept yelling, “Giiiirl… You need to blend and feather that lippie out!” I’m only nitpicking this because the series does center around make up and touts the female lead as being excellent at make up and looking flawless. They honestly should’ve prepped the lips better, tried to keep it as hydrated as possible, blot out the lip color, and blended the products on the lips better. Normally I wouldn’t care as much. But since this has to do with the actual story, I know they can and should do better.

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I will say that this is probably one of the few exceptions I can make for product placements though. Y’all know I [hate excessive product placements in dramas]. However, it makes sense here. The drama centers around make up and fashion, so the use of make up products and everything doesn’t feel forced. It’s seamlessly a part of the story. So I honestly did not feel annoyed at all with any of the products popping up. See? Product placements can be done and not be annoying when done tactfully and with purpose! Don’t just randomly force product placements in a scene that just detracts from the flow of the scene/story!

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Also…as a random note: I almost expected make up artist, Pony (Park Hye Min), to actually cameo as Selena in the drama. I mean Go Woori is great! I remember her from the K-Pop girlgroup [Rainbow]. However, I just kind of thought it would’ve been neat to have Pony as a cameo. Cuz I’m pretty sure that Selena is based on Pony. Selena is a popular make up artist. Jugyeong learned how to do make up from watching Selena’s online videos. Pony is an actual make up artist. She’s pretty renowned, and globally renowned. She’s worked with many different celebrities in K-Pop and outside of K-Pop, such as CL of 2NE1. She’s also worked with brands like MAC, Bobbi Brown, Colourpop, and more. She has her own cosmetics brand. She became known worldwide from her tutorials on [YouTube]. So yeah, I was always convinced that Selena’s character was based on Pony. The webtoon version actually kind of looked like Pony to me too.

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Lee Taeri also made a cameo in the first episode of True Beauty. He was the handsome cafeteria guy in [Extra-Ordinary You]. In True Beauty he’s… a cafeteria guy… AGAIN. He’s a dude who likes metal music like Jugyeong, and has been sort of nice to her. Thus, he’s her first crush. But he’s a hella cruel asshole in this. Even for a brief cameo… But we’ll get to that in a bit.

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First Impressions, Changes, and Overall Thoughts

Overall, I found the drama to be a bit different from my expectations and what I hoped it would be like. It’s not bad, just different. Mostly in that it felt alot cringier to me. It was just hella extra to the point it felt pretty cringey at times. It was to the point that I kept bunching up my hands and making a face. I suppose they did it to try to portray the comedic side of the original series. The original series had alot of great comedy from implementing and referencing alot of memes and meme faces. I guess that’s difficult to do in a live action drama. So they went the route of hella extra and cringey scenes and scenarios. But it was just too much for my personal liking. It made the drama feel a bit more childish? It feels more like a teen drama. Yes, I know. It takes place in a high school. However, the original series starts off in high school then transitions to them being young adults in college. It has it’s cheesey and childish moments, but it’s not where it’s too much. Like it felt more of a shoujo AND josei series than full on shoujo series. The beauty of the webtoon was how it could be enjoyed and was relatable for teens and adults. This just made me feel like if I were to watch a cheesey Disney high school teen series. It’s just a bit too much and hard for me to connect to. Like [Extra-Ordinary You] was another teen/high school K-Drama series. Actually I think both series are by the same director. However, while Extra-Ordinary You was kind of hard to get through for similar reasons at first… It started off feeling like a hella teen drama. However, it was to set up the circumstances, and in the end kind of purposely makes you feel that way. In that series the female lead realizes she’s a character in a comic book, and she realizes how extra and cheesey everything can be. She actually pokes fun at it several times. It ended up transitioning where it wasn’t too much, and it had a purpose. So while it was definitely targeted more towards a teen audience, I didn’t feel too much of a generational disconnect. Even with the serious topics like bullying, depression, and suicide…this drama just felt a bit too much like a cheesey teen drama at times. I assume it’ll continue to do so, because it’s most likely going to stick to a high school setting instead of transitioning to them being young adults. Even if it does transition, I imagine it’ll be briefly and right towards the end.

The drama does do some changes in regards to the characters, their personalities, and the events that occur compared to the original webtoon. Some of the changes kind of made it feel more like your typical teen drama series. However, I will say that some of the changes oddly made the series seem like like what I had expected Gangnam Beauty to be. It honestly legitimately felt more like an adaptation of the Gangnam Beauty webtoon with make up instead of plastic surgery. There were some changes I wasn’t a huge fan of. However I did like the investment they did on Jugyeong’s background with her insecurities and complex about her appearance. The drama shows that ever since she was a baby, her appearance was constantly and openly critiqued and commented on. Honestly, it was quite harsh and rude. This helped flesh her character out more. It made her more complex, and made her feel like a real and relatable person. I mean, I’ve literally been in those situations. So it really resonated with me. It caused her to be sensitive in regards to her appearance and an an affect on her personality and interests. Whereas in the webtoon, Jugyeong is just young doing her. She’s just enjoying what she likes and living her life. Although she is kind of bullied and made into a shuttle (basically the bullies’ errand girl). However, Jugyeong didn’t really seem to care so much about her appearance or feel self-conscious about her hobbies until after she’s a bit heartbroken from finding out her crush is dating a pretty girl in her class. Mind you, in the webtoon it’s like the pretty girl and guy just naturally got together because they probably mutually liked each other. Another rthing is that even though Jugyeong in the webtoon is also bullied, it’s not as extreme and cruel as the drama version.

In the webtoon she had a crush on the cafeteria guy who also liked metal music. She buys tickets to a metal show and plans to confess to him. However, before she does anything, she ends up overhearing the girls in class talk about how one of the pretty girls in the group is dating him. Jugyeong feels crushed. While she’s sad, it’s like a typical teen being sad over their puppy love. It’s sad and depressing, but it’s honestly not THAT deep and serious. Like dude showed up VERY briefly in the panels, and he never even knew about her feelings. It does lead her to want to improve herself and want to be like one of the pretty girls. So it does end up being the catalyst for Jugyeong diving into the world of make up. However, it’s honestly super short. Like this all happens in just the first chapter of the webtoon.

They invested much more time into it in the drama. At least 18 whole minutes of the show vs the very brief panels from chapter 1 in the webtoon. It’s much heavier and much crueler in the drama version. In addition to getting those concert tickets, Jugyeong baked and decorated cookies. She packaged them carefully, and wrote a letter as well. The girl even made the box herself. The drama version is cruel in that the bullies had noticed Jugyeong had a crush on the cafeteria guy. They honestly think he’s weird, gross, and unattractive. However, the leader of the bullies purposely leads him on. She says that she found him attractive and cool, but heard he was dating Jugyeong. Basically reveals that Jugyeong likes him, but also telling him how she’s the lowest of low and he shouldn’t associate with her. In the drama Jugyeong does confess to him. However, he coldly and very cruelly rejects her. Not only does he say some really cruel words to her, he purposely knocks the box of cookies onto the ground. No remorse, just annoyance. To make matters worse, the group of bullies are watching from a distance and recording it. They come closer and start recording all up in her face. They then post it online where Jugyeong is further humiliated and basically cyberbullied.

Now this leads to another obvious and drastic change from the webtoon. This humiliation and trauma leads Jugyeong to be extremely depressed. It’s to the point she doesn’t want to live anymore and was actually going to jump off of a building’s rooftop. She is, however, hesitant and starts to change her mind when she sees a billboard remembering an idol who just passed away from suicide. However, it’s Suho who suddenly comes across her and pulls her from the edge. This is one of several other major changes from the original. The idol suicide is actually a big spoiler that we find out later in the webtoon, but it’s revealed right at the get-go of the drama. Suho’s friend is the idol who killed himself, and Suho feels alot of guilt and anger from it. In the webtoon, this incident happened years before Suho met Jugyeong. A part of me probably would’ve liked the incident and relationship with Suho’s friend to have been revealed later. However, I suppose they wanted to tie it in with Jugyeong. Jugyeong being depressed to that point and attempting suicide is something that only happened in the drama. I was like “Woah. That got really heavy, really fast.” However, I do kind of like that they brought this up. This kind of scenario does happen in real life. So this makes it more realistic, and I think helps touch on the subject of bullying and suicide. It’s a big contrast to the tone of the series, and typical actions and scenarios of the characters. Especially since the drama is brighter and much sillier than the webtoon. However, the fact is this kind of thing certainly happens in real life. So I like to think that it’ll help people think twice, and at least have people try to sympathize with bullying victims and those struggling with mental health to the point of suicide or suicide attempts. Especially with how conservative Korea is; As well as Asian countries/cultures in general. Bullying and suicide are common occurrences, but often denied and/or quickly swept under the rug Sometimes they’re completely looked over. It’s only been in more recent years that they’re being more addressed and acknowledged… Somewhat, anyway. So while I find this to be a drastic change in Jugyeong’s character, I am glad that it’s something that can bring attention and awareness to these circumstances and situations in real life.

Anothe thing is that I kind of preferred how Jugyeong and Suho met in the webtoon than in the drama. Like I said, in the drama their first encounter is Suho pulling Jugyeong when she was about to jump from a building. Given the circumstances with the loss of his close friend, Suho immediately does not have a good impression of Jugyeong. Meanwhile, Jugyeong is blind AF cuz her glasses got knocked off. So she doesn’t know what Suho looks like and keeps calling him ajussi (mister/uncle). He also ends up having to give her a piggy back ride down several flights of stairs. So yeah, the first impression was awful. He’s also just as cold to glammed up Jugyeong when they meet at school. He meets barefaced Jugyeong again at a comic book store they both frequented. Again, there are some mishaps and poor impressions. However, they realize they have a common love for horror comics. So he softens just a smidge towards barefaced Jugyeong. There’s also alot of mishaps and continued bad impressions between glammed up Jugyeong and Suho. However, in the webtoon their first encounter is at the video/comic book rental store. Barefaced Jugyeong and Suho happened to reach for a comic book at the same time. Suho was a jerk at first. However, he starts warming up to Jugyeong after their second encounter at the rental store. This was after she had gone into horror fan mode and excitedly made some recommendations, which he liked. So they basically become horror fan buddies and he starts to get comfortable with barefaced Jugyeong. As for glammed up Jugyeong, he was indifferent towards her when she first saw him at school. They end up in a study group together, but he’s still rather cold and has a jerky attitude towards her. I just liked the development and progress of their relationship in the webtoon better. To me it really showed that Suho doesn’t care about appearances and clearly didn’t have any prejudice towards her cuz of it. It just felt more organic, and I liked how it showed Suho was naturally comfortable around her.

Overall, the drama isn’t bad. For my taste, it’s decent, but just a little too extra and cringey. At this point I’d give it a B rating based on my personal taste and opinions. It’s just a bit too extra and cringey for me to fully enjoy it and feel immersed in it. The fact that it has a very strong teen drama feel to it made me feel kind of a generational gap. I just turned 30, but I’m pretty childish and young at heart. So to actually make me feel a generational gap and a disconnect… It is a shame, because I think the message, issues, and situations are all something that everyone of all ages go through and can relate to. The cringe just really detracted me from the drama. I actually ended up abusing the 10 second fast-forward button to breeze through those parts cuz I just couldn’t sit through it. Thus, I was too busy trying with that instead of feeling immersed in the series. There were also some changes. Some I wasn’t too big of a fan of. Some I’m unsure of how to feel. Although I thought some of them were pretty positive. Still, I plan on continuing it for now. While I have some minor issues, particularly with some changes and execution, it’s still a decent drama so far. The production isn’t that bad (minus the ugly ass interior of the school). I want to see what other changes they make, and see how they plan on executing everything. We’ll see if it’s tolerable, improves, or if I just end up hella disappointed. If anything, I’ll probably continue watching it until the end just cuz of Cha Eun Woo’s face. Also cuz Hwang In Yeop kinda cute, and I don’t have to feel old and bad cuz he’s basically my age~ lolol Classic Minty sticking around for bishies LOLOL

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This first impressions post ended up way longer than I intended… Even by my standards LOL But there was alot to unpack. Have y’all watched the live action drama for True Beauty yet? What did y’all think? Did you read the original webtoon? What are your thoughts on the drama compared to the webtoon? Also, are you for Suho or Seojun? What are your thoughts on make up? Favorite looks and brands? Are you into K-Beauty? Let me know in the comments, Discord, or my socials! Until next time BAYOG Fam! Take care, stay healthy, stay safe, stay warm, and have a wonderful day!~ I love you all, and remember that, as corny as it may sound, there’s more to beauty than appearances! Value your true beauty, cuz y’all beautiful inside!~

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LET’S BE FRIENDS!~ (つ✧ω✧)つ

Hihi! I’m Minty! I’m Thai-American~ เป็นคนไทยค่ะ~ ยินดีที่ได้รู้จักนะคะ~
I’m BAYOG’s hella basic Asian chick, Real People Stuffs expert, and boba addict. I’ve been a part of the BAYOG Crew since 2017~ I fangirl and mostly blog about music, live action movies/dramas, manga/webtoons, and occasionally webnovels~ When I’m not blogging, I’m usually writing/singing Thai-English covers~

It’s nice to meet all of you lovely people from around the world! Thanks for stopping by our blog!~
💜• ขอบคุณค่ะ • ありがとうございます • 감사합니다 • 谢谢你 • Salamat Po •💜

Wanna Buy Boba/Coffee For Your Bobae?☕ (´｡• ω •｡`) 💜: [Ko-Fi]
Feel free to buy me bubble tea/milk tea/coffee if you’d like. I’m always sleep deprived, and I’ll forever appreciate your kindness~

Let’s Be Friends On SNS! 💜(♡°▽°♡)
Let’s talk memes, music, dramas, movies, spoilers, or fan spazz!~
I also sing and write lyrics~ You can hit me up on my socials or Discord. I’m always happy to make friends~ For questions or business inquiries, contact me through my BAYOG email~
[Twitter] | [Instagram] | [YouTube] | [Cardd]
Contact: BAYOGMinty@gmail.com | Discord: piecesofminty#0182

Dramas I’ve Watched/Am Watching 🎞️: [DramaList]
Manga/Manhwa/Webtoons I’m Reading 📚: [AniList]
My Music Playlists/What I’m Listening To🎧: [Spotify]

JOIN THE BAYOG FAM (つ≧▽≦)つ 🎮🎞️
We share and chat lots of stuff on Discord, and we’re on other platforms too!
Don’t forget to say hi in the Discord server so I can properly welcome you~
[Discord Server] | [YouTube]| [Twitch] | [Facebook]| [Podcasts @ Spotify]
Follow the BAYOG Bros Too!🎮
They all good people! These your guys for anime, manga, and games!
[Kenny – Blackatron] | [Nick – Rokutsu]
[Marc – cmdrcluckcluck] | [Loha – Loheezy]

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BE SAFE. BE RESPONSIBLE.
WASH YOUR HANDS. WEAR A MASK.
SOCIAL DISTANCE. PLEASE.

Take care y’all. Please stay safe and take care of yourself. All jokes and fun aside…please, please, please, pleaaaase always wash your hands, practice social distancing, and wear a mask! It’s better to be cautious than face irrevocable consequences of health complications or death.

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BLACK LIVES MATTER

AS A GROUP OF BIPOC, BAYOG strongly stands with Black Lives Matter. We are all too familiar with the racism that we, our friends, and family have faced on a daily basis. Every life is precious. However, as BIPOC, we also recognize that black people are a group of people that face extreme racism and at a higher risk for their safety. We’ve individually done several donations. Of course, donations to support the cause and support change isn’t the only thing needed. Support for the cause and change also requires conversation and understanding. Make sure to have those conversations. Please remember to be an active supporter, be it through donations, sharing information, and/or conversations and speaking up.

If you can, please consider donating. I’ve donated more than once as well. For one of my donations, I donated through the BTS ARMY x BLM project. I recommend that if you’re unsure of where to donate. This is because the donation will be split amongst several different non-profit organizations. Of course, you can also choose a specific organization(s) if you wish as well. You can find that [HERE].

You can also check out the following:

• http://blmsites.carrd.co
• http://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co
• http://blackliveswillalwaysmatter.carrd.co
• http://blmstanguide.carrd.co
• http://saytheirnames.carrd.co
• http://useyourvoice.carrd.co

Stay strong. Fight racism, brutality, injustice, and bullshit. Don’t lose sight of the goal. We’re witnessing and being a part of history. Be allies and make sure change happens. Once again, BLACK LIVES MATTER.