CAUTION: REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. True Beauty is one of the most popular webtoons that currently exist and for good reason: its like reading a KDrama. So I was not surprised at all to hear that there is a drama adaptation of this webtoon because I had already pictured it being acted out on a TV screen. But just because its full of drama and easy to consume doesnt mean it is good and this is just such a great example of that. Lets dissect it here Why is it so popular? It has beautiful men and women. Isnt that the whole reason why we like to watch TV dramas because we love the eye candy? True Beauty has it in spades. Jugyeong is your everyday belowaverage looking girl who is shunned by all the pretty people around her until she picks up a makeup kit and transforms herself into super Jugyeong. Kind of like Sailor Moon shes a magical girl who instantly becomes popular because she will save the world one girl at a time through the power of makeup Okay Im exaggerating a little. The premise is believable and initially shes a sympathetic character because all girls have struggled with their physical appearance at some point in their life. What is not okay is how she attracts two extraordinarily handsome men who are both clearly too good for her stringing them along in her act to keep up the pretense that she is beautiful and therefore desirable. Honestly I have my doubts on how much makeup can be used to completely change someones appearance to look like something theyre not outside of theatrical and special effects makeup and those are pretty obvious. Then again I dont know jackshit about makeup so take it what you will. So Ill suspend my disbelief if its not a glaring plot hole but unfortunately its just very problematic in this story. While Ill try to look the other way and pretend that her makeup is magical and will never rub off and that its invisibly caked on so well that other people cant tell what her normal face looks like beneath everything its impossible because the story will let these things happen whenever its convenient. The makeup rubs off when she wants to be intimate with her boyfriend which helps her avoid having him see her true face and its always caked on when people want to trash her but apparently no one else around her notices it. I guess it means that nasty people simply have better eyesight and everyone else is rather blind. I also find it hard to believe that her closest friends dont know what she looks like because shes slipped up enough times to let her two paramours accidentally find out. She must hate her friends and never hang out with them outside of school. Oh wait right. Other than them being used as props to make her feel good about herself and to spread gossip with they have no purpose in this webtoon otherwise. Yeah I guess thats why shes never around them long enough to trip up hmm... This brings me to the most glaring issue I have with this story. Jugyeong is not a character and she will never exhibit any sort of significant growth because her obvious lack of character strengths is done on purpose. Shes a cleverly devised bundle of insecurities that real girls have easily letting you sympathize with her then you can put yourself in her shoes so that you too can enjoy the love and attention of two dropdead gorgeous fictional men. Shes insecure about her face shes covered with acne shes myopic shes worried about her weight shes naive shes a failure at everything shes the unloved middle child shes the ugly duckling in the family and the list goes on and on. There will be at least one part of Jugyeongs character that resonates with you and youll want to see if she overcomes her hurdles to find love and success as you want it for yourself as well. Its like looking at a mirror that reflects a typical teenage girl and its masterfully constructed as such. This also means that Jugyeong cant have any positive attributes besides her unnatural beauty to help flesh her out since the whole concept of her is to make her a helpless girl that is unable to conquer her fears on her own. If she had any strengths at all she wouldnt need to rely so heavily on makeup to make her feel confident and boost her selfesteem and thered be no story to tell. This makes it even more unbelievable that shed be the target of affection from so many men when you recognize that theres nothing likeable underneath the veneer of her pretty face. Its all style and no substance. Jugyeong is an unremarkable high school student who consistently falls asleep in class fails her tests and has zero passion for anything besides putting on makeup the singular talent she possesses. Shes socially awkward and dislikes hanging out with people despite her newfound popularity and would much rather go read horror comics at the bookstore or spend her time scrolling through Instagram while lying in bed. Even though she has two siblings she rarely interacts with them besides lamenting how she looks so different from them and wondering if she was adopted or switched at birth. Its a missed opportunity here as she could have had a deeper relationship with them to show what a caring sibling she is which could have been a key trait of hers that persists even with her makeup off since she never wears her makeup at home. Instead shes always hollering at her siblings for not understanding her or bugging them to help her with something or other and shes never happy when shes at home. It doesnt help that her unloving mother often nags her criticizing her for her unhealthy obsession with makeup instead of doing something more productive like focusing on getting into a good university. The only time Jugyeong is smiling is when shes chatting with friends with her full makeup on and we know thats not what she likes doing because shes an introvert and therefore not her real persona. Not only is her exterior fake her interior is also. Shes acting out a sweet girl role to people who dont know her well and everything she does outside of her house is a facade. In reality shes full of anger bitterness and insecurities most of which she directs outward at home. Sure everyone acts more casual and caustic with close family members because theyll understand thats how we truly are but thats also because we love them so much that we can let down our hair around them whereas Jugyeong is not comfortable anywhere she goes. She hates her family and shed rather not talk to them if she doesnt have to so theyre largely out of the picture despite how often shes home. Her personality with the makeup off is one that is a recluse and an outcast who cant love her own family and hasnt received any of their love in return. It might be sad to think of her that way but she doesnt do anything to ameliorate her unsatisfactory situation instead choosing to wallow in her selfpity when things dont work out which is just extremely unproductive and continues to be the source of all her other problems. In a story titled True Beauty I would expect to see a socalled ugly character find their hidden beauty after a fulfilling journey of selfdiscovery coming to the realization that they are fine just the way they are. As cliched as it sounds everyone is beautiful in their own way. You dont have to be physically attractive to be a beautiful person you can also have a beautiful heart which means being kind or selfless. Also beauty is subjective. A long time ago being pale and chubby was considered to be beautiful. How times have changed now people all want to be thin like sticks and tanned because thats what we see in fashion magazines and on TV. Girls must emulate the beautiful models they see everywhere to feel truly happy and land themselves some hot boys and thats what Jugyeong buys into because shes led to believe that her ugliness can only bring her misery. She desperately clings to makeup as her lifeline in order to feel a sense of normalcy. Without it shed just be the poor ugly girl who gets made fun of or bullied or laughed at. This sort of message is toxic to reallife people who are selfconscious about their appearance and its horrible when you think about it in the context of modern Korean society. I know Koreas major export is beauty what with all the skincare and makeup products that its famous for. That and KPop idols which is another fanatic overindulgence in the objectification and marketability of beautiful people. In a culture where people are overly obsessed with their looks this webtoons message of using makeup to feel happy is dangerous because instead of subverting this type of mainstream thinking it continues to propagate it. It insists that you must look attractive in order to function in everyday society and without it you are nothing because that is exactly what Jugyeong personifies. Without the makeup she is an insecure girl is hated by her own family because they cant even bear to look at her face without barfing. Is that how family should act towards one another? The ugly duckling must become a swan to gain acceptance? Is it any wonder that Jugyeong cant bring herself to tell anyone the truth if its really just her false appearance alone that makes them love her? And so the charade continues. True Beauty is a lot like the old popular KDrama Boys Over Flowers. It even has the same everyday school setting where the main characters meet fight and then eventually get along as a trio. We have Jugyeong the hapless typical KDrama girl protagonist whos a bit ditzy but somewhat loveable. We have Suho the guy who doesnt talk much but loves the heroine more than she will ever know. And we have Seojun the troublemaker thats always itching for a fight. Ah the love triangle has appeared But in the end Jugyeong can only choose one. Its not much of a surprise that she winds up with the bad boy Seojun as her first boyfriend because in fiction girls just love them bad boys. Remember nice guys finish last At first the two guys hate each other not because theyre fighting over the same girl instead theyre not on speaking terms because of a past tragedy involving their mutual friend. And like in your typical KDrama fashion after the girl is saved from a car accident by being pushed out of the way by the heroic boy the male characters talk it out and eventually forgive each other when it turns out there was just a wee little bit of misunderstanding about the uncontrollable circumstances that led them to wrongly blaming each other. So yay they let bygones be bygones and now focus their attentions on the girl of their dreams Jugyeong. Suho is the quiet cool intelligent boy that is Jugyeongs first love just like JiHoo of Boys Over Flowers. He is mysterious talented and his past life is full of tragedy. His entire character screams angst as hes a reserved person who has trouble communicating with others someone whos consumed with grief constantly blaming himself for not stopping his friend from committing suicide in time. He cant move on but he finds some joy in his gloomy life when he comes across Jugyeong who shares his odd interests in everything horror. For Jugyeong hes the first outsider who sees her true face not from her slipping up although she does later on but because she actually first encountered him in her plain getup and he didnt make fun of her or comment on her ugliness. In fact shes confused why hes so cold to her when shes pretty Jugyeong completely ignoring her but kind and friendly to her ugly version. He eventually puts two and two together when he finds that the broken backpack strap on her bag matches the part that he picked up from the floor. Shes mentally preparing herself for the hateful fallout with her schoolmates when Suho decides to expose her as a fake but he surprises her saying he doesnt care what she looks like and if its so important to her for him to keep her secret he doesnt mind. Of course he blackmails her a bit but hes just enjoying her funny and overenergetic reactions. They quickly become close friends and she is able to let down her hair around him sometimes hanging out with him as pretty Jugyeong and sometimes as ugly Jugyeong but either way it doesnt change his perception of her. Hes a great listener always encouraging her to follow her dreams despite the complete lack of support from her own family. She likewise cheers him on in his studies although he doesnt really need it. I think this is great and all for a firsttime budding romance but we must have drama So enter Seojun Seojun is the passionate fiery hot loudmouthed delinquent the Junpyo of Boys Over Flowers who immediately gets off on the wrong foot with both characters. He has a distinctive bad boy look complete with multiple ear piercings and a wild hair style. Hes violent quick to use his fists and always skips class. However because life likes to play tricks on the main cast they keep running into each other no matter when they go leading to some comical panic moments. It turns out hes the older brother of Jugyeongs coworker Gowoon the first ugly person who received Jugyeongs makeover turning her into a pretty girl for a musical that garnered lots of positive attention and praise on social media. As they start to hang out more and more often Jugyeong feels conflicted because she realizes shes in love with Suho but is afraid that he wont return her feelings because she might just be overthinking things and its all onesided on her end. Seojun realizes that hes falling for Jugyeong but she sees him more as a friend that she can go to for fun and shopping trips with. Suho realizes that hes in love with Jugyeong but hes too awkward in his timing and fails to find the right moment to confess. Its all a big hot mess just like youd expect in a teenage romance drama Fortunately or unfortunately rather something bad happens with Suhos father and hes forced to leave Korea indefinitely and that sets the stage for a timeskip as Suho is taken out of the picture so that the true romance can finally begin. This is where the story really goes downhill. People love love triangles for a reason because the interweaving of different feelings and personalities of the three characters make it interesting and youre given the illusion of choice. If you were the main character who would you choose? Especially when you have two people who are complete polar opposites of one another one icy cold and the other flaming hot. Realistically speaking its doubtful that two such completely different people will end up falling for the same person because its unlikely theyll share the same interests but this is fiction and in fiction we must have unrealistic pairings that should have never happened play out in front of us. However the mnage trois must inevitably come to an end since polyamory is impossible. You can never love two people equally you will always favor one over another no matter how you trick yourself or convince yourself otherwise. Humans are not able to divide their feelings into neat little compartments so the portions of their heart that they give out to others will never be the same in size or in intensity. Its pretty easy to see that Suho was going to get the short end of the stick and be forced to take a step back leaving Seojun to swoop in even from when the love triangle dynamic was starting to take form. Hes too passive and this lets all the the other characters step all over him. People prefer passionate lovers like Seojun because theyre so good with their words saying how much they love you and theyll give up everything if it means that they can be with you. Unfortunately those are just empty promises. And I wish that popular media including True Beauty wouldnt stoop so low to make this decisive choice out as some sort of a desirable fantasy for impressionable young girls who are clearly their target audience. If I was Jugyeong I would choose Suho. Sure hes boring and vanilla but that makes him a great partner for the rest of her life. I think people really need to understand that love is just a whirlwind but marriage is forever. There have been higher and higher rates of divorce in recent days because people are consumed with finding the perfect love. Theres no such thing. Once you get tired of someone youll want to look for a new love. It all depends on whether you want to act on it or not. So its not just romantic love you need to consider when you really want to get settled down its how much youre willing to support this person even if the love isnt as strong as it was when you first met and how much youll continue to compromise and make concessions for each other through thick and thin. Suho has consistently shown that. Hes always ready to listen to Jugyeong he has great attention to detail which he uses to support her from the sidelines he helps her study to get to a good school and most importantly hes completely comfortable with what real Jugyeong looks like because thats how they first met. Their relationship is raw and authentic and theres rarely any lies between them. This is healthy. Although he may have trouble expressing himself his actions speak louder than words. But this is also the same reason hes relegated to being friendtype material instead of boyfriend material since he cant bring himself to confess his feelings for her until its too late. And when he returns hes relegated to a side character that serves only to prod his two friends to get back together. Just like JiHoo in Boys Over Flowers. While Suho was Jugyeongs first love hell never be her lover. Seojun is the man of most girls dreams I suppose. Although Jugyeong didnt fall in love with him initially she uses him to get over her pining over Suho when hes left for Japan. Although hes clearly a sweet boy and I dont really hate his character I hate his concept. His mullet is ugly and I honestly believe that the author gave him one to distinguish him from all the other characters including Suho who looks similar but has brown hair. Hes also the only one who wears jewelry and makeup to make him stand out more. You can tell that Seojun is supposed to be the star character due to all the effort that the author put in to make him unique. His clothes change very often almost as much as Jugyeongs clothes do. I have the feeling that hes designed based on a typical KPop idol because he looks like one from head to toe and that eventually becomes his job in the story. His story arc makes no sense. Hes made out to be this incredibly talented singer who was training to be in a KPop band but then quit because of his friends suicide. He works as a model at his other friends clothing boutique but its not enough to pay the bills so he has to get a bunch of other jobs to support his family. Thats fine. What isnt is why is he going back to become an idol when thats what he absolutely hates with a burning passion because he blames that cruel industry for making his friend ultimately choose death over fame? Oh right for the drama of course. Headdesk. The story makes Seojun choose between love or money and he like a sensible person chose money but only because Jugyeong forced him to. Hahaha. This makes it problematic in so many ways. If he really needed money he could have found a better job that didnt involve the idol industry. Seriously if hes really that talented at singing coupled with his good looks hell make it big as a professional solo singer. He doesnt need to be in a boy band. Him rejoining the industry into the same company that did nothing to defend his friend who passed away is just stupid. At least go to a different company if you really honor your friend. He can also join a modeling company that is bigger and pays better. The story insists on making Seojun choose something he shouldnt even really consider to be a reasonable choice the only way out and not in a convincing manner. It just makes him look like a wishywashy person who said hell never do something because it destroyed his friends life and then go right in to do it anyway just because hes strapped for cash. Who says that the same thing that happened to his friend wont happen to him? Hell get hate comments and crazy antifans too. Its to be expected in this industry. So I dont know why hes willing to jump into a volcano full of doom when he literally has other ways to make money. Secondly Seojun ending up going with his career over love is just sad. Its realistic but it wasnt something he did on his own. Jugyeong made the choice for him and he had to take it like a man. I could understand where Jugyeong is coming from because like I said earlier shes full of insecurities and nothing much else. When he doesnt return her text or call her she ends up moping in her room the entire day. Shes not an understanding girlfriend and she needs to have constant confirmation that shes loved or she will break. Seeing Seojun swamped by his fans on a constant basis and being forced to keep their relationship a secret would literally kill her either from her getting depressed to the point of suicide or having some sort of illness from stress or getting targeted by Seojuns crazy fans. Whats not okay is how Seojun promised her so many things like that it would be okay for him to quit his budding singing career and that hed rather be with her than be an idol and then subsequently not act on these words. Obviously he has great ambitions and he wont abandon his dreams of fame and fortune just for a girl. I absolutely detest people who dont mean what they say. Sure you can say you will do all these great things in the heat of the moment but when push comes to shove you wont do it. Thats exactly what Seojun does every single time. Hes an awful lover and I really hope that you come to realize that. His words are empty and he has never really tried to understand Jugyeong. Hes always feeling inadequate about his lack of money hes suspicious of guys who hang around her too long and he hasnt really proven himself that he will put Jugyeong over his own interests. He may talk the talk but he cant walk the walk. Still girls are swayed by his smoothtalking and passionate declarations of love so theyll love him all the same even if they are blinded by the fact that hes really just a selfish guy who happens to be goodlooking. Just remember if he can say these words to you he can say them to anyone else. Its lucky that Seojun only has eyes for Jugyeong but in real life this sort of man is completely untrustworthy in my book. As for Jugyeong man this girl. There are so many times I would scream Y U SO DUMB because she is the most naive disasterprone girl with zero sense of selfpreservation Ive come across. Its like shes actively seeking new ways to get almost killed or raped or some other horrible outcome. Even when all her senses are tingling screaming DANGER shed just jump right into the situation ignoring her very reliable gut instincts for fear of pissing someone else off. This really goes to show that even though she may look mature with all her makeup on shes still just a scared little girl who hasnt grown up at all. Shes like a horror movie character who does all the wrong things so that the audience would get pulled into the horror with her except this is a shoujo. Although it seems that the author of this webtoon has recently been taking a page out of her fellow webtoon authors Killstagram and it is veering toward horror genre these days. I suppose its a good thing for Jugyeong to personally experience what her favorite genre is like in her everyday life? Anyhow Im sure that after all this is over and the dust has cleared she and Seojun will be all loveydovey again because he is destined to be with her. Cough cough. I guess now is the time to address Seojuns reaction to Jugyeongs real face. Honestly I dont know what to say. In my opinion plain Jugyeong isnt that ugly. The author tries to make the ugly Jugyeong really ugly compared to when she has makeup on but to me shes just averagelooking. Sure she has weird eyebrows and a bunch of pimples but none of that constitutes so much selfhatred for her own appearance. Im more surprised that she hasnt grown more eyebrows back because she originally had bushy ones. Her face has no real disfigurement or malformations which would concretely put her in the ugly category. She doesnt even have crooked teeth or whatever that girls picture had that she texted to Seojun to test the waters to see how hed react. Oftentimes when the plain Jugyeong is drawn shes in chibi form and thats pretty cute. Its just not a big deal. Im not that surprised that Seojun didnt care after he found out. What was he supposed to do otherwise? Hed be a big jerk if he didnt accept her as she was despite her lying to him for so long. As the hero of the story he cant simply abandon her because shes not pretty 24/7. Good for him. But bad for story. Its forced his hand so he must react how he should. But if this was truly about True Beauty he should react with anger or disappointment or maybe even disgust. It would give a chance for both Jugyeong and Seojun to grow as they try to deal with the reality that Jugyeong is pretending to be someone shes not. They can break up but then eventually come to like each other again when they learn more about why they love each other. Instead of answering the question Why do you like me so much? with Because youre pretty they can finally go deeper. But nah lets just go with the nonsensical idol plot yeahhhhh What else do I want to talk about? Oh right the acne. Having acne doesnt make you look ugly. Yet this webtoon insists on making socalled ugly characters who magically become pretty through makeup have acne. All other people who are classified as beautiful have zero acne. Please stop with this portrayal because acne is something literally everyone has had at least once in their life so dont propagate the idea that acne equals ugly. Its very harmful especially to those who have severe cystic acne and are very conscious about it. If you are one of those people speak to a dermatologist to see if you can find a treatment thats right for you. Dont be like Jugyeong and cover them with makeup because thats not a longterm solution and may make things worse. Piling on so many chemicals on your skin doesnt help it. Theres powerful medication for acne such as isotretinoin heavily regulated in some countries as well as combination treatments involving various types of medicine like oral contraceptives spironolactone a blood pressure medication and antibiotic topicals that can help. Do not pick your skin because it may lead to infection and scarring. Eat a lowglycemic diet to avoid triggering flareups. And its a myth that acne goes away after your teenage years there are plenty of people in their sixties and seventies who still have acne. However dont ever let acne get you down. Even if you have acne you are still beautiful and dont let this webtoon convince you otherwise. Im a bit miffed at how this webtoon likes to shove a stereotypical image of what should be considered beautiful down our throats. Anyone outside of that is either not beautiful because their true potential hasnt been unlocked through the magical powers of makeup or because theyre villains. I kid you not every single villain in this webtoon thus far has at least one mole on their face. If you see a character with a mole they are a 100 a villain for sure. Its like putting up a red flag saying I AM BAD GUY when you see such a character and it takes all the suspense out of it. Meanwhile our three main characters are flawless and dont have a single imperfection on their face when Jugyeong has her makeup on of course. I am sick and tired of webtoon artists being lazy and putting a single dot or two on their characters faces to distinguish them from other characters. Some do this to make their main characters more attractive I guess? Having random moles is not an attractive quality I really dont understand this mole fetish Ive been seeing in 80 of the webtoons Ive read. It makes me wonder if readers will one day be like I want a dot on my face because soandso has one Its just weird. Fictional characters dont need moles for any reason whatsoever. If its meant to show that slight imperfection in the otherwise perfect face thats dumb because thats too onthenose and you can do it better through storytelling rather than a superficial for that will never be explained anyway. If its meant to be realistic thats even worse because fictional characters dont look realistic in the first place. This is not portrait drawing why are you drawing every blemish on the characters face are you going to draw skin pores next? So Ive come to the conclusion that artists just like to draw dots on their characters because theyre lazy and thats that. Its definitely the case here so you know that someone is going to be a malicious character before they even speak. In terms of art the art is good. When it wants to be. Otherwise its average. The author needs to do pinup work because theyre very skilled at drawing figures from headtotoe all decked out in elaborate clothes and accessories. They have a future making a fake fashion magazine full of just the illustrations of pretty girls and handsome boys wearing random things because theyre very good at it. All the other panels are usually drawn in chibiesque style with many details lacking. I can tell backgrounds are not the authors strong suit because theyre usually either plain or barely there done with minimal amount of detail compared to how much attention was put in drawing faces and clothes and accessories. The panels are easy to read and largely filled with empty spaces which makes binging this webtoon incredibly easy. I read 40 chapters in one sitting. The author is also an efficient lazy person because theyll reuse the same panels over and over again in flashbacks and even in a stalkers house that makes you go WHERE IS CAMERA because its impossible for the stalker to have taken a picture that is in actuality a panel of the story without her being noticed. Where I see the sides of the webtoon go black I know its flashback time and Ill just skip it because its never changed up and just a rehash of something thats already happened but from different point of view. The major takeaway of this webtoon is that beauty doesnt buy happiness. No matter if youre ugly or beautiful life will still suck. It may be even worse if you continue to pretend to be someone that youre not. You should always accept what you were born with and then work with it to forge your own life for yourself paying less attention to what others think of you and instead paying more attention to what truly makes you happy. Although Jugyeong may have changed her appearance to fit in shes still as miserable if not more as she was when she was plain Jugyeong because a whole host of problems cropped up and she will live her life doubting herself because she can never be pretty enough to feel comfortable with herself. Dont be like Jugyeong. Find your true beauty within and not without. Overall Breakdown: Characters: 4/10 Story: 5/10 Art: 6/10 Lore/Worldbuilding: 4/10 Enjoyment: 4/10