Summary
True Beauty is an adaption from the popular webtoon series that goes by the same name. It is quite evident to point out - if you're not a webtoon reader - that this story follows a completely different path. This drama follows some of the same events, however, the outcomes are vastly different. Overall, I found this drama to be quite enjoyable to watch, especially during these times. The comedy is astounding and there were several memorable moments that will go down in K-Drama history. I think this drama did bring out some of the best in all the characters that cannot be easily interpreted and felt from the comic but undermined some of the feelings and struggles that some of the characters did go through. Some may argue that they were saddened by the approach that the directors took with changing some of the scenes and characters, but I think I liked their approach in which I'll explain why further down the line. The sub-plots were quite interesting and the romance itself was satisfactory. Albeit saying this, having to aid my broken heart, I will probably not touch another love-triangle drama anytime soon.
Disclaimer: I believe that from this drama, I became a Hwang In Yeop fan and I have grown to love his character. This review has no intent to be biased towards any of the characters as I love them all overall. I will try to be unbiased as much as I can whilst still giving my honest opinions. As much of the love story I value, character/character development is a big element for me in what is defined as a good drama or not.


Storyline/plot
The story itself was quite mediocre. The drama mainly revolves around a girl who gets bullied for her indifferences in her looks, until she discovered the wonders of make-up and transforms herself. She moves to another school and upon starting a new life there, she gets immediate attention. It focusses on her journey in accepting and loving herself as well as finding a support system that truly accepts her for the way she is. The overall story itself is quite a cliche, but as the drama develops, the story does deepen and becomes meaningful and cherish-able.
It delves into serious real-life issues that are prevalent in our society that include: suicide, the life of being in the idol scene - the good and the bad, mental health, trauma, insecurities; family dysfunctions, and disparities. The sub-plots were quite interesting, but I didn't feel like there was enough closure or explanation behind some of the plots.
What enticed me to like this drama was how thought-provoking it was. The character's actions, decisions, and attitudes really made you think beyond what the story is telling you and encourages you to analyse and build an understanding behind each of the characters behaviours and intentions.
The reason why I like the direction the story was going for was because it made the audience have something to look forward to, rather than following the original story which will defeat the suspense that was building up for the ending of the show. Arguably, this is meant to be an adaption so if they weren't going to follow the original storyline, then they should have given this drama a different title.
The romance for me, was satisfactory, I loved the relationship that had some cute moments and developments, but when it comes down to chemistry, I didn't feel much of that, in my opinion. I think the chemistry was more directed to the friendship. But still, the bond for the three characters was remarkable and unforgettable.
Let me mention the comedy that this drama brought. I loved all the scenes that included some comedic value in them. It made this drama light-hearted that balanced out the more serious scenes that it entails.
The downsides to this series, however, is how the story did divert the attention away from the original storyline and decided to include a love-triangle. Whilst I do believe that it made the show more entertaining and kept the viewers engaged, the execution was quite anti-climactic. I think they should have focussed more on the female narrative with the love-triangle coming after; that way it could stick to the storyline's true intent. Another critic I would make is how some of the serious scenes were quite exaggerated to the extent where it became more humorous rather than emotional which really deflated the emotions that were behind that scenes in the first place. Lastly, the ending felt a bit too rushed with a time jump, it would have been better to have at least two more episodes to really wrap-up the whole series

Cast/Acting
Suho
Suho is known as the top-student and is quite taciturn, mundane, and has a cold-like exterior. Throughout this drama, we get to see the story of his dysfunctional relationship with his Father and the constant battle with his mental health due to unfortunate events that are revealed later. As the drama progresses, we get to see more of his caring side as he opens himself up a little bit more to the world. This drama brought justice to his character and how his emotions and past traumas manifest into his actions. He had his effortlessly humorous moments. I particularly liked his character development in how he handled tough situations over-time, for example with how he dealt with his unhealthy behaviours. His story overall is quite touching, and you'd feel like you want to reach into your screen and give him an immense hug amidst it all.
However, the one thing I don't like was how they made him look 'creepy' in some scenes, this isn't something that bothers me immensely, but I wanted to point that out because whilst it brought a bit of comedy into it, I did find it a bit uncomfortable if I was put into the character's shoes, but that's just my personal opinion.
Knowing Cha Eunwoo from Astro, I had no prior knowledge of his acting skills. For the first drama I've watched that Eunwoo starred in, I am thoroughly impressed by his acting and his portrayal as Suho. He executed the emotions of his character outstandingly that really got the audience to feel for his character. Overall, Suho's cold demeanour towards others, except for the very few people he cares about definitely swayed the viewers, but as time went by, he came out of his shell. His growth is worth mentioning and as a viewer, I felt proud like he was my friend as well.


Jugyeong
Jugyeong is the 'angel' of Saebom High school with her beautiful looks that attracts attention across the school, but underneath that mask lies deep struggles in self-love, self-acceptance, and trauma that shaped her into the person she is known as. She also has a dysfunctional family which was shown more in the webtoon. Jugyeong is a selfless and kind-hearted character that never fails to be there for others and empathises with those around her very deeply. She is the most memorable character for her dorkiness, clumsy and child-like personality. I loved her character development the most as it shows her overcoming her struggles with assertiveness and confidence. Her story is very empowering and inspiring that I could resonate with some of the feelings that she felt throughout the drama and it made me want to hug her as well. I especially loved the relationship development between herself and her family which was touching, indeed, the message behind her story is heartfelt and something that I wish I had known when I was a teenager. To some, her character can be very unlikeable due to her naive-ness and clueless traits, but that can be justified.
This prompts me onto my next point that I did find her character unlikeable at times due to her being portrayed as naive and her somewhat selfish acts that took place, though these were subtle and didn't cause me to dislike her overall. Again, the character was well portrayed I really did feel connected to her as an individual.
Watching Moon Ga Young from her previous role in 'Tempted', I was amazed at how vastly different these characters are and Moon Ga Young was competent in showing the goofy, but emotional side to Jugyeong. She is one of my favourite actors out there.


Seojun
Seojun, shown to be the badass; unlikeable; presumptuous character in the early stages of the drama, stole the hearts of many viewers out there, including myself. Seojun has a very baddie and somewhat intimidating exterior, but later, shows his caring and soft side. He has a very dorky, goofy, and selfless demeanour and is a family-orientated person. It is fair to say that he created one of the most iconic moments for the drama with his humour. At first, it showed his overarching responsibility as the older brother, but that kind of faded away over time. We first see him being stirred into trouble with a group of guys from a different high school. However, this subplot wasn'twell executed because we never saw the events that led up to the incident and Seojun's relationship with them. This drama touched upon Seojun's trauma against the idol scene and his mental health towards his past unfortunate events. We later see that his self-blame and handling of the situation was expressed very negatively that caused a detrimental effect on someone that he cared for. The reasonings were later revealed. As a result, his character development was very touching, and he is the true epitome of holding accountability for his actions. As the drama progressed, we saw a much softer side to him towards the one he liked. It is quite true to say that out of the events, it broke the hearts of many and made us feel truly hurt with every scene he was in, but out of that, more love for the character was developed. Overall, I particularly loved the dynamics to his character that made him more realistic and relatable. I'll repeat for the other two characters, he was a character that I also wanted to give an immense hug for.
I do have to say that Seojun was kind of treated like a side-line character that did not have much background to him as the drama went on. The drama didn't do justice to Seojun's feelings compared to the webtoon and didn't show much of his life story which I was quite saddened about.
Watching Hwang In Yeop in previous roles like the 'Tale of Nokdu' and 'W.H. Y', I think he did an outstanding job in portraying Han Seojun with the character's dynamic personality and displayed his emotions brilliantly. I'm glad he was able to play this character as I wouldn't be able to imagine anyone else playing Han Seojun the way Hwang In Yeop did


Sujin
Another top-student and was known as the 'strong female lead' for her amazing skill in martial arts and the protector of her friends. Sujin is shown to be quite competitive in life with a strong and powerful demeanour. Although she is shown in that way, we do get to see her more vulnerable side which is where her story comes in. I liked the approach the writers took with the disparities of her character as it leaves the audience feeling for her much more. I especially love her character development.
Park Yoo Na does an incredible job in showing the two sides of Sujin and my love for her as an actor has really grown from 'Sky Castle', she's amazing.

Extra points on Seojun and Suho
I feel like it's worth talking about Seojun and Suho as individual characters side-by-side because, from my perspective, I do believe that this drama kind of sheds light on the contrasting situations between these two.
I firmly believe that these two characters portrayed their struggles in different ways. Suho, having nobody by his side to support him emotionally, he was left alone with tackling his inner demons. He felt loneliness because of having nobody. This left him to deal with events that came up in his life in an unhealthy way.
On the other hand, Seojun had friends and family by his side, this means that he was able to deal with the events that occurred in his life in a slightly healthier way. However, with that being said, Seojun never had anyone he was able to confide in. He had people that were there for him to fill in that space of emptiness, but he did not have anyone that he could truly relate to and be himself with.
The moral of the story is, I believe that one can struggle in different ways. You can feel lonely with or without people and that solely depends on who you have around you. Therefore, I value the friendship that the three main leads have. Jugyeong was able to fill in that space and change their lives as well as them changing hers. Thus, I think this show was meaningful to watch for the development of the three and their individual stories.

Honourable mentions
The supporting cast have been heavily involved in the story, bringing depth towards each character. The show doesn't just present the story of the main characters, but also shines a light on the supporting cast and their personalities. They included everybody that brought together this drama and made it 'True Beauty'. Tae Hoon, Hyun Gyu, and Soo Ah are definitely supportive friends that you'd want in your life, HeeKyung is one of those independent and strong female characters that play opposite gender roles in a relationship, Mr. Han is the supportive teacher we all need in life with his cute, clumsy and innocent personality; Cho Rong with his funny and relatable personality traits, Juyoung and his hilarious, cocky and dorky personality, Go Woon with her adorable and strong exterior and Jugyeong's hilarious and supportive parents. And lastly, Se Mi. Although she is the antagonist of the show, it wouldn't be 'True Beauty' without mentioning how her relationship with Jugyeong brought this story together I loved how all the individual characters that contributed to the value of this drama with memorable moments that we will all cherish.

Music
The music was quite fitting to the drama with my favourite song 'Missing You' and 'it Starts Today'. There wasn't one song that really stood out to me and the one that was deemed as the number one song for the drama. I think that every song was good in its own ways.

Rewatch value
I'm not really the one to watch an entire series again, I would only watch the highlights, however, I would rewatch this drama to relive the moments that this show has brought and understand more things on a deeper level. On the contrary, I wouldn't want to because of the emotional rollercoaster that the show put us through. But on a serious note, there were some happy, laughable, and treasuring moments this show had that made the audience connect with the cast and the story more, so I would deem this as rewatchable.


Conclusion
I would recommend you watch this to get the best of both worlds, if you're a webtoon fan and if you want to see the story being brought to life. Would I say I'd prefer this over the webtoon? It's not a straightforward question to answer as both have their pros and cons. As I said, you would have more connection with the characters like if they were your friends that you don't feel much in the webtoon.
If you're not a webtoon fan, then I would say it's a light-hearted, sweet series that is fun to watch. But that's all down to your personal tastes.
To conclude, I was undermining the story at first and was doubtful of the direction of where this drama was going, but I turned out to like this drama more than I'd thought with a few beautiful messages behind it. It's worth a watch. You can delve deeper into the other topics that are included in the story that's not just about the romance. The most integral thing out of the series I would mention is the chemistry between the actors behind the scenes. It was touching and cute, very family-like. Also, to mention individual efforts that were made towards the series. I believe these are a crucial element in bringing together a memorable and well-executed drama.