User reviews

An unattractive girl has plastic surgery to improve her unhappy life only to be looked down upon by those who have stayed natural. It has a romantic storyline which is sweet and well acted by the leads who are convincing in their roles. I am not sure if the message is we should judge people by their character rather then their looks but that doesn't come across as we all know attractive peoples lives are easier. Enjoyable nonetheless and worth a watch.

Everytine Eunwoo appears on screen, I'm in awe. How can this human being be so handsome? Then there's the girl. I don't think badly of her but she was too old for a character of a college student. The plot was simple and the villain is convincing. Eunwoo's acting appear stoic but that's just acting. Ive seen him in other dramas. Chemistry between leads are not much but you will swoon for Eunwoo as a cute bf:)

A strong EIGHT stars if this is meant to be a satire, lampooning life in Korea.

• A scathing satire of alcohol consumption - A scathing satire of beauty infatuation - A scathing satire of predatory dating - A scathing satire of politics before family - A scathing satire of weight concerns - A scathing satire of...well...just about everything.

It works, because it is obviously poking fun at ridiculous behaviors and how easily common situations could end up vastly different (usually better, much much better) if the characters behaved in a rational manner. You'll laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of it all.

HOWEVER...

If this was NOT meant to be a satire, but a serious and believable romantic dramedy, it FAILS MISERABLY. The continued self-loathing and insecurities FAR beyond what even a mentally ill person would experience, if not meant to be satirical, is just grating to the nerves. Other reviewers give great reviews because of the "Heavy Message". But that's the problem. It is not realistic. It is artificially heavy in a cartoon-like sort of way, that again, ONLY works if this is meant to be a satire and not a believable underdog story.

Then, in typical KDrama fashion, the last two episodes come off like they were directed by someone entirely different. They are a collage of small short-attention-span set pieces that transition jarringly and never really mesh into a coherent flow. The last 30 minutes of episode 16 are the worst. This is typical of Korean shows and their infatuation with epilogues once the main threat has been resolved. But it is far more conspicuous here and so overly emotional in one direction or the other, that you don't have time to digest any of it.

Last gripe: The continued KDrama reliance on a stalker/creep (usually male) to deflect some of the blame from a wholly unlikeable female character, and to excuse some of her past behaviors. It doesn't matter that she ruins relationships and causes chaos in her wake, she has to be seen in a pitying light because of her backstory and the fact that she drew unwanted attention to herself. Well, I'd like to tell the writers: Everyone has a sob story in their past. It doesn't make present day behaviors anymore excusable. So, as usually, no accountability for damages caused.

8 stars as a Satire. 4 stars if not. So, an average of 6 stars.

Never have I seen a more annoying and irritating Female Lead than In this Kdrama! First of all Im Soo Hyang was simply too old for the college Freshman's role and then all she could do was go around stiffly...make weird faces and speak weirdly when spoken to!!! Every other actor played their parts well except her🙄. Yes, her character went through lot of anguish and pain as a kid but now that she had got plastic surgery her character needed to develop in some positive way but I didn't see that growth all through the drama! And, how can a person in today's day and time be sooo clueless that when a guy is trying to be so nice and supportive to you that you don't understand his feelings for you... no matter how low a self esteem one may have?!

I kept giving up on the drama...would start watching something else but then am a big fan of Cha Eun Woo so kept going back for him and he is the only reason that I've given 6 stars to the drama otherwise in spite of being a great subject I found it lacking a lot😒. I REALLY wish they had chosen a younger and better actress than ISH....

This is deeper than what I had expected. If young people really bully and ostracize ugly peers as depicted in this drama, parents can't be faulted for encouraging beauty-challenged offsprings to undergo plastic surgery.

Aside from the life change the female lead experiences after being prettified, this drama shows that life is not a bed of roses for pretty people either. It also shows that when it comes to lasting relationships like love, inner beauty trumps external beauty.

Cha Eun Woo shines as "face genius" Do Kyung Seok whose not-so-perfect family life made him shun society. Im Soo-hyang's depiction of Kang Mi Rae is less impressive. Her short shorts and other provocative clothes are inconsistent with her sensible and self-effacing character. And what's with the cutesy, babyish way of talking? It's a good thing Cha Eun Woo has enough charisma to make up for the flaws of other cast members.

Unfortunately, this kdrama suffers from bad writing. It does deal with some real issues and themes like a society that places great significance on someone's appearance and how this eventually becomes the cause for bullying, etc. The first few episodes were fine but it quickly got boring and honestly, I don't care for the romance in this because I just don't think the female lead and male lead have chemistry. The female lead was infuriating as well because she was so naive.

However, I liked the relationship between the female lead and her parents and close friends, it was heartwarming and cute. I also ended up feeling like the side characters were more interesting than the leads. Especially the female side characters such as the FL's best friend, her new friends from university and the main female antagonist.

I never thought I was going to like this Kdrama. But I actually did. I have watched a lot of other Kdramas but this one really made me felt young again and at the same time, so angry with the antagonist. It is actually well written but I think it was too short since a lot of plot areas can be explored.

The romance made my heart tingle. And the way the antagonist manipulates people is just amazing.

I felt so sad that the number of episodes where too short.

I hope this gets a Season 2.

Damn, this series made me feel like a teenager.

This K-drama explores how people who aren't conventionally good-looking can be bullied, however also deals with the other side of the coin, how conventionally good-looking people are also not treated like humans. The issue of living in such a shallow society effect others' self-worth. This k-drama shows the viewer how beauty is subjective to each individual, and how it can be found in someone's actions and personality. Beauty is not surface deep and some of the most beautiful people can be overlooked.

The drama tries to address a social problem and it does so. We see that the female lead is pretty confident, as she addresses that she has done nothing wrong in getting plastic surgery in pursuit of leading a normal life and should not be judged. My only problem with this is that it is a bit too slow. And you don't feel any chemistry between the leads, they seem to be robots.

Because of its name and its ratings I honestly expected this show to be really superficial and full of clichés, just a typical college rom com, you know?

But it's FAR from it.

This show's main message is: Stop comparing yourself with others and stop caring what other people think. Appearances aren't everything. And I LOVED it. Because let's be honest, appearances unfortunately still matter in today's society. This series truly made me overthink some of my own habits and thoughts.

Here's what I can say about the show from my point of view:

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What I loved

• the MESSAGE: I already mentioned a few things about the message of the show but it's really deep and so important! It really needs to be talked about more. We all catch ourselves judging others based on the way they look without even trying to look behind the facade. And that's just really sad and not fair to either of us. And while it will be hard to completely stop doing so, it'd be a good start to realize when we do it and telling ourselves to be more open and kind to others, no matter what someone looks like, what their background is or where they come from.
• the CHARACTERS: I loved most of them. There's always the evil one or whatever you wanna call it, but all in all I basically fell in love with the majority of them: Kang Mi Rae (except for 1 episode lol), Do Kyung Seok, Hyun Jung, Yeon Woo Yeong, Eun, Na Hye Sung, Choi Jung Boon, Woo Jin... like, can I have them in real life please?
• the CAST: they chose the actors and actresses so well! Everyone fit perfectly into their role.
• the ACTING: since this show is about general appearances, you get to see the way the characters act in front of others vs. when they're by themselves or with really close friends and no matter who it was, you really bought whichever mood they appeared to be in and in my opinion that just shows what an amazing job the actors did!
• CHA EUNWOO & KWAK DONGYEON: I love them both ok?? They're the reason I added this show to my watchlist. And they're amazing actors (and singer).

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What I didn't like:

• Well, I can't say I didn't like it but I did think about it once or twice: this show is really slow paced when it comes to the main couple. You gotta wait forever until something's happening or evolving between them. Just saying. But it just underlines the message of the show and the side effects of their mental health issues/complex.
• And at one point I didn't understand Mi Rae's actions, at least not all of it, and it was kind of frustrating. But it was actually just on one episode so it wasn't so significant, either.

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Conclusion: It's a MUST-WATCH!

The story has potential and it conveys many good messages, like accepting yourself for who you are and women should not be reduced to their physical appearance. however, this drama is so slow-paced and honestly... boring. i'm at episode 15 and struggling to finish it. since i'm so close to the end i'm going to force myself to watch the last episode. the acting is extremely mediocre and the drama has gotten even more boring when the main characters started dating. such a boring relationship and such boring characters together. ugh.

This series was definitely produced for the teens because all I wanted to do while watching it was reach through the screen and smack the main girl knock some sense into her!

My goodness, whoever or many of the script writers squeezing out the story plot! Who in the right mind behave so friggin mousy! In this 21st century I can not imagine a young woman behaving so gutless! Not only that, her voice and behavior too was most aggravating too!

Wrong actress for the lead!

And that conniving bitch acting like a friend all the while giving another screwing to the mouse! I hated girls like that in school! Even though I was a shy introverted person, I'd have sooner reached my limit and fought back and give that bitch one two punch right on her conniving mouth!

I've skipped what I could for the sake of my curiosity and see how that bitch was handled in the damn series!! Ugh!

In closing, I do not recommend it for the adults. But the teenagers with the maturing mindset may learn from it some life situations, and to better handle those who are just pretending to be friends when all the while giving the f..k U!

It had the good overall message about appearances and being judged in society. But nonetheless, it doesnt actually encourage people about accepting who you are. Guess you can give points for not going that route.

All the cliches about kdrama seemed to stand out to me more than other shows. This wouldve been the staple example of typical kdramas.

Also felt there were a bit too many characters whose stories werent given enough time to explore. And some characters such as the female lead antagonist made me not even be sympathetic to her. She got enough screen time, but just her story wasn't interesting.

I felt that she was basically unnecessary at the end of the day.

This show was so good. Just reading a review and the synopsis of it made me want to watch it. It's mostly about inner beauty which is the most important thing. It doesn't matter how beautiful you look on the outside, it's whats inside that counts and that's the moral of this show. It teaches us lessons that we can use in life especially in this day and age. I highly recommend it, only plight was two annoying characters that try to cause trouble for our main leads. Other than that it's really enjoyable and if you enjoy dramas this is worth watching.

The main characters were full of anxiety, swollen with neurotic behaviors and so dysfunctional that I had to watch it just to see where it was going to go!

No one I've ever known (I'm 70- years old) has ever been remotely close to the borderline, narcissistic and psychologically damaged behaviors that have been written for the characters. I've worked in a psychiatric hospital for years and these characters as they were written, would have a nice bed waiting for them.

At least, the last last 30 minutes or had some degree of closure for many of the side stories.

The series was okay: it was pleasant, yet frustrating but overall it's a thumbs up.

This TV series doesn't depict itself as something stellar or groundbreaking, but instead it gradually reveals its meaningful nuance point by point. I am touched by each component of the series, either the narrative or the performance of each actor. Moreover, the theme of the series is timely profound since people, no matter in what era, still are judgmental based on outer appearances.

If you wanted to watch something light-hearted this works for you. No overacting or twisted plots. Its a simple romcom story.

I loved watching Eun Woo in Rookie Historian, he had this adorable aura in him and was surprised by his acting here. His character is cold and stiff. I wished he smiled more. Also, I would have preferred a better lead than Hyang Im, considering her role was "super pretty and sexy"-I dont find her that pretty here and thought other girls casted were a lot prettier.

He is definetly one of the most handsomest young men I have ever seen definetly the right person to play this part the woman has definetly had plastic surgery done but looked too old for the part of a college student but thought it most enjoyable drama and loved all the actors in it glad to see the main character get her voice in the end which was expected anyway yes worth a watch

This truly has the slowest and most frustratingly pointless progress of relationships I have ever encountered. If your life is filled to the brim with excitement and spark than perhaps this can be a study of mindfulness and a cognitive treatment for impatience. But I have barely gotten trough it so far (E14). Every step takes forever. And I've now resumed to brush my hair manically for the last 3 episodes out of frustration. It's not even the exiting, butterfly kind of frustration. It's pure boredom. And I have started to hate all the characters for their passiveness. The FL is the most frustrating character. She uses maybe two facial expression and mostly answers everything with a slightly scared and sad "what?!" Or simply a quiet "yes" or "no". The ML is not much better. He smiled for, perhaps, the first time 14 hours(!) in to the series. I am actually writing this as an episode is running as to save minutes of my life. Some topics addressed are very important and at times touching. Some of the supportive characters are well written and kind of lovely, but their stories don't get enough room and all is overshadowed by the oh so un-thrilling romance and intrigue amongst the Leads and the rest of the supportive cast. This is probably not doe to bad acting but bad character writing. Watch this drama if you long for boredom and need to practice patience. Otherwise maybe don't.

First of all, amazing concept! Really loved how the lead actress started off the series and truly showed how teenage girls actually feel about their appearances. But I felt like they failed to deliver the msg what they really wanted to cz in the end, the girls were objectified.

Most annoying thing is why was ONLY the girls' were being judged for their beauty either that's natural or plastic surgery! Why didn't anyone say oh he's so handsome HE MUST BE GANGNUM HANDSOME! Most amazing dialogue was SHE'S NOT PRETTY OR UGLY. She's just HERSELF!

The lead actress wearing the smallest shorts and skirts in the entire series really BUGGED ME. Cz it was too obvious that they wanted to highlight her physique and how she was being judged for it!

Nevertheless Cha Eun Woo was perfect for that role! The only one who could have done the exact same outstanding job like Cha Eun Woo is ROWOON from SF9 who was in drama Extraordinary you! Love them both sooooo much.

It's funny how the lead actress and actor both look like human versions of cartoon characters. Their facial expressions too. She looks older than him.

The story is meaningful about the ways people judge others on their looks and feel about themselves. The relationship with the parents is quite touching. The sweet smiling but jealous friend is quite real. The obstacles take a long time to overcome. Maybe a few episodes too long.