Belleza interior (2018)

What is Your Greatest Fear?

What is your greatest fear? Rejection? Of being alone?

This drama tells more than it is showing. Han Se Gye's (Seo Hyun Jin) character depicts a significant meaning about life itself. She has taken in so many roles since her debut that she is afraid of losing her true identity in the process. Just like her changing from one person to another for a week once every month, she is terrified that she won't be able to go back to herself one day.

Although, at one point in our lives, we would love to live somebody else's life and somebody else's world. We want to escape our reality so much that we want to become somebody else.

Favorite line in the drama.
Life is not like a movie; hug yourself. There is no one else who will love you but YOU. Love yourself every once in a while.

This drama has its flaws after episode 11. Nevertheless, I try not to focus on that as this has its potential. One thing, I like Seo Do Jae's (Lee Min-Ki) character better than Do Min Ik. He has the same cognitive disorder in the drama, The Secret Life of My Secretary. This time, I can see that he acts like a director as he is busy being that. While for Do Min Ik, I can only see him walk in and out of his office except for that one-time meeting with the stockholders. Do Jae's character here as a chaebol is more realistic than that of Do Min Ik from The Secret Life Of My Secretary.

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What if the only person who can reliably recognise you, can't actually recognise anyone?

I thought the plot line on this one was really unusual, the idea of someone changing their bodies entirely was an interesting concept. Se-Gye learns to use her monthly predicament to help people and there are some really nice scenes where she's able to use her acting, her unique placement to help and empathy to make a difference to a few peoples lives. There are also some amusing interactions and a few downright hilarious moments.

General path of the story is a positive one as the two get to know each other and then get closer. There is a tough "bad bit" but it's not really *quite* in the "stupid breakup" category for me, but the cause of the whole thing was an really interesting twist so I felt it added rather than detracted from the story overall.

Actors - where to start...

Seo Hyun Jin is probably one of my new favourite actresses in the kdrama scene, having seen her in this and "Another Miss Oh" previously I find her exceptionally good, and, I don't know, there's something about her voice... I could listen to it for hours :)

Lee Min Ki - initially I was a bit disappointed because the character seems to be just a similar role to the one in "Because this is my first life" - flat, emotionally repressed, stiff. I warmed to the character though and it's definitely appropriate for the story, someone who has no ability to recognise faces is going to have an exceptionally tough time with friendships let alone anything more - so I suspect most end up just closing themselves off. As the story progresses though there are some amazing moments where he's laughing with joy and they were brought that much more to life because of the flatness of the character previously. So, ultimately, yes, very good.

Lee Da Hee - I think Da-Hee is fantastic in everything she does but I felt there was a mismatch in her character - she's the president of an airline, she's pitched as a scary kick-ass lady, but too often she comes across as a weaker character than that. Her story as she opens up to Eun-Ho however was really nice and parallelled Do-Jae's story in that she's just as cold (albeit for different reasons) and this is her warming up and realising she's allowed to enjoy life too.

Direction - I mentioned earlier i'd watched this one after "Another Miss Oh" - and as I was watching it I kept thinking, wow, the direction of this is so familiar... turns out it's the same director, Song Hyun Wook. It made it feel comfortable and familiar having enjoyed Miss-Oh.

Soundtrack was great, looking forward to listening to it in more detail later.

Lastly - just as an aside really, in one of the opening moments there's an awards ceremony, if you've watched miss-oh you should hopefully recognise some of the cast from it flanking Seo Hyun Jin in the audience, in particular Ye Ji Won and Lee Jae Yoon.

Definitely on my re-watch list!

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An average one.

I am writing this review right after finishing the last episode. I decided to watch this drama because of Hyun jin (I love her acting), though I didn't like the story because it seemed too much, but I decided to give it a try and yes, overall I can say it was an average drama.

WHAT I ENJOYED:
• Great acting as expected from Hyun jin (FL) plus (ML) and all the actors, they did a good job.
• LEE DA HEE WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER IN THIS DRAMA! She was a character I could relate to and I truly loved how she was changing slightly and realistically. Although at first all she was doing was being rude and mean to the ML, the one time when she was fooled and then started crying in the car calling herself "stupid"... she made me cry. What an impressive acting Lee Da Hee. Good Job. As for her partner, I didn’t like her partner. neither the actor himself nor his character, but I forced myself to watch their scenes because I liked her.
• I loved the friendship between FL and her friends. It was warm watching them comfort each other.
• The OSTS.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
• FL character. I am sorry to say this but I have hated her many times for her attitude. The way she treated her mother was too mich. At one point she literally yelled at her for accepting gifts from ML even though she was dating him?? She also never apologized and but instead she decided to call the ML and complain about her mother ?????? Also, the way she was getting annoyed at the ML before they became a couple, was very childish to me and not cute at all. I'm a little disappointed in HYUN JIN. I think she could have made the character better even if it was poorly written.
• Lack of good writing and very predictable and cheesy plot. I think the drama could have been done in 10 episodes max. The last few episodes have been completely unnecessary.
• l skipped a lot of romantic scenes because I got tired of watching the same lines being repeated over and over.
• The second ML (Ryu Eun ho) was A HUGE FAIL. What's wrong with him??? I knew he is supposed to be the super nice guy but seriously, he was too much. At first he would appear ridiculously in front of Kang-sara every single time and literally every where????? I didn't expect this silly plot to be in 2018 drama. Anyway, and then he constantly flirting with her, but when she starts liking him and confesses her feelings he simply rejected her saying he was just being nice????? Suddenly he falls in love with her and decides to change his dream only for her even though he barely knows her. And after dating each other, she was the one who was acting like the man in the relationship, and he was accepting everything from her without hesitation. He even accepted a car from her and she literally asked his parents to marry him without discussing it with him??? and he accepted it with a smile???? How ridiculous LOL. I mean, you're he is the man here, what's wrong with him.

- I watched “because this is my first life” for the ML so I felt he was somehow similar to his character over there, but maybe he was slightly funnier in this drama.
As for the FL I watched “Another miss oh”and I LOVED IT SO MUCH. That is why I am disappointed in her in this drama.

I didn’t plan to write a long one but I’ll stop here.
I won’t rewatch it again, once is pretty enough.

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Beautiful Drama

I really love this drama, the story behind it and how it is told. This is my second time rewatching this. I watched it two years ago and rewatched again since it got added to Netflix. I genuinely liked it even more on the second watch and having now watched quite a few K-Dramas since this, I see it for the gem that it is. The romance, the story, the plot are all good. This is a heartfelt drama and I love it!!

Now this part is a rant about these reviews
I watched the drama and I loved it and it's the first drama that I've watched that I wanted to actually post a review for. So I come on here write my review and I go to post it. Only to have the site tell me that my review has to be 500 words long to post. 500 words? Are you freaking kidding me?!? That's a huge requirement for a review on a television show. I seriously wonder how many people chose not to review things because they literally have to write half an essay in order for it to get submitted. I'm not joking, I've had school assignments that required fewer works that this site's reviews. This is ridiculous.

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Plot + Review

Plot: Han Se Gye is a top actress, also known as a troublemaker, with many rumors around her. To others, her life appears as a mystery, when in fact she is faced with a strange occurrence where at a certain point every month, her appearance changes to a different person. She lives one week out of every month with a different appearance and identity. She encounters Seo Do Jae, a brilliant man who is an executive at an airline company. He seems to have it all: a perfect appearance, knowledge, and a good job; but he has a secret too. He suffers from Prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize faces. However, he manages to hide this from the world, every day he makes an effort to remember people by their personalities. Seo Do Jae's life begins to change when he meets Han Se Gye. She is the only person whose face he can recognize.

Main: Han Se-gye is a top actress who is the subject of numerous rumors, especially because she occasionally suddenly disappears from public view. Only a few people know her secret, and they do their best to cover for her. She is the model for T Road Airline.
Seo Do-jae is the director of an airline company, T Road Air, who has face blindness after his brain was injured in an accident. He hides his disorder from the world, and remembers people's habits and appearance to recognize them.

Review: This is such an underrated and good drama and should have been so much more hyped! Not only are the production, settings and aesthetic on point, but the acting + characters were amazing. The plot was good + simple. I loved the message proving that inner beauty matters. But there are times when it gets a little boring.

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Watching this darama is better than reading summary. I think show has good actors. I like puppy in this darama it's so cute. Story wise good all episodes are good. We have good time. Hero and heroine conversation has a great meaning. Dialogue are super between them. If you are waiting for a darama now it's time to see this. It's simple story with less complications. Direction is good making changes in the heroine character different member will appear and manage them in the story. This is my first review tried my best to give. I hope you may like it. I'm searching for words to type for this review.

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SO MUCH NONSENSE....but I liked it.

Man, this show was silly. I really liked the constant revolving door of different characters playing the lead as her faces changed. I thought it was clever and cute the way she related to each of her faces and kept track of them. The male character was funny and did a great job interacting with each of the people playing the lead. I especially liked the overarching theme of it being the soul he loved not the face, age, race, or even gender of the person.

This show deals really lightly with a lot of deep topics without becoming too preachy or too invested in a social message. It's fun and engaging and entertaining. The only real issue I had was the weird best friend hot male priest sub-plot. That side character made literally zero sense to me and added nothing to the show at all during his struggle with god vs sex story arcs. I'm also not a fan of the actor who played the priest because he's SO listless. I've seen him in several dramas and dude has like taken a shot of botox to the heart or something. He can't seem to get any emotion into his roles, so he ends up just being uninteresting eye candy (although to be fair I don't think he's hot either, though the show repeatedly tries to convince you that he is hot....by telling you constantly that he is hot....).

Overall, I wouldn't watch this again, but it's a good light piece of entertainment to watch some night when you're slightly drunk and feeling like you don't want to focus too intently on much at all.

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A Lesser Known Gem of a Rom-com

I am not writing this review for the purpose of writing a review. I felt the need to share what I feel at this moment. If you care to read an anonymous average girl thinking about life as she sees this drama… you may want to proceed reading.

It is the story of a woman who changes faces and a man who can't recognize faces. There right, they are match made in heaven. Why does she changes faces? We don't know. But one thing is for sure, they are meant to heal and comfort each other like no one else would.

Han Se Gye is really a beautiful person. The directors didn’t try to force that into our minds. She is. And that felt natural. The way she acted, or other actors that played her acted, or how the plot was written or how it was completely filmed- it was a whole. She is truly beautiful, inside and outside and that didn’t feel like she pretended. She can act like a rude one, but she is good; very very good. I was not forced to believe that fact. I believed it, naturally. And maybe that is why, amongst thousands of faceless faces and faces that are not actual faces, he sees her. He acknowledges her. And even her mother did. Because the soul is of the same beautiful person.

When I was in my fifth standard, I did a play on stage. There were many other children of the same age and probably same height as well, and we were all painted in white faces with black makeup since it was a mime skit. The crowd was big, the sun was bright and my mom had a bad eye-sight. That play was special to me. Not just because I loved playing my role but what happened when I left the stage. My mom came running to me after we gave our end credits. I asked amma if she could spot me on the stage. She dearly wiped the sweat on my face and said, “You are MY daughter. I can spot you wherever you are.” I tend to reminisce this scene every time I feel unloved by the world. Because it gives me a reality check- that I’m never unloved. Whatever form I take, how big I grow, how bad I change into someone else doesn’t matter, as the people who love me, love me as I am. They love the person I am inside. And they continue doing it, no matter what.

And it’s just not Han Se Gye in this drama. It’s Seo Do Jae who looks bossy and aloof but doesn’t think a second before jumping to save someone else. It’s Kang Sara who looks like she could kill you, but sincerely cares for you. It’s Ryu Eun Ho who sees past the cold Sara and comforts her or prays for his friends. It’s You U-mi who doesn’t hesitate to hurt herself to protect her friends. It’s Jun Ji Hwan who says that he does it for money but stays with you like your shadow and be like your family in your lowest. Se Gye's mom, Do Jae's mom, dad and grandpa, Eun Ho's family....they are all beautiful souls. Beautiful inside (and outside).

I think that’s the real message The Beauty Inside wanted to give cloning itself into plots like fictional form-changing, prosopagnosia. With a light-aired breeze of romance, comedy, and drama this drama presents itself like any other Korean Romedy. I liked how I laughed, cried and weirded out throughout the drama.

I really want to talk about So Hyun Jin, the actress who played the female lead Han Se Gye. She lives her role. As a bubbly trouble-making actress, a tsundere personality…. She played it all well. Her eyes are so beautiful. There is some kind of warmth in them. Lee Min Ki, the male lead did his role with what it required and in the cutest way possible. He was awesome. He knows what the character wants to be curved like. Lee Da Hee as Kang Sara stole the show. Her presence was powerful and left a great impact. Lee Jae Hyun as Ryu Eun Ho was a pleasant delight. His calm and composed acting was relaxing to watch. My boy Lee Tae Ri as Ju Hwan. Tae Ri is someone I really love watching on-screen. The many roles he takes and the justice he does to all of them makes me want to see him more. Drama Directors are kinda blind to give him only support roles. And… the BEST MANAGER cum FRIEND of on-screen celebrity goes to- (drum rolls please) Moo Ji In as You U-Mi. Cutest. I will ENSURE to include Park Hyun Jung who played a suicidal mother in Episode 9 (?) and Ra Mi Ren as one of Han Se Gye’s forms in Episode 10. Park Hyun Jung did an awesome job emoting like she lived what she played. And Ra Mi Ren the actor she is- proved her potential.

I don’t know why, I always found a pull towards this drama though no-one suggested it to me. Well, I shall blame myself as well for not watching it as soon as I felt that pull. It is not a slow-burn, it is not message oriented as it may seem by the way I’ve written this review. Let’s just say I’m being over dramatic. It’s, as I said, your any other K-drama. However, I will stress upon the fact that I want you all to watch it and appreciate it. It is so less talked about than all other dramas which are all hype and no ripe. If you are in a mood to just watch something that doesn’t have to keep you on the edge of the seat, bite your nails or binge-watch, you are at the right place.

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I don't really know...

I really don't know what to think about this drama. Did I love it? No. Did I like it meh!... confusing right?
I hesited at first because the theme reminded me of "The Secret Life of my Secretary" where the ML also has the same condition i.e not being able to recognise faces.
But I was swayed while watching "You are my spring" that's airing right now so I really caved in for See Hyun Jin. I was dreading also Lee Min Ki's performance as I dropped the last drama he did (O my landlady) because I think he is a robot. His face is stone cold all the time and I don't understand how a FL can develop chemistry with him...
BUT! I started watching (for lack of nothing else...).
My verdict: It's ok. Both leads have a history and that helps them to get closer. SHJ is great. She expresses her emotions freely. I love her relationship with her 2 best friends and how it develops throughout the drama.
The whole trope with the cold CEO bla bla bla that we've seen a gazillion times is boring, mainly because LMK is (sorry to repeat myself) a machine. I don't understand how she can fall in love with this man. She clearly doesn't because she pitying him (at least) but it's a mystery to me.
We've seen these drama so many times, I feel for the writers to find something original. The funny part was Ahn Jae Hyun's character, going from "I want to be a priest" to "I love a woman and I'll give everything up for her". That was fun. The second leads, for once, where more interesting than the first leads. I also liked the chaebol family spirit. For once they stick together instead of fighting with each other.
I hope the autumn will bring some exciting new romance drama and hopefully some novelty.

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THE BEST

Ini salah satu drama terbaik yang pernah gua tonton. Sempet berhenti nonton gitu, tapi lanjut lagi setelah beberapa bulan dan akhirnya super nyesel kenapa gak diselesain dari dulu karna ini drama "indah" banget gitu storynya.
Bener-bener kagum banget sama ML dan FLnya ngadepin masalah mereka gitu. Walaupun sedikit agak gak suka sama alesan si FLnya kudu putus sama ML tapi cara mereka nyelesain masalahnya bener-bener keren atau indah sih menurut gua wkwkk
POKOKNYA WAJIB NONTON INI MAH

btw ini pertama kalinya gua buat review, jadi kalo belum bener jadi "review" mohon dimaklumi
Thanks

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"I won't be able to forget because you are the one who recognized me first."

Before going too deep into this review, I honestly think that this is one of the best rom-coms out there in Dramaland. Sure, it's got some of its flaws, and some storyline aspects were left unmentioned, but those are overlooked by what TBI has to offer.

Casting // Acting // Story
There honestly couldn't have been such a better cast- with Seo Hyun Jin brining Han Se Gye's character to life, whether it be happily in love with Seo Do Jae or facing angst because of past events long ago. Throughout the drama, Seo Hyun Jin demonstrated her capabilities as a top actress- there were some challenging emotional scenes that she needed to pull off, and I'm wondering how her tear ducts were able to handle all of it. Thankfully, the angst doesn't last long. Lee Min Ki on the other hand delivered his lines with a mostly deadpan expression, but through his eyes he conveyed all the emotions needed for someone who struggles with prosopagnosia. He could be cold in the beginning, but he shifts to someone who deeply cares for those he loves. To be honest, Kang Sara and Ryu Eun Ho felt like side character rather than main, and I wish that they too got some more screen time, but it was ok for what it was. Lee Tae Ri and Moon Ji in brought so much life to the scenes that they were in, whether it be Secretary Jeong's bromance with Seo Do Jae or Woo Mi being the best suportive friend for Han Se Gye.

I've seen a lot of people wondering about why Han Se Gye transforms, or what happens to the dads. Unfortunately, TBI never touches on these topics- in reality, although it would have been nice to understand contextually why these events happened, show used them as a placeholder to reflect on other themes. In the end, Han Se Gye realizes her transformations were an opportunity to help other people. She reflects on all the times she's helped others come to terms with their problems, with each transformation setting the stage for something else. We don't know if Han Se Gye would become a young child or an old man in the next, which makes each transformation a surprise. The cameo of Kim Min Seok was a really nice one, and it set the stage for all the future transformations to come. I also really liked how Seo Do Jae portrayed acceptance and love to what's truly on the inside, and not based off of the exterior alone. In one particular scene, it really touched me how Seo Do Jae promised Han Se Gye that he'd be with her, even with her current state as an old grandpa. TBI also portrays the difficulties between what happens behind the scenes in a Hallyu star's life, and I thought that it was done very well, with Han Se Gye running whenever she transforms and how she deals with the media afterwards. My only quip with the story was why did Ryu Eun Ho want to be a priest? It was never explained his origin (like the earlier two I mentioned), but unlike those, this serves no real purpose at all, except to create tensions between him and Sa Ra. Now TBI never has any true antagonists, except in Han Se Gye's rival hoobae actress Chae Yoo Ri. Such a trivial character, but I love the way Han Se Gye stood her ground and dealt with all of Chae Yoo Ri's shenanigans (the orange juice scene...damn girl!)

OSTS //
As for the OSTs, I really loved the tracks Falling in Love (Davichi), Beautiful Moment (K.Will), and Goodbye (Wendy). Maybe I'm just a sucker for ballad-y songs, but these songs hit differently whenever our characters felt poignant and angsty. It really set the mood for the scenes, and I loved how they didn't just overuse one song repeatedly for "sad scenes."

Overall //
As a rom-com, TBI feels familiar in all its aspects. There's no true antagonist constantly pining after our OTP's lives, but it didn't need it. It didn't need any major plot movers because the love between our leads was enough. As a viewer, I never thought it was slowpaced and boring- seeing the character developments between our OTP coming to terms with themselves and finding peace in each other was enough for me. One final thing, I also really liked how the show used the time to fully flush out the relationship of our OTP. Unlike other dramas that end immediately upon reunion (or shortly afterwards), TBI focuses on our characters' lives and gives good fanservice to what we can expect should the story continue on years into the future. The ending scene with all of Han Se Gye's transformations walking behind Han Se Gye herself towards Seo Do Jae's open arms in the end really set it for me: this is one of the best rom-coms in Dramaland.

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