Tired of being looked down upon for her unattractive appearance, middle schooler Lim Jugyeong turns to the transformative powers of makeup. First, she experiments with BB cream, lip tint, and eyeliner; then she begins using mascara, double eyelid glue, and colored contacts. Before she knows it, Jugyeong goes from being a girl who is bullied for her ugliness to being praised as a high-class beauty. Constantly surrounded by those who adore her goddess-like appearance, Jugyeong can now live a more than comfortable life at school—she simply has to keep her bare face a secret.
However, everything changes when the new transfer student, Lee Suho, enters her life. Not only does the handsome Suho become immediately popular among their peers, but in a chance encounter, he also becomes the only classmate of Jugyeong's to see her face beneath the makeup. With her reputation on the line, Jugyeong must do whatever it takes to hide the truth about her appearance from the rest of her classmates. But the more time she spends with Suho, the more Jugyeong finds herself questioning whether one's true beauty lies solely in their looks.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
QueenOpals
With such low reviews I wasn’t expecting much from the show, but I was blown away by the amazing colors and looks of the characters, and the intro song that is original to the show? I actually downloaded the song to my playlist for the car it’s that good. The show is deeper than most rom coms and goes over topics like suicide, severe bullying, etc. I really Don’t understand the bad reviews? There were a few spots where the animation looked alittle funny in moments, but that was just the animation style. Most 12 or 13 core shows have a few episodesthat are super slow and boring but honestly all the episodes were intriguing and interesting. Great show overall!
rmelda_7
I’ll start by saying that I’ve watched and read every single adaptation of true beauty. I had read the WEBTOON, then watched the kdrama and now I just finished the anime. In my opinion I would classify (based on my most enjoyed version to the least) : WEBTOON > anime > kdrama. The main problem with this version is that it is TOO rushed which means that some details lack. Because of that you can’t understand completely the story and the background stories of the characters. It’s an anime so they could have made 24 episodes and explained everything more deeply. Despite that, this versionfollows more the WEBTOON story which is great ‘cause that’s what really annoyed me while watching the kdrama.
I also don’t understand why people say that jugyeong’s voice is annoying. Personally, it suits her.
Overall I would say that it is a good anime which focus on some social problems and shows you how important dealing with insecurities is.
I am definitely waiting for season 2 because according to the WEBTOON there’s supposed to be one.
Owlseer
To my amazement, the True Beauty K-drama adaptation was a fairly good watch, reasonable enough to include about as much of the storyline as was maintained from the webtoon. I can say it was a hit but one that was ok but would not revolutionize the industry. To the best of my judgement, the drama did find a good balance – it was moving yet not fundamentally misplaced alongside the main emphasis of the plot, even if the main center of focus was not honed. There were some stereotypical features that K drama lovers have come to expect: the drama element, the love triangle affairand the fait accompaniment of little drama. But admittedly, I like these elements. Without them, it is difficult to imagine what in fact gives K-dramas the unique and special identity in the first place. They provide an opportunity of identifying more easily with the characters though at times this detracts from the nature of the story and slows down events in the drama.
While watching True Beauty, watching these emotional layers helped the characters. The characters were relatable and almost vulnerable — something that did not quite come off with the anime adaptation. Outer beauty, or pleasing the society was not the point of it; it was deeper, more inner conflicts, and every character had their own problem. The reality, the way the show handled these particular issues was realistic, although, sometimes maybe it went a bit too melodramatic. Incorporating the arcs of self acceptance of the characters, specially the main character it may have drawn some of the fans for the drama, for me, one of them is that. Or it might’ve been explained as the Wokey and cheesy in some cases, but I’d call it out K-drama bane. We always expect tension from them and as a result we always end up emotionally invested in the plot. You're very finely walking a line to stay with the major tale and still attempt to work with the moody scenes and I think the drama overall has gotten that harmony.
What was the anime version of that, in contrast, was rather, I don’t know, unbearable, I guess. I at least hoped the show would bring something new in despite the fact that there wasn’t too much excitement in my heart for it, given the anime’s creative scope. Unfortunately, it failed to produce the feeling and emotion that was a core element of True Beauty and thus became very popular in being a manhwa to draw. The animation was medium quality and the pace was so quick it didn’t allow any character development to take place that the plot required. In the anime, it seems that instead of going into the heart of the character change and the social conflict with which they must contend, that plot points in the anime were spent making sure they packed in as much as they could which ultimately blunted these emotional climaxes. It was unfortunate because there’s so much you can do with anime when it comes to delivering both a personal challenge as well as an epic story without taking a dilution angle like True Beauty.
Anime, unlike other art forms, can completely encompass the viewer and immerse them into an author’s desire in ways that are hard to achieve through live-action. If there is an author’s vision, there is also a director who works to achieve that vision in full by achieving the right colors, shapes and frequent infusing of the smallest details that make up the author’s imagination. Because of this, even the most fantastic worlds are portrayed in the most believable fashion. In anime, every aspect about a character and scene originates from the creator’s vision, combining together to tell their story exactly as it was meant to be told. In this way, anime provides an uncanny degree of accuracy to the viewer in terms of what the creator’s intentions were, and this brings about an experience that is not only memorable but a realistic sensation to the audience. This potential is what I was expecting to get from True Beauty’s anime adaptation; however, it did not come to fruition which was unfortunate.
Although they failed to produce a good anime adaptation, the idea of using manhwas as reference to anime is something which I look forward to. Since constantly expanding the anime industry, it is not just limited to adapting from Japanese manga, and I believe this is great. It offers so many opportunities to tell different kinds of stories, influence them with different cultures, create more varied characters which can be interesting to everyone around the globe. Not every story can be made in live-action because some stories are stylized or have setting or internal world that need artistic liberty to create. Here, there is an opportunity of engendering such magnanimous impressions fit to the screen without the imposition of realistic drama, and harness the potential of the manga-inspired format to its finest.
It’s fascinating to think about where this pattern may lead in the future of but is it possible for anime to move from just being an entertainment form rooted in Japan to ruling the world, or will it fail to compete with lots of other types of entertainment as it goes international? Time will tell, but there definitely is growth here and we look forward to the anime industry looking into this option more seriously. It feels like, thanks to studios gradually trying new formats from various sources – manhwas, novels, and whatnot – we might be on the brink of a new era for anime that has something for everyone.
As it is now evident, media changes constantly and the anime industry has a particular opportunity to reestablish itself to a whole new demographic that it has never targeted before. Perhaps some of the best ever novels and manhwas will turn into anime in the coming years, stories that ideally suited to anime and difficult to translate into live-action works. As of now, I am watching where anime industry is going..
shmeowww
Do you like cute anime husbands? Do you like not-weird fan service? Are you a women? Well chances are you will very much enjoy this anime. I am unsure why this does not have a better rating especially in female communities. Honestly, the plot of this was quite good and I absolutely did not have any high expectations. This anime deserves a higher rating. Just to preface: I have never watched the K-Drama before, but I am currently watching. Thus far, it’s mostly accurate to it! It is as good as this anime, and the anime reflects its original roots well. I’m also very happy theyfinished the English dub on Crunchy which is good for those who like sub and dub.
Moreover, I recommend this to any Shojo anime lover out there! It’s so good that I am getting my gal pals to watch too!! I I’m also happy that this takes a more mature role, and it NOT fan-service for men! It does a good job portraying the story. This one is def for the ladies, as there are some very cute moments with the characters that is not weird! The Japanese and English voice actors were candy to my ears. Very pleasurable experience!! I think a lot of younger and more mature women will enjoy this, such as women between ages 15-25.
BlondieLottie
To start off, I'll say that I read the webtoon and watched the live action before the anime (I didn't like the live action) and I thought that I personally wouldn't like the True Beauty anime. Surprisingly... it turned out to be the opposite. Don't get me wrong, all three mediums have a very similar premise regarding South Korea's obsession with beauty standards. However, one thing that differs from the live action is that the anime is, surprisingly, more faithful to the source material (and doesn't evangelize some characters like the live action did) The plot follows the story of Lim Jugyeong, who is bullied for being'ugly' (something that doesn't surprise me about South Korea considering the bullying idols suffer) and is forced to change schools. During that time, she will learn how to apply makeup through YouTube tutorials. This may seem superficial at first, but it's very relatable to want to fit into the canons of beauty in order to be accepted. Especially at such a vulnerable age as adolescence. During that time, Jugyeong will meet two other characters: Suho (who in the live action feels like a robot) and Seojun (the classic tsundere). Not to mention Sujin (the new bully).
From here on there is a very important difference. In the live action, Jugyeong is VERY passive. And I'm not lying. In the anime, at least, she has more moments of determination regarding her desires (along with her constant setbacks). Also, the comedy is much better implemented (I always hated the scene of the noodles in the nose in chapter 2 of the live action or the various exaggerations). In some ways, True Beauty (anime) is not very different from Peach Girl or Hana Yori Dango (having more in common with Peach Girl in terms of manipulation, bullying, and some aspects, like the photography in a Love Hotel or Suho having to fake a romance with Sujin, something that also happened between Sae and Touji).
I've said a lot of positive things, but True Beauty is not free of negative things. An example is that the chapters, having a standard length of 18-19 minutes, are quite fast and the resolution of the conflict (chapter 12) was somewhat quick. Also, chapter 13 gives us a different perspective that can be somewhat questionable depending on how you look at it. But well, since they confirmed a season 2, it's possible that that ending was necessary.
True Beauty is a very entertaining anime that, despite its superficial message, is at the same time a fairly accurate reflection of beauty standards and the pressure that comes with it, especially in South Korea, a country that deals with problems due to aesthetic pressure and validation. It may not be the most original thing in the world, but it is an anime that will not leave anyone indifferent. If you liked Peach Girl, you will undoubtedly like True Beauty.
Rian_Rahmat
Even though it's not from Japan, I liked it, so I recommend you guys to watch it too. A romantic comedy that might be relatively new to me, although this kind of story already exists in Japanese anime too. But what's different here is that each has its own style of delivery, comedy and storyline. So for those of you who are bored with Japanese romantic comedies, I think this anime is one of the choices. For the characters are cute, the comedy is funny, and most importantly not exaggerated. I often see Japanese romantic comedies where the characters are exaggerated, with the Ikemen style, or sparkling eyes, andother things, maybe some of you have noticed that.
Even though there are some scenes that are still stiff, I still like it. I hope that anime released outside of Japan can also be more advanced, but with the note that Japanese dubs are used. I'm sorry because I'm used to hearing Japanese, so even without the help of subtitles I can understand a little of what they're saying.
sagemoderose
Right off the back, I will give this animation adaptation a 7.5/10. Let me go over my reasoning. Real quick, I have not read the manga, nor have I seen the actual K drama, I've only seen the animation which is what I'll be reviewing. First off, I think the animation is good. Not great but good. though at times it looked like one of those game screens one in a blue moon and would throw mw off, or at least that's how I see it. The color and animation were good, I don't have many complaints about it, other thank the still screenlike blue lock from time to time.
Secondly, I like the story line, girl gets bullied goes to a new school to try and reinvent herself in hopes she doesn't repat past drama and along the way finds herself with great friends and along the way ends up falling in love.
Lastly, the only other complaint I have is that the last few episodes felt rushed. Not to mention that ending. The ending could have been longer or at least one more episode.
There really isn't a need for a season 2 but I hope there is, because I would watch.
if you're looking for anime that has comedy, romance, and drama then check this one out. This isn't an anime that you would watch multiple times but it one to just check out in case you can't find anything to watch.
Destron
This anime has been in my plan to watch for a while now and I figured it was finally time to watch it. With the low score I actually expected this to be not that good of a watch. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I actually liked watching this anime. The first episode did feel a bit difficult to watch because within the first couple of minutes of the anime they highlighted how shallow and horrible people can actually be to someone just because of something as small as their looks. I myself look like a human version of Jabba the Hut soI know first hand what it's like to be harassed because of both my looks and weight. True Beauty highlighted that in a pretty good way.
Moving onto the actual plot. I think the plot was decent. I'm not going to say any of it was crazy because it wasn't, but like I said with the low score, I actually expected this series to either be complete ass or to have something go wrong to warrant the score going low but I just couldn't find it. I found myself getting pretty invested with the characters and the plot twists really caught me off guard. Like for example the "backstab" in episode 11. Without going into spoilers, just know it completely caught me off guard. I do wish the one thing that happened that didn't was, I wish Jugyeong revealed her true self to the school during the livestream. I feel like if she did that, and they accepted her for who she actually was, it would have delivered a really great message to the audience. Instead she still wears her makeup even after they graduate.
Overall, I quite enjoyed this show for what it was.
8/10
Asasphinx
Prior to watching this I was able to read all of the chapters this adaptation managed to cover and I'm mixed on how I felt about this. I felt a mix of disappointment in what I saw, but part of me still wanted to keep watching because early on this adaptation seemingly deviates from the exact path taken in the manhwa while the outcome remains the same. Take my first issue: I think the biggest issue comes from the means of storytelling on various fronts. The pacing of this whole show moves way too fast with all 13 episodes covering about 60 chapters of the manhwa.I don't feel like they give the viewer enough time to sit and process things as they happen before jumping right into new issues and had I not read the manhwa even I might've cared less about things. It's a drama but there's not enough time to breathe and take in the problems the characters face. For instance, Jugyeong, the main character, is a victim of bullying and falls to doing makeup as a way to give herself confidence socially and uses it to start from scratch in a new school. You don't get to see her through the process of learning how to do it to grasp how she becomes experienced in it, you're just told she learned how to do it and roll with it. It also just moves too fast from scene to scene. They don't let the drama simmer enough. Sometimes I feel like even the conversations ought to slow down and the transitions could be timed better without feeling abrupt or premature.
Even though I read this I still somehow managed to get lost in the narrative sequences because this adaptation takes some liberties and tweaks the order certain events happen as well as the outcome of some events in some cases. It's not always an improvement or better than what happens in the original, but very few cases I felt were good enough. I won't spoil anything, but it doesn't really help characters good good at times.
The characters are a bit of a mixed bag too. The main girl the most of the time feels like she can rely on the 2 love interests & even her 2 friends as a crutch when needed. She felt very safe a lot of the time because the majority of her problems minus the initial bulling experiences at the start + the tension of keeping up appearances from those close to her are quickly resolved and she's kinda the most boring character of the bunch but not someone that I dislike. The 1st love interest Suho feels like himself from the manhwa, but feels more like a kuudere prince type character initially, though maybe that's the presentation of the anime aiding that. The 2nd love interest Seojun isn't far off either but here he starts off rougher around the edges. Then her 2 friends felt the most different because they seem to be more involved with the main character here than in the manhwa and I seemingly cared more about them here than I did during the chapters this covered from the manhwa.
Onto more aesthetic elements, the anime isn't quite impressive there. AT times it feels like there's a lack of background music to accompany scenes that would've benefitted more from it and I also felt like they could've omitted or better used some of the whimsical gag elements. You're probably going to have seen a lot of complaints about the voice acting. I watched this in the Korean voice-over available at the start before English & Japanese dubs were made and at times it felt a bit awkward because the some voices took a minute to get used too sounding...fresh-faced to be nice and I'd get distracted a little with the audio quality too because the voices feel like got recorded with budgeted microphones. Each episode spans about 18 minutes seemingly, but about 4 of that is taken up by the duration of the OP + ED combined both of which are fine songs. I don't have much to say about them because they were alright.
The art was also just fine. Looks like at the time this has released this is their first outing with an animated TV series. There's visible kinks from background characters at times appearing slightly off and all models looking a bit stiff, but I wasn't bothered by it.
I'm not entirely sure how I felt about it because I cut it some slack in my mind because I wanted to like it, BUT I felt that had I not read the manhwa and wanted to give this more of a chance I'd probably think less of it. This adaptation didn't feel recommendable because the quality of it doesn't stand up well in comparison to other romance anime out there that outperform it in almost every way. If you want to give this a chance you'd be best off with the manhwa, and though I can't yet vouch for it the K-drama has gotten praise from other fans as well.
Avengers007
I watched the anime from October 13 through October 18, 2025, and honestly, by the first few episodes I thought — this is not an anime from Japan! ???? Style of art, names, the atmosphere by and large — everything seemed unusual. Then I learned that it is an adaptation from a Korean webtoon (manhwa), and also there exists its live-action version (which I also did not watch). The point is. I did not anticipate I would like it this much. I began watching it around midnight and would view just one episode — and then I would discover that I'd already consumed 5 episodes. That'show much I liked it.
It is an anime slice-of-life romantic comedy — packed with emotions, school conflicts, and the old standby love triangle. I normally would only see these kind of stories in fantasy or isekai anime series such as Lookism and I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World, but this one? This one is real, and this one is relatable and gets to the bottom of your emotions.
The main character is a teenage girl who is harassed due to not being "pretty enough." Despite her looks, she is treated miserably by individuals at school. She slowly loses faith in herself and goes to the point where she wishes she could be absent.
And honestly, I felt a connection to it deep inside.
People make opinions about you as soon as they see you. I have not experienced really bad bullying, but I have felt that unfair feeling of being rejected, even when I did nothing wrong.
Anyway, back to the story — it is told only from a woman’s point of view, with no fantasy or magic. It is just a simple, emotional story about accepting oneself, knowing one’s worth, and finding inner beauty. The bad character, on the other hand, is someone who looks beautiful but slowly becomes unlikable as her true self is revealed.
It's not an unimpeachable story either. I mean, sincerely — regardless of how much makeup you wear on the page, a real best friend would know you, huh? 😂 That part did read somewhat artificially written or lazily. But that did not stop me from enjoying it.
When it finished, I could not be sure whether it did end happily or not. It wraps up nicely, but I would have liked more of the lead's romance saga — so yes, I do hope there is to be a Season 2.
And I would equally rejoice to someday read the male equivalent to this thought — a "Shonen" genre slice-of-life rom-com handling similar worries from the male protagonist's perspective.
I would give this anime a 7, but since I did relate to it personally, I'll give it an 8 out of 10. If you're a girl, there's a 90% chance you'll adore it 💖. And if you're male — only invest time if you do actually do love shojo style and sweet romance.
