Some K-dramas open with a sweeping family saga or a corporate power struggle. True Beauty (여신강림, Yeosin-gangnim) opens with a YouTube makeup tutorial — and somehow turns that into one of the most-discussed teen romances of its year. Aired on the South Korean cable channel tvN from December 9, 2020 to February 4, 2021, it adapts the wildly popular Naver/LINE webtoon by Yaongyi (야옹이) into 16 episodes of school comedy, first love, and a surprisingly sincere conversation about beauty standards.
The hook is simple and instantly relatable. Lim Ju-gyeong (임주경) is a high-schooler who has been bullied and made to feel ugly because of her bare face. So she does what a lot of teenagers actually do: she studies online makeup tutorials until she can transform herself. After moving to a new school, she’s suddenly seen as a “goddess.” The catch? A classmate already knows what she looks like without makeup — and that secret is where the whole story springs from.
The leads and the chemistry
The cast is a big part of why the drama traveled so far. Moon Ga-young (문가영) plays Ju-gyeong, and she carries the show’s emotional core — the comedy of hiding a secret, the ache of not feeling enough without a full face of makeup. Opposite her is Cha Eun-woo (차은우) of the group ASTRO as Lee Su-ho (이수호), the quiet, guarded classmate who happens to know her real face. There’s a fun behind-the-scenes detail here: the webtoon author reportedly designed the male lead with Cha Eun-woo in mind, so the casting felt almost inevitable to fans of the original.
The third point of the triangle is Han Seo-jun (한서준), played by Hwang In-youp (황인엽) — the rebellious rival whose softer side slowly emerges. The “Team Su-ho vs. Team Seo-jun” debate became a genuine online phenomenon while the show aired. Rounding out the school world is Park Yoo-na (박유나) as Kang Su-jin (강수진), Ju-gyeong’s friend and rival, whose own storyline adds welcome weight to the teen-drama frame.
The beauty theme, taken seriously
It would be easy to treat the makeover premise as fluff, but True Beauty actually leans into it. The drama foregrounds Korean makeup techniques, beauty and cosmetics shopping (the Pandora beauty shop set is a recurring backdrop), and — underneath the comedy — a real message about self-image and self-acceptance. Ju-gyeong’s arc isn’t really “ugly girl gets pretty”; it’s a girl learning to separate her worth from a perfectly blended base. For anyone interested in K-beauty, the show doubles as an affectionate look at how central makeup culture can be to everyday Korean teen life.
Where it was filmed
True Beauty was shot in real, visitable Korea — mostly around Seoul, with a memorable detour to the southern coast. The teens hang around Bukchon Hanok Village (the Pandora shop set), Ikseon-dong (the retro alleyways and arcade scenes), the Myeongdong shopping street, a Hongdae noraebang (karaoke room), a Yeonnam-dong boutique, and the Dragon Hill Spa jjimjilbang. One of the most-shared date scenes was filmed at the Seolli Skywalk in Namhae. The fictional “Saebom High School” is trickier: sources variously point to Choong Ang High School near Bukchon and the Yonsei University campus, so treat the exact school as uncertain.
Food fans will spot it too. Tteokbokki (spicy Korean rice cakes) and assorted street and snack foods show up in the hangout scenes — a Jeolla-style snack spot, street food around Myeongdong — though they’re set dressing rather than the show’s focus.
Where to watch, and how big it really got
True Beauty originally aired on tvN in South Korea (Wednesdays and Thursdays). Internationally, it has been available through services like Rakuten Viki, Viu, and Amazon Prime Video (from October 2021), plus Netflix in selected territories — though availability varies by region, so check what’s licensed where you are.
On accuracy: this was a solid performer at home rather than a record-shattering one. It averaged around 3.79% nationwide with a peak near 4.58% (Nielsen Korea) — respectable numbers for a cable teen drama. Its real strength was abroad and on streaming, where it became a notable international hit; Forbes later named it among the best Korean dramas of 2021. If you came expecting a ratings juggernaut, the honest picture is more modest at home and genuinely big overseas.
Behind the camera, it was directed by Kim Sang-hyeop (김상협) and written by Lee Si-eun (이시은). The result is a warm, watchable coming-of-age romance that takes its makeup tutorials, its love triangle, and its quiet message about self-acceptance all equally seriously.
A note on the photos in this article: these are public press and appearance photos of the lead actors, not stills or scenes from the drama itself.
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