Drama Review: You're Beautiful

The Main Casts:

• 장근석 Jang Geun Seok as Hwang Tagyeong
• 박신혜 Park Shin Hye as Go Minam/ Go Minyeo
• 이홍기 Lee Hong Gi as Jeremy
• 중 용화 Jung Yong Hwa as Kang Shinwoo
• UEE as Yoo Heyi

Brief Synopsis:

Another Korean drama that I regret not watching as soon as the DVD hits the market is 미남이시네요 (Minamishineyo) literally "You're a handsome man" or "You're Minam". The English title however as released is ‘You’re Beautiful’.

The story of the drama revolved around the popular boy band A.N.JELL who is in search for an additional member. The complication starts when the supposed new member 고미남 (Go Minam) got cosmetic surgery problem causing his younger twin sister 고미녀(Go Minyeo) to temporarily replace him while he recuperates from corrective measures done in the US.

Being a girl who grew up in a convent, aspiring to be a nun, Minyeo had to adjust to this new role she is about to take part; a gender bender debuting as new member of A.N.JELL --Minam. Despite resistance from A.N.JELL lead 황태경 (Hwang Taegyeong), Minyeo has been received as new member along with two other member Jeremy and 강신우 (Kang Shin Woo).

The three boy members learned that Minyeo is in fact a girl and all ended up liking her. However, Minyeo fell in love with Taegyeong. They became closer day by day, Taegyeong getting used to Minyeo’s honest and pure personality. A love triangle is formed with the entry of 유헤이 (Yoo He Yi), a famous young actress dubbed as the national fairy. She developed feelings for Taegyeong. She learned about Mi Nam being a girl and used the circumstance to get hold of Taegyeong to form a fake relationship with him entangling Minam and Shin Woo who secretly roots for Minam.
As the real Minam comes back, Minyeo has to go back to being her true self.

As if it would mean finally being Taegyeong’s girl, the love story had a twist with Taegyeong hating her for a moment as he learned that Minyeo and Minan are the twins of the composer whom her mother loves so deeply. Minyeo’s father is the person who caused his abandonment by his mother모화란 (Mo Hwa Ran) at an early age. It was later on revealed that Hwa Ran, who is also a famous singer, had a one-sided love for Minyeo’s father. The truth behind the song ‘어떡하죠’ (Otteokhajyo – What Should I do) is that it was composed by Minyeo’s father for her mother and not as a song for Hwa Ran as she claims. Taegyeong still ended up doing a remake of the song not for her mother (as she is insisting) but a song that he sings for A.N.JELL. In the end, Minyeo and Taegyeong succeeded in their love.

My Review:

Although I must admit I was very reluctant to watch this drama, my impression made a great turn around. This drama ended December 2009 and I snubbed it as I see Coffee Prince from the plot not to mention, I have this little dislike of Park Shin Hye. After watching it marathon for almost 2 days, I realized it fits all my criteria for a favorite drama.



You’re Beautiful has a simple story. It doesn’t have much of evil works from an antagonist. The story is so light, something that I can actually relate being a fan of few Korean Pop Idol bands. The plot maybe a mixed of several drama I have watched but I think the casting was good enough to keep me interested all the way.

The characters were neatly blended in the overall story. The role of Park Shin Hye reminds me of course of Eun Hye’s role as Eun Chan in Coffe Prince but nevertheless I think she also played the role well. It’s good though that her ‘true gender’ has been discovered early on, so that made it a little different from Coffee Prince but quite similar to Hana Kimi.

The original members of A.N.JELL did not really captured my interest on the onset. They were good looking but nothing spectacular really but as I watched the drama, interest on Taegyeong’s character grew on me. Geun Seok played Taegyeong’s role well as a snob leader with distinct charisma. If there is anything that I like with him purely, it’s his voice. His deep big voice, is commanding making him a good choice for the character.



I am surprised to know that Geun Seok is the same guy who played the young emperor lover of actress Ha Ji Won in the Korean period drama Hwang Jini. Honestly, I am annoyed with his nose; it also made him look different from his previous role. It puzzles me if he had cosmetics done on his face because he looks a bit stronger compared to his face during Hwang Jini. But it doesn’t really matter; I like how he played the role and he somehow had this chemistry with Shin Hye. For some reasons, I see some images of Lee Min Ho with his acting.



The dorky character of Hong Ki as Jeremy was one of the best sidelights of the drama. Hong Ki was cute and funny. I could very well relate him to the character of Jiro Wang in Hana Kimi when he almost fell in-love with a fellow guy not knowing that Ella is actually a girl. It’s just that I find him cuter than Jiro when he shows that confused cum worried face look.



Shiwoo’s character is also reminiscent of the famous Boys Over Flower’s Ji Hoo. Made me think Yong Hwa can also play the said role from BOF. He was effective with his character and I actually find him more masculine than Hyun Joong . Though it may be sad that another good boy is rejected by the main girl character, on a personal note I would also make the lead girl character choose Taegyeong but the story wouldn’t be as interesting without Shiwoo.

What added to my surprise is the fact that all the boys can sing. All along I thought they were all just acting though I know Hong Ki is from FT Island. Yong Hwa apparenty is also from boy band C.N. Blue. But the biggest surprise of them all is Jang Geun Seok, whom I am completely clueless as to his ability to sing. I love his speaking voice and was thinking the singing voice is a ghost singer. After doing some online research I learned that he does sing well and has released singles for advertisement. Suddenly I became interested with Geun Seok, I totally love all the songs he sang in the drama, from his own version of 어떡하죠 (Eotteokhajyo) – ‘What Should I do?’ to his neat rendition of Without Words which was the first song they sang on stage with Minam. Goodbye is also a pleasure to my ears; in fact even his Fly Me to the Moon rendition in one of the scenes where he played the piano was really good too.

People may find it boring and old plot but this is the type of drama that I love to watch. Light and feel good --just like It Started with a Kiss, Coffee Prince, Boys over Flowers, Love Concerto and Shining Inheritance to name a few of my favorites. All of these dramas were big hits and in most cases number 1 in TV ratings. On the contrary, You’re Beautiful aired alongside the very successful action drama IRIS. This explains the ratings that it got from TV viewership. Well at least it gained popularity on-line being one of the most viewed and talked upon K-drama over the internet.

If you are someone who wants to be entertained, then I recommend you watch this drama.