4 K-Dramas if You Liked Netflix’s Korean Anime ‘Lookism’
Lookism is Netflix’s first Korean anime based on a webtoon. Fans of K-drama will gravitate toward the anime as it focuses on a lead character named Daniel, who has been bullied his whole life. One day, he wakes up in a gorgeous male body that is not his. With a new face, he seeks the opportunities he was previously denied. The bullying and Cinderella story are common themes in popular K-dramas like the infamous teen drama, True Beauty, which parallels Lookism.
‘She Was Pretty’ has a case of mistaken identity that stop childhood friends from meeting
K-drama stars Park Seo-joon, and Hwang Jun-eum starred in She was Pretty in 2015. Based on a true story, Kim Hye-jin (Hwang) had it all as a teenager. She was popular, pretty, and wealthy. But her future changed, and she lost her good looks into adulthood and got her father’s frizzy hair and freckles. Meanwhile, Ji Sung-joon (Park) was the exact opposite in their youth.
Now grown up, Sung-joon returns to Korea to become the editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine. He decided to contact his first love, Hye-jin. She gleefully agrees, but once realizing he has become handsome, she backs out. Instead, her beautiful best friend appears, and Sung-joon mistakes her for Hye-jin.
She Was Pretty takes a turn when Sung-joon is now Hye-jin’s boss at The Most magazine. Sung-joon is unaware she is his real first love. As the drama progresses, he falls in love with her all over again for who she is.
She Was Pretty is available on Viki.
‘Shadow Beauty’ K-drama is a darker take on bullying than ‘Lookism’
Lookism has a more heartwarming story about bullying, friendship, and appearances than the K-drama Shadow Beauty. Like the anime, the 2021 K-drama is based on a webtoon of the same name. Koo Ae-jin (Shim Dal-gi) is not considered beautiful by society’s standards. Her peers and strangers have tormented her on the street. But she has an alternate persona that provides her comfort.
Wearing makeup, she becomes a bombshell. She is known as Genie on social media with a mass following. Ae-jin spends hours on her makeup and retouching photos to perfection. But her life crumbles when a mysterious person sends her a text with an unedited picture. Ae-jin now looks for the person who could ruin her once slimmer of happiness.
Shadow Beauty is available on Viki.
‘My ID is Gangnam Beauty’ has the female lead get cosmetic surgery to become beautiful
In the Netflix anime, the male lead’s consciousness gets transferred into the body of a handsome young teen. But in the teen K-drama, My ID is Gangnam Beauty, the female lead goes under the knife to achieve her dream appearance, unlike Lookism. The K-drama’s story spotlights society’s discrimination based on looks, bullying, and beauty standards.
Based on the 2018 webtoon of the same name, actor Im Soo-hyang stars as Kang Mi-rae. Mi-rae has been bullied all her life for her lackluster appearance. Entering college, she wants a do-over, and her mother agrees to plastic surgery, knowing how much her daughter has been through.
On her first day of college, she becomes a goddess, popular, and makes friends. But her now good life backfires under the pressure of being pretty. While people scrutinize others for their looks, they also scrutinize plastic surgery and learn the truth about Mi-rae. My ID is Gangnam Beauty also stars idol and actor Cha Eun-woo as Do Kyung-seok. He is Mi-rae’s middle school classmate to begins to suspect who she is.
My ID is Gangnam Beauty is available on Netflix.
‘True Beauty’ is a popular K-drama that has a similar theme to ‘Lookism’
The 2020 teen romance K-drama, True Beauty gained fame for its leading cast, execution of popular tropes, and storyline. True Beauty is based on the webtoon of the same name, Lim Ju-kyung (Moon Ga-young) is bullied at her school for being ugly, living in the shadow of her pretty older sister and younger brother. The K-drama will be a must-watch for fans of Lookism.
When her parents decide to move back to their old neighborhood, she changes her life. With the help of beauty gurus, she has a Cinderella story and learns to use makeup. With the power of a brush, she starts her new school and immediately becomes a goddess.
She achieves her biggest dream and makes amazing friends. But she faces the turmoil of keeping her natural face a secret. At the same time, she captures the attention of the school’s top student and bad boy. True Beauty follows the love triangle and second-lead syndrome trope beautifully, as Ju-kyung tries to keep her natural looks hidden at all costs.
