Forum - View topicREVIEW: True Beauty Manhwa Volume 1-3 Review
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thatoneonfire
Posts: 6 |
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I completely agree with Caitlin on True Beauty. I remember when it first came out and I was intrigued by the premise and had the same expectations as to what it would touch on in terms of outward/inward beauty. I was sadly disappointed by its utter lack of anything meaningful. I think this is one series that rides on the love triangle that gets introduced; there's a sense that the author didn't anticipate it being this long so kept trying to pad it out (including "spin-off" episodes the webtoon is close to 250 of them!) A real shame this has become a bit of the face of Korean webcomics, although its popularity seems to have waned a little.
If Caitlin ever sees this, one Webtoon I would recommend that actually does play with the idea of beauty in a meaningful way (and is Korean!) is one called "The Makeup Remover". It's way more genuine, and heartfelt, and doesn't pull punches when it comes to the realities of beauty standards and to people who don't conform to them, whether they want to or not. There's no book out for it but it's all available for free on the Webtoon site and it is complete. |
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all-tsun-and-no-dere
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 659 |
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Thanks for the recommendation! I'll be sure to check it out when I have a chance. |
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Triltaison
 Posts: 797 |
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I just wanted to share that this review really made me laugh. Thanks for the chuckle.
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MrPuzzles
Posts: 152 |
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I'll never understand why crap like this is brought overseas almost effortlessly, yet the genuine greats like Blade of the Phantom Master have been all but forgotten.
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PumpkinMouse
 Posts: 82 |
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I was similarly disappointed when I ran across "True Beauty" on Webtoon, but man, I can't thank you enough for recommending "The Makeup Remover"! It's like the Skip Beat/Glass Mask of makeup with a heaping helping of pointed criticism of beauty standards and reminders that pretty people (particularly women) can also suffer under those same standards. I've been binging it all afternoon and it's been great! |
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Lord Geo
Posts: 2686 Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey |
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In True Beauty's case, this was brought over by Naver, the company that publishes it in Korea. In Blade of the Phantom Master's case, it's 18 volumes long (including the gaiden book), is over 20 years old, and isn't a webtoon, which is what's popular in Korean manhwa. Also, I'm pretty sure the anime movie adaptation didn't do well when ADV brought it over back in the day, which also didn't help. |
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FlowerAiko
 Posts: 224 |
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I enjoyed this review, as someone who’s given True Beauty many chances I cannot seem to like it. It’s easily the top romance webtoon (at least among the Korean ones) and I wish I got why. Too vapid for my tastes. As Caitlin mentioned briefly, True Beauty pulls A LOT from the k-idol scene and related body/beauty standards (which are restrictive). There’s a reason the drama adaptation chose Cha Eunwoo, a popular idol actor, as the lead.
I do hope that if ANN wants to review more manhwa they invest in someone more familiar with Korean culture and the broader manhwa landscape. It’s different than manga in many ways even if manga is a big inspiration there, especially since the webtoon boom. |
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MrPuzzles
Posts: 152 |
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Actually, yes it is. https://comic.naver.com/webtoon/list?titleId=703307&weekday=tue It even got an official English translation... https://www.webtoons.com/en/action/blade-of-the-phantom-master/list?title_no=3481 ...which was abandoned only eight chapters in and literally one day after it went up. |
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Quicknav
Posts: 13 |
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It wasn't abandoned, the rest of the series is available only on that licensor's app (it says so on the banner in the link you gave). |
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MrPuzzles
Posts: 152 |
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You're right. My mistake. But all the same, it's locked behind daily passes...which is such an unashamedly shit system that most folks will literally tune out as soon as they see that little green icon. So...may as well have abandoned it after 8 episodes. |
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ThrowMeOut
Posts: 265 |
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Ughhh, True Beauty. I kept reading it waiting for it to do something interesting, but it never did. I gave up when the love interest with the personality of white paste showed back up. If you're going to put no effort into your plot at least make the love interest likable. I think the dude had two moods; boredom and mild annoyance.
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