So I just finished watching The Beauty Inside starring Seo Hyun Jin and Lee Min Ki, and is based off of not just a webtoon but also a film that was made in 2015. While I have neither read the actual story nor watched the film, it was still good fun to watch this piece without the background of the other two pieces that I mentioned previously.
It narrates the story of Han Se Gye, who is a very successful Korean actress living a double life. Once a month, she changes her body, turning into a child, a young man or woman, a middle aged one and even an old one. Her condition has persisted for about ten years and leads to a great many scandals. Her shape-shifting into a little boy ends up causing a stir since people think that he is a son that she has been hiding and so on. With her career almost hitting a serious slump, she is offered a contract with an airlines from a director, Seo Do Jae.
Played by Lee Min Ki, Do Jae suffers from a condition of face blindness due to an accident he got into some ten years back. However, since he is the heir to the company, he must hide his condition from not just the staff of the company but also from his own family, else people would attempt to sabotage his ownership. He shows interest in pursuing Se Gye as not just a model for the company but also goes into a contract-based relationship with her in order to shun any rumours about his lack of interest in women. However, he ends up witnessing her changing shape, and despite his inability to see her face, he recognizes the changes in her voice, revealing her condition.
While Se Gye and Do Jae experience the changes in their relationship, Do Jae’s stepsister, Kang Sa Ra (played by Lee Da Hee) is attempting to dig deeper into not just Do Jae’s condition but also the nature of his relationship. Once Se Gye catches on, she makes her friend, Ryu Eun Ho (played by Ahn Jae Hyun), try to flirt with her, since he is pretty and attracts many girls. In the process, Sa Ra doesn’t just fall for him, but also ends up experiencing great changes in her character. Their relationship is the epitome of what modern couples in Korean dramas should be like. The altered gender roles really stood out as great positives. However, while there were some solid points of conflict in the story, the way they actually played them out made them look rather contrived. Nevertheless, it was a nice fluffy romantic comedy that I did enjoy watching.
All About Asia 