True Beauty
Yaongyi
Webtoon
True beauty is a phrase used to define someone beautiful. That could be interpreted in many different ways. One could have a beautiful appearance, a beautiful personality, or maybe even both. It could be used to define someone’s character, as well, by saying that their heart was truly beautiful. Regardless of how the statement is used, it is always meant to convey that to the person speaking, the receiver of the compliment is someone, well, beautiful!
For a girl like Jugyeong, it means all of the above. Jugyeong is the protagonist of the Webtoon comic True Beauty Created by Yaongyi. The comic follows the story of a young girl as she tries her hand at becoming “beautiful.” She is described early on as ugly, due to having bad skin and not wearing any makeup. This causes her to become interested in makeup when she is still in middle school, since every other girl she knows is wearing it, too. She browses online forums and asks strangers on platforms similar to “Reddit” what their ideas and opinions are on how she should approach her situation. Then she discovers Youtube tutorials, and practices applying her makeup over her break from school.
Jugyeong moves over her break, and when she returns to school, it is to a new school where no one knows her. She has become a master of makeup and can hide all of her flaws, making her look much like a model at a young age. This helps her popularity and the reader gets to watch as she makes friends and falls in love, all while hiding what she truly looks like underneath.
True Beauty highlights the thought that being beautiful gives you a societal advantage. People are more likely to treat you kindly, and even give you free things, just because of the way you look. When Jugyeong is fully made-up, people treat her like a celebrity, and many advantages fall into her lap. Modeling deals, product reviews, She essentially gets to live the life of a “Social Media influencer”, and in fact, becomes one, without ever showing how she truly looks.
However, that is only half of the comic. True Beauty ALSO highlights the fact that, while it is true that the internet and people you don’t know only want to see you for how you look on the outside, the people close to you who love you don’t care. They love you for who you are on the inside. No matter how you look without makeup. This comic walks a delicate line. The line between how society sees you, and how people close to you see you. Personally, I feel it is done quite well, too.
The art in True Beauty is gorgeous. The facial expressions are well done, too, especially when conveying the “ugly” side of Jugyeong. Although I couldn’t call the art in those images “gorgeous” I can tell you, they are drawn well. As mentioned before, social media is a big influence in this comic, and when a character is scrolling on their phone or looking through Instagram, the dimensions used accurately convey what is happening. It looks so natural that if it weren’t hand-drawn, I might feel that I was scrolling through my phone, too.
Shading images to convey shadows is important for giving an image a level of realism. This technique is done well, too, especially when paired with light effects! In “Episode 71” There is an image of a building with nice shading, as well as a “lens flare” effect which adds another layer of depth to the art. To top it all off, the background images behind the characters are nicely detailed. They are slightly blurred to make sure they don’t take focus from the main story. However, they are also consistent from shot to shot. This must have taken some consideration and time. It’s very well done and helps immerse an audience in the scene that is happening.
True Beauty is a nice “Slice of Life” comic. The Protagonist is someone many women can relate to. The art is lovely, and very well drawn. The story has twists and turns that keep you wanting to read more. The cast is well written, too. Even the not so nice characters have moments that readers can relate to. The only issue I have currently with this comic is that there are grammatical errors. I can easily overlook that, as I’m sure many of you can. Especially considering the fact that English is clearly not Yaongyi’s first language.
If I had any other complaint about True Beauty It would be the cliff hangers. Every episode makes you want to read the next. This is insanely frustrating when the next comic is not out yet. However, that speaks volumes about the comic- In a good way! Authors want their writing to be compelling, and I am definitely compelled to keep reading True Beauty.
Check out the series on Webtoon. I guarantee you won’t regret giving it a chance!
True Beauty updates every Wednesday, and is currently on “Episode 72”
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True Beauty
A Webtoon about a shy nerdy girl who becomes a master of makeup, and uses this skill to eventually become a "Social Media Influencer" with a model boyfriend. Slice of Life drama with lots of comedic moments! Honestly, I can't stop reading it.
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1 Comment
This is such a perfect review! I found your blog through reddit, and I don’t regret it at all. Though I stopped reading True Beauty a while ago, it was just too long for me, I found the art in it so visually pleasing. I don’t think Yaongyi writes the English part of it, she writes it Korean and uploades it to the Korean Webtoon. The english part of the webtoon has been translated by somebody else. The cliffhangers are illegal lol. This was a nice read!