Anjell is the most popular boy band in South Korea and they have just signed Go Mi Nam as their newest member. The problem: Mi Nam is stuck in the US after his cosmetic surgery goes awry and he can’t come back until his face is fixed. His manager, fearing his ward’s professional collapse,  seeks out his twin sister Mi Nyu, who is set to become a nun and asks her to pose as his brother temporarily until Mi Nam’s return.

You’re Beautiful is one of the most addicting Korean dramas I’ve seen in a while because it has the basic elements that got me hooked to earlier dramas. There are the hot guys that make up the band. There is the innocent looking girl who gets the shock of her life when she is thrown into a world that is way beyond her comfort zone. There is great music and an annoying villain in the form of bratty teen princess out for publicity at the expense of the band. There is also a pretty solid supporting cast and a great storyline that provides consistency and the occasional close call when Mi Nyu is almost caught on her lie.

The story is pretty typical. Mi Nyu (Park Shin Hye) tries to keep her identity secret until her brother takes over but finds out that she has agreed to more than impersonating her twin. In the house, she encounters the temperamental Hwang Tae Kyung (Jang Geun Suk), the leader of the band who finds out about her secret well before the rest and surprisingly agrees to help her stick to her story, the gentle Kang Shin Woo (Jung Yong Hwa), who falls in love with her and vows to protect her identity in secret, and the effervescent Jeremy (Lee Hong Ki), the most open and forgiving of the lot, who reacts to her secret with relief because he is also falling for her. It was fun to see the guys jump at her every whim and compete to get her attention, even before they knew that she was a girl. I liked the way that the boys babied Mi Nyu and protected her, even if it entailed sacrifices on their part, major sacrifices. I especially liked Tae Kyung’s begrudging acceptance of Mi Nyu and his softening towards her towards the middle part of the story, and Shin Woo’s heartbreaking attempts to win her over.
The way the love stories unfolded in the series was gradual but eventual, and there really was no question as to who Mi Nyu was going to end up with, although of course, it can’t be helped that there will be those who will support Shin Woo, the ultimate prince charming. There were a lot of emotional moments typical in Korean dramas as the characters’ actions are restrained by their personas. In my opinion, the producers were smart to include backstories to explain why the actors react to situations as they have throughout the story, making them more sympathetic and relateable to the viewers.

The series also had a great OST mostly sung by Jeremy, who in my opinion is the best singer in the bunch. I’m sure that if the producers made the fictitious band real, hordes of fangirls will swoon over Anjell.

All in all, You’re Beautiful has managed to enter my list of favorite Korean romcoms of all time. 🙂 Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already. You won’t be sorry.

* Photos were sourced from http://www.koreandrama.org