Beautiful Gong Shim (2016) User Reviews

Could have been better

[pagal-tigerniskson · 8/10 · 12 September 2020]

Show was good around 12 episodes then it dragged on without much substance and very little story and should have ended with 16 episodes. Male lead is like a sloth character in zootopia. He speaks with the speed of 0.5 X . Romance buildup with cat and mouse fight was good in the beginning later after confession there were no chemistry at all from Male lead . Writers clearly pulled punches in portraying the negative roles and all is forgiven at the end is kinda lazy writing. Evil sister characters had a happy ending doesn't sit well with me. Female lead was absolutely gorgeous whenever she takes off her wig and look like a totally a different person . I liked her a lot without wig. Male lead acting a okay in the beginning episodes after 12th episode he became like how he acts in every other drama he is in. He is the great let down . He is fit for negative roles as how he acted in "The girl who see scents" Eventhough this story has been completely squeezed out its juice from every other drama that comes out. It could have a made it interesting with a screenplay but fail to do so. I had to fast forward most of the ending episodes. One time watch, does not present much of any rewatch value.

Cliched and Dated but Super Entertaining!

[fake_moviestar · 8/10 · 15 March 2022]

Beautiful Gong Shim was riddled with silly cliches and cheesy moments, and the second half was incredibly melodramatic, but I was so thoroughly entertained that I could excuse all the faults. I loved the main couple, the FL was so weird and quirky and definitely did not fit the overly gorgeous stereotype of Korean actresses, so it was believable that she would be ostracized and called ugly. The love story is so sweet and cute, I adored it and it was the best part of the show. The backstory of the ML took precedence in the second half, and I was definitely intrigued and entertained, although there was a lot of soap-opera moments. The filming style looked super dated, almost like a daytime drama. A lot of the older side actors overacted, but the main character actors were great.

This show is only about a 5 or 6, but I give it an 8 because of how entertained and engrossed in the story I was!

Good enough

[PennyReviews · 6/10 · 19 September 2016]

This drama is not one of those TV series that will capture your interest from the very first episode. Actually, the story is quite predictable. So why watch it? Well, I guess the performances are really good, and that's a reason by itself. The actors are quite refreshing and funny, giving a youthful vibe to the drama. But what about the story? Well, the drama is about a girl who is being compared to her beautiful and successful sister, even by her parents. That's the main idea, but, the second half of the drama focuses on her neighbour, who tries to find a boy who was kidnapped twenty years ago, and his rich grandmother never stopped searching for him. The good part is that there are some funny moments, and some scenes are cute and entertaining. Though the romance is so-so, the love triangle isn't boring, which is a relief. In addition, the ending held a twist, and that gave a nice note to it, as most of the final episodes of the K dramas are usually boring, due to the fact that the story has ended in the previous episode. So, 6 out of 10.

This show had me at the bike bell.

[chilligrrl · 9/10 · 12 June 2019]

Seriously, who else hates slow walkers? I think i've now found a new goal in life thanks to this scene in the show! I was a bit annoyed at the wig and the bad clothes at first, but this show has grabbed me, mostly because of the cheeky humour and great acting by the rooftop tenant. I haven't finished the series yet, but i know this will be one worth finishing as the story is becoming more interesting and mysterious episode by episode.

I don't speak Korean, have never been to Korea (but adore Korean food and get jealous at every food scene) and am growing to love these funny mini dramas! I wish my country had fun shows like these!

More! More!

Growing up in the shadow

[leahcubed · 9/10 · 22 January 2020]

It can be tough to grow up in the shadow of an older (or younger) sibling who seems to be doing much better in life than you. Gong Shim (Bang Minah) finds growing up in the outskirts of the limelight cast on her older sistter, Gong Mi (Seo Hyo-rim), leaves her feeling inadequate in many ways. The older sister is beautiful and successful (a lawyer in a top firm) and pays for all the families' living expenses. Gong Shim is a jobless artist who does odd jobs to gather money to change her life by moving to Italy and studying art. She has a rooftop apartment as her sister was given her bedroom as a wardrobe - leaving Gong Shim the choice of sharing the closet/room or findign her own space. She decides to rent the rooftop room to Ahn Dan-tae (Namkoong Min) a pro bono lawyer with some personality flaws. Through a series of coincidences Dan-tae becomes friends of Joon-soo who is the son of a wealthy family. The older sister smells money and becomes interested in some of her little sister's male acquaintance.

I really liked this drama. Kong shim is very understandable and love-able. I like the character development and the plot twists at the right moments to keep it interesting.

Funny and entertaining with lovable characters

[phd_travel · 9/10 · 5 December 2021]

Most of this show is enjoyable. It's a warm funny series with some laugh out loud moments and some touching parts too. The dialog is well written. All told with a comic tone that keeps things light and entertaining and moving along. The story has some familiar plot devices like the birth secret but they are handled freshly. There are a few faults. Some of the acting cute segments were annoying and there was an out of place small twist in the end. But I looked forward to each episode. And you get a lot of closure with a complete ending.

The cast is great. Namkoong Min acts the comic romantic part well here. He played a villain to perfection the year before in Remember War Of the Son. What a difference. Bang MinAh of GIrl's Day does a great job at acting as the plain girl with a lovable personality - so different from her K Pop persona. On Joo Wan as the kind Jun Soo is quite likable. The parents of Gong Shim and the cousin Jun Soo are quite funny and well cast too and may be familiar to K drama fans. The villains are good too like the selfish sister.

Another very enjoyable show "My Love by My Side" has a slightly similar comic vibe and birth secret and features some of the same cast like grandmother and On Joo Wan.

FUNNIEST KDRAMA!

[bingv · 10/10 · 10 April 2020]

I never laughed so hard on a kdrama! The story was well crafted to have a good mix of seriousness, sincerity, innocence, and making impossible twists believable!

I can't bloom

[alaningle7 · 8/10 · 18 March 2022]

A girl overshadowed by her sister and overlooked by her family suffers from alopecia due to the stress and wears a bob shaped wig to conceal this fact. She rents her rooftop apartment above her parents house to an unconventional lawyer who at first she believes is a gangster. This is the set up for the romance side of this series but along the way we have a love triangle, a jealous sister, kidnapping and attempted murder. A light hearted romantic comedy superbly acted by the cast particularly Minah (Girls Day) who plays Gong Shim the girl with a wig whose voice and diction I find attractive. May have benefitted from being condensed a little but overall an enchanting series.

Most disappointing ending

[hanalisss · 4/10 · 27 August 2020]

It was more or less okay and the plot with the kidnapping kept it somewhat interesting ( although many things were super obvious or didn't make much sense) but then they messed up the ending so badly it is infuriating. The guy leaves to study abroad and goes silent for a whole year and he doesn't even have an excuse???? That doesn't make sense whatsoever ( this drama is from 2016 where social media and phones are just everywhere) The protagonist comes back after that year, treats the female lead like crap out of jealousy and after a simple sorry she OBVIOUSLY forgives him like nothing happened after a few tears. Stupidest ending and plain and bland female characters without personality.

The plot is sophisticated enough

[madbird-61243 · 8/10 · 11 August 2020]

The pace of the story is a bit too slow. The drama could be much better if it is shortened. Like I am watching kdrama 10 years ago.

Except the pace, I would say, all other aspects satisfy me. The sophisticated plot is logical and sensible.

The house with a rooftop house, flower pots on the rooftop, convenience store on ground floor...is a perfect house for shooting of the drama.

Female lead is cute and warm-hearted. Her appearance and dressing suits perfectly her character.

I like the serious male lead more, though it is still satisfactory for him to perform in comedy. With his participation, the drama would at least be over average. He should be very careful in choosing drama to act.

Second male lead is cute, like your average neighborhood boy. His performance is complimentary to the first male lead.

All in all, an ok drama to invest your time.

Okay

[kajalkashsinha · 5/10 · 10 September 2021]

I enjoyed watching this but 20 ep is to long for this. After ep 15 it's so draggy. I liked the comedy. I was also liking the female character untill she started becoming person with no self respect. Even after being dumped by love interest she kept following him . In the end he left her for a year still she took him back. I didn't feel love from his side in latter episodes. It's cringey to watch such character my rating would have been 7 but I reduced it 5. In start of show her family and sister was so evil. But they changed on there own. How no idea? Overall bearably to watch.

Overacting misery but...

[ushagowri-60736 · 4/10 · 31 October 2021]

You know the story. You just want to know how it is solved. I had my hand on the fast forward esp when Gong came along, her family and that oh so wooden faced, mean, manipulative sister of hers, so I survived it.

Saving grace was the two men ,their struggle and misunderstandings.

It was okay...

[eli-stuttgart · 3/10 · 26 July 2020]

All in all, it was okay, I didn't immediately fall in love with the drama, but it didn't really grab me later either. Maybe because I don't like old K-D. less, on a visual and technical basis. From the beginning, there was no intrigue to look at, since all cards were exposed. You just knew who the missing grandson was and where he was and who the perpetrator was. No secrets.

It was funny how the two main characters interacted with each other, their mutual behavior and the violent side of Gong Shim. In addition, the wig was very annoying and I hoped that she would take it off for some episodes. Conclusion: was not my thing ...

It was good till last episode

[unrivaledraj · 1/10 · 20 March 2024]

What on earth was that in the last episode ? Couldn't call for a year because he was studying, like no one could reach out to him? His cousin, grandma ? Or she couldn't find a way to reach out? I have never seen such dumb thing happening on screen. It was absolutely rubbish and stupid and dumb. Korean writers were just itching to do their usual year long separation trope, and then they asked for a 5 year old to write it, I apologise for insulting the intelligence of a 5 year old. Writers probably lost their marbles writing that last episode.

I had so many good things to say about this show, it was an easy 8.5/10, but then came episode 20 and ruined the whole show, and now it feels like I have wasted 20 hours of my life. I wish I could rate it in negative for pissing me off so much. Not a single thing of the last episode made any sense.

I would love to recommend this show, if you just watch till the first 20 minutes of the last episode and then stop it and just makeup your own ending in your head. If you can't do that, DO NOT WATCH THIS.

After watching dozens of kdramas. First time I have rated so low.