The closest manhwa like True Beauty is My ID is Gangnam Beauty: a girl changes her face, starts somewhere new, and finds out people judge the new face too. After that, it depends on what kept you reading Jugyeong's story. Some picks keep the beauty question, some keep the double life, and a few are just good, finished romances on the same app.
True Beauty (여신강림, Yeosin Gangnim) itself is done. Yaongyi's series ran from April 2018 to April 2023, and AniList counts 257 chapters, including a prologue and 33 side stories. It also has a reputation problem with some of its own readers. In an r/webtoons thread from someone who'd soured on it, the advice that kept coming back was another series entirely. "If you want a story that is true beauty but actually lives up to the expectations, check out Makeup Remover," one reader wrote. That's our second pick.
True Beauty. © Yaongyi. Via WEBTOON.
| Pick | Closest to True Beauty's | Status on WEBTOON |
|---|---|---|
| My ID is Gangnam Beauty | Looks and judgment | Completed, 84 chapters |
| The Makeup Remover | Makeup itself | Completed, 129 chapters |
| Lookism | The double life | Ongoing, every Sunday |
| Cheese in the Trap | Campus, a lead with two faces | Completed |
| I Love Yoo | Guarded heroine, two leads | Ongoing, every Friday |
| Nevertheless | College romance | Completed |
| Marry My Husband | A heroine taking her life back | Completed |
| My Dear Cold-Blooded King | Slow romance, another setting | Completed |
A note before you start any of them: WEBTOON's website now shows only the opening episodes of most completed series (True Beauty stops at Episode 7) and sends you to the app for the rest.
1. My ID is Gangnam Beauty
My ID is Gangnam Beauty. © Maenggi Ki. Via AniList.
After major plastic surgery, freshman Mirae wants a normal campus life. Instead her university pegs her as a pretty but "unnatural" Gangnam beauty, which is its own kind of judgment. It's True Beauty's question asked from the other side: what happens after the face is fixed.
Maenggi Ki's series (내 ID는 강남미인!) finished at 84 chapters, so it's a much shorter read. The 2018 drama cast Cha Eun-woo, who's also in the True Beauty drama, which makes for a fun double feature.
2. The Makeup Remover
After years of being told to just study, Yeseul starts college and is suddenly expected to care about makeup. A chance meeting with a makeup artist, Yuseong, lands her in a televised makeup competition, and she starts asking what makeup and appearance do to people. It's the pick that takes True Beauty's subject seriously from start to finish. Another reader in the same thread called it "what I was hoping True Beauty would be." Lee Yeon's series finished at 129 chapters.
3. Lookism
Lookism. © Taejun Pak. Via AniList.
Daniel is an unattractive loner who wakes up in a second body: tall, handsome, and treated like a different person. It's the most literal version of True Beauty's double life: the new face changes how everyone treats him, and he has to keep the old one secret. Taejun Pak's series is still running, with a new episode every Sunday, and it's the source for Netflix's animated series. Our Lookism review covers where it goes.
4. Cheese in the Trap
Cheese in the Trap. © Soonkki. Via AniList.
Seol comes back to college after a long break and runs into Jung, the senior everyone calls Mr. Perfect. Her life gets worse after he shows up, and she can't tell whether he's doing it on purpose. Here the two-faced character is the boy, not the heroine. Soonkki's series ran in four seasons and finished in 2017; the 2016 tvN drama went with its own ending because the webtoon wasn't finished when it was filmed.
5. I Love Yoo
I Love Yoo. © Quimchee. Via WEBTOON.
Shin-Ae has had so much bad luck that she's sworn off people and romance. Then she ruins a stranger's clothes and her quiet life stops being quiet. If True Beauty's triangle was the draw, this has one too, with a heroine who's much more guarded than Jugyeong. Quimchee's series is still running; WEBTOON posts a new episode every Friday and keeps six newer ones in the app.
6. Nevertheless
Nabi wants to date but doesn't believe in love; Jae-eon flirts with everyone and thinks relationships are a drag. They're art students who meet in college, and the series is about the early, messy stage of attraction. It's the pick for readers who wanted True Beauty's romance with less tidy answers. Jeongseo's series finished at 40 chapters on AniList, and JTBC adapted it in 2021 with Han So-hee and Song Kang.
7. Marry My Husband
Marry My Husband. © sungsojak, LICO. Via AniList.
Jiwon, a 37-year-old cancer patient, walks in on her husband and her best friend, and then dies at her husband's hands. She wakes up as her younger self and decides to hand the two of them to each other. It's revenge, not school romance, but it shares the feeling of a heroine taking her own life back from people who defined it. It's completed on WEBTOON.
8. My Dear Cold-Blooded King
My Dear Cold-Blooded King. © lifelight. Via WEBTOON.
Kihara Mei is a peasant-born merchant in the capital until a run-in with royal assassins puts her under the eye of the feared Blood King. Nothing like True Beauty's setting; it's here for the slow romance and a heroine whose place is never secure. lifelight's series is completed on WEBTOON.
The drama, if you came from TV
The tvN drama ran from December 9, 2020 to February 4, 2021 with Moon Ka-young, Cha Eun-woo and Hwang In-youp. The official trailer:
*CJ ENM's official trailer for the True Beauty drama (YouTube).*Back to the source:
True Beauty Reading Guide →
Our Take
Read My ID is Gangnam Beauty first. It's short, it's finished, and it goes straight at the question True Beauty kept circling. If you liked the makeup more than the romance, go to The Makeup Remover; readers who soured on True Beauty keep pointing to it for a reason. We'd save Lookism for when you want the double-life idea pushed into a fighting series, and Cheese in the Trap for when you want the campus romance with real unease in it.
More options across the genre:
Best Manhwa to Read in 2026 →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the closest manhwa to True Beauty? My ID is Gangnam Beauty. Mirae starts university after plastic surgery and gets judged for looking like a "Gangnam beauty". It finished at 84 chapters and is on WEBTOON.
Is True Beauty manhwa completed? Yes. It finished in April 2023 at 257 chapters on AniList, a count that includes a prologue and 33 side stories. WEBTOON's website shows only the first episodes; the rest is in the WEBTOON app.
Which manhwa like True Beauty are finished? My ID is Gangnam Beauty, The Makeup Remover, Cheese in the Trap, Nevertheless, Marry My Husband and My Dear Cold-Blooded King are all marked completed on WEBTOON. Lookism and I Love Yoo are still running.
Which of these have K-drama adaptations? True Beauty (tvN, 2020-21), Gangnam Beauty (2018), Cheese in the Trap (tvN, 2016) and Nevertheless (JTBC, 2021). Lookism became a Netflix animated series.
Related Reading
- True Beauty Review: our score and verdict on the full run.
- True Beauty Reading Guide: how the run is laid out, if you're going back to it.
- True Beauty Characters: Jugyeong, Suho, Seojun and the rest.
- Lookism Review: the double-life pick, reviewed in full.
- Best Manhwa School Romance: more romances set in class.
- Best Romance Manhwa 2026: the wider romance list, finished and ongoing.
- Best Manhwa for Couples: picks that work for two readers at once.
- Best Manhwa to Read in 2026: the broad list beyond romance.
