It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)

A beautiful and refreshing story on trauma, mental health, and the healing journey.

As someone who enjoys intense, action-packed dramas, I would say It's Okay to Not Be Okay (IOTNBO) conveyed a completely different message and feel - in a good way. However, it's definitely not for everyone and I wouldn't recommend it to a K-drama newbie as there are many nuances that can make the drama seem "too slow" or "boring." There are also common K-drama themes embedded throughout the drama, so it's not something completely new - but the genre and storyline are what separate this piece from the others.

This drama shows what trauma (and healing) is like through the perspective of three characters - Moon Gang Tae, Moon Sang Tae, and Ko Mun Yeong. All three characters struggled with their own inner demons throughout the show and eventually conquered it through their relationships with each other. It's a raw and emotional perspective of trauma, and displays the truths of how difficult it can be to really overcome your past pains and struggles. I truly enjoyed watching every character develop and grow into who they were meant to be, alongside one another. I did have questions I wanted answers to - specifically about Ko Mun Yeong's mother - but they ultimately didn't affect the closing of the drama. The story came to a good end, with no strings left untied.

The acting was superb, especially Oh Jung-Se who played as Moon Sang-Tae. There were many scenes he played that made me emotional beyond belief - it was so hard to detach from his character, even after the drama ended. Seo Ye-Ji and Kim Soo Hyun are obviously masters at their art as well; their chemistry was off the charts and they definitely lived up to the hype!

Music was a 10/10. But I AM a Heize fan, so I might be biased there. ;^)

All in all, I'd say this drama was a refreshing piece. It's heavy, but not TOO heavy - so you can definitely enjoy it and even rewatch it if you wish. There were definitely great takeaways, and it has a soft spot in my heart.

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Wow just wow

Now usually I don’t usually like watching these kind of dramas, which is why I was a little hesitant to watch this at first because I usually get bored easily, but after seeing how much hype this got I decided to give it a go. Gotta say it was definitely worth the hype. Once I watched the first episode I was absolutely in love with this show. If a show is done right then even if it was a non interesting subject it could be very interesting. I loved this show from beginning to end and would recommend it to everyone. The acting was amazing, the soundtrack was amazing and the show is just aesthetically pleasing.

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Quality narration, quality story and quality acting.

First of all, the subject of the series is very beautiful and different. The theme of love in classic Korean dramas is not the main issue here. So the drama doesn't just make you a regular love story. It blends this narrative with love while slowly showing behind the scenes of two beautiful brother relationship and past events. The way the story is set up, the quality of the production and the great performance of the actors are worth watching this series. The general mood of the drama and Seo Yea-Ji's beauty and acting were one of the things that got me most tied to the drama. We're used to seeing female characters a bit more passive and monotonous than male characters in Korean dramas. But the main female character in this series is a dominant, very different and interesting character. I can say that my favorite series is this series for now.

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How is the mother alive?

I loved this drama but my one complaint is that the writer never tied up the storyline about the mother. Did MY’s father kill her mother or was that just a hallucination the father had because of his brain cancer? For me that was the only loose end. The acting was stellar and I would like to see the leads paired again. They had great chemistry!

The actor who portrayed Sang Tae really deserves an award for his acting. This was a really difficult role to portray and he did it beautifully. I loved his Declaration of Independence at the end. It was heartwarming and beautiful. I laughed out loud during this drama and cried more than I would like to admit.

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It's Okay To Be An Emotional Mess After Watching This

It’s Okay To Not Be Okay has everything I love and seek out in dramas and in stories generally: Deeply flawed characters, a cold, fashionable female character, who pretends to have no feelings, a slow-burn enemies to lovers storyline, complex, lovable side-characters, a beautiful, emotional OST, a magnificent, mysterious cursed house, gorgeous costumes, emotional slo-mo scenes and deep meaning.
And it gave me something else I didn’t expect: A main character that I could relate to and that made me think about the way I’m living my own life.

My older sister is not autistic. But she has a lot of issues. She doesn’t work, is plagued with depression and panic attacks and when she’s upset, she acts like a child, throwing a fit, locking herself in, screaming and crying. It’s very hard to calm her down.

My parents never told me that the reason they had me, was so I could take care of her. But sometimes I think that is kind of what it has turned into. I live with my sister now and have to deal with her fits. Sometimes, I feel like I will have to live with her for the rest of my life because she will be lost without me. And it’s burdening. But she is also safe for me because as long as I have to live with her, I don’t have to go out into the scary world. In a way, we are both holding each other back, just like Sang Tae and Gang Tae.
It’s Okay To Not Be Okay left me feeling ready to spread my wings and find my own happiness.

I loved the way this drama deals with mental illness, trauma and disability. It was very tasteful and hopeful. At first, I thought the residents of the hospital would only have very minor roles. I was pleasantly surprised when we learned about each of their stories. Despite touching upon some dark subjects and being at parts gloomy, the drama never drags you down. I never felt bad by the end of an episode, because it somehow manages to always maintain a positive atmosphere - even when there's a sad or tense cliffhanger.
The way different fairytales are woven into the story is a wonderful idea and very well executed. I also really enjoyed the non-linear storytelling. Of course the fairytale theme is also reflected in the production design - which is nothing short of marvelous, the cursed castle being my favorite set. Ko Moon Young standing on her balcony in her white nightgown, walking down the big staircase or writing in the huge gloomy study... every scene in the Cursed Castle is so aesthetically pleasing, underlined by the hauntingly beautiful OST.

The acting of the whole cast is outstanding. Especially Kim Soo Hyun ‘s and Seo Ye Ji’s portrayal of their characters deeply touched me. I watched this after Seo Ye Ji’s scandals came to light but it didn’t influence my enjoyment of the drama and her role at all. I absolutely adore her in this role. Whether or not the scandals are true, she is a brilliant actress and the perfect fit for the role of Ko Moon Young.

I think one of the things that touched me most – and I imagine will touch most people, is that Gang Tae loves Moon Young for who she really is – with all her flaws, cruel sides and unreasonable outbursts. I think we all have some darker sides and mean streaks, and we feel like we cannot show these if we want to be loved. Seeing this incredibly flawed character being accepted and loved the way she is, made me very emotional.

Up to episode 13, I would’ve given this a perfect 10/10 score. But then I found the plot twist with the true identity of Ko Moon Young’s mother a bit much. To be honest, I would’ve preferred it if her mother had been dead and truly haunting them. The scenes where Ko Moon Young has sleep paralysis and sees her mother’s corpse, are absolutely genius in a “The Haunting of Hill House” kind of way and I would've loved to see the drama go a bit further down that lane. Her mother was also written as too evil, in my opinion. She is the only character that is completely black and white with no humanity to her, which was a bit of a disappointment after 12 episodes full of very three-dimensional and complex characters. I'm not a big fan of pure evil villains - I find them way more interesting when we see some reasons why they became like this.
Nevertheless, this will go on the list of my all-time favorite dramas. And I knew it would be so by the end of the first episode.

It was absolutely brilliant and touched me deeply. I enjoyed every moment of these wounded, lost characters finding their way to each other and finding their happiness. During the montage of their trip with the camping van I cried like a baby.

PS: Moon Gang Tae showing up for the photoshoot with his hair gelled back had me literally scream out-loud. What a gorgeous man.

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An absolutely phenomenal viewing experience.

Personally, I love shows that explore mental health and human psychology, so that on its own was already a good enough hook for me. However, I think what completely sold me was the aesthetic value of IOTNBO. In terms of cinematography, I thought that the shot transitions were incredibly well done; in particular, the ones that stuck with me were 1) the manic episode of a patient in either episode 3/4, 2) the scenes where we had young Moon Young, Kang Tae and Sang Tae film with the adult versions of the three main characters. Accompanied by an overall amazing OST, the entire production of IOTNBO is an artful masterpiece.

Script was super well-written - there were a lot of thought provoking statements scattered across the entire show, and I felt that each scene was so thought out and significant to the plot. I want to give kudos to the author for having been able to keep me on my toes every weekend. I was always excited for the next episode to come out, so I think it's safe to say that my weekends will never be the same again after watching this show. One more thing that I guess falls under the script category would be the lessons that can be derived especially from the stories written by our female lead, Go Moon Young. Although the fairy tales were really short, I thought that they were relatable and carried such deep meanings.

Another beautiful thing about IOTNBO was the costumes and sets. I greatly admire the costume director's attention to detail when it came to dressing the characters. When you have a chance, you should check out the online articles talking about what how she came up with the concepts behind each character's costumes. I harbor the same feeling for the set designers - my two favorite sets of IOTNBO were the dining room and kitchen in the Cursed Castle, and Director Oh's office in OK Hospital. I thought they were both very charming and I loved the color palettes for and the knick-knacks that they had in each room.

Now for the actors and the characters they play. In general, I thought that all the characters had depth and that they were very lovable. Some of the supporting cast also made things a lot more lighthearted knowing the fact that IOTNBO was a show with some pretty heavy themes (honorable mentions to Ahjumma, Director Oh, Head Nurse Park, Joo Ri, Sang In, Seung Jae and Jae Su). However, I think for this essay of a review, I will focus on the character development of the three main characters of IOTNBO.

Seo Ye Ji as Go Moon Young was out of this world. Cold and unable to overcome the demons of her past, Moon Young grew up having feared her mother her entire life. Despite that, Moon Young was incredibly perceptive and was able to see through people, almost always doing the right things for those around her. I'm glad that as the episodes progressed and Moon Young learned to be more empathetic, she gradually began to understand what it means to love and be loved. I couldn't imagine another actress who would've done Go Moon Young justice.

Kim Soo Hyun also did a really good job with Kang Tae, and I liked how after being so lonely for so long, and having to fend for himself and his brother, he learned to open up and lean on others as the series goes on. I think throughout this whole show, Kang Tae was the character who had to take on the most emotional burden. But since his default is to protect those around him, he ends up neglecting himself. Towards the end of the show, he learned to face his problems head on, and also started putting himself first.

Our final main lead was Oh Jung Se as Moon Sang Tae, and man did he nail the role. There are so many nuances to Sang Tae's character, and the fact that Oh Jung Se was able to capture all of it was amazing. Sang Tae's character development was the most prominent and heartwarming. and the way I like to see it is that while Moon Young and Kang Tae's development was like an upward curving arc, Sang Tae's development was more step-wise. He sort of takes in everything and processes the information, and then applying whatever he has learned to his life. Sang Tae learning that blood does not equal family, and understanding that overcoming his trauma will help him protect his loved ones, moved me beyond comprehension.

All in all, I think that IOTNBO was a cinematic genius. With many scenes that sort of made me sit back and think about what was going on, I was granted the opportunity to make open-ended assumptions and references to other scenes. I really enjoyed talking to my friends about the drama while watching it, having discussions about the mental health themes and applying the lessons I learned from the drama in my own life. A very important takeaway that I got from the drama was also that most problems in life aren't as big as we think they are. We just have to gain the courage to look them in the eye, and take the steps necessary to overcome them.

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Worth Watching All The Way

This drama touches many subjects and it has just reached one of my top dramas that I will think of when people ask me about my favorite. There are psychological subjects they touch on for health and they really hit home sometimes. The show connects with you on an emotional level. Also the female lead has such a bold character it makes it so enjoyable. The chemistry between the leads is one of my faves I've seen so far. i highly recommend people to watch this drama because it has story, humor, and touches on real life problems. It's not just a fantasy world where everyone is happy. It's real.

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The best kdrama you can ever find

I never write reviews on dramas. After watching this i wanted to write one. This is not your normal cliché kdramas. It has got depth, feelings and a lot more. One of the best dramas about mental health and the need to love yourself and find happiness. The actors has done an amazing job potrayimg the characters. I couldn't find any mistakes in this drama. Just go for it.i am 100% sure that you will never regret it💜
This has become my favourite drama of all the time.
I hope we can all find our real faces and be happy in life. To the person who reads the review, i wish all the happiness in the world.

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ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS: MUST WATCH

LOVE THIS SHOW!!!
The Netflix has to add TRIGGER WARNING to this as it will trigger a lot of people and in ways, one wouldn't expect.
I am going to write reviews to individual episodes so my review here will be shorter and doesn't contain spoiler.
I have been watching the show with a friend and I generally share with her my thoughts after every episode and she suggested I write it as a review. She said after reading my thoughts, she could connect things better in the episode so giving my first ever try in writing individual episode review.

This show is heavy so I can only watch 1 episode per day. It feels like I went to therapy for an hour and I am processing all the emotions after. Everyone, literally everyone from all the supporting cast to lead actors to folks who wrote dialogue and director and writer: DAMN!!!! such AMAZING job..
All have done such amazing acting and the emotions portrayed are on point. There should be more shows like this in all languages so that it reaches to many people and creates awareness about mental illness and wellbeing.

How diseases like hypertension, blood sugar and all needs medicine and also lifestyle changes to keep under control, this shows portrays along with medical professional help, environment/family/friends we grow up around have huge influence in how we can all heal.

Most shows which talks about mental illness usually don't show the illness per-se but these folks have done amazing job in-terms of showing how people suffering from mental illness "see" the world and "feel" or understand different emotions.

Such a positive message about healing is possible and we need to find our crew and stick to it and we can do it!
Fighting <3

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'It's okay to not be okay' - A drama that will pull at your heartstrings and make you FEEL.

This is my first review ever! I just finished the last episode of 'It's okay to not be okay'. What can I say, it was a perfect ending for characters who went through quite a rough ride that is their lives.

I felt very blessed, happy and warmth to be able to witness this wonderful story. All the actors, director, scriptwriter and staff involved did a fantastic job which left me to keep wanting for more.

Don't hesitate and go watch it. It will make you feel, the good, the bad and everything in between.

There are so many good and outstanding moments that I don't know where to start.

I felt like the three main characters lived their whole life trapped, chained to the ground and unable to break free. Through their interactions and character development, they were able to break free from shackles that can't be seen with the eyes.

These are the main messages that I will takeaway with me:

- You are not responsible for other people's actions, especially family members.

- You are not stuck in the life you have always known even if you firmly believe so.

- You have the right to love and be loved.

- You have the right to be happy and know that you also bring happiness to other people. As one character said: 'To make the people around me happy, I have to be happy first. So being selfish isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If it’s too hard, just think about your own happiness.'

- Everyone on Earth needs approval, especially from family members.

- Having mental health problems does not make you inferior. Happiness may require a few more twists and turns but it is not impossible.

- You don't have to be alone if you feel lonely.

- The bond that exist between you and your loved ones is the strongest (even stronger than Hulk). So believe in that bond and lean on each other.

- Be patient towards each other and communicate.

Overall this drama taught me that we can heal each other. We don't have to feel trapped, we can find keys together to set ourselves free.

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A perfected ribbon of words, acting and production that winds it's way into your heart

I've watched every episode atleast once, reviewed several episodes and read almost 17 thousand messages about this drama. It is perfection. This story turns a mirror and magically reflects a portion of each viewer's life and I found myself, especially towards the latter half, letting an emotional tide wash over me, fill me and then had the ability to let a few memories and emotions wash away. If you watch it, be prepared to have an emotional journey all the way to the end. As far as acting, the entire cast deserves credit and there is not enough space allowed for a dissertation on each. Each person in a roll became that roll and blurred my viewing lines as to where the acting began and the person portraying the roll ended. The absolutely worst part of "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" is the fact that it ended but now, I'll now watch it again, slowly, and crawl over the details first missed.

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