It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (2020)

Was promising, but ultimately fell flat and held onto surface level issues

As someone with a brother on the ASD spectrum and who works in healthcare, I had a lot of hope going in. I was recommended the drama by a friend who also has a brother with ASD, otherwise I wasn't too intrigued by the drama's trailer or plot.

The drama, while it isn't the most pretentious thing I've ever seen, fails to deliver a plot which viewers will find engaging. I appreciate its more toned down approach to look into healing and bring awareness to mental illnesses and disabilities like ASD, but I think it fails in all other departments. I also think the relationship feels extremely contrived and is too sudden for me to take it seriously, especially because it leans on toxic: why must these two end up together when they have so many issues they need to work on? Sure, there is understanding between the two, but I wish there was a more organic growth shown.

Given how long these episodes were, I thought we would see a richer look into the psyche of individual characters, but instead we got surface level pretentious-ness and some mediocre comedy. There was so much potential for these characters given the production and cast, but it all fell flat which is a shame. I did like Oh Jung Se's portrayal of ASD though, so I will have to give him that. I failed to find any other characters as endearing, except perhaps the female lead, although at times she felt like a contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian, and not really rooted in the feelings of a real person.

Also, the pacing of this drama is very off. Some episodes feel like pure filler, and the mystery in the drama is poorly placed. I even forgot there was a mystery, because it would take so many episodes to come back to it.

I thought the first few episodes were great but it went downhill from there. It's unfortunate but I cannot continue to waste more hours of my life on this disappointment, so I'll have to drop it at episode 11. It just isn't worth it for me.

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This is so bad I want to give it a 0 but I can't so I'm giving it a 1

This is without a doubt the worst drama I have ever watched.
Dear lord I cannot believe people enjoyed this! Do they think that good-looking people should just get away with the absolute worst behaviour!

Pros
- some great costumes
- The FLs house is an amazing set
- Music is good
- Allegory's a interesting

Cons
- The portrayal of every mental health issue in this is terrible at best and damaging at worst
- why would I want to watch a narcissist get everything she wants while acting terribly to everyone around her. (I know the excuse is a tough childhood, but seriously does that excuse everything! - to quote Jake Perolta "Cool motive, still murder") Her actions are often inexcusable.
- The male lead is a covert narcissist too. He is obviously not well mentally either, the chip on his shoulder should have crushed him to death already.
- The leads knew each other as kids trope is weak
- the plot is dumb, a villian getting surgery to look like someone else is a lame Bond film plot.

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What a beautiful journey

So this is my second ever review. Usually I don't feel like I need to share my thoughts on the drama in review form, however this drama was such a journey so I thought that I would share my thoughts. I just want to say that this drama won’t be everyone's cup of tea, and that's okay. However I hope that in the future more dramas featuring mental health will be made.

Plot:
I will begin with what I loved about the drama. The character growth is probably what I loved the most, especially Moon Youngs growth from being an emotionless "strong" person to becoming a more vunerable and starting to feel emotions like emapathy and love. She came out of her shell and the journey to that is beautiful. All three main characters take steps to overcome their trauma with the help of professionals and each other. No matter how many bumps they had to overcome, and believe me there were quite a few, they managed to overcome them all. The whole drama really shined whenever they focused on the characters and the bond between them. The bond between the brothers really stood out, as well as Moon Youngs bond with both bothers. The main theme of the drama is mental health, and they managed to pretty decently depict mental illness in a respectable manner for the most part (minus the mom, but I will get into that later.) Almost no one in the hospital or outside of it was inheriantly evil or good, they were nuances to their characters which really hammered home the theme that: it's okay not to be okay. And as a side note I think I was really impressed by the way they told the story using fairytales and visual details to their advantage. Each episode was titled after a myth, fairytale or folklore, and by each episode's end a lesson was taught using the fairytale. Also the visual storytelling was wonderfully done, as visual details in clothes or hair or items was somehow linked to the fairytale being told. Also the aminations in some episodes *chefs kiss*.

Now my problems with the show: The storyline with the mom. I won’t spoil it but I felt that the storyline was quite cliche and just lazy writing. It was underdevoloped and I wished they would have left it out, since it didn't really fit into the theme. Also I wished they would have gone more into depth with the therapy plot, but that is just my personal preference, and the way they handled it wasn't bad per say just wanted a bit more depth.

All in all I enjoyed the plot even tho there were some mishaps here and there.

Acting/cast:
10/10. All of the cast did a fantastic job with potraying their characters. Especially Kim Soo Hyun, Seo Ye-Ji and Oh Jung Se. I am especially impressed by Oh jung se acting. He managed to potray someone with austic spectrum disorder in a very respectable and realistic manner I wanted to highlight that since I feel like he is underrated when compared to Ye-Ji and Soo Hyun. Both of which were absolutley fantastic in their own regard. They could convey so many emotions in their eyes, and my god the chemistry that they had was just amazing (so much sexual tension in those stares.) Seriously their chemistry is off the charts. The supporting cast was also lovley, they were all very natural in their acting. And an extra shoutout to the actor that played Jae Su he nailed the best friend and comic relief character. All in all hats off to the cast they did a fantastic job and was one of the main reasons I enjoyed the show as much as I did.

Music
Amazing. Just amazing. LOVE the ost in this show. Added a few of the songs to my playlist. Every song just fit perfectly into each scene. I am honestly impressed tht they manged to perfectly capture the feel of the show in the ost.

Rewatch value:
Will most definitely watch this masterpiece agian.

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A healing journey with beautiful and realistically imperfect characters

I’m not sure if this is true for all but I found the characters very relatable in the way they struggled with heartaches and problems.

I really love the depth that the characters have (especially Sang Tae and Gang Tae). The main characters, in particular, were very realistically written. They struggled with conflicting emotions and thoughts, like we all do as regular humans. I love that the writers didn’t restrict the characters in a fixed/rigid way. That being said, there was also a lot of character development. I really enjoyed following their journey of growth and self discovery. The cast also had great chemistry and lovely portrayals of the characters.

Though there isn’t really a climax to this story, it was still really enjoyable and well paced. I usually have thoughts of dropping a drama halfway through but to my surprise this time, it didn’t happen. :)

Lastly, I really love that it addresses mental health and the title resonates throughout the drama that it’s okay to not be okay. I received a lot of healing along the way :’)

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The masterpiece of 2020

What to start with?

This is perfection for me! This drama is one of those that didn't let me sleep. Amazing story, acting, OST, dialogues between the characters. There is nothing more. Everything is wonderful! I will miss the main trio very, very much.

Of course, it's not for everyone, like every drama. It's very different from other dramas. Chemistry among the main leads is no joke. If you don't like psychological series, just don't watch it (or watch it and you will start like psychological series: ') )

I will come back to this often and it will stay forever in my top 5 favorite dramas. ♥

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It's Okay for a Show to Be Overhyped

I did not start this drama right away for three reasons: (1) It was incredibly over-hyped (2) It sounded like some flimsy self-help drama with no real substance and (3) I was sick seeing romanticized psychiatric themes as plot tools.

Once I actually started the show, it completely blew through any doubt I may have had for starting it. I struggled with shortening this review because I practically had written an entire essay for why this show was amazing. If you don't want to read the full review, just read the very last paragraph.

The artistry ALONE is enough to enjoy the show and I found myself sucked in within literally the first 30 seconds due to the beautiful stop motion-like animation in the beginning and the enrapturing script. They used the FL's children's books as themes for each episode and echoed messages of books she had written or common fairytales (such as The Ugly Duckling) to depict the lessons the characters were learning in that particular episode. What I loved was that those lessons weren't too in-your-face and unnecessarily repeated to emphasize the genius of the writing; they were quietly woven into the story and addressed head-on for only a few scenes. I think rewatching this show would be so rewarding to explore the motifs and goals of these messages that likely would have been missed on a first watch.

Honestly, the character development is another reason on it's own as well. Though Mun-Yeong is such a captivating character and probably everyone's favorite, the center of all of this for me was Gang-Tae. Kim Soo Hyun did such a spectacular job with this character and clearly spent a lot of time thinking about Gang-Tae’s motivations. If you check out the BTS footage, he is excitedly talking with the director about where and how he should stand, how he should say a certain line and trying his best to stay calm around Ye Ji in order to act properly (major uwus). He is the experienced actor we needed to bring life to Gang-Tae.

Seo Ye Ji was the only one who I could have ever seen as Mun-Yeong. Her lower, raspy voice with her killer visuals and beautiful yet creepy smile made me fall in love with her and her character. Make no mistake, her character is deeply messed up. I don't know if anti-social personality disorder makes you have sociopathic tendencies like she does but it makes her character all the more compelling. Think of a witch standing at the edge of a forest adorned head-to-toe in the most luxurious clothing, piercing eyes painted with makeup and a smile as sharp as a knife. The typical kind-hearted, princess that can bring out the best in people is instead pushed aside as our second lead. What. A. Power. Move. This writer understands women and what they want and has created the ideal FL character for us from that understanding. ALSO HER FASHION?!?! She and Man Wol from Hotel Del Luna could have a full on fashion battle.

I’ll be honest, when I saw the title and description, I thought it was going to be some flimsy self-help drama with romanticized psychiatry themes added for pure aesthetic. And I still do believe some of the mental disorders were breezed over or not 100% accurately portrayed, but considering it is a form of entertainment, any production with psychiatry themes is unlikely to be 100% accurate. Even the Korean title: “Psycho, but it’s okay,” doesn’t quite seem very friendly towards those with mental disorders. But we could perhaps call it a step towards the right direction.

Oh Jung Se (second ML: Sang-Tae) said that he learned a lot while playing his role and spoke in interviews about what he had learned - namely that individuals do not ‘suffer’ from autism, it is the way that they are born and they are as perceptive and deserving of respect as any other person. The writers could have used Sang-Tae's autism as an excuse to not give him character development, but they didn't and dove into making him a full-fledged character. I love Sang-Tae. I love him so much. The two brothers (Gang-Tae and Sang-Tae) are truly incomplete without each other and I would argue that the main couple of the show is also incomplete without him. If you watch the show you'll understand what I mean.

Incredible artistry and cinematography, well thought-out character development, a great plot with an unpredictable climax and oscar-worthy acting is how I would describe It's Okay Not to Be Okay. Whether you are looking for something healing, something romantic, something that takes a step towards depicting mental illness on screen in a slightly better way or just a good story, this show will deliver. Give it a go.

WARNING: Prepare Tissues

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Strong opening but it all goes down-hill

*THE GOOD*

1) Excellent opening - after seeing a huge hype for this show and knowing the ML as Kim Soo Hyun, I was ready to stay invested in this one. The first few episodes did a real good job to pull you in. We get an unexpected Coraline-like storybook intro, setting the mood and backstory of the series. Although it took more than a few episodes for the show to connect with this, it was great foreshadowing for what's to come.

2) The FL entrance was fantastic! - her character was just gleaming of charisma and power. She was someone who's unafraid to speak their mind loudly, confidently go after what they want, and no one is able to stop them. More interestingly, we got to see very quickly, that even someone as strong and charismatic can be vulnerable to their own demons at night. I ended up binge watching the entire first half of the show purely because of how much I enjoyed her character.

3) Fairytale motifs & theming - unique to the show, each episode tries to connect its developing plot towards a message or lines from a fairytale story. This is a fun and flavorful touch. These references are often done as a background monologue with the voice and interpretation of the FL, which makes sense considering she is a writer in this drama setting. These "monologues" provided more opportunities for us to learn and understand her character, she always has a very distinctive way of interpreting things. And as we listen each episode, it's almost like we were a part of the drama casted as her fans, listening to her character telling the stories. These little motifs came a long way to push forward the whimsical mood the drama has. In fact... the entire drama almost felt like one big fairytale story.

4) Sang-Tae, the brother - his acting was very accurate and realistic coming from someone who dormed with an autistic person in the past. Specifically his facial expressions, when he was angry or scared or felt guilty, you could see the emotions and even the awkwardness from his face - the acting really was brilliant. Later on, we also see this character develop in various ways and the way that everything was done is believable. This was a difficult role and Mr. Oh Jung Se (name of the actual actor) nailed it!

*THE BAD*

1) The FL character changed completely? but also just made no sense - I was surprised no other reviews mentions this but there is something inconsistent about Moon Young's character. Perhaps it's just an oversight on my part but after her character visits the mental hospital, her character started to develop from being a strong, charismatic person to someone who just whines and nags all the time. In the beginning, we see her approaching Gang-Tae, every time expressing her desires to be with him. When he rejects her, she moves on and minds her own business. But later on, she just gives up her whole career almost to chase after this dude, essentially forcing him to be with her by taking advantage or manipulating his ill brother. Now, I understand that every person is vulnerable in some ways and she re-living her childhood traumas may have contributed to this but even so, her character development just felt unnatural. if she was that deeply traumatized, why would she ever go back to that place? In my opinion, a more appropriate plot would be that after seeing Gang-Tae pushing her away on episode 2-3, she should just be back in Seoul the next day to work her business. Even the way she talks changed! I actually confirmed the difference re-watching some of the first two episodes.

2) Slow burn is slow - the progression of this drama is... painfully slow. The entire drama is just a push and pull between the two leads, even after accepted each other, has these little fights and don't much other than to prolong the series. After 12 episodes of using the same cards, it just got old.

3) Out of the blue couple pairing and filters - this point kinda goes into the last one but for some reason, the CEO of the publishing company that managed Moon Young quits his position to pursue this random nurse in a mental institution (forgive me, she's not a random character) but the plot here just makes no sense. Despite having zero chemistry, these two pairing together also didn't add anything to the main plot. There was also an episode that focused two of the patients from institution ending up as a couple, but they again, do not add anything to the main story, I am just confused why so much focus are added to these side characters. The series could have easily done in 10 episodes otherwise.

4) Even more ridiculous, the return of a dead villain trope - So this is current arc I am watching (episode 13) and honestly at this point, it's really difficult to watch this. They are setting up the stage for clear showdown of our main characters fighting against this mother that supposedly was the one that murdered the ML's mother?! Like the plot just enter the ridiculous category and at this point, just wish the series would end.

*I will be editing this review after completing it* but in summary, the story is really disappointing for me. The only scenes worth watching being the first few bits.

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Garbage. Toss it out.

It’s terrible. Doesn’t tackle mental health in any meaningful way. Pretty privilege all the way. The only reason people fawn over this drama is the eye candy. Actress is a toxic manipulative person. Which is totally okay. Women can be portrayed as toxic. Women are human too. What’s not okay is the drama is portraying that toxicity as a good thing. Main character is portrayed as superior and can treat people like trash because she is pretty, has trauma and an undiagnosed personality disorder. Yeah no doesn’t work that way. Mental health is not an excuse to threaten people, push them down stairs, make people cry. Love doesn’t heal mental illness. Mental health has ups and downs and in this drama it’s portrayed like a fantasy. You’re healed with love and then you’re done. Mental health journeys aren’t so smooth. The romance is garbage. Felt no chemistry and the acting is one note as the characters are one note. All the side characters have no nuance to them. They have no personality and no pursuits and no passions outside of the their relation with the two main characters. Watch the cast. The two main characters are portrayed as the prettiest, smartest while the rest of the supporting cast are portrayed as ugly, stupid, only reason existing is the support the main characters. It’s so poorly written.

Trash drama. Slow waste of time. What’s sad is all the people praising this drama. They obviously had their brains turned off and were just glamoured away with the pretty eye candy scenes.

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This drama is not okay, actually it’s pretty bad.

This is it, this is the drama that was haunting me throughout this year. It was appearing in various lists and countdowns, it showed on My Drama List more that I can count and it was constantly in my recommended section on Netflix. So I’ve finally decided to watch it. And honestly guys, I’m not impressed.
Don’t get me wrong, this is beautifully filmed drama with an amazing cast. But this is just so not enough for me to call it the greatest drama of this year.
Let’s start from the goodies.

Cinematic
Not gonna lie, that was one of the most beautifully filmed drama that I’ve watched. Both live action and animations were just stunning. Add to this beautiful sets and costumes and you have true eye candy of a series.

Acting
I’m gonna quickly brush past two leads and leave them for later. Because the true star here is Oh Jung Se playing Moon Sang Tae. I’ve seen him before in Touch Your Heart, but here in It’s Okay to Not Be Okay he shown his acting skills to the fullest. And the role he was given was very difficult and it was very easy to overdo it. That’s why I think that his win of this years Baeksang Award for the best supporting actor was fully deserved,

Music
Nothing to add here. Music was very fitting and memorable. I’m sure I have some songs on my playlist. Overall I can say that this drama is very ecstatically pleasing.
But now we get to the more problematic part.

The baddies

Acting
I said some good things about acting of Oh Jung Se and now let’s talk about main actors.
I’ve already seen Kim Soo Hyun and Se Ye Ji in other dramas and I really don’t have anything against their acting. It’s just that they haven’t shown anything new here. I felt in some moments that Kim Soo Hyun is just playing again his character from My Love From the Stars. The spoke with the same monotonous voice with close to non facial expression. It may be the similarity of both roles but it still bothered me from the very beginning. It wasn’t too bothersome but in drama so praised and for drama with actors so well known, I guess it shouldn’t happen. I know that both actors didn’t have easy characters to play, but it just didn’t worked for me. Especially taking under consideration fact that I had so much problems with characters themselves.
With Se Ye Ji, I found her character so uninteresting that I can’t really say a lot about her acting.

Characters
Talking about it. I’ve read many opinions defending Ko Moon Young for her behaviour. But for me that was just a show of toxic relationship and the way it ended it totally not understandable for me especially that their relationship for the most part was simply abusive. Amongst other things Ko Moon Young was blackmailing Moon Gang Tae using his brother but also threatening him to drive off the pier if he will not agree to spend the night with her. And at this point in my opinion her behaviour cannot be just simply justified by her sad past. And what really annoyed my at some point is that we were slowly being convinced that your past can be an excuse for the bad behaviour. Ko Moon Young was mistreated by her mother so not she can mistreat Gang Tae who should feel bad for her and support her all the way. This is straight up toxic relationship and shouldn’t be romanticised.

Plot
Or really lack thereof. I understand that really the relationship of the two main characters should be the plot but I think it’s just not enough. Of course there was some additional events, but they somehow just came and went away without really much impact on the action. And the pace was incredibly slow, and I think this was what really killed my interest in this series. I swear it felt as if some of the episodes consisted only with main characters staring themselves in the eyes in slow motion.

At the end I’ve figured out that I just don’t care about the main characters. There was nothing about them to see them as sympathetic of even interesting. So I just simply didn’t care what happens to them. This series in my eyes was saved by great production and some background characters. Not enough for me to call it great drama.

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A characters journey that touches the heart.

The premise of this show is something I would normally never watch. I mostly gravitate to dramas with a thick plot that evolves overtime and so I have been mostly watching Chinese historical dramas. I only started this drama out of pure boredom, the gorgeousness of the leads, and some reviewers claiming that they have explosive chemistry. I am a sucker for believable romance. I didn't really expect much and was ready to drop it after the first episode...........but boy was I wrong. It gave me everything I never knew I wanted.

It is a character-centric show. 98% of the characters get a moment to shine and have a story told from their life. All the stories were explored with great care and respect. No judgment or prejudice. This is especially important since the show include patients in a psychiatric hospital. They are shown as people who were shaped by their past experiences and have their own motiivation. There are none of the usual cardboard cut-outs who are only there to make the leads look good or move the plot in a certain direction and then forgotten the next episode. They are tangible people who makes the world of the drama that much more real and relatable. This exploration is most especially thorough for the three leads Moon-Young, Gang-Tae and Sang-Tae that by the end of the show they all felt like family. I have become absolutely invested in finding and giving them all the happiness they deserved and more. They are not some unreachable fictional characters but friends who have taught me so much about life and happiness. The writer did excellent work. The story might not have been perfect but at least she wrote some of the most amazing set of characters I have ever seen. However, this would not have worked so well if the actors didn't fully bring those characters to life.

All the actors were absolutely brilliant. Oh Jung Se, Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Ye Ji really elevated their characters so much so that it's impossible to see anyone else play their roles. They are the dream team. They really transformed and lived their character's lives for 16 episodes. They all have excellent natural chemistry. The brothers truly felt like they have known each other their whole lives. The main couple is also so unbelievably made for each other. The first time I saw them together on one scene I just couldn't believe they exist. How are they even real? Everything fits. Everything match. Divine intervention definitely made these two people find each other. The rest of the cast were also outstanding. The casting director was certainly touched by magic. They managed to find actors who can believably express different aspects of their character. My feelings and thoughts for each character continuously underwent changes throughout the episodes. Just when I thought I figured them out, I'm pleasantly surprised to be wrong. This was especially effective due to the excellent production and direction.

The production took great care in making the world and characters look real through the setting, props, and clothes. The fairytale aspect was truly expressed with the continuous use of illustrated stories in conjunction with the plot for each episode. It truly enhanced and made the storytelling much more interesting. I want to get each of those books to read over and over again. Each clothes were used for a reason. Each OST were chosen and added to each scene for maximum effect. Each scene were also shot in a particular way to evoke a certain feeling, message, or symbolism. There are plenty of moments without dialogue. There are just so many little details that rewatching each episode is just as worthwhile as the first time.

There are still some kdrama tropes but they are mostly used with a proper build-up and reason. The most wonderful change is that everyone in this show chooses to talk to each other. Misunderstandings only occur for a moment and never dragged on for a couple of episodes. These talks produced some of the most thoughtful, evocative, and eye-opening conversations that relate to real life. Things that people have certainly thought about but not spoken out loud.

This show is all about presenting the heart of its characters. There is really no big evil villain to defeat (contrary to some opinion) or epic journey to unfold. Its plot have holes. The characters barely go anywhere. But still it takes the viewer through the journey of self-discovery about what is really important. It certainly helped me see myself in a new perspective.

I think it's best to start watching with no expectation. Hopefully.....you can be just as pleasantly surprised as I was with how much I have fallen in love with this show ♡

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