'It's Okay To Not Be Okay' :K-drama review

Happy New Year to people who are reading! So, I was supposed to write and post this blog the previous year (2020) as I saw the drama at that time. 

As the heading of the post says, this is a review of a recent K-drama(Korean dramas)released on Netflix, It's Okay To Not Be Okay (not so recent, released in around mid-year). I watched this show on a website dedicated to Asian dramas, Kissasian, which is illegal.

Word of caution: I am not a student of film studies and neither am a student of acting. I am a student of Science and I watch movies and shows for entertainment purposes. These days I have been watching too much of shows and movies which either touch my heart or I mostly think about them too much. I was basically wasting my time watching those shows in the middle of the semester and I am guilty of them. To make something constructive of that wasted time, here I am wasting as well doing something other than consuming. Please also note, that I am new to the world of K-drama, and am more familiar with C-dramas (Chinese dramas) and American shows. Also, I have tried to write without any spoilers. I read the description of this K-drama saying that it is in the romance genre, psychological, focusing on mental health without reading any reviews of this drama. I saw it without getting even any minor spoilers. So, whatever I write from here on, feels like I am giving out spoilers. If you don't want any spoilers, please don't read for now. I will give a spoiler-free small recommendation-review in near future. Also, at the end of this review, I have a recommendation section where I will write the description of people who might like this show. That everyone can read. 

So here is the review of the K-drama which I loved and which has kind of become one of my favourite K-drama. 

It's Okay To Not Be Okay tells the story of a caregiver in Psychiatric Hospital, Moon Kang Tae, and Ko Mun Young who is a children's author and writes fairy tales having ambiguous endings but loved by everyone. Moon Kang Tae does not want to fall in love because he has to take care of his autistic elder brother Moon Sang Tae. Ko Mun Young has antisocial behavior-she is rude and arrogant and doesn't know and understands what is love. They have traumatic past and this story is how they heal from that trauma as they meet each other and fall in love. 

The first episode starts by telling a fairy tale story about a girl living in a hidden castle, who has a monster with her because of which she isn't able to make friends, and in turn is not able to experience friendship and love. Due to frustration and loneliness, she tortures carefree animals. While doing this, once, she saves a boy from drowning, who started following her from then on. After watching him following her, the girl shows him her monstrous side and asks him whether he will run away. Afraid of her, the boy runs away. And the girl since then is always alone and has remained a loner. They showed the female lead replacing the little girl at the end of the fairy tale. This was the intro to the show.  And then they start showing the leads, starting with the male lead character played by Kim Soo Hyun and his brother's character Moon Sang Tae, played by Oh Jung Se. The female lead character played by Soo Ye-Ji is shown next. Male lead's brother is suffering from trauma because of which he gets nightmares of butterflies and due to which they both have to move from one place to another. We are introduced to the side characters as well who are going to play important role in this drama in the one and a half-hour long first episode. 

The beginning of the episode sets up the whole setting of the show. The show employs fairy tales as well as children's stories to drive the story ahead. The fairy tales serve as an analogy for their stories- both the female lead character's written stories as well as the well-known stories. It also employed some supernatural and horror elements to give a vibe of a horror show. If I wouldn't have known that this drama is based on mental health, I would have still watched it because I knew that it has romance in it. I was impressed by the show's ability to scare me when I least expected it. This drama is considered psychological drama with romance. Some reviewers even say that it is a twisted drama. 

As I said, the show is about mental health, it shows many sides of the caregivers who work in a psychiatric hospital. It showed a close representation of the people who are suffering from or have mental disorders and their stories as well. Other than the patients' as close as accurate representation and a love story between the two main leads, it is also an emotional tale of two brothers' relationship, where the younger one has to take the responsibility of his elder brother. It is a story of healing that managed to tease my tear ducts. The show balanced the comedic breaks in between the dark and heavy episodes to give an amazing show from which it wasn't easy to move. It was an emotional roller coaster ride. 

The show has a cliche of a rich boy chasing a poor girl reversed into a rich girl chasing a poor boy, though it feels not cliche because of the background of the show, which focuses on mental health as well as shows the autism of elder brother. I really liked how they didn't try to make the cliches the main point of the show. They tried to focus on the 'healing through love' part and despite me logically thinking that this should not be the case and that people should go to a psychiatrist or a psychologist for help with any kind of mental disorder, I felt this drama was good because of the good character development of the three leads. 

This is the third proper K-drama I watched which became my favourite K-drama. It was realistic, had few cliches, focused more on the healing from the trauma as well as the flaws of human nature and the feeling of being human. This drama did show the romance and love story, as the two leads had intense chemistry that could set fire to the screens, but it did not shadow over what the drama intended to show, and that is mental health and healing. It was my first drama which was emotional and good and thus, I won't forget it easily even when I see a lot of other dramas with amazing and good storylines. Also, it is the first K-drama whose every OST I loved. The songs complemented the scenes, the characters as well as the situations. The drama ended, but the songs and OST still give me the feels, and thus I can't forget this show. I loved how they used the animations and graphics to show the horror elements which are based on the character's thoughts, as they showed the mental aspects of the characters. The direction as well as the cinematography was amazing. I loved the beautiful sceneries showed. I realized that the castle's (Ko Mun Young's house) outside was entirely made from CGI effects.  

My most favourite character in this drama is the female lead Ko Mun Young. Though she is very different from me, a very unapologetic lady who knows what she wants, she has a damaged past which makes her what she is. I liked how she is unafraid of what people think of her, and having Anti-Social disorder, isn't ashamed of herself. Though she is rude, she is realistic as she states facts and truth (what she thinks is the truth) and you can say is realistic and is very rudely cynical. She is that character with whom people might not relate too much and might even don't like that much. In the long future ahead, I might even come to dislike her (perhaps, unlikely), but I liked how Soo Ye-Ji portrayed the vulnerability of the character. I always fall for people having traumatic or scarred past or people having a past to feel empathetic about. That's what made me fall for her. Ko Mun Young has become my girl crush. 

I could relate most with Kim Soo Hyun's character Moon Kang Tae. He is the most normal character among the quirkiest and different characters in the show. What the character shows is my innermost thoughts revealed. If that character would have been a girl, that person could have been me, but without any selfishness (which is in me). Also, I kind of fell in love with the character as well as the actor. Another celebrity crush! In K-dramaland, those celebrity crushes(male) are considered 'opppas' or elder brothers or boyfriends. And yes, just as how people become addicted to K-drama after one amazing drama, I have also become addicted to them, as currently, I am watching Descendants Of The Sun and W- Two Worlds simultaneously after watching 8 K-dramas!

This show has also memorable supporting characters who have been played amazingly by the actors, specially one character, who confused me. Like I was getting some bad vibes from that character, but then I was feeling comfortable with that person, and then another surprise, that character turns out to be what I thought. Like I was completely surprised by that character's outcome at the end. And who will forget the main lead's brother Moon Sang Tae played by Oh Jung Se? He amazingly played the role of an autistic person, and later when I read some of the reviews by the people who know autistic people, they said that the actor portrayed the autistic spectrum people very well. I liked how his character came from someone who needs to be saved to someone who can save and on whom one can lean on. 

The drama was good, character-development wise. Storyline-wise, there was only one thing I didn't like and that was how they dealt with Ko Mun Young's disorder after everything. Like, I liked how the actor depicted the trauma and the after-effects of mental abuse she faced. As I said earlier, the drama is about healing, and here, they do focus on it. But I expected that with the female lead's, she could also come to terms with visiting a psychiatrist or psychologist. The three main characters' journey of healing was inspiring and so remarkable that we could neglect the obvious question of a character's return. As one reviewer said, this drama is about characters getting their closure of the past they had and their bonding. It is too good to neglect some of the logic of the plot. I personally feel that as well. I feel that this drama was cathartic, emotional as well as a healing tonic. I rewatched the first and second episode and I am feeling that I might write another review ;)

Recommended to:

This drama is recommended to people who like character developments, emotional stories, and who like strong girl characters. Recommended to people who like to watch shows about trauma and healing, shows about mental health, and also to people who want chemistry between the leads. Kill Me, Heal Me K-drama lovers also might love this drama. I don't know about this drama too much, but only that it is also about mental health.

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All the K-drama lovers! How is my review? Please do comment. Also, recommend my next K-drama watch! I have watched What's Wrong With Secretary Kim, My Secret Romance, Goblin/Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, You Who Came From Stars, Crash Landing On You and web K-dramas Miss Independent Jiuen and Ending Again. I hope to write their reviews soon. Or I will just write a small recommendation-review for them. Though they are worth writing big reviews with spoilers. I loved them! 

Well, see you next time I post!

-Anonymous_Indian_Girl