It's Okay to Not Be Okay

A magical dark fairy tale with so many heart warming moments

10/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean Romantic Drama television Series with 16, 70-85 minute episodes. Alternate title is “Psycho but It’s ok.”

Moon Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun) and Moon Sang-tae (Oh Jung-se) are two brothers who have lived a difficult and unsettled life trying to outrun the horror of their past. Gang-tae is the younger brother but was told before his mother’s untimely death that he should take care of his autistic older brother. who has autism. Sang-tae is the older brother but significant autism leads him to being child like, innocent and honest to a fault. As a younger child, Sang-tae witnessed his mother's murder which left him traumatized and, for some reason, terrified of butterflies. Gang-Tae is a care giver in psychiatric wards and has been able to move from hospital to hospital as they move around. at every place they settle in. Ko Moon-young (Seo Yea-ji), writes dark fairy tales which are inspired by horrific events in her past and an overbearing and abusive mother. She is invited to teach at the psychiatric ward because her books have special appeal for those struggling with their own psychological demons. Circumstances lead the three to the town where they all grew up and when their paths overlap Moon-young is drawn to the quiet compassionate and devastatingly handsome Gae-tae. Moon-young is extremely beautiful but unapproachable as some have indicated she has antisocial personality disorder. Those who irritate or seek to harm Moon-young are likely rto experience her wrath and her manager spends significant time and money cleaning up Moon-young’s many social blunders. What Moon-young wants she usually gets and she begins to relentlessly pursue Gang-tae. The two seem like oil and water but are actually more like ying and yang. Can they solve the mysteries of the past and grow a love pure enough to heal both?

I am really glad it is ok to not be ok because I certainly wasn’t when this ended. I so loved the main characters that letting it go was like leaving old friends. It was such a wonderful and masterful story that was a little like “The Adam’s Family”, “Rainman”, dark fairy tales, and A Series of Unfortunate Events” mixed together and birthed something with elements from all yet uniquely its own. The backdrop of the mental hospital was fascinating because there were patients struggling with a wide range of mental health challenges. The honesty, compassion and courage the disorders were presented with spoke strongly to the message that we do not always have to be okay. The two brothers and the way they had their weaknesses yet leaned on each other through a rough and lonely childhood as orphans was very heart warming. Moon-young proved to be a lot less heartless than her exterior portrayed and was the missing key for the duo to become a trio and develop into a true family. The acting was amazing and the music, costume and sets were beautiful. I will watch this again and highly recommend this wonderful series. I would not change a single thing.

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An incredible, heart-wrenching show

When I first watched this show I scored it a 9 but was rather undecided on the ending episodes. Rewatching it again I've come to appreciate how masterfully executed the first half of the show was.

It was incredibly beautiful, tying in two characters who are polar opposites yet sharing in common difficult relationships with their mothers that informed their outlook on life. Both characters suffer from it, yearn for affection, love and companionship but it manifests in different ways. Their failure to understand each other creates conflict until they both come to realise they want and need the same things. There is a moment in episode seven when Moon Gang-Tae has a powerful and emotional epiphany on his mother's supposed indifference and neglect of him and he realises he was loved all along, and it deepens the grief of missing her. That it didn't come from him being directly told but piecing together the truth behind their family outings to the local market made it all the more powerful. This is a story built on motifs, symbolisms and metaphors and it does them superbly.

I think the show explores autism powerfully and beautifully. And also in a very real and human way. Having to look after an autistic brother from a very young age isn't something anyone can do without fatigue, and the show is really good in showing us how Kim Soo-Hyun's character sometimes suffers from privately wanting more. I think his acting, and particularly Oh Jung-Se's were just great. There's also some moving character moments dealing with loneliness, seeking companionship and love, and how sometimes something as simple as sharing dinner with someone else can feel special. The show is really lovely in that sense, accentuated by a blend of songs that correctly fit the tone of the show and various scenes.

I did still have a real problem with the latter half of the show and I don't think it needed a murder drama brought into it but nonetheless this was a masterpiece in storytelling.

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A beautiful disaster with a happy ending

I love how raw the emotions are portrayed in this drama and although some of these emotions were heavy and ugly, they were still able to effectively translate it into something the viewers can relate and sympathize with. The main cast is amazing here, they have undeniable chemistry and just made the story seem like the viewers are with them in their journey together - especially loved how they incorporated themes of different fairytales.

What I found anticlimatic was the supposed-to-be final revelation for the resolution to happen, it just didn't sit well with me and felt a bit sloppy and far-fetched, though it still was a surprise.

Nonetheless, the main plot of this drama which is highly grounded on the mental headspace of an individual was effectively portrayed and conveyed. This might fall a little heavy on those dealing with issues but the title says it all: "It's Okay to Not be Okay".

This is also quite a pure story of different kinds of love from different types of broken people, and I think that, by itself, is worth the watch.

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Hands Down Best Drama of 2020

I haven’t been this excited for a drama in so long. I mean, Seo Yeji AND Kim Soohyun in one drama?? My eyes were glued to the screen. I LOVE Munyeong. In the beginning, she was definitely selfish, but I just love how dominate she was. And her outfits??? THE SERVE!! I also liked how Gangtae rejected Juri early on. They didn’t waste anytime on silly love triangle stuff!! The side characters were all so great in their own ways. Juri’s mom <333 No words just admiration and love for her.

I loved how they incorporated fairy tale elements & life lessons throughout the drama. Munyeong’s last book made me cry so much since she added stories of the patients in the book. Speaking of crying, I was literally sobbing every during episode. When Sangtae said he was saving money so that he could buy Gangtae a camping car,, The story behind the Mangtae doll,, Or when the director bought the patient a new pair of shoes so he could walk out his "door".. I lost it. Tears, tears & even more tears!

This drama was great but definitely not perfect. I’m still confused about Munyeong's mom being alive because I thought her dad got rid of her body in the ocean?? but maybe his memory was wrong. I also wish Munyeong got help for her childhood trauma. Instead, they kind of made it seem like love fixed/healed everything??

Overall, I love this drama so much. I appreciate how they brought attention to mental health issues. The plot was something different and exciting. Also, the character development?? We love to see it!! I’m so so glad that everyone got their happy ending, even the patients. They really deserved it :,) I got really attached to this drama and will definitely miss seeing Seo Yeji on my screen.

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A Masterpiece(some quotes from show included as spoilers)

❞𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒘 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔❞
tl;dr:- Absolute masterpiece, I will not be able to forget this in my life.


The last time I spent these many words on a series review was 4-5 years ago when I was still doing my masters in IIT Bombay, or maybe in my first year of Ph.D. I always put it to lack of time, but now I realize you make time to pen your thoughts down if something really moves you. It is your own way of trying to hold on to the moments in the show, and your own way of letting go and moving on.

Let me begin by stating I put this show in the pantheons of animated shows like Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood and Steins; gate in the emotional roller coaster and healing it provided me. But unlike those two shows I cannot guarantee the same feelings would be felt by most people. Literally all the people around me and my wife who have already watched this show had either dropped it midway or felt it was "okay". But it is precisely due to this reason anecdotal evidence is not considered a good evidence in a debate, because statistically in forums like IMDb and this one the show is an extremely popular and highly rated one. It also has received a lot of awards in Korea. So all I can do in this review is prepare you for what to expect and leave the rest to the reader.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒂 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎. 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕❜𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒐.

This line from a youtube comment on one of the show's songs, sums up what I believe about the show.

The story is of how three people, two brothers, one autistic and one who has cared for him since childhood and a girl whose troubled childhood makes her not know what warmth of a family is. She has anti-social personality disorder and writes twisted fairy tales, which are best sellers, but they are actually calls for help and her way of communicating with the world to tell it not to do the things to the kids which were done with her. They have an ill-fated connection from the past and the story is about how they find their own ways to heal and free themselves from their shackles.

This drama has run into some criticisms from various politically correct sections of the society, because the actions of the girl, who in the initial episodes, are questionable. But the thing is in real life you are never politically correct all of the time, you have done questionable things that you regret after you grow and realize what you have done is wrong. This story is about that. A story where everybody does the right thing all the time is a story not of humans but robots, and frankly extremely boring. The story revolved entirely around how the characters come to these realizations about their flaws and become the best versions of themselves. Such character driven story lines are in general slow-burn, and if this was like that, it would have still been a very good series and not a masterpiece.

A good series gives you a few moments to remember across it's entire run, a great series might give you one every episode. Mind you a moment need not be a climax, it can be as mundane as seeing the montage of a camping trip , but it is something that you want to watch over and over again. A masterpiece will have many many such moments, such that you want to watch it over and over again while you wish to forget it completely so that you can start watching it in an empty mind. This one in it's later episodes(from episode 10 almost) has so many such moments that we sometimes marveled at how on earth one can write in such a manner.

Which brings me to the background score and cinematography. The score has 14-15 songs , and each of which packs a power in it's own right, I remember almost all of the songs because of the "moments" they were fit to, some of them even went on to win awards in Korea and deservedly so, Among all the K Dramas I have watched not a single one comes even close to this in it's OSTs. And starting from the close up shots of the faces to the wide angle eagle eye shots the cinematography is beautiful. The transitions, the surrealism to fairy tale world and I can just go on, I thought Run On was beautifully shot, but this just takes one step further, it is a movie quality production.

And now the acting, Park Min Young was my favourite Korean actress till date, but Seo Ye Ji is another level altogether, as such Korean actors have an insanely high level of acting chops but she takes it to a different level. And the scariest part is she is not even the best actor in the show!!. Oh Jung Se who played the autistic brother was out of this world, in fact having seen him in another drama before I could scarcely believe it was him. The male lead Kim Soo Hyun was good too but these two were unreal, and that's why they heavily featured in the awards in Korea as well.

The supporting cast was equally great and the writers gave everyone time to shine and complete their story. It was a comprehensive ending hinting at new beginnings for everybody. Each character served a purpose and not just comic relief, I have seen people talk about how the story is weak etc, but such intertwined character driven stories are incredibly difficult to handle and here the writers handled it will elegance.

❞𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕥. 𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕡𝕙𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕟, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕣𝕪. 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕣. 𝕀𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕖𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕥’𝕤 𝕙𝕦𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕟, 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕤𝕝𝕖𝕖𝕡, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕒 𝕕𝕠𝕘.❞

This brings me to the treatment of autism and mental health aspect . It may not be perfect , but in my limited experience of seeing 2 patients closely , one in the autism spectrum and the other having depression I can vouch the portrayal was so real it gave me goosebumps. The innocent simplicity of the autistic brother was endearing and without giving away much I can say he was the MVP of the show. Quotes like the last one from him hit way too close to home, reminding me of how we complicate things when we become adults and forget how simply we can lead our life.

❞𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒔𝒐 𝑰 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆.❞
Now to talk about a premise which I have found rarely in the shows I have watched about mental health, everybody deals with what happens with the person who has mental health, but no one ever thinks about the trials the caregiver has to go through to support the ill person. The person feels trapped and unless someone is there for them as well, possibly can become a victim of mental health. Having seen the caregiver's lives in first person as well, the way the show tackles this struck a chord with me and probably was my favourite aspect. It treated it with such gentleness and care that I cannot imagine it being treated better in any form of media.

❞𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒏.❞
And finally, its about the healing. Healing starts with taking the first step. While what the show shows may not be perfect but it's okay to get lost in the 18 hours of utopia where there was hope beyond the despair. When this show was ending my wife and I were saying how we should have watched this when we were physically together to wrap ourselves together in the warm blanket that is this show. After the end we could not wipe the smile off our phases while feeling sad about it having ended.

Well, now this love letter to the show is getting over too, maybe it is time to move on and find other such gems in K Drama world. Even half as good would do.

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Since the first episode, I've been pulled over and didn't really want to end the episode. I like the fact that they not only showed Sang Tae (the autistic older brother) as an extra character, I especially liked the growth they showed in his character which kind of helped Kim Soo-Hyun's personality grow as well. The relationship between the three of them literally gave me all the emotions, from happiness, adoration (especially when Moon Young and Sang Tae uses to argue kindly), sadness, etc. Big brother's personality growth and realization and trying to act like Big Brother have crazy happy I cry many times. I don't even need to really talk about the amazing chemistry between Kim Soo-Hyun and Seo Ye-ji, but I will because it was so perfect. They both were cute together and every scene they were in showed off their amazing acting skills. Although every drama has a cute scene between the main couple, the small cute scenes between this couple were very different and special because of the characters they portrayed.
They fit in well with their roles, Kim Soo-Hyun has been a gentle yet powerful carer who literally perfected from his demeanor to the way he delivered the dialogues. Same goes for Seo Ye-J's Ko Moon Young, she was so elegant but brave that I loved it. Also, her clothes and styling on this show deserve an award, there wasn't a single outfit she didn't wear. There are a lot of shows that have female leads dressed in amazing clothes but the thing that made me love her character and this show in general, even more than that, is how they explained why they dressed so much and justified it as a coping mechanism, that was really something special. I loved all the stories they did on that show and they were so different from anything I've heard, I swear if it actually came out I'd go buy it now. Right from the start, the relationship between the two brothers has been really commendable, and the actor who plays Sang-Tae really deserves an award for his acting on this show. All in all, it was a great and unique show that everyone should watch. You might think it's a pretty heavy show but it's actually a perfect balance and I guarantee it will make your heart happy and warm in the end and you'll cry happy tears for sure, many times if you're like me haha.

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Healing drama that's done right

Ahh this is my first review, but I felt like I had to write one to tell others about how incredible of a drama It's Okay To Not Be Okay is ;)
---STORY---
The plot itself is a breakthrough for kdramas and Korea. I feel like Korea being the country that it is has this huge stigma against mental health. It's at the point where treatment for mental health is frowned upon and discouraged. IOTNBO tackles this issue as its priority. Ko Moon Young and Moon Gang Tae both suffer from trauma that they experienced as kids. As they brace onto each other, they grow together, healing each other out of their wounds. I won't say more about the plot except for the fact that it's touching and relatable.

I also want to touch on the picture books. I thought that it was very interesting how they incorporated these picture books into the lives of the characters. I don't think that I've seen another kdrama with an element like this. I also really enjoyed to art within the picture books. They were so beautiful that they actually got published :)

---ACTING/CAST---
This was Kim Soo Hyun's first project after being discharged from the military. All I'm gonna say is that he both picked a great project and delivered it with perfection. The way he acts, you can feel every emotion. I've seen Seo Yeji in Lawless Lawyer and I thought that she did a great job with that badass character. In IOTNBO, she once again portrays a character that is far from your typical cute, helpless female lead. The charisma she exudes-- she was literally made to play KMY. Lastly, we have Oh Jung Se for his portrayal of Moon Sang Tae. His acting was very realistic and touching to watch. Prior to IOTNBO, I had not heard of Oh Jung Se. Luckily, I now know of his abilities as an actor and I will definitely be checking out his other projects! The supporting actors also did great with their roles.

---MUSIC---
The music fit so well with the vibe of the drama. Not only does it fit with the drama, the songs themselves are high quality songs that are easily playlist worthy. I also wanted to add that I got so excited when Wake Up played as it was a sign that KMY was about to pull something crazy XD

---REWATCH---
This is definitely a drama that I would rewatch when I'm bored or in need for something healing.

---FINAL THOUGHTS---
This drama had a lot of hype surrounding it. I won't lie, I was a bit hesitant to starting it as we all know that there have been several dramas that are very overhyped. However, with that said, I was blown away by IOTNBO. The way the drama handles the heavy topics so well really amazed me. This is hands-down one of the best kdramas that I've watched.

If you're debating whether or not you're going to pick this up, just start it! I'm well aware that IOTNBO is not everyone's taste, but if you're in need for any drama to watch-- especially a healing drama-- try IOTNBO. You most likely won't regret it!

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Incredibly Well-Done Drama

One of the things that is so interesting about this show is the way they play with male/female dynamics, especially in Korean culture. Mun Young is a very dominant and aggressive (often abrasive) personality, while Gang Tae is very nurturing and supportive. Mun Young pursues Gang-tae very openly and directly. She has no problem talking about her sexual desire for him, or asking him questions about his sexual history. While all of this could be chalked up to her personality disorder, Gang Tae later willingly plays into light-hearted teasing about their dynamic. They make jokes about him being the “wife,” as in Mun Young needing to ask Gang Tae’s brother for his hand in marriage, or Gang Tae being teased for acting like a daughter stealing food from his mother-figure to feed his “husband.” Furthermore, Ju Ri as the love rival represents the more traditional sweet and kind feminine image who patiently waits for Gang Tae to notice her, but Gang Tae never shows even a bit of interest in her. I do like the symmetry of him having to do SOME pursuing of Mun Young towards the end, though.

The dynamics between Gang Tae, Sang Tae, and Mun Young are absolutely everything. Sang Tae is a gem and I adored him so, so much. The underlying mystery drama for the series was very compelling, and had some shocking twists and turns. The supporting cast of characters grew on me — I loathed Ju Ri for a while, but she improved greatly as the series went on. They were all positively heartwarming by the latter episodes. Oh, and the soundtrack was incredible! Janet Sunh’s In Silence was probably my favorite, but I also liked Cheeze’s Little by Little and Lee Suhyun’s In Your Time.

Everyone’s acting was so good, Moon Gang Tae, Moon Sang Tae, and Park Haeng Ja in particular. But I have a special spot in my heart for Seo Yea Ji as Ko Mun Young. Her performance was phenomenal and she is soooo pretty. She looks like a doll. Her outfits and makeup in the show were impeccable. I’m obsessed with her; she may be one of my favorite Korean actresses right now. Her chemistry with Kim Soo Hyun was fantastic (their kissing scenes were top tier). I also quite liked Kim Soo Hyun; he was very cute and sweet (most of the time) and did an incredible job.

Slight con: the representations of disorders were empathetic but not totally accurate or consistent, in some cases. I feel like this especially for ASPD, which started out accurate in the beginning, but later seemed to substantially waver in its depiction as the story developed. I almost wondered if she was really diagnosed with ASPD at one point, or whether they were trying to chalk it up to trauma or how she was raised. I also feel like the representation of autism, while also very empathetic in its portrayal, was a little two-dimensional. This is the third Netflix kdrama I’ve seen with an autistic character, and the representations are all so similar, it starting to feel like it’s now a typecast characterization instead of a true representation of the spectrum that autism can take. To be fair, this was the earliest of the three I’m thinking of (the other two being Extraordinary Attorney Woo and Crash Course in Romance). That being said, I think the fact that the conversation is started and the good intentions are there means that overall they did a pretty good attempt. Also, these are common issues in Western shows as well, even though they portray these issues more often. It may not be something that someone would notice unless they either had background in psychology or lived personally with these disorders.

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Amazing story, and amazing actors

This is the first k-drama I've ever seen, but it took me a while to get into it. I admit that it took until episode 6 to actually be interested but once I did, I was completely hooked. First of all, I'd like to highlight the acting. I've rarely seen such good acting, and everyone in the cast conveyed emotions perfectly, making me attached to every character and feel for every single one of them. I love that they incorporated fairy tales to tell the drama's story, it was brilliant, original and interesting. Gang-tae and Sang-tae's melted my heart and the actors played the brothers perfectly. I would definitely re-watch, I recommend it to everyone!

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Interesting and On-the-Edge Drama

I was initially attracted to watch this drama by the title "It's Okay to Not be Okay." From the title, I expected this drama to be something I would get in my heart, and I wasn't disappointed in this aspect, where it has been a emotional rollercoaster, and there were a lot of areas and scenes where I connected and sobbed my heart out to. Nevertheless, there was this area that was missing, and I spent a lot of time thinking of what exactly was not fulfilling after watching this drama. At this time, I am still not completely sure what I was looking for that is missing, but here are some of my thoughts about the drama.

~ THE STORY AND NARRATIVE ~

The story is tagged as a psychological, comedy, romance, drama, and family. Nevertheless, it ranges slightly into 'horror' and 'detective' theme. Overall, the plot is pretty on-the-edge but predictable at the same time. Ever since the two characters travelled all to Ok psychiatric ward, it was easy to predict the story line and ending. Additionally, the story isn't very romantic in any way; in fact, it deeply involves the mental health theme and recovery. I have seen a lot of people mentioning that this drama was very 'healing,' and I agree, but before watching this, it would be nice to know that there were a lot of dark scenes and heart wrenching themes, not exactly the 'healing' we have in mind. Back to the romance part, the relationships seemed to revolve more around dependence rather than love 'love,' which some people may agree and disagree to.

~ THE CHARACTERS ~

I will be honest; although I am in fact a person that is very involved in the mental health field, I found it very hard to connect with the characters most of the time. There are times where I did not get how exactly they felt, especially with Ko Moon Young's antisocial personality disorder. I actually took some time researching more about this particular personality disorder to try to understand the situation a bit better, but at this point, I'm still questioning how an antisocial personality disorder person is capable of truly 'loving' someone. I suppose the word 'love' is very subjective, and speaking of which, I am not very convinced of the romantic love between the two main characters because I felt that they simply bonding during this traumatic time, but then again, who am I to say? Back to the point, because I had a hard time connecting to the characters, it was slightly difficult to continue the drama.

As for the acting, although I have seen reviews praising about the chemistry between the two main leads, I felt that the chemistry and romance were all a bit forced. Sure, the conversation flowed (based upon the script) and they did have some sort of connection, but both of them just seemed so independent in a way. Either way, I'm not quite sure if it was exactly the acting or if it was the personality of the characters. I have to really say that the actors themselves portrayed the characters super well!

~ THEMES ~

MENTAL HEALTH: Other than the hard-to-understand-themes, there were a lot of common themes with loneliness and happiness that really hit deep for me. This is a drama that covers a lot of common thoughts we have, which drew a lot of emotions and heart breaking moments, where some are happy ones and some are sad ones. The drama really covered a lot about denial, avoidance, and seeking support in terms of each character's development; it was amazing to see how each character progressed, too.

FAIRY-TALES: With the female lead being a fairytale writing, it shouldn't come as a surprise that there are stories and stories and stories with hidden meanings behind each one. The drama itself has 16 episodes, slightly separated into 16 fairy-tale stories that goes along with it. I personally always loved reading twisted fairytales and fairytales that have hidden meanings, and in this drama, they take it to a new level, where the female lead completely take the moral of every fairytale into a darker and 'realistic' perspective.

~ MUSIC AND AESTHETICS ~

The music was honestly amazing! I personally believe the music makes everything a lot better, especially the songs were a bit creepy and deep at the same time. I would take it so far as to say the music was really the best part of the drama.
Here's a playlist some may want to check out: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ITeTDTz5lIkZ4VkrCS3LG?si=3uH2SxVmT1GKEdMNE3UvOw

The next part is the amazing aesthetics. The costumes were awesome, which is pretty much expected in every k-drama these days. Either way, the power of each costume, and the meaning behind each of them were just wow. I still remember a scene that stuck with me, where the director of the psychiatric ward mentioned that (not directly quoted) "she wears fancy clothes not to show off, but to protect herself, like armor."

~ REWATCH VALUE ~

As I slightly covered before, psychological dramas that range into the 'detective' or 'horror' areas aren't really my thing, so I will not be particularly rewatching this drama any time soon; I love horror movies not dramas because it gets kind of old in a way. In any case, the main reason I may rewatch it is only for certain scenes. On that note, I loved all those small stories and the whole plot of the drama, except the overall plot of Moon Gang Tae's mother's murder case.

~ OVERALL ~

I absolutely loved and agree with Ko Moon Young's perspective on the fairytales and facing reality, and it was amazing to see how she was able to face everything that came her way. The moral of going out of avoidance to facing reality was also very relatable. Most important, it really was those short themes, where some of the characters acted with disregard of the public opinion in order to help certain people really stuck out. It is the feeling of relief to get everything out and getting past traumatic experiences.

The relationship between the main characters are quite different from regular k-drama couples. The upside about this particular relationship was that there were little to no misunderstandings. Nevertheless, I personally thought the relationship wasn't built upon love, but more about dependence and understanding, where these two characters were able to support each other; which made me think about whether it was love or not, and whether having antisocial personality disorder made it possible to love, but who knows? At the end of the drama, I felt that their relationship seemed more about convenience, but I suppose it depends on everyone's perspective on it. On a separate note, the side character relationship also seemed a bit forced and for convenient sake.

Throughout the drama, the main issue I encountered (which is slightly covered in the "Character" section) is that the character's intentions are hard to relate too even if they made sense/were understandable. I am more of a person who likes morally grey characters with relatable 'antagonists,' but this drama is more of a oh-so-he/she/they-did-that unattached-kind of feeling, which made it very hard to continue the drama. I did end up finishing it, but it was more of because I wanted to have a closure.

Another issue I had trouble with was the repetitiveness. Don't get me wrong. I love the fairytales and the horror scenes, but it gets kind of boring, and the plot also gets kind of long, where certain scenes could be simply cut out to make it more interesting. Nevertheless, the drama was an interesting watch!

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There just that one show that will hit you sooo hard you will not and can not foget and this is that show. Most ppl will look at thus and say its a sad show well it is and you will love it,coures when i saw it i thought the same and was right but the thing is that i fell in love with it because it was not only sad it was funny and when i me sad i don't mean awww that was soooo sad i mean i bursted out in tear and creal like a child when watching this and laughed so much as well. So please please try this show out but be ready to cry and laugh you ass of. I recommended 1000% watch it pleassssssss

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