It's okay to Not be okay: Review

 It's okay to Not be okay

[ This is my first k-drama review without any spoilers, a very special friend recommended it to me. She loves everything about Korea, mostly BTS and Jungkook. Hope you enjoy it :) ]

When I first googled it I found 98% of the google users liked this show, and it's imdb rating is 9/10 also. So it ought to be good.

The show stars Seo Ye-ji, Kim Soo-hyun who find love despite traumas in this fairy tale like romance. The show is a  road to emotional healing and opens up for an antisocial children's book author(Seo Ye-ji) and an employee( Kim Soo-hyun) in a psychiatric hospital.

 

The entire series revolves around mental illness and neurodiversity with a major setting in the series being the OK Psychiatric Hospital that Gang-tae(Kim Soo-hyun) works at and in which Mun-yeong’s(Seo Ye-ji) father resides.

Mun-yeong herself is diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder and her character demonstrates many of the clinical traits seen in real people with ASPD, while avoiding some of the most inaccurate and stigmatising features often portrayed in the media. She feels little remorse for her actions, is wildly impulsive, can be aggressive and violent. She is not shown as evil or malignant, and the show never suggests that she has no emotions (a stereotype common). In fact, Mun-yeong feels everything very strongly and struggles to hide her emotions.

Another main character, Moon Sang-tae (Gang-Tae’s older brother), is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He struggles with understanding nuances, has difficulty controlling his emotions, has a fixation with dinosaurs and children’s books, and is shown studying a chart of facial expressions so that he can recognise other people’s emotions.

While not portrayed as exceptionally bright, Sang-tae is a brilliant artist who is able to largely navigate the world on his own. He works part-time at a pizza shop, handles public transportation with ease. He is not helpless by any means, and his character seems to deeply desire greater independence. 

Like a dark fairytale, the show reveals deeper layers for every character with each episode. The greatest mystery is what caused Mun-yeong to become the person she is today. While I won’t give spoilers, you’ll be on the edge of your seat as you play detective and psychologist through each passing episode.

While the show is a romance, the core focus of the show is on healing. Each character, including the side characters, begin the series as complicated and hurt people. It seems that the show is leading up to each of the characters finding a bit of peace and recovery.

The show is aired on Netflix, it has a total of 16 episodes, all over 1 hour. So take your time to explore through it.