It's Okay to Not Be Okay - Guest Review

Our drama club finished our 3rd drama a few weeks ago, and now we finally have a review! What drama did we watch? It's Okay to Not Be Okay (사이코지만 괜찮아), starring Kim Soo-hyun (Moon Gang-tae) and Seo Ye-ji (Ko Moon-young). This drama was also Kim Soo-hyun's drama comeback after the military (just like Lee Min-ho in The King: Eternal Monarch). One difference between their two comeback dramas is that we really enjoyed this one (Sorry Lee Min-ho! We still like you, you handsome man!)

Boy, what a drama this one was! Before we see what drama critic, Manang Karen, has to say, here is a little synopsis about the drama:

Synopsis

This drama is a romantic-fantasy-comedy about Moon Gang-tae, a caregiver in a psychiatric hospital, and Ko Moon-young, a successful fairy tale author. Moon Gang-tae refuses to love because of his heavy life responsibilities, while Ko Moon-young does not know how love feels because she grew up without love. The story follows their journey in embracing and healing each other's wounds. While this synopsis sounds a bit boring, trust me -- it's not.

Manang Karen's Review

It’s ok to not be ok. Even though this was not the original title for the drama, I think this statement was emphasized beautifully throughout the whole series. This was a solid drama, and even though we were all hesitant to watch it at first, I think the club agreed that it was a good choice.

To start off, the storyline was interesting. It’s different from the typical drama in that it focused on the emotional disorders of the characters. From the first episode you were introduced to each one’s inner struggles, and I personally thought that was great, instead of waiting until later on. Each character evolved throughout the whole series, most remarkably Moon Sang Tae. As I said earlier, we were ambivalent about choosing this drama, mostly because the previews seemed too dark, but it’s actually not what we thought it would be, in a very good way. Even my boys were able to watch most of the series without any issues.

The characters were each played by the perfect actor or actress. They were all believable in their roles. We loved Ko Mun Yeong’s audacious, yet somehow appropriate, outfits. Her role was just superb. Moon Gang Tae was always portrayed as the nice boy next door, but he was far from boring and definitely not plain (end of Episode 12!). Our favorite character, Moon Sang Tae, was by far the most transformative in this drama. He was fantastically portrayed by Oh Jung Se, and his character development was definitely the best. There was a resolution for each character’s part in the big picture, and that set up for a satisfying conclusion.

Add to the solid story and amazing main cast the equally great supporting cast, picturesque shooting locations, and a perfectly picked music playlist to evoke just the right set of emotions for each scene, and you’ve got a winner. We rated this drama 9-9.5/10. There were a few minor questions that remained after the last episode, but they were not significant enough to affect the rating. If you want to watch something that will pull you in emotionally, then we highly recommend It’s Ok to Not Be Ok.

It’s Ok to Not Be Ok (Psycho But It’s Ok) (16 episodes)

Rating: 9-9.5/10

Recommend: Yes

Sumorie - MINI SPOILERS AHEAD

First, let me just say, I really enjoyed this drama. I've always been interested in psychology-related things (I even minored in it), so this drama was quite interesting for me. 재미있어~ Like Manang Karen mentioned earlier, it isn't your typical drama, as it really focused on emotional and developmental disorders. 

Things I really liked about this drama:

Moonyoung's outfits - on point! Fits her egotistical and arrogant character perfectly. She has an elegant and polished style, but also a bit audacious/obnoxious. She also wears a hint of fairy-tale-esque types of clothing. 

Moonyoung's character - Not only was her outfits on point, but she also had such a great character - not great in that we should act like her, but just great. She is definitely not a people person and says whatever, regardless of anybody's opinion. She's confident and funny. Two of my favorite scenes from her are when she almost hit a deer and she started screaming at it (lol!), and also when she was screaming "I love you" multiple times to Gangtae. She's just always screaming, and it's funny to me each time.

Moon Sangtae's development - I really loved his character development. Our Sangtae grew up so much! I was so proud to see him become such a good 형 (hyung/kuya/older brother). One of the most touching scenes (for me) was when he helped the old man suffering from PTSD on the bus. He was so cool. And afterwards, he was so happy and proud about it, I couldn't help but be so proud of him. Another scene was when he saved the day (again!), when he hit Moonyoung's mom on the head with a book to stop her from killing/injuring Gangtae. He's such a hero. One last scene that I want to mention is the one where he shows the published book to his mom tree. He was so proud and that scene was so sentimental.

Moon Gangtae's forehead reveal - that scene stole the drama.

The weaving in of the side character's stories into Moonyoung's book - Weaving in the patients' stories into the storybook was a great way to close their stories. It really was nice to see an actual close to their stories, instead of leaving them open with unanswered questions. It also makes it very personal.

There are so many things I liked about this drama that there are too much to write about it here, so I've only listed five of them. Actually, let me add a few more: the drama's OST matched the style and emotions that the producers wanted to evoke (my favorite track is the beginning of Wake Up by Elaine), the side characters played their role nicely and they had good storylines, and the location made a great backdrop. 

I can't think of anything big that I didn't like about the drama, but if I had to mention one thing, it's the ending. It seems that I haven't been satisfied with any of the endings of the dramas we've reviewed so far haha. What I didn't like is how Sangtae just left Gangtae and Moonyoung in the middle of the trip. Why did he have to leave? I think I would've wanted an ending with the 3 of them together, as a family. Other than that, that's it! That's the only big-ish bad thing I could think of for now.

VERDICT

I definitely recommend It's Okay to Not Be Okay. Two thumbs up! Great acting, great story, great views. However, I want to note that this is because it aligns with my interests. I know some people may think this drama is boring, or even not that great (😲)

Sumorie Rating

5/5