E Nebună, Dar E-a Mea (2020)

I may be biased with this review but how can I not be? Everything was perfect.
I always have been a fan of Kim Soo Hyun ever since I saw how a good actor he is in "Moon Embracing the Sun". This was his first drama after he got out of enlistment and I can dare say that he picked the right one. Well, he first had a cameo at "Hotel Del Luna" but that is another story. He is a great actor, I knew that all along and this drama highlighted it more. Seo Ye Ji has always been good so imagine my excitement when I found out they were in a project together. Add Oh Jung Se to the mix and we have one of the greatest trios we will love in KDramaland.

On to the story: "It's okay not to be okay" depicts the ways of how people cope with their inner selves. The title even suggests that it's okay to not be strong all the time. That everyone is broken, the only difference would be how we show it to the world. Gang Tae and Moon Young had the perfect chemistry but for me Sang Tae stole the show. Sang Tae gave the show its heart. He was the trio's glue. Gang Tae always thought unconsciously that his brother was a burden but the thing is his brother can sense what he's feeling. It's ironic that a person who seems like the broken one in front of the world is actually the one who understands what the "normal people" are going through.

Don't let me start with the OST. The songs are all perfect and it had retention. That's one of the criteria when I watch a drama, the songs should always hold meaning and that it should stick with me. Stick meaning that whenever I would hear the particular song, I would immediately think of the drama fondly.

The fairy tales for children made for the drama, which was "penned" by Moon Young's character also was perfect. I really enjoyed watching this drama and this is easily one of my fave 2020 KDramas.

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It’s A Heartfelt And Emotional Series In All The Best Ways.

This was a really strong series. The acting was some of the best I’ve seen in a k-drama. The blend of emotional, comedic and dramatic scenes were balanced really well. This balanced tone is often difficult to achieve or sustain in a drama but it’s done to a high quality here. The presentation of mental health, therapy and recovery were explored in a heartfelt and accessible way. I also liked the dark fantasy/supernatural fairytale element to it. The illustrations and narrative metaphors were woven quite expertly throughout. I don’t often comment on cinematography but not only was this shot beautifully (lighting, camera angles etc), but the artistic vision of the director shone through. I noticed whenever a character was in a solitary shot, it’s juxtaposed with the wider background/atmosphere which not only helps to create the feeling of loneliness but it also allows the story to breathe. In the close up shots, the use of the wider lens allows it to feel intimate without feeling claustrophobic.

The twist…because it was somewhat revealed in episode 4, I didn’t realise they were trying to hide it from the audience or have it be a twist until episode 13. I spent the majority of the series knowing who it was. This affected how I followed the story (in a good way) as I interpreted the actions in real time how they were meant to be interpreted later on after the reveal.

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Worth the watch

Excellent drama to watch, had everything from funny moments to sadness. Real life issues when having to deal with people who have mental illness. Fear of nightmare coming to life. Dealing with how to respond to people you love, and got hurt by you or others in the past and present. Both leads chemistry was perfect. Both acted 100 , shows how well they have grown as actors and actress. Older brothers takes the drama to a whole other level. Excellent, excellent acting. First time watching him in a drama. Should be all year best actor award winner. The drama had a good flow within each episode and next to follow. Didn’t have any annoying people or storyline. Well written and well produced.

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When you're not sure whether you should smile or cry

I felt like this is a great drama and often I wasn't sure myself how to react to scenes. Some were particularly sad, but still the next second I felt like smiling. Tragedy and humour are not far away from each other, I guess this is clearly here.

Furthermore I felt like the conflicts were often reasonable, it was interesting to watch and though I'm not an expert to judge people acting I still felt impressed. Especially regarding Moon/Mun Sang-tae.

The characters moreover changed significantly over the show and character development is certainly portrait well - and I felt like it's a good decision not to make up with everyone or run away for no reason. During the last episodes when Kang-tae consulted Oh Ji-wang I started thinking "drama characters should more often consult others to avoid ridiculous impulsive acts". Certainly I didn't agree on everything, but all over it was rather reasonable and the characters actually learned how to react to the things they had to face.

Therefore it's a story about how to love yourself, how to rely on others and how to become independent. That's rather clear. In addition it's about family. What's family? How can you become family? ... And it's fine to not be an adult in all kind of aspects.

Still I was rather surprised that you can become a caretaker without proper education, but well, it wasn't clearly mentioned either (but I mean they were on the run since Kang-tae turned 12...).
What disturbs me slightly is again the villain (similar to "My love from another star"). Certainly because this a drama about mental issues one could argue "she's nuts anyway", but what's her point for murder? It was pretty weak in my opinion. Furthermore I don't think she had much of a reason to disappear either after her husband got hospitalized. I mean, she had the chance to monitor Moon-young even better if she didn't pretend to be dead. Therefore I'm not that convinced about these.

The romance was rather persistent and certainly cute to watch. They even switched roles regarding "hunter" and "prey" in the end - but well, even an unlikely romance can be the perfect match in the end.

They way they arranged the scenes were a showoff, especially at the beginning, later on I didn't notice it as much anymore, but I liked how they linked different scenes at the beginning.

Last but not least I think it's a good thing to address the topic itself in a drama. I can imagine it's not a likely topic in South Korea or East Asia in general, furthermore disabled people don't show up as much in dramas, at least not to this extend. So it's good to watch these two brothers finding their way - and how difficult it often must've been for them to continue. At the same time I like it that they mentioned child abuse - KDramas often made me feel like it's normal for parents to hit their children for all sort of reasons though I find that horrible. This behaviour wasn't justified here though, but instead the talked about the consequences.

All in all "Saikojiman gwaechanha" is worth watching. It worth watching all of these rather different characters struggling and finding their way in the long run.

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It's the best kdrama in 2020

This kdrama has the best storyline ever and I liked the uniquness and the chemistry between gang tae and moon yoong is over the moon 💜
It's so addictive that I can't get enough,and it tackles so many mental health issues in the end u feel like you experienced the pain with these characters so they grow on you and u don't want to separate from them u've grown to like them so much so u don't want to see the ending
Sang tae is leading man in this drama ,I hope he wins an award for his role in this kdrama
This kdrama can only be described as perfection from the actors to the story to the chemistry to everything
I will never forget this drama 💜💜💜💜I hope soohyun and seo ye ji have can have another drama together in the future
With the last episode I felt like the characters have grown so much it made me cry

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As close to 'perfect' as you can get

You can go on an entire journey in the course of watching this drama. I went through a transformation because of this show. Each week I watched I felt more and more connected to every character. From the main three leads down to the guest stars. Everyone had a story that was worth telling and learning from and relating to. From just seeing the trailer earlier this year, I was interested, but by the end of episode one I knew it was different and knew I would love it, though as each week went on I fell more and more in love with the show and everything about it.
It's not been too long since I've gotten into the kdrama world but thus far only a few dramas have made me feel even close to what this show made me feel and frankly, this is now my number one drama as of today. There have been comparisons to other shows but I can assure you there is no other show that breaks the mold of what you think may happen quite like this one. From the acting, to directing, the cinematography, the wardrobe, the score and soundtrack...the execution was nearly perfect. And I don't use the word 'perfect' lightly. I will say if you focus on the characters and their journey, you will not be disappointed.
It's all about their journey from pain into happiness, each one broken and shattered and needing the others and their connection to each other find the solace of knowing what it is to truly be a family in every sense of the word. There are moments of joy, moments of terror, moments of bliss, moments of grief...so many emotions and we are all going through them together. Each moment was worth it because the road it led them on reached a destination that made all the pain worth it.
A good metaphorical phrase to describe it is 'you can't appreciate the sun if you never know what rain is.' To appreciate any kind of happiness you really do have to go through the darkness to reach the light, and when that light comes you will know that the struggle through the dark really did make it worth it, you earned the right to be happy. It was said this was a 'healing drama', and to me it is absolutely that. Not just for the characters, but as a viewer, as well.

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beautiful, mindblowing, amazing

first of all, i just want to say that this kdrama is not one i would normally go towards but i LOVED it !! so much !! the plot was heavy but the plot didn't feel heavy or get boring in the middle which is normally what happens in plot heavy dramas, it was beautiful, i felt all emotions, i felt happy, sad, angry, it was just all in all mindblowing. the writing, the cinematography, the characters, the acting EVERYTHING. there was so much meaning, it was written beautifully and every single character had so much depth, including the side characters which was great to see. i loved the settings, i loved how every single character had a part in the drama and they each had a meaningful story which we got to see. we were shown the patients stories and why they were in there and it was just so mind opening. the representation of each mental illness was beautiful.


i also loved seeing the development every character had, especially our main characters. the relationship development between sangtae and gangtae was so beautiful and meaningful, i cried so much for them both. the found family too
however the reason i didn't give it a full 10 stars was because, at the beginning, it was very confusing and boring, it was hard to get into until around episode 4. also, the ending was a bit of a let down, i wish we saw more from the ending, i'm glad we got to see the patients ending especially pilwong, jungtae, areum and gi-do but i wish we saw more for the other characters endings for example, i wish we got to see how the publishing company was after the release of the last book, i wanted to see more for jaesu and seungjae. i feel as though the ending was a bit rushed to be completely honest but it still was an amazing and beautiful drama that deserves all the hype it got. i genuinely don't think there'll ever be a kdrama like this again

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I almost cried every single episode, ready for box of tissues

Somehwere I saw or read that this is a Love Comedy, but i don't think so. This is a love story but not a commedy. It made me laugh once in a while, but I was pull into the unique atmostphere of the drama as human love story. It is unique set up so if you onyl look for romance / love comedy, this isn't like that. Each episode will touch your heart with sadness and warmness of human love.

And the atmostphere of drama and settings, such as old casle like house, the way LF dress with old style fashion and hairstyle, , suspense and bit of scary feeling towards the ending of the drama, are wonderful as part of drama.

Most impressive actor was the older brother of lead male actor. His acting was transcendental !!

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Terrific acting but boring and filled with plot holes in the second half

Likes:
1. The greatest part of this drama is the wonderful story about Sangtae and Gangtae. Esp the fantastic performance of Oh Jung Se. I loved the progress of the brothers, from being bitter and holding past grudges, to letting it all out and starting to have honest communication. To finally realizing they need to support each other. Sangtae belongs to Sangtae. Gangtae belongs to Gangtae. But they are brothers.
2. More than the romance between Munyeong and Gangtae, i loved how the three became their own family. How Munyeong learned to open up and start feeling for other people. Loved the messages of her fairytales.
4. Also loved Juri's mom and Dir Oh.

Dislikes:
1. Lots of boring episodes and scenes that i fast forwarded some of them.
2. Lots of plot holes. Like how did The brothers survive on their own for 20 years? Where and when did they meet Jaesu? With both parents gone, who took care of Munyeong growing up?
3. Nurse Park turning out to be Munyeong's mom doesnt make sense. They teased this twist so much but ended in just 1 or 2 episodes without sufficient explanation on how she survived or backstory why she turned psycho.
4. The reveal of younger Do Hui Jae's face was disappointing. For all the mystery surrounding her face and for all the talk about Munyeong's dad falling with love with her because she was beautiful, i was expecting a super elegant and gorgeous looking lady but she was not.
4. The stories of the patients didnt leave a lasting impression on me, except for the old guy and Kwak Dong Yeon's cameo. They could have totally removed the patients stories and the drama can still survive. There were unnecessary characters or underutilized characters. Juri and Ceo Lee were relegated to just a secondary love line when they could have better storylines. Seungjae seemed more like comic relief. I was interested in Jaesu and his story. Why he ended up following the brothers around and where he gets his money to be able to open his own businesses. Instead Jaesu only shows up to be Sangtae's babysitter or when Gangtae needs a shoulder.

Rating: 8.5/10

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Masterpiece

Plot/story: The story is like Grimm’s fairy tales with light drama. Deep but not too deep. It’s like a book for adults who loved fairytales as a child. Reality will slap you with truths but you will learn from it. Or if you are going through something, this might help you. This drama is like your much-needed warm hug when you’re feeling down.

Acting: I can’t say much about their acting because they were all great. Amazing. Even if you might find some annoying characters you’d still love them at the end of the drama. They serve their purpose. KSH cried more than SYJ, I don’t know if it’s a good thing for some but his eyes are like faucet that never runs out of water. Same goes for me. I love family dramas because it’s my weakness and this drama has so much warmth, love and kindness that you wish you have in your life. Character development of every character is just well~executed, except for the villain. 😅

Music: Not memorable enough for me but the graphics are perfect. Cinematography is just magnificent.

Rewatch Value: I don’t rewatch dramas that much but if I may feel down or sad, I might rewatch this. This drama is something that you want to recommend to everyone who’s struggling or to someone you’re close with, like your family and best friends.

Overall: I have nothing much to complain except for the main female lead make up when sleeping and the real story of her mother. However, it didn’t make me dislike the drama. I might wonder about it but the execution of how they got their happy ending is satisfying for me. Kudos to all the actors, directors, producers, screenwriters and the rest of the crew. This drama is an art.

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The hype and fame are deserved

Everything in it's okay not to be okay it's perfect. Starting with the actors, everyone here made an INCREDIBLE job, it was rlly captivating and you could feel what they were trying to transmit. Personally i loved kim soohyuns, that man can make me feel everything atp ❤️‍🩹🤕. Then the story was one of the most original and creatives ever made istg. The whole hospital plot never went down, instead they introduced incredible stories that made me cry sm. I recently watch it again and it's just amazing how they connect the patients traumas with the main characters problems. ALSO THE TALES(?? THEY WERE FREAKING BEAUTIFUL, idk the real ilustrator and writer but id buy the books irl, specially the cheerful dog. Every tale just makes you learn something, it's AMAZING.

My only complain about the show 😞 its the plot of muyeongs mother, or the resolution of it. Muyeongs traumas were bc of her family, specially her mother and i get that but the reason why she stayed all those years didn't rlly made sense(? And the last fight was idk pretty easy. (I liked the plot twist tho)

In summary i loved this show, everything was on point and it captured me, live laugh love iontbo

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