It's Okay, That's Love (2014)

Ok but not as good as I wish

I enjoyed It's Ok That's Love, but didnt love it as much as I wanted to. This is mainly because I didn't really warm to the FL - I just didn't find her at all likeable, and found her flippancy really irritating, she just seemed incredibly imnature given her profession. I did, however, warm to her more nearer the end. I loved the ML and all the supporting cast, and the relationships between them. The ML in particular was incredible, particularly in the latter episodes, and I thought DO was also really exceptional and really tugged at my heartstrings..

Will add to this review, just wanted to get my first thoughts down.

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Overall verdict: it was okay, could have better focus story-wise. Still a good watch.

The most compelling part of this show is what Jo In Sung did with his role. Very emotional and credible performance of a character with a pretty dark past. I do wish the show had a better focus on his character's story because it was really what kept me watching the show in the second half.

There were certain aspects of the story that left me pretty irritated. Perhaps the characters' quirks, frustating behaviour and decisions can be excused by the fact that this drama is celebrating how everyone has their own skeletons and "mental issues". Another thing is that there was so much talk of sex, especially in the first half of the show. I had a "whoa back off a bit" feeling towards that part of the story. Even then, I did appreciate some of the frank talk about sex in this show.

However, I did appreciate how the drama tries to explain mental illnesses to the layman viewer. It's a small but important step towards better treatment and understanding of mental illness.

Kudos to the music team for choosing non-Korean songs for the OST though.

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One of the worst Kdramas I've ever watched

I truly don't understand the high ratings most give to this drama. My best explanation is a phenomenon I've seen repeatedly on this site: If the actor(s) are well-known, popular, and/or beautiful people, it's very likely that a mediocre drama will receive 10's from everyone. (See "My Mister" as an example.)

While this drama did an excellent job of dealing with the topic of mental illness, I was overly distracted by thoughts about how, while everyone is "broken," some people are more broken than others - and especially that they should work on themselves before seeking a romantic relationship. I realize that, in real life, that can't be necessarily avoided; but while this drama ends pretty well, if they did a realistic Season 2, they'd all be divorced and/or one of them would have literally murdered all the others.

Another downer for me was the Americanization of people's morals in this show. While young Koreans may truly be as sexually loose as depicted in this drama, one major reason I think many people escape to Korean dramas is that they are sick and tired of the "You kinda like me? I kinda like you! Let's have sex right now!" American shows. It hasn't worked out well in America, and Korea would be well-advised to retain their conservative Buddhist values which drives the purity found in most dramas (i.e. first kiss halfway through the series).

I'm trying to think what I did like about this drama, but I really hung on too long to watch it to the end. None of the characters were likeable at all, and I couldn't wait for it to end. I can honestly say that I didn't like anything about this drama.

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It's Okay, I didn't love it

This show tries to reconcile two ideas: Being a lighthearted romcom while dealing with the topic of mental illness. It ends up being mediocre at both.

Starting with the romcom aspect: The actors are doing a good job and the story flows well, although there are a lot of story points that go nowhere. Some of the subplots I found uninteresting and the characters sometimes annoying. The soundtrack is good, untypically for kdramas there is actually western pop mixed in. The main story relies heavily on the before mentioned mental illness theme.

And this brings me to the second aspect: the mental illness. And this has multiple issues.
First, it is ubiquitous taking away from the impact: almost all characters either suffer from mental illness or are psychiatrists or both.
Second, a lot of those afflictions go nowhere and feel like a gimmick.
And the third and most problematic point: the show is staying incredibly lighthearted. People will talk about the issues and will cry a lot. But only once in the show I actually felt an impact from them. And that was from a short episode of a side character couple.

So in the end the drama fails at what it wants to do, but overall I still enjoyed watching it.

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I was pleasantly surprised as I expected a light hearted comedy but got a pretty intense story about trauma. Aside from Dr. Jo, everyone in this story is a little bit on the nutty scale and very well acted, which makes for an interesting and engaging show.

What I liked:
- the transformation of Jae Yeol. Jo In Sung is the epitome of cool and it was amazing to watch how he played Jae Yeol as someone with ultimate swagger and later on as someone, who perhaps, could be seen as pitiful

- the chemistry among the roommates. loved how much they all cared so easily for each other.

- Jo In Sung and Gong Hyo jin. they make a beautiful, confident duo

What I disliked:
- poor resolution of secondary story lines. there are a LOT of interesting characters introduced along the way, don't expect any of their stories to get any satisfying resolution. everyone gets a quick line here or there, but nothing substantial or worthwhile.

- the transformation of hae soo. her story arc doesn't make a whole lot of sense. she and jae yeol are great together but she's not as likable in the end as she is in the beginning

Overall, really enjoyed the show as it was different from the standard meet-cute story of boy falls in love with girl.

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This series has got to be one of my top 5 personal favourites, if not my most favourite, out of all the series I've watched. The show was honest in portraying real life relationships, tackling its issues in a manner that is both smart and mature. At the same time, it explores the often taboo topic of mental health disease and tries to erase the stigma surrounding it. The series shows us the intricacies of the human psyche, that no person is perfect. We all, are inherently flawed. But this show teaches us that despite the mistakes, inadequacies and weaknesses, we are still able to look past that and learn to love and accept the person as a whole.

Once again, Gong Hyo Jin has showed us caliber acting alongside her onscreen pair, Jo In Sung. Both actors delivered powerhouse performances in the entire length of the series. I've been a fan of Gong Hyo Jin for her funny and loveable portrayal as the main lead of The Master Sun and she has done it once again here in It's Okay That's Love. The actress has that gift of making her co-stars shine in every drama she has appeared in.

Jo In Sung managed to draw us in with a convincing take on his character. The on screen chemistry was very good, you wished the pair dated off screen/in real life! The series had enough storyline to keep it moving in such a good pace, the dialogue superb and witty. It had made references to cult film favourite such as "Before Sunset/Before Midnight" which was a bonus! There wasn't a dull moment and I felt so sad after finishing it. This series has been quite a tearjerker and captured so much emotion. I just fell in love with this series and its characters that after two days I had to re-watch it again! This is truly a MUST SEE! You won't regret it. OST is also well recommended. Two thumbs up!

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In order to create a show that will leave a lasting impression, you need pretty much A+ on every department, and IOTL passes with flying colors!

- The story deals with topics regarding mental illness and manages to really dwelve into them; the writers did a great job of taking the matter seriously and presenting it in a profound way, you really feel the sincere approach on that front.

- The acting is absolutely superb from every single cast member; they all did a fantastic job and balanced out well both the comical and more serious aspects of the series. (+add to that, that Jo In Sung and Gong Hyo Jin have great chemistry; their scenes together was such a joy to watch.)

- The music was fantastically picked; there's not a single song that won't be stuck in your head after you finish watching it.

All in all, an absolute gem of a series that will take you for a ride and never let you down. A solid drama from start to finish that will truly stay in your heart and maybe teach you a couple things. I know it taught me!
I give it a 10 in every category - and I rarely give 10s, but it really doesn't deserve any less. A huge kudos to everyone that worked to create this, they all did an excellent job. Phenomenal series, simply put.

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Dissapointed

I'm fresh from the joyous experience that was "The Master's Sun" and the perfection that was Gong Hyo Jin's performance as the woman whose life was derailed once she started seeing dead people. This euphoria needed to be continued, I said. So, without further ado, I jumped on It's Okay, That's Love.

Notwithstanding that it's a completely different story, I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of the characters and that is my baseline when watching these dramas. The writers should at the very least make them likable, especially with a subplot as heavy as mental health and PTSD. Even more so when the leads both have past trauma. All I got from this was an irrational FL with serious anger issues.

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Ahead of its time

This is the drama that made me a fan of Gong Hyo Jin forever. She fills the screen with confidence and skill in how she portrays her character. And the writers were ahead of their time, telling a story that speaks to the importance of mental and psychological health with depth and understanding. I recently rewatched it to see if I still felt the same way, and I still do, sort of.

What I love about this drama is that all the characters are well developed and have meaningful interactions with each other. I also like that, even though some of the instigating events from the past are k-drama troupes, they are executed with minimal makjang. The past unravels in a way that makes sense and fuels satisfying dramatic revelations. The tears you shed are warranted and built up so that they really mean something to the viewer.

One of my favorite characters is played by Lee Kwang Soo. He brilliantly portrays a man with Tourettes. He gives his character dimension and heart.

There are a few things I noticed after re-watching that caused me to lower my rating. For one thing, Jae Yeol treats Hae Soo really poorly while pursuing her in their relationship. There is quite a bit of inappropriate physical contact that she does not consent to, as well as a huge lack of respect, which could be a trigger for some viewers. As a more mature person, it bothered me a lot more than the first time I watched it, which tells me how vulnerable younger people can be when they look to kdramas for models of romantic relationships. Also, there are too many repetitive hints and flashbacks to the past so by the time you get to a big revelation the impact is diminished. Lastly, the pacing is inconsistent. The drama spends a lot of time exploring the rocky relationship between the leads, and then suddenly busts out the dramatics really quickly about half way through and doesn't explore how the characters deal with the situation with as much depth as it could have.

In the end, I applaud the risks It's Okay That's Love took to address challenges of mental health, and the acting is superb. I highly dislike the inappropriate physical contact and mean interactions in the main couple's relationship though. Despite these inconsistencies, it was a leader in bringing important mental health issues to the drama world.

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