It's Okay, That's Love

 It's Okay, That's Love (Available on Viki) 

Content Warning: Talks often of sex, Language, and there is one sex scene but nothing is shown. 

Rating: A-

Character Glossary: 

Jang Jae Yul: Famous Author

Ji Hae-soo: Psychiatrist

Jo Dong-Min: Psychiatrist and roomate of Hae Soo

Park Soo-Kwang: Roommate of Hae Soo and Dong Min/ Has Tourette's 

Han Kang-woo: Friend of Jae Yul's/ High school student

It's Okay, That's Love is primarily about mental illness and how the characters deal with and face various mental challenges while forming new relationships. 

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this show. It had a rocky start for me--it was interesting but the main girl kind of bugged me and I much preferred the focus and story that comes into play during the latter half of the show. This show brought me equal parts joy and pain--and it was nice to have that again. I was watching The Scholar Who Walks the Night before this (I still haven't finished it--I have 5 episodes left and I don't know when I'll finish it. I am really trying to find the will.) and it was so hard to keep watching for me and I don't have any emotional attachment to the show which makes shows like this so much better.  I legitimately cared for the characters and I was so impressed with the acting. I highly recommend you watch this show sometime soon--it is worth it.

SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT YOUR OWN RISK 

OVERALL STORY: This reminded me a little bit of Doctor John except it was focused on mental afflictions instead of physical ones. And WE NEED MORE OF THIS. I loved the acceptance of mental health issues and how just because you might have a disorder that doesn't make you crazy or beyond help. You deserve to be loved no matter what--and that lesson is so important. And the development of the story was so well done that I was tugged along right with the characters watching episode after episode. Since the plot is so character based I won't go too into certain plot points here--I'll distribute them down below. But I'll summarize really quick for those of you who are just interested in reading about the overall plot. Hae Soo's plotline is really critical in the first half of the show--she has an aversion to physical touch of all sorts. (I'll go into more of this below.) And she has to work through it while starting her relationship with Jae Yul. I liked this story line because it really built up the romance and it was interesting to see her work to overcome her fear. But the second half of the show was what really gripped my heart and pulled me onto an emotional rollercoaster. We discover that Jang Jae Yul is actually a schizophrenic who is having life threatening hallucinations. There is this whole plot of having to convince him of the truth then get him to get treated. It was heartbreaking and I freely admit my heart broke at some of the scenes. Overall this show was intriguing and had an important message in both the first half and second half of the show. 

MAIN ROMANCE: *chefs kiss* this couple was so good. Like the show itself they had a rocky start but they really started going about halfway through. (so episode 8ish) I liked the whole "enemies to lovers" vibe but at the same time I love how they were supportive of each others mental disorders and the boundaries that came with them. If Jang Jae Yul pushed her too far he backed off when she asked which I thought was really great for the development of their relationship. Because of his ability to work with her she was able to trust him and love him fully. And in the second half of the show she was able to return the favor by never leaving his side once he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. That was so incredibly powerful to me. As someone who suffers from depression and anxiety, seeing people work through mental illnesses together and being that support...was incredibly uplifting. It was something I needed to see during my darkest moments. But enough about me--this couple was fantastic and I think the fact that they have a mature adult relationship and have two imperfect people who love each other no matter what is something I was grateful to see. It was amazing. 

SECONDARY ROMANCE: I wasn't as big of a fan of this as I was of the first one. But I still thought it was great. This was between Park Soo Kwang and a girl whose name I cannot recall but she is played by the actress who was Kim Bok Joo in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo and it was fun to see her in one of her earlier roles. Like the main couple I really loved how mental disorders played a big part in this relationship. Soo Kwang had tourettes and felt like he let down his family and he also would tick when he would kiss someone which was a big stress for him. But she understood him and didn't look down on him for that. Seriously just the message of acceptance and love in this show was so good, it brought me joy. The only thing I didn't like was that I felt they didn't get enough development--it felt rushed. 

JANG JAE YUL: This man is such a joy I swear. This is my first time seeing this actor in a show and I am now officially in love with him. (Kind of joking) His character was so multi layered and every time I thought I knew him there was a new depth to him that was discovered. I loved how he learned how to forgive and accept himself in this show. He went through a whole lot of crap with his schizophrenia and it was so hard to see him go through that. His schizophrenia developed because of his guilt towards his older brother. Short story: He testified against his brother causing him to end up with 11 years in jail. We find out later he was just protecting his mother who was the one who actually killed his dad. He felt so guilty over that, that schizophrenia developed. It was crazy because as you watch the show you notice Kang woo (who is the hallucination) is just a little off and then you realize it and you're like oh my gosh. I was so shook. But he pushed through it and grew stronger. 

JI HAE SOO: I didn't like her much in the beginning. I felt like she was a hypocrite and was unnecessarily rude to Jae Yul. But she grew better and I understood that, that behavior was all a defense mechanism to make sure she didn't fall in love with him. Which failed of course but making sure I realized what it was is important. I learned so much about defense mechanisms in this show. But I really loved her arc in this show because she had SO MUCH GROWTH. I loved her strength and how she learned to use that strength in the right way. What I mean by this is that she was pushing people away from her in the beginning but she began to use that strength later in the show to stand up for those close to her and to stand up for herself. I admire how amazing she was and I adore her. 

JO DONG MIN: I'm not going to talk about him too much because he didn't really have a major character arc. He was just the most supportive character and I felt like he was an overall good guy. He was legit just helping everyone else deal with their crap--what an idol. He stayed consistently awesome throughout the show so just a shoutout to him for being the best friend ever. 

PARK SOO KWANG: I liked him a lot. I wish we could have gotten into his story and background more. I wish I could have understood his parents more because we see very few scenes with them but I wanted to really understand how they felt about him and his disorder. But I liked that no matter how he felt about himself his friends were always there to help him. And I loved him coming to work with his disorder instead of actively hating it. 

HAN KANG WOO: He broke my heart. Despite the fact that he was a hallucinate conjured up by Jae Yul as a reflection of his young self--he was a very real character for me. He helped me really understand what Jae Yul went through when he was younger and I was horrified. All he wanted was his writing to be accepted and to save his mother from his abusive father. It was so heartbreaking and every scene with him at the end was just pain. 

QUOTE:

"Do you really believe that love will always give you joy, courage, happiness, and excitement?"
"Pain, resentment, sadness, heartache and despair...I'm sure it'll also bring you misery at times. And I'm sure you'll also be given the strength to get through all those trials. Isn't that what love is all about?"

SHIP VIDEO: (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5ZX5Qlg1cE