It's Okay to Not Be Okay

It's Okay to Not Be Okay (사이코지만 괜찮아) is a 2020 South Korean television series starring Kim Soo-hyun, Seo Yea-ji, and Oh Jung-se. It aired on tvN from June 20, 2020 to August 9, 2020 and ran for 16 episodes. It was distributed internationally by Netflix.

I. Synopsis

Moon Gang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun) lives with his older brother Moon Sang-tae (Oh Jung-se) who has autism. They frequently move from town to town ever since Sang-tae witnessed their mother's murder. Gang-Tae works as a caretaker in a psychiatric ward at every place they settle in. While working in a hospital, he meets a famous children's book writer, Ko Moon-young (Seo Yea-ji), who is rumored to have antisocial personality disorder.

Circumstances lead Gang-tae to work at the OK Psychiatric Hospital in Seongjin City, the same city where they all lived when they were young. Meanwhile, Moon-young forms a romantic obsession for Gang-tae after finding out that their pasts overlap. She follows him to Seongjin, where the trio (including Sang-tae) slowly begins to heal each other's emotional wounds. They unravel many secrets, seek comfort from each other and move forward in their lives.

II. Trailer

III. Cast

IIII. Main Cast

	Kim Soo-hyun as Moon Gang-tae Caregiver working at OK Psychiatric Hospital		Seo Yea-ji as Ko Moon-young Children's book author with antisocial personality disorder
	Oh Jung-se as Moon Sang-tae Gang-tae's brother, he is autistic and an aspiring illustrator

IIIII. Supporting Cast

	Park Gyu-young as Nam Ju-ri A nurse at OK Psychiatric Hospital		Jang Young-nam as Park Haeng-ja Head nurse at OK Psychiatric Hospital
	Kim Joo-hun as Lee Sang-in CEO of SangsangESang Publishing Company		Park Jin-joo as Yoo Seung-jae Art director at SangsangESang Publishing
	Kang Ki-doong as Jo Jae-soo Gang-tae's best friend who runs a pizza parlor		Kim Chang-wan as Oh Ji-wang Director of OK Psychiatric Hospital
	Kim Mi-kyung as Kang Soon-deok Ju-ri's mother and chef at OK Psychiatric Hospital		Jang Gyu-ri as Sun Byul Ju-ri's friend and fellow nurse
	Choi Woo-sung as Oh Cha-yong A careless caregiver at the hospital		Lee Eol as Ko Dae-hwan Moon-young's father, a dementia patient at the hospital
	Kim Ki-cheon as Kan Pil-ong A patient at OK suffering from war related PTSD		Jung Jae-kwang as Joo Jeong-tae A patient in treatment for alcoholism, in love with Ah-reum
	Ji Hye-won as Lee Ah-reum A patient suffering from anxiety after leaving an abusive marriage		Kang Ji-eun as Park Ok-ran A mysterious patient obsessed with Moon-young's mother
	Joo In-young as Yoo Sun-hae A patient suffering from dissociative identity disorder

IV. Tie-In Books

The five children's books which appear in the drama were written by Jo Yong and illustrated by Jamsan. They were published in Korea by Wisdom House during the course of the show. All give books were listed in the top 20 bestselling books of the month.

V. Reception

It's Okay to Not Be Okay recorded an average national TV rating of 5.4%. The series was praised for it's unique premise, visual storytelling, and acting. On Netflix, the series was one of the most popular Korean dramas of 2020 in multiple countries including Australia, India, and Japan. The series was listed on multiple year end lists including Forbes, NME, Teen Vogue, and The New York Times

VI. Awards and Nominations