Ah, where do I start to explain the feelings I have for this drama.

Gwaenchana, Sarangiya caught me with all its might, and didn’t let me go til the last episode. From the beginning to the end, it held my heart, entirely, with its both invisible hands. Without a doubt, my favourite drama, ever.

I wanna talk about the first episode because what happened was so incredible. I wasn’t even done with the first 15 minutes of the first episode that I was already enjoying it a lot. And by a lot, I mean finding myself smiling til my cheeks hurt, and squealing like a guinea pig. I don’t even remember what decided me to start this drama. All I know is that I had spent my last school year without watching any dramas except for The Heirs and Reply 1994 back in winter. Having such a long summer holiday, I took it as an occasion to catch up on my beloved Korean shows. Rewatching my favourite kdramas, watching summer kdramas, that’s what my summer was about. So when I heard about It’s Okay, It’s Love on tumblr (pretty popular because EXO-K’s Kyungsoo was in it..) I chose to give it a try.

And oh boy, was it a good decision.

Gwaenchana, Sarangiya. A bottle in the ocean, only waiting for its message to be heard.

Depicting people suffering from mental illnesses was a risky choice. Very risky. But I’m so proud of the scenarists for the job they did. Not only in Korea, but everywhere in the world, mental illnesses are seen as the worst, the weirdest, and most awful of things. When in fact, it’s just an illness. Illness from the mind, from the heart, illness of feelings, thoughts. When the heart aches, it can be more painful than breaking an arm. People dealing with mental issues aren’t crazy. They aren’t errors of nature, they aren’t criminals. They’re people. People that are sick, and people that need help.
And for depicting them just as they are, this drama already deserves to be watched.
I have absolutely no knowledge of psychology or illnesses but the ones I’ve personally dealt with, or seen people fight. I felt close to some of the examples of illnesses portrayed. It made me think about myself, about people, about life.

Gwaenchana, Sarangiya. Humans played by humans that are really good at playing humans.

Good character concepts mixed with amazing actors. That’s what this drama is also about.
From this amazing cast, I already knew Gong Hyo Jin (Ji Hae Soo), Lee Kwang Soo (Park Soo Kwang), Sung Dong Il (Jo Dong Min), but also Hae Soo’s mum and of course, Kyungsoo.
I felt really attached to Gong Hyo Jin in The Master’s Sun, because she’s a really good actress in this drama, she’s also really vulnerable and well, she’s also really pretty. Seeing her in the role of Ji Hae Soo blew my mind. She’s probably among my favourite Korean actresses now.
The revelation of this drama was Jo In Sung. I completely missed the airing of This Winter, The Wind Blows and I think I should catch up now. He is such a great actor. To be honest, I can’t think of anybody in this cast that wasn’t amazing from the beginning to the end. Kwang Soo, that I affectionate for his recurrent gags on Running Man, proved me here that he’s truly a great actor, and not just the funny, always betraying giraffe that he is. Sung Dong Il is always a pleasure to have in a drama, for playing the always-pissed ahjussi that we all love. Every single one of these characters seems crafted in diamond to me. They’re all, all precious. All well done. All deep. There isn’t just the main couple and secondary characters that are all just here to support the story of that main couple. You’ve got the main couple, yes. But they’re all connected together. They all have special relationships between each others, they all have their stories, their problems, their moments. There is no bad guy to prevent the main couple from ending together at the end, because life is not like that. Every single one of us is prone to make other people happy or sad because of the decisions we make. And just as in life, the only obstacle to finding what you truly want isn’t necessarily others, it’s yourself. They are all part of this drama and they also are the reason this drama is a whole. Because just like the puzzle in the story, the final image can’t be a whole if you take even just one piece out.

Gwaenchana, Sarangiya. A story. Theirs, yours, mine.

I’ve rarely seen such a well written story, wrapped in a 16-episode drama. To be honest, I feared it would end up with what I call the “City Hunter Syndrome” : a good start, fillers, everything resolved in the last two episodes, and nothing explained.
I won’t tell you how it ends, but I can tell you one thing : each episode has been given a lot of thought. You can see it. Friend, trust me. And enjoy every minute of this drama with all your heart. Appreciate every quote, every shot.

Gwaenchana, Sarangiya. It’s Love, and it’s a sincere one.

Romantic love between a man and a woman has hardly ever been so well represented in a drama. Hae Soo and Jae Yeol love each other, they truly do. And they act like it. They talk about their feelings, their relationship, they kiss (and real kisses, not ‘our faces bumped into each other’s and our lips seem to be touching’), they make love, and they talk about it. They fight, and make up. They’re everything a couple is. They’re both really bold characters and if something isn’t going the way they want, they won’t hesitate about saying it. They speak up their minds. And it’s so refreshing to see, for the first time, a realistic couple in a drama talking about love. I’ve had too much of rich dickhead guy and poor nice girl, wrist grabbing, thinking about kissing and being flustered like a 14 year-old, sex being extra taboo, and over-cheesiness. Jang Jae Yeol and Ji Hae Soo are the realistic antithesis of the default kdrama couple. (Reply 1997 was also part of this wave to portray realistic couples and I wish for it to become a trendy thing in kdramas.)
If I didn’t know about them being already in a relationship with their respective partners, I’d think Gong Hyo Jin and Jo In Sung would truly be dating because their screen chemistry is incredible.

Gwaenchana, Sarangiya. Food for thought, heart, and ears.

As if this drama wasn’t already good enough, it also has a great OST. It’s a wise mix of Korean indie, pop songs, but also western folk, indie and even French electro/house that even myself, being French didn’t know about. Actually I discovered a lot of great artists thank to this drama, but my favourite song will remain Twin Forks’ “Cross My Mind”. First, it’s a really good song, but the moments associated with this song are among the happiest, and whenever this song came up, I couldn’t stop smiling. I’m thankful for this.

Gwaenchana, Sarangiya. Will I ever get tired of you like a lover I want to send away but can’t ?

The rewatch value of this drama is high in my opinion. So high that actually when I was around the 11th episode, I decided to rewatch it, when the original airing hadn’t even ended. Was it worth it ? Yes, definitely. Once you know more about each character, you notice things that are actually relevant to the last episodes and make the story even richer. That’s why I said to be attentive to every little thing, but it’s hard in one try.

Gwaenchana, Sarangiya. It’s okay. It’s love.

(THIS PART HAS SPOILERS)

The title could make you think it’s another cheesy drama. But it takes his whole meaning as you get more in the story.
It’s Jae Yeol telling Hae Soo that he loves her, and that’s okay. It’s Hae Soo telling herself that she’s in love, and that’s okay. It’s Jae Yeol realising his guilt is the result of loving his brother. Hae Soo’s mum sending her away because she doesn’t want her to live she way she lived. It’s Dong Il and Young Jin still being friends after everything they shared. It’s Soo Kwang calming himself after a seizure.

It’s okay. It’s love.

(END OF SPOILERS)

So, in short, why should you watch this drama ?

For the thoughtful and realistic portrayal of mental illnesses, as far as I know, and the will to make people realise they are not errors of nature.
For the incredible cast and mind-blowing acting.
For the so well written story.
For the realistic portrayal of romantic love between two people.
For the fabulous OST.
For the title.

tl;dr : It’s Okay, It’s Love feels like a gift to the world, and you should definitely give it a try.

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