"It's Okay, It's Love" Premiere - First Impressions

This drama is a crazy warm mix of surprisingly refreshing themes, immersing itself in mental illnesses, adult romance and complicated relationships. It touches on the border of taboo discussions present in Korean culture and has an emphasis on psychiatry which explores the brain’s various states and the enormous capabilities of the human mind.

The concept of the drama is wonderful. In addition, the scripting, editing, pacing and directing are all almost flawless. Some may criticize the convolution in the premiere episode as being quite unbalancing but that confusion was probably intended and also part of the drama’s theme as well.

The main leads simply meet each other without any strings of fate attached or the typical drama encounter based on a big misunderstanding. The drama also features a playlist of various types of music. The soundtrack is captivating and diminishes the angst viewers may experience from the realistic portrayal of behavioral disorders.

The main highlight of “It’s Okay, It’s Love” is the enlistment of a skilled cast and the emphasis on richly written characters. Each person in this show seems to have their own story and their past experiences lead every one of them to have their personal issues leading to unhealthy lifestyles filled with abysmal choices. This drama makes me wonder about the existence of these types of people in the real world – if they are real or just a figment of our playful imagination.

Without spoiling the premise of this jewel, the drama is most suited for a mature audience because it contains sexual topics, drug use and mild violence.

“It’s Okay, It’s Love” is written by Noh Hee Kyung (That Winter, The Wind Blows, Padam Padam). It is joined by Jo In Sung playing Jang Jae Yeol a bestselling novelist and radio DJ with an apparent mental disorder. Portrayed by Go Hyo Jin, Ji Hae Soo is a psychiatrist on her first year of fellowship. As the two meet, they heal each other’s wounds and will probably fall in love.

The show is airing on SBS – Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 KST.

For drama fans in the US & Canada, don’t miss this series on Soompi’s sister site, KDrama.