I kept delaying watching It’s Okay to Not Be Okay because I have a bit of an aversion to hospital dramas. Several friends had recommended this popular Korean drama to me, but I kept putting it off. I was judging the series by its title, and honestly, I wasn’t in the mood for what I assumed would be an intense emotional rollercoaster.

I finally took the plunge a couple of weeks ago.

It took me some time to finish the series because each episode runs for over an hour, and there are 16 episodes in total. I am also not much of a binge-watcher, especially when a series deals with serious or emotionally heavy topics. So yes, completing It’s Okay to Not Be Okay took me a while.

But the time I took to finish it doesn’t take away from the fact that It’s Okay to Not Be Okay is an entertaining, thoughtful and beautifully layered K-drama.

Let’s talk about the male lead first.

Moon Gang-tae, played by the enigmatic Kim Soo-hyun, is such a major green flag that he might just make pursuing relationships in the real world a tad more difficult for women. Because honestly, who can even compete with this kind of surreal charm, patience and thoughtfulness?

He is calm, sorted, emotionally aware and dependable. He is the person you would want beside you when things get difficult. He handles uncomfortable situations with a level of maturity and emotional intelligence that makes you think, “Yes, this is exactly how my partner should behave.”

Basically, Moon Gang-tae is the ultimate go-to guy.

Go Moon-young, played by Seo Yea-ji, is completely different.

She is volatile, unpredictable and unapologetically herself. But beneath all that intensity, she also shows moments of compassion when the situation calls for it. She has a magnetic personality. What makes her even more interesting is that she knows exactly how powerful her presence can be and the effect she has on people.

She is not the easiest character to understand, but she is definitely difficult to ignore.

For me, though, the real star of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay was Oh Jung-se. He plays Moon Sang-tae, the autistic older brother of the male lead, and his performance was so convincing that there were moments when I genuinely wondered whether he was autistic in real life. Yes, I actually Googled him. That, in itself, says a lot about how convincing his portrayal was.

His performance was heartfelt, nuanced and incredibly believable. In my opinion, he absolutely deserved every award and recognition that came his way for this role.

At its core, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay is a serious drama that explores mental well-being, emotional healing, trauma, relationships and the process of learning to accept oneself.

But despite its heavier subjects, the series doesn’t feel emotionally exhausting all the time. I enjoyed the little moments of humour scattered throughout the episodes. They provide some much-needed lightness and make the story feel more balanced.

And the BTS scenes towards the end were absolutely adorable. Seeing the camaraderie between the cast members behind the scenes was a lovely bonus after spending so much time with these characters.

Overall, I found It’s Okay to Not Be Okay to be an entertaining and thoughtful Korean drama. It took me a while to finish, but by the end of it, I was glad I finally gave this much-recommended series a chance.

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay is currently streaming on Netflix.