MattPeddlesden
Kent, UK
Good for your Mental Health
I think beyond Romance, my favourite topic for a KDrama has to be Mental Health. Some of my favourite dramas fall into this category, and i'm gonna spoil the review (but not the show) by saying Daily Dose of Sunshine shoots to the top of that list.For a start you've got a great cast, led by Park Bo Young who never falls short. Lee Jung Eun is another favourite and is superb in this drama as well.
One of the writers, Lee Nam Gyu, was also one of the writers on "The Light in your eyes", another beautifully told mental health drama.
The basic plot of the story starts out looking like a "case of the day" type show but evolves rapidly.
My takeaways from this, were that the story was there to highlight that everyone, no exceptions, and without any warning, can start to feel under the weather. Whether it's the patients that come in - or the nurses and doctors themselves.
It pays particular attention to Depression and Panic attacks but there's a range of other ailments including self harm that are included as well.
On the warnings front, I would advise that there is actual suicide and attempted suicide as well as graphical depiction of self harm. Let that show you however that these are topics taken extremely seriously, and viewed from all perspectives.
The other aspect I liked was the "other side" of mental health, stigmas associated with those who have had treatment and are now classed as in recovery, but how they are so poorly treated by society - even by those who are themselves either getting treatment or are caring for those who are.
Each episode tugs the heart strings, beautifully acted and I loved how it was told. I've binged this over 2 days because honestly I just couldn't stop pressing "next".
I class this one as quite re-watchable too, there's probably more to see from a second viewing and while there are things that happen which obviously won't have the same impact the second time around, you'll see them from another perspective and perhaps see things building up earlier.
Highly recommended, there are lessons for us all here.
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Don't take it too seriously :)
Short: It's so over the top in places you can't mistake it for anything trying to take itself seriously. I loved the various characters and the general story,. I liked the little nods to other things like a scene from Parasite and it had lots of energy. It's not going to be top of your list, but it's fun and easy watching. I certainly enjoyed it. I don't think it was bad at all, it was silly and OTT but also lots of fun :)Detail:
Ok first I have to call out the little cameo moments that I thought were amusing as heck. In one, the father goes to be a driver for the ex-girlfriends family and takes a test drive - and it's ripped straight line for line out of Parasite, and also refers to how she had to fire the last guy because he stank from living in a basement (which the guy did in Parasite). In another, Ahn Chang Hwan turns up in the store, and immediately Dal Shik - played by Eum Moon Suk, who was also in Fiery Priest along with Ahn Chang Hwan - start doing a riff where Moon suk starts asking Chang Hwan to say "peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" just as his character did in Fiery Priest. Later, he re-assumes that role when he goes to help Saet Byul who visits someone that's trying to blackmail the store - he dresses up exactly as his character in Fiery Priest, including the voice etc. I love these little cross overs, they don't matter if you don't recognise them but they're a fun "aha!" moment when you do... though they perhaps tell me that I watch too much KDrama, I shall meditate on that point as I watch another KDrama...
Fiery Priest had the same Director, Lee Myung Woo - so you can kinda expect the same slightly OTT pace and style to everything.
I also noted the similarity between Ji Chang Wook's name (the ML) and Kang Ji Wook (the character name of the actor friend of Saet Byul's) :)
The main leads have some great chemistry, and I really liked the independence and strength they gave Saet Byul. I also liked that Ji Chang Wook's character knew when to back off and leave her to her own thoughts and come to her own decisions no matter how hard it was for him, he supported and encouraged when it was right and backed off when it was needed.
I think the take away message from this is about really understanding what's important, understanding what defines success for you - is it money? what is happiness? Once you understand that (and there's no point fooling yourself, only you lose out), you can make decisions you might not otherwise have made and find that happiness.
Second leads Seo Ye Hwa and Eum Moon Suk make for a very amusing pair as they go through turbulent times (probably more over the top than the main leads) but are also heartwarming in how things develop between them.
The drama has the usual tropes lined up almost numbered so you can call them out one at a time. Multiple Love triangles, the wicked girlfriends mum (well, ex-girlfriend but interfering none the less), misunderstanding after misunderstanding, you name it, it's probably there. But, as I said, it's kinda all hammed up a bit so rather than frustrating it becomes quite amusing more than anything.
Oh, and those endings where something key is about to happen and the screen freezes for it to conclude next episode, yeah, few of those, swore a couple of times at the TV for that :)
Probably not everyone's cup of tea but heck I enjoyed it :)
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A gem of a Legal drama
Short: A very clever legal drama, if you enjoy the legal dramas where it's all about winding your way through the "devil in the detail" clauses and exceptions, the machinations and maneuverings of the various characters as they try and achieve their goals and all on the legal stage then you will absolutely love this. I think it comes off really pretentious, but is perhaps justified through its quality. "We Are" sound track still going around and around in my head too!Detail:
I'll start by explaining the use of the word "pretentious" above. It was the first thing I was thinking as the drama starts, wow, this one is taking itself SUPER seriously... deep voices, stern comments, powerful people, important phrases and people reflecting sternly and importantly on the statue of Lady Justice. In the first episode especially, it's almost too much, I remember thinking "oh geez just get over yourself and get on with it". It does lighten up, but this tone persists throughout.
Now that i've finished it however, I think it earns the right. There's a lot of detail and effort gone into the story and some really clever twists and turns as the characters fight to gain the upper hand through the use of the law. It definitely feels like you're watching a chess game played by experts.
Characters are great, they have flaws and strengths. Sol-A was definitely my favourite - she's the complete underdog, the under achiever, she barely belongs in the university at all and is struggling to keep her grades high enough. But what she lacks there, she over compensates with her drive and passion and when the genie is unlocked proves that she at least as good as everyone else.
I thought that Sol-B's issues were also nicely done too, there's a common thread in many dramas about how the wealthy are often driven horribly by parents who place unreasonable demands on them, and I liked how this one was handled. It was a well played character and must have been quite challenging to both write and embody, she's cold and has flat expressions and constant tone but she's not uncaring or unfeeling and she's there for her fellow students and friends.
There was one scene that I thought just felt really off, and it was another "oh here we go taking ourselves too seriously again" moment, in the court, one of the characters is in the defense and the professor is her defense council. At a key moment he announces sternly and proudly, that he we will be resigning as council, shocks and gasps from the viewing gallery... and then he says he will allow his student (the defendant) to use her write to defend herself and proceeds to turn the whole thing into a lecture, even at one point rebuking the prosecution when they object to something by saying "in MY lectures, there are no objections", completely ignoring that this is actually a court room and a real proceeding... but it's ok because the judge also forgets that too, so we carry on with the "lecture" :) I mean it's not the end of the world, it worked for the character development very well, allowing him to empower the girl to find her strength and stand up for herself in a situation where she'd otherwise been on the receiving end of everyone elses manipulations.
Overall it's a superbly written story, if you like the legal maneuverings and careful interpretations of phrases, all that super detailed stuff that's the essence of the law, then you will find that in spades here. There's some great twists, great characters, fun moments too, and a nice sound track (the song "we are" is still going around in my head and will be for some time i'm sure!).
Definitely recommended.
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Producers kept changing their approach
Short: Starts out looking really different to most, if you're familiar with "The Office" UK/US shows it's like that, docu-drama comedy style. I enjoyed the character arcs and how they developed, or for those that didn't necessary develop - they had other things to make them interesting. But it was IMHO too short and deserved at least a 16 run to make full use of the characters.Detail:
Four characters in this story. The newbie producer who is probably the main thread that links it all together, coming at both work and life with freshness and naivity, but he's smart and bright so he picks things up. The two old-hand producers who have been friends for 25 years, one is constantly wrong in all his predictions (so much so that he's a reliable method of predicting the future, if you do exactly the opposite of what he says) and has a history of faltering shows including the one he's doing at the current time. The other is well established and PD of a successful Music show, but outside of work she's comically utterly oblivious to things that are going on around her, which leads to some amusing moments where you will face palm as it sounds like she's finally realised something - and then misinterprets it AGAIN. Lastly, the pop idol Cindy (played by IU) - who goes through the biggest transformation in just about every respect in this story.
This one starts out looking like the docu-drama-comedy type style with what seem like interviews and fly on the wall filming, intended to make the viewer feel like they're watching the behind-the-curtains activities of producing the TV shows they watch. If you aren't familiar with the style or it doesn't gel with you then that's going to make the first couple of episodes awkward to watch but I enjoyed it, it was different and I am always keen to see producers trying different ideas rather than just re-hashing the old favourites all the time. However, it looks like they changed their mind and this style of production mostly goes away after the first couple of episodes, returning on the odd occasion. A shame, but perhaps it just wasn't going down well with the audience when it was shown.
There's a good range of support characters too, in the office and at the various homes.
IU's character, Cindy, starts as a bratty celebrity expecting everything her way - but the story shines a harsh light on some of the brutal realities behind the lives of Idols and how fleeting things are. She comes out as a strong character who is able to wrestle back control of her life from what seem like impossible to beat odds and hers were some of my favourite scenes in the whole drama.
Overall I thought it was enjoyable, with some definite high points, but it was too short and with a cast of this level (who were all superb, as expected!) deserved much more attention than it got.
Its important to note that while it's 12 episodes - most of those are 70-80 minutes, and the final one is 1h45, so it's not going to feel short - you're just going to be left wanting more. I should also add that it does have a conclusion, perhaps more of a summary rather than a conclusion, and does feel like an ending, even if you are thinking "no, wait, more!". :)
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Detail:
Have wanted to watch this one for a while and it recently popped up on Netflix so it was next in line and I've been hooked on it. As some other reviewers have said it does seem a bit slow at first but it's setting down a lot of stuff and building up the layers and story that it will unravel and explain later - stick with it, it does make sense and is worth it.
One of the reasons I was always drawn to this one is the "shy boss" thing, while I don't suffer from it as much any more I'm still fundamentally an introvert and find socialising very difficult. I have tried going to our company dinners here and I just find them too awkward and uncomfortable so I really related to the main character. I'm a Senior Producer and lead a team of something like 50 people - so there are more parallels there and again, while I'm nowhere near as bad as I used to be (I couldn't function in this role otherwise!) I thoroughly relate to the character. I thought Yoon Woo Jin did a fantastic job in the role. On the occasions he lets out a smile (drunk while looking at Ro Woon pulling a funny face in a photo someone sent him) he lights the screen up with the contrast from his normal expression.
Park Hye Soo places the FL, she's not an actress I've seen before but am definitely going to look out for more of her work, like Kim So Hyun she has a unique presence on screen that stands out.
This drama looks like it might just be a light fluffy romance, and there's certainly good elements of that throughout, but it covers some really heavy topics including Suicide and Self Harm as two major themes in the show (aside from the main characters anxiety issues). The opening scene is a woman jumping from a building to her death - so I feel it's really important to warn anyone ahead of time because such things can be an unpleasant shock. Throughout the story it progressively picks apart what happened, who is to blame, who is taking the blame and the impact it has on the family and everyone else around that person, it's not trivialised but instead examined throughout and thoroughly. I liked where it went, and I thought that Self Harm was dealt with well too. Both are difficult subjects.
The romance element is fantastic, these two actors absolutely nailed the on screen chemistry.
It's a great story, you need to give it a few episodes to lay its foundations before it will lock you in, and you need to just be aware of the main topics and make sure these are going to be ok for you to watch.
Music is very catchy too!
Definitely recommended!
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Detail:
First time i've seen either of the leads othre than Ha Seok Jin's brief role in Crash Landing on You - and enjoyed the pair of them very much. Go Ah Sung plays Eun Ho Won, who finds out that she only has a limited time left to live and decides to be a bit more blunt and frank - a really interesting character with an absolutely rock solid moral compass.
Weak bit - The other male lead, Seo Hyun, I just thought that his story was done a total disservice. There's a conflict with his dad, and a soured relationship with his brother because of it - and yet we never see any of this, so it's really difficult to really build up any appreciation for his character at all. At one point I was convinced he was going to turn out to be a sociopath or something but I think they were really aiming for something with more depth, they just did a really awful job of actually expressing it.
This story is about three people and their respective journeys, Kang Ho and his journey for independance from a super domineering mother and a father (again, that we never see) who rejects him. Ki Taek and his relationship with his girlfriend and his feelings of inadequacy about being out of work for so long. Ho Won who just wants the opportunity to prove herself and to devote her life to an organisation and the people she works with.
Some really fun moments of humour from everyone but often from Ho Won's little outbursts or reactions to things, or Yong Jae's reactions to various things as he's either over commanding of people or sucking up to his superiors.
Must admit there was at least one friendship or potentially relationship that I thought was going to go further, but the moments they did share were good to see.
Kot Bi, the directors secretary, she was fun and again her muttered under the breath retorts were amusing.
Overall, it's a fun story with some interesting characters. The overall message is about living for today, because if you make today happy then you'll be happy the rest of your life. We all spend too much time waiting for tomorrows happiness - but tomorrow never comes, so find your happiness today.
Worth a watch, it's fun.
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Detailed:
What did I just watch?! This was brilliant!
Three women living together in their thirties along with one of the ladies gay brother. Everyone has a story, sometimes the stories come together, sometimes they're quite heavily entwined, some times they're not. Whether it's one of the women who is facing severe grief following the loss of her partner, with moments that will likely have you reaching for the tissues, or another of the women and her hilarious relationship with her director, or the relationship one of them has with a co-worker.
Strong women, strong men. Great characters and brilliant performances by their actors.
The stories all go in different directions and the writer brilliantly crafts the tales to take those stories to places you probably didn't expect by the time they're done.
I really don't want to say too much and undo the writers fantastic work, you just have to watch it.
Very re-watchable too.
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Detailed:
Picked this one up because of Jun Ji Hyun whom I first watched in You Who came from the Stars (by the same writer) and wanted to see her in something different. The mermaid tale is an interesting topic that i've not seen in a KDrama before so that made it more interesting too, and then seeing it had Shin Hye Sun - well, sold.
On the whole I enjoyed it and I didn't have any doubts about continuing to watch it to completion - but - I had some issues with it...
I'm still trying to work out how well the two leads chemistry worked... some times there were sparks, other times not, it just wasn't consistent.
I really liked the links back and forth between the past lives and the current ones, it provided some interesting insights and background and a variety of settings to see the characters in, both in terms of the parallels and differences.
I really wished that the FL had some kind of other goal in mind, but as it was, she comes to the surface and is completely naive and inexperienced which leads to some funny scenes - but sets the scene for the ML to refer to her as his "dummy" the entire story. Now, there are many things that happen in the show that could be seen as just "hey thats fine, it's cute" or not - so there's a lot of interpretation to be had on the "strength" of the FL but i'm gonna go and just say - I don't think she was very strong at all! - constantly chasing around after the guy working out what to do to get the guy - I dunno, didn't feel like the best message. It's a relatively minor itch for me on the overall show (which, as I said, I enjoyed) but an itch never the less.
Now... Shin Hye Sun's character Cha Shi Ah was really good - your understanding of Shi-Ah changes and develops through the story and her oddball relationship with Tae-Oh is brilliant I honestly was looking out for the scenes with these two more than anything else some times.
There's baddies too, in the shape of the "Wicked Stepmother" which I guess has to be there and was ok, but wasn't that exciting for me really.
Sound track was good, really liked some of the tracks that are now ear-worms.
It's a good story but I don't rate it up there with some of the other works by this screenwriter, which include Crash Landing on You and You Who Came from the Stars, two of my favourite dramas. It's just "normal" good :)
The little girl that she meets early on and meets up again with numerous times... wish they'd tied that one up in a nice bow at the end, felt it just needed a moment "more", just as she did with the fashion-lady.
FYI On Viki, this shows up as:
Episode 0 - which is the special, DONT watch this first even though its the first thing they dish up.
Episodes 1-20 - this is the drama, watch this.
Episodes 21 and 22 - these are directors cuts of episodes 1 and 2. Watch these after if you wish :)
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Detail:
It's Hong Sisters so... does it need more description? :)
Gong Hyo-Jin is the main in this one for me, her character has the ability to see ghosts and ever since it started she's been terrified by their sight and unable to sleep properly or live in the world properly. When she discovers the So Ji-Sub's character has the ability to make the ghost world temporarily go away when she touches him, and finds that he needs to hear from a dead girlfriend to find out what happened in his past - the two are forced to spend time together.
What results are some comic escapades as the two are from such completely different worlds as those worlds collide, and hard!
There are numerous stories about how she is able to help the living and the dead through her ability to communicate with them, and she gains confidence in doing so as she realises she can run to Ji-Sub's character if it gets too much.
The sound track on this one is absolutely fantastic, numerous songs on here that make my playlist now!
Definitely worth the watch!
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Waffle Bit...
This isn't like many other drama's out there, there's a lot more comedic moments in it and the general production style is slightly surrealistic, but in a fun way. Facial expressions, gestures and so forth are all amplified but within the context of everything else going on works well and just grows the characters "extreme" natures in a very visual way.
Action is also over the top with lots of extra sounds added on to add to the action feel of the fighting scenes - again, I think it worked well in the setting, so don't read this as a negative thing (unless you don't like that kind of thing I guess :) ).
The overall plot is interesting as they unravel what's going on, but the Priest starts out from a bad situation with just about everyone around him corrupt and working against him, slowly but surely things develop and the story is finally resolved in a nice and satisfying way. Religious themes are expectedly Catholic and I think they handle the obvious conflict of a Priest doing violent things quite well.
I'll have to listen to the OST because nothing really stood out for me while watching it.
Acting was excellent, as I say lots of over the top-ness that fit the style of the drama. The only actor i'd even seen before I think was Kim Won Hae, certainly none of the main cast - and I'm thankful I now have enjoyed a bunch of new actors that I can hunt down more dramas for. Everyone did a great job. The production style was consistent throughout and worked very well, whether it's extra sounds or visuals added over the top (oh, the petals.... i'm still laughing at that one).
At the end, they say "we will be back" - suggesting quite strongly at a Season 2, but do not let that make you worry about the ending - this season is *finished* well and Season 2 will be a new story if it happens - THAT is how you do season 2 (yes, I'm still annoyed about Vagabond!).
Overall worth a watch for a break from the usual - this one is more akin to "Good Manager" though dare I suggest even funnier - I am absolutely down for watching Season 2!!
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Visual effects are quite interesting as Lee Ahn uses his ability and they fade the screen between the various memories he's seeing.
Acting - I wasn't totally convinced by Lee Ahn's character, though it wasn't bad at all, just something felt a bit weak in the performance. I thought Jae In was great, and she had some fantastic moments. Sung Mo was brilliant, I found it hard to read him and that gave me some clues as to where his character was heading but even then it wasn't quite 100% - very nicely done.
The little side thing that goes on between Dae Bong and So-Hyun didn't get enough time for me, I thought that was interesting and they only dipped into it occasionally and briefly. It was a good opportunity to expand more on Lee Ahn's best friend and actually put some of the story of him winning So-Hyun over in. It would have added some light moments in between what is otherwise a pretty heavy story. That said, what was in there was good.
Overall I really enjoyed the story, thought the actors did generally a great job and definitely glad to have watched it. The nature of it being a mystery however does make it less interesting to watch a second time as all the mystery is now gone though a second viewing would be interesting to see what clues I missed in the first viewing perhaps.
There's some good surprises and twists in this one - don't let the fact that there are some potential twists that are much more obvious trick you into thinking this one is easily predictable. Definitely worth a watch.
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I thought the plot line on this one was really unusual, the idea of someone changing their bodies entirely was an interesting concept. Se-Gye learns to use her monthly predicament to help people and there are some really nice scenes where she's able to use her acting, her unique placement to help and empathy to make a difference to a few peoples lives. There are also some amusing interactions and a few downright hilarious moments.
General path of the story is a positive one as the two get to know each other and then get closer. There is a tough "bad bit" but it's not really *quite* in the "stupid breakup" category for me, but the cause of the whole thing was an really interesting twist so I felt it added rather than detracted from the story overall.
Actors - where to start...
Seo Hyun Jin is probably one of my new favourite actresses in the kdrama scene, having seen her in this and "Another Miss Oh" previously I find her exceptionally good, and, I don't know, there's something about her voice... I could listen to it for hours :)
Lee Min Ki - initially I was a bit disappointed because the character seems to be just a similar role to the one in "Because this is my first life" - flat, emotionally repressed, stiff. I warmed to the character though and it's definitely appropriate for the story, someone who has no ability to recognise faces is going to have an exceptionally tough time with friendships let alone anything more - so I suspect most end up just closing themselves off. As the story progresses though there are some amazing moments where he's laughing with joy and they were brought that much more to life because of the flatness of the character previously. So, ultimately, yes, very good.
Lee Da Hee - I think Da-Hee is fantastic in everything she does but I felt there was a mismatch in her character - she's the president of an airline, she's pitched as a scary kick-ass lady, but too often she comes across as a weaker character than that. Her story as she opens up to Eun-Ho however was really nice and parallelled Do-Jae's story in that she's just as cold (albeit for different reasons) and this is her warming up and realising she's allowed to enjoy life too.
Direction - I mentioned earlier i'd watched this one after "Another Miss Oh" - and as I was watching it I kept thinking, wow, the direction of this is so familiar... turns out it's the same director, Song Hyun Wook. It made it feel comfortable and familiar having enjoyed Miss-Oh.
Soundtrack was great, looking forward to listening to it in more detail later.
Lastly - just as an aside really, in one of the opening moments there's an awards ceremony, if you've watched miss-oh you should hopefully recognise some of the cast from it flanking Seo Hyun Jin in the audience, in particular Ye Ji Won and Lee Jae Yoon.
Definitely on my re-watch list!
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That was one of the big things for me, because i'm a firm believer that every strong relationship has to have the foundation of a strong friendship, love will wave up and down over time and circumstances but friendship is the glue that keeps everything together.
The journey that the couple take as they progress from friendship through to romance is very warming and fun to watch, there's lots of funny moments to enjoy from all four of the group.
The other couple are good and are going through a different kind of challenge, once you've been together for a long time it's easy for a relationship to feel stale, or for one or both to feel that things haven't moved the way that they'd hoped and thus feel responsible or diminished because of it. It's all nonsense of course, because at the end of the day as long as you both still love and care for each other - what house you live in and what car you drive, what role you have at work and how much you earn, that's all just background noise but people let it get in the way, and that's what's presented with this couple.
There's a secondary story that comes in from the sidelines with the new landlord / building owner which was really nice but I won't go any further into that - keeps you guessing all the way through though.
If I had a beef with the story it's towards the ending, without going into any spoilery detail, essentially an ultimatum is issued, a choice is made and consequences occur - fair enough. But then a bit later, declaration to reverse that choice is made, a different path is taken - and then it's all doubled back on, but this time, apparently it doesn't matter and is glossed over. That was the only bit that really fell apart for me in the story though I can overlook it for what was otherwise 16 episodes of glorious fun to watch.
Definitely recommended.
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This is a story about coping with some of the worst situations and emotions, PTSD, survivors guilt, loss of a child, responsibility guilt to name a few.
When a shopping centre collapses killing 48 people and injuring more, everyone involved has to find a way to deal with their own personal reactions to what happened. 10 years after the collapse, there is a new building going up on the site and old wounds are re opened.
Let's just be clear, this is not a story filled with fluffy moments and joy, I would not recommend this to someone who is having their own troubles particularly, while seeing others work through them may be helpful it could simply add to your pain.
This drama is beautifully written and amazingly acted, some of the scenes in particular are so hard to watch because of the amazing talents of the cast bearing their soul for all. Seeing moon soo break down following a shock or gang doo yelling in frustration to god in the middle of a crowded area are just two, without context they are hard to grasp but suffice to say they stick with you.
This is a hard story, but it is one that brings with it a message of hope, and a warning that wounds whether in the mind or body should not be ignored, they should be treated and recovered from in what ever form that takes.
Picked this one following repeated recommendation from other MDL readers and not disappointed, thanks to you all.
Soundtrack has one stand out for me called Where We, which has borrowed the chord progressions from the Mad World remake by Gary Jules, originally by Tears for Fears. Used well they capture the melancholy feeling of the moments nicely.
Location is a bit different too, most kdrama I have seen tend to be Seoul based, this one appears to be Busan based with some lovely shots of the local bridges and architecture as well as amazing shots from rooftops over the night skyline of the city.
I've marked it low on the rewatch list, I may revise that, it's purely because it's hard and I dont know if I'd want to watch it again, I usually watch the fluffy ones more on repeat than stories like this, but it is one that, if you are in the right mental state to watch it, you absolutely must.
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Complex, but brilliant
There's a lot going on in this drama, and the mix of mental illness can, at times, perhaps make it a little harder to follow but try to hang on and there's a great story here.I'm not a fan of revenge type stories, and i'd argue this maybe is and isn't, there's revenge flying around in all directions though and that adds to the intrigue of unravelling layer after layer of what happened, when, to whom, and understanding that helps understand their motives to that point etc.
Jang Na Ra is, as always, absolutely outstanding. I can't think of a more perfect casting for this. I must admit, initially I thought the story wasn't going to do justice to her range because it seemed like she was just crying or depressed all the time but she can say more with one expression on her face than many actors can with a bunch of lines. As the story progresses you realise there's so much more depth and she's right there to meet the challenge.
The rest of the cast were great also, especially Ah Rin (the young daughter) who played her role beautifully.
Music is excellent, still humming it as I write this review!
As I say, this one isn't a straight forward easy-watch, I watched this over a small period of a few days and it helped keep all the strands understood and in mind, the little things back and forth. They do reflect back a bit but a lot less than many dramas (which I think is a good thing tbh, sometimes some drama episodes feel a bit like clip-shows, not so here), but you'll still need to keep up with it. There's one moment in the story - I won't go into detail - but you will go from end of one episode shocking conclusion to start of the next and genuinely think "wait, I must have missed an episode or three" - you haven't bear with it, it's actually a really interesting approach to telling that part of the story.
The dramas shows some of the prejudices that mental health sufferers can face, the challenges they have against them, but also leaves you with a strong feeling of positivity and hope as well I think.
Well worth the watch when you're in a headspace for something a bit more complex, this is no lightweight :)
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