Tudo Bem Não Ser Normal (2020)

A good and very unique drama

STORY: (full of spoilers)
The drama tells the story of two brothers who have to run away and move regularly to escape from a "Butterfly" who killed their mother. There are flashbacks to tell the youth of these two brothers. 20 years later, KT and ST meet a woman called MY. She is a strange woman with a strong quirky personality with family issues as her mother disappeared and she cut ties with her father who is in a psychiatric clinic with cancer. As she chases after KT because she wants him, the lives of these three people start to closely entangles. Then the truth is unveiled about the death of the mother of KT and ST. That she was killed by MY's mother and this mother who disappeared is in fact one of the nurse working in the clinic with KT. The nurse who revealed herself as the mother then tries to separate them.

The story was simple but told in a unique and mysterious manner using flashbacks and detailed hints and moments of contradicting semi revelations which allow us to have our own understanding and theory about what happened and who is the killer. This was subtly done with a good suspense and it kept me interested in the main plot. Then came the twist and the revelation. I have to say this twist looked a stunt for me. The drama which had a Tim Burtonesque atmosphere suddenly included a psycho killer completely hysterical. How could that lunatic who screams crazily for nothing have hiden her personality for 20 years in a psychiatric clinic? And if she managed to do it, what triggered her to change? I could accept she was alive, she was in hiding as a nurse, she wanted to watch her husband suffer... but why she went back to her black clothings and her crazy days to kill a poor patient in the clinic? Because he injured her daughter? Because she witnessed her daughter becoming "normal" and she could not stand it? Finally I just accepted this unclear reversal of matters and the return of the mother like a temporary stumbling block in the new life of our 3 main leads.

CHARACTERS/CAST:

The gallery of characters presented is the greatest part of this drama. The flashbacks gave a understanding of the personalities of the main leads and made them sympathetics. The sub plots with their own guest characters, events, outcome and lesson of life were very enjoyable and described great character developments.

- KT: The younger brother. His difficult childhood made the person he is : someone who suppressed himself to take care of his brother. He slowly learns to open himself, enjoy things and find a girl for himself. KSY was pretty decent in that role. Young KT and the kid actor were good also.
- ST : He is the older brother and for me he is the most interesting of the two. He has autism disorder and relies on his brother at first but he slowly develops autonomy and responsibility. He finally become a real older brother for both his younger brother and his new younger sister. He even leaves the house in the end to live his own life. OJS did a great job here.
- MY: I just loved her character and SYI nailed it as she portrayed that weird strong quirky woman perfectly. Even her clothes were meaning ful. One woman character who will become iconic in kdramaland. Amazing performance from SYJ and the little girl actress portraying MY was lovely too.
- Jae Su: Loved him for his loyalty and unwavering friendship for the two bother and his great dialogues with KT.
- Ju-Ri: I never hated her even at the beginning. She just looked a bit pathetic but she slowly showed her immature and cute side.
- See Sang In: I liked how loyal he was to MY. He is funny but also mature and reliable for the other people. He and Ju-Ri were cute in their own little almost romance
- Ju Ri's mom: the wise one and acting mother of the people in her house and for MY.
- Seung Jae : I pitied her for always being the victim of Sang In but she had her little vengeance in the end.
Plenty of charismatic, lovely or funny but always interesting characters: Dr Oh, his son, the two patients lovers, the mother who lost her daughter and of course KGD the son of the politician. It was good that the drama gave a nice closure to all of them.

MUSIC:
This drama has the best OST. Every song is nice to listen to. It contributed largely to the special atmosphere of the drama and to its success. Releasing some songs after they were aired in the drama was masterpiece.

REWATCH VALUE:
The story is a little bit too simple but I will gladly rewatch it for the numerous funny, cute, weird scenes with excellent dialogues and quotes.

OVERALL:
Having watched around 400 dramas I have to say this one is a very special drama. I would have called it perfect if the twist was slightly better explained. I totally recommend this drama for its weird, fun, quirky, heartwarming and very human characters and its many good lessons of life. I really loved the long journey of waiting and watching this every week end and also following and discussing this. Thanks to the actors and the crew who made this drama and to the fans. This drama has some flaws but overall it deserves a 10.

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It brought me out of my drama slump this quarantine

....where do I even begin? This drama is amazing!!! It brought me out of my drama slump this quarantine. This is a perfect mix of comedy, romance, thriller, horror, ++ lots of drama and the most important thing is that it is very educational. Special mentions are given to the main cast: Kim SooHyun, Seo Yeji, and Oh JungSe for their incredible, awe-inspiring performances. This show truly gave me goosebumps; I felt emotional at times to the point that I'd reflect on my own life and my relationship with people. I loved the featured mental illnesses and how they portrayed it to us viewers, unapologetically, all real and raw. I honestly didn't know much about these psychological illnesses but this show gave us a glimpse of what people with mental illnesses (as well as the ppl around them) go through including their "healing process."

There's honestly so much more I want to say but I don't wanna lengthen my review as I have a lot of academic papers to finish and I am guilty for even finding time to write this short review HAHA!!! but if you're still unsure about watching this, THIS IS YOUR SIGN TO STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND START WATCHING THIS BEAUTIFUL MASTERPIECE!

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Perfect mixture of new, exciting, fun and beautiful

I really truly enjoyed watching this Drama.
I started it on a wimp since it was getting so much hype and I didn’t know what to watch, so I thought I’d give it a try.

I loved all of the actors and their performances. I think this might even be one of the few K-Dramas where I didn’t have to cringe at how they handled mental disorders. I absolutely fell in love with the lead couple.

Story wise: I loved the whole vibe this Drama gave off, with the children book drawings etc. Giving us a deeper view into the Leads mind. The story to me was absolutely new, nothing I’d seen before. Which made me actually anticipate what will happen next, even tho (sadly) to me the big reveal wasn’t all that big, since I’d kind of seen that coming. It was still really exciting to watch, made me laugh at times and hurt at other times.

If you need something interesting that’s maybe a little twisted, definitely watch this one, I for one was hooked with the first episode.

The reason I’m not giving it a full 10 is that to me it was still missing something at times. It just didn’t feel like a full 10.

The OST is also absolutely beautiful.

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A show that's full of aesthetics !

Where should I start from ?
The show had me from the moment it started . There was never a single episode that felt dragged or stretched . Every scene had it's own essence.
Every character was written and portrayed so beautifully. Kudos to the writer. They created a masterpiece . I don't think I am gonna move on from this show soon . It has set the bars for other kdramas too hight for me.
The osts were mostly in English and I literally have them all downloaded the moment they released . They just blend with the scenes soo well.
The best thing about this show is that it's soo easy yet so heavy at the same time . The fairy tales in certain episodes just strike at your heart so hard that you may end up crying . It's a show where you laugh and cry at the same time .
KIM SOO HYUN he is soo beautiful and soooo talented that it hurts. The way he showed his vulnerability .... Hands down ! The best.
Ye Ji what an actress . Why didn't I know her before ? I can never imagine anybody else playing the role of Ko Mun Yeong and any body else shouting "I LOVE YOU ! Why are you running away" better than her . Her voice , her personality , her elegance , I swear she is my Lady Crush . She is gonna go far after this show.
Did I talk about their chemistry ? Well how do I sum it up ........ They put the scree on FIRE !
And last but absolutely not the least Sang Tae Oppa , He is my favourite . I just wanna hug him soo bad. He is like a pushie .
Please please don't sleep on this masterpiece and watch it . You will actually regret if not because you can't find another serial like this.

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More than just your average Korean melodrama.

I really don't give out 10s easily but this drama has touched me and destroyed me emotionally in the best way possible. Not only was it a melodrama that made me cry tears of joy/sadness but it has challenged me psychologically, and really changed the way how I view life in general. TDLR, this is an emotional rollercoaster that will touch on mental health, childhood trauma, healing, acceptance, and self-love, and it is a rollercoaster that will be worth your time.

Story: I was really scared that this would be a very sad/sappy drama that would romanticize mental illnesses, but I was wrong and I'm glad it didn't turn out that way. Moon Young has antisocial personality disorder. Gang Tae is a caretaker, but inside he is truly depressed and has no sense of self worth. Despite their differences, they eventually learn how to accept each other while keeping each other accountable. The story follows Moon Young, Gang Tae, and Sang tae's path to healing; there are a lot of bumps and dents along the road, but it goes to tell you that the path to healing is not linear, it is a journey. There is tremendous character development that will leave you satisfied, it didn't feel forced or unnatural, it was just right and well paced. I think the story was very well thought out from destigmatizing mental health to small, materialistic things like costumes. I remember reading an article in which the stylist did a lot of research in outfits for every character (ex: Sang Tae wears a lot of stripes because those with autism prefer wearing patterns, nurses wear pastel colors in order to portray mental health facilities as a welcoming place) in order to truly reflect them. At first I was quite thrown off as to why the show chose to have Moon Young be an author for children's stories, but these stories play a very crucial role to the story. It really shows that you don't have to be a child to relate to the lessons these stories teach; they reflect the child like side of the main protagonists and how vulnerable they are. Overall, I was really satisfied, the story felt realistic, and had a good balance of comedy, seriousness, and wholesomeness.

Acting: I could never see this drama succeeding without Seo Ye Ji, Kim Soohyun, Oh Jung Se, and the other cast members. Every interaction in the show felt so genuine, every character had chemistry with one another. Seo Ye Ji has the charisma and charm to portray an 'antisocial' character, Kim Soohyun knows how to truly act , his facial expressions are always on point. I am most impressed with Oh Jung Se's portrayal of Sang Tae. As someone who has an autistic brother, he plays a very accurate portrayal of someone with autism and I really applaud him and the writers for bringing more awareness and understanding for those with autism. Sang Tae and Gang Tae's relationship has a very special place in my heart and I truly loved seeing them grow and overcome the challenges they faced together. One of my biggest pet peeves is when writers cast supporting characters who don't contribute anything and are just fillers. Every supporting character (Ju Ri, Director Lee, Jae Su, Dr. Oh, Ju Ri's mom, etc.) had a contribution to MY, ST, and GT's growth, as well as for the other support characters, whether it was negative or positive. I felt as if they also had their own journey to growth and healing, it was very nice to see supporting characters have an impact on the story and weren't just there for comedy relief and fluff.

I don't rewatch a lot of dramas but I would l can see myself watching this again to relive the emotional rollercoaster and jot down some quotes/dialogue that were really well written. This show will always have a special place to my heart as it really changed my perspective on life and my own self. I feel like regardless of who you are and your background, you can take a lot from this show while seeing the main characters find their own happiness.

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MUST WATCH!!!!

This is one of the best Kdramas I have ever watched. The story is so good such that you get addicted to it.. Its like you become restless for the next episode. The actors just nailed it... luv Kim soohyun and Seo yeji ... They have some beautiful OSTs too.. My fav is Cheez.. A story with a lot of emotions..where they find each other and also find themselves... Trust me never feel discouraged to watch it!!! I am sure you will love it. The story is well written and directed..Even though you will find ko munyeong really cold hearted.. its actually amazing watching her heart warming up..... I love when gangtae cares for her... Its like they were made for each other because only they both can suit each other.. ooooooooo this drama is just amazing.. It also had one of the perfect endings tooo....

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Honestly amazing

I'll be honest, I put this drama off for a long time because I didn't think it would be that good. I heard a lot of good reviews but thought they were exaggerating... they weren't :)
The story is amazing. The little animations are super cute and nicely done, the little stories Ko Moon Young write are also good an interesting. The actual drama's storyline is unique and I haven't watched a kdrama with a similar one before. The storyline about mental health included all different types showing the good and the bad and it was really well done. The fact that the main characters themselves also had their own issues which you discover as the show goes on adds to the idea that everyone has their own problems but you can get through it, whether it be physical or mental. the only issue I had with the storyline was everyone telling Moon Gang Tae to look after his brother as though that's not what he's been doing his whole life, and thus had no life of his own. I understood, however, as many people didn't know his backstory as we, the viewers, did (his mother saying she had him to look after his brother and being killed early in their life). I actually got emotional in a lot of the episodes because the story of different patients got to me as did how relatable the problems some of the characters went through (though not on such a dramatic scale).
Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Ye Ji's acting was incredible, I hadn't watched a drama with either of these factors so I wasn't sure how they would be but they were brilliant. They portrayed their character so well as did the supporting cast. those portraying characters with mental illnesses did exceptionally well, especially Oh Jung Se who played the brother, Moon Sang Tae, who had autism. Just to make this drama even more amazing, the soundtrack was incredibly fitting. I have saved a lot of the songs from this drama to my playlist because they're so good.
Overall this drama made me laugh and cry and I would 100% recommend this to anyone who asked for tv shows to watch.

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Amazing acting

Wow this show. It’s the only k-drama that can catch my attention for the full 16 episodes and keep me wanting for more.

The acting is superb. Main actors were definitely completely suited for the role and i love the supporting characters just as much. They’re highly entertaining and great performers. Seo Ye Ji completely outdone herself. You watch her go from cold to flirty to obnoxious to raw and hurt to loving.

I just love how this show is comedic yet serious when it needs to. It explores serious mental health issues that are very real and does not hold back. It can be heart-wrenching to watch the conflicts at times and that’s the only thing that held me back from giving this a 10/10. Sometimes i feel the show can get a little too heavy for me.

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This Attacked Me to My Core

When I first came across this on Netflix I don't know why but I felt attacked by the title. Even the leads said that they picked this show because of how jaw dropping the title is. Now why would I need to include this, I mean I'm reviewing the show not the title. So why on earth am I emphasizing how the very title of "It's ok not to be ok" attacked me on a personnel level. Well that is just the beginning my friend. Just the beginning of all the tears and laughs I felt after watching this series. This series is not only a great drama but a drama that attacks so many issues that people face. The idea that showing others that your vulnerable seems foreign to some. However, the leads in this drama broke down countless times after experiencing love, hate, and despair. Which I can now proudly say made me cry a waterfall as big as the eerie cannel. To be honest, I wouldn't have rated this so high if I only watched this for the emotion. Because when i said this was an emotional roller-coaster I meant that one moment I could be laughing my but off at the witty female lead. Or crying at the male leads suffering, which to be honest didn't faze me at first. Seo-Yi Ji's character is probably one of that baldest b's I've ever seen in my entire life. Aside from the fact that she legitamently has no filter, she attacks the male lead to the core which attacked me to the core. Now onto one of the things that attacked me the most which was mang-tae or gang-tae I can never remember which one. However, the older brother character made watching this series all the more worthwhile. As he is one of the most accurate portrayels of an autistic adult that I've ever seen in my life. To be honest, I didn't like him at first because of how posesive he was of his brother. However, overtime he matured and became more Independent which I loved in terms of character growth. I forgot the other girls name but the nurse got on my nerves at first but she grew on me good for her. And the crazy character who I will not say due to spoilers is one of the biggest plot armors I've ever encountered in my life. How on earth did that person survive? That is all my friend, watch this you will not regret all 16 hours of it. :) :D

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