An absolutely phenomenal viewing experience.

Personally, I love shows that explore mental health and human psychology, so that on its own was already a good enough hook for me. However, I think what completely sold me was the aesthetic value of IOTNBO. In terms of cinematography, I thought that the shot transitions were incredibly well done; in particular, the ones that stuck with me were 1) the manic episode of a patient in either episode 3/4, 2) the scenes where we had young Moon Young, Kang Tae and Sang Tae film with the adult versions of the three main characters. Accompanied by an overall amazing OST, the entire production of IOTNBO is an artful masterpiece.

Script was super well-written - there were a lot of thought provoking statements scattered across the entire show, and I felt that each scene was so thought out and significant to the plot. I want to give kudos to the author for having been able to keep me on my toes every weekend. I was always excited for the next episode to come out, so I think it's safe to say that my weekends will never be the same again after watching this show. One more thing that I guess falls under the script category would be the lessons that can be derived especially from the stories written by our female lead, Go Moon Young. Although the fairy tales were really short, I thought that they were relatable and carried such deep meanings.

Another beautiful thing about IOTNBO was the costumes and sets. I greatly admire the costume director's attention to detail when it came to dressing the characters. When you have a chance, you should check out the online articles talking about what how she came up with the concepts behind each character's costumes. I harbor the same feeling for the set designers - my two favorite sets of IOTNBO were the dining room and kitchen in the Cursed Castle, and Director Oh's office in OK Hospital. I thought they were both very charming and I loved the color palettes for and the knick-knacks that they had in each room.

Now for the actors and the characters they play. In general, I thought that all the characters had depth and that they were very lovable. Some of the supporting cast also made things a lot more lighthearted knowing the fact that IOTNBO was a show with some pretty heavy themes (honorable mentions to Ahjumma, Director Oh, Head Nurse Park, Joo Ri, Sang In, Seung Jae and Jae Su). However, I think for this essay of a review, I will focus on the character development of the three main characters of IOTNBO.

Seo Ye Ji as Go Moon Young was out of this world. Cold and unable to overcome the demons of her past, Moon Young grew up having feared her mother her entire life. Despite that, Moon Young was incredibly perceptive and was able to see through people, almost always doing the right things for those around her. I'm glad that as the episodes progressed and Moon Young learned to be more empathetic, she gradually began to understand what it means to love and be loved. I couldn't imagine another actress who would've done Go Moon Young justice.

Kim Soo Hyun also did a really good job with Kang Tae, and I liked how after being so lonely for so long, and having to fend for himself and his brother, he learned to open up and lean on others as the series goes on. I think throughout this whole show, Kang Tae was the character who had to take on the most emotional burden. But since his default is to protect those around him, he ends up neglecting himself. Towards the end of the show, he learned to face his problems head on, and also started putting himself first.

Our final main lead was Oh Jung Se as Moon Sang Tae, and man did he nail the role. There are so many nuances to Sang Tae's character, and the fact that Oh Jung Se was able to capture all of it was amazing. Sang Tae's character development was the most prominent and heartwarming. and the way I like to see it is that while Moon Young and Kang Tae's development was like an upward curving arc, Sang Tae's development was more step-wise. He sort of takes in everything and processes the information, and then applying whatever he has learned to his life. Sang Tae learning that blood does not equal family, and understanding that overcoming his trauma will help him protect his loved ones, moved me beyond comprehension.

All in all, I think that IOTNBO was a cinematic genius. With many scenes that sort of made me sit back and think about what was going on, I was granted the opportunity to make open-ended assumptions and references to other scenes. I really enjoyed talking to my friends about the drama while watching it, having discussions about the mental health themes and applying the lessons I learned from the drama in my own life. A very important takeaway that I got from the drama was also that most problems in life aren't as big as we think they are. We just have to gain the courage to look them in the eye, and take the steps necessary to overcome them.

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