Daily Dose of Sunshine Review: Encouragingly initiating a healthy conversation around mental health and the stigma attached to the heavy topic, the latest Netflix K-drama (정신병동에도 아침이 와요) based on Lee Ra-ha’s Naver webtoon Morning Comes to Psychiatric Wards, which is also based on her real-life experiences as a former nurse, stars Park Bo-young as Jung Da-eun, Yeon Woo-jin as Dong Go-geun, Jang Dong-yoon as Song Yu-chan and Lee Jung-eun as Song Hyo-shin. Directed by Lee Jae-kyoo and written by Lee Nam-kyu, the South Korean healing drama series is now streaming on Netflix.
With 12 episodes completing the story, the entire K-drama season was released on November 3, 2023. It also stars Chang Ryul, Lee E-dam, Park Ji-yeon, Jung Woon-seon, Jeon Bae-soo, Lee Sang-hee and Yoo In-soo in pivotal roles. Now available to watch, the series can also be streamed with English dubbed audio and subtitles in addition to other languages for international audiences.
Daily Dose of Sunshine Trailer
–Daily Dose of Sunshine Netflix Kdrama Review Contains No Spoilers-
Daily Dose of Sunshine Review
On being transferred as a nurse to the psychiatric department from internal medicine, Da-eun gets a brief orientation from the chief nurse Song Hyo-shin who introduces the place as the first department in the hospital to get its daily dose of sunshine due to the lack of curtains. As part of her first day while getting prepped in, Da-eun is battered with an overwhelming welcome and is struck by a patient during her manic episode.
Despite her bright and earnestly caregiving nature, it’s a lot for her to take in, but she eventually gets settled into all that commotion and even ends up finding a place for herself. But just as she seems to be getting used to the flow, she overhears her former boss from internal medicine confiding in Nurse Song Hyo-sin about how she’s not cut out for this job.
The whole series presents itself as a learning process. Although we enter into the inner lives of these nurses from the psychiatric ward and the patients therein, through Da-eun’s POV, it all gradually shapes into being a lot bigger than just her story. Rather, the K-drama takes on a very relatable image, making it as easy as possible for us to dig into the loaded discussion around mental health, its repercussions and how people’s behaviour and words hold such great power to make or break a lot of things, even someone’s self-esteem.
Daily Dose of Sunshine‘s screenplay interestingly builds this case and helps convey the depths of the wide spectrum of mental disorders that can’t always be verbally explained. The metaphoric imageries explaining the waves of mental issues blend in with the present lived realities of the characters, and these transitions are so effective and quick-wittedly seamless that they will compel you to empathise with the person going through it all.
Unlike the Seo Ya-ji and Kim Soo-hyun starrer It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, Park Bo-young’s series doesn’t take as much of the dark route, rather, it employs a lighthearted and easy-going approach as Park Eun-bin’s Extraordinary Attorney Woo. Each episode deals with a new topic while simultaneously and step-by-step building a case for the main characters. Yet it also doesn’t shy away from tipping over the scale to emphasise certain reminders by further adding layers to the rather plain, kind and angelic persona of Park Bo-young’s character as she’s introduced to us in the first few episodes.
The first few episodes offer you a warm welcome into the series with somewhat comical undertones while also interweaving the paramount discussions that need to be had. Once you ease into the show’s journey, the episodes gradually take a turn towards more layered nuances of certain characters who may have seemed to be leaning towards a stereotypical presence, especially Park Bo-young’s Da-eun.
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She effectively comes across as the easy-to-like nurse you’d like to be by your side, and even the rest of the nursing staff acknowledges this over time, with her personality and habits reminding them of heir softer side too instead of the their internalised copious habits of browsing through a patient’s medical history and reducing them to numbers and other stats.
Yeon Woo-jin, on the other hand, consistently stays on as the comic relief, but the show doesn’t necessarily bring him down as a mere jokester. His presence adds to the warmth of the series and as soon as he drops by, you will feel yourself feeling at ease and smiling too. Additionally, what remained with me was, how, at a point, nurses of the psychiatric ward call Lee Jung-eun’s character “Mama Nurse”, and she affectionately delivers on that part.
All 12 episodes illustrate a range of stories, from not just explaining a spectrum of mental disorders and how nurses and doctors deal with it – but also how these two healthcare teams work together and the nature of their co-existence in this professional setup while reminding us that at the end of the day, they’re all people, and need time to heal.
Moreover, the relationship between patients and nurses is also heartwarmingly brought up into the story, considering this K-drama has been weaved out of Lee Ra-ha’s webtoon, a former nurse who is well familiar with the workings of this space. This fact endows the entire narrative with a more personal and heartrending touch. At one point, the surviving family members of a deceased are brought into the story, and that subplot adds more heart to the already affecting message of the series that movingly takes a deep dive into human relationships and our emotional makeup.
Among these many greats, I must also mention the one off-putting aspect of the series – the same old messy love triangle arc not leaving us. Although it’s resolved humanely, its stereotypical inclusion switches up the mood, which in a way also takes away our attention from other pressing matters at some places along the journey. It’s infuriating to find the misplaced classic trope being carried along in every other K-drama after all this time. Despite all the progressive routes being taken by the K-drama format, this one regressive element just doesn’t seem to clear off the path.
Daily Dose of Sunshine Kdrama: Final Thoughts
This series again reminded me how most of us aren’t equipped with the sensitivity and understanding to empathise with someone’s mental problems. And in cases, some of us get onto that first step, barely anyone of us know how to actually deal with the issues and help/support the ones in need of care. The Netflix web series illustrates this lack clearly too, that a lot of times we may think we’re helping someone, but it might just end up worsening the case, which again proves our lack of awareness of all things related to mental health. It’s a good wake-up call, especially after the pandemic.
All in all, the show’s light and beamy approach to this rather overwhelming topic that’s often stigmatised makes it easier for us to consume the series without any troubles or setbacks. With its personal and even relatable tone, the show has the power to effectively bring people to understanding the depths of this darkness that can eventually be won over by the same “old fashioned” and “cliched” thing we’re all in search for – hope.
Daily Dose of Sunshine is now streaming on Netflix.
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Pretty good, its kinda fun where funny happens like every minutes and not every half houer,
I could watch annother 8 episodes like this,
Buuut im at episode 4 like 17: 50, god grief what with the stupid rules, let the slaves eat good food,
AND THAT FRIGGING FOUR EYES DONT HELPING UT, its turns this show DOWN and not funny, i hope for god sake its NOT HAPPEN TOO OFTEN, what is she the boss of that whole hospitol???
AND STOP YELLING AT THE NEW GIRL SHES DOING HER FUCKING BEST,
anyway if i was eating something i want and she tried to take it, SHE WOULD BECOME MY MEAL……
A bit looooong episodes but Keep this this one going
My score: 3.0 of 5