10 More Slices of Sunshine
Daily Dose of Sunshine is a great K-drama about mental health, with good life lessons and plenty of drama and a touch of romance.
If you’ve finished this one and are looking for something similar, we’ve combed through the archives and saved you the hassle with our top 10 picks for alternate viewing.
Of course for all the shows we’ve reviewed, we’ve also added a handy link so you can check out our full thoughts on that series and see if it’s something you want to invest your time with.
So without further ado, we present 10 TV shows that should whet the appetite when you’ve finished streaming Daily Dose of Sunshine.
It’s Okay To Not Be Okay
Similarities – Mental Health
It’s Okay To Not Be Okay has an original and heart-warming premise with excellent character progression and interesting themes. It’s not easy to portray mental health issues but this drama does a great job depicting this in its rawest form, helped along by some impressive acting from the entire cast.
The story revolves around brothers Moon Kang-Tae and Moon Sang-Tae. They have lived alone since they were very young. After their mother passed away, Kang-Tae has been doing the best he can, protecting and looking after his older brother.
While working in a psychiatric hospital, he meets famous and antisocial Ko Moon-Young who is a famous children’s book writer. The series follows the trio as they face their dark past, slowly peeling away the surface layers to reveal deep traumas they have been living with since childhood.
Move To Heaven
Similarities – Mental Health
Move to Heaven is a very special Korean drama. It’s a show that takes the taboo subject of death and lays it out across 10 episodes, complete with excellent acting, impressive storytelling and tear-jerking segments. I dare anyone to sit through Move to Heaven and not be moved to tears!
Suffering from Aspergers, Geu-Roo is our main protagonist and he’s looked after by his Father Jeong-U. These two live together, running a business called Move to Heaven.
Basically, when a loved one passes away, a team arrive and clear out the room, collecting up any valuables in a yellow box while getting rid of everything else. This team are the Move to Heaven crew.
When Geu-Roo suffers a devastating loss, he’s forced to question everything he once knew. This poignant, beautiful K-drama is well worth watching.
You can read our thoughts on Move To Heaven in our full season review here!
Navillera
Similarities – Mental Health
Navillera is a beautifully written Korean drama, one that dives into the idea of dementia while juggling that with following your dream. At the center of this is Deok-Chool, a sweet old man who learns he’s got dementia, which threatens to aggressively worsen with time.
Unwilling to let this horrible disease hold him back, Deok-Chool sets out to make his dream come true – performing ballet on the stage. To help him, Deok-Chool relies on the help of Chae-Rok, a talented dancer with a short-fuse and a lot of impatience.
Both characters grow across the 12 episodes, culminating in a tear-jerking and beautifully written finale. This is one of the stronger series of 2021 and a definite must-watch.
You can read our thoughts on Navillera in our full season review here!
Mad For Each Other
Similarities – Mental Health & Romance
Mad For Each Other is a simple, 30-minute-episode long drama that’s both enjoyable and well written.
The story centers on two people who have their own painful stories, going through a complicated process of hurting and healing whilst falling in love with each other.
No Hwi-Oh is a hot-headed detective from the violent crimes division. He ends up experiencing extreme bouts of anger, labelled a “crazy person” and forced to attend therapy.
Whilst there, he meets Lee Min-Kyung, a woman who’s paranoid and caught up in her own delusions and compulsions. A shocking incident causes her entire life to break down. When the pair join together, they simultaneously heal and hurt.
This one’s a great option for those looking for a slice of romance alongside a side of mental health we don’t always see on the small screen.
Bojack Horseman
Similarities – Mental Health, Depression
Another unusual pick on the list is Bojack Horseman. What could an animated series on Netflix about a horse have to do with this Korean drama? Well, surprisingly quite a bit. Both shows dive into the subject of mental health, strained relationships and depression. While Bojack does so with more of a cultural wide-sweeping brush, it’s no doubt effective in what it sets out to do.
If you can make it through the first season (which is a bit slow in truth), the rest of the show opens up in the best possible way to deliver something truly poignant and gripping.
You can read our thoughts on Bojack Horseman in our full season review here!
This Is Us
Similarities – Drama, Characters & Mental Health
Admittedly, This Is Us leans in much harder toward its melodrama and soapy character woes than It’s Okay To Not Be Okay. However, its depiction of dysfunctional families and its poignant and oftentimes striking perception of mental health is great to see. It’s something that certainly strikes and chord and only grows in more confidence across its series run.
This Is Us may be a little too American for some palettes but if you can take to the tone, this is one family drama well worth watching.
You can read our thoughts on This Is Us in our full season review here!
Sky Castle
Similarities – Characters & Themes
Sky Castle boasts one of the highest network ratings (reaching nearly 24.5% during its finale) and for good reason too. It’s a remarkable feat, especially when you look back and see the drama hit a measly 1% with its opening episode.
This satirical drama revolves around four housewives residing in an exclusive residential area, desperate to get their kids into university no matter the cost.
While simple in theory, Sky Castle’s examination of class and culture is partly why the show works as well as it does. Alongside this are numerous thought provoking discussions around the parental pressure of excelling at school. All of this combines to make Sky Castle one of the best Korean dramas out there.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo
Similarities – Mental health
Extraordinary Attorney Woo centers on Woo Young-Woo, who happens to be an extremely smart woman who has autism spectrum disorder. She never forgets what she sees but has a lack of social skills. She begins working as a trainee lawyer at a large law firm.
She faces prejudice and irrationality against her from her peers and through the different cases she takes on, although she also approaches them with a fresh perspective that puts her a step above her peers.
As she solves cases with her own unique ways, helped in so small part by her obsession with whales, Woo Young-Woo more than shows what she’s capable of.
Our Blues
Similarities – Mental health
Our Blues is a 20 episode K-drama that essentially works as an anthological slice of life series. The different episodes are broken up into different two or three parters, following residents on Jeju Island as they go about their day.
What’s particularly interesting here though is just how varied these stories are. Not everything works – including a pretty tepid three-parter to get things started – but the sheer amount of diverse storytelling at play is why Our Blues works so well. Tackling topics like Down Syndrome and teen pregnancy through to domestic violence and estranged mother/son relations, Our Blues tackles all of these difficult topics with both sensitivity and confidence.
After Life
Similarities – Mental health
After Life revolves around grieving husband Tony, whose life has come crashing down around him since his wife died unexpectedly of cancer. Angry at the world, Tony lives life on his terms; offending everyone he can and whipping up a whirlwind of chaos everywhere he goes in an attempt to stave off the pain he’s experiencing.
At the end of the day, everyone struggles in life – some are just better at riding that storm than others. After Life is a beautifully written, feel good dramedy that showcases this perfectly. It’s a consistently moving, emotionally charged show about dealing with grief and sticking with the ones closest to you no matter what.
So there we have it, our 10 TV show alternatives to watch when you’re finished watching Daily Dose of Sunshine.
What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!