Overview of Daily Dose of Sunshine
Following the global craze for Korean zombie series, including ‘All of Us Are Dead‘ which became the fourth most popular non-English series on Netflix, director Lee Jae-kyoo teams up with Netflix once again to helm a heartwarming drama filled with humanity.
The latest series on Netflix, ‘Daily Dose of Sunshine’ follows the adventures of a young nurse working in a busy mental ward at Myung Shin University Hospital. Jung Da-eun (Park Bo-young), is a charming nurse in the psychiatry department, who interacts with patients and gives them all the needed care. Her compassionate nature helps heal both her patients and those around her.
Profile
- Drama: Daily Dose of Sunshine
- Directors: Lee Jae-kyoo and Kim Nam-su
- Writers: Lee Nam-gyu, Oh Bo-hyun, and Kim Da-hee
- Network: Netflix
- Episodes: 12
- Release Date: November 3, 2023
- Language: Korean
- Country: South Korea
Cast
- Park Bo-young as Jung Da-eun: a third-year nurse who gets transferred from Internal Medicine to the Psychiatric Department.
- Yeon Woo-jin as Dong Go-yun: a proctologist with an erratic personality.
- Jang Dong-yoon as Song Yu-chan: Da-eun’s best friend who always quarrels with her.
- Lee Jung-eun as Song Hyo-shin: the chief nurse of the Psychiatric Department.
Supporting
- Park Ji-yeon as Hong Jeong-ran: Da-eun’s college classmate and a nurse at the Psychiatric Department.
- Jeon Bae-soo as Yoon Man-cheon: a nurse at the Psychiatric Department.
- Lee Yi-dam as Min Deul-re: a nurse at the Psychiatric Department.
- Lee Sang-hee as Park Soo-yeon: a nurse at the Psychiatric Department.
- Jung Woon-sun as Oh Ri-na: Da-eun’s first patient who has a bipolar disorder.
- Jo Dal-hwan as Kim Sung-sik: Da-eun’s patient who has an anxiety disorder.
- Roh Jae-won as Kim Seo-wan: Da-eun’s patient who has a bipolar disorder.
- Park Sung-yeon as an internal medicine head nurse
- Joo In-young as Nurse Lee
- Hwang Young-hee as Da-eun’s mother
- Cha Mi-kyung as Ri-na’s mother
- Kim Yeo-jin as Kwon Ju-yeong
- Kwon Han-sol as Jung Ha-ram
Synopsis
Jung Da-eun (Park Bo-young) is a skilled nurse working at the internal medicine unit of Myung Shin University Hospital who is very nice to the patients. One day, Da-eun’s senior nurse told Da-eun to shift to the psychiatric unit as she would do better in the psychiatric unit. It turns out that Da-eun is a burden on the nurses in the internal medicine unit because she’s too nice to the patients and ends up wasting too much time.
Da-eun is completely new to psychiatry, and in the beginning, she had a very hard time understanding patients and their erratic behaviour. Another character is introduced, Oh Ri-na (Jung Woon-sun), Da-eun’s first patient who has bipolar disorder. Oh Ri-na is an exhibitionist who has never done anything for herself; she has just been her mother’s puppet. Da-eun slowly understands Ri-na, stands with her on the road to recovery, and helps Ri-na connect with her mother.
Meanwhile, a patient named Kim Seo-Wan (Roh Jae-won) who has bipolar disorder finds affection for Da-eun because, unlike other nurses, Da-eun patiently listens to what he says. Seo-wan has delusions, and he believes himself to be a player in a video game and labels Da-eun as his mediator because she is kind and helpful to everybody.
Dong Go-yun (Yeon Woo-jin) is a proctologist with an erratic personality and is smitten by Da-eun after noticing how nice she is to the patients. Go-yun is a person with OCD; however, it goes away when he’s near Da-eun. In the meantime, Da-eun is unaware that her best friend Song Yu-chan (Jang Dong-yoon), who always quarrels with her, has a panic disorder, and because of that, he even quits the high-paid office job he was great at.
Da-eun is still learning to adjust to the ropes of the psychiatric department and messes up with a patient who has severe anxiety because of work. Da-eun makes a huge mistake in the hopes of trying to help the man, and this leads the hospital to take up responsibility because the patient is meant to be shifted at the same time. Da-eun feels terrible and decides to go back to the hospital and fix her mistake.
Da-eun’s best friend, Song Yu-chan has feelings for Da-eun, and he also happens to be friends with the doctor, who is also crushing on her. It seems Yu-chan never found the right time to tell her that he has liked her since high school. Even so, Yu-chan still respects and likes Da-eun a lot. Da-eun is the one who first notices Yu-chan’s panic disorder and leads him to the hospital to get well. For Yu-chan, whenever he feels himself drowning in panic and anxiety, Da-eun is like his life jacket.
There is a young patient in the hospital who believes Da-eun has stolen the money from her and starts to act out in the hospital. Da-eun faced so much trouble from the patient, and eventually, Da-eun decided to listen to her life story. The young girl, who was living on her own to find a job, got scammed with the false hope of a job, and she lost everything. After opening up to Da-eun, the young girl starts to recover and apologizes. Da-eun accompanies the young girl to the bank so she can start to save money again. Da-eun’s other patient, Kim Seo-wan, gives Da-eun a special card to return the young girl’s money, making Da-eun feel very special.
Kim Seo-wan’s Untold Past & His Death
Kim Seo-wan used to be a student attempting to crack the civil servant exam. He tried too hard and ended up getting tempted to visit an internet cafe for some enjoyment. Because of the stress of clearing the exam and making something of himself, Kim Seo-wan convinced himself to enter the world of video games.
At present, with the right treatment, Seo-wan finally shows signs of recovery from his bipolar disorder, and he asks Da-eun to bring him some books for the exam. After a little while, he recovers enough to get discharged and goes back to working hard on the exam. When it’s time for the examination, Seo-wan becomes stressed again, and because of that stress, he even thinks that he is good for nothing and pretends to be sick again. When Da-eun recognises this, she informs the head nurse. Unfortunately, it was too much for Seo-won to handle, and he ended up taking his life by jumping off a building.
How Seo-wan’s Death Affects Jung Da-eun
Before taking his life, Seo-wan calls Da-eun to talk for a bit, but she’s distracted as she is with Dong Go-yun, who has just told her that he likes her. When she finds out about the death of Seo-wan, she completely breaks down and becomes depressed. Even a month after the incident, Da-eun realises she is not okay and takes a few days off duty.
Da-eun starts to blame herself for Seo-wan’s death, and she tries to take her own life by walking into oncoming traffic. Go-yun helps Da-eun’s mother (Hwang Young-hee) take her to a different psychiatric hospital to heal. At first, Da-eun feels annoyed, and she doesn’t take her medication. Finally, she realises that she would have tried to kill herself, and that’s why she lands up for treatment. After Da-eun’s father’s demise, her mother took over all of the responsibilities, and because of this, Da-eun suppressed her emotions and felt like a burden, eventually leading to a breakdown.
Ending Explained
Jung Da-eun puts her efforts into self-recovery, and she starts to admit how much the death of her patient has impacted her. Da-eun starts to get a lot of value from her previous patients, and she learns to write compliments for herself every day.
The head nurse, Song Hyo-shin (Lee Jung-eun), and other nurses are working hard to cover for Da-eun. All become overjoyed when they hear Da-eun is returning to work. Da-eun, on the other hand, is under the impression that she can’t go back to being a nurse because a sick person cannot treat sickness. The head nurse convinces Da-eun to return, and once she returns, everyone supports her, as the head nurse has already told other people that they should see Da-eun as their family.
Theme
‘Daily Dose of Sunshine’ aims to heal the hearts and minds of people along with a glimpse of several mental health topics, including mental disorders and stigma. The series documents the stories of various characters, each dealing with their mental health struggles, while beautifully bringing it all together with the rest of the cast.
South Korea has a very rocky track record in mental health. The stress of work and family responsibilities are known to trigger health problems. However, mental health issues, which have long been stigmatised in the country, are rarely acknowledged to the same degree. ‘Daily Dose of Sunshine’ offers exactly what the title promises: a dose of sunshine to insights into mental health and the stigma surrounding it in Korea.
The series is about hope, and by the end of the drama, the writers ensure that all of these characters receive closure and prioritise their mental needs beyond anything else. The central character, nurse Jung Da-eun, also becomes a better person after her learning experiences.
Awards
No information is available.
Interesting Facts about Daily Dose of Sunshine
- The drama is based on the Kakao webtoon of the same Korean title by Lee Ra-ha, a former nurse, highlighting the author’s real-life experiences.
- The drama ranked first in the daily top ten list in South Korea.
- The writing of the drama is sensitively handled without compromising on its core idea of sending ‘hope’ to suffering.
- The series has been available for less than a week on the platform.
- The official trailer of the drama was released on 19 October 2023.
- Yeon Woo-jin’s thick, inflamed fingers in the drama were created with a 2-hour lasting special makeup and computer graphics.
- Jang Dong-yoon’s drowning scene in the drama was conducted by submerging the set in a large tank.
- Park Bo-young says she felt a strong connection with the character Kim Seo-wan played by Roh Jae-won not just on screen, but also personally.
- The final dragon encounter scene underwent over 50 music adjustments to capture the accurate nuances and essence.
- A scene where Da-eun runs into oncoming traffic was filmed after getting special approval from the police.
- The director used sponges, slime, styrofoam, and other props to depict the sinking feeling of depression.
FAQs
- Who are the writer and director of ‘Daily Dose of Sunshine’?
Lee Nam-gyu, Oh Bo-hyun, and Kim Da-hee are writers and Lee Jae-kyoo and Kim Nam-su are the directors of the drama.
- What is the genre of ‘Daily Dose of Sunshine’?
The drama falls into the comedy and medical drama genres.
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How many episodes are in ‘Daily Dose of Sunshine’?
The drama has concluded a successful 12-episode run. - Is the K-drama ‘Daily Dose of Sunshine’ worth watching?
‘Daily Dose of Sunshine’ is an excellent webtoon-inspired South Korean drama that portrays important life lessons and tackles mental health through a specific lens. A positive and perfect K-drama for days when you need a pick-me-up. - What is the Instagram ID of Park Bo-young?
boyoung0212_official is the Instagram ID of Park Bo-young. - What is the Instagram ID of Yeon Woo-jin?
wj_yeon is the Instagram ID of Yeon Woo-jin.
