Nevertheless, (2021)

Odd, yet surprisingly good

Upon reading all of the reviews online I was very sceptic at first. I expected this to end up being one of those filler dramas for me, which felt horrible as I wished for Song Kang to appear in some really good drama after how much of a fiasco was PERSONALY FOR ME Love Alarm.




I was amazed.

Despite all of the reviews, the show made me get incredibly attached to both the leads. Don't get me wrong, I hated them both, but their story progression and past made me wish good for them. I have to say, the drama is very split, 1st half is filled with exciting moments, realistic yet unrealistic settings, while the second half is more somber, melancholic and leaves strong emotions.

Another point I always saw in reviews was the lack of symoblism, which I honestly never found to be there. There are plenty of symbolisms, a lot of connections to other parts of the story, the name of the story, NaBi's name itself. All of it was connected not only through the story and what we saw, but also through the idea of everyone being an art student - which again, despite being critiqued a lot, because it apparently made the scenery boring for some people, I accepted very well, it made me think more about the story too (this is a kdrama, ofc there isn't a masterminded plot of artistic expressions, but it did deal with some topics of art and I was very happy to see that as school-placed dramas are one of my favourites, it was a breeze of fresh air to finaly not have the leads be either super smart math kids against bullied kids or smt like that, which I find is often used in school dramas - social status etc.)

What made me very happy was the OST - there are very few OSTs I remember and listen to and Butterfly is one of them. Considering the fact most of the OSTs on my playlist are there because they are by one of my favourite artists or were covered by them, this is pretty amazing to me.




If I had to put Nevertheless in some form of a category, it would be really, really hard. It did earn a spot as one of my top favourites and I am still amazed. And even after watching BEFORE reading the webtoon, I know the webtoon will be worth my time and I will read it - because this was a rollercoaster of emotions, relationships and everything.

Leia Mais

Relationships with fear !

I might have a different take on the two main leads....I think they are both dealing with fear and to be in that state, we are observing what happens! The FL, of course, after having been used and abused is heading into a toxic place that is hard to control for her. She has lost some self esteem and is trying to regain her footing. The ML I don't think is as much of a playboy as it is being portrayed so far. For whatever reason that hasn't been disclosed yet, he is non-committal. But now he has met his match! A girl that has captured his heart. Each person playing their part in this drama is amazing. And each relationship we are witnessing is bringing to surface their weaknesses. So let's see how it all unfolds. It sure has captivated my interest!

Leia Mais

yall would probably hate it

im a person that is uncomfortable with the whole concept of relationships, and i mainly just respect the attractiveness of people lol, so keep that in mind when reading my review.

also, i really needed this ending after what happened in love alarm s2, so thank you to the director of nevertheless,

story:
i really hated some episodes of this drama, especially the ones near the end. i loved the last episode (but i know a lot of yall would really strongly disagree). im happy with how the whole thing turned out. i've kinda always rooted for jaeon since the beginning, but near the end (like eps 7-8) i started just hoping that nabi would end up with noone, because jaeon had fucked up so badly. i never liked do hyeok. he doesn't match with nabi at all. sure, he's sweet, but i feel like he's more of a little brother than an actual boyfriend. yes, jaeon is toxic and he was a walking red flag, but id like to think that he's changed near the end of the drama. yall can come for me idrc

acting/cast:
song kang is so bad at acting- there mightve been like 2 scenes where i thought he was decent but otherwise.. i don't think he plays the character *that* well. he's just attractive and that's why he's popular (which i'm not complaining btw, i'm not that picky about how good someone's acting is). the female lead (nabi - idk her real name) is pretty good at acting. she's also pretty :)

music:
i got so tired of the music so i'm just not gonna say anything abt it. it's not necessarily bad.

rewatch value:
i might rewatch a couple episodes in the future, but definitely not the whole drama.

overall:
don't watch this if you like sweet innocent boys lol. it'll probably make you really mad.

Leia Mais

Two sides of a coin

I watched this the first time more from the female lead's perspective. I thought, "This was a good story"--then, it dawned on me that if i watched it a second time from the male lead's perspective i would get a dramatically different feel for the story. I really don't understand the bad reviews. The second time around I admired and enjoyed nuances of the acting I missed the first time. The main relationship as well as the secondary ones leaves an opening for dialogue about modern relationships and the choices made. The music was awesome. The story had more depth than originally perceived. I would watch it a 3rd time, but I'm going to wait a few weeks to see if the 3rd time offers more insights. The two main leads were very expressive when you add more layers to their thoughts. They were young adults stumbling through what a relationship is and how to develop one. Akwardness, insecurity, intensity, the occasional snippy comment...seems very realistic.

Leia Mais

two young people trying to come to terms with commitment and love.

First of all the aesthetics of the mundane lives of artists was so beautiful. the filming locations were so cozy and the cinetography was amazing, the music also matched perfectly and pulls together an over all romantic melancholy feeling. leaves you with such a pit feeling in your stomach like you just relived the hardest emotional trials in your life. It feels so realistic that the story could be told to you by a friend in day to day life.. It does indeed drag by the middle end, and the ended is up to how you'd interpret it I feel that it's still realistic no relationship starts pretty, they both decided to take a change on eachother and finally be honest with eachother and I think that's beautiful, they accepted eachother through all the hurt they cased eachother (she caused him just as much pain in uncertainty then he did to her and he was honest the entire time she knew what he was about.)
But if you're expecting what the webtoon gives you I would just count it as it's own entity separate from the webtoon because the endings are very different and they made the male lead go in a very different direction and I like him better in the kdrama hahaha who wouldn't honestly!!
The butterfly stuff was so pretty, I just loved how it added to the overall aesthetic and its just through and through a cozy yet emotional watch!!
p.s. I loved all of the side characters so much! Bitna was my favorite in the side characters!! But, I didn't see the chemistry in the 2nd love interest to Nabi but that may just be me lol (I cant even remember his name) honestly any other person didn't have the chemistry with Nabi that Jaeon did, they had an undeniable connection, they just needed to figure out how to grow up and properly treat eachother!!
any way it's toxic because they're immature but I think they grow by finally being honest with eachother and I wished them a beautiful future together by the end.

Leia Mais

Nevertheless is a slow-burn romance that is both frustrating and satisfying.

Nevertheless is a slow-burn romance that is both frustrating and satisfying. The characters are well-developed and the actors give phenomenal performances. The cinematography is beautiful and the soundtrack is perfect.

The show is not without its flaws. The pacing can be slow at times, and the characters' actions can be frustrating. However, the show's strengths far outweigh its weaknesses. The characters are complex and relatable, and the show's exploration of love, sex, and relationships is both honest and insightful.

Overall, Nevertheless is a well-made and enjoyable show. It is not for everyone, but if you are a fan of slow-burn romances, then you will definitely want to check it out.

Leia Mais

Original and daring

Original, thought-provoking, and daring. A masterpiece as far as the Korean series go. The actors all did a fantastic job and the variety of characters, their quirks, and sheer reality of their depictions leave one glued to the screen.
It is sad that this series gets such a bad rep on various social media outlets. People who like a typical sugar-coated, far-fetched, conservative Korean drama might not actually like this series. For the rest of us, it is a breath of fresh air.
The bulk of negative comments online surround the male lead character and his "poisonous" personality. Also, the relationship between the male and female leads is frequently described as toxic. If you watch this and your negatives only pertain to the male lead - you have missed a lot.
The male lead does not want a relationship - the female lead does not want love. She is raised by a mother so frequently in and out of love that she is determined not to go down the same route. He does not think one needs to settle. Their physical attraction and their inexperienced selves think they can handle a detached and aloof relationship - that was their common starting point. Yet they fall for each other without even knowing it- and they spend a good amount of time denying it.
This is a story about love if there ever was one. A story that is much more rooted in modern reality than 90% of shows out there. It is original, heartfelt, and exudes love and emotions. A coming of age and growing-up story, too.

Leia Mais

A genuine slice of life as a young adult

Right off the bat I am going to say that I am old enough to be your grandmother or even your great grandmother….so my review comes with having lived this myself. Both as the ML and the FL.

When a child never has had any love bestowed upon them to speak of, they carry that burden with them perhaps their whole life. The kind of love that is needed in a committed relationship needs to be taught to a child throughout the time they live at home…or they enter the outside world with no real knowledge of what it means to love. The ML suffers from that to some extent. He finds it hard to take the next step….to reach out….for fear of being abandoned. It is seen, quite often that children like this, becoming adults, will often use sex to get close to someone….it is their version of love and it holds less danger to them emotionally. I know this to be true for that was me, well into my 30’s.

However, we see that the ML is gentle and kind to the FL…..he is always honest with her…he doesn’t make promises he cannot keep. But through lack of training as a child….he doesn’t know how to take the next step from sex to expressing love on a wider spectrum. He tells her right from the start what he would like the relationship to be….he asks her many times if what they are doing is okay with her. When he is with her…..he gives her his full attention. He is a gentle lover in bed. At some point early on he falls for her but he doesn’t know what to do next and he founders.

The FL is mentally and emotionally deranged. She is what we call a basket case. She really shouldn’t be in a relationship. She has too much baggage. She doesn’t love or trust herself and therefore she doesn’t know how to love or trust someone else. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen in my long time friends that the type of behavior shown by the FL, in real life, has damaged young men so traumatically from the push pull, emotionally blackmailing, demanding type of behavior that they never quite recover and carry a mistrust of women their whole life.

She is really unkind to him. And he just stands there and takes it. He doesn’t make nasty comments back to her. She continually tells him to leave her alone….then has a snit when he does. She does this in so many ways…I relate to this on a very deep level…..I was that woman for a very long time myself and I destroyed several relationships with my mistrusting suspicious behavior.

Then instead of taking some time to heal from leaving him, she instead jumps into another relationship….she says to herself at one point “Am I cheating”. Yes, you are. You know this other man is in love with you but you don’t care, you just string him along and make rationalizations to yourself. I’ve done that too. So you hurt the SML in the same way that you accused the ML of.

I know its a movie….but I kept thinking to myself….it is clear to anyone that the ML is head over heels in love with her…he is always sincere with her…and he never lies to her. How can she not see it? The truth is that she feels unworthy of love…here is this handsome, sweet man, and she feels unworthy and she projects that insecurity constantly.

I want to say something about the situation where she thought he was having an affair. In a relationship…you need to trust the other person. If they say “no” then trust them. Don’t spend hours, days or weeks throwing it back up to them. If you feel you can’t trust what they say then the only option is to leave the relationship. If someone is a quiet person like he is, respect that. He wasn’t a coward….he just didn’t see the need for hour long discussions. See, the main problem here was she was trying to remake him into what she wanted him to be….and didn’t care about who he really was. Did she ever take the time to actually get to know him? No. It was all about her. In every scene, even at the end, it was still all about her. She is living a self-fulfilling prophecy. If her main thought is this won’t work, I’ll be unhappy then she has already programmed the relationship to fail.

And lastly, they were young adults. I don’t see any thing wrong with his behavior that he was dating and bedding as many women as he wanted to. He was always nice and considerate to all of them. And after doing so for a long time, he finally found someone that he was ready to commit to. Is that wrong? I don’t think so.

Please….do not keep throwing up “old baggage” to the other person in a relationship. It will destroy the relationship.

Leia Mais

I absolutely loved this drama. Off late I have been used to watching very lame and juvenile dramas such as my beloved summer. I usually love a sweet slice of life such as fight for my way or reply 1997 but since 2020 we get dramas where all the characters have Peter Pan syndrome. Characters who act like tantrummy toddlers and behave in such a non adult way. They throw tantrums and cry and break up. There is no real intimacy in short a story right of a Disney movie. This drama was such a refreshing genre breaker. Real life is often exactly like this. People sometimes get drawn to each other because they are physically attracted and then it graduates to something deeper. Most dramas show heroines like wooden dolls admirable characters but people with zero physical desire. The character portrayal of nabi was so on point. She was a passionate soul as was evidenced by her amazing talent as a sculptor but she was so conditioned by the social culture which tends to put labels on people as sl#t shame them. This drama was about her awakening and navigating through it all.
Also in the wake of Harvey Weinstein and Jeffry E, consent has become so important and no drama usually do that well however this angle was explored beautifully with no characters ever crossing boundaries. I feel that some of what women go through with their bodies and the physical pain that they feel at specific times was also such a healthy thing to show. I wish more Korean dramas did that. I have seen a few Chinese dramas show this such as put your head on my shoulder (I love that drama) and I always love it when these things are addressed.
The redemption arc of main lead was awesome since he did not have a linear path but he went back and forth, sometimes slipping on his path to being a better person till he could find his Center. I think that was beautifully done. He also received his comeuppance since he realised that lot of people actually did not like him and were hurt by his actions. I feel that both the hero and the heroine fit like two imperfect peas in a pod.
My only beef with this drama was that this drama showed clearly rich kids since no one seem to have any financial problems and that was unrealistic. How were they thinking of earning money and what were some of the avenues they wanted to do beyond college. I wish that was addressed since I think before love, what concerns a college person is how will they earn and make a living in this world. And I thought that this bit was very poorly done. There should have been some focus on this. It felt too easy peasy for people to earn money, like hey I will open a noodle shop and hey I will earn pots of money, hey I will make metal sculpture and I will earn pots of money that is so unrealistic and unreasonable

Leia Mais

It was alright (No super major spoilers but might be able to tell the ending)

The show started off interesting and different but ended up bland and repetitive to me. After episode 5 I wasn't interested in watching every week so I waited until episode 9 came out to start watching again and my feelings about the drama did not change. It kind of feels like a waste of time with the ending but maybe that's because I thought a different message was trying to be told. Nevertheless, the actors did a great job portraying their characters, the side couples were great, and the music was good. A couple more points from me...

- Nabi and Jae-eon needed more character development, point blank period ESPECIALLY with the ending on PJE's part.
- All the side characters/relationships were more interesting than the main characters/relationship
- Do Hyeok was an unnecessary character
- I guess the show is still realistic because people are really like Nabi and Jae-eon from start to finish whether we like it or not.
- The show was ok, not terrible but not great either

Overall, watch the show if you have patience and don't watch with any expectations for either of the main leads lol

Leia Mais

sultry, compelling, subtle

This drama is about giving in to your deep guilty pleasures, for once not caring about the rigid standards of relationships in society in order to lose yourself in this work of art.

The alluring soundtrack, the deep emotions conveyed by just a single stare, the subtle-but-clearly-there tension. "Nevertheless" is quality. It cares not about the standard and seeks to break the mould and honestly? It's refreshing. I do not care what is perceived as "right" or "wrong". This is about immersing yourself in a drama that doesn't care about the consequences.

The sexual tension is on peak and I'm here for it.

Leia Mais

Underrated and undervalued

I wanted to write a review for this drama because I think it is vastly underrated. Reading the comments it was clear that the toxic elements in the main relationship were a serious problem for a lot of people. As far as I’m concerned, showing toxic relationships is not a problem as long as the consequences are also honestly shown. And for me, this drama does that. There is a beautiful moment of show-not-tell in the very last scene which I will write at at the bottom as a spoiler. And that moment spoke volumes to me.

I thought it a beautifully insightful show about the types of relationships that happen in your inexperienced early twenties, when you are trying to live the fantasy of your adolescence and start to realise that a great deal more is required of you than you had expected. That however much you assumed it was going to be possible, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Love it seems, is not some magical thing that waves its wand over you and suddenly Cinderella is dressed for the ball. Excitement is not the only necessary ingredient or even the main ingredient. Trust, not manipulation, must be there and that is something that you need to work out how to build and then maintain.

Song Kang did a masterful job as the fb Park Jae Eon. So good in fact that there were many times I just wanted to slap him (metaphorically speaking). His character’s arc is about reliance on sex as the answer to all problems and what it takes for him to realise it is not the only answer and sometimes absolutely the wrong answer. A criticism would be that not enough time was spent on Park Jae Eon. His character transitions were there, but I could have done with a little more help, especially towards the end, in recognising them and understanding them. Time could have been stolen for it by omitting the somewhat bland relationship taking place in the office. As a viewer you need to work a bit, don’t just notice Jae Eon’s jealousy or his domesticity, but realise what those things mean.

Similarly, Han So Hee was also very good as the conflicted and self-doubting Yoo Na Bi. Again her reasoning was not always explicitly stated but hinted at all the time. Of the leads, only Chae Jong Heop as Yang Do Hyuk had a straightforward role which was because there was no significant character development. He played the nice guy nicely, what more can be said. It was not a demanding role. There was lots to like in the relationships of the supporting characters, which looked at different hurdles to be crossed in the relationship game. In particular Lee Ho Jung as Yoon Sol stood out.

This drama is not a romance about getting love right and living happily ever after. It’s about getting love wrong. It invites the viewer to observe the mess that we make of things with each other and what might be required to muddle along in a better way.

It is a good script, with credible dialogue, brought convincingly to life by an able female director and good actors. It showcased some great artworks (Na Bi’s sculpture at the end was stunning) and some beautiful cinematography. And for once, because it was a Netflix original, the sex scenes were realistic and believable.

This drama does not lay it all out for you, but requires your attention to detail and some thought. To really get the most from it I would recommend that you watch it twice (it’s only 10 episodes long, so not too onerous to do that) and track the development the second time round. You will see and understand much more once you know where it’s headed. If you are prepared to put in a little effort, it will not disappoint.

Spoiler ahead…



Spoiler ahead…



In the last scene, Na Bi almost drops Jae Eon’s hand when she sees Do Hyuk in a cafe with another girl. The look of naked panic and vulnerability on Song Kang’s face is what spoke volumes to me. Na Bi will leave Jae Eon behind quite quickly and he knows it. It is not Na Bi who will be hurt by this relationship. On the contrary she will gain confidence. He is the one who will be licking his wounds. I just hope to any sort of god that he doesn’t go to Paris with her, that would be just too painful!

What my rating means: 8+ A great drama with interesting content and good writing, direction, acting, OST, cinematography. But didn’t quite have the requisite sparkle to bump it into my all-time fave list. Worth watching.

Leia Mais