Nevertheless, (2021)

From Obsession to Disappointment... That's the plot and my review

In the beginning, I became quickly obsessed with "Nevertheless," even during the torturous wait each week for only one new episode. This series is short so things move pretty fast in the beginning and it's clear that the subject matter is more adult and risqué than usual. What started out as a realistic look at a messy, addictive, and super toxic relationship turned into a much safer story that I lost interest in. This drama struggles with the idea of exploring non-traditional, and non-idealistic relationships while still wanting to play it safe and not cross too many lines. This drama had the potential to be cautionary but sadly turned into another love triangle cliché.

The best thing about this drama is definitely the chemistry between the leads. Han So Hee as the recently heartbroken Na Bi and Song Kang as the manipulative Jae Eon are definitely sexy as a duo. I also admit that Na Bi is annoying at times. Also, even though she is the main lead, she has the least interesting personality of the entire cast, even when listening to her inner monologues. I hated seeing her same wide-eyed expression over and over. Still Na Bi was also super relatable. If you have ever been in a toxic relationship with a narcissist you can probably understand Na Bi and her struggle between doing what she knows she should vs what she can't help but desire. Song Kan is perfectly cast as the charming baby-faced bad boy Jae Eon. His confident smirk is enough to make him very believable as the guy everyone wants, and the guy who can get away with doing whatever he wants. He gave me chills because I definitely know some "Jae Eons" and had my own struggles with one. If you ever come across one, run away and save yourself. Believe me! lol! Sadly in the later episodes, his character shifts in a way that made no sense and his performance seemed much more fake and forced, and Na Bi barely had a character arc.

As for the supporting cast, this drama does a great job of spotlighting other relationships that are just as interesting as the leads. My only issue is that I felt a little cheated when those other relationships weren't as fully explored. It was clear that there was only so far this drama was willing to go with each story, but the performances were still great, and the couples were cute.

Of course, I have to mention the all-star of this drama, the infamous "Potato Boy". Chae Jong Hyeop as Yang Do Hyuk is the 2nd lead MVP that dreams are made of. He's cute, he has a sweet smile, he's understanding, he can cook! If you love "shipping" the underdog Potato Boy will not disappoint. He was exactly the boost the main couple needed before they got too boring and repetitive. I'm also currently watching him in "The Witch's Diner" and he definitely has the potential to become a new favorite of mine. I can't wait to see him star in a full 16 episode drama.

Would I watch this again? I'm torn. I think there are definitely some scenes I could rewatch in the early episodes but the payoff was so disappointing that I probably wouldn't. I liked the characters but not enough to want to revisit them. So much about this drama is about awkwardness so it's not exactly a fun rewatch either. I also had zero interest in the art scenes besides the 2 art pieces that bookend the story. Since Art is what connects all of these characters, that's not a good thing. At least they didn't stretch the story out to make it longer. I maybe even could have been shorter.

Overall this drama should have been much better but playing it too safe was its downfall. I know many romance dramas promote unrealistic scenarios, and I don't want to give away anything, but I feel guilty recommending this drama because it may give people too much false hope in a way that could be damaging. Maybe I am too personally biased about the situation, but it still felt a little irresponsible by the end, and It seems the ending is different than the webtoon version (which I am excited to check out). I thought I might love this drama, but instead, those feelings didn't even last for the full 10 episodes. Nevertheless, I have no regrets and I'm glad I watched it.

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Nevertheless, it turned out to be a disappointment.

It seems Nevertheless too was just another rollercoaster ride, where the drama initially is able to build up so much of anticipation and excitement but literally goes downhill from the midpoint onwards. If you were looking for an honest, realistic portrayal of college romance, then nope this doesn't cuts it, not even close. Nevertheless basically covers just the crust of it whereas I was hoping to unravel the basic core of the experience and the involved characters.

My major disappointment was character development of Park Jaeon or the lack thereof. Expecting more in depth focus on him, his personal life and how and why he was the way he was because honestly, if you want to convince the viewers that a legit fuckboy has turned into a lovestruck puppy, you don't do that through super cheesy intimate scenes instead, you ought to uncover and display his plot arcs with his family and past and his gradual journey to redemption with few episodes from his perspective and not just Nabi's. I mean c'mon Song Kang's acting potential at least deserved that! What was his equation with his mom? What happened to his father? Why did his ex girlfriend or whatever she was just left all of a sudden? Why was he still playing with Nabi's feelings when he fell for her at first sight? Why didn't he confess Nabi of his said "first sight love" much before? Why was he being a douchebag when he could have been so much more? Guess nobody will know.

The drama had no plot whatsoever it just swinged between the concept of attachment and dissatisfaction, these themes could have been explored more genuinely but sadly that was again, me expecting too much out of this 10 episode of a drama.

Using the word realistic in the plot blurb and then going ahead with the second lead receiving the emotional blow despite him clearly being a superior choice and the male lead sweeping off the lady in lead irrespective of the fact that he clearly doesn't deserves her, the Korean Drama writers must be jamming on "oops, I did it again" a little too much I guess.

Like many have said already, the only silver lining of this drama were the side couples especially, Ji Wan and Sol. Chef's kiss to these two cause boy, am I glad that this unexpected but totally necessary plot was added into the drama because they kept me invested in the whole thing till the very end. Extra points and appreciation for the little cameo by that very cute kitten in episode 7 and 8.

I won't recommend this drama to anyone but the ones who crave to see physical aspect of a romantic relationship more than the emotional because you rarely see that happening in the Korean Drama industry and I get that.

In conclusion, the brilliant cinematography, casting, chemistry between the lead duo and OST will sweeten up the toxicity shown in here for sure but still, the lingering sour taste of it all will remain.

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A promising start which plummets quickly to dissapointment

The drama starts of from Na-bi freeing herself from a toxic relationship but little does she know that soon she will enter the same path with Jae-on. Ofcourse we all would've felt butterflies seeing the chemistry between the two main characters when they meet at the start however we also knew what kind of person jae-on was so we wished for him to have a character development. I would say that we didn't really get to see his development fully as he only starts to change in the last episode. This is presented when he finally releases his butterflies after episodes of saying that he will. Butterflies were used as a metaphor of rebirth and change and releasing them meant he is ready to let go of his previous "flings" and his actions such as flirting. Whether he really changes or not is for Na-bi to handle because what went through that girl's head. At the end I would've just wanted her to stay single because Do-hyuk did not deserve her. Jae on literally is such a manipulator I will never forget the way he harshly grabbed Na-bi's hand in the second last episode. Even after having a go at him she still ended up going back to him. The side couples definitely carried the show for me it was so sweet watching them. Overall I think the ending was a big disappointment and the ending of the webtoon was way better. Also Sam Kim's OST was just perfection the butterflies it gave in the first half.

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It was dull and disappointing, Nevertheless

Nevertheless might have been much better, if there was a good storyline, likeable pair of lead characters and a bit decent pacing.

The story never felt like romance, instead it was 90% complications for the leads, which I felt kind annoying and the end wasn't compelling enough. I personally like the lead characters (So Hee Han & Song Kan) but there pairing felt dumb, disappointing and it never kept the show to be interesting. Instead I was quite amazed by the pairing of the supporting characters, which were developed quite well.

The only positive thing about this drama was the music which I felt was soothing to the ears and quite melodious. Along with that, I loved how the relations developed among the other supporting cast, which was way better showcased than the lead characters. It was a wasted potential, Nevertheless.

Cons:
• Unlikeable lead characters
• Weak storyline
• Less of love story, more of irrelevant complications among the pair
• The pacing was very slow, with couple of episodes being flat boring

Pros:
• The OST was soothing and melodious
• The supporting casts had a better relationship development

My Rating : 5.5/10

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Why did I even bother?

Usually hate-watching means the show is so bad it’s actually entertaining. Here, it’s just bad, with the characters so annoying it’s hard to find someone to root for. Truth to be told, if I knew the ending before I started the show, I would not bother with watching at all. I was intrigued by the interesting beginning, and not smart enough to leave when I saw the first red flags warning me, this leads to nothing good. One could say I’m Na Bi, and this show was Jae Eon - leaving me angry, annoyed, frustrated and exhausted.

What seemed like a promising portrayal of a toxic relationship, ended as nothing more than another angsty young adult love story, that is even more pretentious than I could ever expect it to be. When in fact, it’s just fancy trash with pretty actors in it.

The main plot is the relationship between Na Bi and Jae Eon. Here’s the thing though - the relationship makes no sense. At first it’s presented as a strong sexual attraction, but it never really moves to anything more. Whenever the writer tried to incorporate any strong feelings from either female or male lead, it made no sense. What are these feelings even based on? By episode 4, the main romance became extremely repetitive and boring. How many times can we see Na Bi cry and Jae Eon be a jerk?

Na Bi was just painful to watch. By the end of the show I felt like she literally learned nothing. There was no development and no progress. The moment I saw some change, she took a U-turn into a crying mess.

Jae Eon was one dimensional and an empty shell. Don’t know what the writer was thinking, but you cannot develop something that does not exist. Giving him a last minute character development, when from the start he had no character or personality was a miracle in itself.

Bit Na and Gyu Hyun were more fun to watch, since both characters were stronger and had more of prominent personalities, but even they ended up on the rather shallow note. While they could have addressed some more interesting ideas about relationships and be a good mirror to Na Bi and Jae Eon’s relationship, the writer left me with little discussion and no real conclusion.

The only couple I truly did enjoy watching was Min Young and Kyung Jun. They were funny, sweet and relatable in all the best and heartwarming ways.

Except for them, there are exactly two things that Nevertheless, did well - LGBT representation and the amazing soundtrack.

While we’ve gotten more and more gay relationships in k-dramas lately, rarely ever we see lesbians presented in any way. At best it’s vaguely suggested or mentioned as a “personality trait”. It’s good to see a side story that truly explores the romance between two girls, and how they both deal with growing feelings. Sadly for me, I could not enjoy their ploy, since I could not stand Ji Wan as a character.

No matter how much I might dislike Nevertheless, the soundtrack is full of amazing bops. I listen to Butterfly and Love Me Like That daily - some of my favorite songs from 2021.

Overall, I could easily write a whole essay on why this show was basically a writing failure, but I honestly do not want to waste any more precious minutes of my life on this title. Let it die on my completed list, never to be visited again.

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SIDE STORIES>>

"Flowers don't bloom just for one butterfly" - Bit Na

Waste of time, probably wasted 8 hours why NOT 11 hours you must think? Right? Because only the side stories are good but sadly they have less screen time :/ This drama is meaningless and will just make you frustrated.

The drama started off quite well, the realistic portrayal of modern college relationships was really relatable. The MAIN story is slow paced from the very start but at some point it became repetitive which made it boring. I have to admit that the plot was exaggerated, the drama should have been not more than 6-7 episodes honestly. But the way it continues is AWFUL and the word "realistic" is thrown out if the window and was replaced by fairy tale ending .

MAIN CHARACTERS

Nabi, honestly at first I thought Nabi AIN'T DUMB but she is. She is the dumbest character I have seen in my whole drama life. Her actions are really dumb, they can make you frustrated. I liked the way the writer portrayed Nabi's insecurities. Han So Hee really did a great job portraying the character as well.

Jae On, the walking red flag. If you're reading this please don't normalize Jae On's actions just because you're the actor's fan. Jae On's character is pretty much a playboy for whom love isn't a thing, it's just attraction. I never approved of his character. For him Nabi was also one of his butterflies. Song Kang did pretty well at first I couldn't get those playboy vibes from him but later he was a bit better.

Do Hyeok, the potato guy, he is the "cliche" good boy type character, one of those who still believe in true love. Sorry to say tho he was really nice but he was kinda pushy as well.

The main story is SO MEANINGLESS, what was the point of their story? If their was no moral of the story? this drama was a fairy tale, it definitely was. This drama is ridiculous just because the two leads had chemistry doesn't mean there toxic character had to end up together. It's not about which team you are team potato or red flag. I was legit team FL end up with nobody. Her character development where is it? FL really need self love classes.

SIDE STORIES

The only reason I didn't drop this, I won't go in detail because some of the ships were pretty unexpected. They're stories were short yet really beautiful. I'm really glad that the writer was brave enough to portray them!

MUSIC

This drama has beautiful OST lineup I swear, even if you don't watch the drama you can listen to the OST, one of my fav is "Love me like that" by Sam Kim.

OVERALL

I was glad that Korean dramas are trying something NEW than the cliche college romance drama BUT sorry this drama crashed real bad. Should you watch Nevertheless? No. Personally I won't recommend it. The outcome of drama was really disappointing. I would never recommend one to watch it.

Now this drama is definitely NOT for everyone. If you can't differentiate between what's toxic and what's not, please don't watch this.

IF YOU FOUND MY REVIEW HELPFUL PLEASE LEMME KNOW ^^
END :D

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Disappointment

I hate when Kdramas adapt Webtoons and just give a different plot completely. This reminds me of CITT. At least with CITT there was the excuse that the Webtoon wasn’t over. This one had everything fleshed out and a whole ending the go off by. The ratings were already low in SK so they could’ve at least done a decent plot that leaves the people that watch it interested or satisfied. The relationship between the two main characters was toxic from the beginning. Who was more toxic doesn’t matter because they were both trash at certain points. That alone should’ve concluded that they don’t belong together. Jae eon Is a player, he straight up ran with the “I don’t date” premises from their first conversation. How tf did he fall in love with her before that then? I wanted to see how he never changes so she chooses herself. Every single time she did, she went back to him right TILL THE END!!! This should’ve been wrapped up in 6 episodes but over 10 hours in 10 episodes was a waste for an ending as crap as that. Hello Kdramas, friendly reminder that “the power of love” doesn’t exist 99.9% of the time and shitty men won’t change for you. Stop selling this sick fantasy and start properly acknowledging the toxic behavior these MLs have.

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I will start from positive Side couples -
they have such a beautiful story . Collage friends been together for years then one fall then another . The GL couple were highlight of the show . Their acting and character development Rating = 9/10
Here i start the main part O boy is it 2005 ? I am asking again is it 2005 why the main plot is so shitty why main couple are so shitty . A fboy with naive girl who is used by others and fboy act reckless - change for her . Like didnt we leave that shit in 2010 ? What was on writer mind No character development, No plot , No love stroy Nothing people want FL with with A guy because his face is handsome Really ? If i could really give this drama Rating for Main couples its -1 /10. Never watching love traigle again so much disappoiment . Worst Drama of 2021

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Tired

Han Sohee I love you babe but this entire show… a mess, a mistake. I could write an essay on how much I hated it and everything that was wrong but I really don’t want to waste any more time on this show. So I’ll keep it brief:

Romanticizing toxic relationships in 2021, really? Absolutely stagnant, two dimensional, and uninteresting characters. Slow, dragged out plot that did a 360, ending up exactly where it started. Superficial relationships (did the main couple talk about ANYTHING?). The horrible tattoos; I absolutely despise butterflies now. I could go on.

Please I’m begging everyone to go read the webtoon. It actually makes sense instead of whatever the heck this was.

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50 shades of disappointment

The premise of the drama was realistic but it dropped so badly because of the ending.This drama kept me hooked but I always expected Nabi's character development.JE instead had a change of heart which also happened out of the blue.He was just flirting and sleeping with her and all of a sudden he fell for her and had a redemption arch.If they had moments where they were emotionally available for each other this could still make some sense but the writer followed the
"girl fixed the guy and made him loyal" trend.
She is just feeling ecstatic because she fixed Jae Eon but what she needs is self-love.


Giving this a 6.5 just because I'm cutting the fact how poorly the ending was written.It kept me entertained for 10 weeks to only leave me disappointed in the end.All the side couples were cute and could have a drama of their own.I liked how slowly all the side couples had a promising development.


Loved all the osts.The cast did a commendable job.
Still confused if this was a YOUNG ADULT (YA) drama or a fairytale.

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I had such high hopes for this drama, but the ending left me disappointed. The drama is beautifully shot, and the side characters are wonderfully written, but it threw away the unconventionality that had originally kept me watching. I had hoped that the drama would dive into the character development of the female lead and her struggles with love after leaving a toxic relationship, but it did none of that. The main couple had chemistry, but halfway through they got incredibly boring, and I found it hard to believe either of them changed for the better since the drama rarely bothered to show it. While it's arguable that it was more realistic this way, I found that it fell into the same tropes of the female lead ending with the toxic male lead, and the theme of choosing romantic love over choosing oneself.

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Disappointed

What to say about this ending? They romanticized a toxic and abusive relationship. They romanticized that a woman is indeed a repair shop for men. I feel shame and pity for Na-bi because in that conversation where they return their relationship, it is evident how emotionally dependent she is on him. She knew what he was like, what he put her through, and yet she threw herself into his arms again. I am disappointed! Fortunately the secondary couples - Sol and Jiwan, Bit-Na and Kyuhyun, Min Young and Kyung Jun - saved that story.
They could have made Na-bi discover female empowerment. They could have made her realize with Jae-eon that no one deserves to go through an abusive relationship. What about Jae-eon saying he fell in love with her at first sight? This was never a crush because if he really had fallen in love with her, he would have had intentions of getting into a serious relationship with her from the start. And not just after losing her. What starts wrong will never work. Except in Nevertheless, history made people think everything that happened was normal.

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