Nevertheless,

1st half: So realistic, it makes you queasy — 2nd half: so clichéd, it makes you yawn (loudly)

This series is definitely for a more mature audience, now I get the 19+ rating. It's not your typical fluffy rom-com with a lighthearted tone, sweet more caricatural than real characters and heart fluttering moments.

Well, this series does make your heart flutter, but for other reasons, namely, a) the sexual tension between the leads and b) the anxiety and unease that comes along with it. It initially is a realistic depiction of what dating nowadays looks like, of trust issues, fear of commitment, the struggle to really open up and the stress when you can't read your crushes' mind and intentions. When to call yourselves exclusive? Is there even such a thing? Nowadays, is there really the option of falling in love and staying in a monogamous relationship when there might always be 'a better option' out there? You might be one swipe away from an exciting rendezvous, the acknowledgement you lack from your partner, the distraction and escape you need (from yourself). The earlier episodes of the show really makes you ponder on all these things.

Also, you can really see that women are working on this show as they've captured the essence of what concerns and bothers women (in their twenties) so well. Be it the excitement, obsession and fear of rejection when having a huge crush on someone, the dejection when you try hard at university or work and are still left-behind, the urge to fit in and still feel disconnected with everyone. Really well-done.
The cinematography, pace, dialogues and background score also enhance the emotions and mood to a great extent.

As for the romance, the main theme of the plot, I think a lot of people might actually drop this series, because the story seems so relatable and doomed to be painful, too relatable even, for those who have experienced something similar and just can't cope with it anymore. And even if you might not agree with all of the female lead's actions and at times find her annoying and irritatingly irrational, she is still absolutely relatable, as you can literally grasp the train of thoughts that leads to these actions and decisions of hers. I further believe we've all either been in such a situation, were tempted enough or 'have this one friend' to/who despite seeing the red flags can't help overlooking them, knowing this might eventually crush us/them. Cudos to the cast for making our anxieties come alive.

Sadly, the earlier episode are by far better than the latter ones. At some point the story starts to feel repetitive and drained; there is no real progress and the authenticity and originality up until then slowly but gradually devolves into a clichéd run-on-the-mill romance, —outdated even — in which the heroine is (seemingly) stuck b/w two boys; although her final choice is blatantly obvious. Curious if there'll be an unexpected turn in the end. Also, there were some personal issues with an actor, wherefore his screen time was reduced drastically; reasonable, but unfortunately it took a toll on the quality of the drama.

All in all, this show had great potential — until the makers felt obliged to follow the 101 k-drama formula. Watchable only for the chemistry of the leads and the side stories, even though the ending is unfit imo and Song Kang's lack of emotions (blame the character) even make his pretty face boring.
And I urge you all to listen to the soundtrack, even if you don't want to watch the show: so fresh and SO good!

*EDIT*
If you've already seen the show (or do not plan on watching it) and would like to know why I felt the ending wasn't really fitting, see the comment section below this review. It's marked as a spoiler.

Read More

A waste of time

Nevertheless is a K-Drama adopted from a webtoon with the same name. Before watching the kdrama, I have already read and finished the webtoon.

*SPOILERS FROM THE WEBTOON*

In the webtoon, the story was straightforward because we know that PJE is just playing with Nabi. Nabi knew this NEVERTHELESS she still wants him. However, PJE continued being a player and Nabi ended up with Dohyuk, who had more depth in the webtoon.

Now that we have gotten the overall storyline from the webtoon, lets talk about the drama. I came into this knowing that the writers would definitely change up some parts because we know that kdramas doesn't like to be faithful to its webtoon counterpart (True Beauty). My expectations were not met at all. This drama is just 10 episodes of repetitiveness and back and forth from the main leads whereas the background stories were definitely more compelling. I will be analyzing the main leads only for this review since some of the characters weren't in the webtoon.

1. Park Jae Eon: In the webtoon, he is your charming playboy who can't commit to a single girl. He tried to but his efforts were diminished by Nabi when she told his gf a very off-putting comment which ruined his relationship with Nabi and his gf. This scene happened in the drama. HOWEVER, somehow, for some unknown reason, he forgives Nabi and is suddenly infatuated with her for no reason. What makes her different? Well we don't know. The writers completely took a different approach and painted Park Jae Eon as a victim with a sad background story and can't convey his emotions blah blah blah. The story was supposed to be realistic but it turned out cringey and predictable. A typical "bad-boy-turned-soft-when-he-falls-in-love". People who like PJE only sees him through Song Kang's face. Prove me wrong

2. Nabi: In the webtoon, Nabi was more outspoken. In the drama, she's more passive. There is nothing compelling about her. Nothing interesting. She is a very bland character who needs to find herself first before committing and jumping into relationships. One minute shes angry at PJE and the other shes not. Like, what make up your mind?!?!

3. Dohyuk: In the webtoon, he is cute but as we got to know him we found out that he did it with a girl who had a boyfriend. Hence thats why we see him saying that he always falls for girls who have boyfriends. In the webtoon, he ends up with Nabi. In the drama, Dohyuk is just too smitten with Nabi that he sees everything in rose-colored glasses. Basically he'd do anything for Nabi. This kind of character could definitely bore some viewers so that's why I think the writers should've added more dimension to his character. Well, they should've added dimension to all of the main characters.

All in all, I wouldn't rewatch because the episodes are too long and the leads gets on my nerves. The OST is really good tho. The acting... well.... it could've been better. I think this drama would've been better if it was just a short webdrama instead of a long 10 episodes with 1 hour each drama.

Read More

The perfect drama to glorify toxicity

Just why in the world would they make Jaeeon in ep9 show his true colors and how he was never serious about Nabi, how he was absolutely shitty towards Dohyeok, how he asked her out just because he wanted to "win" over Dohyeok, make him yell at her, twist her wrist, actually harass her, sl*t shame her for being in a fwb with him, mock Dohyeok and so much more, AND she even threw him off her life, just for this crappy, mediocre and incredibly dangerous ending?
This isn't even about which ship won at the end or shipping anymore at all, it's about an awfully dangerous message that this drama sends. They're saying "it doesn't matter if they guy you like is toxic, a potential abuser and player, and if you're gonna get hurt, just go for it because he has a nice d!ck!!"
This is seriously such a huge waste of cast, potential, and everything. This drama could've been one of the best if they properly showed how NOT to act in a toxic relationship, but at the end of the day all they did was literally glorify an abuser and cheater. Like someone else said, the writers were progressive enough to write about same sex relationships, friends with benefits, open relationship, but were unable to give the leads a proper ending? If the writers of Love Alarm couldn't make Sunoh end up with Jojo even though Sunoh was a thousand times a better option than Jaeeon, why would Nevertheless writers do something like this, and why would the webtoon creator even allow this, AND why would Song Kang and Sohee do this too? From the interviews, they looked like they didn't approve of Jaeeon (as they should) and kept rooting for Nabi to snap out of it.
Honestly, this is all so disappointing. Someone should cut out all Soljiwan's scenes for anyone interested in the Girl Love plot without having to go through the painful experience of this drama. Bitna and Gyuhyun had so much more development than Nabi and Jaeeon despite the awful screentime cut. A seriously awful drama. Only giving 2.5 stars for Jonghyeop and each supporting couple only (and .5 for the sunbaes).

Read More

Everything was pointless after the ending...

Since the ending is happy, what was the point of all those episodes if Na Bi learned nothing? If she falls into his trap both at the beginning and at the end, then we have watched a pointless drama and wasted 10 hours. For this, the story does deserve the lowest score because it didn't develop at all. Instead, it was an endless circle showing the same situations without any progression.




Very dissapointing.

Read More

And it messed up. Nevertheless,

Realistic portrayal, are you kidding me?

Anyone curious about why's there a comma after Nevertheless and same with the native title 알고있지만, (I know but,) No, it's not spelling mistakes xD That comma holds its own value in the story... Nabi's story, as of the fact knowing the outcome of her actions she still takes them. Nevertheless,

If I've to sum up the whole thing,

- Unlikable leads with the worst characterization
- Slow Paced with some boring episodes
- Many frustrating, you-wish-to-give-them-long-lecture moments
- Interesting subplots and side couples
- Eye candy with beautiful cinematography
- Wonderful music
- 0 character development.. at some point it feels in -ve
- And-the-main-couple-kinda-sucks, but-their-chemistry-somehow-works
- Having said that it has a realistic portrayal it ends up being like any other drama... Dramatic and unrealistic.
- Toxic relationship.. do I've to mention? it's like the second tag with a 91% score, Edit: Now it's 93% :')

Even though it has many butterflies but don't expect butterflies moments xD

Never got this mixed feeling for any drama. 'Romance' is a genre and almost everyone is wishing that leads shouldn't end up together where the best option is staying single in the end. By that, you can definitely assume how messed up things are. Not gonna comment on what realistic approach this show offers, as I'm inexperienced, so this review is about what I feel about drama not how much realistic portrayal it has,

This is almost a rant, but why is there 5.5 there. Am I being generous? yes lol. Ngl, I enjoyed and was entertained by some parts. It managed to hold me till the end and I adored supporting characters a lot and their stories (Special mention: Yoon Sol loved her). Maybe this explains,

Not a typical or cliche type one, but also story doesn't have much. But writing is messy with the pace... It wasn't even enough just for 10 episodes as some episodes even felt filler with 0 progress in the story. Despite being frustrating and disturbing in some parts, it is intriguing. And honestly, I really liked subplots, the stories of side couples. You won't find any meaningful conversation or pearls of wisdom. But you'll end up getting frustrated at some characters for their stupid decisions.

Talking about casting, I like it! not really impressed by Song Kang's acting but improvement for sure. So Hee, I just checked her profile and realized I've seen her 2 dramas with supporting roles... but I don't even remember seeing her :') well, this time she sure left an impression on me, I'll remember her. And this is the opposite for Jong Hyeop.. even after seeing him for a very short time in his previous work, he was memorable, and I think he's good as Do Hyuk.

I couldn't picturise leads before, but when I saw them on-screen together. I felt the chemistry between them,... and ah definitely a lot of tension. The heck everyone is good-looking even if some roles are just for 1-2 episodes, a perfect drama if you are finding something just for looks.

Na Bi.. sorry I'm sick of your monologues, even some support roles have fewer dialogues than her monologues. She isn't stupid she knows what she is doing, from the start just she couldn't resist herself, it is called a lack of decision power and shrewdness, not stupidity. AND why everything about her should revolve around boys (the start of her story is with her first love being pure trash) or whom she ends up with, doesn't she have her own career, future? girl get a life! other than that love triangle I would prefer some development in her.. as of the fact she said a lot of times her work is just mediocre, well if you can't believe in yourself how you're gonna put your best work out there. After getting out of the friends with benefits scenario she said No every time whenever Jae Won approached her so even if I don't like her as a character but I appreciated it but then... you know ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

Jae Eon is a manipulative jerk he's is kinda guy no one wants to encounter in rl (Please don't bring looks here, I'm talking about the character), from his first introduction his personality is clear. Now you might expect a drastic change in him, right? true-love-changing-life thing? sorry to disappoint you, you get nothing. In fact, gradually you encounter his obsession toward Nabi (and I won't call it 'love' lol). Few good qualities about him... mmhm he is handsome, anything more? oops sorry, um maybe another one he's good at his work. If you count flirting in good things? It was cringy :')

Do Hyuk aka Potato boy. He's typical ideal second lead whom everyone loves and roots for him. Kinda too perfect for Nabi to the point I felt she doesn't deserve him. Well, he's cute, caring, he knows how to cook, um what girl wants more? Though why he was so head over heels for Nabi is confusing, just because she's pretty and his first love? oh yes, dramas love to glamorize first love.

The production value is high what to expect from jTBC and Netflix, so top-notch cinematography, aesthetics, color grading, and styling. I found the intro interesting it's short but those slide with music give is an artistic vibe. I absolutely adore OSTs, Loved how the soundtrack is used, it balances everything.

We're Already - KIMMUSEUM
Nevertheless - Night Off
Whisper - PARK JI WOO
Butterfly - J.UNA
Love Me Like That - Sam Kim
So Tender - Say Sue Me

don't-let-anyone-stay-single-in-the-end well, of course, it's drama, where everyone should get their partner, so many side couples for sure... but the fact was I wasn't bothered by it, I was happy and much more interested in their stories and development between them. Ah though the crappy editing of Kim Min Gwi's scenes in some last episodes annoyed me a lot, it was uncomfortable to hearing his dialogues when the camera focus is on different faces.

I liked some starting episodes, the pacing, and execution but then it losses the momentum and becomes repetitive.. and dramatic losing the realistic touch, I mean wasn't that the key point of it before?

In the end.. we've left with nothing, ah maybe a new slang,

Do you wanna see butterflies?

Read More

losers

if i wanted to see a pretty girl go head over heels for toxic men and not move on i would just go out and see my friends... both yu nabi & jaeeon they are both LOSERS ! there's no other word to describe them. they're both equally as annoying but jaeeon's a menace yea.. and yu nabi is just stuck with the "i can fix him" mindset OKAY SURE GIRL GO AHEAD ure so boring .

last episode i literally skipped throughout because it was just them staring and yu nabi ruining the vibes at the start for being sad when everyone else was happy like oh my god girl MOVE ON!!! so annoying .. ure not gonna d13 without him.. whats so good about jaeeon anyways.. literally waste of my time watching the last ep cus nothing happened ..

i would say that the side characters carried the show definitely!! no need to explain who and what we all already know its soljiwan zz also justice for dohyuk poor guy nabi is stupid literally on the last episode she said "i know he doesn't make me happy and i'm happy when i'm with you but.." GIRL WHAT U NEED IS THERAPY NOT JAEEON my god..

overall i quite enjoyed it since i binge watched the show (also by skipping most parts) and thank god it only has 10 episodes .. the cinematography was amazing but not enough to make me recover from the stupidity of yu nabi and jaeeon.. i actually have nothing else to say other than that they are both Losers..

Read More

Geniuely a really good drama, not what everyone is making it out to be

I’ve never written a review for anything, but I feel like this had to be my first. As I think people are making Nevertheless out to be worse than it is. Personally I really enjoyed this drama so much.
My favorite things:
1. The cast was truly amazing and their chemistry was so good that I always found myself smiling at the screen and repeating many scenes
2. THE ACTING!! The way they portrayed every single scene truly came down to the chemistry between them but just wow Song Kang and Han So Hee's acting truly needs more credit than what they are given
3. Every single ost in this drama was beyond beautiful, I looked forward to every week adding a new song to my ost playlist to have all the tracks on constant loop
4. The story was very realistic for their situation and this is the biggest thing I think people are making out to be worse than it is

One main thing I think people are forgetting or pushing aside is this is supposed to be a friends with benefits relationship and it is very emphasized from the beginning that that’s all that’s wanted. The word “toxic relationship” keeps being thrown into correlation but I personally don’t see anything toxic about their relationship when everything was put out there about the friends with benefits narrative. Yes, their relationship can be seen as flawed as the aspect of feelings are very evident but we also have a character who has never felt any of that and it’s an unfamiliar feeling that they don’t know what to do. In addition, communication between Na Bi and Jae Eon doesn’t really happen except for the times they explode in anger since they don’t address what they’re feeling.

Nevertheless (haha), I think everyone has mixed reviews depending on your stance on a friends with benefits relationship, but if you’re looking for a drama that’s more raw with sexual scenes and tension. A cast with amazing chemistry and a lot of fun scenes when they’re all together. In addition to people trying to understand their emotions and feelings when it comes to love this would be a great drama.

Read More

No development, no depth, no meaning, but nevertheless, love, I guess...

What a waste of potencial, seriously. I don't understand how they took 10 episodes with the FML being the same as she was in the beginning: a girl with an insecurity about relationships. I liked Nabi in the first episodes because for me she's a real character and her emotions are really genuine. But we're talking about a drama, and us as viewers, especially women's, wanted a good development for her. Every character in any drama needs to be developed because we have to know that these characters learn something about the difficulties they were into. What Nabi really needed was a good time ALONE, to focus on herself but it seems like the message that this drama wanted to pass to us is that even Nabi being insecure about Jaeeon`s feelings and even him hurting her in many ways she just likes him so fuck everything. Ofc we can all have insecuritys in any relationship but I think that Nabi ending up with someone she's insecure about and almost went crazy for, was really wrong. At least they could have waited a little more and then, years later, when both characters matured, they could think about being together.

And omg, it was so hard to empathize with Jaeeon. Sure, Nabi knew what she was into and Jaeeon not wanting to date isn't the problem, but a normal person who have a different thought about relationship wouldn't be chasing a girl that thinks way different than him. And beyond that, this character seemed so cynical for me... when answering Nabi's questions about the women he got involved with, he always blamed them, as if they were the ones who were chasing him. When Dohyeok tells him to stop fooling Nabi, he wonders if he could mess with her that much, as if he didn't knew he messes with her. I seriously couldn't understand him at all, even when he seemed to care about her and changed for her. Knetz blamed Song Kang`s acting but actually I think its the script fault as we saw before that Song Kang is in fact, a good actor. The character itself just don't have depth and it doesn't look genuine. For me, we end up not knowing important things about him and thats why I end up not liking him and not understand him. (and the script putting that scene with his mother to try to justify his personality was just cliche as well and not enough for me to understand him, he stills end up with no depth).

Dohyeok for the other side was perfect, but just another perfect SL. Altought I really liked him and preferred him over Jaeeon, Nabi ending up with him would be too forced because she never liked him or gave him any type of signs that she could like him. He really was there just to make Jaeeon`s character jealous. The side characters were definitely more interesting that the main characters and I really liked that we had a LGBT couple, I think that this is the first time I see a LGBT couple in a drama who isn't mainly LGBT.

Nevertheless had interesting topics such as the perspective of not wanting to date, abusive relationships and insecurities, but with main characters not having a good development and being persons who is difficult to empathize, its really hard to enjoy this. We can't say that the main leads doesn't have chemistry, because they really have an insane chemistry, but when we see how this drama is going, even the hot scenes with the main leads and even Song Kang being a really attractive character, things just won't be interesting anymore. And altought the drama tried to portraiy real things, the ending was just cliche as we had one more "problematic"guy who changed himself for the girl he likes. It’s a shame because for me this drama had a lot of potencial. Nabi`s emotions was real and I liked that Jaeeon was a different main lead with a different vision of relationship. They just wasted everything.

PS: One thing I really liked was the cinematography and the OST, they were really good. Besides that, the acting wasn't bad but not the best as well.

Read More

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

Read More

RELEASE THE SOLJIWAN CUT

The first half of this drama was actually really promising — I liked the idea of an unconventional relationship, of a drama that actually discusses toxicity, a lesbian slow burn, etc. Not to mention how beautiful the cinematography was. The second half of this drama, however, seems rushed and full of typical cliches, but without any of the build-up. There was a typical love triangle with a really annoying and irrelevant second lead, and there was a side couple that was even more irrelevant.

Still though, there were some side couples that were great and I wish the drama dedicated more time to them.

But I just gotta say that Soljiwan carried this show. HARD. They were the perfect longtime friends-to-lovers and the yearning and just healthiness of the relationship was so beautiful. I wish so much that the drama had been braver with showing their scenes and had just dedicated more time to them because they were the best part of the drama hands down, and all the stars of my rating is for them.

Read More

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.

Read More

‘Nevertheless’- The Drama That Failed To Reach Its Full Potential.

It feels as though “ mature” tag romance dramas aren’t often taken seriously in K-dramas, but ‘ Nevertheless’ attempts to present things differently. The webcomic-based drama focuses upon the turbulent relationship between art students Nabi ( Han So Hee) and Jae Uhn ( Song Kang) connected together throughout their infatuation with butterflies. However (controversies aside surrounding the allegation case of actor Kim Min Gwi), whilst ‘ Nevertheless’ soared high at times, the drama could often find itself smacked face into the ground with its own problematic flaws also.

Watching the "relationship" between Nabi and Jae Eon play out is similar to getting stung repeatedly by a swarm of killer bees and then falling in a ditch filled of stinging nettles and vipers. Nabi and Jae Uhn aren’t in an overtly healthy relationship . Nabi is revealed to have been a victim of several abusive relationship in the past, and so projects her anxiety into committing herself again into a long-term relationship by seemingly maintaining only sexual intimacy with Jae Uhn. In the first episode alone, Nabi even admits openly to viewers that ‘I don’t believe in fate or love anymore. But this situation, it’s pretty unrealistic’.( Yet secretly yearns for more .)On the other hand, Jae Uhn’s nature is seemingly “ obscured from view”- one minute he happily pines over Nabi, the next he is chatting another girl up, only to pull out serious red flags when he suddenly appear out of nowhere in front of Nabi to “ save the day” .

Of course this is supposed to be the plot device that keeps the main storyline moving . Jae Eon and Nabi are both flawed people who only bring out the worst in one another. (That’s the point. )However, this is also where the drama failed to utilise this storyline to its full potential also. Director Kim Ga Ram may have seemed to think it was a good idea to bog down 20 minutes of screen-time with brooding eye- exchanges between Nabi and Jae Eon onscreen, but having an episode with only
20-25 minutes of quintessential storyline, 20-25 minutes of moody gazes, saucy scenes and then only a brief checkup on subplots isn’t entirely the best format to follow for every episode . Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so bad if the drama had gradually increased the essential storyline scenes as the series progressed, but soon the drama began to lose a lot of its original intrigue an incessant loop of pretty much the same setup where Nabi or Jae Eon would be lusting over the other, a misunderstanding would occur, they’d ghost one another or make the problem worse ( usually hurting one another or someone else in the process), lengthy scenes of pining gazes would occupy screen time, a cut to one of the subplots and then suddenly Nabi and Jae Eon are on “ reasonable” terms again.

Of course this is nothing to do with the actress behind Nabi .Soo Hee really captivated her role well. The slight uncertainty morphing onto her face and a twitch of her hand with trepidation really helped to animate her onscreen persona to life. However, as a character, Nabi’s was seriously poorly-written . The female lead initially starts off the drama as a sympathetic female lead; we are made aware of her experiences early on, and can see how she is falling hook, line and sinker again into a toxic relationship with Jae Eon as she even voices her own awareness that ‘It feels like something new is about to begin. I’m probably not mistaken’. Although where Nabi ultimately failed as a character wasn’t inherently to do with her conflicted feelings between Jae Eon and the softer option with Doo Hyuk ( Chae Jong Hyeop), but her self-depreciation and lack of self-respect as an individual . Yes, Nabi is a victim of abuse and we cannot forget that. However, it is a really irksome fallacy by screenwriters and writers that someone in Nabi’s vulnerable position” can somehow be fixed from years of emotional trauma by being in a " committed relationship ”. Nabi ( at the end of the day) had serious emotional and psychological issues which needed time and healing, not implicating her in order to keep a poorly enforced plot device working .

This isn’t to entirely drag and degrade the series down. The OST was pretty good, and Ga Ram’s cinematography was really mesmerising also. Two memorable scenes of the drama came through how director Kim Ga Ram inter-played lighting and symbolism here subtly- Jae Uhn in the room of butterflies with the door ajar yet all of them trapped with him, and then the open freedom of the meadow with Doo Hyuk and Nabi sat together enjoying the natural world overtly. The creative juices can only run so far into a series, however, before the problems soon dry them up. For example whilst Song Kang is a good actor, he didn’t feel entirely right as Jae Eon . He did certainly captivate the charismatic ambience of the main male lead , but he was honestly a little lacklustre by rarely radiating prominent vitality as his onscreen Casanova persona.

Of course the subplot characters were fairly intriguing in their own right - cool-headed and punk aesthetically adorned Oh Bit Na ( Yang Hye Ji), a good friend of Nabi, and the taciturn Nam Kyu Hyun had a constant “ will they, won’t they?” dynamic to their relationship. However with the controversial scandal surrounding Min Gwi, the producers made a quick and prompt decision to entirely cut out Kyu Hyun and Bit Na’s relationship scenes( as much as possible) during the last few episodes.Effectively this had a detrimental impact upon an important side couple’s development. However, this problem was also found with Sol ( Lee Ho-Jung) and Sol’s repressed feelings towards her blatantly oblivious best friend Seo Ji Wan ( Yoon Seo Ah) ‘s lacking screen time was diminished even further by the focus on the teachers and their” chemistry” in order to make up for lost screen time between Kyu Hyun and Bit Na.It wasn’t bad per say this couple being focused upon , but there were a myriad of variable storylines which were poorly sketched-out or abandoned throughout the drama which could’ve been explored instead such as the mysterious man that Yoon Soo bumped into, exploring Sol’s sexuality and feelings in more detail ( as well as her possible reasons for liking an unlikely person like Ji Wan), Jae Eon’s interactions with his family possibly providing further indicators into his current mind-frame , exploring Bit Na’s friendships as well as her experiences with trauma and even Jae Eon’s -ex’s story were all beyond wasted potential. The ending only provided this as case and point by failing to tie off loose ends as well as justify Nabi’s chance to heal and gain self respect.

So, is ‘ Nevertheless ’ actually worth watching? The delivered result of ‘ Nevertheless’ will ultimately vary for a lot of drama fans. Many will likely praise the more explorative and daring promiscuous themes in the drama, as well as the art house-style cinematography, the alternative OST and most of the cast. However, it is easy to see where ‘ Nevertheless’ also fails to reach the mark ; the pacing was off even at the best of times, the turbulent relationships ( including the side couples ) rarely met their full-potential and the main characters weren’t given enough opportunities to escape their one-dimensional shells as plot devices. Certainly not a cataclysmic drama, but sadly failing to reach its full potential also.

Read More