Marshmallow-Chocoholic

My review does not give away major plot lines in vivid detail or depth . I’d appreciate if my review did give away something momentous and major, however, I do not believe that this is necessary.

If I remember correctly director Park did say that he really wanted a sequel season just to explore more about the characters alone. Really glad to hear that this gem has been given the green-light for a second season. If Park’s vision for season two is anything like season one, then hopefully we’re in for a treat 😄.

I’ll start off by saying please look through my previous reviews before commenting on my subjectivity here. That isn’t my review style. I can absolutely love a show, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that I give it 10/10, just as I can absolutely hate a show personally but it doesn’t cloud my judgment onto giving it a fair rating.There are a few times where I’ve written subjectively if I feel really strongly about a drama, but this isn’t one of them. This is an objective rating. I appreciate to some individuals such as yourself that this may seem harsh or cruel but constructive criticism and unclouded thoughts and critiques throughout dramas is something that I typically hold in strong judgement during my reviews. Of course if you like the factors regarding the cast and music, then good on you and I’m happy that you had fun watching this drama 😄.

Regards,
Marshmallow-Chocoholic.

Opinions differ as you said. I can appreciate if you liked the music and the cast, but to me personally it was so-so. Let’s just leave it there.

Depends what you’re looking for here. Not long ago I was at the crossroads with this one also because of the slow pacing in the first few episodes, but I decided to give it a second shot . ( And was pleasantly surprised.)Objectively there are some flaws and strengths with this drama which shouldn’t be ignored. This drama undeniably does have an intriguing array of characters. All the main leads have complex and dark pasts and the acting front is pretty solid . The main storyline subverts genres, peeling away many different layers like a Russian doll with our characters and does keep you guessing. Adding to this, the symbolism as well as the cinematography is intertwined skilfully also. On a pessimistic note the drama isn’t flawless either. The pacing can undeniably be very tedious in episodes and whilst the chemistry between both our main leads is slow-burn and refreshingly gradual, it can undeniably be similar to watching paint dry in certain scenes due to the inability for the drama to transcend more coherently between romantic melodrama and murder mystery . Instead it often feels as though there is a major line in the middle of episodes ; half of the scenes dedicated ( and indicated by warm palettes) towards fuzzy romance scenes, and then the other scenes dedicated to callous revelations about the mystery side of the drama ( represented by cold or moody lighting) with little gradual crossover between the two.There’s also the additional problem of particular cliches being enforced onto characters ( without spoilers) which is supposed to explain certain motives of characters, but sometimes fell flat due to lacking originality. Overall and at the end of day, the biggest advice that I can recommend is just to give it a go. You might like it, or you may decide that it isn’t your type of show.

Thank you for such an intriguing article. Funnily enough this topic has often gone over my mind a lot about comparing female and male villains in dramaland. We often hear how much male villains can be praised and psychoanalysed as “ complex” or “ misunderstood” by screenwriters and viewers, yet a female villain is typically just passed off as “ conniving and catty” or if she is given a brief backstory it is typically routed in a superficial route which rarely defines this character as nothing more than a quick plot device. Hopefully drama screenwriters will sit up and start taking female villains more seriously in the future.

Thanks for reading my review :). Yes, I must admit that I was also sucked into the world of early 2000s K-dramas back when I first started with them. It didn’t mean they weren’t enjoyable or fun to binge-watch , but sometimes they could be a little outdated with some of the jokes/ setups . Speaking personally, I am not entirely against these dramas. In fact it amazes me the amount of newcomers who haven’t seen some of the “ classic” 2000s dramas. However, that they are very much of their time- it doesn’t make all of the things we see in them right even by the standards of when they were written/filmed, but sometimes we have to remind ourselves that this could reflect a lot about attitudes and cultural changes also in the past few decades. For me this is really intriguing to note current fads and compare them - the “ successful and rich woman” trope was rarely seen in K-dramas ( aside from relatives of the rich male lead) even less than ten years ago , and was often seen with “ poor” or “ ditsy” female lead tropes ( before more laws calling for gender equality in South-Korea and feminist movements) instead. I think though this is what makes watching certain “ modern” dramas in an era where we have seen such development and reform from tropes harking back to these outdated styles quite a bumpy ride for us as watchers. Admittedly this can be an intriguing indication towards what a screenwriter grew up , indicating that a screenwriter is behind the loop on certain issues , or can enforce their own ideologies into dramas. “ So I Married An Anti-Fan” was undeniably an intriguing case. Whilst I do have some undeniable personal qualms about the direction of how certain characters were written or the cliches enforced, I must agree with you that the acting/ chemistry added a suave charm to the drama. My rating system can often be pretty harsh
but ( as you pointed out) I enjoy weighing up my reviews objectively with strengths and weaknesses before coming to a final conclusion. Whilst it can be hard to remain an outsider, it’s fair to say that whilst the acting, chemistry and relationship development between our leads was a highlight, the writing could be a little problematic for respected reasons in parts.

The drama itself is based on a webcomic of the same name but you are right in that it is supposed to present a more “ realistic” ( evidently dramatised) relationship with toxicity. I agree that it will be a surreal path if the drama does go down any redemption route ( especially by the end of the series) with JE as this did not happen in the webcomic and it will deny Nabi any chance of self-respect to end up with a major red flag walking such as JE also. Sadly even if the drama follows the webcomic, it is unlikely that we will see Nabi gain her own path and journey to healing either :(.

Popularity on other websites / social media platforms ( including MDL, Instagram, Twitter and Netflix admittedly) doesn’t necessarily equate to a show being critically good or bad though and it is a pretty generic to claim that everyone on here despises the drama . Perhaps there are a select minority in the comments who truly hold strong sentiments of love or hate towards the drama, but it would seem that the majority of watchers of “ Nevertheless” (on MDL) seem to be more at the crossroads or have mixed-feelings about it than one way or the other ; some have dropped it due to the show not being what they expected and others are holding out because of a certain storyline ( but may be growing irked at other elements). In terms of ratings and popularity, I guess we have to remember that whilst Netflix and other social media platforms have opened up the door towards more global and international hype for K-dramas as well as profits , at the end of the day it is also dependent on viewer ratings in Korea also. “ Nevertheless” may be popular in your country and amongst the international drama watcher community on various social media platforms, but in SK it hasn’t risen above 2% in viewer ratings. In comparison whilst “ Hospital Playlist” may not have gained as much hype in your country’s trending topics or social media platforms, it was still pretty successful in SK with 10% viewer ratings , it has a sequel season ( which is nearly unheard of in SK unless a show is really big) and is pretty critically-acclaimed both in SK and amongst the international community . This isn’t to drag “ Nevertheless”’ popularity down because of viewer ratings. As international watchers and even in SK, shows can gain cult followings even with low ratings. (Healer back in 2014 and My Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo in 2017 are good examples of this.) However, I think sometimes we have to bear in mind other factors such as advertising in order to promote a drama ( especially with Netflix or in SK with certain actors and TV spots ), production costs for dramas as well as of course viewer ratings in the shows’ country of origin also.

Thank you :).

The reference to butterflies may be one of those lines which has multiple meanings. The literal being that this is something which both main leads have connected over due to their infatuation with them and so bringing it up into the conversation helps to keep that spark alive , symbolic ( remember the scene with the butterflies in the room and the open shaft, yet none of them flying out- it pretty much describes JE and his relationship with women) as well of course the latter. Considering how intrepid the series can be with promiscuity at times and if the screenwriter has done some research( especially when we remember one of the main distributors is Netflix with an international audience, as it is a little unlikely that a mainstream Korean audience would know this as well) , although it wouldn’t be surprising if this is a bit of a double-entendre also to reflect the themes of romanticism to promiscuity with JE.

I was referring to the ramen ( or Ramyeon) comment originally but the butterfly one is definitely news to me 😂. ( Guess it’s good to know as I’m trying to learn the language 👌.)

That’s a fairly promiscuous innuendo in SK. ( And hence if you have been watching K-dramas from the past few years , you may come across a scene where why sometimes a misunderstanding when a character asks this line for comical effect.) The closest equivalent we have in English is ‘ Do You Want To Watch Netflix And Chill?’. ( The butterfly analogy did make me crack up though 😂)

Admittedly it depends what you’re looking for here. The drama tackles a subject area ( toxic relationships) in more explicit detail which is rarely seen in K-dramas, certain subplots and plot moments are intriguing, the OST is pretty catchy and director Kim Ga Ram’s cinematography is pretty mesmerising. On a negative note a lot of watchers have become deterred by the current direction of the storyline with some main characters and even subplots having little progress, the pacing being pretty slow in parts and the actions or decisions of the characters for “ dramatic effect” rarely reflecting the actual personalities of the main leads. As easy as it would be to be really biased and say one way or the other, my biggest advice is try it for yourself. You may like it, you may hate it. I suppose you never know unless you give it a go :).

Being objective and non-biased on my own personal thoughts, it is dependent on what your looking for here in a show. One hour+ duration lengths in a 16-episode format are not uncommon in Korean dramas ( sometimes running for the same length as a 1hr 30 min movie for an episode) and can have variable effects dependent on the storyline and pacing. Positively the drama has won over watchers by its heartfelt depiction of the characters, the unusual theme tackled, the warm vibe of the drama and the main leads’ gradual development through different relationships with others. However, it is important to point out some flaws here also. There is undeniably a little controversy with the depiction of foreigners here as “ fickle” and “ conniving”. You may have strong sentiments towards this, or you may not but it is important to note this as it is understandable that this may upset certain viewers. If you are looking for an accurate portrayal of badminton ( aside from some terminology thrown in), then you may be disappointed by the poor stances and movements . The comedy is also dependent on tastes as well. You may love the running gags, you may hate them also. The pacing is also a mixed-bag and certain setups can become more predictable as time goes on. At the end of the day ( and speaking slightly subjectively here), my biggest advice is just to give it a go. You may like it, you may hate it. That is up to you :).

No need to apologise :)!

I think it is important to consider both sides of the coin here. It is supposed to be a toxic relationship ( as show in the webcomic also) in order to present a moral lesson to Nabi rather than a sugary sweet romance where she falls head over heels in love and lives happily ever after . Whilst some individuals are very lucky and find someone who truly completes them for life first time round , this fairytale ending is very rarely a reality for most people. For a lot of watchers, this is entertaining as it strips away the sugarcoated storylines of typical cutesy and escapist K-drama romances to a mor e hard-hitting reality and difficulties which people can find themselves in with pairings . However, where I can understand annoyance from other watchers respectfully is more to do with character development and growth; at times parts of episodes can be intriguing and quintessential for the characters and their journeys, but episode pacing often throws this off with an odd division between necessary storyline and the subplots, and then really tedious and unnecessary scenes also.

I do agree that it is fairly intolerable that some watchers go on the route that " Nabi is to blame for everything". This isn’t to defend Nabi for all of her actions (as similar to JE she is flawed for different reasons), and but at the end of the day she is still suffering from years of emotional and psychological trauma . However, where I do understand where annoyance becomes prominent with Nabi as a character isn’t actually the character herself, but the screenwriter’s portrayal of Nabi constantly suffering from stunted character growth. I understand where you’re coming from with her development not being an overnight process, however, this is part and parcel of the problem; over nearly seven episodes Nabi hasn’t really changed. This isn’t saying that she should abandon all feelings for JE and run off into the setting sun with DH. At the end of day Nabi’s conflicted feelings help to make her flawed because she is supposed to be human like the rest of us and makes mistakes. However, learning and owing up to one’s mistakes is a key process of development for anyone. Whilst I’m certainly not defending JE and his conniving actions, there have been a few times where Nabi makes just the same mistake again and again with JE, and then sparks a whole load of drama without owning up for her mistakes. Trauma or not, responsibility is something which could easily be shown as a stepping stone towards Nabi’s gradual sense of self-respect and escaping that cycle of self-depreciation but instead she’s rarely allowed to do so by the screenwriter . In terms of the therapy argument, I know and understand where you’re coming from with the social stigma surrounding mental health in SK ( as well as being for private psychiatric/ therapy care also). It has existed for years in South-Korean society ( despite laws being passed by the government to stop discrimination in workplaces) and sadly still exists today in a lot of environments. On the other hand there are multiple different possibilities in the end with Nabi’s road to healing such as even through charity helplines or calls ( which are becoming more prominent in SK) for mental health , or even just learning to distance herself in the end from relationships and spend more time upon herself and distance before committing herself . Sadly it is doubtful that the drama would go down this route and instead will likely pair off Nabi with one of the main leads in order to give her a " proper ending" instead.

No worries :).

Agreed entirely about the episode lengths. However, some of it may be to do with COVID and messing up schedules/ production. A contributing factor may also be to do with the fact that the drama is being released by Daum Kakao TV. This network has mainly taken onto releasing online web dramas over the past several years which naturally vary in shorter episode durations ( often between 10-30 minutes)and episode releases( often due to production value and timing ). Oh well. I guess it keeps us intrigued about what’s going to happen next, at least…