UncreativeName

I think the police officer subplot was a victim of the short run of the series. The reveal that the game master was his brother seemed to only exist for shock value, but the problem is that we didn't get a thorough backstory as to why he cared so much about his brother anyways or how he became part of the evil organization. Also, I feel like the doctor subplot was underutilized - like one moment, the police officer seems to have infiltrated an interesting organ trafficking racket...and then next moment, all of the involved parties are dead. It kinda setup the tug of war game, but other than that, it seemed like a lot of screen time with little payoff.

There's two lines in this last episode that perfectly mirror my real life feelings on this show:
"This is too unrealistic"
"Of course I'll regret it"

...like really? I'm expected to believe that through the power of pure love, a playboy changes his ways overnight and therefore he and this girl will live happily ever after?

It's been a wild ride. I think my personal review on this series completely hinges on how it ends.

The table tennis scenes had me dying throughout.

I've been of the opinion that Jae Eon is an a-hole from near the start of the series and got the impression that he's emotionally manipulative. I could never really explain it until I saw another comment with a really interesting observation: a lot of the times, when Na Bi asks him a serious question, Jae Eon doesn't respond with the answer, but he responds with another question -- like when she asks him why he asked her out in the first place, he just says "Isn't that what you wanted?" It's a deflection - hallmark of an immature person who doesn't know how to communicate in interpersonal relationships - instead of dealing with the "real issues/conflicts," he just brushes it off and relies on his hotness to drive their interactions. At his core, that's his problem -- he's not "real." If he can't answer such simple questions, how would one talk about like finances, kids, or basically any serious, real life thing.

...that said, I also think folks' problem with Do Hyeok is still sort of valid. I don't think he's an obsessive stalker, but I the issue is that "he's boring" in the sense that he is NOT the type of guy that gives one "sexual excitement" -- like, Jae Eon might be the type of guy to do it with a girl in public, and that sense of getting caught might be "hot." Do Hyeok is like the furthest away from that - he's the type of guy where if a girl says "give me space," he will actually give you space. That's super considerate, but it's not "hot, hot" attractive. I think one DOES need SOME of that in a real relationship -- nobody wants to intentionally get married to a platonic friend, basically.

So...I'm on team "Na Bi ends up alone." I think Jae Eon is the guy that makes her want to tear off her clothes and let him have his way with him, but at the same time is truly an a-hole because of his own immaturity. Do Hyeok is the guy that she can call at 2 am in the morning, who brings her a late night snack, and then she can have a heart-to-heart with -- but to me, Na Bi hasn't shown signs that she wants to sleep with him in that...carnal "I'm interested in you" way. So I don't think either is right for her.

I'm 16 days late to your comment, but I just finished this drama and thought the exact same thing. Yes, he might have done wrong in their relationship by idealizing a girl that didn't exist....but she straight up cheated on him, possibly repeatedly. The last episode implying their relationship might restart...I didn't understand that at all. If anything, the lesson they should have taken away was that they aren't right for each other...

It is like that throughout the story: there is no overall plot, but there is overall character development.

I'm a middle aged guy but I had the same mindset of not understanding when I was younger. However, I would say I even took it once step further and resented both types of people: I hated the Jae Eon types for being generally bad people yet so easily able to attract attractive girls. I hated the Na Bi types for masquerading as "nice girls" while clearly just weighing/using their options for their own physical/emotional needs. In truth, neither are straight villains, yet neither are as righteous in their motivations as they think about themselves.

I think this is one of the reasons I like this show so much. It's like a cathartic mirror into people I knew in my younger life. You know that all the characters have a choice: they can either work on the things holding them back or they can suffer for it. Though I would say Jae Eon's character is more deplorable, I actually find him of less fault than Na Bi -- he has said and showed he doesn't want a monogamous relationship, and he's consistent about this. His fault is that he keeps trying (and succeeding) at seducing Na Bi at every turn. For Na Bi, her dissatisfaction is assuming that she can change Jae Eon into committing to her, and her only, and also the fact that she has heard so many terrible things about him from third parties. She has that stereotypical naive mindset that she can "change a person from love." Jae Eon's issue is that he doesn't see the problem with what he's doing. Na Bi's issue is she is living in her own world where Jae Eon is "trying" to be in a committed relationship with him (he's not) and framing their interactions with this lens.

Though deplorable, this show, shows how there is SOME truth to the existence of both "nice guys" who basically hold friendships hostage with the absolute expectation of a relationship, but also some of the misogynistic thoughts about women that come up in "ladder theory/the red pill". Again, SOME truth -- comes down to "if you are unusually attractive/make yourself unusually attractive to the opposite sex, you can get away with some bullshit". And it's true.

Human relationships sure are complicated things.

I felt lukewarm about Season 1 but something about Season 2 has really sucked me in. I keep listening to Superstar in repeat: you'll be alright. You have a dazzling future...na na na na na naaaaaa

I think it speaks to everyone's "life mindset" and I, for one, find the discussion fascinating. I feel like you can read the comments and glean a lot about the commenter's life experience/emotional maturity and for me it's....interesting.

To me, Jae Eon and Do Hyuk are opposites who are both bad for Na Bi in opposite ways. Jae Eon is like 80% good chemistry (basically, he only satisfies Na Bi in a sexual/romantic way), 20% good person (he is considerate in a way, but on the rest of him is a scumbag of a person). Do Hyuk is 80% good person (he's a prototypical, considerate gentleman), 20% chemistry (Na Bi's attraction to him, if at all, seems to be solely due to the fact that he is the opposite of a jackass and in a way she's looking for something new). The former straight up doesn't want to be in a committed relationship which he has said...but Na Bi gets upset when he doesn't focus all his attention on her which is unreasonable. The latter seems set to be Na Bi's rebound...but she doesn't seem particularly interested in him other than his kindness -- so that seems like an easy, loveless relationship.

Na Bi is no saint either. She's clearly not just a "good girl stuck in a crap position" -- she was goading Jae Eon's ex 'cause...jealousy? To get back at her? Who knows. She's also not the sharpest tool in the shed -- I've said it in other posts, but she stares down/has stared down red flags in her face and ignores them when she feels her attraction to Jae Eon overwhelm her.

In real life? All of them should move on. And, if Na Bi is looking for love, she'd be well advised to look for someone who can both sexually satisfy her and not be a jerk...having both is possible. But instead she's stuck on this guy that she's strongly attracted to, clearly doesn't want what she wants (an exclusive relationship) and goes through the cycle of being attracted/being upset.

For me, part of the fun of watching this show is the intense frustration I feel when watching it.

I think it depends on how you normally enjoy dramas. If you ONLY enjoy the "typical" Kdramas, then I would say this is an easy pass (there is nothing wrong with this. I LOVE some of the "typical" kdramas). Typical meaning you can easily identify the male lead and the female lead and you know that the show will go for a happy ending.

All bets are off with Nevertheless. Characters do crappy things and make dumb decisions just like someone in real life might. The male lead, in particularly, is clearly a suave piece of crap. However, if you enjoy that, I'd say go for it. I personally enjoy it a lot.

There's just something endearing to me about how raw and realistic this show is (to a certain extent - of course you still have the unrealistic mega attractive actors and actresses). You have a player who clearly won't change his ways. A naive person who falls into the player's traps every time. A couple who engages in childlike jealously and creates stupid misunderstandings due to pride/feelings/etc while they are discovering that they actually like each other (and should probably try a commited relationship). You've got honest talk of casual sex. You even have students struggling to find their way through school- some inappropriately blowing off their work constantly for love and other stupid things. Etc. It's not setup as your typical boy, boy, girl love triangle with an extremely likely happy ending.

I think I'm a sucker for these type of shows.

Jae Eon is a dick, no doubt, but Na Bi isn't helping herself in this situation. Imagine if you are driving on a highway and there is this super reckless car driving ahead of you. It is in your best interest to slow down and avoid that car at all costs. If you happen to crash into the car, yes, it is not your fault, but you end up being hurt anyways. So, it would be best if you start driving super safely, even though it is absolutely not your fault that you need to do so.

That's what I feel is going on: Na Bi has seen all the warning signs with her own eyes -- catching Jae Eon making out with a random girl, catching him flirting with other random girls, having a friend literally warn her, etc. But when he turns on the charm, she just pushes all of these negative experiences aside. So I don't think it's as simple as calling it "victim blaming".

I agree with you. I've also sort of seen it happen in real life. I once had a good friend in university -- one of the smartest people I've known. In my opinion, nothing like Na Bi. But anyways, she knew this guy that was making the moves on her and people warned her that he was a player. She slept with him (she was a virgin) and totally regretted it, which she told me.

I'm a middle aged guy and to this day I "still don't really get it". We've fallen out of touch but sometimes I do wonder what was going through her mind. I sort of feel like every person has an unconscious "threshold" of sorts whether you are a guy or a girl and if the guy/girl is skilled enough, even if they are "unethical" they can get you to engage in a relationship, physical or otherwise. You can have guys that just use girls for sex. You can have girls that just use guys for emotional-support. I think the opposite is theoretically possible too (although I feel it is less common). It's just that the really insecure ones like Na Bi have a low threshold.

I feel like I'm no stranger to non-romance dramas, but no drama has given me the feeling of "something's going to go down" like when Choi Baek Ho's - The Night (the ending theme) comes on. It really gives that "film noir" feel.

I read spoilers on how the webtoon ends. I won't share them in detail in case you didn't read that far, but to your comment, I don't think the story can stray from the webtoon without keeping the "feel" of the story. I don't think this story is meant to be a traditional love story and I get the sense that's what's angering/disappointing some watchers.

I've been reading a lot of hate for the male lead. I don't think the blame is squarely on the male lead's shoulders. In Episode 2, the female lead CLEARLY saw him playing around with another girl. To be clear, I think the male lead is unethical for "leading the female lead on" without the "purest of intentions" (Na Bi's friend even straight up warns her that she's heard he's a player) but at the same time I think the female lead is also ridiculous for avoiding warning signs that she's seeing with her own eyes -- he was clearly making out with that rando girl. It's a crappy situation "all around".

Personally, I find the show intriguing though. It's the car crash that you can't avert your eyes from. But I think if we're expecting a "crappy boy meets nice girl; crappy boy redeems himself for nice girl; both have happy ending" it's unlikely to happen given the setup of the story so far

This drama is like watching two trains colliding with each other in slow motion.

...I kinda like it.

You should probably mark your comment with a spoiler for folks that haven't read the web comic

I couldn't tell you why, but it's because the ratings on this site are so inflated. If we're trying to be objective and rate on a true 0-10 scale (can you even give a show a 0?), then 0 is the most terrible, poorly acted, forgettable, horrible plot you've ever seen, 5 is perfectly average, and 10 is a masterpiece. But when you look around at ratings, they tend to be 7 to 10, so if we "adjust", 7 tends to be "significantly worse" than a show that is a 10. So honestly, I am one of those folks that read ratings on this site with a "7 to 10 scale" -- I expect most people to think that 7 shows are "bad" and 10 shows are the "best thing since sliced bread". I personally may/may not agree with this, but this is how I read the "consensus opinion" on this site.

It's definitely specific to drama/ratings or MDL. Metacritic for video games isn't perfect, but people aren't shy to give 0s (even when they're unwarranted). Something about dramas/reviewing dramas/this site "automatically boosts the ratings".

I'm sure the reasons for this are multifaceted. But I'm also sure that there must be ways to improve the rating system on this site. In my opinion, it makes it really hard to "gauge" actual opinion. Like, I think I hear mostly negative opinions about Bride of Habaek and that's sitting at a 7.4. In contrast, everyone loves Crash Landing on You and that's sitting at a 9. It's crazy how the difference between "bad" and "good" is less than 2 points on a 0-10 scale.

I agree with this but it seems like most people don't? There's a locked suggestion thread on the suggestion forum. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯