User reviews

I cant agree to the people who says this is cringey, I love how they deliver the lines, the tone and characteristics it's all well played,, and if I ask you who would portray these characters better I bet you couldn't think of any because they literally suit the characters well.

Right from the start I'm thinking: "Yo! Oh NO! Women and girls don't need to be watching this!"

This story follows the lives of art students, particularly Nabi's group of friends. Though the focus is on their love lives, the stresses of classes, projects, competitions, and future plans factor heavily in the story. The protagonist is Yu Nabi, a beautiful and talented but resigned, student.

The show starts with her painful break-up. She is then quickly seduced by the powerfully sexual Park Jae-eon (Song Kang from Sweet Home-8.5 & Navillera), who is a notorious womanizer. They couldn't be more different, except for the "road closure" signs on the way to their hearts. She starts a physical relationship with him but continually doubts him. He never asked for more anyway. This type of dude is not good in real life. Users like this tend to be on the sociopathic scale. Naive girls will think the can change him, that they'll succeed where other women have failed. It won't work, girls. You will get your heart shredded.

"It's making me so uncomfortable," was my thought, from EP 2 through midway when there was a plot shift. At the same time, I was also thinking that the director & actors handled the seduction scenes well. They are as steamy as the kitchen in a noodle restaurant. Nabi moves on to other guys. She has no shortage of admirers herself. These relationships may make her more at ease, but there are clearly no sparks, such as the ones Jae-eon ejects when he's performing his craft.

My method is: No reviews without watching the entire show, intolerable pain being the exception. If I had broken it off with Nevertheless in the early episodes, which I was not enjoying, I would've had a much different opinion than I now do after watching every frame. A solid 25% (it seems) of the early episodes consists of Nabi staring with an emptiness that showcases how a hammer shattered her fragile shell. Her emotional core is pulverized. She's struggling with school. Nothing is going right. She's shut down.

Nabi brightens up in the very last scene, when she settles on the next step in the direction of her future. She smiles radiantly, her voice lifts an octave or so, her words suddenly flow with ease: She's confident. There was so much transformation in that last smiling sentence that it was breathtaking.

The director, Kim Ga Ram (Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency -7.4), created her own piece of art in this series. This is Kim Ga-ram's third effort. All three are rated solidly with an increase in the IMDB rating for each one. We should be looking forward to more excellent offerings from Ms Kim. Screenwriter, Jung Won, is just getting started.

Not only was Nabi's transformation handled aptly, but there are many scenes that are excellent, with imagery and metaphors noticeable in the first watch. (Another go-through would only reveal more.) In Ep9, for example, Do-hyeuk gives Nabi an umbrella. He told her it will rain. He has an extra umbrella. Cut to Jae-eon who looks out at the deluge, umbrellaless. Do-hyeuk was prepared for heartache. He had braced himself. He was ready for rain. Heartache snuck up on Jae-eon. He never saw it coming. Several others in the extended group, who had been longstanding friends, also pair up. Their romances were all done well.

Adorned with a butterfly tattoo on the back of his neck, Jae-eon claims it means: The ugliness & pain of happiness & a lack of freedom. While Jae-eon has looks, money, talent, and popularity, which are all things that people believe will make them happy, he's not happy. He's lived free with many women, which left him not free to pursue a meaningful relationship. It's obvious that Jae-eon's dingy apartment -it's almost grayscale- is emblematic of his closed off heart. "Nabi" means butterfly. Nabi emerges from her chrysalis at the end of the show. That emergence had nothing to do with a man. The criticism of Nevertheless promoting toxic relationships is not fair. Nabi's confidence, in the end, was from, by, and through HER, not anyone else. This show is a cocoon that yields it's beauty right on time.

The sculpture on which Nabi labours for the entire semester appears lackluster, just as Nabi does. She takes a step toward joining society by finally taking on assistants. The reveal for finished works will be the end of semester art show. What's on display is Nabi herself. Nabi's piece has taken up wings to fly. The process and the show are the stages of a butterfly. The matured Nabi powers through her entrapments in full stained glass splendor. She might as well fuse with her sun-catcher and bracelet.

This is a well-crafted show. I would give it a rating of around 7.6, but it doesn't rise to the level of a solid 8. The director will likely be there with her next effort. Nevertheless, this series is well worth watching. It's not like the 3' deep cutesy romances. The director has crafted something more complex. In fact, I would classify this as a drama about self-awareness and self-liberation first, and a romance second.

QUOTE📢

Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne~

〰🖍 IMHO

🎬8 🤔6 🎭8 💓6 🦋8 ⚡1

Age 15+

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Modern Day: A Witch's Love 7.8; Love to Hate You 8.9; Oh My Ghost 10; Our Blues 8.7 - ensemble piece; It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9; Love Struck in the City 7.3; Hospital Playlist 9; My Mister 9.5; I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9;

Action/Sci-fi/fantasy: Signal 8.6; The Cursed 8.3; Flower of Evil 8.9; The Man from Nowhere 8.9; Black 9; Squid Game 8.4;

Romance junkies only: My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks); Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max; The Bride of Habaek 7; Heirs 7.3; That Winter, The Wind Blows7 Something in the Rain 9

🍂

I had high expectations for this one, because I really liked it after watching the first episode. But as the series went on, I started to dislike it. It glorified and romanticized toxic relationships. The ending of this show just made it all worse. I feel like I only watched this for the side characters' plots, which I really liked!

The best thing about this kdrama is how the male lead deals with consent. He consistently expressed his boundaries and what he is offering. He is pretty forward, but he makes very clear moves and backs off if he notices she is not ready for it. Not once does he disparage her for rejecting him or setting her own boundaries, he always just smiles and let's her be. He listens to her. I think that's what makes this drama compelling and hot. And it's such an antithesis to the usual dramas which seem very sweet and loving and innocent, but are often rife with people taking advantage of each other, pushing the boundaries of friendships, and the classic grab her by the wrist and drag her of somewhere to talk or tell her off... Ugh.

Some good side romances and nice to see some lgbt representation.

Its a straight forward romance, not much more to it and not enough there to give it a 10, but so good for what it is.

To be frank, I love the vibe of the drama, the newly added characters, the production, but I hate the ending. I read the entire manga over the summer. It tells the story of a girl falls in love with a playboy, soon realizes his nature, and then ends up dating with the second leading which seems to be nicer, kinder, and better, but the uncertainty still remains in their relationship. This drama however turned this story into a common, boring "bad guy gone good" story in the last episodes. It's certainly unrealistic. The screenwriter either misunderstood the core value of the manga or formulated it this way because someone as him or her to do that. I know that there are people who love this ending, but it does not please me.

Only one episode left but Nabi is still urgh.. This is really frustrating both characters doesnt know how to express their feelings its like both of them are having a game of charades. They technically making both their life difficult by always assuming ang never ask or verify the actions and words. They obviously have the connection but they both want to mess it up.. THIS IS SO MESSED UP STORY and now we are down to one more episode and im disheartened by episode 9.

First of all, NOT A TYPICAL KDRAMA. I m seeing reviews saying this is vulgar. OMG PPL! What are you? 13? Let's just be honest and agree that the world we live in way more vulgar than this and this drama is just a reality of ppl in their 20s.

Both leads are amazing in jobs and extremely professional. I just watched an interview where they were watching their kissing scenes and kept on rewinding that lol. The amount of self confidence it needs for anyone to do that HIGHHH.

Hays off to Song Kang doing so many projects back to back. Literally running from one drama shoot to another and yet maintaining the quality of his performance on point. Hope this season ends well and Netflix gives us a season 2 and not ruin the season 2 like they ruined love alarm's season 2.

Before I watched this drama I kept reading EVERYWHERE, how the character Song Kang plays was sooo toxic and that he was such a bad boy, and I was really looking forward to see him playing a character like that, well that's not what you will find. He plays a guy with deep emotions but wounded and that doesn't know how to love ( or doesn't really want to) until he actually does and falls in love with Nabi. Not ONE TIME in the show he disrespects or hurts the female lead in any way. He never promised loyalty nor exclusivity and she just has different expectations ( Korean social standards are very much narrow minded when it comes to sex and intimacy in an open way).

I find this show very realistic and aligned with how people actually behave in real life and I enjoyed watching the characters struggling trying to find the way of being okay with their feelings and learning how to express them.

Loved the representation of LGBT relationships and the other secondary couples where adding a lot of warmth to the story.

The only reason why I didn't give it a 10 is because his show would have been priceless with a better script, the potential of passionate and raw dialogues this one has...!!! Instead its a lot of unsaid words and unspoken emotions. But I enjoyed It throughly regardless.

A naive art student is drawn to a fellow student even though he is known to be a player. The leads are convincing as both have character flaws which affect the way they interact but the sexual tension is palpable . A few interesting side characters and it is well acted but the main problem with the show is the slow pace.

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.

Oh I loved this. So different to everything else out there.

I thought the pace, cinematography and music was stunning and seemed to perfectly capture how beautiful and awkward love and sex can be. Some have said in their comments that it was slow but this was one aspect which I loved about it. Tender moments were shown frame by frame which is so true to the webtoon. I could feel their breath and hear their pulse. Slow, smouldering embers can light a forest fire and this series had my heart ablaze. Song Lang's smile melted the heart and then sizzled the soul. The acting from both leads was flawless.

This series is not for shallow waders. To fully appreciate that love's still waters run deep, one needs hold one's breath and dive in.

The rise of popular dating apps nowadays made this K-drama more realistic. Kim Ga-Ram brought typical commitment issues over young characters in (art) university. You might hate their repetitive cycles and undecisive acts but still rooting for nice settlements.

Uniquely there's no major 'parenting' or 'family' involvement through ten eps. These couples solve problems on their own. Song & Han have a lot of charm and courage to do steamy make-out scenes as Jae-Eon & Na-Bi though i slightly prefer Bit-Na & Gyu-Hyun and Yoon-Sol & Ji-Wan stories.

I've seen people from various countries criticizing it being too unrealistic. WELL I feel endlessly thankful for this Kdrama. It portrayed a certain type of men out there perfectly. For me, this is a wake-up call. I would like to express my gratitude towards the screenwriters for depicting the psyches of emotionally unavailable men and the women around them so perfectly.

I don't think this drama is to portray a idealistic romance of a repenting f-boy. It went into great details to show the twist and turns of how such relationships damage people. It goes above and beyond as to why these people are so good at emotional manipulation and why they are so hard to get over. When you watch this drama, you from a third-person perspective sees all the choices that Nabi shouldn't be making. But when you are in the situation, you 100% will do what Nabi does.

Very well plotted drama. Deep, meaningful, humorous, and extremely engaging.

So, it's not the best k drama i've ever watched, but for me it was kinda entertaining. I've liked the secondary characters, not really the main ones.

They were kinda stupid, especially the girl. Idk what to say about Jae-eon. He was a little toxic at some point, and that he changed so much was pretty unrealistic.

Also, Na-bi doesn't know how to make decisions.

Overall, it was entertaining but didn't give any good message.

Nevertheless is one of the most underrated drama. It may seem slow paced but that's what makes it more attractive and creates the tension. For me it was a beautiful the way the actors portrayed the characters and conveyed their emotions through expressions without much words. It is different from and not a typical romcom which makes it unique. Love is not always hearts and roses, it is sometimes confusing and irresistible. Both of the leads were insecurities born from past experiences. However, they had different expectations, priorities which created complications despite having mutual affection for each other. I loved the ending as well it is kind of open which does not show a happily ever after kind of vibe. So we just know that she chose the one she really likes for time being which we all would have done in her position. Nevertheless, I enjoyed every bit of the drama and binge watch it as well.

Korean Drama 'Nevertheless,' gives a new perspective to college dramas.

The drama has a pretty original story, bold and original, about a toxic relationship that is acknowledged by the lead and yet she can't stop it. It has a realistic aspect to it and a more mature mood. However, the ending was pretty cliche and ruined what the drama had built. The personalities of the main characters, especially the male lead, were also a bit vague and they should have been portrayed better. However, the love triangle was interesting and the side characters were pretty entertaining and they added a lot to the story, with a unique flavor and strong stories.

Finally, the performances were enjoyable and the atmosphere that the drama created, along with the OST, quite beautiful.

So, overall, 7 out of 10.

You can't help but hate Park Jae Eon and love Park Jae Eon at the same time. The leading actor Song Kang is a perfect fit for the role as he brings romance, and a certain calm in his slow charming seduction of women. I admit I haven't watched too many Korean Netflix Series, but this one seems to depart from the ones I have seen in that it is definitely a bit racy. But I thought it was a welcome change with the right actor. The story is set at a college where the art department majors all hang out and make friends. Park Jae Eon makes friends with benefits, if you know what I mean, and he is so good-looking that all the girls fall under his spell. He is upfront with them from the beginning that they are just friends and is not "dating" them and are they OK with it? The many girls he dates is like a kaleidoscope of butterflies. Of course in reality what girl is going to be OK with that. I liked the story because anyone in the US can relate to this series. Many groups of friends will end up sleeping with each other only to be hurt in the end. The whole time while watching the series I could imagine the song going through my head "Maggie May" song by Rod Stewart, "All I needed was a friend to lend a guiding hand But you turned into a lover, and mother, what a lover, you wore me out All you did was wreck my bed, and in the morning, kick me in the head Oh, Maggie, I couldn't have tried any more". (although Park Jae Eon was doing it in a gentle way, but Nevertheless.) They should have used it for a theme song because it was very fitting. Is Park Jae Eon just a cold human being with no sense of how he is hurting people or is he capable of falling in love? The main characters Park Jae Eon and As Na Bi were very good. I was very happy with the way it ended.

It's funny how the reviews here said the female lead can't act when only her acting is being praised by Korean netizens what a bunch of idiots who don't know anything about acting Song kang is a meme in Korea and some reviews here are praising his acting are you serious the dude can't act lmao.

This for me was the most realistic, well acted, well made K drama. The actors do a brilliant job of portraying the characters' struggles and their chemistry is off the charts. Very tastefully made, from a woman's point of view. I liked that it was not childish or cheesy like most other k dramas.

Unlike other dramas there is no other sub plot - like action or mystery. It's all about romantic involvement between 3-4 couples. So I understand if some viewers were bored because of that but that's what made it stand out to me as there was more time to go in depth into peoples behaviors and motivation.

I wish there's another drama like this made soon!

The relationship between Yoon Sol and Seo Jiwan was literally the only reason I watched this show. They were sweet, genuine, and their story actually had real substance. Unlike the main story, which was just straight up annoying to watch. The main story was so slow, boring, and promoted a toxic relationship. It was frustrating seeing Jae-eon unnecessarily insert himself into Nabi's life like a scheming fly. Even though Sol and Jiwan had very little screen time (a crime if you ask me), I felt a lot happier seeing them on screen than the main couple.

0/10 for the main story 11/10 for Yoon Sol and Jiwan.

To me this drama was a piece of art.

The music, the cinematography, the pain and the passion, the tension and the longing. I was absorbed and I loved it so much.