Love has always been a complex topic which draws a great amount of interest in every audio visual art form. It is also the case with Nevertheless. The story revolves around multiple youthful, free-spirited, reckless love from diverse characters in a homogeneous college environment. The kdrama itself came in a short, seemingly compact 10 episodes which aired weekly (a short 6 episodes and held a difference from the usual 2 episodes per week usual Kdrama formats). Although with the unique format, the love adventure is not as solid as they making it out to be.

Disclaimer: Nevertheless is based on a webtoon from the same name, however I never read nor had any interest on the said e-comics. This review is based on my personal preferences.

Nevertheless tells the story of multiple Sculpture major students — emphasis on love stories — but it mostly focuses on a senior student, Yoo Nabi, and her junior yet-the-same-age-and-a-player, Park Jae-eon. Other than our main couple and the dynamics of Nabi’s friends, we also learn about an additional main character Yang Dohyeok which happens to be Nabi’s long-lost childhood friend (whom had a crush on her).

The premise of Nevertheless offers simplicity. Within all the relationships, every one of them has their own unique up and downs. Firstly though, let’s focus on Yoo Nabi and Park Jae-eon. The main couple of the story speaks to the audience as they were relatable to recent dating trends. Either you hate commitment, disbelieve in fate and coincidences, vent some sort of lust, or unconfidently stand on your own two feet of principles, they offer a realistic approach to all of those. While being realistically enchanting, the plot execution of Nevertheless fell flat especially towards the end. The early stages of Nabi and Jae-eon’s relationship felt nerve-wrecking. However, other than feeling anxiously excited for each other’s next moves, it comes off as jitty — thanks to Jae-eon’s over-the-top red flags in almost every love-related scenes. We also got a too-kind hopeless romantic second-lead — that the female lead seemed to be more comfortable with yet didn’t end up with. Out of many possible outcomes, if anything, Nabi could’ve been a miss independent in order to obtain her dreams and a stable life. Yet, she ends up with Jae-eon declaring her willingness to regret the relationship if necessary. Nabi’s plot is indeed, dryer than I thought it would be, except for that one time her piece being broken.

Fortunately though, Nevertheless showed redeeming qualities when it comes to the side couples. Although I would point out firstly how it felt a little too exaggerated that every single pairing is on a timid and homogeneous environment, a Sculpture Major in a university. Starting off with Oh Bitna (the Gretchen Wieners of the university) and Nam Gyuhyun (a decent guy, though he seems to do mansplaining to Bitna quite often) whom had the best friends turned lover trope. Being a side plot, their arcs didn’t do much but the simplicity revolving around them was enjoyable. A major downside when they edited the guy out of the frame on episode 8 and 9 due to his personal life scandal. Being best friends since childhood, the cute yet possessive Seo Jiwan plus settled and though Yoon Sol is another story. In the act of South Korea becoming slightly more progressive, the addition of this LGBTQ+ couple actually felt enticing as the characters didn’t overdo neither half-assing their actions. Last but not the least are the double decent seniors, Ahn Kyungjoon and Minyoung. I never really understood their presence in the university, lack of details there, yet this couple felt effortless and natural. Sadly, the duo didn’t really connect with the main plot and felt more like a filler. I might missed some couples but those four are the necessary ones. Aside from the characters mentioned earlier, the extended characters that were not affiliated with the main couples are lively — especially the bubbly assistant and Seo Jiwan and Yoon Sol’s witty male friend.

Other than the love stories, I found Nevertheless to be lacking in plot with the corresponding settings that it had. The drama clearly had potential with exploring the life of university, specifically art department, multiple students which basically means multiple personalities and lives, yet they didn’t explore those much. The writers should have given opportunity for the viewers to learn about sculptures and art rather than leaving the topic as a bypassing. A few times Nabi and other students had to present their projects or art related materials but those were left unseen. The background stories of everyone except Nabi were not explored at all: their families, earlier education or experiences, etc. Moving on, some gatherings or group hangouts being offered, although the act of group talks while eating felt too repetitive throughout the series. Though with the negative points I had mentioned, the glimpse of university life depicts a proper life without pandemic very well.

As I have had mentioned by the show having a great potential, it truly did when it comes to the supporting elements. The OST is terrific, definitely one of the best among this year’s Kdramas. All of songs are notably easy-listening while adding flavor to the stories (special mention to Sam Kim’s Love Me Like That, Kimmuseum’s We’re Already, and J.UNA’s Butterfly). Another excellent point is the cinematography. Every single shot expresses the situation, expressions, and additional meanings of the characters’ actions immensely. Although I found many vents on social media regarding Song Kang being lacking in acting or other stuffs, the portrait shots are excellent. Another thing I would like to point out are the sets that felt natural whether it comes to the studio, the hostel when the students went to another city, or many others.

The story of Park Jae-eon and Yoo Nabi might have left mixed impressions among the viewers. However, the whole journey was quite enjoyable. I watched Nevertheless mostly as a side drama and just once a week while watching other series that were “darker”. So this one was a nice fresh breath of air. Perhaps, one of the reasons I quite enjoy this drama was because I never really take things as seriously and overly passionate as heavier series. This drama can be classified as just *another* kdrama with the final result, nevertheless it had a cute run.