I just finished Nevertheless and… I liked less of it than I expected.

Listen, friends, I went to art school. So there were certain expectations I had going in. I expected a lot of partying (which we got, more or less) and a lot of emotional relationship rollercoasters (which we got). I expected lots of art of the middle-tier level, cause honestly only about 10 percent of art majors go on to become professional artists. Does this invalidate art school in any way? Of course not. Lessons learned while pursuing your interests cross over into all fields. I was pleasantly surprised to see the studio filled with a bunch of rather boring bust sculptures and a few welded creations of various skill level. Regardless, students were constantly in the building working at odd hours, sometimes throughout the night. They say art and architecture majors put in 2X the work outside their already extremely long official classes and that is no exaggeration. Creating art takes time.

There were a lot of things I had hoped to see but didn’t. School cafeterias. Cramped dormitories. Tiny cheap apartments elaborately decorated with a hodge podge of items – hand me down furniture, half broken shelves, beaded curtains, posters, mismatched pillows, the typical first apartment scene. There is nothing quite like the glorious disaster of your first apartment, and art majors can make any hovel into a truly unique and fun hobbit hole. Unfortunately we really only got to spend time in the leading female’s apartment, which was very spacious and swanky. But due to the global pandemic, I am willing to overlook location choices at this time.

There is a whole vibe to art majors. Here are some pictures from my years as an art major…

Nevertheless captured most of the overall vibe of art school, kinda. The unique, casual fashion choices. The close knit group of student-friends who practically live at the studio. The concern over what’s next always looming, the insecurities about the future constantly needing to be drown out with booze and dancing and kissing and long hours making art work.

So what’s my problem with Nevertheless?

My main problem?

The main couple.

I absolutely did not care for either character – or actor – and found them insufferably boring, one dimensional, and annoying. The girl reminds me of Seo Hyun-Jin, who I’m not a fan of. It was uncanny really, and I actually had to stop the show to look it up on my phone to see if the actresses are related. It’s not that they look alike – it’s that they behave alike. The same weird style of flirtation. The same awkward wooden physicality. I have never really understood the dynamics of the romances with Seo Hyun-Jin and I didn’t understand this romance either.

The male lead just reminded me of one of those goldfish with really big eyes. Kinda pretty I guess, but not a lot going on in the brain pan. I did not see the appeal. (*update – I recently watched Love Alarm and was startled to see this catatonic lover boy can indeed pull out some facial expressions when so required! Just… not in this show). Though to be fair, these two secretive people seemed perfect for each other – both enjoying their clandestine romances and using their cold shoulders to keep people at arms length. We got a lot more “skinship” and booty scenes than your typical Korean drama in this show. The lead couple really only looked happy when they were making out – though still they seemed so busy being beautiful it felt more like a photoshoot than a natural occurrence of body chemistry and desire.

After the third episode, I just started skimming their sections entirely because I did not care. Was it because my first week back at work had been a stressful, hellscape and I just wanted to escape into a blissful alternate reality? Perhaps. But I don’t think I will like these leads even if I go back and watch it when less stressed out. You can’t cut it with a table knife, you can only spread it around.

With that said – the less ended up being great! By that I mean outside the main couple, the side couples were awesome.

There were several and I found each of their stories adorable and engaging.

Can you spoil a very short romance drama by saying people get together? I’m never really sure and I would hate to ruin the few enjoyable moments of this otherwise dreadfully “Meh” drama with spoilers. But then again… it was a “Meh” drama so really any encouragement to watch this show should probably be mentioned here.

So… spoilers? I guess. Not really, but whatever.

Let’s start with the best side-couple, our ladies in love. When you’re given rainbow crumbs, you gotta eat them, I guess… cause how else will they know you’re hungry? We’re hungry! We’re starving! Give us more gay characters in mainstream dramas, please.

These girls had been friends for years and over time their feelings had changed. Though they were both noticing the difference between their emotions for each other, they both experienced it differently – and processed it differently – and I really appreciated the differences between their characters. They were refreshingly not stereotyped either.

These were two ladies who couldn’t seem to stop touching each other. As it happens with many people who develop feelings for each other out of a friendship, jealousy of an “intruding” party was the catalyst for change.

I loved this couple. Was I annoyed by how little romantic skinship we got between the two compared to every other couple in this show? Yes. Yes, I was. Deeply. But was I also happy on how much physicality, flirting, and gayness we got from this couple? Also yes. Yes, I was. Extatically. At least they let them cuddle and frolic and hold hands and hug and confess feelings and be openly in love.

We also had the wild-child girl with the multi-colored hair who enjoyed being young and sexual, but could not resist the stoic guy with the deep voice. I love couples like this – with clear similarities but also opposite personality types. They’re always such to watch.

This couple also had the sexiest kiss scene, in my opinion – when our funky gal was wasted and made a move on our quietly nurturing hottie.

There were a few other couples scattered throughout the art major friend group. We even got to enjoy the adorable cohabitation romance of the graduate students. All in all, the side characters stole the show.

Overall Rating – 4/10 (side couples story lines 9/10). Worth it for the Side Couples.