Sin Embargo (2021)

It would be a great drama about toxic relationship, if romance wasn't prioritized

A cozy k-drama, filled with beautiful music. A lot of frames were cropped, it was a great idea, I focused more on my own emotions while watching, not actors' facial expressions. They left me puzzled, melancholic, dissapointed, annoyed, thinking what is the true nature of characters' feelings. Scenes with Na Bi's ex were especially catching — his whole face were never seen, only mouth and rarely — his eyes. Drama tells about art students and looks like an art itself, it's pleasant to watch.

At the same time I couldn't help, but be dissapointed in main lead. Yoo Na Bi had everything on her hands, but she trusted her sudden attraction to a guy who never shared enough of himself, was a mystery all along and promised nothing serious (though stepped in when other males showed her attention), who were always busy, but never told what he was busy doing, who told sweet and shallow things. Na Bi's ex was a manipulator, at some point she couldn't stand it anymore, left him, and the next time she fell in love at first sight and fell even deeply when he did nothing, just appeared next to her, touched her, flirted, but kept at arm's length. I was happy to see she didn't roamed much in her previous relationship, but sadly she was just busy thinking about new ones, confused whether Jae Eon likes her or not, they are sex friends or more. This isn't a pleasant feeling and I guessed she would recognize the manipulation, but she liked the feeling of being cherished too much to see through it (again).

She heard a lot about Jae Eon and believed it, the next thing — she sees him and discards her doubts. It's good to criticize what others say, but she didn't have any proof, just couldn't think in his presence. And god, every time she was alone, Jae Eon showed up and touched her. They attended the same university and didn't met before, why he is everywhere now, it's creepy? They talk a lot about fate that brought them together, but in fact he stalked her all the time. And why it's so easy to change her mind? She literaly cut things with Jae Eon (she called him a liar, he changed his number), avoided him and decided they could be friends and work together when she's not over him, all in the same episode.

The guy isn't any better, he wants everything, doesn't feel responsible at all. He comes when he's not wanted, tries to get closer when pushed away. He is stone when talking to guys, but flirt with every girl naturally and can't keep his hands to himself. Na Bi talks with other guys — he's pissed. When they are with friends, he stares at her not blinking, while everybody have fun, when they're alone and she has something to say, he tries to kiss. His selfish 'I missed you' and 'you're beautiful' are nothing romantic, he treats women just like his butterflies he keeps at home with a promise to release them one day.

All their relationship with Na Bi are — he flirts, she is happy, people tell her 'he isn't serious', she feels played, pushes him away, he tells how deeply it hurted him, she is confused till same people tell 'oh, he likes you', and the guy appears again. Repeat 20 times. No development. Somewhere in between they find new possible love interests — and the jealousy machine launches. All main story builds on love triangles and jealousy. Themes like egoism, abuse, friends-with-benefits-relationship are brought up, but in the end it's all about how they see each other with another person and can't live with that.

I am glad I watched the drama too — and a lot. Characters have different personalities, their stories are unique, not boring and they don't exist for the sake of jealousy of Na Bi. Gender isn't something important there — female characters are just as strong as male ones, and they all can love, learn, have fun, suffer. You can change their genders, but stories would be the same. Also it's refreshing to see k-drama where people have sex life not somewhere in the future after marriage (and then they will be embarassed to talk about it); and not all of them seek for relationships. It's strange though how supports (like Bit Na) have their own storyline, but when focus shifts on Na Bi, Bit Na exists just to remind her about Jae Eon. Their friendship doesn't feel real.

Sol and Ji Wan relationship is another great thing. Friends since school, they are expected to face their new reality where Sol have many options both in relationship and studies and eventually cut their ties, but they don't want to lose each other. As time comes, unsaid things pressure their friendship more and more to the point where all they had crushes, and it can't be solved till they talked their fears. Overall supporting cast are way more interesting than the main couple.

To conclude, I believe it would be better, if episode 9 was the last one. Maybe it should've been a web-drama with shortened length too, because many cycles of main relationship only damage the whole picture. Jae Eon changed in the end (it's pretty for his development and cliched at the same time), but Na Bi who took over most of the drama, she stayed the same — and it was reffered as a happy ending. She had many opportunities to change, her desicion to move forward from this relationship would be a more positive outcome.

I think the main problem is not in characters, but rather in the choice of priorities. Na Bi and Jae Eon could be all the things I mentioned - weak and problematic - and be a good portrayal of people stuck in toxic relationship, but in the same row with other couples it seemed like they could have a happy ending too. No matter how often she repeated 'I know it, nevertheless', last episodes make it look like a bittersweet love story.

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Watch it for the lesbians and cinnamon topography

Pro: The camerawork and framing in this show is so so good in this show. It's stunning. It's breathtaking. It almost distracts you from the fact that the plot isn't actually going anywhere. Han SoHee and Song Kang look wonderful in this one, as they always do. Soljiwan supremacy.

Cons: The ending will definitely leave you wondering what kinda message this show was trying to send. Watching this feels like you're traveling down a river, and the scenery is generally nice and all, but nothing is really happening. Some of the twists and turns you're taking are a little concerning, and the destination is nothing like you expected it to be.

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why all these haters?

The story is nice and truly realistic. For sure way more realistic than the stories on which are based the 90% of the k-dramas available for the vision, which I find sometimes too much conventional and over-filtered in terms of contents and topics.
That said, I can understand who does not feeel comfortable in watching the show because feeling irritated by some of the characters, but that's it reality. You can make a choice: watching a k-drama because looking for a fairy tale or watching something more real life related, where (surprise!) people is just normal people: can be fragile, boring, messed up, idiot, brilliant. But just normal people. And, in our case, just youths witht their cumbersome luggage for the life filled with fear, enthusiasm, uncertainty, youthness.
Han So-hee perfectly suited for her role. I like her way to act. I'm less positive for Song Kang, instead. Sometimes he looks too much stunned. I liked also the supporting roles and the fact that (very likely because based on a webtoon) sex and thorny topics like homosexuality were included in the show. (Yeah: they're part of the real life too). Very nice the OST

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Couldn't decide whether to root for them or not

Halfway through I wasn't sure how this was going to go and read some reviews which made me worry that it was going to be a depressing, miserable ending in which we pitied the lead woman. But, I actually really liked it. It was a little slow - which was probably when I started checking reviews and wondering if I really wanted to be watching it - but I think it shows people coming to terms with their emotions and figuring them out quite well. That seems to be mostly what's happening. It had a few unanswered questions - I wish they'd answered what exactly one of the person's relationship was with the other at one point rather than keeping that all quite vague.

I liked the first half - not just because it was 'new love' and felt really happy but the second half was less good, and I had to play that one 1.5x speed because I wanted to know what happened but found it was really labouring it and felt very slow. I also couldn't quite decide - maybe like Na-Bi - if I wanted to emotionally invest in the ML & FL in the second half. In that way, I suppose it was pretty effective. I liked seeing Jae-Eon emotionally evolve a little bit, finally.

The other couples, I loved. Especially the GL.

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Art , Romance , Toxic

How can I move on? I found a best tone controlling drama. OST are gorgeous. 10 episodes was too short for this relationship and because of female director, every frame and angles is so aesthetic. casting 박재언 and 유나비 is so flawless. their behind the scenes was cute too. My friend recommend this to me last year but I was busy, now I understand her why she crazy about this drama a lot.

I'm writer and artist. so every time, I love when two characters spend time together likes Jae-on and Nabi in Jae-on workshop or just lay down and drawing each others in Nabi apartment. That's very touched.

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An artist's romance. Nevertheless aptly describes Nabi.

In short, it was a steamy artist's romance. In my opinion based on artists I know, and my own life, we draw inspirations from our surroundings and how deeply they affect us. The more we feel, the better our artistic instincts awaken.

As this drama wasn't a sweet romance but realistic one, my take in judging it is different.
Slight spoilers here guys (if any)-

The endless rebounds, attraction, struggle to understand, openness to explore and get to know themselves and their romantic partners. Na Bi left her relationship with her ex-teacher who was an artist and got into a steamy open relationship with the ML- a guy who liked to flirt with anyone attracted to him. He could use it to his advantage and string them just enough he got what he wanted at his own pace, with a distance he liked to maintain. This story showed how such kind open relationship was hard to maintain as the relationship progresses over time. Very realistic behaviour when your body can't get on the same page with your logic and ignores red flags as Nabi faces an ambiguous relationship that had no boundaries with a person full of unspoken lines that she wasn't able to cross. Trying to juggle her studies, ambitions, and her unconscious nod to romance, she experiences how each important position in her life was interlinked- grew as a person, an artist, drew her boundaries and straight up finally gave ML a choice. Ofcourse during the course, she slipped, made mistakes and in the end, came to her own conclusion (be it right or wrong. Such is life). While I may not agree with her choices, but I appreciate her assurity, own interpretations, self worth and confidence while making them.

For the ML on the other hand, the progress was so sloooooow. I never got his deal, could never get fully invested in him. He used all the right words, right actions, his calculated thoughtfulness that mentally and emotionally linked, touches that simulated sexual awareness... He was fully in control of himself most of the time. Always aware. He lived like a butterfly. Yes he changed a bit, though it was minuscule enough that I felt his life and progression may have happened offscreen and thats why I couldn't understand his perspective, growth, pain. His whole character was built on vagueness in terms of decisions, until he released the butterflies and lightly asked for her back


They both finally entered into a relationship, with their eyes open. As people they wanted to give it a go. As artists, they both will gain from each other- through love, pain, attraction, heightened emotions, and when they split (they know they will), they'll gain further still. They just want to enjoy the now.

In a way Im glad the SL didnt get Nabi. I feel like the person she is nowouldn't have gelled well with him for long if they had. She would have been emotionally exhausted to be with him because she never gave me that vibe that showed interest and he would have put in a LOT of effort ( he already was) and he would have felt a bit insecure in the relationship. It's best it ended as a first love. She was always invested in the ML. He deserves someone else. In the webtoon though, I prefer that ending.

I agree with Bhoomi though, it was realistic enough to be queasy, and later on there was a lot of eye rolling on part. Became too repetitive with no development.
That saying, I loved watching the supporting characters more, especially in the 2nd half of the drama.

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A protagonista é muito chata

Minha primeira resenha e só to escrevendo ela, pois fiquei indignada *SPOILER* com o tanto de macho atrás da Na-bi mesmo ela sendo uma pamonha.

Além de ser uma pamonha, ela é completamente indecisa, vi muitas pessoas falando que o protagonista é controlador/abusivo etc, contudo não achei nada disso, acho que o problema mesmo é a Protagonista. Ela desde o começo sabe que ele não se envolve, que ele tem fama de mulherengo, mas mesmo assim quer ficar com ele (ATÉ MESMO QUANDO VIU ELE BEIJANDO OUTRA NA PORTA DA CASA DELA). E quando ela realmente confirma que ele é mulherengo da um chilique sobre ele procurar ela quando ele quer, sobre ele não ser sincero, sendo que geral avisou para ela e ela sabia onde tava se metendo. Não satisfeita, Na-bi manda ele ficar longe dela, MAS ACHA RUIM QUANDO ELE FAZ ISSO.

Até no final do dorama, ela diz que nunca mais quer olhar na cara dele e quando ele vai embora para valer ela acha ruim dele não ter procurado ela, sendo que ele só estava realizando os desejos dela (DEPOIS DE TER PERCEBIDO E DEMONSTRADO QUE GOSTAVA DELA, COISA QUE ELA QUERIA DESDE O INÍCIO E ENCHEU O SACO A SÉRIE INTEIRA POR CAUSA DISSO. )

É claro que o protagonista teve seus defeitos, mas a Na-bi complicou a situação muito mais, ela pedia para ele ser sincero sendo que ela nunca era. Enfim, peguei ranço dela, muito pamonha e hipócrita. O dorama só valeu a pena pelos casais secundários.

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It's not as bad as they make it to be, Nevertheless

To be honest, people are being too harsh on the drama although I haven't read the webtoon. I would be lying if I said i didn't watch this kdrama because of Song Kang, and it's true that the cast was better than the story line itself but I think it's fundamental to understand the fact that it's a friends with benefits plot/"girl is devoting her time into another red flag" and perhaps that might not be everyone's cup of tea which is probably why many don't like the drama.
I wouldn't say it's trash because personally I completed it and in fact re watched it. It's not a waste of time if you actually try to view and understand each character and their love lifes . It is different from your other romance collage plots but it's fun to once in a while watch something distinct, and also if you like the cast it's a big plus, because I think what really helped me get hooked on the plot and the show was the acting and the actors. If that's not what you're looking for, pretty understandable.

Also a plus, I loved the OST it encapsulated the vibe of the drama really well and gave it some good atmosphere.

Overall, I don't hate or dislike this drama, I think there's no such thing calling it a "disappointment" or a "waste of time" (at least in my book) so if you're looking for a spicy and fairly realistic plot, watch Nevertheless.

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yeah....

nevertheless, i actually liked it.when this drama was airing i heard so many bad opinions, about the project in general and the characters/relationship. i watched the first episodes and then dropped it because i wanted to prioritize others dramas that i liked more, but than this year i thought "why not" and i enjoyed it, the acting its really good with all the actors and actress, the cast is good and the couples matched perfectly, they all had the chemistry needed. but there some things that i didn't liked, obsviously.of course all the couples had their problems, ji wan was incredibly dependant emotionally on sol, so much that it was annoying. it's ok to like someone like she liked sol, but she didn't want sol to live like a normal person, having other friends besides her, going in places without her like GURL what the hell, your friend/lover have a LIVE, she wanted sol to live for her and in any point the drama talked about this.well, so going further to the other couple, bit na and the bald guy, i hate her chatacter, i hated her personality, she was arrogant, greedy and didn't like gyung hun for what he was, she just wanted to go back with him because she saw she was losing him for good and i bet, people like her (and like jae eon) they don't change, its really hard for a person like them change so fast like they tried to show on this drama. and going to the our main couple, i liked their chemistry and i liked both of them, but not together and not as a couple. i couldn't be mad a na bi for once because i'm a borderline person, so i can't judge her for her attitudes, i did the same as her so many times, with so many boys, i put myself in so many ridiculous relationships because of my problem. i really did envolve myself with guys like jae eon, some worse than him so i saw myself on her so many times. it was really annoying seeing how he manipulates her so she would feel wrong to treat him the way he needs to be treated at (like the time she "broke up" w/ him) and the times the story makes us feel pity for him when he starts to "really" like her and notice that HE was wrong all the time, but like i said, people like him, guys or girls like him doesn't change quickly like they tried to show on the story. or not. because until the end she says "i'll regret being with you, but i'll still do", she knew that, she was aware of that but the lack of self love it was her ending, when someone with this lack of love like she has and i do meet someones that doesn't want to envolve themselves in a relationship and just want to hang out with everyone, this happens. jae eon was romanticized by her the whole time, she knew but couldn't get out of their relationship because she was traumatized by her last relationship, a toxic one, and she put herself in another toxic guy, because when u get out of one, its so easy to put yourself in another closed to the last, so yeah, i couldn't blame her.and what i liked the most about this k-drama was not just the aesthetic pleasantly sets, places and the art, but how realistic the drama is, even hating some characters sometimes, the relationships, the friendships and everything was so real, i saw their groupd of friends, their personalities, the bad things they do and i can see clearly my coleagues, my friends. thats the world, the yound adult world. so yeah, i liked the drama for that and i don't recommend to everyone. and besides everything i think its so easy to romanticize jae eon chatacter because of song kang, its a good looking guy (that hardly you'll meet in your real life hahah but yeah...). so 7/10 because the production is good, the cinematography is so good, the art, the aesthetic and everything about it was cool to watch :) and the OST is amazing, definitely going to listen day by day.

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a story that leads nowhere

the drama's story is not the best, but it could be a lot better if the script was better. the main couple (nabi and jae-eon) are literally the most boring characters, even so the side characters have more charm than them. nabi, initially, looks sane and all, but she's just SO confusing. to the point she looks kind of dumb, really dumb. she says to herself that she will not fall into jae-eon's tricks and later she changes her mind when he kisses her. there is no reason to why she likes him, he literally does something nice for her sometimes and that's it. his character is really annoying and touched her all the time, even when they just met, and it was a bit hard to watch them together because she looked too shy and uncomfortable. she knows that he's not committing to any closed relationship and it's sad about it, she knows he can't make her happy and still decides to stay with him at the end. he did a lot of bad decisions throughout the drama and said some manipulative things as well. at some point the two were unbearable to watch, they had no chemistry besides their physical attraction to each other. she just likes him because she finds him attractive, even though he's kind of a jerk and has no personality (except his quirky character trait of liking butterflies). she rarely looked really happy when she was with him, always with a distressed expression worrying if he's worth it. i don't understand the point in dating someone if you'll be worrying if they're a good person or not all the time and doubting them.
the good part of the show is the side characters. they have interesting and dynamic personalities that go well together and creates great chemistry. bit-na is very outgoing and social, she knows everyone. sometimes she was annoying but it's normal to have some defects. her actress made a good job incorporating the character. her boyfriend was ok too and they looked cute together (mainly towards the end). now, sol and jiwan; they're the best couple in the show, in my opinion. they're really cute and they seem really close (the actresses had so much chemistry and it didn't looked forced at all). their relationship is simple and adorable, and i liked pretty much every dialogue they had. sol was cute in every scene, her character is chill and she looked really natural all the time; she was kind of oblivious but it was cute. jiwan could be annoying sometimes but it's just the way she is, and she's really funny; sol likes her this way. their way of showing affection had me crying. sol is very subtle and kind, but she was always thinking about jiwan and doing something nice for her, even if it seemed small (getting her a plush of the character she likes, getting her candy, wrapping her with the blanket on a restaurant). she was just naturally attentive towards her. jiwan was always leaning towards her, too; but she showed it hugging sol and always taking care of her (even if it didn't look like it), she was easily jealous too but it was because she didn't know how to deal with her feelings for sol at first and was confused about it.
the other couples are fine too, the couple with the ones who both had glasses were so funny and really seemed like they were married. they had more chemistry and personality than the main leads.
to sumn-up, this drama was very hard to watch when the main characters were together on screen. it just got boring and they never had a great dialogue whatsoever. but when the side characters were on screen, it was very light-hearted and nice. do-hyeok and the other guy who also liked nabi were cute and they should've ended up with her, she was not as boring as she was with jae-eon.
also, towards the end, when jae-eon free his butterflies, i thought it would be a metaphor for him leaving nabi alone and acknowledging that he's not the best partner for her. but it was not and it was really just meaningless. the message of the drama is "even if someone is not making any good for you and actually making your life worse, if the person is attractive, it's ok" and nabi's life went downhill when she got to know him.

— story: 3/10; bad storyline that leads nowhere, really repetitive.

— acting: 7/10; it's good but didn't stood out that much.

— music: 3/10; really plain.

— rewatch value: 3/10; thanks to soljiwan moments.

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It’s not as bad as most reviews are making it seem!

This show is getting a lot of hate and bad reviews here, and I can see why. But I liked it. And I liked Jae Eon. Yes his character started out as womanizing and toxic, and yes he communication issues (like most drama couple leads lol). But he does change, noticeably, and obviously loves Nabi. I honestly disliked Nabi more. She also doesn’t communicate with Jae Eon, seems oblivious to his changes, and seems like she just wants a boyfriend no matter who. Everyone can say that Jae Eon is toxic for her but she’s just as toxic for him to me. She shows no faith in him, doesn’t directly ask him his feelings or what’s going on, and believes others without hearing from him.

My biggest complaint with this series is the characters were really under developed, especially Jae Eon. There’s obviously a back story to him, we get a couple hints but nothing is ever explained. They could have made this drama much better and made the ending much better by telling us the whole story of these main characters. While most might say it’s a happy ending the way they set it up just makes you so incredulous at Nabi that at least in my case I couldn’t understand her decision to date Jae Eon (even though I wanted them to end up together). The side characters in this were amazing and definitely elevated the series for me. Bit Na was a bit annoying though and I wish the LGBTQ couple got more storyline.

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