Nevertheless: The Shapes of Love – J-drama Episode 8 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Episode 8

Episode 8 of Nevertheless: The Shapes of Love begins with Miu thanking Ren for everything and leaving. He looks defeated. His belief that forever doesn’t exist is solidified further. 

Why does Ren act aloof?

A flashback shows that Ren succeeds at everything. Yet he cannot be an important part of his mother’s life. She is a dancer and takes out her frustration on him whenever she has an artist’s block. 

He is then frustrated as he realises he cannot reciprocate Chiaki’s feelings even though she is the only one who is by his side.

Later, the women he meets are like butterflies, they come and go. He decides to act the way everyone expects him to. In this manner, he loses his identity and doesn’t know what he wants. 

Why does Ren fall for Miu?

He starts changing when he spots Miu’s wings artwork after her fight with her ex at the art exhibit. He is surprised by the way she shows her true self in her art without fear as he can never do the same. He previously believed that he should never hope as he is bound to lose it. This changes when he sees Miu on the day of the vandalised mural. Her eyes are full of hope and she sees through him.

Everything he does from that day is to get closer to her. He starts caring for her and is touched that despite the cold world, she continues to persevere.

Being with her feels like he is being guided by a light. Her questions and observations about his art spark something in him. By the time the art retreat happens, he falls for her. But in order not to feel the pain of losing her, he pushes her away.

How does Ren get over Chiaki’s death?

At present, Ren’s mother shows up as she wants to help pick him back up. He lashes out at her before apologising. She tries to explain that in order to live her passion, she couldn’t stop hurting him. She claims the more precious things you have, the more pain you experience. And while she doesn’t regret her actions, she tells him not to give up. Even if he has nothing, he should live as he pleases. She hugs him and he is shocked.

This makes him miss Miu who, unlike his selfish mother, never wavers from what she wants despite getting hurt.

He visits his teacher who sets him straight as he declares that Ren is a good artist but he is not one of a kind. He is not the only one in pain. Ren believes has no purpose or hope in life as he only lived for Chiaki. The teacher tries to get through to him as he reveals that his wife had a stillborn baby after which they divorced. He uses the pain to create his art. Everything will end but the desire to hold on remains. And artists can do that with their art.

Ren realises the same goes for him and resumes trying to make a clay butterfly model. He lived his life avoiding the pain that comes with loss. But he decides not to turn his back on what he wants. A butterfly escapes his home and flits all over town. 

Do Ren and Miu get together?

He visits Osakabe who is making a background for the butterfly mural Ren made for Chiaki by the beach after she died. Ren likes it and Osakabe claims that is how he sees him. They are joined by Hikari, Megumi and Saki who joke that the Kamakura Banksy duo is back. They drink by the beach and Ren is curious about how their principles.

All the characters’ “nevertheless” principle is shown. We are finally shown Ren’s as well – he knows he will get hurt but nevertheless…

He visits Miu in the studio. He won’t bother her again but he wants to help her with her piece. She agrees and they gel well. As they work together, she realises he avoids anything that may hurt him and he realises that despite everything, she hasn’t lost hope. She wants to turn their pain into something tangible via the piece while he frets over their time together which feels endless yet short.

They have a bittersweet parting as they hesitate before going their separate ways. A few moments later, they notice that they have accidentally switched notebooks. She sees that he has made sketches of her and the very first one is from the art exhibit. He sees that she has made sketches of him too. They recall their memories together and run to find each other. He knows forever doesn’t exist yet he likes her. She jokes she will regret it and they smile before kissing. 

At the end of Nevertheless: The Shapes of Love Episode 8, we see that Ren’s NYC exhibit has been a success. The Kamakura Art Festival finally begins. He arrives in time and sees Miu’s sculpture – it is titled ‘Shape Of Forever’. She welcomes him back and they smile.

The Episode Review

Nevertheless: The Shapes of Love Episode 8 spends some much-needed time dissecting Ren and the traits that make him him. All of his red flags are finally explained and he also gets his redemption arc which has actually been in the making from the very first episode.

We apologise for that parallel double date criticism as we wondered why Ren was acting all hurt on seeing Miu with Ruki when he was with Chiaki. Turns out, he had already fallen for her by then. Since then, we have also been getting hints of his principle which is that he knows he will get hurt but nevertheless, he wants to give love a chance after falling for Miu.

The J-drama also delicately deals with Ren’s depression and hopelessness which feels like an impressive feat given that they had just one short episode to wrap up all the loose ends and give everyone a happy ending. And despite that happy ending, it is still realistic as we see how Ren hasn’t fully changed but is ready to try for the sake of his feelings and Miu.