Twenty Five Twenty One (2022)

Bitter Sweet Journey

Production , cinematography, world/year events and scenery were all excellent. The music/OST also was very well done.

LIKES:
The acting of both ML and FL was very good. All the actresses and actors did phenomenal jobs in their roles; the supporting cast, the cast for sporting and news events, all the extras too. The Director did an amazing job for this drama. I felt that the ML and FL had amazing chemistry, but so did all the younger couples. The friendship, love and rivalry flowed nicely throughout the storyline and plot. All the sports competitions and training about Fencing, was the best from all similar dramas. It was as if you were at the competitions yourself as the viewer. The theme of growing up to handle hardship and happiness, while never giving up on hopes and dreams was mostly well delivered. I liked how most of the relationships were concluded. They showed plenty of growth for all the main leads. I enjoyed that the story was based on the diary being read by Na Hee Do's daughter. I didn't notice if there were any "FX". I liked how they concluded or tied in the book store from beginning to end.

DISLIKES:
Baek Yi-jin's mother was very annoying and I wanted her to just shut up. Maybe it was how the writers wanted that character.
Throughout the drama there were some moments that made me say WTF [See spoilers at the end of this review]. The ending felt a little rushed and should've been changed to 2 or 3 more episodes. I think time management became an issue in some of the episodes, especially noticeable in the last 2 episodes. The ending was a little too open, based on what the viewers were fed about the ML Yi Jin and FL Hee Do.

OVERALL: Everything up until the last two episodes was great, interesting and had me enraptured. I would recommend this drama and might re-watch it in the future.

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[SPOILER ALERT ]
I liked that Baek Yi-jin's brother and Seung Wan reunited at the end, to give more depth to their characters.
I disliked that Hee Do didn't show as much growth as Yu Rim. Same with Baek Yi-jin, as a reporter he grew, but as an adult there wasn't much character growth. I was thoroughly annoyed that we don't find out who Hee Do married and had a daughter with. Having focused in the beginning on the fencing and going to the olympics for Hee Do, then at the end nothing of the stress and excitement of going to the olympics and winning gold was shown. In the end I hated that they didn't show Baek Yi-jin and Na Hee Do reuniting (even as friends) at the end and final episode. It made the adult Hee Do seem pointless. Also some of the flashbacks in the final episode, ran too long and they could've used the time better.

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Ending Unworthy of a Female Lead with such Fighting Spirit

From the first episode, Hee Do has won our hearts with her quirkiness, her conviction and her fighting spirit. She put everything into her passions, whether it’s her love of fencing or her admiration of the national champion Yu Rim, or her love of her manhwa comics. She never gave up, even when she experienced the painful tragedy of her dad’s passing, she continued on. Despite Yu Rim being such a bitch to her in the beginning, her adoration never wavered.

There are a lot of good things to admire about Hee Do and her bold and dorky characteristics. The friendship between her and Yu Rim is very sweet, it’s stronger than their competitiveness and adversary, and the gossips that try to take them down.
Such unshakable devotion to a friend tells me she’ll also love with the same conviction. Her love for Yi Jin would be just as passionate. She believed in him, she’s understanding and supportive. She wouldn’t give up just because they hit a bump in their relationship. Her competitive spirit wouldn’t let her give up so easily.

The ending was very rushed, all within an episode or two and everything changes. The build-up to the end was steady and we see how their relationship develop and grow. Something that grows on such solid foundation wouldn’t just topple so easily. Him moving to New York is a weak excuse for a break up. It made no sense for Yi Jin to move to New York. That they could grow older and grow apart, sure that’s believable but everything happened so quickly that it’s unbelievable.

Hee Do being who she is wouldn’t give up so easily. She’ll keep on fighting for the man she loves.

If the writer is trying to get across that time and youth is precious, for us to grasp it and take full advantage of it, then the long build-up of Hee Do and Yi Jin’s relationship was somewhat misplaced. Throughout the series, they kept the audience playing the game of Did They or Didn’t They end up together. They keep throwing hints that they didn’t, but we still wait with hope that they did. That kept us going, but the ending never delivered. In the end, it was a wishy washy ending for a strong female lead.

The ending feels forced, a device just to make the audience cry.

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