This review may contain spoilers
Love doesn’t conquer everything in this world and that's okay
April 3, 20222521 is a tear-jerker full of life-lessons K-drama. I know people have been disagreeing and disappointed with how the ending went. But I think, the 2521 ending fulfills the original story that they were trying to convey. The emotional attachment I developed to this drama is unbelievable. I love everything from how the characters develop and seeing how they flourish into their adulthood. Maybe it’s because I am now a college student and that is why I greatly relate to this drama. Yes, it is true that we took high school life too easily and for granted. Yes, it is harder to meet up with friends now that we are old. Yes, people grow apart and that's okay. Yes, it is okay even if you don't meet your friends often. As long as you have each other, you will always find time even if that means every 6 months or so.
!!! MAJOR SPOILERS WITH DETAILS!!!!
- I am happy that Baek Yijin did not die or experienced some catastrophic event.
- I am happy how the girls are still supporting each other even though they have their own lives.
I think I am happy that everyone got the ending that they deserve including Yurim and Heedo's mom. I also think it is appropriate how Minchae's dad is never revealed nor is present-pandemic adult Yijin. I know I may be the minority but I think everything from this drama is just good. I may have bawled my eyes and wished for Heedo and Yijin to be the end game. But given the circumstances of how their relationship has gone down, it is much better for them to go their separate ways. Very realistic and has a bittersweet ending. I also think that Yijin and Heedo's endings is happy to some extent. Yijin is able to revive his family back and has a stable job. Heedo is happily a mom to Minchae, though I can't really say anything about her marriage to his husband as he was not shown in the story. This makes sense because this is about first love and their early adulthood/youth days.
I think 2521 set the standards for 2022 Kdramas. I know the ratings have gone down due to the ending and I understand that people are very frustrated with the ending. But I definitely think it is not rushed, and that it perfectly fits the overall narrative of the story.
So for those who are watching 2521, I hope you learn some lessons and learn to enjoy your youth. Happy viewing (maybe) and prepare some tissues by your side. I may or may not have a breakdown watching episode 16 and while writing this review...
Cheers ?
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This review may contain spoilers
BUT SERIOUSLY, WHAT IS WITH THAT ENDING???
Dont get me wrong. I loved the whole series. I even understand why they chose that path. It was titled Twenty Five Twenty One so naturally i expected the story to peak when they were at that age.But come on!!! Why end it like that? For the better part of the whole series we are being teased to guess who will end up together in a mystery-solving setup - a la the Reply series. And then when it ended it wasnt even hinted who the father or the husband is. The kid is Kim Min Chae, after all so i kinda accepted early on that the father wasnt YiJin but to not answer it rendered the whole present timeline useless. They could have removed the present Hee Do and her daughter and it wont change a thing, because they literally said its not important.
The good:
1. I loved the fencing (sports) main theme.
2. Nam Joo Hyuk. Boy has improved so much, i may be inclined to think his handlers are doing everything to make him a multi awarded drama actor. It almost worked in Start Up, hopefully this is it.
3. Choi Hyun Wook. What a breath of fresh air. I loved him in RB, but he just shined here.
4. Kim Tae Ri and Bo Na as Hee Do and Yu Rim, respectively . Beautiful and capable. Let me get back to this later.
5. The coach, and the mother. I am inloved with Kim Hye Eun, makes me wanna see her past dramas.
6. I liked the fact that it wasnt a fairy tale ending.
The so-so.
1. Kim Tae Ri. She is amazing in this role, but I get it, readers will hate me for saying this. There were some flak for the portrayal of a college student to a high school student love affair, it wasnt May December, but it was enough to make people think that high school HeeDo is way too young for an adult Yi Jin and at moments the idea is kinda cringy. I guess the producers thought, well Tae Ri is older than Joo Hyuk in real life so it shouldnt be an issue. My question however is, will the producers think differently if an early 20-year old actress was playing HeeDo? Also, like i said she did great here, but is there no actress who is younger than Nam Joo Hyuk who can portray Hee Do's emotions?
2. The pacing and length of episodes. 16 episodes of almost 90 minutes each. Sometimes i feel like episodes are a little too long and the last 2 episodes in particular crammed too many issues a little too late. I guess thats how the format is for most asian drama - make the leads break up in the penultimate episode and then cram and jampack the finale to solve all the issues. But goodness i counted a few scenes that were a little too long that could have been used for some other things like how many times HeeDo and YiJin broke up and madeup. I guess they thought extending the drama and the crying scenes will make people cry. My short attention span went a little haywire.
The bad
1. The older Hee Do. The actress portraying the older Hee Do is beautiful and i love the subtle acting that connects both the past and present HeeDo. BUT, is she really needed. Did the story changed by adding her character? Again, the non-reveal of the husband made her character useless, and i felt like that was done to trick the viewers into keep guessing who the husband is going to be. Another thing, Hee Do's mother acted the older character. Why cant Tae Ri do the same?
2. Hee Do's daughter Kim Min Chae. By the name alone, we know she is not Back Yi Jin's daughter. But still, her presence teased us with the possibility of Hee Do and Yi Jin endgame. But alas they thought it wasnt important enough to be discussed. So why do we need the whiny kid.
3. Now back to the ending. The whole series was great overall, but my heart needs closure.
Would i reccommend? Definitely, just prepare to spend some time with it. Am i going to rewatch? Sorry, its just too long, and theres just too many drama nowadays i dont think i can.
Kudos to Netflix for giving Asian dramas chance to shine in a much bigger stage, makes my subscription very worthwhile.
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This review may contain spoilers
A youth drama at its finest (until the youth fades, just as it does in life)
People may be divided on the ending, but I don’t care – this was the perfect youth drama. I don’t watch dramas to escape reality; I watch them to feel all the emotions from the journey of life. I watch to step in someone else’s shoes, even for a moment. I watch to find a glimpse of relatability; to feel comforted in knowing that some experiences are universal and to get insight into the parts that are unique. Those differences are the ones that make me feel blessed for the life I have and both jealous and motivated to drive towards the things that are missing. On that basis, Twenty-Five Twenty-One delivered in spades.What kind of drama is Twenty-Five Twenty-One? We got the best aspects of school, sports, family, activism, romance (oh, is the romance truly heart-fluttering), slivers of comedy, life, death, hardship, sacrifice, and everything in between. This drama doesn’t veer into the melodramatic territory. We get a slice-of-life as it is and as it can be. I laughed out loud and cried my heart out. The shining moments of youth and first love will stay fondly in my memory, while I remain in the process of writing my own story. I’m 25 right now, and walking in lockstep with these characters made me ultra-reflective of my own choices. In hindsight, I might've had my “Cutie Pie” moments, but not a true first love like this yet – because the highs were never so high and the end was never so low. I’m a practical realist and a planner. I’m ambitious in my career, but choosing that has come with its own sacrifices. I’ve had wonderful moments with friends, and for that I am forever grateful. At the same time, I can’t help but feel like COVID-19 has stolen the prime years of my youth. We’re desperately trying now to make up for lost time, and this drama motivates me to seize the fleeting opportunities remaining to live with reckless abandon.
Now let’s talk about that ending. I admit that I can be a glutton for punishment; that I enjoy the release that comes with a good cry. So naturally, I downloaded the last episode on Netflix right before taking off on a flight, mere minutes after hearing about the ending from the live broadcast in Korea. I started crying about two minutes in, and the waterworks kept pouring. There were moments of joy mixed with regret and sadness. I LOVE a good cry – and this one classifies as good because everything made sense to lead us here. Watching this drama on-air was an Experience (with a capital E) because fans twisted this way and that to dream up a fantasy happily ever after. I am thankful this story went with Occam’s Razor here. No one should feel blindsided by Twenty-Five Twenty-One. Perhaps the original synopsis could use a re-think, but from episode one, we have a sense of what to expect. The show does NOT end on a frustrating open ending. The loose ends get tied up exactly the way they should.
Some people lamented that there was no point to the present-day scenes, COVID-19 and all. I disagree with that wholeheartedly. For one, it dropped constant hints towards the ending – and I don’t think anyone can truly say we were misled here (other than the picture in the photo album, maybe?). There were way more hints pointing towards the conclusion that we got than any other. Moreover, the present provided an immense device not only for the narrative, but for life as well: hindsight. We become fonder of the joyful memories and thankful for the trials that shaped us into the people we are today. I love and appreciate nostalgia, but it has a time and place. We need to keep going and looking forward; in real life, there aren’t often second chances 20 years down the line. The "times" can be a villain, but we can still find pockets of happiness. The “times” is a character of its own in this story, in a way: important world events bookend the story perfectly, from the IMF crisis to other ones that gut-punched us (and Yi-Jin, Hee-Do, and Min-chae!) when we least expected them. It was poetic in a sense to see the people most affected by these world events get depicted on screen. As humans, we are incredibly resilient beings who learn to adapt and survive. From our perspective, it hurts to think that a beach trip can be forgotten, but forgetting only proves that there were even more meaningful moments ahead.
Without the choices she made, Hee-Do wouldn’t have Kim Min-Chae – and I’m sure over the years, she wouldn’t change that for the world. Moreover, I am proud of Hee-Do for putting herself first and recognizing what she needed from the people in her life. Baek Yi-Jin and Na Hee-Do’s lives intersected for a beautiful moment, but paths diverge. As with all relationships, we either grow together or apart. Some people rage at the thought that others could have a happy ending, but it’s all based on priorities. Moon Ji-Woong and Ko Yu-rim serve the perfect foil for the Yi-Jin/Hee-Do story: their relationship works because Ji-Woong’s world revolves around Yu-Rim; he puts her first and always meets her way more than halfway. I’m not saying everyone in this world should be a Ji-Woong. On the contrary, we need to do what’s right for us. Baek Yi-Jin couldn’t live with himself as someone who reported on the inconsequential and the mundane. He had bigger things in store for his life, regardless of how closely they resembled his childhood dreams. Likewise, Hee-Do’s unwavering (hah!) ambition served as the frame for this whole show. When neither is willing to bend, you can only hope that the direction is the same.
My only gripe here was Hee-Do’s allusion to her husband living overseas in the present. Oh sweet Hee-Do, if you know what you need from a partner and you're giving up something beautiful to make it happen, then where is he?! I know the point is that her husband doesn’t matter (and a HIMYM-style ending with a new character in the 11th-hour would’ve rung hollow), but the fact that he wasn’t around for her retirement (bless Yu-Rim and the TRUE love story of this show), the ep 16 funeral and the fact that he seems to travel a lot in the present rather than getting to know his daughter Min-Chae makes me sad for you. You can rationalize it by saying that we are all too susceptible to fall for what we know --- this is why generational patterns persist, after all. We accept the love we think we deserve. But Hee-Do demonstrated in the tunnel that she KNOWS she should deserve more, and I wish we at least got to see a little bit of her happiness (and Yi-Jin’s!), even with faces obscured while cycling through a montage of the big moments of their lives. I needed the news montage from 2002-2009 to include a montage of their happiness, because they clearly continued living and learned to move forward during that time! And then another montage from 2009 to present would’ve compounded that the choices and sacrifices they made were worthwhile.
I appreciate this drama because it made me live and love alongside these wonderful characters. It pushes me to reflect on my own life, cherish the memories of the past that has shaped me, and strive to capture the remaining moments of my own youth to the best of my ability. If you want to feel this broad spectrum of emotions, don’t be discouraged by the distraught fairytale-hopefuls flooding the internet discourse on this show. Twenty-Five Twenty-One is worth watching, and anyone who has yet to see it has the pleasure of knowing what they’re in for: life in all its bright, shining, mundane, and challenging glory. Twenty-Five Twenty-One doesn’t shy away from depicting a story that should feel so relatable and true to so many. Finally, I can’t help but end this review in (an adapted version of) Baek Yi-Jin’s words, because it rings true after everything: “The result was bittersweet, but the journey was beautiful.”
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oh....my.
wow...I know I am not alone in feeling incredibly disappointed in how this drama turned out. what started out as a hopeful coming of age story about growing up and finding your place in the world...ended with an hour of "your friendships of youth are meant to be kept in the past...deal with it :)"Twenty-Five, Twenty-One started out (and, honestly, continued to be until about episode 14) as one of the most genuine, engaging, and hopeful dramas I had seen in a long time. the characters were charming, but also human, with flaws and development that really made you feel like you were growing up with them. their friendships were the kind that had struggles, but as they grew up, they learned how to navigate these conflicts. it showed the realities of growing up, young love, and finding your place in the world.
and then it totally crashed and burned.
here's the thing, I actually am all for bittersweet, or even sad, endings. I just did not feel like this one did the story justice. it was such a...non-ending, that it felt like a cheap cop-out to get an emotional reaction, which was in stark contrast to the rest of the drama, where each of the emotional moments was in the story for an obvious developmental reason. I knew from the start that this drama would probably not have a "happy" ending, but nonetheless, I was very disappointed in this.
the ending, which provided no true closure for anyone but Hee-Do (kind of), felt like it was communicating a message that any friendship that happens in your childhood is...intended to be left there? that none of the youthful love or hope you have can follow you into adulthood... this, paired with how melancholy adult Hee-Do seems to feel about her life, was incredibly strange in contrast to the other 14 episodes of character development and hopeful storytelling.
all in all, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I feel like this drama was designed to be watched while it aired, and it created great engagement in the audience due to this fact...and maybe this is why the ending felt short. they kept the "mystery" going for too long, in a way that did not leave them time to truly flesh out the ending. I am not sure. I feel like they could have kept the "open ending" concept, and just tweaked it a bit... showing us that some of the friendship group were still in touch, or something...the fact the drama went to such great lengths to keep all the side couples together, and then threw out not only the main couple's romance but also their very long friendship so abruptly... hm. it just felt incredibly out of place and incredibly disappointing.
perhaps this is all a testament to how lovely the first chunk of the drama was! I highly recommend the first 14 or so episodes...but save yourself and do not watch the finale. it is not worth it.
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Fuck you...... but I love you 25/21!
I'm absolutely livid at that last bit they showed at that ep finale!!! Why the fuck would you rub salt on my wound??? I'm never recovering from this betrayal ever. All that fan theories I read and held on to with the biggest hopes have been dashed.. ARGHHHHHHH I'm so miserable...DEEP BREATHSSS
There was a big moment that stood out to me from ep 16 (apart from that nasty bit at the very end)...The scene in between the episode in the tunnel where they thrash out their issues. It felt so real and emotional I almost forgot I was watching a show. I've never ever felt that the stuff I was watching was actually being played out in real life. It was really a strange feeling to lose it for a few seconds. I truly believed in that moment where they were breaking up and then Heedo asks Yijin if he ever loved her and he is incredulous and angry at the question. Then as she leaves, he calls out to her twice. That entire scene was brilliant.
I don't want to make this all about the fucking finale but I do want to say that despite my deep anger and desire to curse the writer/director this very moment, I think they are amazing and I loved this show with all my heart. After a slew of uninspiring, boring shows that I have been watching recently, this one was excellent and jam packed with all that makes a drama beautiful, loved and enduring.
Kim Taeri, I have loved you ever since I watched Little Forest and The Handmaiden. Nam Joohyuk, I thought you were just eye-candy and I'm sorry I didn't respect your talent apart from enjoying your work in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Soo.
Now I think you both are the greatest thing since sliced bread. The characters of Na Heedo and Baek Yijin are tailor made for you.
I love all the other characters - Go Yurim, Moon Jiwoong, Ji Seungwan. I love the fan/rival/friend relationship between Heedo and Yurim. I love the friendship of Jiwoong and Seungwan. I loved how Heedo's mother was such a career woman. I loved Yijin's mom being so openly and deeply in love with her husband.
The writer/s did an amazing job taking us back to the time of the South Korean financial crisis and showing us how it impacted the people there.
I can't write anymore because my heart hurts and I'm angry about the ending. But let me put on my mature and subjective hat on for this sentence and admit that the story did not NOT make sense. Not every love story gets a happy ending and that's okay. I just have never wished so hard for a Korean drama to be cliche. I will never ever take that for granted now.
Let me go back to crying and mending my broken heart,
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"Journey is more important than destination itself".... but is that true? Not always
"I hate her, she's unreasonable and annoying me to death, I don't care if the writer put any redemption arc, I'm sure I'm not gonna like her at all"*few episodes later*
~I'm sobbing, bawling for the very same her.
Caution: My essay has unhealthy amount of length.
Friendly suggestion: You can assume it's ending is at 13th episode, for your own satisfaction.
Heck yes, this drama destroyed me... made me miserable, I loved every aspect of it... it was near perfection, I couldn't see any flaws (you see love is blind) and even if there are I'm happy to ignore them with my all heart (the whole 9/11 arc)... but then it messed up, hence my ratings came from 10 to 8.5. You know when creative writer try to be overcreative, and ends up creating mess. Ignoring that big mess (not exactly ignorable) everything is all mess.
Although I'm not fond of grown up's posing as teens much... I'm sold for 31 yrs KTR as 18 yrs NHD, she's the one, perfect match! the energy, confidence, optimism, and playfulness of NHD, a little immature yet very mature character... it's been ages I've seen such a wonderful, very well-written female character... who's the hero of her own story.. not only but she brings light to other people's lives too! the bright sun, ready to shine with her amazing light and infinite energy. The way she looks at the world, ready to face challenges with her capabilities, fight for her dreams with her full might.. her journey of becoming more wonderful from an already wonderful person is remarkable.
The casting is excellent, apart from the adult Hee Do, she just doesn't give the young Hee Do vibes... you know the energy, and enthusiasm, while other casting choices are remarkable she comes off comparing.
You see her as a little childish but cute person collecting stickers, in some of her silly deeds, then her being strong skating whatever she has to reach her goals, encouraging other people, being a healthy competitor, a loyal fan. I can write an essay about her character... this much sophistication her character offers. In short, she's the best, period.
I was a little worried about NJH.. see I like him but not his acting very much, then it blew me up. The way he portrayed BYJ I legit see him as a real person... BYJ's character is complex, layered, you see him going through a lot throughout the whole journey, very different phases of his life, career.. and the way NJH can make BYJ alive through his acting, you can feel when he's happy, he's being an adorable dork, when he's sad, depressed, going through something... confused, jealous, uncertain as well as determined, mature and confident. BYJ is not a perfect kdrama male lead... just an amazing real person who deserves the world.
What Hee Do and Yi Jin had together was the most beautiful, pure relationship I've seen ever... maybe acquaintances, friendship, more than friendship, rainbow, scissors, love. Nothing was forced, fast forward of a slow burn but with perfect pace, taking enough time.. the relationship that doesn't need to be intimate physically to prove it to be intimate, they were light to each other, who brought the best out of them, soulmates! I don't freaking care if NJH and KTR don't have off-screen chemistry but from what I see on screen.. fire! I mean me who loves realistic, sad, bitter-sweet endings.. never wished for a happy ending to this extent, whatever they have is the most precious thing.
But there's another me who thinks... is ending really everything? No. The journey that was filled with all emotions, heart touching, fluttering, breaking moments... the time they spent together, the encouragement they brought to each other is most important... that's why the journey is more important than the outcome.
KYR, here comes she... the one *I hated* have to admit, at some point, I was almost done with her, none of her excuses enough to endure her non-sense, her being double-faced, then she grew upon me.... well a lot, that I even forgot that I hated her that much. Now this is an advantage of watching when it's airing Viewers, can say the same thing for binge-watchers whether they would be able to digest sudden 180-degree change in dynamics between KYR and NHD relationship (sometimes almost absolute cringe)
But I love her family, it kinda shows when you lack something (money), you've given something more amazing... her family dynamics.
Just if... if Yu Rim was a boy she and Hee Do make a perfect love story (you see gls are SK thing), enemies to lovers, then we've got obstacles with typical separation.. and Yi Jin being the third wheel, oops I shouldn't let my overimaginative mind wander, I love BYJ very much.
Seung Wan..*standing ovation* she should be a role model, I know I'm overusing this word, but she's amazing! she's super smart, she's best diaper buddy, bestest hoobae and she stands for herself, for wrong things... she's not afraid of letting her hard work go in vain for her principles as she has not learned to bend (yet)... then we see her little silly side, who just desperately want to go college (cute), on the side not I love her mom too, like daughters like a mother or vice versa.
I wanna applaud the writer for not messing diaper buddies by adding any sort of romanticism between, best friends just being best friends.
Ji Woong... our little stupid (not so stupid) entertainment pack. He is cool and a very committed lover, he's not any side character who's just there for timepass or just as a love interest. Though he's not given a big story arc as others he completes the group.. the last missing piece. And damn he's very us (or just me) praising the beauty of NJH lol xD
Now, these were the main characters... one special thing (among many) of this drama is none of the side/supporting roles are insignificant or filers, they hold an important position in the story.. and are well explored in a timely. Hee Do's mom could have been an evil mother figure, cold, aloof, and caring for her daughter, and very cliche: stay away from my daughter, but the writer has every intention of being unorthodox, which made me struggle (I actually have a similar experience with my mom) rationally, professionally mom's right, but then it makes my point of view wrong... damn gotta say I love writing when it legit challenges me on a personal level.
Then we have our coolest coach ever, who may come a little obnoxious in the starting but trust me, she's the best. Yi Jin's sunbae at work could have been any other typical egoistic senior, then a supportive confidant/friend. Even the bad (should I say more annoying) persons were reasonable and not over the top. And yeah Min Chae was representative of us viewers.
Within the same drama, we see 5 different relationships between daughter-mother, and son-mother, totally different (bitter/sweet/sour) from each other but still precious as they should be. Not just that but every relationship dynamic is awesome... whether friendship, relationship, family. not-really related still related, being friends with friends... the embrace of mother to the person who defeated her daughter in the match. Ji Woong's sudden change in attitude after learning his club senior... damn I have a long list of the unconventional but beautiful dynamics between all the characters.
Can just one episode give you absolute pleasure and satisfaction? Yes, yes, yes. Almost every episode was a roller coaster ride with all emotions and sentiments, many times I found myself crying, sobbing... then laughing loud at the end. When the whole gold medal drama made me super sad, miserable then the encouraging words of those grandpas brought me comfort, and yes river of tears.
The story amazed me with the depth of characters, their journey of growth becoming a better person, overcoming hurdles... it had that ounce of unpredictableness that threw cliches and stereotypes out of the window (then forgot it in very last episode). Making it a unique and one of the kind drama. It's the best youth drama I've seen in recent years, it's heartbreaking, thought-provoking, a slice of life, coming to age, heart-touching, rom-com with the most beautiful love story, and the best comic timing. Well it's a mystery, (damn I've seen fewer "theories" in the crime thrillers), it's suspense drama with its unpredictable plot... and maybe it's much more than this, it brings comfort to me.
Nonetheless... I still need answers, I need closure lol
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'therapy' review for my own sake
This, my dear readers, is my way to try 'move' on from this drama, or better, from that ending, through the 5 stages of grief...With all due respect to that ending, I really needed this 'therapy' review for my own mental and emotional wellbeing, and hopefully it can help the future audience too, who are somewhat heartbroken from that finale.
So let me begin, the 5 stages of grief...
'DENIAL'
Really!? This was it? This can't be it right? There has to be one more episode that I'm not aware of! If not, what's with all those fragments of the past, in her present life? From the red car, her shop's name and those rainbow chairs in that shop etc? Were they just 'aesthetics'? Were we all just a bunch of overthinkers? Is this pain on us then?!
'ANGER'
How could everyone else in the drama get their 'happily-ever-after' but not them? Even Seung Wan managed to get a reunion with a potential 'partner' in that 2mins of the finale, which, reminder, started with a greeting of freaking 10+ years ago!! Seriously!? So we can go to that extent to reunite them (I'm very happy for them btw), but we couldn't possible work out a way to make our lead couple end up together too? Are we kidding here? After all that they've been through? If time and distance and 'life' is what stopped them from being together, how did YuRim and JiWoong work out? Of course to each their own, but it's Baek YiJin and Na HeeDo we are talking about! You want me to believe THEY couldn't make it work!? THEM? The pair that went through it all?! All that good bad and worse of times they've been through?! All that for this? An ending that's labelling it all as a mere 'first-love's fate? Why make them both so mature and understanding in that relationship, in that 'love-that-betters' of theirs, to only end it, without even giving it another attempt? And the fact that the present HeeDo is even regretting that decision, while she is the one who actually initiated that breakup! Really? WHy make her regret her decision now?! It feel even worse!
'BARGAINING'
I'm someone who doesn't like open endings, but for this drama I'm not sure which is more painful, this or if they showed an open ending instead...Would all the 'what-ifs' make it better?
What if during their last embrace, under that cherry blossom, they promised to give it another try, rather than a 'goodbye'? Would we have had a different ending now? I can't believe that the YiJin and HeeDo, that we've known for the past 15 eps, would given up that easily, especially on this love of theirs. I feel like it was all because of time, both in the drama and outside the drama. In the drama because, well 'life' happened, outside drama, because I really think that if there were more episodes, like even one more, they could have reunited sometime after that 'break-up' and find their way back somehow, I have that much fate in them!
What if in that last scene, when older Na HeeDo visits that tunnel, to say 'goodbye' to that younger Baek YiJin, and she returns to her red car, to find an older Baek YiJin behind the steering wheels, telling her 'enough of past regrets, we are together now, that's what matters!' with that smile of his that's only reserved for HeeDo. What if they were married all along, and I'm sure we can come up with some logical explanations behind how that happened, at least that would still make more sense than how they couldn't resolve their issue and be together!
'DEPRESSION'
I feel like at the moment I'm still in the anger phase, so the pain is not sinking in yet, no matter how much tears I've shed, the weight still seems to be there sadly.
...ACCEPTANCE
I'm sure one day, just like MinChae reading her mom's diary, I'll look back at this drama with a bitter-sweet smile on my face, but in this instance, I don't think I'm strong enough to accept it yet, I need time...apparently HeeDo managed to forget all about that beautiful memory in the beach, so I think I can probably feel less bitter about this ending too, IN FACT HeeDo managed to freaking move on from her first love, a 'BaekYiJin-NaHeeDo' type of first love at that, and actually merry another person, so I'm sure I can move on from this pain of the ending too, I hope...
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Okay apart from me 'grieving' that ending, I'm well aware that we can't belittle a whole drama by its ending only, especially for this drama, which is much more that that!
But happy-endings, in the traditional sense of the leads ending up together, matters a lot to me, and endings in general are break or make for me. That is why I was contemplating a lot about what rating to give for this 'masterpiece' if only we don't include that ending. Should I give it a low rating because of how it scarred me with that finale, or a high rating because of how much joy it bought me throughout its run. So I came with the conclusion, that you never know, there could have been an even more painful ending ( I'm not emotionally available to think of its logic and details now, but you get the point), plus I like to believe in journeys being more 'important' than destinations, and what a journey that it was!! So here's me celebrating this wonderful journey, regardless of how it ended and its few/many? unanswered questions.
HIGHLIGHTS
~the complex characters----- some were more complex than others of course, due to screen time, but as a whole, the amount of effort put to make those characters '3D' instead of some 'plot-devices' is commendable!
~the screenplay -----the incorporation of real life events, the nostalgic setting of the past, how that changes over time, the narrative style, and how the whole story unfolds is just art! The beautiful cinematography is a bonus!
~the acting-----where to start from? I was seeing everyone's work for the first time, except for Nam Joo Hyuk, so although I had no expectation of others, I was not expecting much from him either to be completely honest, but I can't express it enough, how impressed I am of his performance. Be it because of the opportunity to play a complex character, or him improving over the years or them both, but he pulled off Baek YiJin perfectly! So when he said in an interview, to look at his acting career as before and after 2521, I think that's exactly it! Writing a wonderful character can sometimes fall short, if you can't find the right vessel to play it, and not only he did justice to this character, he freaking owned it! From Baek YiJin's restrained self at the start, to him gradually warming up to happiness again, to his heart-wrenching break downs, it really felt like he lived every single of those moments. The same can be said for Kim Tae Ri, what a wonderful job that they've done, makes me look forward to their future roles.
TAKE HOME MEMORIES...
The whole drama is actually filled up with good, bitter-sweet memories, and with many hints of this imminent ending, I guess it's on us that we tried to see pass those hints for a final twist, so here's me trying to stop understanding the logic behind it all, and simply 'accepting' it as it is. Afterall it gave us so many wonderful moments, it would be too harsh to not appreciate them enough due to how it ended, so here's me 'letting go' of this drama, on 'good terms', Baekdo style:
''You comforted me just by being there.'' Na HeeDo
''I now know what perfect happiness is.'' -Baek YiJin
So will I shed some more tears again, seeing their break up scenes in the future? Yes, probably...
But I'm still happy for them, how far they've come, what they've achieved and the impact they left in each other's life.
And I'm glad I've got to experience it all, as an audience!
(I guess I've eventually made it to the acceptance phase of grief after all heheh)
P.S. This was really it huh
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1Full of vitality, vigor & inspiration. Love & passion apart from clichés - tender, true & touching
Wonderful. Just wonderful. A highlight among the KDramas of 2022.I would rate it "particularly valuable". On all levels. Right down to the soundtrack.
The story has a stimulating, inspiring, at times downright thrilling effect, above all thanks to a brilliant Kim Tae-ri. She was 32 at the time of shooting, but effortlessly she plays a teenager with an ambitious dream of her own in times of adversity.
"Twenty-Five Twenty-One" is packaged as a teen story told in two timelines. Then and now. The protagonist from back then is today's mother. Today she is at odds with her daughter, who wants to give up her ballet career. In her grandmother's house, the rebellious teenager finds access to her mother's youthful past, who in turn also had difficulties with her mother at the time, yet courageously pursued her dream of becoming a fencer on the national team.
Romantic feelings are inevitable as the story progresses. Yet this storyline develops quite idiosyncratically beyond expectations, not least because of the two timelines told in parallel. Here, Love is shown more in the quality of an inspiring, encouraging, empowering 'rainbow', as the two protagonists so nicely state. It's a shame that you can't leave love like that, but sooner or later want to capture it, tie it down and pack it into a rather common concept of 'partnership' - with all the expectations and disappointments that come along with it...
"Twenty-Five Twenty-One" doesn't see itself as a Rom+/-Com fairy tale. From the start, it's not a fairy tale. Here the goal in life isn´t the happy-ever-after-family-life as such. It tells about what it means to have a dream and to follow it courageously, even if you wonder why at times. It talks about following your own precious heart, even if it might break the hearts of others in the process. It tells of passion. And of love in its very different shapes and sizes. "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" has its unique focus on love in a very tender, true and touching way - apart from clichés. It's about romance as a formative force in life, yet the story doesn't focus on glorifying romance.
In fact, the story is full of vitality, vigor, hope and joie de vivre in the face of one of the worst post-war economic crises South Korea has gone through.
In this respect, the KDrama also offers an explicit insight into the social and societal effects of the economic crisis of the 1990s.
(So here's a also side note on that context, if you are interested.)
-------------------- SIDE NOTE: ---The Asian crisis of the 1990s, the structural adjustment program of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the nationalist sentiment of the people that paved the way for South Korea's neoliberal globalization---
In the course of the Asian crisis, the IMF implemented its structural adjustment (SAP) in South Korea from December 1997 to December 2000, which is still considered a great success today. Others say the rise is due to the people's disciplined national consciousness. However, the massive economic slump that South Korea experienced in the vortex of the Asian crisis is undisputed. Neighter ist the impressively successful recovery since 1999.
After international investors withdrew their loans in the face of the uncertain crisis situation on the Asian continent, South Korea fell into a balance of payments crisis. This is where the IMF came into play, putting together its most comprehensive rescue package to date, with bailout loans totaling around USD 58 billion. The condition: the country was to fulfill an SAP program for three years: In addition to a consistent policy of high interest rates, government austerity measures, complex capital market liberalization and the restructuring of the financial system were required.
As a result of the balance of payments crisis, numerous banks had already filed for bankruptcy or had been nationalized. Due to the IMF's high-interest policy, countless corporate insolvencies followed in the first three months of the SAP, including some Jaebeol conglomerates. South Korea paid the price of its economic boom of the past decades, which was founded on high debt and growth rates. Unemployment tripled. Gross domestic product fell by 6.7 percent within a year.
The impressive recovery that has followed has been possible at the expense of the general population. South Korea's rapid return to the top positions in the world market is a special case worldwide, which was probably achieved less by the SAP of the IMF than by the nationalistically highly motivated South Koreans. They have written the possibly questionable, but at the same time fascinating economic success story on their backs.
First: People became victims of far-reaching processes of rationalization and concentration. On the one hand, this led to mass redundancies and, on the other hand, to a more flexible labor market. Many of the demoralized unemployed didn´t even try to find their way back into the world of work anymore. Others were employed as irregular temporary workers (e.g. with less pay, security and rights). After the crisis, these ´irregulars´ made up more than half of the workforce and their share still is far higher than in other OECD countries.
Second: The benefit of a very unique South Korean nationalism motivated many people to be willing to make personal sacrifices: they consciously avoided consuming imported goods, while at the same time the export of their own goods increased significantly. The need for foreign capital for the upswing is actually estimated at only 5 percent. The share of exports in GDP increased from 25 percent in 1996 to 41 percent in 1998. 95 percent of the net inflow of foreign exchange during the lifetime of the SAP came from the current account surplus. This was made possible by a disciplined population, who did not try to storm banks in a mass panic, but were even willing to exchange their private currencies and savings themselves, including in large gold collection campaigns, in favor of the national reserves in the weak national currency.
The macroeconomic success that has grown out of this nationalist attitude at the expense of the population is enormous. Many lost their jobs and their fortunes. Nevertheless, the South Koreans mostly got involved in the Buy-Korean campaign and avoided imported consumer goods. I.E. incidentally, the market share of South Korean films in cinemas has increased in this context from 23 percent in 1996 to 50 percent in 2001. (An aspect that also gets its own space in this KDrama...)
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1This review may contain spoilers
"Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." -Marthe Troly-Curtin
To be honest, I enjoyed the entire series. I'm not sure why people are so offended by the ending. Why can't people cherish and appreciate both happy and sad endings? Life is always bittersweet. So don't expect this drama to be all epic and happy.Twenty-five Twenty-one is a coming-of-age drama that follows the journey of the female lead, Na Hee Do, from a regular fencing athlete to South Korea's "Fencing Queen." This drama began the story of Na Hee Do from a unique perspective: that of her daughter, Kim Min Chae, in the present day, who begins reading her mother's diary, which He Doo wrote when she was younger.
Though romance is one of the drama's genres, it is absolutely not the main theme. It's about friendship, youth, and passion. This drama explains why these are significant and why we should treasure them. The five member squard of Na He Do (Kim Tae Ri), Baek Ye Jin (Nam Joo Hyuk), Go Yu Rim (Bona), Moon Ji Woong (Choi Hyun Wook), and Ji Seung Wan (Lee Joo Myung) was phenomenal, and I enjoyed each of their personalities in their own way.
In my opinion, Na Hee Do's character was the best of the five, and I believe most viewers of this drama will also agree with me. She rose from irrelevance to become one of the most recognisable names in the fencing industry thanks to her fighting spirit and perseverance. She is strong, brave, and full of energy and passion, which are all the qualities I like in a female lead. I like to see female leads who change their world rather than being changed by it and the circumstances that surroundes them. Hee Do is prepared to go to any length to ensure that she and those around her have a better future. She is not afraid to express herself, not even to confess her feelings to the one she loves, and she fights for what she believes in. He Doo's character is one of the best I've seen in a long time.
After that, there's Baek Ye Jin. During the IMF crisis, his family was forced to split up. He was in distress because of not finding any job and wanted to reuniting his family soon. He, too, was persistent, but in a different way that caused him to crumble easily. That is, until He Doo came into his life. Because of her liveliness, he learned to treasure and enjoy his life. He became more optimistic about life and more confident in dealing with any situation. Although he still had the fragile part of himself, He Doo made him a happier young man, and he eventually fell in love with He Doo.
Go Yu Rim was the most famous fencing athlete until He Doo appeared, and she was the one He Doo idolised. She came from a poor family and was also a friend of Ye Jin's. Although Hee Do and Yu Rim initially despised each other, they developed a rivalry that was stronger than any hatred because they loved and respected each other. She and He Doo have a love-hate relationship, but they also have one of the strongest friendships.
The characters of Moon Ji Woong and Ji Seung Wan felt like a breath of fresh air to me. They were incredible in their own way. Ji Woong was the most popular boy in the class, with a crush on Yu Rim, and Seung Wan was the class monitor, who was always at the top. They were childhood friends with a good reputation in their class. These characters' presence did not feel extraneous or unnecessary (which would have been if the storyline was not this beautiful).
What made all these characters more and more memorable were their choices. As the Harry Potter quote goes, "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
The actors did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. Kim Tae Ri was fantastic. I couldn't believe she was over 30 years old. She was perfect in the role of He Doo. She not only looked like a teen, but she also acted like one. Nam Joo Hyuk's acting was incredible. Despite the fact that he was younger than Tae Ri, the two had great chemistry on screen. They won many people's hearts, including mine.
Bona, Choi Hyun Wook, and Lee Joo Myung were also outstanding. They were excellent in their roles, making us laugh as well as cry. Of course, Kim Hye Eun as Yang Chan Mi, the fencing coach, and Seo Jae Hee as Shin Jae Kyung, He Doo's mother, deserve special mention. Without them, the drama would have felt incomplete. They did an excellent job portraying their characters and fitting them into the story.
When it comes to the plot, I enjoyed the fencing theme as well as the story's pace. It wasn't too quick or too slow. It was perfect. The drama explored various emotions while maintaining the suspense for its climax. The drama really did have some problems when it neared the end, which was mostly because of the screenwriting, I guess.
The first issue was that the drama, which had been so upbeat and optimistic until the 14th episode, abruptly turned negative and hinted at ending on a sad note (and so did it). Some audiences found this difficult to accept, and as a result, they deducted points from their ratings. Also, in the last two episodes, the characters felt a little disconnected from themselves, as if they weren't their true selves.
The second was that by not introducing some characters, such as Kim Min Chae's father, and this made some characters, particularly the older Na He Doo and Kim Min Chae herself, feel out of place and unnecessary. Furthermore, they could have ended the drama on a happier note by showing that He Doo and Ye Jin were happy and had moved on from their breakup. Even if the leads did not end up together, there would have been no problem for the audience. Any way, let bygones are bygones. Personally, I liked the ending and appreciate the fact that it wasn't a fairy-tale ending.
This drama had really good OSTs that evoked the audience's emotions and brought a 90s vibe into the presence. There are nine tracks in total, and nearly all of them have a very passionate, nostalgic, yet profound feeling:
"Starlight" (스타라이트) by Taeil (NCT)
"I'll Shine on You to Dazzle" (눈이 부시도록 너를 비춰줄게) by Bae Ki-sung
"Very, Slowly" (아주, 천천히) by BIBI
"Your Existence" (존재만으로) by Wonstein
"Go!" by DK (Seventeen)
"Stardust Love Song" by Jihyo (Twice)
"With" by Kim Tae Ri, Nam Joo Hyuk, Bona, Choi Hyun Wook, Lee Joo Myung
"Free" (가보자) by Xydo
"Your World" (너의 세상) by Seol Hoseung (SURL)
"With" and "Starlight" are my personal favourites.
Finally, I would recommend this drama to anyone looking for a good youth rom-com with a strong FL and an excellent depiction of friendship. However, if you believe that the ending is the most important aspect of a drama or if you dislike sad or bittersweet endings, this drama is not for you. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and would gladly rewatch it at some point of time.
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Nam Joohyuk and Kim Taeri are phenomenal! The way they carried this drama by adding their own touch to their characters. I've always been amazed with Nam Joohyuk because he did so well in (WLKBJ, The Light in your Eyes, Josee, Start-up) . The fact that he did different roles in each of his project kinda reflect the kind of actor he is. And the fact that he completely change Baek Yijin's original character to his own interpretation. Outstanding.
As for Kim Taeri, i actually never heard of her before. But she really left a deep impression. Who would've believe that she's actually 32 y/o? She brings Na Heedo to life. She's a perfect female lead I've ever seen. Strong, immature but also mature, determine... Na Heedo is such a loveable character and i love her so much
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Does the journey matter or does the ending?
Okay, if you're one of those people that think "how it ends doesn't matter, it's the journey that counts" then you'll probably rate this really highly and love it from start to finish. If you're the type of person who needs things to be wrapped up cleanly with closure — me — then the show will leave you with a lot of mixed feelings.To start with, the vibe of the show is pretty much perfect. I really loved Heedo's character and how the themes were incorporated into the show — dreams, efforts, happiness, friendships, different types of love, supporting each other from afar...it was all just really beautiful. I still love all the friendships in this, and for the most part the time jumps were done really well with us seeing how the characters grew into adulthood and went about their lives after growing and learning from each other.
It's the last few episodes (15 & 16) that really take a different turn. There were really multiple ways to write a "realistic" story and the writers picked the one that, to me, felt as though it went against a lot of the inspiring hope that we had gotten in the rest of the show. There were crazy time jumps in the last episode and the past and present timelines never felt like they converged with closure. The last episode was just kind of miserable, except for a few side characters that really saved it.
Speaking of which, I felt like present timeline was just really unnecessary from start to finish. The characters never felt like themselves (even if they were the same actors) and it really felt like it was included either to (1) show how time passed and Heedo's daughter Minchae was dealing with the same thing (to which I would say nobody really cared about her story and everyone only cared about the 90s timeline) or (2) to purposefully throw off the audience. Either way, it felt disjointed and unnecessary. It didn't provide closure either — the questions we started with still persisted, and we never saw the other main characters again.
Overall, this was still such a comfort show for me for so many weeks. There are some iffy parts that I wish it touched more on but overall I thought all the character arcs were thought out thoroughly. It just kind of sucks that the writers picked the route they did.
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This review may contain spoilers
Expectation Vs Reality
This drama is not for everyone and certainly not for me. It's hard even to say that I appreciate some of it coz there is no point. The ending doesn't outweighed the journey itself.It's a hard debate but I found myself feeling disappointed because I felt cheated. I felt that I wasted my time. This whole time for nothing. I felt that the main characters gave up way too easy. But maybe only me coz many seems to like it, even praising this drama as a beautiful-slice-of-life-growing-up story. For me is like no-good-ever-going-to-change-me story. The main characters, no matter how wonderful they are in the beginning are just being selfish. There, I said it. It's true. Don't deny it. You can disagree with me all you want but that is what I got from their so called 'beautiful journey'.
Not that I can't appreciate a break-up story; If it was good and done right, I'd be crying a river. But this drama doesn't. It felt rushed and a cop out. Without any-I-gave-it-all-effort from both sides, they just threw the towels and called it quit. If you can't commit then why even bother to start. Relationship needs work. It's not always a walk in the park. It needs comprimise, sacrifices, give-and-take-effort, hardwork and understanding. When you stumble upon hurdles in your journey together, you overcome it; You don't stop and turn from it right away. Never have I feel so numb in my life. I didn't feel sad when they parted ways, I just felt numb. Empty. Annoyed actually.
Imagine this. You are presented with this wonderful gift. A box which has decorations of many pretty flowers, enchanting ornaments, crystal gems and sparkling ribbons. It has all the beautiful things that you can ever imagine. But then, when you open the box, you find it to be empty. Zero. Nothing. Only a void of space. And that's what this drama represent. Yes, you may keep the 'beautiful' box, but how do you feel about it? Please be honest.
The casts are amazing. The chemistry is off the chart. But the end result is just soo bizarre. It's a shame. What a waste!
There is an old proverb in my native language that says "Hendak seribu daya, tak hendak seribu dalih" which translates; When you really want something badly, you'd give thousand efforts, but if you don't want it, you'd give thousand excuses. That proverb really fits well to this story.
"It doesnt matter where it ended, what matter is the journey". Boohoo! That is such a lame excuse. For me, the journey is what shaped the end, both matter. Period.
As always; Do I want to watch the whole drama again? Hell NO.
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