Twenty Five Twenty One

Sometimes life gets in the way, and there's nothing you can do but keep living.

Oh i loved this drama SO much, it has definitely become my favorite show EVER. There’s so much to say I think I would have been able to analyze every single episode individually and still write several paragraphs for each one.

This drama is a celebration of friendship, of love, of passion, of trying your best… and its SO well done I don't think I have a single bad thing to say about it. I was completely hooked from the very first episode and it's completely amazing from beginning to end. If I could only ever recommend one show to everyone I’m pretty sure this one would take the win I mean everyone NEEDS to watch it idcc. And I have to admit, when I realized it was set (for the most part) in the 90s I thought I wasn’t gonna be a fan for some stupid reason but the cinematography HELLO???? Oh my god it was so good. AND THE MUSIC… Oh the music. Such a great OST. Same goes for the fact that it’s so centered around fencing, which I knew nothing about nor was interested in learning about; I thought that would make it harder for me to get into the show, but I was proved wrong really fast.

This drama also has what I think is the best written romance I personally have ever seen in a drama (probably in any show I’ve ever watched) like oh my god Heedo and Yijin… my heart hurts for them. They loved each other SO MUCH and they never stopped loving each other but life got in their way and tbh I will never forgive life for that. Their story i just so… I don’t even have the words to explain man, you just have to watch it idk. The way they were always there for each other even if they weren’t physically together for literal months living on voicemails like… god. And the way that just hearing each other’s voices and words of encouragement helped them to keep fighting and never give up was so endearing. I feel like I could write and entire book on this two. BUT ALSO Yurim’s and Jiwoong’s relationship was so freaking sweet I’m so happy that Jiwoong didn’t let Yurim just give up on them and that I got to see them together until the very end, I loved them so so so much. AND THE WAY HE PROPOSED it was so cute.

Heedo’s character… woah. Literally woah. She’s so strong and amazing and she was clueless and childish and just a fool a lot of the time too but that only made her all the more endearing and admirable idk. Her decision and perseverance woah… She tried so hard and she went after her dreams no matter what and she made it and idec that she’s fictional you can’t help but be proud of her.

Literally every character in this drama is freaking amazing. I am not gonna stop and write about each one cause this is getting long enough already but i just LOVED them so much. Them as a friend group just <333 absolutely loved the found family trope in there. There were so many iconic moments like the beach outfits??? I was obsessed they looked SO cool and the amount of fun they had there… woah. AND THE TUNNEL oh my god the edits about the tunnel that I’ve seen on tiktok I want to bawl my eyes out. I am going to miss them so much, seriously.

I don’t know, everything about this drama was just beyond perfect, I smiled like a fool during many of the episodes, every episode I watched felt like the best one so far (now that I’ve really finished the show though, I think the beach one has to be my absolute favorite ep) and even tough there were sad moments it just made me so happy to see everyone overcome difficulties and do their best at life. And it’s the way that I wanted to just go ahead and start rewatching it when I had just finished it… I am going to miss it so much. However, I don’t think a season 2 would do it for me, I don’t know, I get why some people would be disappointed, but I think the ending was perfect as it was.

Overall a 10/10, I highly recommend watching.

Read More

A Girl's Journey

I completed this drama one week ago.

I wanna write the review after the watch , but I think I don't love it enough it to write one immediately.
With my personal rating , it should be rated 8.5/10.
But because it is so good , I wanna rate it higher than this.

If I have to talk about 25-21 , I wanna divide Heroine's story into two parts
1. HeeDo's Coming of Age Journey ( Her personal life)
2. Her love story.

1. The Coming of Age Part is so well done.
I am Not the one who cry easily while watching media. ( except for the ones with animals)

But , Here there is one particular story arc ( Her first Gold medal) that really made me feel her sadness & frustration. I cried with her.

HeeDo's passion about Fencing , all of that was realistic as I had been transported back to the past & saw this passionate gold medalist .

Also, her friendship with Go Yurim is one of the best I have seen among millions of Asian Dramas.

2. Before I watched the drama, I had known the ending already.
May be that's the reason why I might subconsciously try not to care about the love story too much.

(I don't know how should I say this but I will try.)

✨If you consider & watch this as a drama, you will feel like they could do this much better.

There are a million ways to make the happy ending.
If you couldn't ,either wrote the Story of Adult HeeDo better or gave a stronger reason for their breakup.
In this way, we feel less bitter about that ending.

✨But if you are immersed in this story as the real life, the ending is not that bad.

It is understandable that they couldn't be together anymore because they had different life goals.
HeeDo tried but neither of them could make a big sacrifice to meet in the middle .
( HeeDo wanted to continue her life as an international fencer , Baek YJ with his life as a report er in potential war zone )

Some will say 'They loved each other too much.Couldn't they wait?'
May be. But at that time, they didn't know how long the wait would be .
If you were them, would you take the risk with 'The Wait'.

Apart from the Heroine's story, all of the side stories of secondary characters are interesting too.


I would recommend 25-21 to anyone who wanna watch a feel good coming of age Story .

Read More

Where do I begin? I liked that we were shown the story through Na Heedo's daughter finding old diaries and interested in her mums story. It felt nostalgic, when you hear about someones life before you were born, lost loves, friends, their lives, finding out things you didnt know about them. Like we were sucked in at the same time as her daughter.

The rivalry to friends with Ko Yurim was so good, the way it changed and they became best friends. Their friendship group I loved so much, seeing Na Heedo's old friends and all the stuff they did together in highschool thinking it would last forever. It brought a mutual nostalgia and yearning for a time gone with the audience, I thought that was done well. I loved Yurim and Jiung they were so cute and I loved how devoted he was to her. That they had a smooth and mutual loving relationship. Unlike the stress of Yijin and Heedo's. Also Seungwan what a diva and her mum was so sweet to her friendsss.

Yijin and Heedo, I liked them together, I wanted more though. I felt we didnt have enough of them together and happy. And only got a bit frustrated nearer the end with their relationship. Him not having time and their schedules not working. I understand it but it was hard to watch.

I did feel it lost its way a bit nearer to the end with unnecessary bits and Yijin moving to America??
I would've liked them to end up together but I also understand why not and possibly controversial I even liked in a way that they didnt. It made it realistic. Like how some things dont last and you need to let people go in the most respectful and loving way. Like time moves on people come and go and they will always be important and special memories to them both, without it lasting. So I do understand that choice. unfortunately knew it was a sad ending already before watching it so I watched in fear and anxiety thinking Yijin might die. Im just not very happy with the fact they didn't have enough happy together time before the end.

So I liked it, but, I think, it lost its way a bit towards the end. Wasn't as satisfied as I would've liked it to be. But loved the friendship.

Read More

One of the best dramas I have watched and trust me I am very picky with the shows I like

I just lovedddd this drama. I was putting this off for so long bc its not my genre and i already know the ending and i hate spoilers it always ruins the watching experience for me.
But i finally decided to watch it yesterday bc i was v bored. And I totally binge watched all 16. episodes.

It was a simple story but the way it unfolds was beautiful. I love the fact that the first few episodes was solely dedicated to get to know the main lead and her goals. Really helped me empathize and connect with her emotionally, everytime she accomplished something and the go! ost by dk plays it felt like my personal achievement and gave me a huge adrenaline boost lol . Of course Kim tae ri did an amazing job as always.

Usually in dramas with this genre there are alot of filler episodes and I will lose interest around the 12th episode. But this drama got me hooked till the very end,

One of the best and heartwarming but at the same time it was heartbreaking. Despite knowing the ending beforehand I couldn't stop crying.

I personally liked the ending. I think na hee do deserves better. Yes yi jin is a sweetheart and loved hee do dearly. But I empathize with hee do, throughout her childhood she has always been the second choice, she kept getting ditched by her mom even in some of the most important moments of her life bc of her job and she was always expected to be understanding and adjust. It is not fair that she is expected to adjust that way in her adult relationship as well. She deserves someone who can be actively present in her life as a strong emotional support and fill the void of loneliness in her heart.


It was a realistic but bittersweet ending (But a part of my unrealistic petty ass still hopes that her husband died or something and those two kind of reunites in the end like in how i met your mother lol)

Read More

Youth, passion and growing pains

This drama is the epitome of youth, passion and growing pains.

I’m not much for watching coming of age stories but this one got me good. Right now as I’m writing this I’m still picking up the pieces of my broken heart caused by that heart wrenching end. No kidding I was a sobbing mess.

Honestly I haven’t cried this much watching a drama before (like I’ve cried before but not like this, I was gasping for air?!). I was like Jesus can you please stop I want to stop crying!! I could not stop sobbing throughout the last episode so much so that I kept thinking I couldn’t cry anymore because I didn’t have any tears left and then BAM! the waterworks started again.
And you know what? I wouldn’t have had it any other way. The lesson that this drama and the writers set out to teach was that sometimes love is not enough.

And in this case it didn’t matter how stupid in love they were with each other if they couldn’t overcome their problems. In some ways it felt to me like they loved each other too much. So much so that it ended up being their demise. She loved him too much to be selfish and ask him to be there for them and he loved her too much to share his burden with her because he didn’t want to taint her or drag her down.

Ultimately what killed me the most was that *we don’t know whatever happened with Baek Yi Jin?!?!* Did HE get married? Did he stay single pinning for the love that never was? Had any children??? Does he regret anything???!! I know that the story is Na Hee Do’s but STILL how could they leave him out and only put him in that ending? Scene??? Though it was ironically sad how the name of the person you THOUGHT you would have by your side, love forever and grow old with becomes but the answer of a security question. 21st century sadness.

The cast did a terrific job. Everyone say thank you to Nam
Joo Hyuk for making Baek YiJin what he was. I saw an interview were him and Kim Taeri where they said that YiJin in the script was totally different to JooHyuk’s YiJin. Apparently Yijin was cold and distant and then JooHyuk said let’s make him warm and cutely dorky/weird. I’ll love you forever for that Nam Joo Hyuk. Taeri WAS Na Hee Do no more needed. And the rest of the cast was great too their chemistry was good.

The ost was top notch, the cinematography excellent, the nostalgia on point and it even got me excited for FENCING -didn’t see that one on my bingo card-. Tough tbh I was low key salty about the other couple making it through

At the end of the day Twenty-five twenty-one can be summarized with two words: first love. And, sadly, the undeniable truth is that we usually learn a lot from it before it reaches its final destined day for it’s seldom made to last. Because first love is as fleeting as youth.

Ps: now I’m going to sleep because my eyes and my head HURT from all the crying! I have half a mind to sue the writers for causing me distress and irreparable emotional damage. So excuse any grammatical or spelling mistake.

Read More

I did not regret watching this!

I stopped watching this drama at Episode 6… and then heard and saw spoilers until the drama ended. Even though I already knew the ending, I can’t resist and I am still curious of the whole story that’s why I continued watching from where I left.

ON THE STORY: The drama is set mostly in the 90s going back and forth in the present time. A sports-themed drama which focuses on achieving dreams, love, friendship and family. I love the fact that they did not focus only on romance but on many different aspect.

In a long time, I am glad that there were no love triangle between the main leads. The rivalry between Na Hee Do and Ko Yu Rim were not annoying and I loved the character development between the two characters. I also liked the unexpected friendship made by the five characters. Each of the characters have their own unique story to convey.

ON THE CASTING/CHARACTERS: For me, Kim Tae Ri acted so well that I can’t think of any actress who can play the role of Na Hee Do other than her. Hee Do as an athlete is a very inspiring character. Her character development is also well seen. Then there’s Nam Joo Hyuk who stars again in a sports-themed drama. I am not a fan of his acting on this one, feels like it isn’t remarkable in my opinion. Bona who played Ko Yu Rim got me hating her the first few episodes. You’ll love her character when she started to open up especially when she became friends with Hee Do. Choi Hyun Wook (Moon Ji Ung) and Lee Joo Myung (Ji Seung Wan) were great characters too and compliment well on the group. The portrayal of their friendship isn’t awkward but the slow development felt more realistic.

ON THE ENDING: If I were Hee Do, I would’ve done the same thing. I think their LDR wouldn’t work either, in my opinion. Baek Yi Jin even accepted the job offer in New York without even telling Hee Do. I kind of accepted the ending that they’ve shown. It was realistic. It is also noticeable that the other four characters is not shown on the present day or the ending. We never even got to know who is Min Chae’s father. Nevertheless, I am well satisfied with the drama. It brought out a lot of emotions.

I am glad I continued watching this. I am also glad that Tae Ri is finally receiving recognition on her work as she rightfully deservers. Though I loved this drama, for now, my re-watch value on this is low (LOL) because of the roller-coaster of emotions I felt the whole time I was watching this. It has a lot of good moments and lots of drama which made me cry (Refer to specific scenes on the picture above! You’ll know what I mean.)

RECOMMENDATIONS: This drama is slightly similar to the Reply series in terms of the setting and the various stories involved. Another similar drama with a lighter story is Weightlifting Kim Bok Joo, also a sports-themed drama that stars Nam Joo Hyuk.

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/106200050/posts/4022426877

Read More

A Failed Romance Story

What starts as a flashback set in 1995 to 2000s , with Korean Economy being bad and everyone struggling financially, we have Na Hee Do ( Main Heroine ) wanting to become a Fencing champion and we have Baek Yi Jin ( Main Hero ) wanting to solve financial crisis for family. Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin eventually fall in love, but in the end they separate because their jobs keeps them busy and they don't have time for each other. This drama is good, but it could've been much better. Na Hee Do in the present ( 2020 ) doesn't meet Baek Yi Jin , which was disappointing. It is a good high school romance story set in the past. We also have Ko Yu Rim ( 2nd Heroine ) , also fencing champion fall in love with Moon Ji Woong ( 2nd Hero ), and their romance, chemistry is much better than main Hero , Heroine. This journey is growth of these characters over the years, but it would've been better if it was set at high school only. The show could've been much better if it had incorporated elements from 1990s but still a good watch

Read More

Just try enjoying the show without connecting to it emotionally

When I thought of watching this drama i already knew the ending because I started watching after completion of airing in the tvn. As I knew the ending be-forehead I thought I wouldn't be affected a lot.
But when I started watching it i was totally involved and connected to the drama. When they were happy i was happy when they were sad I felt that emotion. I have completed this show in 3 days that too working days (Heheehehe).
The night in which I have complete watching this show I wasn't able sleep all the night. When ever I opened my eyes only "Naa hee-Do' and "Baek yi-jin" are the only names on my lips and mind.
I was totally sad thinking they haven't tried their best to be together and keeping their relationship standing. Even it was struggle they should have endured it for some time so that they can be happy forever together.
I was thinking this because the other couple which were apart got to get married even though Ko-yurim went to Russia for the sports and ji-wook was in korea. If it was possible to this couple why not for them. They should have tried their best.
Actually the ending of the main couple was so realistic as many people around have the similar experiences. So, i wanted the happy ending even in the drama but unfortunately its not.

Read More

Youthful Angst Meets Adult Wisdom

This was a coming of age story with all the happiness, sorrows, ups, downs, and amazing experiences one has with a group of friends that just go through it all together. I like that they diversified the group of friends. Friend groups that are all alike, their families are carbon copies of each other are so boring and cliche'. This group was well mixed. The top athlete/superstar yet whose family is poor and sacrificing everything for her, the fatherless child whose single-parent is so busy providing for their home she is neglecting her daughter (I could relate to this one), the son thrust into poverty by the mistakes of his father yet taking responsibility to care for his brother and mother, the smartest kid in the school and bored to tears by everything, and the kid who fails academically because the school fails to offer him and his skill set anything other than studying for the next test. These kids came together and experienced first love, bullying, pressures from school, parents, life, disappointments, failures, successes, forgiveness, fun, fear, and heartache. They took the viewer along with them every step. I laughed, I got bored, I cheered, I got angry, I cried. The storyline moved me along with the lives of these 5 people just like surfing a wave onto the sand.

I read a lot of reviews that were angry and disappointed at the ending. I wasn't. This is the type of story where you get hooked into the characters and want more. I think the ending was purposeful to provide a second series. Anyway, I hope so. There were some unanswered questions, and information about these 5 characters that could lead easily to another series to fill in the gaps. The writers know how to provide a rich storyline and very developed characters. I do believe they could provide us with another amazing story of Na Hee Do, Baek Yi Jin, Go Yu Rim, Moon Ji Woong, and Ji Seung Wan five or ten years later that would be very satisfying to those of us who loved this story. I hope we will see more.

Read More