Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)

A healing drama that didn't feel quite that healing

Twenty-five Twenty-one is a wonderful and unique coming-of-age drama that encapsulates the bittersweet nostalgia of youth and friendships, with strong performances from Nam Joohyuk and especially Kim Taeri. While the drama excelled in its character writing, I found its overall message to be lost towards the end, because the ending felt...reductive. It didn't take away from my enjoyment of the drama greatly, but I still wanted an opportunity to talk about it.

Although I appreciated how the writers tried for a realistic approach, I found it to feel a bit nihilistic in the way that none of the other characters besides Heedo felt important to add in the present time, and that Heedo herself didn't seem to deem them as important to her life anymore as well. The drama spent 15 hours building these deep friendships, and it just didn't make sense to disregard them as simply being "in the past". It made feel as though the time invested in the drama--and, likewise, the time invested in one's youth--did not give as much as an impact as it should've.

I had never expected a happy ending for Yijin and Heedo, but their break-up, while beautifully written, felt inconsistent with their characters. I found it hard to believe that these strong-willed characters couldn't make it work. The reason they broke up contradicted what the audience saw in their relationship beforehand, where they gave each other emotional support through hard times quite easily. Heedo's current husband, while never shown, is away for work overseas which is exactly what she didn't want from Yijin, which made the break-up feel even more reductive. If the drama wanted to convince me that Heedo and Yijin's development was realistic, I think it would've benefited from one more episode.

Despite this, I could see what the drama was aiming for, and I appreciate the themes they tried to tackle. I don't regret watching this drama and I'd still recommend it for the strong characters and solid plot. It's just unfortunate that the ending did not quite fit what the rest of the drama was building up to.

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Makes you vicariously long for a passionate and cherished past.

This drama is a must watch. It handles the different paths our lives takes with a realistic and positive vision. The characters develop so much it's beautiful. Growth, pushing yourself, overcoming challenges, taking risks, and so many light and funny moments, this drama has it all. The drama is visually fun with so many colors and sceneries. OSTs 'with' and 'your existence' are also top tier. The phone booth moment with "I wanted to see you, and then I saw you" is legendary. Having the cast sing 'with' worked out so beautifully too.

All in all, 10/10. Makes you vicariously long for a passionate and cherished past.

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Unexpectedly beautiful with a bittersweet ending

I wasn't expecting much going into this show. I honestly felt like I would watch about half an episode and give it up. But, as she did in Mr. Sunshine, Kim Tae Ri sucked me in with her beautiful acting. Na Hee Do was such a dynamic character, and KTR played her so perfectly. The nostalgia will hit hard in this one if you are a certain age, and the memories of youth, best friends, and first loves may stir within you. That feeling of freedom as you are about to embark upon adulthood and all the promise it holds. If you are a fan of the Reply series, you may well enjoy this as it invokes those same nostalgic feelings. The growing friendship between Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin that bloomed from friendship to love caused us to all root for them desperately, even knowing that it seems that something disrupts the trajectory of their pure love for one another.

The acting and depth of character was what kept me going. Kim Tae Ri is simply a captivating actress. She was completely believable as a high school student despite the actress actually being 30. Nam Ji Hyuk's performance was quite improved since I saw him last, as was Bona. This was probably the best performance I've seen from Bona thus far. She usually comes off as whiny and immature, but her acting is much improved. Choi Hyun Wook was a new face for me. I saw somewhere that he was compared as a young Park Seo Jun and I can see it, so I hope to see more of him in the future. Lee Joo Myung was also new for me, but I enjoyed her character as well. Although she was more of a fifth wheel in the group, I would have liked to have seen more development for her character and more of a connection within the group.

I'm rating this drama as a 9 because I looked forward to every episode, got a lot of enjoyment from it, and it was such a surprise bit of beauty. I adored the friendship/ rivalry between Hee Do and Yu Rim - almost the same amount as I loved the romance between Hee Do and Yi Jin. I loved the group dynamic of all the friends together, and was invested in how they grew and changed as they moved from high school into adulthood. The challenges they overcame, the sacrifices they made, and the passion they had in their youth. I was not expecting this drama to move me so much with it's simple beauty.

I was fully expecting to give this show a 10, and only failed to do so because I was hoping, rather foolishly, for a different ending. But in the absence of that, I felt that the ending was a bit rushed with the closure. I also felt that in the end, it wasn't necessary to have even had the two timelines (past and present) as it added nothing to the story. And although she did a fine job, I didn't think that it was necessary to change the actress playing Na Hee Do in the present day. She lacked the same depth that Kim Tae Ri brought to the character, and caused me to feel disconnected from her during those parts. The past was not connected to the present in any meaningful way at all.
I still think it is a very worthwhile watch, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is interested in a drama about friendship and first love that was handled with a lot of maturity.

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I love everything but the ending was too much bittersweet.

Everything was great the story, the cast was the best, songs were good . It just felt like i am experiencing what first love is like, how beautiful friendships are in our life. How we should support and understand everyone in life. But the ending is breaking my heart into pieces i saw it coming but not this brutal bcz it doesn’t matter if its their first love or second love what really matters is that they were perfect for each other literally soulmates and this what loving someone is. Why its portraying to the viewers that when things get hard even the perfect lovers will break up and become strangers. Please writer focus on the ending too everything was being rushed in the end if you are writing such a masterpiece show with so many lovely moments, i think ending plays a very important role bcz it will leave an impact on the viewers who are watching it.?❤️‍??
Edit-: We have to understand this is life. Sometimes some people are not meant to be together. Destiny plays it part. That why i think heedo has some regrets after reading baek yi jin message from the last diary. Its heartbreaking bcz their love was so pure and precious. But after listing to the 2521 song by jaurim and reading its lyrics it made me realise that the breakup was meant to happen but i love heedo and yijin chemistry so much that I don’t want this to happen. They still love each other it would have been great if the writer twisted the story(which i feel was a real persons story) and made it happily ever after. But no worry I love this show it was a roller coaster of emotions for me. I laughed while watching it and cried too. Saranghae❤️

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How to ruin a 10/10 show with one episode.

I must congratulate the writers for accomplishing something I considered nearly impossible. Well, I know better now. One can completely ruin a show in just one episode. Here is how I imagine it was done.

Step 1: Destroy the characters. The characters that the audience have known and loved for the past 15 episodes need to be ruined first. Take all their character-traits away from them, including their understanding, their love, their spirit of never giving up - everything that made them… them. Everything that made the audience fall in love with them. Ready? Great. Now apply this to their carefully constructed and super strong relationship and make it seem like it was nothing. Easy peasy.

Step 2: Try to trick the audience. Everything that has been shown important in the past 15 episodes needs to amount to nothing. All the little things, hints dropped, heartwarming things shown, need to be shown moot and useless. Now, switch their focus to completely different and dumb things which had no relevance before that wretched episode.

Step 3: Leave tons of things unexplained. Build up entire mysteries for 15 episodes and then simply refuse to solve them.

Step 4: Completely give up on all sense. Nothing needs to make any sense whatsoever. The strongest forged bonds are weak AF. People clearly madly in love with one another can be forced to break up with no regrets and can move on from each other just as quickly. Like I said, give up on all sense.

There you have it folks. A 4-step guide to ruin a 10/10 show. It was clearly easier than I had initially thought.

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A sad ending remains in the hearts of the people.

Twenty-Five Twenty-One is going to be a drama I'll rewatch whenever I get the chance to (after Happiness) because I don't think you understand, I'm OBSESSED.
To be honest a lot of viewers are very unhappy with the ending and I empathize, but as a very INFP person (lol) this was one of the most realest, pure ending of a relationship, or ending a certain chapter in your life. It was a beautiful poetic line to a romance novel.
The leads fated meeting, fated love, fated breakup, it later was so apparent how much both of the leads have grown and matured emotionally and developed sense of perceptives towards life. Some harsh decisions do destroy the people around you but it's never intentional and these concepts are what I found so endearing and beautiful.

In conclusion, I'll forever live this fantasy of being in the squad of Moon Jiwoong, Ko Yurim, Ji Seungwan, Na Heedo and Baek Yijin. I'll never get over them emotionally. :")

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Freely flying but anchored. Like a lone kite.

Food analogy: sweet and spicy tteokbokki
(Delicious and chewy, makes you keep on digging, the sweetness on the tongue feels melancholic and warm but the spice keeps it hot and brings you to tears but,
But You Don't Wanna Stop)

Story is sweet and inspiring and sad and interesting and simple and complex. Will keep you hooked. Will make you hate. Will make you love. Will make you cry. The vibes are pretty similar to Reply 1988 from my POV. If you are looking for a bitchin story. It's it.

Nam joo hyuk and Lee tae Ri has already proven them before and they are a treat here aswell. Look out for the other three MCs, A great performance and such flexibility and ranges. Loved everyone in the cast though.

Rewatch value is low, Coz journey once is enough. This won't be my Go-to drama. For reason you have to watch to find out.

P.S: People who like cotton candy stuff will be pleased and disappointed at the same time coz, even though this will make you feel good, it will force you to come back to reality as well.

So, Give it a go. For the hope. For the reality.

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Predicament

From the moment I started to keep up with this drama, I fell in love.
If something makes me feel nostalgic and fills my heart with warmth at the thought, of course I will hold onto it dearly. This drama had given me those feelings and so much more. The youthful innocence mixed with navigating independence, the struggle to provide and be present while wanting something for yourself, and the presence of love as a way of life rather than an arrangement.
Those are all things that were so beautifully addressed by our lovely cast and story.
Yet, the last episode lacked all of this. It lacked the authenticity and uniqueness this drama had. Perhaps, the goal was to show that not everything happens the way you think it will, but I firmly believe that lesson can be taught in different ways.
Why did the ending feel so unnatural? It was likely because in an effort to do something new, the story fell into a vague grey area where it lost its way.
Of course, I will never forget the way my heart fluttered when Baek Yi Jin did whatever he could to supprt Heedo. I will never forget how touched I felt when that group of friends navigated their youth together.
Is it so wrong to have wanted more for them? I don't think so.
I can't pretend that the story leading up to the finale didn't have a tight grip on my heart that loosened out of confusion upon watching the ending. But at least I can look back at those moments that fill me with joy and remember that there was a time when things were different.

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SERIOUSLY THE ENDING!!

Starting so when I started watching the drama it was really good. It give me a happy summer vibe and with all the episode I was like yeah this is something but then the last episode disappointed me very much like I never no one never thought that ending with like that no one. The story line is good and refreshing. And the cast acting was also complimentable. To be honest Kim Tae-ri I was just shocked that she is 32 playing the role of a teenager. I literally thought that her real age would be 27 or 28 but she pulled of the character very nicely
And personally I actually liked the character of Na hee do and Ji wange(idk if I am spelling it correctly). His character was the most humorous one.....and the way he was just stuck to one girl Yu rim throughout was actually the most beautiful thing in this drama.
But all I could say is I'm and almost all of us are disappointed by the ENDING. It could have ve way better or i should say they didn't concluded it nicely. The writer hurried in completing the drama without giving an ending that is acceptable or i should say that they didn't gave an ending that didn't lacked a plot.
Here's a caption I found on Instagram
For me, this endings tells that sometimes you have to let go of the person whom you love the most, even if it's mutual. You can't have it all, you may miss something but missing that person in your life doesn't mean that life comes to an end, you have memories, the happiness, the sorrow, the laugh, the sadness that you both shared together. You can be in love forever even without being with them. And that's the feeling that they wanted to convey. SOMETIMES GOODBYES ARE BETTER THAN BEING TOGETHER EVEN IF THE LOVE IS MUTUAL. That's what I learned.
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It's just something I wanted to post.....if you could understand what I mean
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Hope my review were helpful for you?☺️

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Worth to watch it

Ok, the last ep was kinda not peoples cup of tea, but if we all go back and rewatch the first 14 episodes, its all full of joy, existence, energy, funny, motivation and heartwarming scenes… just because the last ep wasn’t satisfying it doesn’t mean the whole show is not low rated! Although if the one who has already completed watching goes and rewatch the show will feel a sadness since watching them being happy, jumping around and not knowing in 10 years they wont be together anymore is so heartbreaking!
The show was so good! Don’t hesitate and go watch it now!

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What a disappointing last two episodes

I have such a mixed feeling of this drama. Up to Ep14, it was one of the perfect score 10 that made me cried so many times. However the ending of this drama was total disappointment. That’s why my review is rather low.

It is well written family drama, sportsman-women ship, school friendship, teenage first love and etc. However the drama created such an anticipation how it will end, then it crashed me. The final episode was total disappointment, especially for ML. It may have been a bitter sweet teenage first love experience for FL, but ML was already a young adult with hardship due to family issues. That is one of the reason why I hoped the ending would be a happy one. It was too much hardship for young adult to down fall financially at such a young age. It would have been much better drama if ML and FL to stay together by overcoming the difficulties. Such happy ending may be a cliché but I will give 10 if this was happy ending.

Oh boy, I just have such a bad taste in my mouth after watching such a disappointing ending. It is funny thought, I do not dislike bad ending like ‘Moon Lovers’. It was such a heartbreaking drama, But I keep watching the last episode over and over knowing I would cry so hard.

Too bad there is no way to make season 2 since characters are already in 40ish. Especially FL closed her chapter, her true love , at the very end. It would have been better if it was an open ending to bring them back together and makes happy ending at season 2. I would liked if ML meets FL at funeral and finding they are still single. Then daughter was their love child. And she was finding their parents love story in season 1. Hmmmmm I should have been the director of this drama. LOL

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Rare Gem

this is just a personal opinion, many might disagree, some might agree :)

to me, this is a well-written piece. it's a story about one's first love, friendship and growth.
i liked the story-telling and how it focuses on the characters development vs just another drama.
this is one of those rare gems.

i enjoyed the fact that it's like a trip to memory lane - taking some of us back to our younger days, being foolish and reckless (being our true self)
it brought back those feelings of having crush on our seniors, can't tell what is really love (vs like, we're only 18! 19?)
how we grew from failure and hardships
how we then learned about liking someone, what it really means falling in love with someone
then breaking up with someone, that we really like (love)

however i do admit, this is so rare that one really have to start and keep going until the end without a break.
how most of us stayed and waited, that actually breaks the momentum in my opinion. (will rewatch this during the summer!)

and for those who got crushed by the ending, whether or not it delivered the answer you were expecting, try to think of it as you are now going through the "breakup" - the agony you were feeling when watching the last few episodes? (korean saying) It's okay, cry and rant all about it. and once you're over it, you'll then remember the sweetness it brought you :)

and one last thing to add, Kim Tae-Ri. my god, she's really Good.

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