Crrkiszz

I really enjoyed the show, but the way it handled the time jumps was rough. The jumps happen without any clear indication of how much time has passed, and we only get scattered throwaway lines to piece things together. If the confusion was intentional and meant to make us feel the gap in the characters’ lives it didn’t quite work for me. Their interactions often felt like they were missing important emotional context, and it weakened some of the impact.

The pacing up until the breakup was excellent, but the final episodes felt noticeably rushed. It honestly seems like the original plan included more episodes, and the reduced count forced the story to speed through setups that never paid off. A good example is the buildup to her meeting his parents: they teased it multiple times, set the stage for it, and then it just never happened.

Overall, it’s a great show with strong moments, but with clearer time jumps and a less compressed ending, it could’ve been significantly better.

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Horrific ending

The first 12 episodes were great, i was really invested in the what the mystery of the lab was and big mouths real identity. but im just going to write my feelings on the ending because i hated it so much.

Arguably one of the worst endings I’ve ever seen. Do-Ha caused the deaths of thousands of people and not only did he avoid any real public humiliation, he actually won in court, outsmarted his own wife, and then got a quick death. We also get absolutely no closure for the psychopathic, annoying nurses.

And what was even the point of mentioning Chairman Kang’s son if they weren’t even going to show him?

Chang-Ho got angry at Warden Park for trying to kill Do-Ha, only to spend the next three episodes failing to outsmart him, and then just ends up killing him anyway. They could’ve literally saved us three episodes.

The whole lab storyline was another massive letdown. They made it seem like they were conducting human experiments on dying cancer patients, but the big secret was basically that they were improperly disposing of wastewater. Yes, I know the wastewater ended up exposing thousands of people to cancer, but as a reveal, it felt incredibly weak compared to what the show was building up to.

And I’m going to say it again: the nurses, especially the head nurse, should have died too.

The ending that would’ve made much more sense to me is Mi-Ho finding undeniable proof that Do-Ha was responsible for the wastewater scandal, Do-Ha losing the court case, watching his company completely crumble, and eventually getting kicked out. He literally says that he did all of this because he didn’t want to end up like his grandfather. Having him ultimately suffer the exact same fate would have been perfect.

And I’m not even going to get into Mo-Sik dying of cancer. That just felt completely unnecessary, especially when they shoved it into the last five minutes of the show.

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Expected more

The series starts pretty slowly. The first quarter is mostly setup, but I actually liked the premise: the fake marriage, the new tower block, and the idea of everyone being trapped inside while the situation outside gets worse.

Unfortunately, I found most of the characters pretty boring apart from the two main leads and the little girl. A lot of the characters also seemed unbelievably stupid, including the two leads. These are two experienced combat-trained people, yet so much of what they do is just patrol random corridors. Why not actually formulate a plan? Keep everyone inside their apartments, establish some basic rules, and have one person do regular checks at set times. It felt like the characters were deliberately making things more difficult than they needed to be.

I also didn't really like the serial killer storyline. It was obvious from pretty early on that they were setting him up to be important, but then all of the bodies were discovered around the same time, and his whole endgame of getting everyone to turn the electricity back on was basically dealt with in two episodes. I think it would've been much more effective if the bodies had been discovered gradually throughout the series, with everyone slowly realising that someone was secretly picking people off inside the building. That could have created a much better sense of paranoia and tension.

Also, how did the guy in the car even get bitten? He was inside the car and the windows weren't smashed. Maybe I missed something, but that really confused me.

One thing I did like was the ending. I actually prefer that the bad guys weren't just killed and instead ended up on trial. Death would've been too easy, and having them face the consequences of what they did felt more satisfying.

That said, I wish the ending had given us more time to sit with it. We basically just see them in court, and then it's over. I would've liked even 10–15 minutes showing what life looked like for everyone after the incident, maybe seeing how the survivors were coping and what happened to the people who caused everything. The ending wasn't bad, I just don't think we got enough time to actually process it.

Overall, I liked the premise and the two leads, but I think the show had a much better setup than execution.

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Great but flawed

Just some quick thoughts - I don’t really get why the VR game was even there. It’s a big deal at the start, then it basically disappears except for a few random moments. The only time it actually worked was when Hu Xia kept going in just to kill Zhi Yu’s character over and over, that scene made sense emotionally, but it’s literally the only memorable use of the whole VR concept.

The relationship itself was great though. It built up slowly and naturally, and their chemistry was solid. My only complaint is that for a drama set in an office, there were basically no office‑romance moments. No coworkers finding out, no awkward run‑ins, nothing. It felt like a missed opportunity.

I liked the idea of Zhi Yu digging into his dad’s case, but the way the show handled it felt rushed. It pops up in a few key episodes, gets solved super fast, and then it’s done. And maybe I’m forgetting something, but why was Pei Kangua even trying to kill Hu Xia? And why do it in such a sloppy way that she’s saved instantly? It’s such a weird choice. Like thats easily an attempted murder charge and for what reason?

The last two episodes didn’t land for me either. The whole “beat the villains and live happily ever after” part is usually a quick wrap‑up in most dramas, but here it drags on for two full episodes. It felt like filler.

But overall, it’s still a really good drama. The cast has great chemistry, and the main couple carries the whole thing.

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Disappointing

Disappointing. For a show that’s supposed to be driven by revenge, the resolutions for both the main antagonist and his daughter felt seriously underwhelming. Yes, he loses his business, but we never see the fallout. He gets stabbed, yet we don’t get that moment of fear or realization that would make the payoff cathartic. His daughter runs away and is arrested, but once again there’s no real resolution.

What frustrates me most is that her father took a situation that could’ve been handled and completely spiralled it out of control. A scene showing how his attitude destroyed both their lives would’ve added so much weight. They’re monsters, I didn’t expect them to suddenly see the error of their ways but at least show us the consequences of their downfall. Let us feel their world collapsing.

Despite that, it was still a decent watch. I love an overpowered protagonist, and the dynamic between the three leads was genuinely great. I also wish the three children had more screen time, every one of them was fantastic.

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Complete 180 from the first two episodes

I went into this drama genuinely excited because I love the body‑swap trope, but the first two episodes were honestly rough. It was marketed as a comedy, yet the tone felt completely off. The characters, especially the twins were so cartoonishly evil that it stopped being funny and just became irritating. Even the chairman, who we’re clearly supposed to root for later, is introduced as deeply unlikeable with no redeeming qualities in sight.

The result is that the opening two hours feel like watching bad people get away with everything, with no emotional balance or relief. I understand that the setup is necessary for the story that follows, but it was still a slow, frustrating, and painful watch.

But then episodes three and four completely turned things around. Once the plan starts moving, the tone settles, and the show finally becomes what it promised to be. The leads have fantastic chemistry, they play off each other beautifully, and the story suddenly becomes engaging and fun.

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I LOVED THE ENDING

One of the most powerful aspects of Twenty‑Five Twenty‑One is how faithfully its ending reflects the emotional tone of the Jaurim song it draws its name from. The song isn’t a celebration of lasting love, it’s a nostalgic remembrance of a relationship that shaped two people during a fleeting moment in their youth

If the writers had forced a happy ending, it would have completely clashed with the tone of the song and undermined the entire message of the story. The bittersweet ending isn’t just fitting, it’s the only ending that preserves the integrity of what Twenty‑Five Twenty‑One set out to say about youth, love and the nature of growing up

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underwhelming start

I expected to really like the show but after the first two episodes im feeling underwhelmed. The positives of the show are that anytime the main leads are on the screen (Shin Hae Sun and Gong Myung) its great, they have good chemistry, their characters are interesting and engaging. But so far it feels like they have had hardly any screentime together maybe 5 minutes in total. I also like the dynamic between the second FL (Hong Hwa Yeon) and the main lead but thats where the positives end. i have no interest in the the obvious eventual power struggle between the two brothers and even less interest in the episodic cheating investigations. Hoping it gets better

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