Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)

realistic plot

i stopped watching it after ep 12 for a while since I came to know about the ending. but completing the drama healed me and broke me at the same time. the ending was way too realistic for ppl like us who are used to watching happy ever after endings. but that has a charm in it's own way even tho it broke my heart completely and I might not see any other drama for a while.

i was hooked from the start, heedo's perseverance and fighting spirit was truly commendable. kim Taeri truly resonated with her character and delivered the best possible na heedo we can ever get. heedo's break up teared me apart, she waited for her mum everytime after her dad died and eventually ended up being disappointed. yijin being a reporter like her mum would've definitely being too much for her. it pained me to see her being emotionally tired waiting her whole life, first it was her mum and her lover. nevertheless she endured it for a long time. if I was in her place, i doubt i would know what to do. but heedo made the painful decision of them breaking up rather than hopless waiting and relationship that seemed to be going nowhere. that part was really realistic.
Taeri even took fencing lessons prior to the actual filming, which made the fencing part more realistic. (she truly deserves the best actress award which she won yesterday <3 )

i won't lie, i kinda felt dislike towards yurim at the start BUT as the story progressed, i started empathising with her. she was a teenager who had to think like a adult because of her parent's financial condition. my heart broke for her when she had to make the decision of going to Russia and more so when heedo and her competed in Madrid, reuniting after a year, i cried there.

seungwan is the best character there is in 2521, I'm not even looking at any other opinions that you might have. she's a friend that you can trust your life with. she portrayed that being a top student doesn't necessarily mean that you can't rebel against your teachers when their in the wrong. and that you have to be a nerd and hang out with only "students who study well". she stole my heart when she stood up for ji woong, girl really decided to leave school when she had enough of the bullshit that her teacher had to show. i so wanna know her and yijin's brother's story.

ji woong, my baby. the baby of the group actually, more so behind the scenes. I'm so glad he went on to become a successful ceo, after the shit he had to endure in school. plus he really deserves that pretty boy title. his never changing love towards yurim made my heart flutter after what happens with heedo and yijin lmao. his banters with heedo, being platonic soulmates with seungwan, having a brotherly relationship with yijin, respect and love towards yurim, was EVERYTHING.

yijin's character made me want a matured guy lmao. his character went through a lot, from being rich to barely making ends meet & paying off debts. none of it was his fault but he had to pay the price. I liked how his character started opening up to heedo more and eventually loving her romantically. and the fact that he confessed without expecting a confession back just made my standards go higher than they already were. if I look at it, yijin and heedo's relationship might've ended differently IF they took different decisions. it revolves around the word "if" which sadly cannot change the ending of the drama.

being aware of the ending, i had prepared myself for heedo and yijin's breakup but yet I cried. there's no way i wouldn't I cry. i felt attached to them seeing them grow in their respective areas and finally becoming amazing friends and standing up for eachother, becoming eo's support. i cried so much when they had their final hug, I'm glad they atleast had that last cherishing moment.

we all have want to see fantasy-like happy ever after ending in kdramas. but we forget that the real world isnt like that at all. tho this drama had a sad ending, it was realistic as heck. it doesn't only portray that first love can be painful, but also portrays that to achieve your goals, you need to sacrifice things and never give up even though you might get stuck for a while on a particular step. "your skills don't improve drastically, it improves in steps" while that may not be the exact quote from the drama but I hope you get my point. living your dreams require efforts and if you don't work hard to achieve it, you might not make it. if heedo gave up her dream to fence, then she wouldn't have met such amazing friends and love. you experience various emotions while striving towards success but the most important thing is to live in the moment you're experiencing because nothing ever lasts forever.

the cast was AMAZING. on screen and off screen both, all of them have a good chemistry, their acting was simply fabulous <33

yeah the re-watch value is like that for me cuz I don't think I'll watch it again for years ?

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Reality and Drama

I really thought this would be the Drama which would top reply 1988 for me but I guess not. It was everything i wanted until the last episodes. The leads actually made me believe that love is all that is needed just to end up like that. I really really really enjoy dramas with realistic storylines but i actually wished so badly for them to end up together.
I may have realised something after watching this end and that is I still watch dramas to get away from my reality for some time and hence I always for the utmost and fairytale like happiness for all my fictional characters.

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An Amazing Show with A less Satisfying End

This show was amazing! I loved it so much yet couldn't leave the show feeling satisfied. I feel this show had a deep message which is why they added the parts Kim Min Chae. But was it really necessary?? As much as I loved this show, there were definitely some parts that made me resent the creators. The least they could have done would be to let us hope. But alas. We could not. I did love this show. I'm someone who loves writing and always thought I might write a story based around a romance that didn't work out. But after watching this show I started to reconsider that decision. I hated the ending for a couple of days. But after thinking I think the ending was more realistic than most. I guess that made me feel better? I had a deeper meaning than meets the eye. So if you like that you should give this show a shot! But if not, I think it still worth a shot. Even if you hate the ending, the story though-out the show is too beautiful to pass up. It illustrates the relationship so well and it was so realistic. BUT COULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHO MIN CHAE'S DAD IS????

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The best drama 2022

Great one. Love, sports, intrigue - all in one. It`s a shame that there is no next season. Miss it sooo much. All charachters where beautiful and touching. Plot is truly immersive and you cannot go to sleep, before you watch at least one more episode :) Stunning locations and impecable job of all of the film crew departments. Something real, piece of cinematografic art.Amazing work of the Dragon studio subsidiary. Inspired me to make a fan video :) If you like it, you can watch it on youtube. My favorite part about seaside vacations of Na Hee Do and friends. Lots of fun and sun and sea views. https://youtu.be/eIRYOlD0XmM

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The perfect drama about life, love and reality

Everything about this show was perfect. The cast was great, everyone was perfectly suited to their roles, and that's always great to see. I especially liked Seung-wan and was rooting for her the whole time. The pacing was great, each episode left me wanting more and more. The story couldn't have been better and the ending was perfect (shocked a lot of people disliked it). This is most definitely my fav kdrama (for now at least) because it's the first kdrama to leave me with a sad, longing heart after finishing it. I'm not a big rewatch person that's why it has a relatively low rewatch value score but I can see myself rewatching it in a couple of years.

The ending albeit controversial stayed true to the themes and lessons which were conveyed in this drama and therefore I disagree with the people who think it needs a second season.

Remembering when Hee-do said “Nothing lasts forever. Everything is momentary. They all flow away. And that’s not always a bad thing.” This quote really touched me and stayed with me because as humans when we have something good, we never wanna let go and wanna hold onto it forever especially when things get tough. But being human is also knowing when to let go and be happy that you made that memory. It really is ok to let things (or people) go and for it to become a fond, beautiful memory for us to look back on because at the end of the day life is about the memories we make and who we make them with.

Anyways, that's my two cents regarding this masterpiece, hope yall enjoy and love it as much as I did.

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I still ponder this drama from time to time

This was my first drama that I watched to the end and it was honestly really good. It holds a special place in my heart now. I, of course, was bawling at the ending (two people so in love and deeply intertwined parting ways!!!) and took a long time to process it.

I don't have an issue with them breaking up at the end. It made sense for them at the time. I just hated how isolated adult Hee-Do was in the present, with her mediocre Mom and daughter. Okay, she's not with Yi-Jin anymore, but where's 40-year-old Yu-Rim??? Like she married a guy who's never around, so she might as well have married Yi-Jin. It was just a sad, lonely ending for her, and the adult Hee-Do did not read as Hee-Do. She was too subdued and insightful. People don't lose their personality at 40!

I just wanted better for her, and happiness for them both. I think everything after the breakup was executed poorly. But, I loved the beginning to the breakup.

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It takes you back in time in a beautiful way

There is something special about the stories that take you back in time and 2521 was one of those special shows. It’s okay that it was not the kind of ending we wanted for them bcz for me journey matters more.

Now shedding some light on their relationship and how the characters complemented each other. Baek ijin missed being carefree and happy. Hae do brought that cheerfulness back in his mundane life and that is what he needed during the struggling phase of his life.
Meanwhile Na hae do lacked the support she needed to motivate her to achieve her dream. She was struggling with the absence of
her mother’s support for her. She needed someone to believe in her, to listen to her and support her just like her father did.
Baek ijin gave that suppprt to hae do. In that way they both brought something in each others life that was missing from it. That’s how they completed each other and thts why they were perfect for each other but as we grow older and move into different phase of our life, our needs and what we require in that phase of life also changes. Hence when they both did achieved what they wanted to, their needs also changed and that created a rift in their relationship.
What 25 year old baek ijin and 21 year old na hae do needed was different from what 18 year old
Na hae do and 22 year old ijin needed. And it was as simple as this.

And for the ending, it doesn’t matter who Na hae do married in the end. The story was not about her husband or who came after baek ijin. It was about her first love. The story was about “Baek ye jin and Na hae do. The story is about how they both bring out the best in each other, how they were there for each other during their most challenging time. Obviously it hurt to see them apart but I like how the writer didn’t forcefully tried to bring them together in the end bcz it would’ve made the whole plot pointless. Because the story shows multiple times that Na hae do had conflicts with her mother for not being there for her and she hated to wait for her. Hence she was starting to face the same thing with baek ijin and decided to part ways than to keep on waiting for him like she did for her mother. I liked the fact that she knew what she wanted in life and wanted to move on. And thts how it should be in life.

And dear baek ijin, my heart goes out for him. ?. I wanted to hug him soo bad. He was struggling soo much in his mind to fight depression. He struggled through out the show. He deserved to be happy and to be understood.I wish hae do had understood what he was going through but she couldn’t. And we can’t blame her bcz of her age too. Both of them were at different age so their understanding of things was also different.
In the end there are soo many ifs and buts but they just couldn’t make it together. But I still enjoyed their journey together, their support for each other meant everything.
I also loved the 2nd lead characters and their stories. Happy that atleast ko yorim and moon hi ung made it in the end.

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Not a fairytale but memorable nonetheless

My heart hurts especially while finishing the last few episodes. While many will attest to the fact that it’s not an ending we want, to an extent it’s a realistic one.

From start to finish 2521 was truly a memorable experience. It’s a coming of age story depicting the struggles of youth, friendship, first love, and the long winding road toward adulthood.

Let’s begin with the love story, as denoted by the show’s title, it’s a story of one’s first love and first real heartbreak. While that is all a part of life, I felt that the ending wasn’t very appropriate. This was not a frivolous teenage romance which ended as the leads grew up and eventually grew apart, The leads fell in love over several years and what tied them together was immense respect for each other and their respective careers and the will to support one another through life’s hardships. For someone who shared such a meaningful bond, I find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t have tried harder to make it work. For two people who communicated so well together, I can’t believe that it was the lack of communication that tore them apart. Aside from the ending itself, the entire journey was beautiful . While there wasn’t heavy romance, you could feel it throughout the show in subtle ways. Every scene was meaningful and a delight to watch. The fact that it was portrayed so well is what makes the conclusion so hard to accept. Nevertheless, I don’t regret watching it.

While the love story was wonderful, the drama much more to offer. The drama highlighted a number of topics that have seldom been explored till now. For example, the IMF crisis and the impact it had on the country’s economy and it’s citizens was an eye opener. The show also goes deep into the life of an athlete, exploring the kind of determination, pressure and hardship they must go through to succeed. I enjoyed the fact that it showed as lesser known sport such as fencing. Moreover, it showed a deep bond between the female characters. There are so many stories showing the friendship/ teamwork between boys it was refreshing to see the bond between girls. High school life both the carefree days as well as the struggles that students must face were also brilliantly portrayed.

While the cast was quite a bit older than high school age in real life, I can understand why they were chosen to play the part. The characters were written with a lot of depth. Inexperienced actors could not do justice to the roles. There is no doubt that Kim Tae Ri did an excellent job, she deserves every bit of praise she has gotten. However, Nam Joo Hyuk deserves no less recognition. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen his work but I must say what a remarkable improvement. I’m so glad he takes on such varied roles and hasn’t been typecast because of his good looks. Maturity suits him well and he looks even more handsome that I remember. He portrayed the role of Baek Yin Jin with aplomb. I look forward to seeing more of his work. The rest of the cast did well too.

The music was pleasant to hear and was well placed throughout the series. I can tell that it will be in my playlist for months to come,

Cinematography was well done. The competitions felt very realistic and the filming locations were well chosen. The scenes in front of cherry blossom trees looked beautiful. I also loved how so much attention was paid to the details when it comes to progression over the years ex. changing fashion, advancements in technology and so much more. It definitely made me feel a bit nostalgic.

When it comes to rewatch value, I think it’s fairly low. The experience you have the first time around can’t be replicated on a subsequent watch. Enjoy it while you can and treasure it for years to come.

Overall this was a well made drama you won’t want to miss. While I wasn’t happy with the ending of the love story, and my heart still hurts, the rest of the drama was outstanding. It was bittersweet, but a memorable watch nonetheless. Don’t let the negative comments deter you from watching. This was easily one of the best dramas I’ve watched in recent times.

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