Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)

Grateful with this drama ❤️

I never wrote a review, but I feel like a have to this time.
This drama has blow my mind. I finished the chapter 14 two days ago and still I can't gebit off my mind. It can seem exagerated but I'm feeling too many things by watching this. This make me feel overwhelmed by feelings, and I don't know how to stop it. I was just bored when I decided to play this one, I didn't know it would impact me this much. I don't remember the last time I smiled and laughed that hard with a drama, I don't remember the last time I were so happy watching a drama.

Actors/ Characters.

I didn't know Kim Tae Ri, I never watched a drama of hers but the name seemed familiar. So, I really thought that the actress was a teenager girl. She played so well that it's not like "she's so good actress", it just seems like she's not acting at all. Nam Hee Do is so adorable yet so madure, and she makes me laugh the most omg.
Nam Joo Hyuk... I had a lot of

Read More

Realistic for the most....

Although I'm also not a fan of the "not so happily ever ending", I think we all can relate to this story in one way or another. Everyone i know have had that one great love with that great group of best friends having the time of theyre lives that they can sit around & reminise & tell theyre children about..."the good ole days". It wouldve been amazing if Hee Do & Back Jin got together in the end but in reality, most "real-life" stories of growing up turn out more so like this. For that reason, Im not as disappointed over the ending.

Despite the ending, I really enjoyed this group of young actors and theyre chemistry together! They all were so excellent & have brilliant acting futures ahead of themselves. They had me engrossed in the story & I felt every last emotion as they portrayed. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

Read More

Not a fan

I passed over this series several times before watching. After reading a few reviews and seeing that the ratings were decent, I figured that I would give it a try. It started off cute and then I just wanted to throw something at the screen. The FL character development was nearly non-existent. The chemistry between the ML and FL was a stretch which made the depth of the 'love factor' more trying than endearing. I have seen ML (Nam Joo Hyuk) in different series, and he really needs better scripts. The concept of the script was good. However, so much of character development was lacking. Also, the hole in the script still remains in the end about the child. The series was too tiring to have you still guessing in the end. All in all, once it ended, I was more relieved than fulfilled. I would not recommend nor rewatch.

Read More

Falling action was very disappointing

To get this out of the way, I find it weird that people want to point out the age gap when the main couple were at the same emotional stage and was looking for platonic support-- as Yijin was separated from his family and Hee-do was always left alone since her mom was a famous anchorwoman. I think the love grew very platonically to what it is now and do not see it predatory at all.

Putting that aside, I loved every single aspect of the drama. However, the falling action was the most disappointing and unrealistic part of the drama. For everyone talking about how "realistic" this drama is, it is not even close to realistic at all. It made no sense why Yijin, a novice reporter, was sent to a foreign country to fend off alone. While at that, Yijin also applied to a position in New York despite how much "hell" it brought him-- is he a masochist? I'm sure that he did feel like it was his duty to bring these victims' stories to light, but there was so much potential for the couple to simply make up. Instead, they simply ended in one heartwrenching fight.

Seung-wan also got done dirty in the end, she went to college and still was bored with her current occupation? I was expecting her to get some sort of "revenge" on those teachers. Her hitting on Yijin's brother was really weird. This group went from being the closest knitted group to a group that only sees each other at funerals? Is this the "realistic" message that the drama wants to give at the end? There are so many unanswered questions such as: Why did present-day Hee Do forget about her trip to the beach with her friends? Why did she forget about her first love? Who did she end up with at the end?

Read More

OMG GUYS GUYS GUYS!

I loved this drama. Its was very happening....like i kept wondering what was gonna happen next. I also BALLED my eyes out and i am a sucker for emotional dramas soo i absolutely loved it! i like how the leads became friends first then jumped into a romantic relationship. Plus the CHEMISTRY between them was FIRE. Also the camaraderie among female in the show was EPIC. It was ALL SO REAL. It liked Kim Tae Ri's outfits so much. BUT i feel like i didnt get CLOSURE from the ending sadly.Was too invested in this drama and i get the sad ending but maybe they could have dwelled more on how they partly ways but again it can be because i wanted them to end up together. I really want to watch it again but i just CANNOT bring myself to see them go separate ways.LOVED IT!!!

Read More

Bittersweet end but still a beautiful story

25 21 was a drama in a weird spot for me. I wanted to watch it but didn't at the same time. I had spoiled myself and checked the spoiler of this drama because I heard that it was a hot topic from fans. It took me a while to decide to watch this drama preparing for what would happen.

My honest opinion is that I very much loved the first 9 episodes of this drama. But the other episodes after when Hee Do and Yu Rim become friends weren't as good as the first 9. They still were good but weren't incredible like the first 9. The drama captures you in with our main characters backstory to connect and root for. Both of our leads have clear goals and issues. Hee Do strives to become passionate with fencing again and also becoming her fencing idol's rival. She has a mother who is a popular busy news anchor that neglects Hee Do leaving her alone a lot. She is not there to support her which leaves their relationship miscommunicated and bickering. Yi Jin wants to bring his family back together one day as they are separated from the times crashing his father's career. He once had it all but now has to start at the bottom alone. Both of the leads become each other's support as they get through these tough times.

The ending to this drama is the most talked about whether you were fine with it or hated it. So in short our two leads do not end up together. If I saw this drama when I was couple years younger, I would be on the outrage of why they didn't end up together. But my current self "ducks undercover" was fine with the ending and understood it a bit. They had this friendship or "rainbow" relationship as Hee Do was growing to become a fencer winning gold medals and Yi Jin starting out as a news reporter. When they became more successful and older, their relationship became well romance. Their turning point is when Yi Jin goes to America suddenly to cover the 9/11 attack. He is there alone and suffering from how this news affected people and himself. He then holds his suffering to himself which he stops replying or reading messages from Hee Do. Yi Jin got accepted a job in New York where he will be staying that would lead to their break up. He returns back to Korea and they both break up. Hee Do mentioned that when they became a couple, she wanted to share everything with him including his suffering. He thought her support was burdensome to her. She sees her relationship with Yi Jin as her relationship with her mother now. She waited for her and was let down leaving her alone a lot which Yi Jin is doing now. Also Yi Jin's career path is similar to her mother's too. She doesn't want to experience that kind of relationship again in the future which is a reason to their break up.

I can agree that it was a sad ending for me when they didn't stay as a couple and gotten married. But I don't find their breakup ending to be bad. It does make sense to me. I think I missed some stuff but I couldn't find a reason to support Yi Jin's side. I could only understand it from Hee Do's side on why their relationship had to end. He stopped communicating with her sharing his suffering with her and their schedules were too busy to handle a relationship. I feel like they became a couple at the wrong time when their journey was at it's busiest. Some might say well why couldn't they get back together when she retired from fencing and he was back in Korea? Well he still would be busy now as the news anchor which doesn't fix the issue Hee Do had with him of how he was going to be not there for her like her mother.

Their story is told from a perspective of the present from Hee Do's daughter reading her mother's diary. A couple of episodes in, there are clues that can give away the end game. Her daughter's name is Kim not Baek which is in Yi Jin's name. I don't really like this idea of their story being told from it being in the past. It didn't interest me. It also kind of played viewers into the guessing game of who Hee Do's husband is. Unfortunately or fortunately, they don't show her husband and to me that's ok. I realized her husband that isn't Yi Jin was not a important part of the story. I think the drama would have been fine without it being told in the present from a diary. I can see a bit why they done this so you can feel not as sad when the ending happened assuming you caught on the clues they gave out early on.

The cast was phenomenal. Kim Tae Ri was an excellent choice as Hee Do. Music of the drama was good as well. Would I rewatch it again, surprisingly I would. The story built of how it all happened is worth it even if it's a sad ending. Sometimes dramas go with the sad ending that doesn't make sense but here it does make sense for me. The leads had great chemistry together. Dare I say their chemistry before becoming a couple was better.

My favorite story in the drama was the determination of Hee Do training to win the gold medal and beat Yu Rim. My favorite scene was when Hee Do was congratulated, cheered up, and proud of her by the old folks at the restaurant after she was being called horrible stuff by the public.

Whether you liked the ending or not, I hope you at least admire/enjoyed the story.

Read More

I loved it, but…

This was a great show but I felt they left a lot on the table. There is still more story to tell imo, especially in the present day setting.

It’s interesting that the ML gave up on their relationship , whereas the 2ML did not give up his relationship with the 2FL. The contrast between their two decisions could have been addressed more. The ML didn’t have to take the job in NYC. They should have stressed that career move was essentially and he had no real choice but to stay there. Him staying in NYC just felt like a plot device over a logical decision.

I’d love to know more about the FL’s father. Did he divorce the mother b/c he found out the FL settled for him and never fell out of love with the ML?

Why does the daughter know nothing about her mother’s childhood friends? It would have been interesting to see the daughter try to reunite the old gang for her mother.

Again, a great show, but this is a show that probably needed four more episodes.

Read More

BEST SHOW EVER

i love this show so much ive rewatched it and sobbed just as much, its literally such a good show, i will never forget this show because its sooo gooodd

the ost is incredible too like its just so peaceful but works with the show as well, as well as also being great music to listen to in free time ??

i would recommend 2521 to anyone because its child friendly as well, and its just such a sweet story.

although the main storyline is romance, there are many other parts of the show that can make the show more interesting for those who may not be the biggest fam of love stories/romance

overall such a good show and would recommend to anyone because i know youll like it ??

Read More

We are lovers in the good times and burden to each other in the bad times

2521 is one of the most beautiful dramas I have ever watched

I am fully convinced it is incomplete
I’ll tell you why

I admit wholeheartedly that it was a wonderful, amazing show that made me feel a lot of thing I didn't know I could feel, love, hate, annoyance and a sense of longing..? if that is the right word? all the actors were amazing and obviously I had a big crush on Nam Joo Hyuk when I started the show so I have no complaints there

the only problem I had was with the plot, it was a well written plot, complex and well thought out [kudos to the writer-nim because phew!] and so complex, all the characters going through so many complex emotions at the same time and the portrayal of that was great, You get the sense of the emotion of freedom and also fear that all of them were going through in their early 20's in the first few episodes, not ready to grow up but forced to make do with where they are, and that's what i'm saying. the writing was so good until the 13th episode, everything was going wonderfully. then for some reason everything changed in the 14th episode

all the emotions started changing, from freedom and uncertainty it went to differences in personalities and causing the characters to not understand each other anymore, and the ending did not make sense at all because; why would they spend so much time telling us that Na Hee Do's DAUGHTER was reading her diary if they weren't going to give us a "fix-it" scene in the ending?

The ending seems too abrupt, like we see the ending where they just split way and then Baek Yijin just goes of to New York—
then what? then nothing? I feel like the writer was trying to bring about a feeling like, "they split ways here and then many years later Na Hee Do's daughter starts finding out about her mother's past and starts searching for her mother's old boyfriend and then she brings them together" and I feel like before that last episode we should gotten a scene with older Na Hee Do and Baek Yijin where they come together as mature adults, and spend some time talking to each other, give each other another chance and work through their conflicting emotions before giving it another shot, that would have made more sense since Min Chae’s father (Na Hee Do’s husband) seems to be a really out-of-the-picture person

That would have been a more fulfilling ending
In my opinion.

I'm not usually like this when I watch dramas I assure you [....god i wrote a lot...] [I actually wrote this as a message to my cousin ?]

it's just 2521 was such an interesting drama and I loved it a lot, it deserved more from it's finale considering how good it was

Read More

My drama of the Year

╭⸻⸻╮
Last time in the K-drama study, I talked about Joy's decent drama Once Upon a Small Town. Today I'll be telling you my drama of the year, which took over my whole year. I'll also be talking about my drama journey of 2022 and what I'll be checking out next year. I'm excited to announce the drama that took over my year since it took me a while to pick it up. Now let's jump into the post.
╰⸻⸻╯


Drama Journey 2022:
January started the year with me finishing up the drama Snowdrop which was still airing since it came out last year in December. By February, I started watching Twenty-five Twenty-one and Business Proposal, the first new drama of 2022 for me to watch. Of the two, Twenty-five Twenty-one was more attractive with its story. May was the first month I took a break from watching dramas while waiting for Café Minamdang to start airing, but I will say I didn't enjoy watching it much. July picked things back with Today's webtoon began airing as Café Minamdang was still airing. I fell in love with Today's Webtoon as Sejeong played her character wonderfully. Now with Café Minamdang ending, September came around with Today's Webtoon coming to a close and Once Upon a Small Town which aired three episodes a week until it ended at the end of September.

»»————- ————-««

Drama of the Year:
Todays, Webtoon and Twenty-Five Twenty-One both battled it out for Drama of the year. After listening to OSTS, watching clips, and reading the two blogs I created. It was challenging picking the year's drama since both dramas were enjoyable. So now, after thinking about it for a while, the show that took over my 2022 was Twenty-Five Twenty-One. Twenty-Five Twenty-One took over my year because of the story and characters. I loved the female lead Na Hee-do who made me continue watching the show. The characters in this show kept making this show even better. One moment I enjoyed was watching the Fencing moments, which kept things interesting. This coming-of-age story was a fun one to watch as we got to see the characters grow up. The OSTs helped bring the show to life, as I always listened to them. I'm glad Twenty-Five Twenty-One took over my year, as it was one of my favorite shows this year.

»»————- ————-««

Shows I'm checking out next year:
A Time Called You (Thriller, Mystery, Romance, Fantasy drama is supposed to air next year, but there is no release date for the show, so I have to keep my eye out for it. However, the story made me want to check it out, so when it drops, I'll be checking it out and reviewing it for you guys.)

»»————- ————-««

Ask The Start (Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi) doesn't have a release date yet, so I need to keep an eye out for that, but Lee Min Ho and the Story made me want t check this show out. I'm hoping this rom-com is enjoyable since there are supposed to be sci-fi elements thrown into the drama. So once this show comes out, I['ll start taking notes so I can review it once it ends.)

»»————- ————-««

Joseon Lawyer (Historical, Law, Romance, Drama is coming out on March 17th of next year and will be the next show for me t write a review. After enjoying Bona in Twenty-Five Twenty-One, I'd like to see how she will do in a Historical drama. I'm a big fan of Historical dramas, but I'm giving this one a try to see if that genre will grow on me.)

»»————- ————-««

Uncanny Counter season 2 (The sequel to the popular drama Uncanny Counter might be dropping next year, so I have to keep my eye out for it since I'm excited to see what they will do with the Sequal. I enjoyed the original drama as it had a few moments that could've improved. I'm hoping it improves the show a little bit, but I'll have to see whenever it comes out)

╭⸻⸻╮
Thanks, everyone, for reading my drama reviews for 2022. I'm excited to deliver some new ones for you in 2023. I can't wait to hear all the beautiful OSTs that dramas will bring to the table. I'd like to see which drama takes of my 2023 as I'll be doing this end-of-the-year drama blog again. If no new drama drops in January or February that I want to watch, I'll see you all. After watching Joseon Lawyer, which starts Bona. Have a great rest of your day; this has been the K-drama Study for 2022. See you all next year.
╰⸻⸻╯

Read More