KenTaro
This review may contain spoilers
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.
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.
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