Twenty-Five Twenty-One

A bittersweet journey

A touching, emotional story of powerful friendship development and exploration of themes such as romance, love, and personal growth.
The story follows a young teenager, Na Hee=Do.achieving goals and dreams, learning how to love, and navigating life.
The drama takes place in the 90’s and the early 2000’s, during the time of S. Korea’s financial crisis. As Na Hee Do’s high school school cuts their fencing team due to budget cuts. Despite this, she changes schools but doesn't give up on her dreams.
She meets her fencing idol, a person she admires, Ko Yu Rim, their rivalry becomes a beautiful friendship.
Na Hee Do meets Baek Yi Jin, a college dropout who is also struggling to keep his family together after his family declares bankruptcy. They inspire one another to run towards their goals and dreams and as Hee Do puts it, they “pursue happiness together.”

Everything was perfect, the story, the dialogues, the music.
I'm delightful to have been watched this wonderful series.
This turbulent story with so much up and downs particularly compelling for its ability to blend comedy with touching moments, creating an engaging and often nostalgic viewing experience.

This show is a great example of a rollercoaster, if any character tries to make you cry through their struggle then the other one starts working as a pain killer, the way their friendships used to heal each other hearts and as well as the audience’s heart.

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I hate this series so much - hate it the same way each time Na Heedo saying she hate Park Yijin.

Well wrap-up. It's so hurtful. This pain almost suppressed the positive score I had for this series, but because of the way they wrap up with recollection scenes to remind the viewers what their messages are - and those messages are so strong I just can't deny it. In this way, they kind of console me to not let the anguish bury the valuable points we've gained from watching the series. The original plot is complex and well built, the characters are interesting and well created, the dialogues are well written. The FL's acting is superb. I don't feel much chemistry between the leads though, and still hate the ending so much. I think maybe because I've been through only ordinary kind of love, never this kind that so intensely intertwines with life to the core. So when I see this kind of love that two people went through so much before being together falls apart, their break-up just doesn't make sense to me.

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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!!!

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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.

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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.

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"i can't make it right now but I will make it ,someday "

one of my best k drama i have ever watched . i have re-watched it 2 times and it was always worth it. i feel like I cried more when i re-watched it . the story line is amazing sometimes I wanna give a hug to the writer because i think the writer went through a lot , to be able to write such a story .

some people hate the ending , i know it is not the best but it does get better when you get it better , it just teachs a bitter life lesson that is nothing stays forever.
more the grow i realised that really every thing is temporary. me who has experienced long distance relationship that never succeed because of distance ,, through my life i always blamed the faith in a bad way but now after re- watching it twice i realised it is true it is faith but in a good way that it is way of living a life ........ (too much past trauma ㅋㅋㅋ)


the acting was top tier ,,, amazing , (naheedo) her acting was especially amazing the fact that she it the both immature and pessimistic and then at the end she did the adult and mature acting ,,, really acting is a great talent that she has.
ko yurim also did amazing , some. people might hate her but trust me you will start to love her in the end . i think she was acting like that because she has gone through so much of financial issue and then she was finnally getting near her gole to be a provider to her family but then she got insecure that nadeeho might snatch that opportunity from her so she started getting away from her ( that my opinion )
beckhejin was also nice he was very mature from the start .. but do think if he wanted he then he could have changed the ending ( again my opinion) i didn't like him that much but I do understand his pain of being at the top then suddenly you hit rock hard bottom .. he was nice .

you should definitely watch it , it is rollercoaster of emotions , for me it is not just a series it is a experience and a emotion
" nothing stays forever 🍀"

this show hits hard dammmm

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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 😻😻

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Just see it once or once more! Excellent

This is a teen drama (so to speak), though most of the characters are actually followed from the age of 18, with plenty of flashbacks to their past and glimpses of their future. In Korea, adulthood begins at 20. Our protagonist is already 22.

👨‍🎓 HIM
A remarkable, composed, seemingly well-balanced young man, the son of a once-wealthy but bankrupt family, searching for his new identity — for character, love, friendship, and a career.
I liked him. He felt human, relatable — he could have been you or me. I admired his quiet strength.
But as much as I loved his personality, I disliked his cowardice. He was always there for others in their hardest moments, yet when faced with his own struggles, he often ran away.
Emotional, tender, fair — in a profession where, ironically, these virtues only became obstacles. At one point, he was asked, “What was your dream?” and he replied, “It doesn’t matter what it was, only how good I can become at what I’m doing now.” Will he change?
The role fit the talented Nam Joo-hyuk perfectly — or perhaps he made it his own, or maybe both. In the final episodes, I just wanted to hug him 😢.

👩🏻‍⚖️ HER
A personality you rarely encounter, a woman you hardly ever find — the amazon, the fighter, the strong one, loyal and devoted. A Phoenix rising from her ashes. She is the sun, she is joy. A wounded soul who licked her own wounds and kept fighting to survive.
A fencer since the age of 8 — first as a hobby, then in competition, later as a profession, and finally as a way of life. Orphaned of her father, raised in privilege by her iron-willed mother.
This is where you relate to her — through the struggles you may have had with your own parent. She becomes you. You see your own difficulties reflected in her. A little? A lot? Who can say?
She shines because she is the extraordinarily gifted Kim Tae-ri. She is the kind of actress who turns emotion into image, and a script into life. In Mr. Sunshine she enchanted me; here, she won me over forever.

✅ The supporting cast was excellent. The secondary couple offered a true life lesson through their story. The side plots were handled with just the right balance. For me, that’s another reason why I gave it a perfect 10.

✅ You know the ending from the very first episodes. You know what will happen. But why do you still cry?
You cry because the characters become you. Because everything that once marked you in life stands before you again, reminding you. But also because everything you’ve longed for and achieved is right there too, on your screen. It all feels like yours.

☑️ It rightfully and unquestionably earned its place in my Top 10 K-dramas.

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