Twenty-Five Twenty-One

It has a special place in my heart

To be honest I waited quiet a while before writing this review because it's completely: 1-to get over it, 2- to only point out some things. So here is my confused review that can't express half of what I could say:

First, the story is about so much more than love. Their is friendship of course, with a group of friends I really laughed with with all their adventures and stories;
the passion of the main character for her sport and the tension they could create in matches, we felt her passion, her despair, her pure joy, she lived her sport and we lived through her, being excited and anxious with her;
the feel of the 80-90's period and all the historical events being brought up, really adding something. We can feel the world changing and the characters growing with it, a coming-of age story where we see the evolution and different path the chance can push you to take, it was both refreshing and melancholic in a certain way.
Also of course (but I'll still say it) all of the characters were so lovable and everything kept you interested. It's not one of those drama were you only wait for the characters you like to get screen time, nor one of those were the second lead is only here to revitalize the story when the lead couple becomes boring, no. Here, at least for me, all the characters had something to add and we were happy to see all of them on screen. They also had a good development so we were watching them live and accomplish, not only be the same with an objective that had to fulfill (being the best friend, having a heartbreak, being poor, things like that that doesn't define a person but are sometimes used as the sole characterization of characters)
Do I need to say the chemistry was perfect and the moments between the leads both cute and funny? Well they were, and the main reason is because it is slow burn. REAL slow burn. Meaning they don't have a reason to be together and fake their live until they make it. Here it's more about getting to know each other perfectly, feeling fluttery bit by bit then this sensations growing into live, the love kept secret, etc, all the steps for the spectator to really enjoy every bit of their story. After getting really close and even after becoming a couple, it didn't become flat and lose the cuteness of the beginning. I followed every step with the up most attention and investment. They unquestionably became one of my favourite couple.
However, even though I found the end obviously good and even poetic in a certain aspect it broke me. I was so moved after finishing the series because I was so invested in it. I really feel like I watched something great and I have this emptiness not only from having finished a series I love and missing the feels and atmosphere but also the quite realistic anxiety that I may not feel so much with other drama because 25 21 was objectively incredibly good.
(Well I ended up writing a lot haha)
Anyway if you haven't had a chance yet or hesitate to watch it, do it. You will not regret it :)

Read More

25 21 is a much loved drama by many.. and I see why now...

A lot of people love this drama, so I had to watch it to see why it's so loved by many...
Story: This drama is beautifully written, usually I don't go for shows involving sports as I usually find them boring to watch and drop them but for this drama I loved it and kept binging episodes without skipping through. I couldn't stop smiling at all of the happy moments and there were times I almost broke down into tears with the sad scenes. The ending was painful to watch as I'm sad the main couple wasn't end game but I'm happy the 2nd couple had their happy ending. I also like the message the writer gave to the viewers by telling them to relish everything such as people, memories, etc. And that it prioritizes different topics such as friendship over romance and the present over the past.
Acting: Kim Tae-Ri and Kim Jihyeon's acting stood out to me the most. Kim Tae Ri did amazing as Na Hee Do, most of the time I forgot she was an adult because she fit her character very well with youthful acting (her tantrums were hilarious to watch and it was so wholesome seeing her so excited over stickers) Kim Jihyeon did incredible acting horribly towards Kim Tae Ri's character and with her sad scenes. I couldn't help having a love-hate relationship with her character. Nam Joo Hyuk and Choi Hyun Wook did well as well their chemistry with the girls were beautiful and made my heart flutter many times!
Music: OSTs were nice, Stardust Love Song and Starlight are a must-have for my KDrama playlist!
Not sure I would rewatch this again cause of how painful the ending with the main couple was to watch, I think watching once is enough for me haha...

Read More

A realistic youth life story

Some of my relatives dropped this serial at the 14th episode, but i continued it until the end. Well it burst out all my tears.. ig

Na Heedo as the main lead here is a very hardworking fencing athlete, she is ready to fight anything for it. It represents the teenager phase of chasing dream and the phase when the path is never flat. However, her journey to success also has some romantic and heartwarming friendship stories. The friendship story is really a thing for me, even at the end of their highschool era when they separate to different ways, they still stick together sometimes. Also Ko Yurim is also an inspiring character. The whole plot would relate to people in their highschool era, 20s fighting for work after college, or some newbie intern workers who are still having hundreds of complaints and mistakes, and it's not a cliché one. But if you only highlight the main lead romance.. i suggest you to watch until the 14th episode :) in my opinion, this drama isn't only about Heedo and Yijin, but also youth spirit and hardworking journey to success.

Read More

One of the best kdrama i've ever watch

Ceritanya realistis, hangat, inspiratif, sekaligus manis. suka banget sama karakter na hee do yang berapi2 dan bersemangat ngegambarin masa muda yang ambisius dan berapi-api sekaligus menginspirasi gue buat selalu bersemangat raih mimpi. Disisi lain ada karakter baek yi jin yang lebih tenang tapi seringkali hilang arah hidup, dimana hal itu relate banget sama kehidupan para young adult yang seringkali bingung nentuin tujuan hidup. Selain dua karakter utama, karakter pendukung lainnya juga menarik, dan punya pesonanya tersendiri. Kadang sifat atau kejadian yang mereka alamin ngingetin kita sama salah satu temen kita, keluarga kita, bahkan diri kita sendiri. Masalah batin tiap karakternya seringkali relate sama beberapa fase hidup gue. I also love the humor, the plot, especially the development character.

Read More

Twenty-Five Twenty-One is a story about going after your dreams, friendship, love and growing up. Na Hee Do dreams of becoming a professional fencer to rival her idol, Ko Yu Rim. The slightly older Baek Yi Jin has no dreams left and is just struggling to survive. As he supports Hee Do with her fencing ambitions, he’s slowly inspired to go after something better himself.

I loved this so much. I loved the 90s setting, the fencing, the characters and their relationships. The relationship between Hee Do and Yi Jin is so lovely. They really lean on and bring out the best in each other. The relationship between them did feel a little strange when she was still in high school, but it became more natural after she graduated. The relationships between Hee Do and Yu Rim and Yu Rim and Moon Ji Woong are precious as well. At first Yu Rim is antagonistic towards Hee Do, but later on they develop a great friendship. They get each other really well and the way they later unconditionally support each other is gold.

The story builds fairly consistently, with some gutting twists in the second half. The ending is bittersweet and realistic. The last two episodes were way too drawn out though. While they had some very beautiful tearjerking moments, things became too overdramatic and I found myself checking multiple times how much longer they’d take.

All of the actors did amazing. Kim Tae Ri was very loveable and relatable as Na Hee Do. In the beginning I thought her character was kind of obnoxious, but Kim Tae Ri completely won me over with her sincerity. Nam Joo Hyuk, what can I say, just amazing. Baek Yi Jin had the biggest character arc and Nam Joo Hyuk portrayed every step of the journey wonderfully. Bona was great as Ko Yu Rim too, at times so sweet and fragile and at others cruel and cold. I could go on and on.

The one thing I didn’t love about this drama is how the story is framed in the present day. The long present day intro of the first episode almost made me drop it completely. It didn’t add anything, then or later. As a viewer I just found it jarring to be pulled out of the glorious 90s storyline and to be confronted with the Covid nightmare and Hee Do’s annoying daughter. The feeling of nostalgia and the message that youth and the good times etc. are temporary could just as well have been limited to the last episode.

If any of the other things mentioned above speak to you, I would absolutely recommend giving this drama a try.

Read More

Incredibly endearing but with a massive mid-way lull

It looks like I hold the relatively unpopular opinion that the last two episodes featured some of the best writing of the entire series. More on that soon.

What initially captured my attention for Twenty-Five Twenty-One was a) Kim Tae-Ri and b) the time period setting. The latter actually didn't seem to have much of an influence on the story as a whole but rather intervened in key moments at the beginning and the end. I think that's ok. And, of course, it goes without saying that Kim Tae-Ri put on a superb performance.

Nevertheless, it took me TWO YEARS to finish this drama. Yep. That's right. Essentially after the conflict between Na Hee-Do and Ko Yu-Rim was resolved, I felt like I was wading through molasses at the mid-way point of the series. I wasn't invested in any of the romantic plot lines and felt like at least half of the screen time between Hee-Do and Yi-Jin should've been slashed. I was desperate for more screen time between Hee-Do and her mum as well as Hee-Do and her daughter. In fact, it was the relationships between the women that meant that after a lottttt of dipping in and out, I was eventually motivated to finish watching the latter episodes.

Personally, I don't think this could've been a true coming-of-age narrative if those last two episodes had been any different. Putting aside the wish for more screen time between the characters mentioned above, what the last two episodes satisfied was the really annoying itch that had bugged me throughout all of Hee-Do's high school years. Yi-Jin felt like a teenage first love. And because he felt like someone trapped in that naive bubble, I struggled to invest myself into their relationship. But in the last two episodes, the two characters grew independently so quickly - while also growing apart from one another - that I rapidly became invested in that romantic storyline at the same time that I was crying over its poignantly inevitable demise.

At the end of the day, I believe the strength of the story actually comes from Hee-Do and Yu-Rim's relationship. Honestly, this is despite some hella bold choices from the drama's creators. Picking Hee-Do as the protagonist was risky. I think this could've been just as strong a story if it had been told from Yu-Rim's perspective (and I do think some of the class elements were fumbled a bit). But I think they made it work nonetheless. The other major risk was choosing fencing as the feature sport given it's relative lack of popularity and that it's - let's be real - super wanky. But, again, I think it ultimately worked.

In my opinion, Hee-Do and Yu-Rim's relationship should've been more central than the romantic one. I don't think it's a coincidence that I found the overall pacing slowed down when the pacing in the development of Hee-Do and Yu-Rim's relationship slowed down. Otherwise, maybe I could've squeezed out another star for this drama.

Read More

nostalgic, funny and emotional

I finished Twenty Five Twenty One in March, but totally forgot to write a review. However, I'm watching the K-drama again because my parents are watching it (I recommended it) so I remembered to write my review.

To start, the story is magnificent, I've never felt so comfortable watching a drama. Even though the ending bothered me, the story itself is very refreshing. The characters are well-built, to the point that I loved them all. Even Ko Yu-rim, who I swore I wouldn't like even if she turned to be a good person, lol look at me now? I love her.

The actors are amazing, they played their roles with magnificence. I really enjoyed getting to know Nam Joo-hyuk (Baek Yi-jin) and Kim Tae-ri (Na Hee-Do). They are so funny together, they made a great duo (and couple, but too bad they didn't ended up together haha 😭😭😭).
Choi Hyun-wook, whom I already knew, had a cool role, but I think his character (Moon Ji-ung) didn't get enough screen time... or a bigger impact. Lee Joo-myung (Ji Seung-wang) had a big impact until the middle of the K-drama, but right after the case with the professor, she was pushed aside (in my opinion).

Ending the review about the story, I hated the fact that they didn't show how each one (except Na Hee-do) from the quintet ended up after the years passed. I was really looking forward to find out how they were years later and who Na Hee-do married, but we were left with a question mark, since they didn't show it. (I don't know why, for me there's no reason 🥺)


Now, the OST and soundtrack. Wow. Flawless, wonderful, incredible. I've never loved the soundtrack of a K-drama so much to the point that I saved the playlist on my Spotify.

To conclude, I really wish everyone who watches K-dramas would give Twenty Five Twenty One a chance. It took me 2 years to watch it and I regret taking so long. Watch it, it's really good and emotional

*Plus, an extra

this phrase made me CRYYYY MY EYES OUUUUT I PROMISE

"That's my definition of our relationship. Also known as a rainbow. Wait, you said it wasn't a rainbow. You still haven't said what it was if not a rainbow."
"Love. It's love. I love you, Hee-do. I don't need a rainbow."

DAAAAAAAMN BAEK YI-JIN MARRY MEEEEEEEE😭

Read More

Must watch!

This is one of the best slice of life drama. I saw that many people complain about the ending but according to me it was a good one. Don't avoid watching this drama just because you don't get the ending that you wanted because this drama has a lot of life lessons. This has become one of my comfort drama. If you are planning to watch and you are unsure whether to watch it or not then I would ask you to watch till episode 3. If you didn't like it then maybe this is not the genre you are looking for. Anyways I'm gonna rewatch it again when I need some comfort or motivation.

Read More

Sometimes life gets in the way, and there's nothing you can do but keep living.

Oh i loved this drama SO much, it has definitely become my favorite show EVER. There’s so much to say I think I would have been able to analyze every single episode individually and still write several paragraphs for each one.

This drama is a celebration of friendship, of love, of passion, of trying your best… and its SO well done I don't think I have a single bad thing to say about it. I was completely hooked from the very first episode and it's completely amazing from beginning to end. If I could only ever recommend one show to everyone I’m pretty sure this one would take the win I mean everyone NEEDS to watch it idcc. And I have to admit, when I realized it was set (for the most part) in the 90s I thought I wasn’t gonna be a fan for some stupid reason but the cinematography HELLO???? Oh my god it was so good. AND THE MUSIC… Oh the music. Such a great OST. Same goes for the fact that it’s so centered around fencing, which I knew nothing about nor was interested in learning about; I thought that would make it harder for me to get into the show, but I was proved wrong really fast.

This drama also has what I think is the best written romance I personally have ever seen in a drama (probably in any show I’ve ever watched) like oh my god Heedo and Yijin… my heart hurts for them. They loved each other SO MUCH and they never stopped loving each other but life got in their way and tbh I will never forgive life for that. Their story i just so… I don’t even have the words to explain man, you just have to watch it idk. The way they were always there for each other even if they weren’t physically together for literal months living on voicemails like… god. And the way that just hearing each other’s voices and words of encouragement helped them to keep fighting and never give up was so endearing. I feel like I could write and entire book on this two. BUT ALSO Yurim’s and Jiwoong’s relationship was so freaking sweet I’m so happy that Jiwoong didn’t let Yurim just give up on them and that I got to see them together until the very end, I loved them so so so much. AND THE WAY HE PROPOSED it was so cute.

Heedo’s character… woah. Literally woah. She’s so strong and amazing and she was clueless and childish and just a fool a lot of the time too but that only made her all the more endearing and admirable idk. Her decision and perseverance woah… She tried so hard and she went after her dreams no matter what and she made it and idec that she’s fictional you can’t help but be proud of her.

Literally every character in this drama is freaking amazing. I am not gonna stop and write about each one cause this is getting long enough already but i just LOVED them so much. Them as a friend group just <333 absolutely loved the found family trope in there. There were so many iconic moments like the beach outfits??? I was obsessed they looked SO cool and the amount of fun they had there… woah. AND THE TUNNEL oh my god the edits about the tunnel that I’ve seen on tiktok I want to bawl my eyes out. I am going to miss them so much, seriously.

I don’t know, everything about this drama was just beyond perfect, I smiled like a fool during many of the episodes, every episode I watched felt like the best one so far (now that I’ve really finished the show though, I think the beach one has to be my absolute favorite ep) and even tough there were sad moments it just made me so happy to see everyone overcome difficulties and do their best at life. And it’s the way that I wanted to just go ahead and start rewatching it when I had just finished it… I am going to miss it so much. However, I don’t think a season 2 would do it for me, I don’t know, I get why some people would be disappointed, but I think the ending was perfect as it was.

Overall a 10/10, I highly recommend watching.

Read More

A Girl's Journey

I completed this drama one week ago.

I wanna write the review after the watch , but I think I don't love it enough it to write one immediately.
With my personal rating , it should be rated 8.5/10.
But because it is so good , I wanna rate it higher than this.

If I have to talk about 25-21 , I wanna divide Heroine's story into two parts
1. HeeDo's Coming of Age Journey ( Her personal life)
2. Her love story.

1. The Coming of Age Part is so well done.
I am Not the one who cry easily while watching media. ( except for the ones with animals)

But , Here there is one particular story arc ( Her first Gold medal) that really made me feel her sadness & frustration. I cried with her.

HeeDo's passion about Fencing , all of that was realistic as I had been transported back to the past & saw this passionate gold medalist .

Also, her friendship with Go Yurim is one of the best I have seen among millions of Asian Dramas.

2. Before I watched the drama, I had known the ending already.
May be that's the reason why I might subconsciously try not to care about the love story too much.

(I don't know how should I say this but I will try.)

✨If you consider & watch this as a drama, you will feel like they could do this much better.

There are a million ways to make the happy ending.
If you couldn't ,either wrote the Story of Adult HeeDo better or gave a stronger reason for their breakup.
In this way, we feel less bitter about that ending.

✨But if you are immersed in this story as the real life, the ending is not that bad.

It is understandable that they couldn't be together anymore because they had different life goals.
HeeDo tried but neither of them could make a big sacrifice to meet in the middle .
( HeeDo wanted to continue her life as an international fencer , Baek YJ with his life as a report er in potential war zone )

Some will say 'They loved each other too much.Couldn't they wait?'
May be. But at that time, they didn't know how long the wait would be .
If you were them, would you take the risk with 'The Wait'.

Apart from the Heroine's story, all of the side stories of secondary characters are interesting too.


I would recommend 25-21 to anyone who wanna watch a feel good coming of age Story .

Read More