Twenty Five Twenty One

A Failed Romance Story

What starts as a flashback set in 1995 to 2000s , with Korean Economy being bad and everyone struggling financially, we have Na Hee Do ( Main Heroine ) wanting to become a Fencing champion and we have Baek Yi Jin ( Main Hero ) wanting to solve financial crisis for family. Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin eventually fall in love, but in the end they separate because their jobs keeps them busy and they don't have time for each other. This drama is good, but it could've been much better. Na Hee Do in the present ( 2020 ) doesn't meet Baek Yi Jin , which was disappointing. It is a good high school romance story set in the past. We also have Ko Yu Rim ( 2nd Heroine ) , also fencing champion fall in love with Moon Ji Woong ( 2nd Hero ), and their romance, chemistry is much better than main Hero , Heroine. This journey is growth of these characters over the years, but it would've been better if it was set at high school only. The show could've been much better if it had incorporated elements from 1990s but still a good watch

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Just try enjoying the show without connecting to it emotionally

When I thought of watching this drama i already knew the ending because I started watching after completion of airing in the tvn. As I knew the ending be-forehead I thought I wouldn't be affected a lot.
But when I started watching it i was totally involved and connected to the drama. When they were happy i was happy when they were sad I felt that emotion. I have completed this show in 3 days that too working days (Heheehehe).
The night in which I have complete watching this show I wasn't able sleep all the night. When ever I opened my eyes only "Naa hee-Do' and "Baek yi-jin" are the only names on my lips and mind.
I was totally sad thinking they haven't tried their best to be together and keeping their relationship standing. Even it was struggle they should have endured it for some time so that they can be happy forever together.
I was thinking this because the other couple which were apart got to get married even though Ko-yurim went to Russia for the sports and ji-wook was in korea. If it was possible to this couple why not for them. They should have tried their best.
Actually the ending of the main couple was so realistic as many people around have the similar experiences. So, i wanted the happy ending even in the drama but unfortunately its not.

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Youthful Angst Meets Adult Wisdom

This was a coming of age story with all the happiness, sorrows, ups, downs, and amazing experiences one has with a group of friends that just go through it all together. I like that they diversified the group of friends. Friend groups that are all alike, their families are carbon copies of each other are so boring and cliche'. This group was well mixed. The top athlete/superstar yet whose family is poor and sacrificing everything for her, the fatherless child whose single-parent is so busy providing for their home she is neglecting her daughter (I could relate to this one), the son thrust into poverty by the mistakes of his father yet taking responsibility to care for his brother and mother, the smartest kid in the school and bored to tears by everything, and the kid who fails academically because the school fails to offer him and his skill set anything other than studying for the next test. These kids came together and experienced first love, bullying, pressures from school, parents, life, disappointments, failures, successes, forgiveness, fun, fear, and heartache. They took the viewer along with them every step. I laughed, I got bored, I cheered, I got angry, I cried. The storyline moved me along with the lives of these 5 people just like surfing a wave onto the sand.

I read a lot of reviews that were angry and disappointed at the ending. I wasn't. This is the type of story where you get hooked into the characters and want more. I think the ending was purposeful to provide a second series. Anyway, I hope so. There were some unanswered questions, and information about these 5 characters that could lead easily to another series to fill in the gaps. The writers know how to provide a rich storyline and very developed characters. I do believe they could provide us with another amazing story of Na Hee Do, Baek Yi Jin, Go Yu Rim, Moon Ji Woong, and Ji Seung Wan five or ten years later that would be very satisfying to those of us who loved this story. I hope we will see more.

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Perfection!

Everything about the show is perfect. The main relationship between Na Heedo and Ko Yurim is powerful and written beautifully, sustaining the entire series in a perfect parcel. While I did enjoy the romantic relationships, they were definitely not the most important relationship in the show. Every character has its own purpose, nobody exists only to further, someone else’s story line. The dialogue and themes are thoughtful, hilarious, heartwarming, and heartbreaking. No other show has ever made me laugh and cry as much as this one. I’m only sad that I’ll never be able to watch it for the first time ever again.

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I got a little bored

I really loved the characters and cast in the show, but at the end, for some reason I thought of dropping it.
I got bored and didnt really feel like anything that drastic could happen, which, surprise surprise, it didn't.

Anyhow, I really love the scenery and the characters so it was still a fun watch and the song Your existence that plays once in a while is so friggin good.

I wont say I cried during the show, I wont even say I felt sad. The plot didnt move me to that extent, but I did feel happy in the brighter parts of the show and it felt very realitsic.

It's also original and the characters personalities feel very real and true.

Anyways, I recommend watching this show if u like romance, sadness and if u like having a laugh at weird shinanigans 🤞

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I have love-(at some point)hate relationship with this drama

I have a few issues with this drama and yet I love it. I'm writing my review right after a rewatch, so it definitely isn't objective — treating this as a kind of love letter to the show.
First of all, the acting was amazing. It felt real with every single character and I enjoyed the performance of Kim Taeri so much, it might be my favorite aspect of the drama. Na Heedo and other characters were very well written for most of the time and I liked them all.
Second, the story was great. It didn't feel real all the time because they were pushing that "meant to meet" idea so hard, but it's fine, it's a TV show. And now I will say my very, very personal opinion — Heedo and Yijin as a couple didn't make sense. Why can't we have a male-female friendship? Do they always have to get together? I would give this show a 9 if it never happened. Yes, I did tear up during the altered break up scene but because it felt more as a summary of the whole show, not a break up. I think it's messed up they made a big deal of the "Yijin is a fencing reporter and Heedo is an fencer, what if he hurts her in the future because of this" but there was no problem with the fact she was still a teenager when they became a couple. They even admit she wasn't an adult yet in the last episode and that's just... I don't know. They made Heedo mad about his past relationships when she was like 17 and he 21. Why would she be mad if it wasn't because she was jealous? I don't get it. What I do know is that the romance was unnecessary.
Music was great and I'm not gonna lie, "Very, slowly" as the second version of the intro was the best thing in this drama after Kim Taeri's acting. I just love it so much! The rest of the OST was alright, sometimes the soundtrack bothered me a little bit, but that's nothing.
Overall, I love this drama. Yes, I hate the romance, but it didn't ruin the experience for me. This is a show about youth, passion, friendship, love (the love part wasn't that good though) and life and it was good! They did a great job. And, the fencing is the third best aspect of the drama. It was so entertaining, which I didn't expect. Also, it was visually stunning. I think I will rewatch it someday one more time.
Watch this drama! It's worth it:)

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In a class by itself

Even though i watched this drama while it was airing, i put off writing a review about it until i get over the ending. My initial reaction to the ending was a very emotionally charged response declaring it outright unacceptable. I absolutely couldn't believe it. I was invested in their story that the ending blew mind...... in a not so cool way.

But, even at that time, this one easily took a spot in my top ten kdramas. It is beautifully written and it is completely unpredictable. It managed surprise me every single time. Every week, there were countless theories on twitter and other social media but it is so unpredictable that most, if not all, got proven wrong. It was absolutely crazy. Even the ending, the writer managed to keep everyone on the edge until the last two episodes, and that is NOT some easy feat. So, kudos to the writer.

2521 might be the story of Na Heedo but the lives of the rest of the characters are also shown and its not just for some plot convenience. Their stories are also given equal importance. And all of them are so likable that you feel like rooting for all them. The cast did a wonderful job.

The only reason why i am giving it a relatively low re watch value is because I am still a bit bitter about the ending even though i have come to accept it. I watch kdramas to escape reality so realistic endings are a tad bit difficult for me to comprehend. But, on an overall, it is a must watch slice of life.

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Some Good, Some I Don't Understand

Let's do it by the numbers, starting from a baseline of 6.0.

+1 because Kim Tae Ri nailed the Na Hee Do character the energy and innocence of youth, along with the various mannerisms of a teenage athlete. I don't how she did it, but she earned some awards for this performance. She made the character a lot of fun.

+1 for the rest of tbe acting cast and characters. There are a couple of jerks in the script but no continuing arcs of bad guys. These are young, mostly likeable young people trying to make tbeir way through life. What conflict that emerges is from reasonable differences in priorities and from social circumstances.

+1 for the relationship between Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin, two people who were too young to be so alone like that. They helped each other through some dark times in their youth when nobody else was there for them. We all should have someone like that in our lives. The payphone scene was an effective way to express how important these two were to one another.

+1 for the relationship between Na Hee Do and Ko Yu Rim. A relationship like this between two young women just doesn't seem to happen often in the shows I have watched. This relationship has only the slightest hint of being part of a love triangle, and that hint dissappears quickly enough. The hug in Madrid and Hee Do saying "nobody else knows what we have been through" conveyed the special nature of their connection.

+0.5 for the introduction to fencing, a sport I knew nothing about. I do wish the series had done some more here. In particular I wish there had been some more slow motion shots and better camera angles, because there were a few times where I could not tell what thr heck was going on.

-1 for the framing of the story as primarily a giant flashback from 2022 to 1998-2002. The times play a key role in the relationship between Hee Do and Yi Jin, so i understand why the story would start in 1998, but I don't understand the point of the bits of dialogue that take place in 2022. It feels like the primary purpose was to give us some hints on how the story will turn out, but judging by social media, a LOT of people did not get the hint. Adding the daughter character led to a cute "breaking of the fourth wall" scene but it also led to an obvious but futile question about the daughter's connections with the main narrative. There is another question -- is Hee Do happy in the present day? -- which gets almost completely ignored, which leads to...

-1 for the story gaps. So we get heavily invested in this character Na Hee Do, and we get little hints about her present day life, and, er, that is it. Just felt weird. I don't want to go into spoilers, but there are obvious questions about Mr. Kim that went completely ignored. The bigger gap though is what happens near the end of the main narrative, where the relationship between Hee Do and Yi Jin just... breaks down? Yi Jin made a decision that in some respects is true to his character, but also seems to violate his personal prime directive of not hurting Hee Do. That conflict needed to be presented explicitly on screen, and it wasn't, and a LOT of viewers were frustrated as a result. The other gap is what happened in the later years between Yi Jin and Hee Do; while it is easy to guess, it feels odd that we have to guess given the narrative framing mentioned above.

-0.5 because my wife thought the story didn't seem to have an underlying point. There is some discussion about impermanence and youth, and there is some discussion of "the times", that the forces of history at work on our little lives. But these themes seem to waft in and out rather than driving the story.

I am neutral on the ending. Some people were offended by it, but i thought it felt natural and true to the characters. If you are the type of person who will fall in love with an attractive actor like Nam Joo Hyuk, you will be frustrated with the ending, but I thought the presentation of the character made clear how this story would turn out. As mentioned above, the writing could have been tighter with the resolution, so no positives from me.

One aspect of the series that it is unclear to me is that Hee Do's mom was a well known journalist who completely fails to acknowledge in public that this extremely successful and prominent athlete is her own daughter. This is held out as a basic tenet of professionalism, but it is foreign to me. Is this common among Korean journalists? Or is this woman weird? For that matter, is her successor as UBS news anchor also similarly pathological during an interview with a close friend?

Finally, the idea that the best fencer in the world might be 18 years old and then retired by age 29 (or earlier) puts some additional negative vibes on the ending. The series has some uplifting moments at the start and then... well, we're past our peak at 25. There is a vague sadness around the older Hee Do, that she was done writing "her story" even when she still had more Olympic gold medals ahead of her. That does not seem true to the younger Hee Do, and again I will attribute the inconsistency to the clumsy present day framing.

In summary the plot was good, not great. The characters, their relationships, and the acting carried the series. It is a good watch, but clearly not for everyone. 8.0/10.

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2521 is a poetic adaption to our daily lives

This melodrama revolves around the life of once three time gold fencing medalist of South Korea, Na Hee Do.
Hee Do, now in her mid 30s is raising a daughter who is currently at the rear edge to quit ballet. Her daughter stumbles upon her diary containing memories of Hee Do from her adolescent years. I loved how the cinematography had flashbacks parallel to the current events. It helped highlight one of the overall themes of this drama which was the importance of memories.

The female Leeds character was quiet alluring to me. Her character upheld qualities similar to myself, such as her integrity, quirkiness, and majestic attitude. She ends up meeting our male protagonist Baek Yi Jin, who just moved in town after his family went bankrupt. At that time they were both 2219. The two grew a platonic relationship that would later blossom into something more serious. Hee Do would end up being the influence that pushed Yi Jin to keep going in life and eventually earn a position as a reporter, and Yi Jin would be the person that taught Hee Do what love was, as well as what a breakup was.

The love they had for each other during the period of episodes 7-11 was very evident as they showed they deep cared for each other. Around the latter episodes however, Hee Do got open about her feelings and Yi Jin seemed pretty taken aback. From the beginning it seemed as though he wasn’t ready for the relationship. He told her he loved her but didn’t quite elaborate on what kind of love specifically. so towards the finale, the question erupted from Hee Do if he really loved her. Hee Do however, told him frankly of her feelings and that gave him the courage to open up. Their relationship from then on seemed happy. They spent time together and made lots of memories. Hee Do would go on to win one gold medal in Madrid and Yi Jin would climb the ladder from a reporter to a news anchor after receiving a position from New York.

That situation was what really tested their relationship. Whether or not they could be long distance. However, their relationship first shattered when he accepted the position without telling or considering her feelings. Then he took a cowards approach to hurrily leave. Yi Jin had a lot of personal problems and it seemed as though their love, or specifically, Hee Do’s love was not enough to sustain the relationship. They went through a series of three stages of breakup. First being denial, Hee Do already felt Yi Jin drifting apart once he was in New York however, in a way Yi Jin still held onto the relationship. The second stage, which was anger occurred when they came together told each other mean things to express how hurt they were. The third was acceptance, they knew that the paths they were to take would require them to let it each other go. They knew they were made for each other but it just didn’t seem to be their time.
The messages they left for each other towards the end really touched my heart. I couldn’t help but to shed tears. All though their romance came to an end, they recognized and highlighted the good they did to each other’s lives. They did this while being teary eyed and I couldn’t help it. The ending was pretty satisfying to me. It was very realistic because not everything in life will be a happily ever after and their breakup was portrayed in a very healthy and poetic fashion.

This drama has definitely topped as one of my favorite kdramas of the year.

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Twenty Five Twenty One Review - ZyKuu

"A journey about a girl and her fencing career" - The story was well written and accurately depicted the tragedies that the world suffered between 1998 and 2001. Through the lives of the cast, we were able to gain knowledge upon the realities that people may have experiencing during these hard times. This drama was excellent at creating emotional moments as there were a couple touching scenes that brought tears to my eyes. The main lead Hee-do did a great job in her role. Yi-jin played his given role to a tee. The romance between Hee-do and Yi-jin was initially endearing but then later on becomes complicated, demonstrating the harsh realities couples may face. The sidecast was the standout for me. Ji-Woong was the comedic relief of the drama. I enjoyed the dynamic Yu-rim and her family had. I found the relationship between Ji-Woong and Seung-wan heartwarming and innocent. Seung-wan was a character that I did not expect to grow on me as much as she did, but her actions led me to admire her. The OST was amazing! Unfortunately, the ending of the drama was underwhelming. Overall this is a great introduction drama that I recommend for new viewers.

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First drama that traumatized me

Right, I said what I said
This drama traumatized me to watch any on going drama since I finish watching it.
I really love the story since the 1st episode, so I was always waiting for the next one. I was believed, even though there are many struggle in their relationship, they'll end up together in the end no matter what, so I kept following it.

The setting place was good, the story was good, but of course the acting of the leads that made me love the drama toward the end. Unfortunately the script didn't go as I was thought and that's what make me disappointed at the end. Although I watched '2521' years ago, I can't bring myself to rewatch it till now >.<

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