Twenty Five Twenty One (2022)

Be prepared ....unsatisfactory ending!!

everything about this drama was great from the actors to their acting to the initial storyline but after 13 episodes the story suddenly debacle resulting in a pathetic ending
if u wanna watch it for hee do and Ji yin's bond in the initial episodes u can give a try ( till ep 14)because the ending will tear you apart.
all the hopes were shattered and the worst was it is open-ended making you ponder the whole time about the ending and their afterlives
8 rating only for Nam Joo Hyuk and Kim taeri 's brilliant acting
after such a stupid ending I still feel it's generous to give 8
I recommend not to watch if you hate open and bad endings and can't live without watching the ending.

Lire davantage

A different type of bittersweet journey.

PLOT.
If I could forget all episodes I would just so I could fall in love all over again, that's how much one of a kind it was. It's been awhile since I last been so invested and attached to a drama. They gave us everything. When the cast, teasers and trailers came out I was so excited! I knew 2521 would be one of the best this year but it ended up being one of my all time favorites. I'm in awe of how beautifully detailed this drama was. They made us laugh, cry and root for them altogether week by week. I'm gonna be honest: it was both a dream and a nightmare having to wait to watch this. From main to side characters, I could feel their pain, sorrow, happiness. 2521 is a roller-coaster of emotions, just like youth and life overall. Even though a handful of unfortunate things happened, the quintet shined brightly as the time went by. At some point I thought everything would go down all at once, and I actually bawled my eyes out because of so much pain. However, I could connect with this drama a lot and I'm grateful for that. Also, I've been waiting for something like Reply series for so long, especially Reply 88. Every single character matters here somehow, they're so well written. As much as Baekdo are the main characters, this show gave everyone a special moment and not a single boring episode in between. Speaking of which, I just want to point out that I love both Heedo and Yijin as individuals and also together as friends and lovers. I had soo much of fun with theories, even the wildest ones! So many dramas lose its freshness once it reaches the second half, they did a an amazing job here sustaining the plot. They made a good number of people question what'd happen next. Writing, directing, producing and acting on point! The majority of us wanted Baekdo to end up together, but so many details were indicating a sad ending: they left clues here and there. All the hints were right there yet I grew attached to its plot and characters. From the very start I had a gut feeling that this drama could end with a bittersweet taste in my mouth (just by watching the teaser with 2521 playing in the background and seeing the poster where they were looking at different directions). I think some things could've been better of course, yet, imo it was a fresh and well-written one for the most part. I'd like to point out some things though. Both Yijin and Heedo had so much potential as a couple, I'm still hurt they grew apart like that, not even remaining as friends who support each other. I'm also sad because Heedo had forgotten that precious summer trip with the gang. However, I understand that's life, things change and we can't always control everything in order to get what we want. I'm taking 2521 close to my heart regardless of this and that.

CHARACTERS.
Kim Minchae: this girl represents 2521 nation so well it scares me ngl. Her father! As much as I was really curious to know who he was I also understand why the writter didn't show us: he was simply not the main point. I'm happy that she decided to go back to ballet and challenge herself in order to create her own experiences.

Ji Seungwan: she stood up for herself while helping other people and is such a great friend. She's so brave and honest, I really like her and I'm glad she had a good ending.

Moon Jiwoong: at first we got to see his reckless self as a funny student and his charms as the 7th pretty boy from class 3. As the episodes went by he shows his other sides as we see his friendship with Seungwan growing stronger and how much he looks up to Yijin. Last but not least, his love towards Yurim: he went from someone who used to appreciate her because of her image, and ends up forcing himself to grow up little by little in order to picture a future with her. He grew up and matured beautifully, without leaving behind his genius personality. The way he proposed to Yurim was so cute :)

Ko Yurim: this is a character with interesting layers. When I saw the umbrella scene I thought she wouldn't be as sweet to Heedo as it looked like - and I was so right. Her mean attitute towards Heedo would always let a bitter taste in my mouth. I was of course waiting for her redemption so when they finally got to know the truth I was the happiest. Yurim is extremelly passionate when it comes to fencing, it's admirable. She had to mature at a really young age and I respect that.

Baek Yijin: I'm glad Joohyuk changed the tsundere Baek Yijin from the script, he's definitely one of the best characters. His acting has improved even more here. This character is now part of my favorite ones, he brought a lot of comfort with his wise words and selfless actions many times. He was such an important person in Heedo's life, so necessary. He struggled so much, I cried watching him getting more and more disappointed in himself. Both him and Heedo started to lose themselves at some point, it was extremely heartbreaking. Baek Yijin had a caring and giant heart but too many issues and traumas at once on his plate. Him and Heedo deserved way better than they got in the end. Nam Joohyuk AND Kim Taeri both deserve nominations, they nailed their characters with top notch acting.

Na Heedo: her younger self was such a daring and carefree character, I'd like to be friends with her. She's become one of my favorite characters as well. Whenever the older Heedo would appear, I knew something would make me sad somehow. She looked miserable and hurt even after so many years after the break up. It was a relief to see Heedo being at peace with her mom while still young. I was shocked when she told Minchae that she didn't remember the gang's summer trip, because it was her first one. Also, her future self had many regrets related to their break up. What they had was really precious, how painful.

OST.
Hands down to everyone involved here, I've been listening to the tracks non-stop (including the instrumental ones).

On a final note, I'd love to see at least Joohyuk and Taeri (or Taeri and Bona) working together again in the future, their chemistry on and off camera is really natural. Oh and I'll definitely watch the whole drama all over again once the feeling of emptiness comes to an end, which is going to take some time. If you read this till here, thank you ♡

Lire davantage

A healing drama that didn't feel quite that healing

Twenty-five Twenty-one is a wonderful and unique coming-of-age drama that encapsulates the bittersweet nostalgia of youth and friendships, with strong performances from Nam Joohyuk and especially Kim Taeri. While the drama excelled in its character writing, I found its overall message to be lost towards the end, because the ending felt...reductive. It didn't take away from my enjoyment of the drama greatly, but I still wanted an opportunity to talk about it.

Although I appreciated how the writers tried for a realistic approach, I found it to feel a bit nihilistic in the way that none of the other characters besides Heedo felt important to add in the present time, and that Heedo herself didn't seem to deem them as important to her life anymore as well. The drama spent 15 hours building these deep friendships, and it just didn't make sense to disregard them as simply being "in the past". It made feel as though the time invested in the drama--and, likewise, the time invested in one's youth--did not give as much as an impact as it should've.

I had never expected a happy ending for Yijin and Heedo, but their break-up, while beautifully written, felt inconsistent with their characters. I found it hard to believe that these strong-willed characters couldn't make it work. The reason they broke up contradicted what the audience saw in their relationship beforehand, where they gave each other emotional support through hard times quite easily. Heedo's current husband, while never shown, is away for work overseas which is exactly what she didn't want from Yijin, which made the break-up feel even more reductive. If the drama wanted to convince me that Heedo and Yijin's development was realistic, I think it would've benefited from one more episode.

Despite this, I could see what the drama was aiming for, and I appreciate the themes they tried to tackle. I don't regret watching this drama and I'd still recommend it for the strong characters and solid plot. It's just unfortunate that the ending did not quite fit what the rest of the drama was building up to.

Lire davantage

Makes you vicariously long for a passionate and cherished past.

This drama is a must watch. It handles the different paths our lives takes with a realistic and positive vision. The characters develop so much it's beautiful. Growth, pushing yourself, overcoming challenges, taking risks, and so many light and funny moments, this drama has it all. The drama is visually fun with so many colors and sceneries. OSTs 'with' and 'your existence' are also top tier. The phone booth moment with "I wanted to see you, and then I saw you" is legendary. Having the cast sing 'with' worked out so beautifully too.

All in all, 10/10. Makes you vicariously long for a passionate and cherished past.

Lire davantage

Unexpectedly beautiful with a bittersweet ending

I wasn't expecting much going into this show. I honestly felt like I would watch about half an episode and give it up. But, as she did in Mr. Sunshine, Kim Tae Ri sucked me in with her beautiful acting. Na Hee Do was such a dynamic character, and KTR played her so perfectly. The nostalgia will hit hard in this one if you are a certain age, and the memories of youth, best friends, and first loves may stir within you. That feeling of freedom as you are about to embark upon adulthood and all the promise it holds. If you are a fan of the Reply series, you may well enjoy this as it invokes those same nostalgic feelings. The growing friendship between Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin that bloomed from friendship to love caused us to all root for them desperately, even knowing that it seems that something disrupts the trajectory of their pure love for one another.

The acting and depth of character was what kept me going. Kim Tae Ri is simply a captivating actress. She was completely believable as a high school student despite the actress actually being 30. Nam Ji Hyuk's performance was quite improved since I saw him last, as was Bona. This was probably the best performance I've seen from Bona thus far. She usually comes off as whiny and immature, but her acting is much improved. Choi Hyun Wook was a new face for me. I saw somewhere that he was compared as a young Park Seo Jun and I can see it, so I hope to see more of him in the future. Lee Joo Myung was also new for me, but I enjoyed her character as well. Although she was more of a fifth wheel in the group, I would have liked to have seen more development for her character and more of a connection within the group.

I'm rating this drama as a 9 because I looked forward to every episode, got a lot of enjoyment from it, and it was such a surprise bit of beauty. I adored the friendship/ rivalry between Hee Do and Yu Rim - almost the same amount as I loved the romance between Hee Do and Yi Jin. I loved the group dynamic of all the friends together, and was invested in how they grew and changed as they moved from high school into adulthood. The challenges they overcame, the sacrifices they made, and the passion they had in their youth. I was not expecting this drama to move me so much with it's simple beauty.

I was fully expecting to give this show a 10, and only failed to do so because I was hoping, rather foolishly, for a different ending. But in the absence of that, I felt that the ending was a bit rushed with the closure. I also felt that in the end, it wasn't necessary to have even had the two timelines (past and present) as it added nothing to the story. And although she did a fine job, I didn't think that it was necessary to change the actress playing Na Hee Do in the present day. She lacked the same depth that Kim Tae Ri brought to the character, and caused me to feel disconnected from her during those parts. The past was not connected to the present in any meaningful way at all.
I still think it is a very worthwhile watch, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that is interested in a drama about friendship and first love that was handled with a lot of maturity.

Lire davantage

I love everything but the ending was too much bittersweet.

Everything was great the story, the cast was the best, songs were good . It just felt like i am experiencing what first love is like, how beautiful friendships are in our life. How we should support and understand everyone in life. But the ending is breaking my heart into pieces i saw it coming but not this brutal bcz it doesn’t matter if its their first love or second love what really matters is that they were perfect for each other literally soulmates and this what loving someone is. Why its portraying to the viewers that when things get hard even the perfect lovers will break up and become strangers. Please writer focus on the ending too everything was being rushed in the end if you are writing such a masterpiece show with so many lovely moments, i think ending plays a very important role bcz it will leave an impact on the viewers who are watching it.?❤️‍??
Edit-: We have to understand this is life. Sometimes some people are not meant to be together. Destiny plays it part. That why i think heedo has some regrets after reading baek yi jin message from the last diary. Its heartbreaking bcz their love was so pure and precious. But after listing to the 2521 song by jaurim and reading its lyrics it made me realise that the breakup was meant to happen but i love heedo and yijin chemistry so much that I don’t want this to happen. They still love each other it would have been great if the writer twisted the story(which i feel was a real persons story) and made it happily ever after. But no worry I love this show it was a roller coaster of emotions for me. I laughed while watching it and cried too. Saranghae❤️

Lire davantage

How to ruin a 10/10 show with one episode.

I must congratulate the writers for accomplishing something I considered nearly impossible. Well, I know better now. One can completely ruin a show in just one episode. Here is how I imagine it was done.

Step 1: Destroy the characters. The characters that the audience have known and loved for the past 15 episodes need to be ruined first. Take all their character-traits away from them, including their understanding, their love, their spirit of never giving up - everything that made them… them. Everything that made the audience fall in love with them. Ready? Great. Now apply this to their carefully constructed and super strong relationship and make it seem like it was nothing. Easy peasy.

Step 2: Try to trick the audience. Everything that has been shown important in the past 15 episodes needs to amount to nothing. All the little things, hints dropped, heartwarming things shown, need to be shown moot and useless. Now, switch their focus to completely different and dumb things which had no relevance before that wretched episode.

Step 3: Leave tons of things unexplained. Build up entire mysteries for 15 episodes and then simply refuse to solve them.

Step 4: Completely give up on all sense. Nothing needs to make any sense whatsoever. The strongest forged bonds are weak AF. People clearly madly in love with one another can be forced to break up with no regrets and can move on from each other just as quickly. Like I said, give up on all sense.

There you have it folks. A 4-step guide to ruin a 10/10 show. It was clearly easier than I had initially thought.

Lire davantage

A sad ending remains in the hearts of the people.

Twenty-Five Twenty-One is going to be a drama I'll rewatch whenever I get the chance to (after Happiness) because I don't think you understand, I'm OBSESSED.
To be honest a lot of viewers are very unhappy with the ending and I empathize, but as a very INFP person (lol) this was one of the most realest, pure ending of a relationship, or ending a certain chapter in your life. It was a beautiful poetic line to a romance novel.
The leads fated meeting, fated love, fated breakup, it later was so apparent how much both of the leads have grown and matured emotionally and developed sense of perceptives towards life. Some harsh decisions do destroy the people around you but it's never intentional and these concepts are what I found so endearing and beautiful.

In conclusion, I'll forever live this fantasy of being in the squad of Moon Jiwoong, Ko Yurim, Ji Seungwan, Na Heedo and Baek Yijin. I'll never get over them emotionally. :")

Lire davantage

Freely flying but anchored. Like a lone kite.

Food analogy: sweet and spicy tteokbokki
(Delicious and chewy, makes you keep on digging, the sweetness on the tongue feels melancholic and warm but the spice keeps it hot and brings you to tears but,
But You Don't Wanna Stop)

Story is sweet and inspiring and sad and interesting and simple and complex. Will keep you hooked. Will make you hate. Will make you love. Will make you cry. The vibes are pretty similar to Reply 1988 from my POV. If you are looking for a bitchin story. It's it.

Nam joo hyuk and Lee tae Ri has already proven them before and they are a treat here aswell. Look out for the other three MCs, A great performance and such flexibility and ranges. Loved everyone in the cast though.

Rewatch value is low, Coz journey once is enough. This won't be my Go-to drama. For reason you have to watch to find out.

P.S: People who like cotton candy stuff will be pleased and disappointed at the same time coz, even though this will make you feel good, it will force you to come back to reality as well.

So, Give it a go. For the hope. For the reality.

Lire davantage

Predicament

From the moment I started to keep up with this drama, I fell in love.
If something makes me feel nostalgic and fills my heart with warmth at the thought, of course I will hold onto it dearly. This drama had given me those feelings and so much more. The youthful innocence mixed with navigating independence, the struggle to provide and be present while wanting something for yourself, and the presence of love as a way of life rather than an arrangement.
Those are all things that were so beautifully addressed by our lovely cast and story.
Yet, the last episode lacked all of this. It lacked the authenticity and uniqueness this drama had. Perhaps, the goal was to show that not everything happens the way you think it will, but I firmly believe that lesson can be taught in different ways.
Why did the ending feel so unnatural? It was likely because in an effort to do something new, the story fell into a vague grey area where it lost its way.
Of course, I will never forget the way my heart fluttered when Baek Yi Jin did whatever he could to supprt Heedo. I will never forget how touched I felt when that group of friends navigated their youth together.
Is it so wrong to have wanted more for them? I don't think so.
I can't pretend that the story leading up to the finale didn't have a tight grip on my heart that loosened out of confusion upon watching the ending. But at least I can look back at those moments that fill me with joy and remember that there was a time when things were different.

Lire davantage

SERIOUSLY THE ENDING!!

Starting so when I started watching the drama it was really good. It give me a happy summer vibe and with all the episode I was like yeah this is something but then the last episode disappointed me very much like I never no one never thought that ending with like that no one. The story line is good and refreshing. And the cast acting was also complimentable. To be honest Kim Tae-ri I was just shocked that she is 32 playing the role of a teenager. I literally thought that her real age would be 27 or 28 but she pulled of the character very nicely
And personally I actually liked the character of Na hee do and Ji wange(idk if I am spelling it correctly). His character was the most humorous one.....and the way he was just stuck to one girl Yu rim throughout was actually the most beautiful thing in this drama.
But all I could say is I'm and almost all of us are disappointed by the ENDING. It could have ve way better or i should say they didn't concluded it nicely. The writer hurried in completing the drama without giving an ending that is acceptable or i should say that they didn't gave an ending that didn't lacked a plot.
Here's a caption I found on Instagram
For me, this endings tells that sometimes you have to let go of the person whom you love the most, even if it's mutual. You can't have it all, you may miss something but missing that person in your life doesn't mean that life comes to an end, you have memories, the happiness, the sorrow, the laugh, the sadness that you both shared together. You can be in love forever even without being with them. And that's the feeling that they wanted to convey. SOMETIMES GOODBYES ARE BETTER THAN BEING TOGETHER EVEN IF THE LOVE IS MUTUAL. That's what I learned.
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It's just something I wanted to post.....if you could understand what I mean
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Hope my review were helpful for you?☺️

Lire davantage

Worth to watch it

Ok, the last ep was kinda not peoples cup of tea, but if we all go back and rewatch the first 14 episodes, its all full of joy, existence, energy, funny, motivation and heartwarming scenes… just because the last ep wasn’t satisfying it doesn’t mean the whole show is not low rated! Although if the one who has already completed watching goes and rewatch the show will feel a sadness since watching them being happy, jumping around and not knowing in 10 years they wont be together anymore is so heartbreaking!
The show was so good! Don’t hesitate and go watch it now!

Lire davantage