Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
What a disappointing last two episodes
I have such a mixed feeling of this drama. Up to Ep14, it was one of the perfect score 10 that made me cried so many times. However the ending of this drama was total disappointment. That’s why my review is rather low.It is well written family drama, sportsman-women ship, school friendship, teenage first love and etc. However the drama created such an anticipation how it will end, then it crashed me. The final episode was total disappointment, especially for ML. It may have been a bitter sweet teenage first love experience for FL, but ML was already a young adult with hardship due to family issues. That is one of the reason why I hoped the ending would be a happy one. It was too much hardship for young adult to down fall financially at such a young age. It would have been much better drama if ML and FL to stay together by overcoming the difficulties. Such happy ending may be a cliché but I will give 10 if this was happy ending.
Oh boy, I just have such a bad taste in my mouth after watching such a disappointing ending. It is funny thought, I do not dislike bad ending like ‘Moon Lovers’. It was such a heartbreaking drama, But I keep watching the last episode over and over knowing I would cry so hard.
Too bad there is no way to make season 2 since characters are already in 40ish. Especially FL closed her chapter, her true love , at the very end. It would have been better if it was an open ending to bring them back together and makes happy ending at season 2. I would liked if ML meets FL at funeral and finding they are still single. Then daughter was their love child. And she was finding their parents love story in season 1. Hmmmmm I should have been the director of this drama. LOL
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Only the Main couple doesn't get together? Are you serious?
Ep 16:46 minutes - July 1998.
FL: 18 at 1998. 21 at 2001.
ML: 22 at 1998. 25 at 2001.
EP 4
45:53 – FL’s mum said, ‘I met him last month.’ 2022.
EP 7
1:07 – ‘It’s from Dad.’ He is most likely in the US. The only one who travels in this drama is ML.
EP 8
2:18 – ‘Your mum couldn’t get what a 15-year-old you can understand.’
EP 14
1:59 – 10/07/2009. ML & FL talked on the news after the San Francisco match.
1:16:32 – congratulation on your wedding. Congratulating himself?
EP 16
41:21 – Got Package from Kim Eun-Su. So, ML got an idea & changed the name to Kim?
52:33 - 7 years later. 2001-2008. The year ML became a new anchor.
53:24 – Ten years? 1998-2008? Doesn’t matter.
57:01 – FL thinking of retiring after coming back from San Francisco which will be held in 2009.
At 2009, FL 29; ML 33; his bro at 26.
01:01:21 - Breaking an engagement is less complicated than getting a divorce.
1:01:31 – since it’s coming from a married person? They don’t ask about her husband at all which means only FL and ML knew that they are married.
1:09:56 – ML said, ‘she doesn’t like to ask about her personal life.’ To keep his identity.
1:28:37 - 2022-15 = 2007. (Their daughter's age is 15 too.) He was in Korea cos his senior was there. That’s why she only got 3 gold medals cos she got pregnant. They probably got married in 2006.
FL & ML are both celebrities so they gave Kim as a family name to let their daughter live a normal life.
---
Okay; there is no valid reason why Kim Min Chae doesn’t know who Baek Yi Jin so I will change that she knows Baek Yi Jin as her Dad and FL’s friends know who her husband is. Done. End of the story. (This crazy theory is for me.)
Another theory would be, that FL got divorced long ago and waiting for ML to retire as an anchor. At 2022, FL would be 42 & ML 46. They still support each other from a distance to be reunited one day. (This seems more realistic for pessimists but not for me.)
=================================================
FL & ML loved each other the most in this drama and didn’t get together while their friends did?
Doesn’t make sense to me. Go Yu Rim’s nationality is Russia but she could come back and live in South Korea and get back together with her first love! Okay.
FL & ML, they are first love to each other too but not possible for them?
Ji Seung Wan and Baek Yi Hyun even get together after 9 years with no contact! Okay, writer, you must have hated reporters cos you separate FL & ML just because of their careers. I thought a doctor's job is already terrible but you just showed me that a reporter's job is worse. He could have retired and taken other jobs. He could become MC at anything.
(FL's diary keeping a diary just cos they ended their relationship on good terms? This doesn't make sense to me.)
Why do they still love each other if they decided to let go? This will only make them suffer. Think about how their partners would feel. They got married but their partner is longing for their ex. This will only make all four of them to suffer.
Thanks for the beginning. For the mid part, I love how brave FL confessed her love but ML is just enjoying and laughing at it. Stop being pathetic ML. It's not like you can let her go wholeheartedly just for her better life. Stop pretending! For the ending, I will just end it as I like. I am out.
Realistic? My ass.
They could have achieved their goal first and met up again. FL retired after 8 years anyway.
This is my opinion. I am not trying to persuade anyone. You believe what you want. Don’t say you don’t understand enough to know that this is “realistic”. Blahblahblah.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
A promising start learning to no where
A drama that got me hooked from the very start. I literally went to what I was 2 years ago, impatiently waiting for the new episodes. But it came out quite a surprise how, the creators can ruin their own creations. I literally have no problem with baekedo not ending together, but they way the drama was messed in the second part, and it began hitting the rock bottom.Nam jio hyuk has improved a lot as an actor,and Kim tae ri was phenomenal as usual, osts and BG scores were top notch.
This drama destroyed all of my brain cells. But I do not deny the first half was awesome, the youth phase was incredibly relatable.
WATCH THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Bitter Sweet Journey
Production , cinematography, world/year events and scenery were all excellent. The music/OST also was very well done.LIKES:
The acting of both ML and FL was very good. All the actresses and actors did phenomenal jobs in their roles; the supporting cast, the cast for sporting and news events, all the extras too. The Director did an amazing job for this drama. I felt that the ML and FL had amazing chemistry, but so did all the younger couples. The friendship, love and rivalry flowed nicely throughout the storyline and plot. All the sports competitions and training about Fencing, was the best from all similar dramas. It was as if you were at the competitions yourself as the viewer. The theme of growing up to handle hardship and happiness, while never giving up on hopes and dreams was mostly well delivered. I liked how most of the relationships were concluded. They showed plenty of growth for all the main leads. I enjoyed that the story was based on the diary being read by Na Hee Do's daughter. I didn't notice if there were any "FX". I liked how they concluded or tied in the book store from beginning to end.
DISLIKES:
Baek Yi-jin's mother was very annoying and I wanted her to just shut up. Maybe it was how the writers wanted that character.
Throughout the drama there were some moments that made me say WTF [See spoilers at the end of this review]. The ending felt a little rushed and should've been changed to 2 or 3 more episodes. I think time management became an issue in some of the episodes, especially noticeable in the last 2 episodes. The ending was a little too open, based on what the viewers were fed about the ML Yi Jin and FL Hee Do.
OVERALL: Everything up until the last two episodes was great, interesting and had me enraptured. I would recommend this drama and might re-watch it in the future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[SPOILER ALERT ]
I liked that Baek Yi-jin's brother and Seung Wan reunited at the end, to give more depth to their characters.
I disliked that Hee Do didn't show as much growth as Yu Rim. Same with Baek Yi-jin, as a reporter he grew, but as an adult there wasn't much character growth. I was thoroughly annoyed that we don't find out who Hee Do married and had a daughter with. Having focused in the beginning on the fencing and going to the olympics for Hee Do, then at the end nothing of the stress and excitement of going to the olympics and winning gold was shown. In the end I hated that they didn't show Baek Yi-jin and Na Hee Do reuniting (even as friends) at the end and final episode. It made the adult Hee Do seem pointless. Also some of the flashbacks in the final episode, ran too long and they could've used the time better.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Strong First Strike, but Loses Its Footing in the Last Quarter
Watching this show was an emotional roller coaster ride: in the first three-quarters of the show, the cart climbed higher and higher until it could go no further, limited by the tracks that the writer had laid out for the machine. But then it started its descent, and for me, the train derailed before it reached the station.It's clear to me that the writer knew exactly where she wanted to go and tried to careful craft a scenario to deliver her message about the elation and tribulations of first loves. For the first part of the show, I was totally engrossed with this plan. The story is told as a flashback of a little girl who read's her mother's diary, and like many other viewers, I was invested in the open question of who the identity of the girl's father - is he the main character of the mother's love story or he is not?! This was a question that kept everyone awake at night when this drama was airing. This was definitely an intentional effect as the series would intentionally omit clear references to the father, going so far as not to even show him on screen and to make dialog ambiguous so that you don't even know his name nor any hints towards his identity. Moreover, it seemed like every little detail of this Kdrama mattered -- it didn't matter if you forgot something, because boy, the writer sure remembered everything, and she often utilized these minutia to extreme emotional and dramatic effect. It was almost a masterpiece.
Almost. For me, the plot past episode 13 took a noticeable decrease in quality: characters started acting in ways that I thought were unearned - the fierce female lead that we had all come to know and love somehow became more passive and willing to give up -- this was a far cry from her "never give up attitude" that had led her to toil so hard to hone her fencing skill. The conscientious, sweet boy who put family and friends above all else suddenly became a workaholic -- he spent most of the first half of the story practicing the little, individual acts of loves for his friends, family, and love interests, and suddenly he's all about sacrificing for the greater good/his career. Yes, people can change, but for me, if we're talking about a television series, we should be shown the change and not have to infer it -- it's just jarring without a proper explanation. Even for side characters, things just started to arbitrarily work out for no discernible reasons - this is a little baffling to me in a story that prided itself on being so clear and clever with the details. The final nail in the coffin for me was dismissing things that we had become so invested in: that mystery we all cared about? Without spoilers, I feel I can safely say: it turns out it's irrelevant. Put simply, it felt like a slap in the face as if we were intentionally manipulated only to increase ratings and not for story purposes.
I don't believe that a story necessarily needs to have a happy end nor needs to have a sad end to be great. But I just feel this Kdrama did not execute its ending in a way that I felt was earned. It pains me to say: this Kdrama started as a 10/10 for me, but quickly destroyed my faith in it with just 3 measly episodes, to the point that I actually think it did the whole story a disservice. There were so many unanswered questions, that I think either the show needed a few more episodes to flesh things out or it needed less episodes to tell a complete tale without the feeling that something is missing. Either way, I can't help but feel there was a missed opportunity here. It's just such a shame.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Lost Its Rewatch Value
I would have rated this show higher had I had my happy ending. The drama had me hook line and sinker, anticipating the next episode, until the last episode. Midway through Episode 16, I started getting the feeling that this was not going to end well. I was right! And, what was up with that last scene after the credits! I don’t think it was an open- ended kind of ending as the ending was very clear that they did not end up together. So sad! If I had known, this was how it was going to end I wouldn’t have bothered watching this drama. So disappointed…Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Expectation Vs Reality
This drama is not for everyone and certainly not for me. It's hard even to say that I appreciate some of it coz there is no point. The ending doesn't outweighed the journey itself.It's a hard debate but I found myself feeling disappointed because I felt cheated. I felt that I wasted my time. This whole time for nothing. I felt that the main characters gave up way too easy. But maybe only me coz many seems to like it, even praising this drama as a beautiful-slice-of-life-growing-up story. For me is like no-good-ever-going-to-change-me story. The main characters, no matter how wonderful they are in the beginning are just being selfish. There, I said it. It's true. Don't deny it. You can disagree with me all you want but that is what I got from their so called 'beautiful journey'.
Not that I can't appreciate a break-up story; If it was good and done right, I'd be crying a river. But this drama doesn't. It felt rushed and a cop out. Without any-I-gave-it-all-effort from both sides, they just threw the towels and called it quit. If you can't commit then why even bother to start. Relationship needs work. It's not always a walk in the park. It needs comprimise, sacrifices, give-and-take-effort, hardwork and understanding. When you stumble upon hurdles in your journey together, you overcome it; You don't stop and turn from it right away. Never have I feel so numb in my life. I didn't feel sad when they parted ways, I just felt numb. Empty. Annoyed actually.
Imagine this. You are presented with this wonderful gift. A box which has decorations of many pretty flowers, enchanting ornaments, crystal gems and sparkling ribbons. It has all the beautiful things that you can ever imagine. But then, when you open the box, you find it to be empty. Zero. Nothing. Only a void of space. And that's what this drama represent. Yes, you may keep the 'beautiful' box, but how do you feel about it? Please be honest.
The casts are amazing. The chemistry is off the chart. But the end result is just soo bizarre. It's a shame. What a waste!
There is an old proverb in my native language that says "Hendak seribu daya, tak hendak seribu dalih" which translates; When you really want something badly, you'd give thousand efforts, but if you don't want it, you'd give thousand excuses. That proverb really fits well to this story.
"It doesnt matter where it ended, what matter is the journey". Boohoo! That is such a lame excuse. For me, the journey is what shaped the end, both matter. Period.
As always; Do I want to watch the whole drama again? Hell NO.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Love doesn’t conquer everything in this world and that's okay
April 3, 20222521 is a tear-jerker full of life-lessons K-drama. I know people have been disagreeing and disappointed with how the ending went. But I think, the 2521 ending fulfills the original story that they were trying to convey. The emotional attachment I developed to this drama is unbelievable. I love everything from how the characters develop and seeing how they flourish into their adulthood. Maybe it’s because I am now a college student and that is why I greatly relate to this drama. Yes, it is true that we took high school life too easily and for granted. Yes, it is harder to meet up with friends now that we are old. Yes, people grow apart and that's okay. Yes, it is okay even if you don't meet your friends often. As long as you have each other, you will always find time even if that means every 6 months or so.
!!! MAJOR SPOILERS WITH DETAILS!!!!
- I am happy that Baek Yijin did not die or experienced some catastrophic event.
- I am happy how the girls are still supporting each other even though they have their own lives.
I think I am happy that everyone got the ending that they deserve including Yurim and Heedo's mom. I also think it is appropriate how Minchae's dad is never revealed nor is present-pandemic adult Yijin. I know I may be the minority but I think everything from this drama is just good. I may have bawled my eyes and wished for Heedo and Yijin to be the end game. But given the circumstances of how their relationship has gone down, it is much better for them to go their separate ways. Very realistic and has a bittersweet ending. I also think that Yijin and Heedo's endings is happy to some extent. Yijin is able to revive his family back and has a stable job. Heedo is happily a mom to Minchae, though I can't really say anything about her marriage to his husband as he was not shown in the story. This makes sense because this is about first love and their early adulthood/youth days.
I think 2521 set the standards for 2022 Kdramas. I know the ratings have gone down due to the ending and I understand that people are very frustrated with the ending. But I definitely think it is not rushed, and that it perfectly fits the overall narrative of the story.
So for those who are watching 2521, I hope you learn some lessons and learn to enjoy your youth. Happy viewing (maybe) and prepare some tissues by your side. I may or may not have a breakdown watching episode 16 and while writing this review...
Cheers 🥂
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
Ending Unworthy of a Female Lead with such Fighting Spirit
From the first episode, Hee Do has won our hearts with her quirkiness, her conviction and her fighting spirit. She put everything into her passions, whether it’s her love of fencing or her admiration of the national champion Yu Rim, or her love of her manhwa comics. She never gave up, even when she experienced the painful tragedy of her dad’s passing, she continued on. Despite Yu Rim being such a bitch to her in the beginning, her adoration never wavered.
There are a lot of good things to admire about Hee Do and her bold and dorky characteristics. The friendship between her and Yu Rim is very sweet, it’s stronger than their competitiveness and adversary, and the gossips that try to take them down.
Such unshakable devotion to a friend tells me she’ll also love with the same conviction. Her love for Yi Jin would be just as passionate. She believed in him, she’s understanding and supportive. She wouldn’t give up just because they hit a bump in their relationship. Her competitive spirit wouldn’t let her give up so easily.
The ending was very rushed, all within an episode or two and everything changes. The build-up to the end was steady and we see how their relationship develop and grow. Something that grows on such solid foundation wouldn’t just topple so easily. Him moving to New York is a weak excuse for a break up. It made no sense for Yi Jin to move to New York. That they could grow older and grow apart, sure that’s believable but everything happened so quickly that it’s unbelievable.
Hee Do being who she is wouldn’t give up so easily. She’ll keep on fighting for the man she loves.
If the writer is trying to get across that time and youth is precious, for us to grasp it and take full advantage of it, then the long build-up of Hee Do and Yi Jin’s relationship was somewhat misplaced. Throughout the series, they kept the audience playing the game of Did They or Didn’t They end up together. They keep throwing hints that they didn’t, but we still wait with hope that they did. That kept us going, but the ending never delivered. In the end, it was a wishy washy ending for a strong female lead.
The ending feels forced, a device just to make the audience cry.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
refreshing slice of life- with some drawbacks
i didnt have any expectations for this drama at all, but it ended up being fantastic (for the most part). it was so authentic and organic, from the friendships to life situations. i found all of the characters to be very human and interesting to follow. this is one of the few kdramas ive seen that depicts humanity so realistically, with their flaws and growing pains.i will mostly be discussing the negatives of this drama, because everything was good besides a few things that i felt prevented this drama from being perfect. ill still mention all of the good things briefly, and in short i recommend you watch this drama (i recommend only watching ep 1- the first ten min of ep 15 and calling it finished)
a slice of life romcom would be a good way to describe the plot. teenagers and adults alike are struggling amidst the imf crisis, and two young athletes struggle at friendship while competing. kim tae ri is endearing as 18 year old heedo, a fencing prodigy that is strong willed, stubborn, kind, and energetic. yurim, a gold medalist fencer, was difficult to like at first but she became a great friend and worthy of praise. nam joohyuk feels grounding as yijin, forced to grow up too quickly but learning to find happiness again with heedo. jiwoong and seung wan started getting more screentime later in the drama which i greatly appreciated as i thought they added a lot to the overall show. i loved discovering the hidden sides of themselves, how their opinions on the world as teens wanting to rebel in their own ways was slowly shown to us. overall i really enjoyed watching them all grow and form bonds with each other, it was truly the definition of youth.
the friendship between heedo and yijin was one of my favorite on screen relationships to date. i thought they would do well whether it was romantic or platonic and the show did a good job at showing why they would work together, but also why they wouldnt have. they started to rely on and support each other, becoming a source of happiness for the other person. but they were also in two different stages of life: yijin had to grow up too quickly and became more mature and grounded while heedo still had a sort of childlike optimism and persistence. these were traits that drew them to each other: what the other was lacking. they needed each other, but they were still growing on their own. regardless of the romance arc this friendship was just so believable, healthy and organic.
the friendship group formed between heedo, yurim, seungwan, and jiwoong was lighthearted and refreshing. what really brought them together was their willfulness and stubbornness, each in their own ways. heedo in fencing, yurims in her love for her family, jiwoong in his interests, seungwan in her morals. the drama touched on a lot of important subjects, especially with the jiwoong/seungwan school punishment arc. yijin also ended up as a part of this group, and i loved the mentor role he took on. he knew what it was like to grow up too fast, so giving heedo and yurim a school trip and reminding them to enjoy their youth was so heartfelt. when he stepped in to save seungwan from the reporter as well, hes using his knowledge to save them from going through troubles. there were a lot of parallels between the characters and the relationships depicted were all complex and realistic.
and of course the cinematography was unique to the show, the soundtrack was nice, and the acting- obviously- top notch. production wise i have no complains. the 90s vibe and aesthetic alone is enough to watch this drama. i compliment the writers for creating such realistic and smooth conversations and such believable characters.
some of my favorite moments:
-heedo telling yijin they should be happy with each other while running around at night.
-the mini school trip where they all sat on the beach watching sunset.
-the friend group watching the fireworks on the rooftop
-them watching heedo and yurims interviews on tv
-when heedo and yurim cheered seungwan on for quitting school
-jiwoong not being able to park the car and them all jumping around in happiness when they lifted it
some things i disliked about the drama that affected my rating:
1. false advertising
it doesnt actually take place when they are 25 and 21. its mostly when heedo is 18 (korean age) and yijin is 22. considering the description says “ Two people first meet when they are 22 and 18 years old and fall in love years later when they turn 25 and 21. “ i was a little confused. so why did they called it 2521 and give a misleading description & title ? probably because they knew the age gap might cause a problem, leading into my next point.
2. the age gap.
ive seen some people defending it, 18 and 22 is not that far off after all. id love to say “this is just a work of fiction, lets just enjoy this wholesomeness!” but i just cant. especially because it IS a work of fiction and the writers couldve done this differently.
a four year age gap isnt a big deal between two adults at the very least in the same stage of life. if this romance actually happened when they were 21 and 25 i wouldnt be writing all of this right now. thats what the description states after all, and yet the romance happened prior. but heedo was a highschooler, an immature one at that- remember how she dated and broke up with a guy just to see what its like? she thought you have to wash lettuce with soap. when yijin and heedo were out together, it was so uncomfortable seeing her in a school uniform and him in a suit. yijin, despite being a good man, was an adult. not even a college student, but an adult living alone with a job out in the real world. luckily, they started dating when she was old enough to drink alcohol, so i suppose thats adult enough.
but i think the problem lies within his confession to her. we know they like each other, it wouldve been better build up and more comfortable for the general audience had the writers waited for them to both be full grown adults (or at least for heedo to graduate highschool) to have them confess. this is made worse by the fact that ALL of his friends highschoolers. i do understand that this is a small neighborhood in the 90s and it was all by circumstance- yurim due to family, heedo by accident, seungwan as the neighbor etc etc. but he rarely hung out with adults his age outside of work, that’s what makes this whole situation weird to me. and its not just yijin: in ep 10 seungwan tells yijins 15 yr old brother “ 4 more years? ill wait for you”. gross. what is with this show and its love for inappropriate 4 yr age gaps? overall im blaming the writers for not being a little more nuanced about a potentially inappropriate relationship. i dont think this is enough to write off the drama, but this is important to note:
this is the most avoidable problem in the whole drama, especially when since the beginning yijin has said “adults should only date other adults” and “highschool drama is for highschoolers, im an adult” and has brought up how young they all were and how different their lives were. the writers know this isnt okay and made a point to comment on it- but did it anyway.
i dont care if this age gap doesnt matter to you, i dont care if you think this specific situation is okay or if “the 90s were a different time!” or if “theyre both technically adults!” this drama has a responsibility to portray this relationship with a certain sensitivity. a few simple changes couldve been made to make it a little more acceptable to the general public, but like i said i dont think this is enough to swear off watching it.
2. yurims arc
the writers really pushed yurim as a bully from the beginning. she was cruel to heedo, belittled her, affected her personal and school life. she often played the victim despite constantly being supported by everyone around her. being poor and scared of losing was the excuse they gave her, it caused an inferiority complex. i didnt think this was strong enough to combat heedos problems, although i suppose theyre meant to be equal. yurim is poor and loved, while heedo is rich with a dead father and an absent mother. i understood what the writers were trying to do here. but the actual switch, the injeolmi reveal, was a weak turning point. if you watch the episodes one after the other, it makes it obvious how jarring and simple yurims personality shift was. pre ep 8, she caused the whole nation to hate heedo on her behalf and constantly belittles her. none of this matters until yurim sees that she was her internet friend. only this sparks her apology, which means if they hadnt been internet friends she would be forever cruel and unapologetic. this makes yurim seem continuously self centered and flimsy as a character. after ep 8 heedo and yurim are awkwardly kind to each other and start building a friendship. yurim kind of explains herself in the later half but i just thought they built the mean yurim up too well, or at least didnt put enough care into her arc. i am glad yurim retains some of those feelings (ep 11 she says she is still scared of heedo) so it isnt like she woke up a different person.
i guess your opinion on this depends on which you empathize more with, but i always felt more on heedos side. we saw her walk home alone after matches, advocate for herself, practice until she couldnt stand, be bullied by someone she admired, win a gold medal with no support from her coach or mother. im sure yurim went through difficulties, but it was heedos that were shown on screen, so i resonated more with her. all i wanted was the best for her, especially in terms of her and yurims relationship. and when heedo forgave yurim, their scenes were very cute and heartwarming and i did grow to love her and i enjoyed all of their scenes together. but i cant just pretend she wasnt a horrible person for half of the drama. heedo is clearly more forgiving than i am.
i did end up having to just let my feelings on this go in order to enjoy the drama, but i wanted to mention this.
3. the present time
this drama wouldve done well just focusing on the past. it felt unbalanced, we start off in the present and heedos daughter is sort of a narrator, but then we exist in the past uninterrupted for periods of time. i guess 2521 was going for a reply series kind of thing, but i would’ve preferred it to just take place in the past. the story of the friend group, the romance, the sports, the imf crisis, it was all enough to keep us going for the entire duration of the show. the present time brought down the whole mood of the drama and made it dip more into melodrama territory. i didnt want to worry about if someone was going to die or get amnesia. i didnt want angst, i wanted to watch what seemed like a lighthearted slice of life character based romcom as promised. like id be watching the characters laughing and having fun and bam- heedos daughter is on screen killing my vibe. or we are having a cute moment and we have a flash forward sequence that makes us question who breaks up with who. i dont think this drama needed extra mystery or suspense, it already had a sort of darker tone with the imf crisis (which was all but forgotten in favor of other side plots). yijins family troubles were as much sadness as i needed and like i mentioned before, there was plenty of side plots to keep this drama going. i guess some people didnt mind, but i definitely noticed much of the audience speculating on the ending constantly instead of just enjoying the show, which is major buzzkill for anyone wanting to watch and hoping to just enjoy it. perhaps this is just a personal preference but i strongly think this couldve been more powerful as just a slice of life. those are hard to pull off, and they were so close. i ended up not watching the future scenes as they ruined the vibe for me.
4. the ending
just trust me on this, dont bother with the last two episodes. the characters were completely different people, too much angst and a lot of decisions made by the end were so distasteful. the writers just stopped caring by the end. it just goes to show the drama was written to be anticipated for weekly ratings and not just to be enjoyed.
and thats the end of my review. i know it was mainly negative, but again- everything besides these points was top notch. id still recommend this drama to anyone.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Deze recentie kan spoilers bevatten
oh....my.
wow...I know I am not alone in feeling incredibly disappointed in how this drama turned out. what started out as a hopeful coming of age story about growing up and finding your place in the world...ended with an hour of "your friendships of youth are meant to be kept in the past...deal with it :)"Twenty-Five, Twenty-One started out (and, honestly, continued to be until about episode 14) as one of the most genuine, engaging, and hopeful dramas I had seen in a long time. the characters were charming, but also human, with flaws and development that really made you feel like you were growing up with them. their friendships were the kind that had struggles, but as they grew up, they learned how to navigate these conflicts. it showed the realities of growing up, young love, and finding your place in the world.
and then it totally crashed and burned.
here's the thing, I actually am all for bittersweet, or even sad, endings. I just did not feel like this one did the story justice. it was such a...non-ending, that it felt like a cheap cop-out to get an emotional reaction, which was in stark contrast to the rest of the drama, where each of the emotional moments was in the story for an obvious developmental reason. I knew from the start that this drama would probably not have a "happy" ending, but nonetheless, I was very disappointed in this.
the ending, which provided no true closure for anyone but Hee-Do (kind of), felt like it was communicating a message that any friendship that happens in your childhood is...intended to be left there? that none of the youthful love or hope you have can follow you into adulthood... this, paired with how melancholy adult Hee-Do seems to feel about her life, was incredibly strange in contrast to the other 14 episodes of character development and hopeful storytelling.
all in all, it left a bad taste in my mouth. I feel like this drama was designed to be watched while it aired, and it created great engagement in the audience due to this fact...and maybe this is why the ending felt short. they kept the "mystery" going for too long, in a way that did not leave them time to truly flesh out the ending. I am not sure. I feel like they could have kept the "open ending" concept, and just tweaked it a bit... showing us that some of the friendship group were still in touch, or something...the fact the drama went to such great lengths to keep all the side couples together, and then threw out not only the main couple's romance but also their very long friendship so abruptly... hm. it just felt incredibly out of place and incredibly disappointing.
perhaps this is all a testament to how lovely the first chunk of the drama was! I highly recommend the first 14 or so episodes...but save yourself and do not watch the finale. it is not worth it.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Could have been better
It's nice to see high-schoolers trying to figure out what to do with their life, and anchor the whole in real facts (Asian financial crisis of 1997, then to a minor extent the Sept. 2001 terrorist attacks), but looking a few below the surface, the series unravels, leaving much nonsense.The series is full of monoparental families, or where parents are absent, and as such can't help their kids, which is seriously odd in Korea today. Extremely odd is the daughter of HeeDo who makes 0 reference to her father (she was somehow born! even if sperm donation was performed).
The whole spiel about fencing looks abnormal. Geographically, the high-school supplying half of the female national competitors and the national training center make no sense. Linguistically, the French sucks big time (school in "France", commands during Korean training, and at international events, ... the whole thing); the producers could have recorded a complete set of orders and then used it ad hoc throughout the series.
In the end, I am left with the feeling that the author didn't really know what to do, and thus took a bit of this (choose a sport, fencing), and that (some pseudo-rivalry among leads, a point in time for the main story and another for the results of the story), and then see what happens.
What happened is not much.
Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
