Twenty-Five Twenty-One Korean Drama

Network: tvN, Netflix

Episodes: 16

Genre: Romance, Life, Youth

Aired: Feb 12, 2022 – Apr 3, 2022

Aired Day: Saturday and Sunday

Grade: A+ 

Twenty-Five Twenty-One Korean Drama is a love story of Na Hee Do (Kim Tae Ri) and Baek Yi Jin (Nam Joo Hyuk). Hee Do is a member of the high school fencing team. After the financial crisis, their lives changed. Her team gets disbanded because the school becomes unfunded due to IMF but somehow she becomes a member of the fencing national team. Meanwhile, Yi Jin’s father’s business went bankrupt. So he does all the part-time jobs. However, he becomes a sports reporter for a broadcasting network.

Main Characters:

Kim Tae Ri as Nam Hee Do

Hee Do is a high school student and a member of the Fencing team. Her team disband due to the IMF financial crisis but still, she didn’t give up on her dreams.

Nam Joo Hyuk as Baek Yi Jin

Yi Jin is the son of a chaebol family and after IMF financial crisis his family went bankrupt. For survival and not to burden his family, he started doing part-time various jobs at a book rental shop as well as delivering newspapers.

Kim Ji Yeon as Ko Yu Rim

Yoo Rim is the youngest fencing gold medalist.

Choi Hyun Wook as Moon Ji Woong

Ji Woong is a super cool boy at the school. He is an easygoing and fun-loving boy.

Lee Joo Myung as Ji Seung Wan

Ji Seung Wan is class president and a member of the school broadcasting department.

Highlights of Twenty-Five Twenty-One Korean Drama

IMF Crisis:

Hee Do is a high school student and a member of the Fencing team. She was fully enjoying her teenage years but suddenly her life turnaround when the school decided to close down the Fencing club because of IMF. Her only dream was to become Yu Rim’s rival not only that she is a fan of Yu Rim. However, she didn’t want to give up on her dreams so she was finding a way to transfer to Yu Rim’s school. When her mother told her to quit fencing she decides to get herself forcibly transferred. Meanwhile, Baek Yi Jin was also struggling his family becomes bankrupt and for survival, he was doing part-time jobs in Hee Do’s neighborhood. Once his dream was to work at NASA but now his life changed.

Yu Rim’s Rival:

After so many struggles finally, Hee Do took admission to the same school, and she wise to train with Yu Rim. But after meeting Yu Rim, what Hee Do thought happened just the opposite. Yu Rim gives her a cold look and was completely ignoring her. Coach Yang decides to test Hee Do through the practice match with Yu Rim. Shockingly Hee Do wins the match but she was doubting her victory however Coach Yang privately tells her that she’s stronger than Yoo Rim.

Dream Come True:

After so much struggle and hard work, Hee Do finally makes a presence on the fencing national team. During this long journey, only her coach and Baek Yi Jin support and motivate her. When Hee Do was selected for the national team Yu Rim was very disappointed because he knows that Hee Do is one of the best fencing players and she can easily win a gold medal in Asian Games. However, Yu Rim congratulate her but Hee Do told her that her dream is to become Yu Rim’s rival. Finally, her dream comes true when she wins the gold medal in Asian Games.

Controversy:

The final point was in the favor of Hee Do. But Yu Rim challenged the referee’s decision and cried that she was the fastest. At that point, Hee Do also feels sorry for her. In the press conference when the interviewees ask Yu Rim about the referee’s decision, she told them that it was a bad call however Hee Do denied that both were convinced they were faster. The whole country wants Yu Rim to win the match and everyone accuses Hee Do of stealing Yu Rim’s gold medal. Even assuming she may have bribed the referee. In all the controversy Hee Do’s medal has lost its honor.

Enemy to Friend:

Hee Do is a huge fan of Yu Rim. She knew her moves very well because she has study her every move. Yu Rim was very cold toward Hee Do from the starting but for other Fencing team members, Yu Rim’s behavior was very sweet and kind. Hee Do always shares her thoughts with her online friend and they both knew each other very well. Her online friend is none other than Yu Rim but they both are aware of the fact that they are online friends. Finally, both of them decide that they will meet, Yu Rim was the first one to know that Hee Do is her online friend so she decides to run away from the decided location. When Hee Do come to know that Yu Rim is her online friend she was shocked but happy also and from that point their relationship changed.

Overall Thoughts on Twenty-Five Twenty-One Korean Drama

I have started watching Twenty-Five Twenty-One drama because of Kim Tae Ri. As expected drama is amazing with a lot of life lessons and comedy. Kim Tae Ri nailed her high school girl character. This drama tells the story of Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin where Kim Min Chae (Choi Myung Bin) daughter of Hee Do discovers her mother’s diary of 1998. Min Chae was reading her mother’s diary. I highly recommend this drama to watch as the drama started with a good rating.

I feel so sad for Hee Do she couldn’t even celebrate or be happy about winning a gold medal for the country. It was heartbreaking to watch her sitting by herself where no one was congratulating her. It’s a big achievement for anyone but Hee Do became a punching bag of Yu Rim. Yu Rim always blames Hee Do for her lack of skills instead she should focus on improving her game.

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