I cried so so hard… it was such a heart wrenching episode. I knew they were not endgame but the way it ended was horrible.

They had overcome so many obstacles together but the first real hurdle in their relationship, and it was insurmountable?
The drama had 14 plus beautiful episodes of building up such an earnest, intense, captivating relationship that I cannot believe how they all threw it away in one episode…

Yijin, why did you not tell Heedo you applied for NY? I do not even get why you applied in the first place.. it is just a dramaland trope to premise a breakup.
Heedo, how could you have doubted Yijin loved you and turned your back so resolutely to end it like that? Yijin had no intention and you never gave him a second chance.

I get it that Yijin’s career takes precedence above all else. Bound by his circumstances and with no college degree, he needs to desperately succeed within his limited opportunities, do well and have a chance at reuniting his family.
I also get it that Heedo cannot cope with another ‘missing’ person in her life in the same vein as her mother, with all the hurts and disappointments that will surely ensue.

But then why show, why do you not definitively tell me they have moved on for the better? This is especially so with Yijin. You need to do justice with his character. There is not a whisper as to how or what he is doing in the present. He is one half of the arc of the whole story, the reason why we watched the whole 16 episodes, the main lead. Yijin deserves so, so much to be happy and I need to see that.

Instead, all we had was the interview and that killed me. Despite the years that had passed, we can see the nostalgia, the wistful eyes, the apparent affection they still have for each other over national, public television NO LESS.

And Heedo, despite being married, seems to have very little enthusiasm for her husband. Why did she even say that divorce is more difficult than breaking off an engagement over the funeral when she was just newly married? I get it that we do not need to know who Minchae’s dad is, that it is not important but the nuances seem to indicate she has not crafted a relationship that includes a loving, present partner, which was what she wanted when she gave up Yijin.

Basically, the ending sucks, this is going to hurt for a long, long time. Urghhhhh…….

I disagree. I think Hee-do not being with Yi-Jin in the present just because he died would do a disservice to the story and message the drama built. Their relationship played out nicely and relatively realistically (for dramaland). You could see the cracks in their relationship and their development into a break-up was pretty natural.

Now, if we were shown a present day Hee-Do and Yi-Jin crossing paths after her husband had died (a la How I Met Your Mother)…that I could totally get behind!

Even though I was okay with their break-up I was still unsatisfied with the final episode. There were a few reasons, but mainly because we were never told/shown where the other characters were in the present day. I felt they could have spent less time with the break-up and spared a few minutes to give us a peek in on everyone else! What happened after Ji-Woong and Yu-rim get married? Did Seung-wan date Yi-Jin’s brother?? I’m dying to know! Also, I was confused about Seung-Wan’s job. After taking her stand against corporal punishment I thought she would have ended up doing something more…justice-seeking than variety PD…?

I did not dislike it. The episode was very, very true to the real life and what it was building up from the beginning

In that ending, I could see how the person(s) I have left behind. I think this was the only way it could end. When the S15 started, I could see this relationship breaking up. Had they been together, it would have felt more contrived.

I totally disagree with Yi-jin's death. That Yi-jin's future seems to be left unresolved but I thinked Yi-jin's offscreen survived present appearance looked like the talk of the future. I saw Yi-jin on his desk at the postcredit of 25-21 when he was attempted to reset the password on (fictional) website Barro. On the present Hee-do's side, she's likely to be faded into obscurity with her happiness remained forevermore after the almost-longterm (and brief) love and friendship with Yi-jin and even after her diary was dropped when present Hee-do wore a white high-heeled shoes. That final scenes showed adult Hee-do in the Tunnel of Tears and its diary drop sequence that ended with picking up by the past Hee-do before the past five 25-21 lead characters chased to the tunnel of tears was just only a fantastical dream scenes.

For overall final episode, I felt a little disappointed by the final 15 minutes of this episode (and its postcredit too) and a bit of confusion, but that was OK for me. Despite of my little disappointed final episode, this show looked like one of the best Kdramas of 2022 with a success in terms of rating, because, look what I found an article on Soompi (https://www.soompi.com/article/1520474wpp/twenty-five-twenty-one-ends-on-its-highest-ratings-yet-forecasting-love-and-weather-sees-boost-for-finale) that 25-21 ended with a highest rating of 11.5%.

I totally agree with some of the above comments… that the writer had meant to illustrate young love, fleeting love, that even the best of loves can hang up their gloves and peter out under trying circumstances, and that is the realism of life, c’est la vie etc etc…

But problem is that they put NJH and KTR in the roles, and the conviction the 2 actors brought to their relationship just threw the fleeting love premise out of the window. It was no mere first love, crush or whatever you will.

The depth of their emotions, the sincerity of their feelings, the way they looked at each other, the joy and comfort they found in each other… it made me feel they could have overcome any and all odds, especially with such determined personalities.

But the script from the outset called for a ‘it was not meant to be, right person, wrong time, nothing is forever’ kind of ending, and thus the break-up was foisted upon the two.

It is a travesty to the relationship built by the 2 actors. No Baekdo but we can hv Jiwoong-Yurim?!?! Aren’t they first loves too? Sigh….

The end of the story does not make sense to me, because of Yi-jin. He falls in love with Hee-do not as a immature teenager, but as a young, yet already very responsible adult, he has had many girlfriends before. Over 14 episodes we were shown that his love for her is profound, deep and mature, not a crush or infatuation. And this he gives up - for what?

He is a sports journalist. I know of at least one sports journalist who got married to the star of 'her' sport, she still is the main presenter for this sport on TV. There is no outrage. The only real conflict would arise if the sport or sport star were corrupt. That was the problem between Hee-do's Mum and her coaching friend. There is no suggestion that this applies to Yu-rim or Hee-do.

Hee-do's character fits in with the first love story, she is a real teenager. So are Yu-rim and Ji-wong. That these two were allowed a happy ever just highlights how unbalanced the story of Yi-jin and Hee-do is.

The lesson of the drama seems to be that journalist cannot have relationships or get married to anybody in public life. I am sure that this was not the intention.

I disagree with this.

The writing is brilliant and consistent, and the execution, superb, and that is precisely what ultimately made this show a classic and a masterpiece.

From the beginning, everything pointed to the ending that HD and YJ wouldn't be the end game. The tone of the colors used, how the story is told as a narrative of the past, every little hint we got through each episode, I got it from the very beginning that the show wanted to portray fond memories of youth days shared by the leads. And what is more classic than the First Love or the Great Love of our lives? I think all of this makes sense as the protagonist is HD, and this is about her first love story: One that had the most impact, one that she thought was the love of her life, one that she poured all of her heart in, one that never worked out well in the end, but also one that has remained the bittersweet memory.

This is a realistic love story because more than you want to admit, this is how many great love stories ended. It wasn't the doing of any evil character, but just because it happened at the wrong time, or within the wrong circumstances. There was no one to blame for, but fate. No one can blame YJ or the downfall of his family (and sarcastically, without such downfall, would he even have met HD and had those great memories together?), and no one can blame any one of them in ANYTHING that happened to each of them or their relationship. It was what it was, and it is what it is. Was it fair for HD? No, it was not, but nothing in life ever is. What I love about her character is that she wanted to experience great first love, so she totally poured her heart into it. It was the love that she fell for YJ or every tiny inch of her heart, the love that ultimately didn't work out, and the love that she decided that it should end. It was her first love. Though it was bittersweet, you can see that she somehow couldn't move on emotionally until she got her diary back and saw what YJ wrote in it. He was also taking path in that farewell, and she wasn't the only one to blame all of this on. Even though the relationship would never work given the situations they were in during that point in time, it was her who initiated the idea of breaking up. It was true that both of them couldn't support each other at that moment in time, but it was the diary that gave a proper closure to HD after all those years. I hope she can now think of all those memories, sweet or bitter ones, as precious moments and can now move on emotionally.

Again, she would have a proper closure and wouldn't look like she was pining for him during their interview when YJ congratulated her on her wedding if only the bookshop owner remembered to deliver that notebook to her before YJ went to the States. Everything might have been different, but again, it didn't happen and there was nobody to blame for.

And the show also gave a parallel couple, YR and JW, to illustrate that some relationships also...

OMG!! I almost missed this post!! I have so many thoughts after that final episode lmao!!! Can hardly wait for the recap xD

About this hot take: initially I thought his death would have made more sense, but honestly it would have been so unfair?! They deserved to live their lives even if separately..Heedo would have been sooo heartbroken if he died!!! Just imagining that made me more upset than the end we got tbh!
But I do understand the sentiment! Absolutely

I just felt it was a nonsensical ending in comparison to the story in the first 13-4 episodes. Yes, people break up for all kinds of reasons, including not knowing how to make a long distance relationship work. But the pacing of the story and the present-day timeline just did not make sense at all. Adult Hee Do has absolutely zero in common with the Hee Do we watched for most of the drama. There is no sense that she learned and grew from that experience (heck, she doesn't even remember it!), no sense that she let go of something she kind of wanted to have something she REALLY wanted (in 2009 she's clearly still in love with BYJ in that video call), and there's no sense it's even the same person. She has no goals, no dreams, she doesn't seem to have a close relationship with her faceless husband (who, despite her reasons for breaking up with BYJ, is still somewhere long distance!), and she just doesn't seem to have any spark at all. So she had a wonderfully strong, supportive relationship when she was 21 and then at the height of loving each other, they just broke up? And the rest of her life went downhill after that? Her having all of BYJ's stuff would have made more sense if he had died, seriously. The message I got was not so much, "youth is a shining time of life, treasure it" as it was, "give up on your dreams because adulthood sucks." And after such a vibrant character as young Hee Do, it was just really hard to wrap my head around that outcome.

The acting was phenomenal, though.

Can som explain how Hee-Do's diary got sent to Yi-Jin?

This drama would have firmly found a spot in my top 5 of all time except for that ending. As someone else pointed out, they were good friends who could have made it through the tough patches. But instead both married other people (he had a ring on in that last scene)? It would make more sense if neither married.

✋ Stop with the pathetic excuses.
The ending sucks not only because they didn’t end up together, they can leave that in.
It is the worst because ALL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, ESTABLISHED PERSONALITY TRAITS were thrown to the GARBAGE BIN.
All important questions were left unanswered, everything was RUSHED, FORCED AND CONTRIVED like their budget was slashed 100% to make a better ending deserving of the 8 weeks people put into a drama about COMING OF AGE… instead we get, MELODRAMA, “NOW WE’RE BREAKING UP” bs.
If you’re a fan of the ending and see nothing wrong of it and believe 2521 is an International Treasure joining the ranks of other more COMPLETE and BELOVED dramas, you do you and whatever you’re on.
B U T… RESPECT THE MAJORITY.
WE ARE THE MAJORITY.
AND WE HATE THIS ENDING.
#GameOfThrones_2521
#NeverAgainTVN
#TwentyFiveTwentyOneFinaleGarbage

No. Not really. Yes, I'm still sad that my ship BaekDo never got back together and we didn't even get a glimpse of the squad in the present day but... no. I'm still not disappointed. The story still did the characters justice and it stayed true to the essence of the drama. I'd watch this a hundred - no - a thousand times over the "happy" ending we got from DoDoSol.

7.7? The ratings keep dropping.

100% Disagree

The finale was consistent with what the drama has been since the beginning, and that was a heartfelt look back at good times with friends/people we love. Not all relationships last, especially ones forged while we're growing up, but that doesn't make them any less meaningful. Hee-do and Yi-jin didn't need to end up happily married for that love and support to matter. People like that will always be part of your life, because they helped you become who you are today.

It's important to love yourself and do what's best for you, and sometimes it means letting go of a love you would have had to make excuses and sacrifices to preserve. It's not fair to either person in the relationship, even though it hurts

It's not everyone's cup of tea, to not have a happily ever after. I'm sad, but not disappointed. And we knew from the beginning what we were in for. To have all the characters continuing on with their lives and having these memories to revisit and smile about is happy enough an ending for me

I couldn't disagree more. An ending where Yi-jin died tragically would have had me raging. While I think the breakup maybe should have happened an episode earlier, I thought it made sense. Right person, wrong time, horrible circumstances and lots of baggage. Their love was deep but sometimes those hurt the most. Hee-do was mature enough to end it before they could hurt each other more and have love turn to hate.

When they broke up, Hee-do said something about how they had people in common and would undoubtedly run into each other. I liked the tunnel scene at the end, but instead of that, maybe present Hee-do and Yi-jin should have run into each other on the street and said hello, like Hee-do predicted way back then. It would have been a way to show both of them okay and at peace.

As far as Ji-woong and Yoo-rim making it when their love wasn't shown to be as deep? That might have worked in their favor. They had different circumstances and different baggage. Ji-woong was shown as a simple, loyal guy. I can see how they worked out.

I have thoughts. Not really in a particular order.

1. I said many times in the last 15 minutes of ep. 16, "This is beautiful, and I hate it."
2. I love that Hee-do made this choice for herself. I know that it can also be "realistic" for the couple to make the distance work, etc. But she was honest. After growing up with her mom missing out on important life moments both big and small, she didn't want that for herself in a life partner. Even her mom questions her about that because she know how hard it was on her and how many scars it left. Yes, they probably could have "made it work" but she didn't want that. Hee-do wanted a different kind of life for herself, and I respect her clear sight. If they'd stayed together, it's most likely that they would have built up so many resentments that it could not be overcome. This is the main difference between NHD/BYJ and the 2nd OTP. Those guys don't have childhood scars about this, and they chose careers that weren't going to continually have a crazy schedule after they are reunited. I think a view of them in 2004/2005 would have been helpful.
3. I do think the writer could have brought us around to this ending better. I really like the movie On Our Wedding Day even though it has a similar ending. I think it does a better job of showing the cracks forming and we see that everyone is ultimately happy at the end. With the way the last 2 eps were structured, we didn't really get to feel that this was a couple who'd been in a two year dating relationship. It felt like they gave up on something still new.
3b. I do have a hard time reconciling the OTP at the end of the series with the one from the first 6 episodes. How is being in NYC and faced with the tragedy of 9/11 (very sad thought it was) worse than losing your family, your career plans and feeling utterly alone like BYJ was at the beginning of our series? Hee-do's support reached him then, why didn't it reach him in NYC? That seems off to me. Those phone booth voice mail listening marathons were so touching, but I'm supposed to believe that they now don't know how to share their hardships? That's what I have the hardest time reconciling.
4. I don't think that getting a little misty about seeing your first love after a long time, or remembering them fondly as your first love when you retrieve a lost password means that you've been longing for them and unfulfilled by the other relationships you've formed. I think it's ridiculous to think that people will only love a single other human and if it doesn't work out will not be able to love another.
5. Hee-do has always been able to connect and love people. I don't think the adult version of her is so different that she'd settle for a loveless marriage. She goes after what she wants, even when it's hard. If she'd really wanted that life with Yi-jin, she would have gone after it. I'm going to assume that she loves her husband with the same...

For me, it made sense, every last bit of it. This was never supposed to be a story about first love that reached a bright ending. We knew from on set Na Hee Do has a daughter she is raising alone with a different surname and we were given clues that Baek Yi Jin is around yet not in Na Hee Do's life. I expected this. I know the ending hurt to watch but from NaHee Do's perspective, it made sense. She grew up with a journalist who wasn't there for her emotionally to the extent she needed her. Signing up for that in her partner probably wasn't something she would want. Also, the biggest obstacle to Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin story has always been time. Love needs more than feelings, you need time on your side. Baek Yi Jin and Na Hee Do kept getting in these conflicts when timing couldn't be more against them. Hee Do prioritized her emotional needs and I don't think it was a bad thing. It was a real thing. Also, after breaking up, meeting MinChae's father, marrying him, having Min Chae, her marriage not lasting....Na Hee Do went through a lot even after the break up. It made her more mature, wiser. So, for her to look back in her past to those lazy, colorful summers she had spent becoming a successful athlete, making friends, being carefree, laughing, crying with her group, meeting Yi Jin....its also realistic that she will view it as bittersweet yet a very special, loving moment in time. Does she have regrets, yes. Does she still look back fondly to those moments, yes. Yi Jin is her one that got away, we will never find out what she meant to Yi Jin, maybe Hee Do was his one that got away. But it doesn't matter because this is Hee Do's story. A Diary or journal is hardly a multi perspective device. So, ending was perfect. It hurt me but it did but I am still happy with this ending. Overall, it was a great drama....it had a little bit of issues here and there...(9/11 reaction on tv, side eyeing that) but I still loved it. 8/10 from me.

Gosh, I'm still upset about the ending. I fell in love with the character of Na Hee-do, who was so vibrant and so positive. One of my favorite lines was when she said she just got such joy from fencing- and I felt that in her acting. So I think to see her in the future as this version I can't recognize really hit me hard, and the ending only made me more upset because she didn't seem happy. And she seemed like a character who would make her happiness. She made her happiness even with a non-existent mom as a child. I think she would have made it work with BYJ. But putting aside that, if the writers had made her happy in the present - yes, I remember that beach trip, remember when we went with your father, let's go now too! - let's really live in this present. If they had instead of shown solitary woodworking in a shop that seemed to be called 2521, they had shown her teaching students happily with joy, laughing etc. I would have been much happier about the ending. I think casting a different adult actress was a huge mistake.

I'm going to save my longer comment for the official recap, but I've been reading the Internet's reactions and I feel like there's a very clear split in reactions based on age.

Younger viewers seem aghast, incredulous, and angry at how two (young) people who are so in love couldn't make it work, while older viewers seem more accepting and understanding of how things shook out between the OTP.

After reading all these comments, I think while the main controversy is over the Heed-do and YiJin's breakup, the main point of the original hot take is being lost, which is not that the ending was unhappy in terms of the relationship. After all, we knew from the beginning they weren't going to be together! Instead, the hot take was that the ending was vague and dissatisfying. That means that those of us are not against the message that "they had a beautiful relationship that left a profound impact on their lives and then they drifted apart" its that "we're NOT SURE what impact, good or bad it had on their lives." I think the writer or the show owed us a little reflection from both the characters, or some sort of deeper sign of impact other than the naming of the shop.

For me, it partly goes back to the problem with the casting--whereas "young" Hee-do was a vibrant, brilliantly acted character, in comparison, the old Hee-do was kind of drab and uninteresting.

And then there is the one other, minor question I had about the present day--maybe I missed the answer last night-- I was a little tired watching the end. What is the story of Hee-do's husband? Is there a reason he seems so little a part of Hee-do's life today? Are they divorced? Is he in fact dying of Covid? But wouldn't that be a major concern for her? Anyway, I realize he was not the point, but still it was another thing I was kind of dissatisfied about.

Anyway, I appreciated a great deal of this show, some moving scenes, and a low-key tragic narrative that perfectly fit the times of a financial disaster, 9-11, and the pandemic, but I would argue pretty strongly that the ending was NOT successful. It doesn't mean that the show wasn't good--obviously many here are passionate about it as the best kdrama ever--to me, it just means that there is also a reason for dissatisfaction beyond the fate of the Hee-do and Yijin relationships.

In fact since there were a lot of theories flying around as the show was proceeding--that was really kind of fun and funny, a sign of the shows overall success, let me put forward this theory: the writer was caught between the present day framing imperative of dropping little hints of something dramatic happening at the end, in order to keep people watching (which was very successful) and her real intent, which was to show a brief time in the lives of young people and how their relationships evolved and fell apart, through no fault of their own. But there was a contradiction between those two narrative strategies, that was not satisfactorily resolved. Anyway, thanks to Dramabeans and its commentators for adding to the viewing experience!

Strange thought: I wonder if I could have accepted Hee do dying with everyone else’s lives being beautifully enriched by her optimism and life… I kind of think so because she was the driving force that changed their lives and that would have been a bittersweet ending for me.

Brilliant coming of age show, I am not sure why there are so many brickbats when the script only focused approx 20% of the show's time on the BaekDo romance, and there so many other storylines covered and things going on. For example from epsiodes 10 onwards for me the major plotlines focused on Hee-do's relationship with her Mom, the friendships, support, interactions within the group, Seung-Wan's struggles, Yurim's tragedy, the very touching Yurim/Heedo relationship culiminating in the Madrid 2001 final etc.

The last 15-20 mins really summarized what the show was about, about the poignant moments of the life you had (at 25/21, 22/18 etc), the moments you feel invincible and that your life, love, friendships will just go on and on forever, and this is the beginning of happiness. You may not remember any of it (as the adult Hee-do did not remember the beach outing), but it dosent matter as long as you once had it, and it was important to you at the time. It dosent matter who is Hee-Do's current husband and we don't need to see him.

Overall, superb acting, great chemistry between the cast, brilliant directing and interweaving of drama, comedy and romance, an OST that knocks it out of the park, close to perfect !

I loved it and thought the ending was perfect.

DISAGREE!!! A TRAGIC DEATH IS NEVER A BETTER ENDING. Not in dramas, not in real life. People change and I like to think that Heedo and Yejin can still get together in the future. That's the nice thing about the ending. We know that Heedo is separated from her husband, and she doesn't do well with separations, so there's a chance. I'm glad her daughter got to see how vibrant her mother was through those diaries, because as some has stated, the Heedo of the present is totally different from Heedo of the past. This kind of reminds me of Hello? It's Me, where we saw how trauma can totally change a person from their carefree teenaged self into a shell of a human being. Not to say Heedo is a shell, just that she's changed. I've changed. How I act around my college friends is totally different than how I act with my colleagues and middle aged friends. I would have changed the ending, though, but I'll write about that later.

I actually have only watched Nam Joohyuk in two dramas before this. School 2015 and Weightlifting Fairy. And I am not a fan of both his characters there. I was skeptical to watch 2521 because of that. But since I don't know what else to watch and also because I know the song 2521 I decided to give it a try. And I'm really happy I did, because I fell in love with Joohyuk's character here. I instantly knew I will want him in Heedo's life and not with anyone else (if ever there will be a second lead but there's none). But when Yijin becomes a reporter I already know that things will change because we all know how Heedo's mom is. And by the last two episodes I feel sad for Heedo but I can't fully get mad at Yijin. I feel weird because I really can't blame him but I also believe that Heedo deserve more than that. More than him and the relationship they were now having. If it was the old Yijin I 100 percent would want them to be together but with the 25 year old Yijin? I am not sure. It would not be right to ask him to give up his career and helping other people. So eventhough it sucks. I think the two of them breaking up is better. Heedo won't be hurt more and Yijin can still keep his job knowing he will not hurt Heedo anymore. Lol I only realized how I feel about the ending now that I wrote this.

My hot takes on the ending:

1. Yi Jin should have friend-zoned Hee-Do, right after the NYE kiss-capade. Because his belief 'nothing good will ever last' came true.
2. When a platonic bond is as wholesome as the one Yi-Jin and Hee-Do shared for 11 eps, we do not need to see it turn romantic. Why dangle a bone in front of the dog, after a 25k marathon, only to snatch it away after two sniffs? -_-
3. The episodes were purposely shot in a way which cat-fished (a lot of us) into believing this ended with Yi-Jin & Hee-Do together, even if Yi-Jin wasn't Dad.
4. The fact that the couple who we spent 80% lesser time bonding with, ended up surviving the Russia-Korea Long Distance Relationship, while the main one didn't, is such a twisted pay-off.
5. The nihilistic tone of the 2022 timeline (nothing matters, everybody drifts apart) is such a dismal tone for the show to take. Feel like two completely different stories mashed together (read above: point about catfishing)

I wish the show was either 20 episodes, or took time to portray the breakup and their separate lives in future over last 3-4 episodes of the 16 episodes. We got so less to see about the FL and ML post-breakup that it feels incomplete!

I know there will be no S2 with these two characters, but the amazing chemistry between KTR and NJH sure deserves another show but with them ending up together. That will forever be in my wishlist.