Just a stunning show, and I felt it really nailed the ending.

I agree the one line a few weeks back about not remembering the beach trip is weird (though even at the time I thought she was lying about it from the delivery).

Overall though, I think the last few episodes heightened my appreciation for the framing device. It gives us our entry, if frames for us early on that this is going to be about just a period (the reading from a diary trope) and it set people up to know going in that the main couple wasn't going to last (now from twitter it seems that despite the writer making it clear up front and many times throughout the run that they weren't together, some people still thought there would be some crazy soap opera twist). But also the framing lets them spell out the lessons through the parallels between mother and daughter, between the current crisis and the one of the past, AND the differences... the way that Hee-do's relationship with her daughter is different, and how that effects her daughter.
I even love the idea that the story (drama) ends because it's time for her daughter to stop reading about her mother's adventures and living her own.

I adore this writer, I can't wait for her next project, she's now 2 for 2 in really great character studies of women and their relationships not just with male love interests, but with friends, mentors, and their careers, something too rare in the K-drama world.

@mistyisles This was a vary gracious recap. Thank you for that.
This was a beautiful show and I'm not sorry I watched it.

Everything about this show did what it was supposed to do. I cared deeply about all the characters. From the music to the setting, the timeline, all of it. What affected me the most was not the ending, but the way they portrayed 9-11. I lived that moment. I was in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend (now, husband) then. Something like that either draws two people together or splits them apart. I knew it was the beginning of the end by that point. Baek Ye-Jin is all out depressed with PTSD in NYC. It’s super sad. And Hee-do was ascending to the pinnacle of her career. Not one person can take a back seat. Both are selfish, but need to be. I get why Hee-do couldn’t stay with him at that point. I hope they get together again in the future now that she is divorced.

This show did a lot of things to me. As a college and graduate-aged student of the timeline described during this show, I’m exactly their age now. It reminded me of those feelings that were long forgotten since. People I cared for so deeply and when I reconnected with them a few years ago, I just was reminded how deeply. But it was long forgotten. I understand that. And now I love someone else even more deeply of that makes any sense. But the winner of the most heart-rending breakup ever in a kdrama has to be these two. And kudos to NJH and KTR for making me bawl into my husband’s chest afterwards. I was not okay. But I’m getting there now. Bravo!!!

This is a drama that will stay with me for a long ttime

I’m exhausted by the debate about Yi-jin and Hee-do’s break up, so I will just say I found it realistic and leave it at that for now.

As far as Hee-do telling Min-chae that she didn’t remember the trip, I always assumed she was lying because she didn’t want to talk about it. The fact that she referenced that summer at the end after getting her closure just reinforced that for me.

Even though we knew the outcome of the Madrid match, I thought that whole sequence was extremely compelling. Hee-do and Yoo-rim’s tearful embrace was one of the best moments in this drama. I also loved Yoo-rim and Hee-do’s scene at Hee-do’s retirement press conference.

I really liked Yi-jin and Seung-wan’s scene at her father’s funeral. I wish we’d gotten more of them throughout the series because it felt like they had a lot in common. I hope Seung-wan had a lot of fun with his brother.

I was a little disappointed Seung-wan became a PD on a variety program since she seemed destined to become an activist. After I thought about it, I decided it made sense. She was always looking for something fun, and I can see how a job on a variety program probably sounded like fun. The reality, on the other hand …

I always felt sad that Yi-jin ended up with a career he really didn’t like, but despite the hard time he had in New York covering 9/11, he seemed to have finally found his purpose. I really liked the scene in the café with the firefighter. The actor was actually good! I hope Yi-jin took Hee-do’s advice and went to therapy instead of using alcohol and cigarettes to cope. He seemed like he was in a good place in 2009. Jae-kyung recommending him for the anchor position was nice, and I’m happy for Yi-jin that be finally succeeded in reuniting his family.

I probably am the only one who isn't bothered by adult Hee Do revisiting that tunnel. Having a one that got away hardly means you are doomed with an eternity of unhappiness. Yi Jin will always have a spot in her heart as her first love, her first heartbreak and first regret. Despite that, it is possible to find love, be happily married or happily married for a while than divorced, still be at peace, have a child. Na Hee Do didn't get what she needed from Baek Yi Jin when she was 21 emotionally and Baek Yi Jin too needed something different at 25 than what Hee Do could offer. So, they drifted apart despite love, shared connections. I have moved far away from home in my mid twenties, I understood both. I have lost love, friendships while chasing my dreams, I have regrets....yet I am not unhappy. I guess for me, the way I am reacting to the ending is because I relate to this. I know we want neat, with a bow on top ending....but life isn't about neat endings....you win some, you loose some, you curve out a life, with some luck a happy one. The moments of youth is a comfort to some, a burden to some....its a mixed bag. Look at Yoo Rim, her entire teen years was being in a pressure cooker but she did find stability later on and her love endured. With Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin, it was different. Both stories can exist and both felt real to me. I will conclude by saying, this is still a great drama. I loved every second of watching these teens, young adults grow. A round of applause for the team, cast, crew for delivering a good drama.

Thanks for the final 25-21 weecap, @mistyisles! I love this most beautiful write-up ever!

I totally loved this show and even the final two episodes as well! Nam Joo-hyuk and Kim Tae-ri still fell in love for me! And in terms of ratings, it became not only one of the best Kdramas of 2022 but sometimes, all time. After the laughs, the tears and even some memorable OST, this Kdrama deserved to be the best one. Thank you, show! I love the OST included With by the main five cast of this Kdrama and this song sounded great and totally amazing when I enjoyed listening.

I knew and I found out that Hanbyeok Tunnel was the real-life 25-21 tunnel. (https://www.dramabeans.com/activity/p/1308740)

I have no issue with the end and the choice of separating our leads. I'm surprised by the ton they chose. The title is inspired by the song of Jaurim 25,21 that adressed a break-up. The plot was kinda misleading because it said that the heroes met a first time, then met later... So I assumed it was when they were 21 and 25 years old. My bad. So they chose a title that is a very sad (but beautiful song) :

Twenty-five, Twenty-one
In the season where flowers wither in the wisping wind
I can still feel the touch of your hand
At that time, I couldn't deeply understand
Even then, the flowers were still beautiful
Oh~ your fragrance carried in the wind
Oh~ I thought it would last forever, twenty-five, twenty-one

The sea on that day, calm and gentle
I can still feel your hand grabbing mine
In the shattering warmth of the sun, you and me
To cool my chest, I dreamed
Oh~ the song that day, carried in the wind
Oh~ I thought it would last forever, that passing day, just you and me

Your voice, your eyes
The warmth of your body
The more I recollect, the farther it escapes
Scattering, I can't cling on

In the season where flowers wither in the wisping wind
I can still feel the touch of your hand
At that time, I couldn't deeply understand
Even then, the flowers were still beautiful

Oh~ your fragrance carried in the wind
Oh~ I thought it would last forever, twenty-five, twenty-one
Oh~ the song that day, carried in the wind
Oh~ I thought it would last forever, that passing day, just you and me

Oh~
Oh~
Oh~ I thought it would last forever, twenty-five, twenty-one.
Twenty-five, twenty-one

My issue is this choice after all they're only 21 and 25 years old. First love is beautiful but it's not the end, just a new beginning. The last 2 episodes were heavy but Hee-Do was right, it wasn't the fault of anybody, it was just life. I think the present parts failed to show us the new start that Hee-Do did in her life. They showed us how adulthood is bitter instead to show us how it could be, especially knowing Hee-Do's pure personality.

Overall, it was beautiful drama, I loved the direction of the show. The actors were great, especially Kim Tae-Ri. She was incredible in this role. For once, I liked NJH in a role. They had a good chemistry, it's kinda sad we didn't get more lovely moments between them. The rest of the squad was good and the friendship between the girls was really one of my favourite part!

OMG BUT THE EPILOGUE WHERE WE SEE (not his face tho) ADULT YI JIN! I was still hoping they'd do a last minute reveal of Hee do's husband. Or that they're actually still together 😭😭

This was such a beautiful story, and despite the tears, I'm not at all disappointed in the ending. I really admire the writer for sticking to the path she laid out from the start. I love that there was a bigger story for everyone outside of their romance, and those relationships between friends, patents, and mentors also got to shine. I love the characters and how sympathetic they all were. Even when things hurt, you could understand why someone acted the way they did. And we got to share in their happiness ❤️ The cast was incredible, especially Kim Tae-ri and Nam Joo-hyuk who totally nailed those roles

I could write a novel of a comment but in short this drama just hit all the right notes for me, even if some of them were sad. An extra bonus was that it made me remember my own friendships that faded, and take some time to truly wish the best for those people in whatever they're doing now

I just wanna give a shout-out to the actor who played the fireman again too haha, his performance was so natural and you don't really see that often in k-dramas 😄

Oh man. I need time and then some to fully digest this entire show. I'm going to be mulling over the ending for a while, but for now I'll write down my more cohesive thoughts.

2521 was bitter(sweet). I’m having trouble deciding if it’s bitter or bittersweet. The writer had a POV from the start (which all good writers and stories must have), and I am very happy she stuck to it even though it would bring audience outcry. Writer should not be held hostage to audience whim. The non-endgame was strongly hinted at from the beginning, but viewers wanted a happy ending so bad they were deep in denial until the final minutes.

I strongly believe that the reaction to the ending basically breaks down by age group . I see a lot of comments questioning how it’s possible that two people who were so in love, who could be soulmates, couldn’t make it work. But that’s actually the tale of most(?) love stories. In real life, love doesn’t conquer all and sometimes love is not enough. People don’t end up with their soulmates (or even find their soulmates). People break up over trivial things, especially when they’re in their 20s.

NHD and BYJ were in love, but it wasn’t enough. They were at different stages in life, wanted different things in life, could not communicate properly with each other, didn’t want to fight for their love, didn’t know how to fight for their love. They wouldn’t have lasted even if BYJ didn’t go to NYC.

There are complaints that adult NHD seems unhappy and lost all her youthful spark, but I also found that painfully real. People do not retain their youthful exuberance through the years. The grind of day-to-day living beats exuberance out of you. As an adult, one of the hardest pills to swallow is how mundane, almost dreary, life turns out to be compared to the colorful, rosy fantasies of your youth. That depressing contrast between expectations and reality is enough to send people spiraling into midlife crises and running to the nearest therapist office. It's something something my friends and I really struggled to reconcile with in our 20s. I don’t think NHD is necessarily unhappy, I just think she’s now an adult. Again, it's painfully real.

Ultimately, 2521 was an ode to the halcyon days of youth and the impermanence of things. It beautifully depicted the INTENSITY of youthful emotions and experiences, and the eventual passing of that time period, memories, and relationships (romantic and platonic). You feel things so intensely when you're young, but that intensity fades with time (which is why I found it believable that NHD forgot the beach trip). I commend the writer for pulling this off and going against kdrama expectations.

Definetely shot up to my top 5. One thing I want to put it out there regarding their breakup. I think both Yi jin and Hee do are idealists. Many were saying that they could've tried harder to stay in the relationship. But I feel that both know that the relationship is coming to an end and even if they again get back they may breakup again leading to much more ugly fights. Maybe they wanted to keep their relationship as the pure love they were sharing which is supporting each other from afar. I wish my first love remained as ideal as that.
And I think Hee do definetely lied to Min chae about that summer. And she maybe is in touch with the gang just that Min chae does'nt know. My parents lost touch with their college friends and only when I was a teenager did I came to know that they had friends in their youth when they looked up for everyone when facebook first started. And it was like they were back to their youth joking and laughing.
Having a hard time to come out of this drama. Kudos to the entire cast and crew and special wishes to Nam Joo Hyuk for making a strong comeback after Start up.
Special shout out to beanies who make every kdrama experience infinitely better.

Quite glad that there was a hot take before this post. I could understand the other pov. Though, I still am satisfied by the ending, I understand people who think the execution was poor or the actors brought the characters to life in such a spectacular way that they became more than 2 people who had to break up from the get go on paper. With all that, we shouldn't forget how amazing the drama has been in its entire run. It was a rainbow, really. Dramas like these come by rarely where each episode leaves you with warmth. Maybe I would've been more satisfied or the drama would've been more memorable had the two stayed together but nonetheless, it was an ending I was expecting all the way, so atleast I wasn't hurt.

25 21 is a gem overall. There are very few shows that portray women so well and also ignite ambition. I mean we're technically watching charcters fencing but whenever they played, it hyped me up so much that I wanted to do sth challenging too. Well, I did not proceed with that but at least, as the characters lived their life to the fullest, you want to do the same.

Lastly, every actor and every character was brilliant. I don't remember the last time a drama had a fleshed out character for each secondary or tertiary lead. I can tell you how Baek Yihyun is, his parents are, SW's mom is, even JW's mom is because even through dialogue we know well enough about them.

That said, for some reason I don't feel whole. It's not the hole left by the show but of what could've been or maybe just because it hits too close to home, how youth leaves and reality plus adulthood enters.

Show, you are amazing from start to finish. Though you broke my heart to pieces with how it ended. I do hope a day will come that I can rewatch these episodes without feeling the pain I felt in those break up scenes. Nevertheless, KTR and NJH were both amazing as Hee-do and Yi-jin. And I'll remember this OTP for what it is, youthful and pure love.

'm with @mistyisles here. I'm going to ignore the present day segments because it's confusion and disconnect. And in that sense, I'm glad present-day hee do was not Kim Tae Ri! lol

This drama is definitely high up on my favourites list despite the bittersweet ending. It's not the kdrama ending I wanted but I had accepted it because it's real life. And if there's one thing Twenty Five Twenty One was consistent with, it was delivering doses of real life so poignantly.

What got me so invested in this show is the bond that Hee Do and Yi Jin shared. Their friendship was built on something so pure and so rare. These are two people who respected, supported and wished only nothing for each other but the very best. It was only natural to try out being more, being lovers. And to me, though they might've lost the romantic aspect of love, I think the deep friendship aspect of love stood the test of time. Saved by that goodbye at the bus stop, and as seen through that news interview! I'm so thankful for that.

I also just have to say, Nam Joo Hyuk and Kim Tae Ri owned Baek Yi Jin and Na Hee Do. What a perfect casting. I hope this is not the last project I see them together in. These two on screen created magic. ♥️💙

I love you, I'll remember you, TWENTY FIVE TWENTY ONE!

What a lovely drama. Also what a choice to not show the anyone in the future except the 3 generations of women. It was a show about nostalgia and how we remember things. The diary being returned to her at the end was a nice touch as well. Brava to the director, writers, actors, and crew. 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

As I thought about this series, I was reminded of Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol. Both were great up until episode 14 and then both went off the rails for me. DDSSLLS would struggle on for six more episodes, throwing every damn trope out there before a very weird and ambiguous ending, and 2521 followed its lead. Someone made the point, which was very perceptive, that the ML and FL's acting and chemistry didn't match the fate given them. I agree.

Overall I really loved this show. There were so many sweet and touching moments and the cast was just spectacular! Especially Kim Tae-Ri – what a performance!
I did not - however - enjoy these last two episodes. And not because I was disappointed that the relationship ended (I was one of the people who was kind of hoping for a more realistic ending) but because of the many parts in these episodes that didn't work for me.
Episode 15 started out strong and by the time 9/11 happened (lol I am sorry but I had joked to my friend before that that's what was going to break up the lead couple…who'd have thought) I was starting to check out from the back and forth. I think realism is nice but the audience doesn't need two hours of suffering and will-they-won't-they shenanigans. Many of the strong parts in this series were left without any resolution in favor of showing us Hee-Do and Yi-jin crying, staring into the void and remembering their good times together. The strength of this show was not constantly showing us past scenes that we'd already seen but always moving forward. What a pity that so much precious time was wasted with these recollections in the end.
I would have loved to see more interactions between Hee-Do and her mother and Hee-Do and her daughter in the end. The daughter in particular unfortunately just stayed a framing device.
Maybe I am just mad that this show has ended and I wanted to see more of everyone! Still one of the best K-Dramas I have seen in quite a while. I might check out Search:WWW by this writer and see if it can fill the 2521 shaped hole!

I really wanted to watch this drama, but couldn’t find time. I started watching mid last week and I was hooked. I caught up before the finale. Up to second half of episode 14, when foreshadowing finally struck me, I loved everything about it. Wonderful leads and side characters, time period, production, OST. Kim Tae-ri and Nam-Joo-Hyuk are so good in these roles and their characters so lovable. The intensity of emotions… I acutely felt every bump in their path and every happy moment. It was one of the best written stories I’ve seen.
But the ending! What just happened? So, the writer is trying to give us a realistic ending? Hee-Do and Yi-Jin’s love is set up as pure and eternal. They respect and care for each other. They are both decent people with strong will. Isn’t it out of character that they don’t want to fight for their love? Yes, it could happen under pressure of circumstances. The toll the NY assignment is taking on Yi-Jin is so real and well shown. But I don’t watch kdramas for reality, but for hope that good people get good things. K-drama shouldn’t be about people who don’t make it, but about the ones who win against the odds. If it ends like this, it should have been a story of how Mr Kim and Na Hee-Do ended up together, despite her being hang up on some ex boyfriend, even after their wedding, and even with Mr Kim being absent and abroad for who knows how long.
Beautiful drama, that is going to be very hard for me to re-watch.

Actually, I'm really content with how it ended. We knew from the start that Yi-jin was someone who felt deeply, strove to alleviate others' suffering and so on, and therefore his reaction to 9/11 made complete sense to me. He would not be able to walk away from that, and although he loved Hee-do to pieces and desperately tried to keep making it work, he couldn't abandon his cause. I particularly liked the way Hee-do didn't become angry and incriminating with him, but slowly, slowly realised that the relationship was on a trajectory to unhappiness and bitterness (as she's experienced with her mother) and that it was time to stop. It was *so refreshing* to see a beautiful first love that ended and all parties moved on rather than having to return to each other.

Personally, I would have removed all the current day parts. We didn't need Min-chae as a narrator, and mother/grandmother additions did very little to endear us to them or help us understand. I loved the idea that Yi-jin found her diary, read her perspective on the break up, wrote a response - how much he valued and appreciated what they had - and then sent it back to her. I would have left it with Yi-jin's voiceover on what he had written and possibly the shop owner eventually finding the diary and dropping it round to the house much later, but no more. For me, the main point was that the first love was beautiful and meaningful and triumphant while it lasted, but wasn't destined to be permanent. We didn't need the present day reactions to grasp and appreciate that.

KTR was unbelievably good - she simply did not put a foot wrong. The way NJH beamed at her conveyed so much - this was a great performance from him. Loved the drama, "Your Existence" will be living in my head for months (so beautiful, so *exactly* right), and loved the beanie chat - thanks all!

Last week I kept asking myself if it was just fans being collectively delusional to believe that all the hints were there to mislead them, or it was the writer being too ambiguous...still no clue tbh! ahaha!

Just shortly before ep 15 and 16 finally aired, the situation was getting quite ridiculous: between the "congratulation for your wedding" scene, and the production releasing various statements and previews trying to heavily hint to (..or more like directly spoil lol) the upcoming breakup, reading of all the crazy theories was quite the experience! xD

As for me, that frenzy definitely led me to think a "happy ending" might still be possible, though I could not buy any theory tbh. So I was actually expecting a breakup.
But honestly when I saw how they used 9/11 events as a catalyst for their separation I was disappointed...after that it was pretty much downhill for me.
I can understand why Heedo and Yijin behaved like they did afterwards (btw, great scenes and great acting there!), but I did not like the circumstances that brought them there, it felt too contrived to me. It seems like I'm the only one feeling like this, though ahah!

I was never truly in love with the show, more a casual watcher, though I did genuinely enjoy some parts. Overall I had fun, it was a nice watch, just not truly satisfying.
I do wish some things were different, but it was not my story to tell, after all, I can only accept what it is. ^^

I loved it. It was a very realistic breakup portrayal. HD and YR made me cry tears of happiness every time I saw them together. SW stayed cool and finally got with YJ’s brother. And YR and JW made it through (they’re the counterfactual to YJ and HD).

Why we needed the Covid storyline is still not cemented for me. And the 9/11 stuff really bothered me. But I guess it was all to show that life is one disaster after another (IMF crisis, 9/11 (with the mention of Sampoong before it), Covid pandemic). We just have to keep moving through it.

I ended up disliking YJ over the course of the last two episodes. And it has to do with the setup of his motivations. HD was more emotionally mature than he was. And he was not being totally honest with her (or himself) about his time in NY covering 9/11. He said he was depressed and didn’t want to burden her with it and that is why he didn’t contact her. But the other thing is that it gave him something by being there—it sparked his ambition. He applied for a position in NY because (as he told his sunbae) he felt like he could be a real reporter there.
Last week I was writing about the setup of motives as having to choose between love and money but that is not what this is about. Not for YJ anyway. He saw something bigger and wanted something bigger.

Anyway, truly lovely writeup MistyIsles! Especially that last paragraph 💙

2 months ago, I first wrote that I had no idea what I was getting into, and even after episode 1, still wasn’t sure where we were headed, but that I was charmed enough by that first ep to want to stick on for the ride.

2 months [and many shrieks, yells, LOLs n a whole rollercoaster of insane thoughts n emotions!] later - still knocked out by KTR & NJH absolutely amazing performances, they were both just so radiant and standout for me! KTR and her 100% [almost un]believable transformation into an 18yo, and such a lovely gem of a character in NHD. NJH’s solid restrained acting, puppy eyes n awfully hilarious slapstick comedy (never knew he had it in him!!?). And the casting n performance of the other 3 - just so, so beautiful n sensitive, too.

But… all of the philosophizing aside that I’ve read on the weekly DB reviews, can I just say I’m just utterly, super duperly, immensely bummed out by the ending! I feel so unjustly robbed, n just not convinced at all that it was absolutely necessary. Why, writer-nim and PD-nim, why!! Why would u rob our Heedo and Yijin tooooo… sigh, I wish I was as mature as some of the Beanies here 😂, but nooooope, I just simply hated it! Not sure what is going to cure my brokenheart, any suggestions..? 😭😂 (besides trying to find a lil solace from reading Beanies’ remarks and imaginarily hi5-ing some of u!!) #bruised #sore #burnt #gottooinvested🥺

Poor Minchae, reading the most gorgeous and compelling live story ever and deeply rooting for her mom to end up with… um, someone other than her dad. That’s sad.

I absolutely loved it. One of the most beautiful rendition of first love I’ve seen on screen. On the contrary, I don’t think it was realistic? How many of us have been blessed with such first love? I wish my first love was like that!

I thought it was brilliant how they portrayed the break-up. I could clearly see why they couldn’t be together and didn’t stay in touch. They also didn’t waste time showing irrelevant stuff like who Min Chae’s father was. I also like that they left a bit of ambiguity on whether Yi Jin found someone else or was married in the present time. I would like to think he did 😊

Nevertheless I’m still reeling from the heartbreak and been feeling very melancholic ever since. Been a long time since a drama/movie has affected me as such. Tried watching some fluffy and lighthearted stuff but to no avail 😥

Being a kdrama watcher I adjusted my expectation when present day storyline showed leadinglady’s daughter named Kim Min Chae and leading guy’s name was Baek Yijin. Only by doing that was able to fully enjoy the drama as a watcher seeing youths having such passionate first love story and living life to its full youthful experience by having lovely group of friends.

As we know once most reach full adulthood/working life our younger day friends brcome ppl we may at most see few times a year at most as circle of friends constantly change as we grow older.

But the who reason we watch kdramas is that it gives us hope that our OTP survives all trial and tribulation whatever struggles thrown at them.Looking at those chaebol and candy heroines stories which leave us in fantasy world of expectation.

But 25 21 is rooted firmly in slice of drama,youthful day and first love passionate story.

This morning I was trying to copy some notes for work, and as soon as I grabbed my notebook I remembered Heedo's diary and the tears just freaking came. Not many dramas give me that kind of aftermath, lol.

I'm in the minority (?) who found the whole thing satisfying and solidly written from start to end. I even liked the inclusion of a present-day narrative. It answers the question "So what? What's the point of these backstories (other than give us pain after pain)?" and gave Minchae a renewed spark to try ballet again and find adventures of her own. (I also thought it was funny that adult Heedo was played by someone else when Kim Taeri is literally closer to her age irl lol, but I digress)

What tugged my heartstrings though was Yijin's finding genuine purpose in a profession that he took as just a means to earn a living. It takes a lot of grit and drive to stay in journalism and these days I feel like society often takes it for granted. It was disheartening to see a lot of comments not understanding why Yijin took that foreign correspondent job, one of the very few decisions he's made for himself. Of course there's a price to pay, but then again we can't have everything.

PS. Ji Seungwan, my gurl~ so pretty~ (though I'm trying not to think too much of her possible thing with little bro)

PPS. That firefighter's probably the best foreign extra I've seen!

"Sometimes, what we need in one season of life isn’t what we’ll need, or have, forever. But having what we need when we need it – like Hee-do and Yi-jin helped each other get through the lowest points of their lives and learn to soar on their own – gives us the strength and hope to face whatever life may throw at us next." -mistyisles

mistyisles. This right here is poetry. Thank you! One of the reasons why I like dramabeans is that you and others see then express the stories, themes, and characters in a way that I could not pinpoint or even see. It makes me appreciate the craft and art that is storytelling and Korean dramas. Thank you for encapsulating this imperfect but hauntingly beautiful story. It has been an unforgettable journey.

Having invested in the drama for 2 months honestly the moment I finished the drama I was left with a sting in my heart because it was not the way I wanted to have it ended. So many questions were unanswered and it felt rushed. I was bawling my eyes out on the final goodbye of our leads HeeDo and Yi Jin and till the end I hoped they atleast reunited in the very end. The ending was so disappointing at that moment.

However after sometime later it all dawned to me that , the ending even though bitter , it was realistic and it did justice to each character , their growth and emotions. Both of them did not want to hurt each other further hence they put their love first and said the goodbyes. How many of us have had such a pure first love in the 20's and that much understanding and trust topped with utmost respect to each other? Any time any one mentions on the first love, i will definitely remember our beautiful couple Hee Do and Yi Jin.

Such loves will be remembered for lifetime and treasured despite the regrets at that time. In our life we dont get what we want, who we want, but life doesnt stop then. What may seem the most saddest moment now , in future 10 -20 years later it wont matter that much and you will look back happy that it has happened. Hee Do getting married to another doesnt mean that she forgot Yi jin. Yi Jin will be her first love always and she treasures the memories even now and is content where she in her current phase. That makes this drama worthwhile at the end.

The tunnel served the best and the most saddest moments in the life of HeeDo and Yi Jin. The emotions both had in the tunnel, bitter and sweet, it will be memorable place indeed.

I will miss this show dearly. It will be one of my Top 5 korean drama of all time. The show had everything. The writing and cinematography was topnotch. All the actors specially Nam Joo Hyuk and Kim Taeri delivered their characters beautifully ,their acting sheer brilliance, and they deserve to win the best acting and couple award.

That Madrid competition scenes were just beautiful and I cried with them when they took off their masks with tears running down their faces. Yoorim and Heedo's relationship was beautiful. Please let them be texting regularly off-screen in 2022!!

Loved the drama, though I wish there could have been some changes. The modern-day framing detracted from the story and was a bit of a bummer by framing friendship and boldness as themes that only belong to our youth.

And it just bums me out that Heedo went on to marry some guy who isn't all that present. I'm not sure what to take of her comment that breaking an engagement was better than getting a divorce. Without the present day scenes, I would have thought she was just giving practical advice, but with the present day scenes, I wonder if there is another layer, like "yikes, i got married on impulse. what's done is done. he's nice enough."

Yijin and Heedo falling out of touch was also heartbreaking considering how their love started out as this rainbow, indeliable, ineffable thing before they dated. Wish the drama never had them date in the first place.

At least by 2022, Baek Yi-jin didn't die of lung cancer from stress-smoking.

Perfect in almost every way. I'm so glad I watched this one.

How could such an intensely close and loving relationship just finish in such a sad way? I'm left wondering what it was in the first place - we were in awe of the breadth and depth of the relationship and the emphasis was always on the mental connection and yet it was abandoned and never resumed. And whoever Heedo married it obviously wasn't up to much since her husband doesn't feature in the story at all. Sorry, it was an absolutely amazing show and the acting was stupendously good at every level. But somebody got it wrong - such a relationship would have survived any amount of trauma it was unique. They might not have married but they would always have remained close friends. So Boo Hiss to the writer.

Also in retrospect, I found it a bit strange that the drama was called 25/21 when that was the most traumatic time of their life (and we didn’t see much of it). If the theme is nostalgia, maybe That Summer would have been better? Especially for her shop?!

My heart still aches from how this beautiful story ended. How am I going to get over this heartbreak? Don't get me wrong, I love this drama and think the ending is a realistic one. I totally enjoyed KTR's portrayal of Hee Do's character. So childlike when she was a teen. It was so great to see her progression into adulthood. Even though the ending broke my heart, the whole casts brought us a stunning, beautiful and yet bittersweet portrayal of friendships that struggles to stand the test of times. I just wish our leads tried harder, fought harder to be together. Please excuse me now while I crawl into some hole to nurse my broken heart.

Hands down, one of the most beautiful k-dramas I’ve ever watched. I loved it from the start to the end, every moment of it affected me so deeply.

The only thing that upset me was that the dramabeans ratings for the show dropped drastically after the ending! :( what!!

I thought the ending was heartbreaking but entirely satisfying and realistic. Both HD and YJ found different paths in life and.. that’s just it. You don’t always end up with the person you love and that’s reality. No doubt they tried their best but they were just in different life stages and had different ideas of their future. I don’t think any of them is to be blamed for the breakup. Some things cannot be overcome with love or better communication. But it doesn’t make any of the moments spent any less beautiful really.

If you look at YJ’s and HD’s actions without the context of their upbringing and life experiences, it seems like a selfish and silly decision to breakup. But if you truly understand the process of breaking and growth that YJ went through, it makes sense why he chose to stay in NEw York and why he let HD go. And if you truly comprehend HD’s trauma and struggles lichen with a mom-anchor, it also make sense why she couldn’t imagine a future with him. And so their breakup makes sense to me.

At the end of the day, does the ending necessarily mean that the time invested watching the 15 earlier episodes was a waste? We laughed and cried and grew with the characters. And even though it was not the fairytale ending, I believe we walk away from the show.. affected and changed.

(Also the show made it clear it was never about minchae’s father so I stopped wondering.) Yes we could be left hanging re the identity of the father - but in the same way, how many of us get all the answers we want in our imperfect world? That’s why life is full of regrets.. what ifs and why’s and if onlys.. and that’s the melancholic and realistic tone that cuts through the show.. beautifully.

Thanks for the beautiful show, writer-nim! And the wonderful cast for the perfect performance!

I get what the writers wanted to portray...

I was not a fan of the way the drama's ending played out but I would still give it a solid A for the great job it did in those 7 weeks and for all the emotions it gave me.

Thanks for the weecaps

2521… an ode to our passionate youthful days

I think there have been much discussion on a lot of messages the show conveyed.. but here are some of the themes I think I haven’t seen anyone discussed them yet.

Theme 1: To bend or not to bend

We even have seen this theme explicitly mentioned a few times throughout the show: YJ’s sunbae advising him to go apologize to the senior who lied to YJ and exploited the athletes; SW’s mother asking SW if it all was worth it; HD’s voice over that during the time (that HD and JW were about to take the CSAT) the crack began to open because they chose to break instead of to bend… Tbh, I don’t really know the message the show wants to convey to us regarding this matter; but to me, I think that it meant to show the consequences of each decision each character made. Everyone wanted to break, but they had to prepare to weather the consequences of their decision as well. The profound scene regarding this matter is the breakup between the leads. Every relationship needs certain degree of bending from one or both of the parties. The leads broke up because at that point in their lives, no one wanted to bend because of their different baggage and priorities. It was bittersweet because both loved one another deeply but one couldn’t bend because she couldn’t see herself being in the kind of relationship where she would be left alone most of the time again and one couldn’t bend because he had finally found his calling which work would also help his family financially. It’s also funny because I just realize after writing this that this is what the term “to break up” really means.

I expected a curve ball a la reply/hospital playbook since this was a romance drama after all. not mad at the ending though bcs this relationship was never the selling point from this drama to me.

the one thing I didnt like in the last ep was all the info dump about where the secondary characters. also the fact that we already knew the result of the madrid match took away all the emotional charge when the drama showed the whole sequence of that final to me. i dont think it was a good script decision.

anyway the ending felt in the middle for me just like the drama itself. there were things I liked (loved the rivalry/friendship and the side characters) and things I ff'ed lol (the romance and honestly the whole 911/NY thing)

My fave coming of age drama of all times. It's beautifully written, acted and directed. There's already so many great comments here that outline why this is such a special drama. So I just want to say thank you to those that has given us this drama. Writer-nim, you have a new fan in me.

This show is - for me - a masterpiece. The acting was terrific, and the story was without too many flaws. The writers did a fantastic job with the characters and their relationships. They bring us joy, sadness, laughter, and many different feelings. The cast was great, especially Kim Tae Ri. She managed to show the same person with some slight differences that show us that she is becoming an adult. That was impressive. But to be honest, the entire cast was terrific. The only thing I might criticize is: that they should not have cast an older version of Hee Do. It breaks the link between 2000 and 2021.

The ending was perfect for me because our point of view was Min Chae's. So we got the story from the diaries she was reading and the story behind the articles she found. So this entire arc has a closure with the last scene when we watched HeeDo saying goodbye to Yijin from 2002.

And I like the open ending given by the modern days. We don't know anything about anybody, but we can guess some stuff. HeeDo might be divorced, and her mother is still in touch with Yijin. And the reason why we did not get any information about Heedo's friends is Min Chae did not ask about them. Maybe she knows them, so she doesn't need to ask. The same remark goes for her father. People tend to forget that our point of view was Min Chae.

I actively hated the present-day storyline, and the more I saw adult Hee-do, the less I cared for Hee-do's character knowing she would grow up to become a shell of herself. As we were primed from day one that they would not end up together, I had no expectations for a happily ever after, but the writer's "first loves don't last" message doesn't land when it was contradicted by Ji-woong proposing to Yu-rim.

I wish Twenty-Five Twenty-One were Twenty-Three Nineteen because Hee-do and Yi-jin were so much better before becoming a couple. After the offensive 9/11 plot, they became depressed versions of themselves that was painful to watch. I couldn't get invested in their romance, which had whirled by 600 days in half an episode, so when he confronted her in the tunnel, I just wanted him to let it go. It was over. Even in 2009, I couldn't recognize them, despite being played by Kim Tae-ri and Nam Joo-hyuk. I didn't need to meet Hee-do's mystery husband or adult Yi-jin. He did not deserve to die, but he deserved to be happy, and he wasn't.

This show was really good, and I do like the ending where they didn't force the two leads to be together, or show a Reply-esque reveal that Hee Do's husband was actually Bek Yi Jin (I feared they will go that route when it seemed like they were foreshadowing how her mother kept their relationship secret to be a "successful reporter"). This is not a bog plot point, but it is driving me crazy trying to figure out who mailed the diary to BYJ? I honestly cannot remember this character! And also the last episode's funeral was really weird...not until then did we even think about Seung-wan's father! I totally assumed he was already dead. So, to have that funeral and her reaction at the funeral was all very bizzare. It's almost as if they had a different writer write all the modern parts of the show (or things after the break-up). The show shined brilliantly when it focused on the "original" story, and could have totally been a stand-alone story in that time period, with the ending being the two leads saying goodbye. And then we see only how they changed through pictures or news clippings.

The ending wasn't that shocking to me tbh. The show did leave crumbs for red herrings throughout. I think what made me go hmm is they kept it quite ambiguous with the status of both leads. I felt like they just dangled a few "Could they or couldn't they?" and it felt a bit cheap to me.

It felt like they could've been clearer with Hee-do moving on, and seeming content with her decision. But it seems like both Hee-do and In-jin have lingering feelings still. It was like 'How I Met Your Mother' lite but this time it did feel like it did downgrade the show a tad bit. I also think many wanted a happy ending b/c of the rom-com conventions esp. in K-dramas that were used to breaking here. So I did enjoy the realistic side, but I also understand given we gave it 16+ hours of our time.

Overall, I think the show was more than first love but about family, un-expected journey of our life, career vs. love or family, and nostalgia for our youth. Also, NJH isn't my fav but I do admit he does mold well to his FL's and in romance genre that's important. I saw improvement and looking forward to seeing him grow even more acting wise.

Also fun fact: The woman who plays the fencing coach is the cousin of Min Jin Lee (The author of Pachinko!). I thought it was cute that the author was proud of her cousin :D.

Ending was meh.

Sad/happy ending, nostalgic/melodramatic, something was amiss in the execution of the final episodes of this show that left me disappointed and angry. The plot line of the romance buildup was great, but the plot line of the breakup left a lot to be desired. There just wasn't enough on-screen evidence about how/why the breakup was the best choice...bookends included. The conclusion of the relationship of the main characters was extremely lacking....maybe its K-culture since this is an issue in way too MANY kdramas. In other breakup shows (A Star is Born, The Way We Were, etc.) the progression was steady and obvious. In this show, the wedding congratulations broadcast scene was jarring. In a way, it reminded my Reply 1988, where the present time scenes teased about the ending, yet viewers were up-in-arms dissatisfied because of the "gotcha" ending. Overall this drama is SO WELL DONE--the characters, the settings, etc., yet it is hard to overlook the poorly executed ending.... feel like I was handed a bouquet of roses only to have the thorns rip me apart.