Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022)

Our Take: A powerful reminder to treasure our youth, passions, and friendships.

The Premise

Set in 2 timelines, 1998 and 2022, Twenty-Five, Twenty-One tells the story of Na Hee Do (Kim Tae Ri) and Baek Yi Jin (Nam Joo Hyuk) and their circle of friends during their youth. The show starts in the present day, where Kim Min Chae (Choi Myung Bin) is brought to a ballet audition by her mother, Na Hee Do (Kim So Hyun). Min Chae feels like she is stagnating in ballet and decides to run away to live with her grandmother Shin Jae Kyung (Seo Jae Hee) after a disagreement with her mom.

While staying in her mother's old room, she discovers her old diaries, which take us back to 1998. 18-year-old Na Hee Do is a child fencing prodigy whose skills have been flat for the last few years. She frequently sneaks onto the campus of Go Yu Rim (Bona), her rival and a top fencer, to watch her practice.

As a result of the South Korean financial crisis, Hee Do's school disbands its fencing team, and she gets left without a team. Unwilling to give up her dreams of becoming a member of the national fencing team, Hee Do perseveres and ends up transfering schools and landing a spot on Yu Rim's team.

Around the same time, Baek Yi Jin's father's business goes bankrupt, and he ends up on the run from creditors. Overnight, Yi Jin's formerly wealthy family gets thrust into poverty. Yi Jin moves into Hee Do's neighborhood and takes on part-time jobs, like delivering newspapers and working at the local comic book store, while studying.

The Story of Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin

The relationship between Hee Do and Yi Jin was beautiful (albeit painful) to watch. Their story was masterfully constructed and indeed an emotionally profound journey from start to finish. Although their lives only intersect for a brief but spectacular moment, they share a love that is generous, real, and pure.

Hee Do and Yi Jin meet each other coincidentally when both are going through tough personal struggles and trying to figure their lives out. Starting as acquaintances, Hee Do and Yi Jin eventually grow into close friends, lovers, and then strangers again.

During some of the lowest points in their lives, they muster up the strength and resilience to support each other unconditionally. Together, they inspire each other to chase their dreams and become better people, even when nothing is going according to plan, and seemingly nobody is rooting for them. One of my favorite parts of their relationship is their commitment to enjoying moments of happiness together. When life is difficult, having someone who roots for you and brings joy to your life is like a ray of sunshine among the dark clouds.

While I was rooting for Hee Do and Yi Jin as endgame, after taking some time to reflect on their relationship, it seems they were moving in different directions all along. From the beginning, it's clear that Hee Do was destined to become a fencing queen, with her bold ambitions front and center the entire time. While Yi Jin's dreams were more muted, he knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he settled for mediocrity in his career. Instead, Yi Jin eventually becomes a successful news correspondent reporting on groundbreaking stories and later reunites his family.

Their growth and progression remind us that as we grow up, our priorities change, and eventually, we need to answer to our ambitions and do what is right for us, even if we have to let others go or choose a more painful path forward. Because neither Hee Do nor YI Jin was willing to give up the bigger things life had in store for them, their paths divulged. Although they did not end up together, they played key roles in each other's lives during pivotal moments.

Contrasting Moon Ji Woong and Go Yu Rim's Relationship

Troublemaker Moon Ji Woong (Choi Hyun Wook) and fencing star Go Yu Rim's relationship proved to be a surprising foil to Hee Do and Yi Jin. While their relationship seemed like it was merely puppy love at first, throughout the show, Ji Woong consistently puts Yu Rim first and is more than willing to meet her where she's at.

Their relationship persisted to the end because Ji Woong's world always revolved around Yu Rim. While she was busy chasing her dreams, he waited for her back home and never gave up on her. That does not mean everyone should be like Ji Woong, but sometimes you need to give more than you receive in a relationship and make sacrifices if you want it to work out. Otherwise, you will end up moving in different directions than your partner and eventually have to part.

Breaking Down the Main Characters

Na Hee Do

Na Hee Do's character development was a highlight of the storyline. She is persistently strong, courageous, and sure of her passions. Rather than letting the world change her, Hee Do goes to great lengths to fight for what she believes in and ensure that she and those around her pursue their passions relentlessly and seek brighter futures. Despite the odds, she rises from the bottom to become one of the most renowned fencers in the world.

Her infectious energy and resilience are qualities I deeply admire in female leads and reminded me a lot of my old high school days with my cross-country and track-and-field teammates. Back then, we lived and breathed running and spent countless hours every day training and improving our craft. While many of us no longer run competitively, I still remember how much running and our team meant to us and our drive to pursue excellence.

Baek Yi Jin

Initially, Yi Jin comes off as defeated and lost. While he is persistent in a different way than Hee Do, he gives up easily and lacks confidence in himself. That is until he meets Hee Do. She teaches him to treasure every moment he can, to let go of the guilt and burden of his father's mistakes, and to enjoy his youth while he still can.

Though Baek Yi Jin comes off as more mature and composed, it is Hee Do who encourages him to practice optimism and gratitude and pick himself back up after falling. With her support, he regains his confidence, and learns to deal with any situation life throws his way.

Go Yu Rim

Go Yu Rim is one of the most famous fencers in Korea until Hee Do later dethrones her. Coming from a poor family, she has to learn to fend for herself early on and display a level of maturity beyond her age. Given her limit resources, Yu Rim often gets put in tough situations and is forced to seek unconventional opportunities to push her fencing career forward.

Seeing Hee Do as a threat to her status, Yu Rim initially despises her and quickly forms a love-hate relationship with her. However, eventually, they reconcile and form an unbreakable bond rooted in trust and respect. Even though they constantly get pitted against each other in competitions, they continue to root for each other's success and strive for greatness together. The evolution of their friendship was endearing and touching to watch, as it's not often that we see such strong friendships between female leads in K-dramas.

Moon Ji Woong

Moon Ji Woong is the most popular boy in school, but he only has eyes for Yu Rim. Seeing his budding relationship with Yu Rim was like a breath of fresh air. It's rare to see male characters willing to go more than halfway to meet their partner. Even in real life, I have had discussions with friends who believed that women should be the ones to go where their partners are if it comes down to it rather than the other way around.

Ji Seung Wan

Ji Seung Wan (Lee Joo Myung) was a character whose maturity and character development surprised me but deeply resonated with me. Despite being the top student in her school and the class president, she chooses to be best friends with Ji Woong and stay by his side even while knowing that he is a well-known troublemaker among their teachers.

She never hesitates to stand up for Ji Woong and her friends when they are wronged even if it doesn't benefit her to do so. One of the most touching moments in the show is when she decides to drop out of high school after defending Ji Woong against one of their teachers and getting backlash for it. Her ability to stick to her principles despite the repercussions and refusal to yield in the face of injustice or compromise who she is is very admirable.

Another nice touch to her character was her rebellious nature and desire to live a fun life. With the pressures of school and work, it's easy to push things that make us happy aside in the relentless pursuit of our ambitions. But Seung Wan reminds us that it's okay to have fun and live a little sometimes.

The Crazy and Unforgettable Age of Youth

As Na Hee Do reflects on her youth, she perfectly sums it up, “My diary from those days is filled with just love & friendship. A time when friendship & love were all that mattered in life. A time like that lasts only a moment. I hope Min Chae experiences such passion as well. A rowdy friendship and passionate love. Because those brief moments are what make your long life shine.”

Through the power of nostalgia, the show brings back memories of everyone's youth - our dreams, fighting spirits, friendships, failures, and first love. When we become adults, the reality is often nothing like what we envisioned. We get sucked into the pressures and demands of our jobs. We move on from old friendships and grow apart from people we thought we would spend a lifetime with. These shining moments we took for granted when we were young are fleeting, and we need to cherish them.

The Ebbs and Flows of Life

While we reminisce on our youth, Na Hee Do reminds us that "Nothing lasts forever. Everything is momentary. They all flow away. And that's not always a bad thing." As we look back at our memories and reflect on the trials and tribulations that shaped us into who we are today, we also need to keep looking ahead and moving forward with our lives.

At I enter a crossroad between youth and adulthood, I'm watching as some friends continue their education while others pursue their careers, get married, and/or start families. Seeing how much things have changed in such a short timespan, I often find myself facing a conundrum. While I'm trying to figure out who I am and the type of life I want, I'm also feeling the pressure to have my life perfectly mapped out and to have conventionally good ambitions and dreams.

Being in school shielded us from needing all these answers, but now, not having a clue about what I want in life is very scary. Still, all we can do is be true to ourselves and make choices we won't regret in the future.

Final Thoughts

Twenty-Five, Twenty-One brings us back to the nostalgia of our youth and all of its precious moments. The show reminds us to cherish our friendships, pursue our dreams, and love without regrets. Despite its controversial ending, I highly recommend giving Twenty-Five, Twenty-One a watch. It perfectly encapsulates all the highs, lows, and everything in between that make up the memories of our lives.