Twenty Five Twenty One (2022)

"Carpe diem", seize the day!

Time and patience, told to be the greatest warriors, can change your lives to the extents, that you can never imagine, right? Time is not the best thing, it's the only thing. On contrary, time you enjoy wasting, is not wasted time; it might flow like an arrow but still brings out fruitful results. You witness, in 2521, what time is capable of doing with human lives and what it can turn them into.

Produced by Hwa&Dam Pictures and Created by Studio Dragon, "Twenty-Five Twenty-One (스물다섯 스물하나)" is a 16 episode show about blooming youth, that has set on an odyssey to attain prosperity and entirety of life. Written by Kwon Do Eun and Directed by Jung Ji Hyun, 25-21 was broadcasted on tvN and Netflix, for which Lim Ha Young has taken the responsibility for composing the album. The production started shooting on 7th September 2021 and the principal photography was done in Ahyeon-dong, present in Seoul's Mapo District. It was also filmed in parts of Jeonju, Seohak-dong, Jeonju Hanok Village, Jeonju National University of Education's dormitory alley, and the National Intangible Heritage Center, as per the production.

25-21 is a drama about dreams, passions, ambitions and goals of a group of young students who despite their situations and circumstances, not only strive to achieve what they want but also get them and thrive together, through their teenage. It's the story of love and mutual care between characters, who share each other's life with utmost solicitude and look forward to their success. The story keeps at centre, Baek Yi Jin and Na Hee Do, who met when they were 25 and 18; and shows us the flow by which their lives change when they turn 25 and 21, respectively. The most important fact, the story takes us to the year 1998, when the world as well as South Korea is nearing to welcome a new millennia and embrace the changes that come along. I think this is good enough to describe the show without spilling anything important.

Na Hee Do (Kim Tae Ri) is an aspiring fencer, who gives her best and can go to any length when it comes to keeping up with her passion. In spite of the rough days she had to go through while dealing with lonliness, she's not been able to give up what she loves with all her desires. Baek Yi Jin (Nam Joo Hyuk) is a young guy with passion, whose dreams get shattered after sensing poorness from being a chaebol. With the desire to get his separated family back, he does work hard while trying his best to keep up with his mental health. Ko Yu Rim (Bona) is Hee Do's rival and a world champion fencer. Ji Seung Wan (Lee Joo Myung), the class topper and Moon Ji Woong (Choi Hyun Wook), the fashionista popular, guy are friends with the Hee Do and Yu Rim.

Some very familiar and skilled faces in the drama include: Seo Jae Hee, Kim Hye Eun, Kim So Hyun, Choi Min Young and Kim Young Sun.

The acting dept is full of acclaimed actors who wonderfully justified their characters. The kind of role Nam Joo Hyuk plays is definitely his forte and his acting skills has nonetheless been proved since the beginning of his career. I would like him to switch but I feel this particular character was made for him. Also remember him saying in an interview "Wow! That's Hee Do"in response to his impression about Kim Tae Ri. And on that note, I am certain no one will disagree that anyone else could have justify Na Hee Do, like Taeri has done. Being a 31yo woman, she has done the most accurate representation of a 18yo immature teenager, that, I am sure nobody can level with. Been a fan of hers for years, I know that, as a person of cinema, she isn't someone who rashly accepts any drama making it to her home, and 25-21 is the living proof of why I'm saying that.

Bona is a blooming actress and judging her improved skills from this show, I truly wish she goes up and up in the drama world, because I have witnessed the way she has evolved even with handful of experience.The same goes for Lee Joo Myung; I didn't really remember seeing her elsewhere before checking her biobut what an impressive character and what an amazing performance she has delivered throughout, I am impressed. Special mention to Choi Hyun Wook; being the youngest among the 5 main actors, that too only 20, when others are 26+, the way he could establish himself at the level of such amazing acting, he deserves all the appreciation. I wish Joo Myung and Hyun Wook had more screentime, but I guess whatever they had, they definitely brought the best outta it. Also mentioning, Choi Min Young who played Baek Yi Hyun (Yijin's dongsaeng), bcs he was cute; I mean I have seen him numerous times before, but he was the cutest here TT.

Plot Development...There was no definite plot to being with, that was made clear; the progression made it clear that 2521 was an awfully accurate "coming of age" story with bag full of "slice of life" elements. However, after the midway, the writer tricks the audience by setting a definitive goal; the flashbacks of the future comes as a storm to the audience creating confusions and curiousness, thereby bringing more intrest and attraction towards the show. I am sure, it was not just me, who was getting anxious with the ending of each episode; it's like I was walking on the eggshells with concerns about a lot of things. I would like to inform that, that anxiety reaches it's peak as the show nears its ending. I can noway forget how painful yet exciting it was to wait for a week to get my answers and be allayed. I should wrap up by saying that the ending was not convincing, not realistic either. The reason of..... felt very stupid; well, I am disappointed, not sad. It does hurt for why it happened, than what actually happened, Its not what you call realistic; the writer was not thinking right. Not gonna disprove the entire thing bcs of what happened at the end, but yeah, it will definitely affect my ratings.

I haven't been able to make time for Search: WWW yet and Kwon Do Eun jakka-nim has created only 2 dramas including this. Hence, I am not gonna present a criticism rather praise, how beautiful and impactful story she's offered the world through 2521 and any kind of word wouldn't amount to her skills as a writer; this is all I can say. The flow of the story is wonderful. The characters are awfully admirable; their archs were heart touching and accurately drawn with much relation to realism. This has some very gratifying and satisfying character development, I must admit. The storytelling method.... No I put a halt bcs the method here is very interesting and through which it takes place, also make it something to look forward to. Only if the ending waa good, I was gonna think her as one of my most favourite writers, I am serious.

Not so Rookie Director, Jung Ji Hyun PDnim, hit the stage of Kdramas with amazing drama and has continued to produce ones which become acclaimed by audiences, despite the qualities. Nevertheless, he must be credited for he always creates the buzz. I am not sure whether I should comment this but from every angel, I think this should be the breakthrough in his career. The direction and setups never let us down throughout, isn't it? The cinematography is mesmerizing for most of the parts; with bright hue and variable alleviating colour palletes which did correspond to the scenarios, moods and vibes for each and every scene.

Lim Ha Young PDnim who masters in composing for slice of life Kdramas has delivered tremendously amazing scores for 2521, proving again her skills. The OSTs are lovely, likable, memorable and I have come to embrace all of them. To my knowledge and as much I have been updated, there is a set of 9 OSTs.
# "Your Existence" by Wonstein is my most favourite of all and goes into my all time favourite Kdrama OSTs list. Wonstein's harmonizing vocals with the melodious instrumental and pleasing lyrics, makes this song so touchy, I can go on listening to it all the day, especially the rhythm of the song.

# "With" sung by the 5 main cast is something that makes you cry precious tears; of course it's very relatable for the story, given that the characters themselves have sung it.

# "Go!" by SVT Dokyeom serves as the energizing track of the album whose lyrics are also motivating was used during fencing scenes to present athletes' spirit.

# "Starlight" is lyrically beautiful song about passionate love, ornamented with Taeil's (NCT) vocals and has the feels of pre-2010 Kdrama OSTs'.

# "Shine on You with Blinding Flash of Light" by giseong bae is the track with retro vibes, depicting the beauty of blooming youth.

# "Stardust Love Song" by Jihyo is an emotional ode to love and it's essence in life. The vocal is so on point, it can make you melt.

Rest of the tracks include:

"Very, Slowly," by BIBI
"Free" by Xydo
"Your World" by SURL

What I loved...
# Na Hee Do... Yes! The character! Because Na Hee Do was that base of the mountain which held onto the drama of such huge essence. None of the people, watching this drama, would say that Na Hee Do wasn not their most fav character. She was the many people started this drama, she was the reason many continued to watch the drama, she was the reason people ended up falling in love with the drama and she will be the reason many will keep coming back to here.

# The flow of the story... It is very different from most of the drama out there who always set goals and move towards it, with either 'this' or 'that' results. The biggest achievement of the show is that, it made us think, which is very important.

# The narratives and topics... The kind of narratives it has with neutral as well as balanced perspectives of each of the every character even during contrasting disputes, truly commendable. The wide range of topics the writer has attempted to adresss and spark conversations about and also gave it a closure, is praiseworthy.

# The athlete pov.... Not the first drama to show the life and feelings of the athletes but surely the only one to showcase equitable and open-minded perspectives from either sides. The portrayal of true sportsman spirit between players and their contribution to replicating passion in the mass, is amazing.

# The reporter pov... As Baek Yi Jin became a journalist, I wasn't expecting the writer to show more about his life as a professional but to my surprise, untold and lesser known sides of journalism and reporters were brought into conversation, making it an unique set of approaches.

# The friendship... This is definitely going to the list of one of the best Kdrama squads, because it is. The group of five, 4 of which where classmates with Yijin were so adorable and supportive of each other; I swear they brought life into me, every time there was a scene involving them.

# The romance... It amounted to perfectness. It in no way is entirely romance-centric, even though their relationship remains at the center of the drama, followed by the friendship of the squad. It definitely evolved from teenager romance adult sharing of love, with meaningful exchanges throughout.

# The slice of life elements... As told earlier, slice of life is the actual genre of this drama and it was tremendously reflected throughout the show. The monologues narrating lessons of life and the conversations emphasizing the essence of our existence, touched my heart so much, especially in the first half of the show, I had no way but to stick to it till the end.

# The contemporary elements... Be it the IMF crisis or the Asian Games or the revolution in art & lifestyle; the drama is another stupendous representation of the socio-cultural and socio-economic situations of the contemporary time. It's always a pleasure to witness Kdramas set in those periods.

What I didn't like.... THE ENDING. Don't wanna talk more about it. I know that could be a possibility but still, it was a well built story and the reasons the writer wanted to provide don't suffice the conventions; I'm not sorry if anyone disagrees.

Final Remarks... Honestly, I hesitated a lot before writing this review; I was not sure, whether I was worthy of writing a review for this? This drama has touched so many points and made mw reflect on my own, I was not ready to judge it a bit. It's after a long time, I have come to love something that much. After giving so much of thoughts, now that I write this review, I believe, it will reach many more people as it can and I wish you all who are watching it or going to watch, have the same, or even better experience than mine. I was more than willing to give it a 9.5 but provided the way the essence of the entire show got shattered into pieces with the ending, I am deducting the points. I am always gonna acknowledge how excellent of a show this is but the disappointment about the ending bothers me so much, I am giving a 9.0.

Definitely a must watch piece and already the best of 2022 despite it's ending, which I am not taking into consideration anyways. Putting it in my all time favourite list, without a second thought, please go ahead with it. Good luck :)

P. S. Definitely revisiting this post to add points whenever I am reminded of something that's worth telling about this drama.

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Ending Unworthy of a Female Lead with such Fighting Spirit

From the first episode, Hee Do has won our hearts with her quirkiness, her conviction and her fighting spirit. She put everything into her passions, whether it’s her love of fencing or her admiration of the national champion Yu Rim, or her love of her manhwa comics. She never gave up, even when she experienced the painful tragedy of her dad’s passing, she continued on. Despite Yu Rim being such a bitch to her in the beginning, her adoration never wavered.

There are a lot of good things to admire about Hee Do and her bold and dorky characteristics. The friendship between her and Yu Rim is very sweet, it’s stronger than their competitiveness and adversary, and the gossips that try to take them down.
Such unshakable devotion to a friend tells me she’ll also love with the same conviction. Her love for Yi Jin would be just as passionate. She believed in him, she’s understanding and supportive. She wouldn’t give up just because they hit a bump in their relationship. Her competitive spirit wouldn’t let her give up so easily.

The ending was very rushed, all within an episode or two and everything changes. The build-up to the end was steady and we see how their relationship develop and grow. Something that grows on such solid foundation wouldn’t just topple so easily. Him moving to New York is a weak excuse for a break up. It made no sense for Yi Jin to move to New York. That they could grow older and grow apart, sure that’s believable but everything happened so quickly that it’s unbelievable.

Hee Do being who she is wouldn’t give up so easily. She’ll keep on fighting for the man she loves.

If the writer is trying to get across that time and youth is precious, for us to grasp it and take full advantage of it, then the long build-up of Hee Do and Yi Jin’s relationship was somewhat misplaced. Throughout the series, they kept the audience playing the game of Did They or Didn’t They end up together. They keep throwing hints that they didn’t, but we still wait with hope that they did. That kept us going, but the ending never delivered. In the end, it was a wishy washy ending for a strong female lead.

The ending feels forced, a device just to make the audience cry.

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A beautifully captured moment (okay years) in time

This drama is such a trip down memory lane, relatable lovable, sweet and deep. Not so much for the sports and romance this dramas strengths are rather the slice of life, nostalgia, real events, issues, mixed with beautiful stories of friendship, hardship and some other ship...

To be honest I was a little bit annoyed at the way they portrayed the female lead in the first few episodes making her seem a lot younger than she was supposed to be as well as making the male lead seem a lot older than he was supposed to. I understand that it was probably done to set the scene and mood but it was little bit over done and borders on annoying. However that faded out as the story progressed and rather turned in to character growth instead of annoyance.

I was also annoyed at people pushing blame, wishing others harm o and it did have just a little bit to much yelling for my taste... But hone it had all these really good one liners and scenes encouraging mistakes that I almost forgot about those annoying elements.

There are a lot of good and interesting messages in this drama, great cinematography, gorgeous use of umbrellas... cuteness, fluff and everything painful... The short visits in to present day are well placed and though they could be considered spoilers making this drama spoil itself... the spoiling still keeps us wondering why, how and in what way are they going to... dare I feel happy? In other words these so called spoilers keep the emotional level high thru out the drama.

The people and situations portrayed in this drama are often complex and are often shown from different angels taking a step away from the typical good guy/bad guy as well as showing the affect on the people behind them.. As well as showing the circumstances leading up to the situation or sometimes questionable decision.

The setting in the late 90´s was so much fun to watch, having been a teen at that time my self I just loved the way they used tapes, showed the fashion, the computers, the first phone... the fear of the 2k-bug and the events that helped form the people of my generation, even if I myself liven on the other side of Asia at the time,

I have, laughed, cried, been angry... Yep felt just about every single emotion out there making this drama just right for me and would have given it 10 stars if it wrest for some cringey annoying dialog here and there as well as a few (very few) twists that felt like they were trying to make us a bit to emotional. The emotions were there just fine without those scenes so they ended up annoying me. However I do love this story, the way it is told and the overall messages conveyed in this drama

In numbers
Bingeabilaty: 10
Lovable and interesting characters: 10
Annoying elements : -2
Frustration: 7
Sidestorys: 10
Main story: 10
Oneliners: 10
Relatable characters: 9
Visuals+ eye candy: 10

In conclusion I loved it!

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Only the Main couple doesn't get together? Are you serious?

Ep 1
6:46 minutes - July 1998.
FL: 18 at 1998. 21 at 2001.
ML: 22 at 1998. 25 at 2001.
EP 4
45:53 – FL’s mum said, ‘I met him last month.’ 2022.
EP 7
1:07 – ‘It’s from Dad.’ He is most likely in the US. The only one who travels in this drama is ML.
EP 8
2:18 – ‘Your mum couldn’t get what a 15-year-old you can understand.’
EP 14
1:59 – 10/07/2009. ML & FL talked on the news after the San Francisco match.
1:16:32 – congratulation on your wedding. Congratulating himself?
EP 16
41:21 – Got Package from Kim Eun-Su. So, ML got an idea & changed the name to Kim?
52:33 - 7 years later. 2001-2008. The year ML became a new anchor.
53:24 – Ten years? 1998-2008? Doesn’t matter.
57:01 – FL thinking of retiring after coming back from San Francisco which will be held in 2009.
At 2009, FL 29; ML 33; his bro at 26.
01:01:21 - Breaking an engagement is less complicated than getting a divorce.
1:01:31 – since it’s coming from a married person? They don’t ask about her husband at all which means only FL and ML knew that they are married.
1:09:56 – ML said, ‘she doesn’t like to ask about her personal life.’ To keep his identity.
1:28:37 - 2022-15 = 2007. (Their daughter's age is 15 too.) He was in Korea cos his senior was there. That’s why she only got 3 gold medals cos she got pregnant. They probably got married in 2006.
FL & ML are both celebrities so they gave Kim as a family name to let their daughter live a normal life.
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Okay; there is no valid reason why Kim Min Chae doesn’t know who Baek Yi Jin so I will change that she knows Baek Yi Jin as her Dad and FL’s friends know who her husband is. Done. End of the story. (This crazy theory is for me.)
Another theory would be, that FL got divorced long ago and waiting for ML to retire as an anchor. At 2022, FL would be 42 & ML 46. They still support each other from a distance to be reunited one day. (This seems more realistic for pessimists but not for me.)
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FL & ML loved each other the most in this drama and didn’t get together while their friends did?
Doesn’t make sense to me. Go Yu Rim’s nationality is Russia but she could come back and live in South Korea and get back together with her first love! Okay.
FL & ML, they are first love to each other too but not possible for them?
Ji Seung Wan and Baek Yi Hyun even get together after 9 years with no contact! Okay, writer, you must have hated reporters cos you separate FL & ML just because of their careers. I thought a doctor's job is already terrible but you just showed me that a reporter's job is worse. He could have retired and taken other jobs. He could become MC at anything.

(FL's diary keeping a diary just cos they ended their relationship on good terms? This doesn't make sense to me.)
Why do they still love each other if they decided to let go? This will only make them suffer. Think about how their partners would feel. They got married but their partner is longing for their ex. This will only make all four of them to suffer.

Thanks for the beginning. For the mid part, I love how brave FL confessed her love but ML is just enjoying and laughing at it. Stop being pathetic ML. It's not like you can let her go wholeheartedly just for her better life. Stop pretending! For the ending, I will just end it as I like. I am out.

Realistic? My ass.
They could have achieved their goal first and met up again. FL retired after 8 years anyway.
This is my opinion. I am not trying to persuade anyone. You believe what you want. Don’t say you don’t understand enough to know that this is “realistic”. Blahblahblah.

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These types of dramas really makes me think and look back. It makes me wonder what have I done with my life? When I grow old is it something that will make me proud? laugh? or cry?

I loved how realistic the story was. It tackled problems that most of us experiences in our every day lives. It shows that not all our decisions are perfect and we should learn how to own up to our decisions. And that no matter what happens, we need to move along with life or else we will drown in our own miseries.

The casting was superb. Hands down they were all great. They fit their roles perfectly. Can't believe the Kim Tae Ri is in her 30s already. Just wow.

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An amazing journey, but a sad ending.

I gave it a 9.5 because I loved every single moment of the show until the ending. If it weren’t for the ending it would have been probably my all time favourite rom com kdrama. And I truly thought this was a rom com. But they ended up breaking up and I’m so sad and angry, it honestly makes zero sense to me. However, that doesn’t take away how the entire rest of the drama made me feel. It was an amazing 8 weeks, and this show made me so happy. I haven’t loved a drama this much in forever. I’ll just keep the happy moments in my memories and act like the ending never happened lol. thank you twenty five twenty one fore at least being perfect and wonderful for 15 eps. I’ll really miss you and I’m sad now

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A wonderful experience

To anyone considering this - I would always recommend. So happy to have experienced this. Truly an emotionally engaging show with well fleshed out and loveable characters. This is not happy-go-lucky or simply happy. Every episode takes you through various emotions and quite a few left me sobbing but it was still a worthwhile experience.

Remaining paragraphs allude to things that might be spoilers so stop reading if you haven't watched.

I'm not going to say too much. I watched this as it aired and looking back at it now, the ending should never have been a surprise. It was always obvious but what makes this drama beautiful is the fact that it makes you forget. You watch these memories and you forget about the eventuality and simply enjoy the story. For that it deserves a lot of praise.

The actors did a wonderful job capturing the growth in the personalities of the characters. Their portrayals in the first episode are wildly different from the characters a few episodes later but the change seems natural and organic. Truly a beautiful story of youth that emotionally engages you.

The ending was bittersweet. I cannot comment on whether I liked it or not but it made me sad. Their end was explosive and real and ugly while their love was beautiful and pure. It seemed like such a loss. However, I think that's how things are in life and the writers never wanted us to hope for their happy ending, they wanted us to simply enjoy the characters' experiences. That's what I take away from this.

The rewatch value is low because you can get very emotionally drained by the end. And you might not want to put yourself through it again. I will definitely come back to watch some of the happier parts again - maybe not the whole show.

A well portrayed story of youth with a lot of messages we can take with us in life.

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Perfect drama from A to Z

Twenty-five twenty-one is my favorite drama of all time. I will try to explain as much as I can why. I will add some spoilers to illustrate my point of view on the ending.

First, the writers did a fantastic job with the characters and their relationships. They were not a single one created only for another character's purpose, as we can see in dramaland. They bring us joy, sadness, laughter, and many different feelings. I want to thank the writers for their outstanding job.

Secondly, 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. I hope they will all get rewards for that, and I hope they will work together on future projects. 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. It might be one of the reasons the people did not connect with the ending. We did not see the Hee Do we know as a mother, but another person.

Thirdly, the story was great. The writers managed to show teenagers becoming young adults with their first loves, deceptions, and happiness. It was beautiful to see. They gave us easter eggs to help us guess the ending and the path. The OST was magical. I added a lot of songs to my playlist.

SPOILERS BEHIND THIS POINT -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, for me, the ending was perfect. I get why people are upset, but I want to give you my 2 cents. We are watching the drama from Min Chae's point of view. So we got the story from the diaries she is currently reading and the story behind the news interviews and articles she found. So we don't have any information about her dad, as she already knows him. We might also have missing information about her dad because he might no longer be in the picture for HeeDo. They gave us a lot of hints saying that she might have divorced. Why do we have no information about the other ones in 2022? Because Min Chae (our point of view) did not ask, or she already knew about them. From my point of view, there is a closure for the 1998-2009 era, but it is an open ending for 2022, and I love that. They are still in love with each other, and they might have a future together. And I hope they will.

END OF SPOILER ------------------ -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Brilliant show with a terrible ending

I was prepared to give this show a 10/10 rating until I saw episode 15 and 16. So bizarre! I've adjusted my pre-final rating of 9.5 to 8.5 just because of those last 2 episodes.

The story begins with a national level fencer, Na Hee Do, who is now retired dropping her daughter, Kim Min Chae off to perform in a ballet contest. However, seeing her competitor's performance, Min Chae runs away and eventually goes to stay with her grandmother in Hee Do's childhood home. She discovers her mother's diaries and learns about Hee Do's passion for fencing, her rivalry and friendship with Go Yu Rim and her first real relationship with Baek Yi Jin. Most of the story revolves around these characters growing up in the 90s and how they deal with hardships and forming a strong support system for each other. This journey (until episode 14) is the most beautiful part of the series. The realism and the positivity is inspiring.

Then from episode 15, everything starts to spiral downwards eventually crash landing in episode 16. Ep 15 was a drag. There was a huge build up surrounding what happened between Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin and who is Kim Min Chae's father? The answer is weak to non-existent. Of all the obstacles, both endured, the result does not make sense. Even if the writer did not want to deliver a positive ending, which not all stories and real life experiences have, why not answer some questions as to who Hee Do married and why focus on this elaborate story if it was all about the kid going back to ballet?

Overall:
The Good
1. Na Hee Do's fencing moments are thrilling.
2. The rivalry and friendship between Na Hee Do and Go Yu Rim are beautiful! I adored the development and result.
3. The way Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin's relationship develops and their journey as each other's support system is endearing.
4. Baek Yi Jin's struggles from his family facing hardships and his growing responsibilities as the new head responsible for bringing his family together is worth watching.
5. The friendship between Moon Ji Woong and Ji Seung Wan is adorable and provide a lot of comic relief!
6. The coach and Hee Do's mother are wonderful characters and their relationship with Hee Do is interesting to watch with plenty of ups and downs.
7. The OST is wonderful.

The Bad aka the parts that are left unanswered:
1. The writers wanted a sad ending but Yi Jin's choices did not make sense since he switched fields just to avoid ever hurting Hee Do and in the end completely avoided her.
2. Why send a rookie in local news to cover a major international event? This is entirely illogical in the real world setting. It does not sit well with me progression wise.
3. Why did Yi Jin leave coins over the telephone booth at the beach? It wasn't clarified who it was for.
4. Who is Kim Min Chae's father and what was the need to hide his identity towards the end? There is no communication between the family and the father over a call either which is bizarre.
5. Why was Kim Min Chae and the older Hee Do required for the story? Was it all just so that Min Chae is motivated to pursue ballet? Could Min Chae not have the same life experiences without it?
6. The unnecessary dramatic departure that was stretched way too long.

I wanted to rewatch this series but after this ending, I might skip it. I would only recommend this show until mid ep 15. Don't bother with the rest.

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The ending ruined what could've been a masterpiece...

It's such a shame because every single episode of this drama was amazing and I loved it so much but the ending was so rushed, badly written and left so many plot holes and unanswered questions. I'm not upset because it was a bittersweet ending, Youth of May has a sad ending but that's one of my favourite dramas of all time. I'm sad because their break up at the end was so out of character. I get that the writers wanted it to be realistic but the whole drama they're portrayed to have this amazing connection but in the last episode they give up on it all and loose touch, we're not even told if they still remain friends. Its disappointing because the burning questions we have throughout the whole drama are never answered... T_T I don't think I could ever rewatch this drama which is such a shame! But aside from that awful ending the soundtrack in this drama, the friendship and the amazing fencing sences are top notch. My advice is to only watch to episode 15.

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A refreshing coming-of-age drama

I'm only on episode 9/16 as I'm writing this review. Originally, I was going to wait until all the episodes were released until I started watching this drama. But I kept seeing so many clips that I just had to start. The beginning started off a little slow and now I've just spent the whole day binging the show. This is such a good, refreshing, and touching drama. I love the way its shot and I love how we, as an audience, is reflected as Min-Chae. For example, when Hee-do said she had a boyfriend, I was like WHAT and it immediately cut to Min-Chae with a similar reaction. There has been so many moments of this drama already where I felt so touched and moved to tears. I love watching the characters embark on their journeys, learning painful lessons and growing from them. It's exactly as Yijin said, they're going through their growing pains. I can't wait to see how the rest of this drama unfolds and I really hope there's a very happy, very cute ending waiting for us at the end of this journey.

EDIT: Coming back after finishing the rest of the drama
I knew it was coming, and I knew it wasn't going to be a happy ending but I really had high hopes for a happy ending anyways. Honestly, I'm not too mad about this ending but I definitely don't think this ending was done as well as the rest of the drama was. I understand that the writer wanted to portray a realistic ending, but I didn't think the reason for the breakup for that justified. I definitely think that it was a bit out of character for Na Hee Do and Back Yi Jin to basically give up on their relationship. The break up itself was beautifully done and really captured the pain of a break up, but I just wish the reasoning behind the break up made more sense. In addition, i didn't even know Na Hee Do's husband is someone working overseas, so it seems even more ridiculous that Na Hee Do would break up with Back Yi Jin because she didn't want to always be waiting for someone and be in misery.
I didn't think too much about the present-day Na Hee Do and Kim Min Chae, but after reading other reviews, I agree. The present-day characters basically served no purpose to the show and only teased the viewers. I was also annoyed because they included that scene where present-day Na Hee Do forgot about the their first beach trip, but the scene made it seem like something happened to her to make her forget, instead of her just forgetting because it's been so long. I feel like it makes more sense that once it was brought up, she would fondly but faintly remember her friends and the memories that they once shared.
But overall, the drama was still emotional, impactful, and really captured the exciting but turbulent time of youth. I don't regret watching this drama but I really wasn't expecting the emotional damage this drama has given me.

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This story is Atypical

I love unique stories and this one embodied that. Yes, everyone hated the ending, but to me I was satisfied. Probably because I was so impressed with the intelligent story telling, directing, cinematography and of course strong acting leading up to episode 16. The journey that this screenwriter takes you with their careers and their awkward yet beautiful relationship was truly beautiful. I don't think I've seen writing like that and the way the director and the actors carried out that story is what keep me so engaged with this drama. It was so unique and lovely. Relationships are about the journey and yes about the end game too, but think if it were a happy ending, you'd probably say that was good and move on to your next drama. But nope, you're still here, you're still thinking about it and maybe yes you're upset- but the writer made you think and that's what they want. That's their happy end game. This one will be in my 10 ten of all time.

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