My heart hurts especially while finishing the last few episodes. While many will attest to the fact that it’s not an ending we want, to an extent it’s a realistic one.

From start to finish 2521 was truly a memorable experience. It’s a coming of age story depicting the struggles of youth, friendship, first love, and the long winding road toward adulthood.

Let’s begin with the love story, as denoted by the show’s title, it’s a story of one’s first love and first real heartbreak. While that is all a part of life, I felt that the ending wasn’t very appropriate. This was not a frivolous teenage romance which ended as the leads grew up and eventually grew apart, The leads fell in love over several years and what tied them together was immense respect for each other and their respective careers and the will to support one another through life’s hardships. For someone who shared such a meaningful bond, I find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t have tried harder to make it work. For two people who communicated so well together, I can’t believe that it was the lack of communication that tore them apart. Aside from the ending itself, the entire journey was beautiful . While there wasn’t heavy romance, you could feel it throughout the show in subtle ways. Every scene was meaningful and a delight to watch. The fact that it was portrayed so well is what makes the conclusion so hard to accept. Nevertheless, I don’t regret watching it.

While the love story was wonderful, the drama much more to offer. The drama highlighted a number of topics that have seldom been explored till now. For example, the IMF crisis and the impact it had on the country’s economy and it’s citizens was an eye opener. The show also goes deep into the life of an athlete, exploring the kind of determination, pressure and hardship they must go through to succeed. I enjoyed the fact that it showed as lesser known sport such as fencing. Moreover, it showed a deep bond between the female characters. There are so many stories showing the friendship/ teamwork between boys it was refreshing to see the bond between girls. High school life both the carefree days as well as the struggles that students must face were also brilliantly portrayed.

While the cast was quite a bit older than high school age in real life, I can understand why they were chosen to play the part. The characters were written with a lot of depth. Inexperienced actors could not do justice to the roles. There is no doubt that Kim Tae Ri did an excellent job, she deserves every bit of praise she has gotten. However, Nam Joo Hyuk deserves no less recognition. It’s been a few years since I’ve seen his work but I must say what a remarkable improvement. I’m so glad he takes on such varied roles and hasn’t been typecast because of his good looks. Maturity suits him well and he looks even more handsome that I remember. He portrayed the role of Baek Yin Jin with aplomb. I look forward to seeing more of his work. The rest of the cast did well too.

The music was pleasant to hear and was well placed throughout the series. I can tell that it will be in my playlist for months to come,

Cinematography was well done. The competitions felt very realistic and the filming locations were well chosen. The scenes in front of cherry blossom trees looked beautiful. I also loved how so much attention was paid to the details when it comes to progression over the years ex. changing fashion, advancements in technology and so much more. It definitely made me feel a bit nostalgic.

When it comes to rewatch value, I think it’s fairly low. The experience you have the first time around can’t be replicated on a subsequent watch. Enjoy it while you can and treasure it for years to come.

Overall this was a well made drama you won’t want to miss. While I wasn’t happy with the ending of the love story, and my heart still hurts, the rest of the drama was outstanding. It was bittersweet, but a memorable watch nonetheless. Don’t let the negative comments deter you from watching. This was easily one of the best dramas I’ve watched in recent times.