patrokalos
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A healing drama that didn't feel quite that healing
Twenty-five Twenty-one is a wonderful and unique coming-of-age drama that encapsulates the bittersweet nostalgia of youth and friendships, with strong performances from Nam Joohyuk and especially Kim Taeri. While the drama excelled in its character writing, I found its overall message to be lost towards the end, because the ending felt...reductive. It didn't take away from my enjoyment of the drama greatly, but I still wanted an opportunity to talk about it.
Although I appreciated how the writers tried for a realistic approach, I found it to feel a bit nihilistic in the way that none of the other characters besides Heedo felt important to add in the present time, and that Heedo herself didn't seem to deem them as important to her life anymore as well. The drama spent 15 hours building these deep friendships, and it just didn't make sense to disregard them as simply being "in the past". It made feel as though the time invested in the drama--and, likewise, the time invested in one's youth--did not give as much as an impact as it should've.
I had never expected a happy ending for Yijin and Heedo, but their break-up, while beautifully written, felt inconsistent with their characters. I found it hard to believe that these strong-willed characters couldn't make it work. The reason they broke up contradicted what the audience saw in their relationship beforehand, where they gave each other emotional support through hard times quite easily. Heedo's current husband, while never shown, is away for work overseas which is exactly what she didn't want from Yijin, which made the break-up feel even more reductive. If the drama wanted to convince me that Heedo and Yijin's development was realistic, I think it would've benefited from one more episode.
Despite this, I could see what the drama was aiming for, and I appreciate the themes they tried to tackle. I don't regret watching this drama and I'd still recommend it for the strong characters and solid plot. It's just unfortunate that the ending did not quite fit what the rest of the drama was building up to.
Although I appreciated how the writers tried for a realistic approach, I found it to feel a bit nihilistic in the way that none of the other characters besides Heedo felt important to add in the present time, and that Heedo herself didn't seem to deem them as important to her life anymore as well. The drama spent 15 hours building these deep friendships, and it just didn't make sense to disregard them as simply being "in the past". It made feel as though the time invested in the drama--and, likewise, the time invested in one's youth--did not give as much as an impact as it should've.
I had never expected a happy ending for Yijin and Heedo, but their break-up, while beautifully written, felt inconsistent with their characters. I found it hard to believe that these strong-willed characters couldn't make it work. The reason they broke up contradicted what the audience saw in their relationship beforehand, where they gave each other emotional support through hard times quite easily. Heedo's current husband, while never shown, is away for work overseas which is exactly what she didn't want from Yijin, which made the break-up feel even more reductive. If the drama wanted to convince me that Heedo and Yijin's development was realistic, I think it would've benefited from one more episode.
Despite this, I could see what the drama was aiming for, and I appreciate the themes they tried to tackle. I don't regret watching this drama and I'd still recommend it for the strong characters and solid plot. It's just unfortunate that the ending did not quite fit what the rest of the drama was building up to.
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