Twenty Five Twenty One Review: Put This At The Top of K-Dramas

Ever wondered if a moment can last forever? Netflix’s Twenty Five Twenty One asks this exact question, as the daughter of famous Korean fencer Na Hee-do finds her old journals and takes a peek into the past. This series is a fun, nostalgic ode to the late 90s and the power of youth, one that will have you hooked from beginning to end. There are minor spoilers ahead, so proceed with caution. 

The series follows the past of Na Hee-do (Kim Tae-ri, The Handmaiden), a determined teen fencer who dreams of making it big. She meets the hardworking, bankrupt Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk, Start-Up) who is a few years older with a goal of making his family’s money back to bring them all together once again. The pair get up to some funny hijinks in the beginning, with Hee-do eager to get her hands on new comic books and transfer to the best fencing team while Yi-jin witnesses all of her fails, but slowly they become friends who agree to be happy when they are together, because they realize life can be tough on them both. 

Kim Tae-ri shines as the protagonist, making Hee-do a dynamic, complex, and hilarious character that makes this show special. Hee-do deals with a lot of pain after her father’s death, specifically because of her mother who prioritizes her job as a news anchor over their family. Her fencing dreams are also difficult for her to achieve, as her mother does not quite believe in her, and when she finally makes it to the right high school with her fencing idol Go Yoo-rim (Kim Ji Yeon), Yoo-rim is cold towards her. 

The way these arcs all develop throughout the course of the show are exciting and fresh. There are many twists in every episode, whether it be finding out more about Yoo-rim’s past, hearing the surprisingly deep conversations between Hee-do and Yi-jin, discovering old secrets between the side characters, or watching as Hee-do takes down the roadblocks in her path to becoming a pro fencer. We get to watch the characters we love develop alongside one another, especially as their paths become more and more entwined. 

One aspect of the show that really stands out is the relationship dynamics. While the romance is definitely heartwarming, the platonic connections stand out. The funny side characters, like brave class president Ji Seung-wan (Lee Joo-Myung, Hospital Playlist) and fashionable popular boy Moon Ji-woong (Choi Hyun-Wook, Racket Boys), have a close and adorable friendship and add an interesting element to round out the main group of friends, including Hee-do, Yi-jin, and Yoo-rim. The gang gets up to all kinds of fun like beach trips and drunken nights, and they are really the core of what makes this show so great. 

Of course, it’s amazing to see Hee-do’s development as a fencer, along with her amusing coach, as she becomes skilled enough to compete for the gold medal. There’s a lot of stress that comes along with this as well, as Hee-do and Yoo-rim become true rivals, before kindling a true and strong friendship that might be one of the best parts of the series. The actresses have a lot of chemistry together and so whether they are enemies or best friends, the scenes are explosive to watch.

The end of the show is the only part that leaves something to be desired. The characters’ relationships evolve in a way that doesn’t feel natural, and there are a lot of things left unexplained at the show’s conclusion. While it does feel like a bittersweet send-off to the illusion of youth and a reality-check for the viewer about the truth of adulthood, the finale is heartbreaking in multiple ways and overall disappointing in terms of how things wrap up. 

As a whole, Twenty Five Twenty One is an exciting drama with a very likable cast of characters who all have something to bring to the table. The plot doesn’t get tiring and always pulls us in a new, fun direction, and the relationships feel so real it’ll have you laughing and sobbing the whole way through. It’s also extremely nostalgic and will throw you right back to the ’90s. Despite this series’ let-down of an ending, overall, Twenty Five Twenty One is a show that definitely shoots to the top of the K-Drama list. 

Twenty Five Twenty One is currently streaming on Netflix.