Twenty Five Twenty-One: The Best Korean Drama 2022

Twenty-Five Twenty-One (Korean: 스물다섯 스물하나; RR: Seumuldaseot Seumulhana) is a 2022 South Korean television series directed by Jung Ji-hyun and starring Kim Tae Ri, Nam Joo Hyuk, Bona, Choi Hyun Wook and Lee Joo Myung. The series depicts the romantic lives of five characters spanning from the year of 1998 to 2021.

In 1998, Na Hee Do (played by Kim Tae Ri) is a member of the school fencing team at Seonjung Girls' High School, but due to the IMF crisis, the team is disbanded. To continue pursuing her passion, she transfers to Taeyang High School and later manages to become a member of the National Fencing Team. Baek Yi Jin’s (played by Nam Joo-hyuk) family goes from "riches to rags" and are separated due to the financial crisis. He is forced to take up several part-time jobs and later becomes a sports reporter. In time when dreams seem out of reach, a teen fencer pursues big ambitions and meets a hardworking young man who seeks to rebuild his life. At ages 22 and 18, they say each other's names for the first time, and at ages 25 and 21, they fall in love.

What surprisingly good about this drama, is not only about romantic lives of the young teenagers. The story begins when Na Hee Do Na, a once-fencing prodigy, struggles to prove to herself and others that she can reach her full potential after her school’s fencing team disbanded due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. After Na’s mother and coach urge her to quit fencing, Na embarks on a journey to prove them wrong. The story follows a naive and determined Na as she does everything in her power to become the rival of  Ko Yu Rim (played by Bona), a South Korean gold medalist champion. Na’s younger mentality is showcased when she goes as far as doing illegal activities to get expelled from school so she can transfer to the school Ko attends. Her reckless actions are the core of why she has failed in fencing for so many years. 

Na’s love interest, Baek, also suffered from the financial crisis after his father’s business went bankrupt, leaving him to fend for himself. He secures a job delivering newspapers for his town, where he meets Na for the first time. Baek is also very young and comes off as cold and a killjoy, but unlike Na, he is an over-thinker who believes his mission is to work hard to rebuild his family’s reputation. 

On the surface, the plot of this drama is a love story between Na and Baek, who always seem to run into each other. The two can’t stand each other at the beginning of their relationship as Na is still very young and reckless, however, Baek, who was forced to grow up quickly and carry his family’s burden, becomes drawn to Na’s careless attitude. But actually this drama tells more than just a love story. It tells us about hardships, finding motivation despite how the situation throws us, friendship, family and growth. During the story, Na always tries her best to do everything she could to pursue her dreams and as she progressed gradually one by one, she gets more matured and wins many gold medal as an athlete. She also gets to compete with Ko Yu Rim, her long-time rivals which turns to be her best friend later on. 

It’s a refreshing take on a youthful love story too if we think from the romantic perspective. But this drama doesn’t aim for a picture-perfect ending between both protagonists like other Korean dramas often do. Instead, it centers on the characters’ coming of age. Because the series jumps between the present and the past, viewers get the sense from the beginning that Na and Baek do not end up together. With this in mind, it helps the story dive further into the development of Na and Baek’s relationship. Instead of focusing on a happy ending, it prepares the audience for a heartbreaking, yet realistic end, reminding us that some relationships are not meant to last forever.  The couple hit their breaking points after Baek scored a job as a reporter. In the beginning, he is naive and tries to make things work with Na, but he soon faces an ethical dilemma as a reporter dating a professional athlete. Still, as the couple tries to make it work, they are warned plenty of times that Baek’s career will cause the fall of their relationship. 

Throughout the relationship, there is a lot of growth from both protagonists. Na matures enough to reach her ultimate goal of winning more than one victory against her fencing idol. Baek hits a turning point in his career when he is sent out to New York City to cover the 9/11 attacks. Eventually, he is offered the news anchor position that Na’s mother once held. We also see how the communication in family is important as Na finally reconciled with her mother too.  

I really like this kind of story, whereby there are many meaningful reminders: 

1. Pursue Our Dreams 

This story tells us how important it is to have grit and perseverance in pursuing our dreams even though dreams seem out of reach. What we call passion starts from what activity you find fun to do it. This story doesn't always tell about pursuing our dreams, because I remember an athlete who tried to quit fencing because she doesn't find it fun anymore. She wants to quit fencing and learn how to bake - which eventually it resonates with me how someone's passion may not always be the same. We could always find our passion in everything we do, yet before deciding to do it, we should always have grit and perseverance on what we really want to try and try our best to do it, not half-heartedly. 

2. Life Lesson

With the situation throws at the couple, we learn that life can not always go as what we expect. If we lose and getting disappointed, we can try to laugh at our tragedy, so that we can forget and move forward. That's the lesson I learnt during the whole story.

Besides, growth doesn't go significantly, instead it goes like a stair - there will be steady growth and at one point, the growth will increase and you will finally reach the top. 

I hope a lot of K-drama will have more stories like this. 

Cheers