It's (mostly) 1998, and the great villain IMF is tearing the crap out of Korean society after the financial crisis. Na Hee-Do (Kim Tae-Ri) is a fencing prodigy in high school, and even her fencing team gets disbanded from financial pressure. She transfers schools to continue fencing alongside her idol, Ko Yu-Rim (Bona), but Ko Yu-Rim belittles her.
Back Yi-Jin (Nam Joo-Hyuk) is a few years older, but graduated from the same high school. His parents were quite rich, but declared bankruptcy during the crisis, and his father is in hiding for some financial shenanigans, so Yi-Jin's family is split up. He drops out of university to make money, and is fortunate enough to score a reporter job with a major broadcasting company. His beat? Fencing, of course.
K-Drama Bingo Score
Using the Modern K-Drama set
Running commentary
First off, any series in which the IMF features prominently as a villain is +1 in my book. The cool fencing scenes are a bonus!
Second, Kim Tae-Ri rules. I never saw her in Entourage or Mr. Sunshine, but here she shines like a Korean Audrey Hepburn, alternately matter-of-fact, resolute, and youthfully adorable. The "rainbow scissors" relationship she has with Yi-Jin is brilliantly depicted and carefully evolves through the show, which bounces a bit between 3 time periods — early 90s, late 90s, and present-day COVID world.
This series evolves into one of the most heart-wrenching depictions of the heartbreak of first loves that I've ever seen. The last two episodes are like 10x more profoundly sad than even those infamous opening minutes of the animated movie Up. The relationship between Na Hee-Do (I'll miss even the way Kim Taeri says Hee-Do's name) and Yi-Jim begins as an innocent encounter, between high school student and industrious older boy whose family went bankrupt, working odd jobs in the neighborhood. It's part nurturing, part teasing, part pure emotional support between two people finding their way in life. It blossoms into something so much deeper than romantic love.
The fencing saga is gripping itself: Hee-Do's long-standing rivalry with Ko Yu-Rim, the secret connection between the girls, the training, the fierce competition, Yu-Rim's huge decision in Episode 15. This is all great drama. But it pales in comparison with the rich emotional depth of the Hee-Do/Yi-Jin relationship. You watch them grow together, through difficulties and triumphs…and 9-11. As if you weren't sobbing already.
I'm nostalgic at heart, and Twenty-Five Twenty-One delivers the best fictional account of one first love — complete with the sucker punch to the gut when it ends — that I've ever seen on screen. I was balling my eyes out at the end. The writing is so good, and the performances so stellar, that you cannot help but feel the same wistful ache in your heart that Hee-Do and Yi-Jim must. Don't miss this one. And keep your eye on Kim Tae-Ri.
- S01E13I'm granting a non-bonus point for the singular scene in Ep 13 where Na-Hee Do (from 1999) appears — and interacts with — Min-Chae in their shared bedroom in 2020.
- S01E09Hee-Do and Yu-Rim competed against one another in their childhood (Yu-Rim remembered, but not Hee-Do). They also unknowingly chatted frequently online, sharing secrets and bonding, until they figure it out in Ep 9.
- S01E14Yu-Rim's overworked father is in a fatal car accident
- S01E01Hee-Do takes on bullies in the hopes of getting arrested to facilitate her school transfer.
- S01E02Rich boy is forced to live in squalor after his family goes bankrupt.
- S01The entires series is predicated on the Korean debt to the IMF after their financial crisis. Also, family bankruptcy and dodging co-signed loans make an appearance.
- S01E03No shortage of standoffs here
- S01E07Na Hee-Do's father passed away
- Bonus point for: Touching thumbs at the endS01E09At least two pinky swears in here, between Yu-Rim and Hee-Do, and Hee-Do and her father
- S01E06After receiving an escort to the Asian Games, Hee-Do gets encouragement from the police officer.
- Bonus point for: A woman grabbing a man instead of the more common man grabbing womanS01So many grabbed wrists. So many people need to stop, and be loved!
- S01E09Hee-Do is a terrible speller, having left a note saying "Do not distrub" on a sleeping Yi-Jin
Unmatched Bingo Spaces
- Cartoony FX
- Chicken & Beer
- Finger hearts
- Middle-of-the-Road Soliliquy
- Piggyback
- Rumble tummy
- Shamans & Talismans
- Son Hyeung Min
- The Playground
- 강한나 (Kang Han-Na)
- 내 친구 ("My friend…")