I was expecting to like this youth romance drama/comedy Twenty-Five Twenty-One (2022) a lot more than I did because most of the reviews I read for it online were very complimentary. The ratings topped 12% for small cable station tvN. Usually I love that station's drama output but honestly this one was very stressful to watch, mainly because I thought the lead actress Kim Tae Ri was super annoying, her character screamed and shrieked way too much. I had to lower my volume way down or mute her screaming altogether in order to tolerate it!

I liked the lead actor a lot more, Nam Joo Hyuk, but even his performance here was on the bland side, especially compared to all his leading lady's shrieking! LOL! The drama was written by Kwon Do Eun and directed by Jung Ji Hyun. I am not quite sure how I even got to the end! I hate to give any Korean drama a mediocre grade because most are very enjoyable, but I can't lie and say I liked it. Even the ending was a disappointment, after sixteen hours watching this couple they break up and go their separate ways!

The Story:

In the 1990's we meet high school student Na Hee Do (Kim Tae Ri) who at first tries to excel at ballet as her extra-curricular interest but she realizes she's just not as good as the other girls trying out for roles in local ballet productions and she quits. Instead she becomes a member of her high school fencing team and slowly begins to excel at it by sheer pluck and determination.

However, due to the South Korean financial crisis of that decade, the high school fencing team gets disbanded due to lack of taxpayer support. Still, not wanting to give up just because the school administration does, Na Hee Do still works hard at her fencing talent and eventually becomes a member of the National Sabre Fencing Team preparing for the future Olympics.

We also meet a male high school student named Back Yi Jin (Nam Joo Hyuk) who experiences some rather frustrating encounters with Na Hee Do (too much shrieking, girl!). He is a much more calm individual and when his father's business goes bankrupt due to the financial crisis he helps in any way he can, like working part-time delivering newspapers.

Back Yi Jin had come from a well-off family but after his Dad's business fails he becomes poor, struggling to survive as well as helping his family. He studies hard at school and has a long term interest in becoming a media personality, hopefully to join a media company concentrating on sports, his real interest.

As time passes he does succeed at his goal and he becomes a sports reporter for a major broadcasting network. However, he still maintains an interest in his old high school love relationship with Na Hee Do and helps her attain her ultimate goal of becoming a national fencing champion.

Sadly in the end the characters grow apart and break up, moving on to different interests in life and love. I found it all pretty predictable. I wasn't one of those viewers who was sad or surprised at their parting, though I did feel like I wasted a lot of my time caring about Na Hee Do's self-absorption, to be quite honest. There were the usual predictable family and friendship second tier stories but I wasn't much interested in them, either. I am not sure I would ever watch this drama again. Probably not. But you can try it if you like on Netflix. You might have a different opinion. (Just keep the mute button handy for the screaming scenes, lol!).

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