Once again the adage of live K-drama watching being a walk in landmines comes to fruition, and a new generation of ardent drama watchers will take away a lesson. Unfortunately it’s that rather than a satisfying conclusion for tvN drama Twenty Five, Twenty One, which got overwhelming hate for how it ended the drama despite record high ratings of 11.513%, In this case the rating doesn’t reflect the happiness quotient and this drama seems primed to go down the exact same path of Queen Cheorin (Mr. Queen), all high ratings and shoved into a corner where the sun don’t shine after an ending that infuriated most of its strongest fans. Forecasting Love and Weather also ended this Sunday to 7.344% ratings but no one care at this point, most of the viewers dropped off piecemeal from episode 7 onward and it’s been a study in boredom since them. But it had a more satisfying ending so there’s that, the irony is not lost on me but honestly I just want dramas to be good from beginning to end and that remains a rarity to this day.
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I am so torn on the ending. It’s bittersweet and realistic but I really can’t help but think that this drama had so much potential to be one of the best if they cut out all the present day scenes and give Heedo and Yijin and happy ending. They had such a strong relationship that as a viewer, I felt so hurt that they broke up and I think they could have worked out. Anyways, I still love the drama and all the actors really made the characters shine. Hope they all get the recognition they deserve.
Curl, I agree with you.
I don’t have issue with the end but more about the execution of the story.
For FLAW, 7% ratings were way too high for a poor drama like this.
I can accept the ending because very few first loves end with a HEA.
To be honest I could already see the cracks in their relationship even before he went to New York. It’s all there plain and simple. Being late on dates, later becoming unable to even come at all.
For someone like NHD who had lost her dad at a young age, and with her mom’s work had become too time consuming that she was barely seen at home. I am pretty sure she would want a bf who is more like Jiwoong. Someone who would be there for her. She did try to adjust, she did try to be patient but for someone who is head over heels for her man wouldn’t be satisfied with merely just seeing him on the screen. She isn’t his fan, she is his gf. She couldn’t reach him emotionally anymore. She couldn’t cheer him up like she did before in the past. She finally know what she wanted. And she decided to break up.
And she was right he definitely needed therapy from his depression. Lots of it.
They could have worked it out since he returned to Korea years later but I don’t think HD wants a husband who would like how her mom was.
I have to agree with all your points
I thought he was selfish a little by asking
“Is there no room for you to understand me”
I get why she said those harsh words
Even me would have shouted
“What about me?”
Sorry guys, their relationship was not healthy at all
It was not even healthy before he went to New York
And heedo herself said that
I get her, it was her resolve to break up
He would have gone for either way
And that’s the problem – you have to fight for your love. It can’t be either way.
Yee Jin was always happy to stand by the sidelines and support Heedo as a friend.
That’s not enough.
Not enough for Heedo to consider a lifetime of repeated PTSD that she suffered from her mom.
I think plotwise this is a wonderful drama, no unnecessary second leads, no evil for ridiculous reason characters. Pretty realistic and i think if this was a novel, it would have been a hit.
Unfortunately, the last two eps felt terribly rushed, where usually at that stage of a story, more could still be told. Personally i would have liked to see glimpses of heedo and yijin coping with the breakup, and would loooove to see the gang reunite in their older days.
As I commented on other sites, who wants a realistic ending and what’s a realistic ending? Is breaking up a realistic ending, that’s a very pessimistic view of the writer because I know many friends who have successful long distance relationships and others who have overcome tougher obstacles than just one is a reporter / anchorman and the other, an athlete. And my main point is, why do we watch kdramas? Certainly not because their plots are realistic because most of them are definitely not! That’s the beauty of kdrama! It allows us to dream, to hope, it gives us an uplift to our daily lives. I think to much was written about other things and then, they had to wrap up quickly. What a let down!I couldn’t even be bothered to watch the last episode.
Lol a north korean soldier and south korean entrepreneur could make it, why couldnt a fencing athlete and a journalist :p
Exactly cannot agree more
We never asked a realistic end , I never thought Baek ijin would fall for Naa hee Do when the drama began ….it’s the script that made us fall for BaekDo and why we wanted them to end up together…all those cheerful and sorrowful moments of their struggling phase made us believe in this love ….we are aware of min Chae’s existence and there was no hope with nearing end of the episodes then again they even showed their romance their dating phase in episode 15 , giving us more hope . This drama was so good the bond the theme the friendship the struggle everything was so perfect. This could have been the best drama in recent times but the ending just ruined it . I am still struggling to accept this end . Everyday I look for articles , posts , comments I am stuck with baek ijin ‘s pain , he didn’t wanted separation , everytime he agreed to Naa hee do this time too he agreed to her . It’s selfish on her part to just think only about her self , baek ijin didn’t cheat on her , he was struggling himself , he had so much on his plate ….. And most importantly if kdramas becomes real where will we go …we never asked for a realistic end . I happily waited every week to watch this drama and I was happy every time I watched ,only to be sad at the end Why writer why ???
This drama makes it seems like newsroom reporter is the busiest job there is, it doesnt seem realistic to me. I know it’s a job that requires working at weird hours an all, but for sure a broadcasting stations must have several reporters so they can rotate. Also, yijin is a newbie in the newsroom department but he is chosen to go to ny for the 911 event? I would think it’s an important task and many seasoned reporters would want to be in charge of.
Overall, this drama is just a so so drama for me. Several things seem forced and contrived. Baek yi jin character in the second half is also poorly developed. We never got to know what’s his drive, how from a person who change department to project his love to wanting to stay in NY knowing it would lead to loosing his love? His action of staying in ny says he doesn’t value his love that much.
I think the only thing I like is the fencing parts and yurim heedo relationship. And what’s with yurim a russian person who was hated by the nation for being a traiter openning a training center in korea? How does that happen???
Exactly. You analysis it so well. The later development of Yi Jin’s character is so badly planned. Totally agree with you.
I suppose, regardless of who she defends, yurim is still a hell of a fencer with outstanding talents and records. And with more kids aiming to study overseas, and they did mention that fencing skills would be an advantage, the parents wouldnt have skipped the chance to have their kids be trained by yurim. The goal is kids getting into ivy league, who cares if the trainer’s ethical views are less admired by the society..
Also yurim returning to korea to train korean kids is probably a redemption to the koreans in itself..
Exactly my point if ji woon can reach Russia and ko yu rim can return and open her training centre where her country people named her traitor , can’t Baek do work on their relationship. How smoothly they even conquer their love and were getting married. On the other hand hee do just got married . She moved on so easily. The funeral part where they had a reunion the way hee do behaved clearly showed no sign of regret she was already married then it was so rude and harsh with all the breakup scenes . Baek ijin suffered more than her. I loved Naa hee do I loved all her achievements her strong headed nature , her character but towards the end I couldn’t love her anymore .
I totally agree, there was a lot of lack of proper communication and a love based relationship needed constant communication to keep it strong and last… I was in emotional pain, the end was not at all justified, it lacked consistency.
FLAW was a huge disappointment, the last few episodes were so boring and poorly executed it felt like a different show.
I am recommending F4 Thailand at this point. After 15 well written episodes this drama is very, very satisfying to watch. Every idiotic plot or line in the Korean BoF has been changed to a thoughtful way of solving a dilemma and the OTP actually looks as if they might actually have a reason to be in love.
I wanted to just comment to….
Shower lots of love and praises for our boy Nam Joo Hyuk!!!!
He not only held his own to a leading lady with super acting chops. He more then held his own during the pivotal scenes , in some he was the one uplifting her performance.
I never though I see this day!
He used to be so stiff in crying scenes
But here in the breakout, I can literally hear his gasps of pain, his heart breaking (with mine) and his regrets.
So. Much. Growth.
He is becoming despite all odds a really really good actor!
Gosh, you go NJH!
Bask in the glory!!!!!
Rather than is it a bad ending, the ending kinda shows how bad the drama was. I was thinking that the couple will not work out and we’ll see how they strive but what we see is a lumpy ending, when it just end without any explanation beside “you need to see the clue in the previous episode”
No ssssh Sherlock, ofc we did look at it but we also need confirmation. What was the driving edge, the one they can’t tolerate and what was the breaking point and the point when they pick up.
Like in encanto, you see where the crack finally get into climax and when it gets restored based on the same principle.
I already stated what i think about the end of 2521 in another post . As FLW, i started to get bored after ep 7 , after that i watch it at high speed and it was a Classic Disney happy end for everyone . No balance ! The drama that was perfect is Through the darkness .
Eventhough I dropped Forecasting Love a few weeks back I did watch the ending and I found myself skipping
1) Shi woo’s dad parts (terminal disease REALLY?!?)
2) Senior Forecaster family drama
3) Main couple’s flashback
4) Mom’s words of wisdom
Female lead’s sister and O.C. nerdy guy was more interesting than the the OTP
On 25 21, Hee do has a daughter( not Yi jin’s) so it is pretty obvious that eventually they would break up at some point but I was kinda hoping that they will get back together on present time. Hello!!! Yi jin is not on New York anymore and Hee do is retired now raising her daughter so I was holding my breath for a second chance romance but well….
Still the OTP is really good on expressing their emotions.
The brightside is at least Yi jin didn’t end up with Ji Seung wan because I thought they were gonna be a thing when he went to the funeral Pheww
#kdrama watching paranoia
Flaw although the last few episodes quite boring, it did well ratings wise given how jtbc was tanking after world of married.2022 seems like a good year for the channel with thirty nine crossing 8pc mark and flaw not much behind. Maybe song joong ki’s drama turn out to be a hit as well
Knetz doesn’t let this drama breath. The leading actress overacting, the minor-adult relationship, the 911, the bad executed ending and now the post-drama interview of the leading actress. They all went viral in forums.
Now they’re judging Ktr and njh morals and intelligence since ktr revealead that they knew from the start about the minor-adult relationship and it was something to be simply done with care. And throw njh under the car saying that that part was for him to be acted with care not hers. <— thing knetz are saying. Not my opinion!
All I got is that NJH got even better but he needs to chose better dramas! Really!
No matter how people normalise it here,that minor-adult relationship will always be weird. Like imagine a high schooler who is visibly immature is being pursued by a grown up working man . If the man is not a swoon worthy kdrama lead everyone would say this is red flag in real life. The problem is not with the age gap. But the fact that both people are at different stages in their lives.
Also i remember how everyone trashed Backstreet rookie. Agree BS deserved the backlash for the racist scenes but even for the flying kick scene, people went bonkers that how it is immoral for a high schooler to kiss am adult. Atleast JCW’s character had no feelings for kyj’s character until she was actually an adult.
But for 2521 reception from ifans is so different.
The thing here is he wasn’t pursuing her, she had feelings but it wasn’t acted on until was an adult. Anyone that saw the show and followed their relationship shouldn’t have a problem with it honestly.
@salmos
But he didn’t stop himself either. Like in the beginning he said kids should love kids only but then he started having feelings for her while her still being a minor . When she kissed him at midnight he didn’t back off as if she miraculously became mature just after 10 s past 12.
Again, i remember backstreet rookie getting lots of backlash because the girl had a crush on him while she was a minor but atleast the ml didn’t reciprocate her feelings untill few years had passed.
From what i could see on naver most knetz were upset about them not ending up together even on k twitter the only place that the drama usually get hated on is pann and tbh almost everything is hated on on pann
theqoo.net/index.php?mid=hot&filter_mode=normal&page=3&document_srl=2406408620
Is in theqoo. They’re going overboard insulting the actress…
The qoo is just like pann tho it represents a small number of people . It just like reddit but for korea and this drama have always received negative comments there ib contrast to naver which is a much bigger site. Besides it rare to see a super popular drama without haters take Cloy when it was airing for instance.
I found 2521’s ending befitting. I was reading KTR’s post-drama interview and she said she knew the ending from the beginning. I am glad the writer stuck with the intended ending because so many kdramas go haywire when the audience dictates the plot.
2521’s ending made it go from good to SPECIAL for me. In the end, who the father is didn’t matter (those amnesia and time-travel theories look funny in hindsight). The drama skews true to life. NHD and BYJ might be in love, might even be soulmates, but their priorities, communication, dedication, and timing didn’t align and those are things that sustain a relationship. The two would’ve broken up even if BYJ stayed in Korea.
The drama was a homage to (idealistic) days of youth. The entire cast was strong. KTR was excellent per usual, and NJH was a revelation. I feel that 2521 will age well.
Wow it reached almost 600k tweets on twitter yesterday(although it was mostly people complaining about how them not being endgame). It also reached #3 on netflix global ranking today.it indeed a very popular drama and still a good drama just wished it had better ending.
I disagree about FLAW having the more satisfying ending. None of the couples should have ended up together. Cancer and pregnancies fixing toxic relationships? Please. People may have hated 2521’s ending but to me FLAW needed some of its realism.
What a lame ending, what a waste of characters and story line! It was such a great story to end in tragic ending! So much potential watered in that ending. I felt cheated on this one! I still do love the actors though and their acting, they bring the characters to life. It’s just too bad the writer killed their story with that shabby ending.
Actually ,I was expecting a happy ending between yijin and heedo just like Ko Yurim and Jiwong. There were couples who became successful though they were in a long distance relationship. I think yijin was at fault because he did not even give importance their relationship. It was really regretful.
It was an unsettling ending without a satisfying closure. It was frustrating for me cause I expected more answers but if left with more questions. I cannot believe the main leads never even met up even once to “support” each other like they were complete strangers. YJ was saying that he does not need to hear from his ex cause he can read on the news. Older HD seems like she has amnesia throughout the entire series. I can understand why the viewers were angry too cause the writer was dangling candy each time they gave a happy scene then switches to make it sad so the whole thing seems like a lie and gimmicky as ever to the very last second. Honestly just want to erase this drama from my memory.
Please,let there be a season 2 for 25,21. The ending were all uncertain and vague. So the story can still have a happy ending them togetherlike the netizens put up. The story is sooo good and the characters did well, besides the ending. So please…. make season 2 a happy one!
If you’re still emotionally damaged from ep16 of 2521, hop on to ep11 of A Business Proposal, which is like a salve to battle scarred hearts of k-drama watchers lol (wink, wink)
I can’t understand the ending! Why?! In the very beginning of this drama im hooked with it and all the characters, I’m very dissapointed and broken, You let them happy and sad ending. Yes life is not perfect atleast you let them be together in the end and we also the fans are happy too. Now its too late coz back ye Jin is gone forever. Buecit! Di na ako Maka pag move on neto.
I totally did not like the ending! If real life I’d what I wanted I will read the newspaper or watch the news! I get some Kdramas don’t have happy endings but this one had so many storyline holes that at the end I stated to loose interest, sadly many issues were not explained .So, I give this Kdrama a 5 out of 10. Forecasting love was a waste of my time, it got boring and I lost interest. I did see the last episode but still it was ok. Sticking to seeing a Business Proposal. It’s cliche scenes and funny situations have made me laugh!
I get some Kdramas don’t have happy endings but this one had so many storyline holes that at the end I started to loose interest, sadly many issues were not explained .So, I give this Kdrama a 5 out of 10. Forecasting love was a waste of my time, it got boring and I lost interest. I did see the last episode but still it was ok. Sticking to seeing a Business Proposal. It’s cliche scenes and funny situations have made me laugh!
I get some Kdramas don’t have happy endings but this one had so many storyline holes that at the end I started to loose interest, sadly many issues were not explained .So, I give this Kdrama a 5 out of 10. Forecasting love was a waste of my time, it got boring and I lost interest. I did see the last episode but still it was ok. Sticking to seeing a Business Proposal. It’s cliche scenes and funny situations have made me laugh!
Hai am teja from India
I want 25 21 kdrama korean note book. Please if u interested please courier me.
8885556642 my number
tejanaidu205101@gmail.com