Twenty Five Twenty One runs for sixteen episodes on tvN, and it earns its keep through two decades of hardship, ambition and quiet love. The show follows Na Hee-do, a teen fencer, and Baek Yi-jin, a hardworking young man rebuilding his life after losing everything. It spans 1998 to 2021, and it anchors its story in the lives of five central characters.
Trailer, via Netflix K-Content.
Hee-do and Yi-jin
Na Hee-do, played by Kim Tae-ri, starts as a member of the school fencing team at Seonjung Girls’ High School. When the team is disbanded due to the IMF crisis, she transfers to Taeyang High School and eventually joins the National Fencing Team. Her determination carries the early stretch of the show.
Baek Yi-jin, played by Nam Joo-hyuk, comes from a family that went from riches to rags. His family splits apart because of the financial crisis, and he takes up several part-time jobs to support himself. Later, he becomes a sports reporter. The two meet as teens, and their bond grows slowly, tested by distance and circumstance.
The Five Characters
The show’s scope reaches beyond the central couple. The other three leads round out the picture:
- Kim Min-chae, Hee-do’s daughter, quits ballet and “runs away” to her grandmother’s house in the present day.
- Through her stay there, she finds her mother’s diary, which tells the story of the past.
- Choi Hyun-wook plays Moon Ji-woong, a supporting presence in Hee-do’s life.
- Lee Ju-myoung plays Ji Seung-wan, another character whose path crosses the main two.
Park Yoon-hee plays Baek Sung-hak, Yi-jin’s mother, and Kim Young-sun plays Yi-jin’s mother. These adult figures give weight to the younger stories, showing how the past shapes the present.
A Hit in Cable Television
The show premiered on February 12, 2022, airing Saturdays and Sundays at 21:10 (KST). It ran for sixteen episodes, ending on April 3, 2022. It is available for streaming on Netflix.
The series was a commercial hit. It became one of the highest-rated dramas in Korean cable television history.
Why It Works
What holds Twenty Five Twenty One together is its refusal to hurry. The show moves between 1998 and 2021, and it takes its time doing it. That patience pays off, because it lets the audience sit with each character’s losses and gains without rushing toward a quick resolution.
Kim Tae-ri returns to television after a hiatus of three years. She last starred in Mr. Sunshine in 2018. Her performance as Hee-do grounds the story in physical discipline and quiet resolve.
Nam Joo-hyuk brings a steady warmth to Yi-jin, a man who loses his family and builds his life back up through hard work. Their chemistry carries the show’s central romance, even when the narrative jumps between decades.
The diary framing device in the present day gives the story a shape that feels deliberate rather than forced. It ties the older memories to the daughter’s search for her mother’s past, giving the final episodes a sense of closure that lands well.
The Verdict
Twenty Five Twenty One succeeds because it trusts its audience to sit with loss, ambition and the slow passage of time. It handles the IMF crisis and its aftermath with care, and it finds room for romance without losing sight of the larger stakes. The performances are strong across the board, anchored by Kim Tae-ri and Nam Joo-hyuk, and the pacing rewards patience.
This is a drama that understands that big ambitions and hardworking lives are rarely neat. It earns its high rating honestly.
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