I loved Twenty-Five Twenty-One because it was a beautiful love story which made me laugh and cry. Like everyone else, I wanted Na Hee Do and Baek Yi Jin to end up together, but it the timing wasn't right for them and they had different priorities. Na Hee Do wanted to be Ko Yu Rim's rival and was driven by her late-father's belief in her. Baek Yi Jin wanted to reunite his family and being a reporter/newscaster gave him the chance to do this, despite not being a college graduate. Na Hee Do needed a supportive partner like her father and not someone who was going to be like her mother. Perhaps if Na Hee Do had a mother with a different profession, things might've been different, but her mother's past actions had scarred her too much. I live in hope that they can make their way back to each other when Min Chae is older.
Although I've given top scores, the show isn't perfect. One criticism is that the mother missing her husband's funeral altogether was too unbelievable and surely her boss would've made more of an effort to make her go. I do understand that the mother was fearful about keeping her job and raising a child on her own and was trying hard to keep it together, so the pre-reconciliation interactions between her and Na Hee Do were heart-wrenching. A second minor criticism is that I also find it unbelievable that the older Na Hee Do didn't remember the beach trip. Surely if you have a photo album, you'd remember such a special trip!
The actress who plays the older Na Hee Do had a good resemblance, but she lacked spark, but perhaps the loss of spark was from marriage to the wrong person? But who can match Kim Tae Ri in acting, beauty and personality? I wonder if the makers looked at ageing Kim Tae Ri to play the older Na Hee Do?
I'm not ready to let the show go yet and have re-watched it several times, even though it makes me cry each time. The ending was heartbreaking, but it was signalled right from the beginning. So please award your scores based on the categories and not on your disagreement with the ending!