Twenty-Five Twenty-One is REFRESHING your eyes so far!

Hello blushing sweeties!

Work from home, work from office, work all day and night; there’s almost little to no time for us to step out, refresh and go on a vacation. And this ‘need for some refreshment’ is exactly what some of the Korean drama cinematographers are targeting. Hence, drawing more target audience. Recent example of a beautiful cinematography that completely replenishes your mood, happiness and soothes your eyes is the drama ‘Our Beloved Summer’. And another example would be ‘Twenty-Five Twenty-One’. Most of their scenes are filled with greens, bright sunny mornings, clear skies, peaceful neighbourhoods (yeah! They look peaceful) and all charms of the actors (uff!).

The drama is set in the 90’s but I do not get the 90’s vibes; neither from the locations and cinematography nor from the characters.
This is the first time I am seeing Kim Tae Ri’s (FL-Na Hee Do) acting and I am already a fan. The way she has transformed herself for the character: tone of speaking, her walking style, and even when she stands (mostly she stands like a man) is appreciable. The immaturity and recklessness of an 18-year-old kid has been very well portrayed through her character. Also, she is very ambitious, optimistic, a hard worker and has a very bright smile (aww!).
Nam Ju Hyuk (ML-Baek Yi Jin) as always and as usual is radiant, though his character is someone whose family has gone bankrupt because of IMF establishment and has lost everything. The maturity and the gentleman behaviour of a 22-year-old has been very well portrayed through his character. Though he looks bright on the outside, he is pessimistic on the inside. And that pessimism is something that our FL is going to change.

I need to watch more episodes in order to pass my comments on the rest of the characters.
Besides the main plot, the show is also trying to show the differences in the way an 18-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man think, speak, act and react.

The OST’s of the drama (my, my.) are so damn upbeat, cheerful and motivational that they straight away go to my morning songs playlists because, “such songs plus coffee- what else do I need to wake me up?”.
Only two episodes are down for me. The story seems to be simple so far but you know the 'booms and baams' in the story comes only when the story reaches halfway. So, there is a long way to go to finalize comments about this drama. But I loved it (so far) and will be watching the rest of the episodes shortly.

Thank you for reading my review.
Have a good day/night!

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Guys....Guys.....This was FREAKING BAD, HOT & CRAZZYYYY!

This review contains very mild spoilers!
Hello blushing sweeties!

From bad→ evil→ crazy→ good- justice is done. The character transformation is freaking (sooo) good. Starting from Ep 1, the scenes have been fiercely portrayed especially the introduction of ‘Ryu Su Yeol’, ‘Lee Hui Gyeom’, ‘O Gyeong Tae’ and ‘K’ characters. The comic scenes and dialogues that jumped out of the blue frequently; engaged the viewers made them more attentive. As you watch, you might notice even the tone of speaking is very interesting. The fight scenes were exceedingly serious and manly. They were brilliantly designed and directed. At some times, you might even question ‘Why so extreme?’. But this is the specialty of this drama everything starting from beginning to end is extreeeeemeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

The acting in this drama was sky level. All the actors ranging from main roles to support roles to bit roles delivered their best acting, emotions and were given equal importance. From closeup scenes that literally brought the charm of the actors to the vigorous and extraordinary fight scenes that made you jump out of your chair and gave you goosebumps; the direction too is praiseworthy. 90% of the scenes were whistle-worthy. They were spectacularly convincing even though some situations and scenes were exaggerated. Yes, there was exaggeration throughout that helped this drama to become ‘The Superhero Drama’. (In short, the exaggeration was digestible, hehe)

Ryu Su Yeol (Lee Dong Wook), a cop in the Anti-corruption department, who literally sucks up to his seniors and the rich for his own benefits; had a change of heart when he realized the existence of his alter ego ‘K’ (Wi Ha Joon) who forced him to give up his habit of sucking up and encouraged to live a more diligent and honest life. This transformation was inculcated in the first 6 episodes with the help of ‘the Drug Mafia plot’. The first 6 episodes show how Ryu Su Yeol goes about deeply investigating and disclosing the dirty business of the drug mafia gang.

But did you really think the drama plot is all about the drug mafia? NO, NO.

When you really start feeling, “Oh, here we go again! Another drug mafia plot”, BOOM! Gas Lighting- the drama’s second plot kicks in. And that’s when the x-factor comes in. I would say it’s solely because of this change in plot, this drama becomes one of the most entertaining, intriguing, psychologically thrilling, special, and unique. You might really end up thinking that the villains disclosed in the first 6 episodes are the top villains of the drama and wonder ‘what’s next?’. But NO, NO. Here too, the drama was successful in confusing you.

The top villain of this drama is Jeong Yun Ho (Jeong Seong II). His character rose in the rest of the 6 episodes. He turned the drama upside down and took the story on an unexpected path. His character was responsible to divide the plot into 2. The first half is an enthralling chase behind the villains to end the corruption and the drug business. The second half is surviving against the dirty techniques of gaslighting and a psychological fight between the truth and the lie.
The drama was very successful in throwing light on a (very) much-needed topic ‘Gas Lighting’. Many youngsters and adults these days have become preys of gas lighters, never knowing how to get out of the situation or couldn’t even muster up the courage to seek help. This drama helps the viewers to understand the techniques that a gaslighter can use to approach a person and the psychopathic nature of a gaslighter.

A mentally strong person cannot be gaslighted no matter what out-of-the-world techniques a gas lighter applies. And a persistent gas lighter will try a zillion ways to gaslight his/ her prey. This psychopath will never give up (even if his life is on the line) unless and until you arrest him and put him in an asylum. Does this really happen at the end of the drama? You need to watch it to know it!

Honestly, the gaslighting scenes in the ending episodes were so scary that it really sends a chill down the spine. It proves that human beings are much scarier than ghosts. Jeong Yun Ho acted so well that it really frightens and shakes you up.
As you watch, you can literally feel the loopholes in the plot. Or lemme call them wormholes, because they were tiny as a worm; which I feel were absolutely necessary. Why because, if everything is portrayed ‘too real’ how are the scriptwriters supposed to deliver the gigantism, the heroism, the x-factor of the plot? You see, in reality, all these extraordinary scenes are any which way not possible. So, a drama or a work of fiction should at least have them, right?
The bromance between Ryu Su Yeol and K is worth watching. Their journey from violent enemies (extremely violent) to becoming soft-hearted soul mates who cannot live without each other, melts your heart. The bromance between Yang Jae Seon and O Gyeong Tae is very different from the former. It gives cute couple vibes, hehe.

Bad and Crazy is phenomenal and definitely INSANE. There is a lot of hard work put in to bring out the scenes super interesting, super comic, super fun, and super bromantic. The production, the cast (perfectly casted), the acting, the bromance, the romance, the OST (such great songs which are super rock, must-listen), the background music, the effects, the color palette (the reds, the blacks, the neons, and cyberpunk colors that screamed craziness), the styling, (especially) the action (wowww!) were on point.
Definitely a must (must) watch as it will keep you hooked and entertained throughout! I will rate this drama a total of 9 and would give an 8 for its rewatch value.

Thank you for reading this review.
Have a good day/night!

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Slow Burn-Could this revenge have been better? -2 minutes read.

Hello blushing sweeties!

It was a slow burn drama, lacking in many areas. All the emotions portrayed were in limited scale. The hatred should have been maximum. Romance should have been overflowing. The revenge, the tension between the characters should have given the viewers chills down the spine. It was on the contrary and hence it was lacking.
The cinematography was dramatic and interesting to watch-Better than the typical period Chinese dramas. The costumes, the interiors, crockery and other props used in the drama are a visual feast. The acting was up to the mark. The OSTs elevated the moods. The twists and turns were kicking in smoothly.

But everything could have been better. It's as if the drama makers purposefully wanted it to be a slow burn drama.

The bottom-line is that it was a good watch. I would rate it a 6.5.

Thank you for reading my review.
Have a good day/night!

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Decency maintained!

Hello blushing sweeties!

"You don't have to be the best in everything you do. What's important is whether you're truly happy doing whatever you do."

"Skills matter but storytelling overtakes skills."

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Also, every action has a hidden reason too."

These are the three messages that I am gonna take away with me from the school drama 'School 2021'.
You see, I have watched many school dramas but I must say this drama has some decency in it. The drama throws light on how students can do better if they are doing what they love and not studying for the sake of studying or meditating in front of the books for hours. It shows how vocational curriculum (skill-based) is equally important as the regular curriculum and sometimes can even teach good values to the students because you don't end mugging things up instead experience first hand and get the work done then and there like carpentry: the focus in the drama. So to begin with, I loved the concept, it's something different.

But....but the light they throw on these points is a dim light...haha. They should have thrown a brighter one. The above mentioned points are not clearly and completely delivered in the drama. In between it keeps loosing its essence with other plots such as bribery, corruption, friendship, romance, bromance, love triangle, family, fear of losing powers, injustice, betrayal and many more. The focus of the show should have been on dreaming about your dream, working hard to make it happen, facing difficulties and fallbacks during the process, how you overcome them, how your dream converts into your life goal and finally achieving your set goal with all the supporting actors and sub plots. But this simple flow was distorted since their focus from 'this' changed to revealing 'corruptions happening in a school background' which is also very necessary to address but hey! scriptwriter you shouldn't forget why you started writing this drama. In short the focus got dissolved.

Unlike other school dramas, where there are a lot of lovey-dovey, cheesy and super romantic scenes, School 2021 maintained the decency by keeping in mind that they are just 18 years old, though there were subtle acceptable romance and flirting between the leads.

Moving on to the 'acting' of the actors. Kim Yo Han as Gong Ki Joon (ML) was perfectly casted as his face, his body, his expressions everything suited his character. Not to mention his little (little) pouts and cute puppy faces flashing in between was adorable. Jo Yi Hyun as Jin Ji Won also very well managed to be the small bomb that blasts big with fairly good acting, though I couldn't handle her aegyo as it was a little too much for my brain to digest. Choo Young Woo as Jung Yeong Joo should have come out of the 'cold and quiet boy' shell and delivered even more varied expressions (tho that was his character, he could have thought of some other creative ways to bring out even more emotions because acting is done not only with face but the whole body). Anyways, that guy has potential in him.
Hwang Bo ReumByeol as Kang Seo Yeong who kept her body very stiff throughout cleverly used her beautiful face muscles only to deliver all the emotions. It had an x factor to it so it didn't look bland as Jung Yeong Joo's acting.
Plus the third couple's (Ji Ho Sung and Go Eun Bi ) aegyo was also way beyond the limit and at some places unnecessary.

But anyways, I enjoyed watching this drama as it didn't include scenes like for example having the ML to be a part of the super famous bully team in school, the FL being the target of the bully team, the extraordinarily clever ML who manages to score straight As without even having a scene of him studying through the drama, the parents being super unaware of what their children are doing, food gulping scenes (thank god they didn't focus on 'having food'...the heck), alcohol drinking scenes, unnecessary kiss scenes, unnecessary embarrassment scenes between main leads and overly (overly) sympathetic scenes.

The climax made me cry! In short, if you're looking for a less complex, sunny and a heart-warming school drama. This is it!

Ah, jinjja, eottokhe? eottokheee? How can I end this review without singing the famous title track of this drama:

Dream on...Dream on...Dream on!

Thankyou for reading my review.
Have a good day/night!

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Are you here for something bright and sunny?

Hello blushing sweeties!

If you are planning to watch something bright and sunny and enjoy the moments of "Aww, so cute" often, then this fits perfect. The story line is very light on your minds, in other words its the usual. Even though its the usual, I felt that they have included a lot of details that helped in elevating even the smallest interaction between the main leads.
Like how other light-hearted dramas get dragged in the end, this one is an exception! It keeps the viewers engaged with the scenes though the future scenes are quite predictable.

Simon Gong (main lead) could have loosen things up. He looked extremely stiff. There were some scenes too that lacked little practicality and reality. But they are forgiven since they were put in the first place to bring the main characters to where they are now!

Anyway, most of the human brains need to balance off emotions, including mine. If I am watching, say, horror, disturbing, crime thriller or mystery (that's heavy on my brain), then next time I make sure that I go for something really cute and heart warming. The flow goes on!

Thank you for reading my review.
Have a good day/night!

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