K-Drama Fans Will Love This Epic Romantic Series On Netflix

South Korean pop culture continues to find success worldwide. That includes K-dramas, which encompass Korean scripted television of any genre. Romantic series from Korea, in particular, are quite popular globally and have become a growing staple in Netflix's library of acclaimed K-dramas. Even so, there are still plenty of overlooked or underrated K-dramas of this specific variety on the streamer. Case in point: 2022's "Twenty-Five Twenty-One," which was well-received both among South Korean audiences and abroad. Blending nostalgia with a coming-of-age love story, the show presents classic K-drama tropes in a fresh way, making them feel exciting and engaging all over again.

The plot begins with the narrative framing device of disillusioned teenage ballet dancer Kim Min-chae (Choi Myung-bin) finding her mother's high school diary in 2021. Flashing back to 1998, Min-chae's mother Na Hee-do (Kim Tae-ri) is a gifted fencer on her high school team. Because of the IMF financial crisis affecting South Korea, however, Hee-do's school shuts down its fencing program, forcing her to relocate to a different school. Hee-do's journey is paralleled by Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk), whose family falls into poverty because of the crisis, with Yi-jin taking on several part-time jobs to support them. As Hee-do and Yi-jin acclimate to their new circumstances, they meet and begin to fall in love with each other.

And while this premise may seem by-the-numbers at first glance, "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" masterfully brings its narrative elements together for an excellent romantic coming-of-age tale.

Any romantic show or movie lives or dies on the chemistry between its leads; fortunately, the rapport between Kim Tae-ri and Nam Joo-hyuk in "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" is electric. Kim, in particular, was lauded by local audiences upon the series' debut, with her performance leading to her being labeled "Korea's sweetheart" as the innocent but fierce Na Hee-do. But the majority of the show's appeal lies with its evocative period setting and wistful sense of nostalgia. And like many realistic tales of first love, the ending to "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" is heartbreakingly bittersweet as its nostalgia turns into melancholia.

With its 1998 setting, "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" revisits a familiar era, even for those who didn't live in South Korea during this time in history. Many popular K-dramas, including the universally acclaimed "Reply 1988," offer highly detailed historical backdrops yet manage to avoid being beholden to the past, using their settings to effectively elevate their stories instead. "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" replicates this approach successfully and similarly ground its narrative in real-world history organically. Between its leads' chemistry and how the show evokes life in 1998, "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" feels all the more relatable, making its ending that much more emotional.

"Twenty-Five Twenty-One" is currently available to stream on Netflix and well-worth checking out for fans looking for their next favorite K-drama to check out. If you love a good coming-of-age love story (like "The Wonder Years") or you're a K-drama fan, this is a must-watch.