6 nostalgic K-dramas to binge-watch if you haven’t moved on from ‘Twenty Five, Twenty One’
In the words of Pinoy fans, “walang mag mo-move on.”
It’s been a few days since the youth K-drama Twenty Five, Twenty One has aired its final episode, but we still haven’t moved on from Na Hee-do (Kim Tae-ri), Baek Yi-jin (Nam Joo-hyuk), Ko Yu-rim (Bona), Moon Ji-woong (Choi Hyun-wook), and Ji Seung-wan (Lee Joo-myung)’s journeys from high school to adulthood.
Spoilers alert!
The finale episode starts on a heartbreaking note as Hee-do and Yi-jin break up and move on with their own lives. Yu-rim and Ji-woong get engaged, while Seung-wan gets hired as a TV producer after graduating from college.
If you haven’t moved on from Twenty Five, Twenty One’s ending, here’s a list of K-dramas to binge-watch that follow the same theme of nostalgia.
Reply trilogy
Ah, the Reply series. A trilogy that’s well-loved because of its timely reminder to adults who want to savor their youth. The trilogy, composed of Reply 1997, Reply 1994, Reply 1988, revolves around adults who relive their memories, with a witty narration of their thoughts in the present.
You don’t have to watch the Reply trilogy in chronological order but if you’re looking for something that talks about family—Reply 1988 is the series for you. On the other hand, fangirls can dearly relate to Reply 1997, while Reply 1994 focuses more on the love triangle between the leads.
18 Again
If you’re wondering why 18 Again seems familiar, the series is based on the 2009 film 17 Again starring Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, and Leslie Mann. Hong Dae-young (Yoon Sang-hyun) was miraculously given the chance to fix his life by going back to his 18-year-old self and returning to his high school. Dae-young, however, still has the mind of a 37-year-old and finds himself drawn to his wife for the second time.
Our Beloved Summer
It’s hard to move on from your first love—and Our Beloved Summer is a K-drama that pulls off the old-school genre perfectly. Former sweethearts Choi Ung (Choi Woo-shik) and Kook Yeon-soo (Kim Da-mi) cross paths after ten years where they’re forced to face the camera after their high school documentary goes viral. Ung and Yeon-soo discover how they’ve been doing in the present (in a hateful way) and they realize their feelings have never gone away.
Girls’ Generation 1979
Nope, this K-drama is not a story of the “Nation’s Girl Group” Girls’ Generation. Instead, the miniseries is set in 1970s Daegu and revolves around middle child Lee Jung-hee (Bona). Jung-hee initially forms a rivalry with new girl Park Hye-joo (Chae Seo-jin), but eventually develops a longstanding friendship.
Melting Me Softly
What if you’re given the chance to go back to your past, but as part of an experiment? Young adults Go Mi-ran (Won Jin-ah) and Ma Dong-chan (Ji Chang-wook) take part in a science experiment that goes wrong, where they wake up 20 years later instead of 24 hours. As they fight for survival, they discover the importance of time as they catch up with the missing moments of their lives.
Go Back Couple
To those who are taken, have you ever wanted to go to a different timeline where you’ve never met your partner? Well, this almost happened in Go Back Couple except that Choi Ban-do (Son Ho-jun) and Ma Jin-joo (Jang Na-ra) strangely find themselves as university students in the same school. Their relationship has reached its breaking point in the present, and try to fix their own lives the second time around.