Nostalgic, fresh, and so full of feels, Twenty-Five, Twenty-One is the show that I didn’t know I needed, in my life.
The writing is thoughtful and tender, and combined with great casting and excellent delivery, our characters pop with so much life and heart, their relationships feel so raw and real, and their journeys feel so familiar and relatable, that I couldn’t get enough of it all.
To top it all off, the music is pitch perfect and excellently applied, making the already great feels land with extra oomph and amplification.
Some lens adjustments are necessary (and so important!) – which I’ll talk more about shortly.
In case you missed it, we have yet another guest post series to enjoy, this month!
Unlike our previous guest post series, this one was kind of an accident, almost. I have Ele to thank for this one, because it was her innocent question about something, that made me casually talk about the off-the-top-of-my-head, hypothetical possibility of a guest post series on love, in the month of February, in honor of Valentine’s Day.
So many folks on Patreon responded enthusiastically to this idea, that I felt that it would be remiss of me, not to actually make it happen, come February.
And so, here we are. This month, we will enjoy a total of nine guest posts from patrons on Patreon, on the topic of love stories. The brief is pretty flexible, in that, each writer is free to go deep, or go wide, on anything around the topic of love stories in Dramaland. I feel like we have a lot to look forward to, this month! 🥰
You can check out Uyen’s inaugural post here, and Jaco_4950’s post here.
Today’s post is brought to you by Kate, whom you may have seen around the blog, as well as on Patreon. Like Jaco_4950 did in her post, today is the first time Kate’s introducing herself to us properly (YAY for proper introductions! 🤩). I’m so glad that we have this chance, to get to know her better!
In case you missed it, we’re doing something special and different to end off the drama year this year! Guests posts, by patrons on Patreon!
You can read more details, and check out Shahz’s inaugural post, here. You can also find JJ‘s post here, Trent’s post here, Sean’s post here, Martina’s post here and lotusgirl’s post here!
This is the finale guest post in the series, and next up, we’ll cap everything off with a poll, where you’ll be able to pick YOUR favorites for the year, from among the gems identified in these posts. How exciting! 🤩 Stay tuned for that!
Today’s post is brought to you by phl1rxd, who is as modest as she is talented. And, those of us who joined in the Nirvana in Fire group watch, will always be in awe of her deep knowledge of everything about that show, and her generosity in sharing that knowledge with the rest of us! ❤️
You’ll notice that in her post, the graphics are extra crisp and clean, all clearly hailing from the same family. That’s all phl1rxd’s work, y’all. Didn’t I tell you she’s talented? 🤩
Designed to be light, easy and feel-good, Show tends to lean more simplistic than I would like, particularly in the areas of business and technology and how that all works. The characters took a while to grow on me, but I did eventually grow fond of almost all of them.
At the same time, there are definitely some stand-outs that endeared themselves to me early, like Kim Hae Sook as Gran.
Ultimately, Show manages to be uplifting and aspirational (if you can overcome the over-simplification of everything), and ends up being a reasonably pleasant coming-of-age – or rather, coming-into-your-own – kinda story.
PS: Most viewers have strong feelings about this story’s love triangle, but I didn’t.
What a surreal year 2020 has turned out to be, amiright?
It’s been the year of surprises and curveballs, and I think it’s safe to say that none of us has been unaffected by the events of 2020.
As a small silver lining, with lockdowns taking place around the world, and Netflix promoting Asian dramas with unflagging enthusiasm, we’ve welcomed many new drama fans into our midst.
And, our dramas have not let us down. I mean, yes, there’ve been duds, but that’s true every year anyway, yes? 😉 I’m just happy that Dramaland has found a way to continue production while ensuring the safety of cast and crew, coz I know I’m not alone when I say that dramas have helped make 2020 better.
Now, let’s take stock of my drama year in 2020, before 2021 comes upon us!
