Twenty-Five Twenty-One cast and characters: Here's who brought the tvN K-drama to life

tvN's hit kdrama Twenty-Five Twenty-One brings the 90s vibe, and it hits nostalgia at the right spot.

And the credit goes to the storyline and the cast. Jung Ji Hyun and Kim Seung Ho serve as the directors.

The story begins with Na Hee-doo's daughter, who runs away to her grandmother's house, where, among her mother's belongings, she finds an old diary. As she starts reading, we are taken back to July 1998, where we see a young Na Hee-do, who's a fencing enthusiast. She's a typical South Korean teen from the 1990s, her eyes full of dreams and hope. But are they so easily achievable?

When a financial crisis hits South Korea, her team gets disbanded, and she needs to fight her way to make it to the national fencing team. In this crisis, she meets Baek Yi-jin, a college dropout.

Baek Yi-jin's life is a mess, too. His family is bankrupt, and he needs to take up part-time jobs to survive. Can Hee-do and Baek Yi-jin fulfill their dreams together? Catch all the episodes of Twenty-Five Twenty-One, now streaming on Netflix. Confused about who plays whom? Worry not, here's a detailed cast and character guide for Twenty-Five Twenty-One.

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Twenty-Five Twenty-One kdrama cast

Kim Tae Ri as Na Hee-Do

Kim Tae Ri leads the show as Na Hee-Do. She's a high-spirited high school teen who's passionate about one thing, and that's fencing. As a fencing prodigy, she hopes to make it to the nationals. But her dreams are shattered when the IMF crisis hits South Korea, and the team is disbanded, forcing her to transfer to a new school. Throughout the series, she faces several hurdles and loses in competitions, too, but she never backs down. Watch Na Hee-Do follow her dreams as she navigates her life with Baek Yi-jin.

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Nam Joo Hyuk as Baek Yi-jin

Nam Joo Hyuk plays an aspiring journalist and Hee-do's partner Baek Yi-jin in Twenty-Five Twenty-One, and his storyline truly defines the quote from riches to rags. When the IMF crisis happens, his family becomes bankrupt. As the eldest son of the family, he takes up part-time jobs and eventually separates from them. Once an aspiring engineer who dreamt of working with NASA, overnight, his fate changed.

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Bo Na as Go Yu Rim

Another pivotal character of Twenty-Five Twenty-One. Yu Rim is a fencing champion whom Hee-do initially idolized. However, they soon turned into rivals. Yu Rim doesn't come from a privileged background; hence, for her, fencing is the only way she can help her family. She acts tough on the surface to hide her fears and her inferiority complex. As the episodes unfold, she becomes Hee-do's friend, and they support each other during difficult times.

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Choi Hyun Wook as Moon Ji Ung

Choi Hyun Wook plays Moon Ji Ung in this series. He's a popular figure in school, and turns out he's also Na Hee-do's classmate. He might seem like a narcissist at first, but he's good at heart. He might not be good at academics, but nonetheless, he works hard to fulfill his dreams.

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Lee Joo Myung as Ji Seung Wan

Lee Joo Myung plays Ji Seung Wan, Moon Ji Ung's childhood friend. She's a topper and a class president. She does not like to deviate from the rules and can't stand injustice.

Other supporting cast of Twenty-Five Twenty-One

• Seon Jae Hee as Sin Jae Gyeong, Hui Do's mother, and news anchor
• Kim Hye Eun as Yang Chan Mi, fencing team coach
• Jo Bo Young as Lee Ye Ji (fencing team member of Tae Yang High School)
• Choi Myung Bin as Kim Min Chae, Hee-do's daughter, who finds her diary from her mother's room after she escapes a ballet competition.
• Kim So Hyun as Na Hee Do (older)
• Choi Min Yeong as Baek Yi-hyun, Yi-jin's younger sibling
• Park Yoon Hee as Baek Seong Hak, Yi-jin's father, whose family grows bankrupt during the South Korean financial crisis
• Lee Chan Jong as Seo Jung Hyuk (UBS Network reporter)
• Kim Young Sun, Yi-jn's mother
• Heo Ji Na as Yu Rim's mother
• So Hee Jung as Seung Wan's mother
• Kim Dong Gyun as Yu Rim's father

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Why does the Twenty-Five Twenty-One kdrama cast work?

From Kim Tae Ri's Na Hee-do to Nam Joo Hyuk Baek Yi-jin, each character brings a different element to the show. Whether it's Hee-do's determination or Yi-jin's constant struggles, we get a glimpse of the raw version of teenage life in 1990s South Korea. Apart from that, the supporting cast and the cameos do a great job as well. Even though the story centres on Na Hee-do, Baek Yi-jin, and the main cast, the supporting characters help shape the plot.

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