I. Introduction
Blue Birthday is a South Korean drama web series produced by Naver subsidiary PlayList Global, a production company known for producing several hit web drama for the 10s-20s generation, including the A-Teen, A-Teen 2 and Love Playlist series. Directed by Park Dan Hee and written by Goo So Yeon and Moon Won Yyoung, it is a work that challenged new genres and materials by reuniting with the production team, who had gathered topics with ending series such as The Best Ending (2019) and Ending Again (2020), the series stars Kim Ye Rim as Oh Ha Rin (Red Velvet's Yeri) and Yang Hong Seok as Ji Seo Jun. Principal photography on the series wrapped in June 2021 after 3 months of filming. On June 23, the stills from filming of the series were released. It premiered on July 23 through Naver TV & WeTV and airs every Friday and Saturday at 19:00 (KST). It premiered on August 6 through YouTube for international audiences. However, it can only be accessed by audiences from South Korea.
II. Synopsis
Oh Ha Rin (Yeri) is a 28-year-old woman whose heart still yearns for her first love and closest friend Ji Seo Jun (Hongseok). They were once as close as could be, and both had strong romantic feelings for one another. And exactly a decade ago, on the fateful day when she turned 18, she had resolved to finally come clean about her the way she felt about him only to discover that he had taken his own life. She later discovered a note where he too confessed his romantic feelings for her. Now, 10 years on, she looks back at the tragic day. And while looking through his belongings, she happens upon a pile of eight imperviously unseen photos Ji Seo Jun had kept hidden away. Distraught by the painful memories, Oh Ha Rin burns one of the photos – only to find herself back in high school at the exact moment at which the photo was taken. Realizing that she has been gifted the power to travel back in time, she resolves to find a way to save Ji Seo Jun. But she must be prudent: With every photo she burns, she loses another chance to save his life.
III. Casting & Release
On March 30, 2021, Joy News24 announced that Kim Ye Rim and Yang Hong Seok were in talks to star in the series. Following news reported the script reading held in Seoul on April 5, 2021, Ye Rim and Hong Seok confirmed as the protagonist of the series. On May 14, Lee Sang Jun was confirmed to be joining the cast and followed by Kim Gyeol Yu on May 25. Both appeared on SBS Power FM's Wendy's Young Street, Naver NOW's Seulgi.zip and KBS Cool FM's Kang Han Na's Volume Up on July 16, 20 and 21, respectively. A teaser video was released on June 10 on the occasion of Ha-rin's birthday. The series aired on Naver TV on July 23. It will be premiered on YouTube on August 6.
IV. Trailer
V. Episodes
VI. OSTs
VII. Reception
Blue Birthday has received overall positive scores of 8.3 on IMDB, 8.2 on Mydramalist &, 9.6 on Rakuten Viki.
