Birthdays can either be happy events that we eagerly await as we anticipate food, gifts, and joy. Then there are also instances that birthdays could be sad affairs because of certain traumatic events we associate them with.
This kdrama is of the latter as the main character Oh Ha Rin played by Kim Yerim of Red Velvet was so excited to celebrate it with her best friend, Ji Seo Jun played by Yang Hong Seok of Pentagon, yet alas happiness eludes them as it becomes one of the saddest days for both of them.
Fast forward to 10 years and Ha Rin works in rescuing pets and in one of her emergencies she is deployed to her old high school.
Ah Highschool. It can be one of the happiest moments of your young life and it can also be one of the things you hate the most if things didn't go well for you.
This is the case for Ha Rin as she remembers that fateful day seeing her best friend dead on her birthday. The show has some minor scenes of suicide and violence so proceed with caution if you are triggered by such.
She passes by an old photography studio and sees her friend's camera. She inquires inside and is able to retrieve it. They were in the photography club back in high school and to see such a treasured item is like holding a piece of him.
Together with the camera are 9 of the last photos that Seo Jun took. Man the emotional baggage of holding those photos is too much. She looks at it with fondness and cries as she remembers the past.
She is jolted as she apparently gets transported to the past. She sees Seo Jun ride past her and she runs after him.
I was expecting the usual trope of going to the past and making changes that would affect the present timeline like Go Back Couple, Mr Queen and slew of other shows that did it before but Blue Birthday was able to deviate a bit and also show what the consequences of their actions will bring.
This was the first kdrama that Yeri was acting and was based on a webtoon so I was not expecting that much but boy was I pleasantly surprised by her acting.
I have to admit watching the shows from the Red Velvet members like Irene on Double Patty (movie) and Game Development Girls (short series), as well as Joy in Tempted and her reviews on The One and Only, was bad, although she was nominated on her first kdrama The Liar and her Lover. I am a fan but I can objectively say that they still need to improve.
Back to Yeri, man she really can do everything and she is talented and I truly felt emotional with her acting.
I really don't want to spoil too much but with each episode clocking in at 15-20 minutes you can finish it in one sitting and I wanted more but I felt that they were able to wrap things up.
I definitely will recommend that you try to watch it.
Now I have some spoilers below and if you are going to watch please do not read it as I want you to be able to enjoy the plot and twists.
One thing that I liked was how limited the number of instances that Yeri's character could go back as well as seeing how her actions in the past changed the timeline and that it had certain ramifications.
Speaking of ramifications I loved the idea of the Law of Equivalent Exchange. For Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood fans you will be so familiar with this. It states "The Law of Equivalent Exchange Equivalent Exchange is the principle that limits alchemy's infinite potential. It's a simple concept: something cannot be created from nothing, and so in order to obtain something, something else of equal value must be lost"
So whenever she goes back and makes changes there is an attempt to take something from her. Man chills on that. The writer is definitely a person of culture to add that!
There were several red herrings thrown and although I wished it could have been more subtle and increase the possibility of not being able to know how things transpired but it was still good.
There are a lot of silly and charming moments as well because this is still a kdrama that meant to have some swoon moments but I did not think it took away from the main element of the series.
Enjoyable and definitely a must watch even if you don't stan the Red Velvet cake girls!