Spoiler-free part

Time travel tropes are very interesting and by using them, unique storylines can be created. When they aren’t used carefully though, unexplained paradoxes and plot-holes appear and create a messy storyline which destroys the watching experience. Fortunately, ‘Blue Birthday’ manage to use the time travel trope the right way.

The story’s concept is pretty simple : a girl is going back to her school years to save her first love who died the day of her birthday. At the end of every episode, rules about time travel are mentioned so it’s easier for the viewers to keep up with the things that are happening. The concept isn’t something new nor very complicated. The story sounds cliché and reminds of many movies, anime or other time-travel series but for some reason, it manages to catch your attention and keep it till the very end. Sometimes, it’s even unpredictable and unique on its own way.

Even though the main genre of the drama is thriller, the atmosphere of the drama is not very dark and moody. Considering also that the plot isn’t that complicated, ‘Blue Birthday’ is a light drama which everyone can watch and enjoy. The romance is also one of the main genres but there aren’t many romantic moments in the drama. Rarely you’ll find a romance-thriller that with two genres are perfectly balanced and ‘Blue Birthday’ isn’t one of them for sure. Maybe that’s the reason why I personally didn’t feel so much chemistry between the 2 main leads but this didn’t make me enjoy the drama less.

Starting without any expectations, this web-drama ended up a pleasant surprise and a very enjoyable ride. Don’t expect to see the masterpiece of time travel trope. Don’t expect to see Oscar-worthy interpretations either as all the actors have just entered as main leads into the dramaland with this drama. Let’s welcome them and hope to see them playing more roles in the future and to always improve their acting skills.

In conclusion, if you want to watch a sort, simple drama about time travel with a well-written plot, then watch and enjoy ‘Blue birthday’. You won’t be disappointed.


Now I have analyzed a theory about the time travel. It will be spoiler free but I’ve also referred the rules the drama has shown through the episodes so better read it after you’ve watched all the episodes.




Just in case WARNING SPOILERS




First these are the rules/facts we have learn through the episodes :

1) Burn the photo and the time travel starts.
2) When there’s tinnitus you go back to the present.
3) Burn a photo and time goes back. But no one can be brough back to life.
4) A changed past affects the present.
5) Time travel is only available on the day of the photo-taking before the midnight.
6) Photos of time travel can’t be copied.
7) Only photos taken with old films and cameras with young Seo Jun enabled time travel.
8) A damaged photo can’t active any time travel.
9) Anyone can have a time travel.
10) Misfortune comes with time travel.
11) Completely faded photos can’t be restored.
12) Changed memories come back when they are activated.
13) More than one person can time travel at the same time.
14) During the time travel, the real time is frozen.
15) According to how you roll it, you’ll get a different number of photos.
16) Someone also has the films and the camera that can enable time travel.

According to the rules and facts of the drama, the kind of time travel we might have here is a multiverse time travel in which there are: one main world, one timeline and many parallel worlds. I have to mention that parallel worlds are not referred in the drama, it’s just my theory.

A parallel world can be created by someone who changed the past. The new-created parallel world becomes the continuation of the main timeline and the present changes. When time travelers go to the present, they go to the new world and not to the present they were before. That explains why they don’t have new memories but they can slowly gain them as they become part of the new world.

The creation of the new parallel world doesn’t mean destruction of the main world, it only means continuation of timeline in the new world. Thus, the main world still exists, as also all the created ones. That’s why the time travelers have also their older memories and can spot the differences the parallel worlds have.

All the time travelers can acknowledge when the world changes, even if they weren’t the ones who change the past. That happens because they have experienced the creation of a parallel world before. They have broken the barrier of space-time, so now, they have different perception of the cosmic reality.

The more the timeline moves to different worlds, the more it diverges from the main world. This brings unbalance to the whole universe and that’s why misfortune comes with the time travel. The cause of misfortune can be also explained as a consequence of the butterfly effect: a small, seemingly insignificant change can cause huge deviations in the course of events, creating a completely different reality.

Last but not least, the photos are like tickets for time travel. No matter how many worlds are created, the numbers of the photos and the owner of them won’t change. All the rules about the photos have been explained clearly through the episodes.

As you see, according to that theory, the time travel trope doesn’t include any paradoxes. Also, there aren’t any plot holes in the sci-fi part of the drama, as everything that happens can be explained, which make the story well-written.

That’s all! I hope my theory makes sense somehow and help the watchers understand better the kind of time travel ‘Blue Birthday’ has. Thank you for reading!