# 49 Days
**49 Days** (Korean: 49일; RR: 49il) is a 2011 South Korean television fantasy-romance drama in which a young woman left comatose by a car crash has her soul enter another woman's body and must gather three tears of pure love within 49 days to reclaim her life.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premise | A comatose woman's soul possesses another woman's body and must collect three tears of pure love from people other than her family within 49 days to return[1](https://seamsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/seamsj-3.3-full-issue.pdf) |
| Title origin | The Buddhist belief that the transitional phase between death and rebirth lasts 49 days[1](https://seamsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/seamsj-3.3-full-issue.pdf) |
| Finale ratings | 17.1% on TNmS, its own peak, against MBC's *The Greatest Love* at 10.2%; 16.1% on AGB Nielsen[2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110520068300005) |
## Premise and story
The story begins with Shin Ji-hyun ([Nam Gyu-ri](https://www.edgepedia.org/nam-gyu-ri)), a cheerful woman from a wealthy family, days from her wedding.[3](https://www.soompi.com/article/362701wpp/49-days-straddling-between-life-and-death) She is hit by a traffic accident days before the ceremony, leaving her in a vegetative state, and while in a coma she discovers that her fiancé Kang Min-ho (Bae Soo-bin) and her best friend Shin In-jung (Seo Ji-hye) were having an affair.[2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110520068300005) • [14](https://tv.apple.com/jp/show/49-days/umc.cmc.15u02ek4wo52os89jqp0t3yaj?l=en) • [15](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/4649/49-days/episodeguide) A reaper figure called the Scheduler ([Jung Il-woo](https://www.edgepedia.org/jung-il-woo)) grants her a reprieve: she has 49 days to find three people outside her family who will shed tears of pure love for her, after which her spirit can return to her body.[1](https://seamsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/seamsj-3.3-full-issue.pdf) • [4](https://www.soompi.com/article/362446wpp/49-days-press-conference-another-soulswitcher)
To act in the world of the living, Ji-hyun's soul inhabits the body of [Song Yi](https://www.edgepedia.org/song-yi)-kyung ([Lee Yo-won](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-yo-won)), a despondent orphan who works night shifts at a convenience store and has tried to take her own life after the death of the man she loved.[3](https://www.soompi.com/article/362701wpp/49-days-straddling-between-life-and-death) • [5](https://www.kdramalove.com/49days.html) The press materials stressed that this is possession rather than a mutual soul swap: Ji-hyun's body is "dead," so her soul simply enters Yi-kyung's.[4](https://www.soompi.com/article/362446wpp/49-days-press-conference-another-soulswitcher) Two men in Ji-hyun's orbit, the fiancé Min-ho and the restaurant-owner [Han Kang](https://www.edgepedia.org/han-kang) (Jo Hyun-jae), come to suspect the truth, and the drama builds its romantic line on their divergent responses.[2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110520068300005)
The tear-collecting setup opens as a fairy-tale premise but the series uses it to test the coldness of the people around Ji-hyun, and the reunion with her own body confronts her with a world different from the one she left.[6](https://view.asiae.co.kr/article/2011052008255955872) In the finale the writer kills the protagonist, a choice that broke audience expectations; reviewers noted that it reads as another kind of happy ending on reflection, and the closing reveals that Ji-hyun and Yi-kyung were sisters, leaving the survivor Yi-kyung with an implied future.[2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110520068300005)
## The 49 days of the title
The countdown draws on Buddhist funeral practice. In [Korean Buddhism](https://www.edgepedia.org/korean-buddhism), rites called sasipgu-jae (사십구재) are held once every seven days for seven cycles, a total of 49 days from the day of death, because the tradition holds that the deceased spends 49 days passing from this world to the next before rebirth.[7](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0025786) • [8](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/12/1482) An academic account of the series states that this transitional phase between death and rebirth later inspired the drama's title.[1](https://seamsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/seamsj-3.3-full-issue.pdf) The Yonhap review similarly notes that the drama took its 49-day motif from the belief that the deceased's next-life connection is determined during that period, and turned it into a countdown to a D-day for the heroine.[2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110520068300005) • [3](https://www.soompi.com/article/362701wpp/49-days-straddling-between-life-and-death)
## Production and reception
It followed *[Secret Garden](https://www.edgepedia.org/secret-garden-south-korean-tv-series)*, a hit body-swap romance, onto the same SBS Wednesday-Thursday slot, and early coverage treated it as a derivative fantasy for that reason. Yonhap's review argues the two differed sharply: where *Secret Garden* was a romantic comedy about lovers' souls repeatedly exchanging, *49 Days* followed a soul stranded between the living world and the afterlife who borrows another's body to solve urgent problems in her remaining time.[2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110520068300005)
**Ratings.** The series ended on May 19, 2011 with its own peak of 17.1% on the TNmS survey, ahead of the competing MBC drama *The Greatest Love* (10.2%) and KBS's *Romance Town* (7.1%); AGB [Nielsen Media Research](https://www.edgepedia.org/nielsen-media-research) put the finale at 16.1%.[2](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110520068300005) An SBS investor report lists the run with an average of 11.9% and a peak of 16.1% (AGB).[9](https://file.mk.co.kr/imss/write/20190311113210__00.pdf)
## Music
The song was produced by the Baek Mu-hyun and Jung Chang-wook team, first appeared as an insert in episode 12, and was released online on April 25, 2011.[10](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110425080100005) Jung Il-woo also sang a ballad for the show, "Scarecrow."[11](https://kjtamusings.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/49-days/)
## Legacy and availability
The 49-day afterlife premise has recurred in later Korean fantasy dramas; *[Hi Bye, Mama!](https://www.edgepedia.org/hi-bye-mama)* (2020) similarly gives a returned ghost 49 days to reclaim her place with her family.[12](https://time.com/5835519/best-korean-dramas-netflix/) The original was also adapted abroad: a Philippine remake of the series is discussed in scholarship on [Korean drama](https://www.edgepedia.org/korean-drama) localization as *Pure Love* (2014), with the adaptation adjusting religious framing for a local audience.[1](https://seamsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/seamsj-3.3-full-issue.pdf)
The series remains available in its home market and Japan, streaming on Netflix (including the ad-supported tier) and U-NEXT; it is not currently offered on any United States streaming service.[13](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/49-days)
## References
1. [Glocalization of Popular Culture in Selected Filipino Remakes of 'Koreanovelas', Southeast Asian Media Studies Journal 3.3 (2021)](https://seamsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/seamsj-3.3-full-issue.pdf)
2. [이승과 저승 사이서 펼친 이색실험..'49일', Yonhap News (2011-05-20)](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110520068300005)
3. ["49 Days" Straddling Between Life and Death, Soompi (2011-04-03)](https://www.soompi.com/article/362701wpp/49-days-straddling-between-life-and-death)
4. ["49 Days" Press Conference: "Another Soul-Switcher", Soompi (2011-03-09)](https://www.soompi.com/article/362446wpp/49-days-press-conference-another-soulswitcher)
5. [49 Days (2011) Masterpiece Korean Drama - Fan Review, KdramaLove](https://www.kdramalove.com/49days.html)
6. [<49일> VS <49일>: 마지막 회의 반전이 의미하는 것, Asia Economy (2011-05-20)](https://view.asiae.co.kr/article/2011052008255955872)
7. [사십구재 (四十九齋), Encyclopedia of Korean Culture](https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0025786)
8. [The Contents and Functions of the 49-Day Funeral Rites in Modern Korean Buddhism, Religions 14(12):1482 (2023)](https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/12/1482)
9. [SBS Contents Hub report (February 29, 2012), Mirae Asset Securities](https://file.mk.co.kr/imss/write/20190311113210__00.pdf)
10. [조현재, SBS 수목극 '49일' OST 참여, Yonhap News (2011-04-25)](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20110425080100005)
11. [49 Days Review, amusings (2014-03-25)](https://kjtamusings.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/49-days/)
12. [The 10 Best Korean Dramas to Watch on Netflix, TIME (2020)](https://time.com/5835519/best-korean-dramas-netflix/)
13. [49 Days - watch tv show streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/49-days)
14. [49 Days - Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/jp/show/49-days/umc.cmc.15u02ek4wo52os89jqp0t3yaj?l=en)
15. [tvmaze.com](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/4649/49-days/episodeguide)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › Korean contemporary drama › Fantasy, supernatural, and science fiction series › Premiered 2010 to 2022*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license