Yumi's Cells


Yumi's Cells is a 2021 South Korean television series directed by Lee Sang-yeob and starring Kim Go-eun, Ahn Bo-hyun, and Park Jin-young. Based on the eponymous webtoon, it is a cell-based psychological romance that unravels the daily life of an ordinary office worker Yumi through the eyes of the cells in her head. The series premiered on tvN on September 17, 2021, and aired every Friday and Saturday at 22:50. It was also released simultaneously on both online streaming services TVING and iQIYI.
On September 8, 2021, TVING announced that the drama had sold broadcast rights in more than 160 countries around the world, including Europe, North America and Southeast Asia.
The second season premiered exclusively on TVING on June 10, 2022, releasing two episodes every Friday at 16:00. It was later aired on tvN from November 16, 2022, every Wednesday and Thursday at 22:30. On September 15, 2022, it was announced that season 2 had been sold to Amazon Prime Video for broadcasting in Japan. It was also available on Amazon Prime Video in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
The third season will be released in 2026 on TVING.

Synopsis

Season 1

The drama tells the story of an ordinary office worker from the perspective of the brain cells in her head that control her every thought, feeling and action.
Yumi is an ordinary woman. Her love-cell falls into a coma following the shock of a failed relationship. The drama will depict her growth and transformation as her cells work hard to wake up the love cell.
Goo Woong is a game developer who is an engineer to the core. Although he doesn't speak emotionally, he tries to wake up Yumi's love-cell with his simple and honest personality.

Season 2

After parting with Goo Woong, Yumi starts a new relationship with her co-worker Babi but they start to have issues after some time when he doesn't tell her the truth about certain things.

Cast

Main

  • Kim Go-eun as Kim Yumi, an ordinary office worker.
  • Ahn Bo-hyun as Goo Woong, a game developer and Yumi's second boyfriend and Sae-yi's love interest.
  • * Jun Ho-young as teen Goo Woong
  • Park Jin-young as Yoo Babi, Yumi's co-worker and boyfriend.
; Season 3
  • Kim Jae-won as Shin Soon-rok, employee of a publishing company in charge of Yumi's works and her boyfriend.
  • Choi Daniel as Kim Joo-ho, the lead writer

Yumi's cells

  • Love Cell
  • Emotional Cell
  • Rational Cell
  • Hungry Cell
  • Naughty Cell
  • Detective Cell
  • Fashion Cell
  • Hysterious
  • Anxiety Cell
  • Inner Feeling Cell
  • Rampage Cell
  • Fussy Cell
  • Lullaby Cell
  • Cheapskate Cell
  • Reaction Doll No.1
  • Stomach Cell
  • I've-Seen-It-Somewhere Cell
  • Cleaning Cell
  • Tongue Cells

Goo Woong's cells

  • Rational Cell
  • Humor Cell
  • Love Cell

Babi's cells

  • Tongue Cells

Supporting

  • Park Ji-hyun as Seo Sae-yi, Goo Woong's colleague. She dreams of becoming the best game art director.
  • Lee Yu-bi as Ruby, Yumi's co-worker who prides herself on mastering various dating techniques.
  • Joo Jong-hyuk as Louis
  • Jeong Soon-won as Nam Joo-hyuk, Chief Nam.
  • Kim Cha-yoon as Lee Bonnie, an employee of Daehan Noodles' marketing department.
  • Mi–ram as Aida, Yumi's only friend and her co-worker.
;Season 3
  • Cho Hye-jung as Baek Na-hee
  • Park Se-in as PD Jang, Yumi's PD

Others

; Season 1–2
; Season 1
  • Park Bo-eun as Information desk employee
  • Jung Soo-ji as Si Leon
  • Kim Hye-in as Hong Na-ri
  • Jo Mo-se as wedding guest
  • Kang Chan-yang as grocery store cashier

Special appearance

; Season 1
; Season 2

Production

Casting

On December 31, 2020, it was reported that webtoon Yumi's Cells published on Naver by Lee Dong-gun with 3.2 billion accumulated views was being made into a television series and Kim Go-eun was confirmed as the female lead. In April 2021, the lead cast line-up was announced as Kim Go-eun, Ahn Bo-hyun, Lee Yu-bi, and Park Ji-hyun.

Filming

Filming of the series began in April 2021. On June 18, Ahn Bo-hyun revealed in an interview that he was currently filming Yumi's Cells and he has developed naturally tanned skin tone for the role of Goo Woong.

Animation

Yumi's Cells is being produced using a new format which combines live-action and 3D animation. It is the first time in a Korean drama that such a format is used to produce a TV series while using the Unreal Engine as its source. The 3D animation is produced by Locus Corporation, the producer of Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs, which is also producing an animated feature film based on the property with Studio N.

Original soundtrack

Season 1

Part 8


Viewership

Season 1

The release of the second season on June 10 saw the number of TVING's paid subscribers increasing by more than 60% from the first to the second week, and the series took first place among all the platform original contents for five weeks in a row.