Manhwa-Based Live-Action Series The Blue Road Set to Premiere on November 20 – News

Netflix announced on Friday the manhwa-based live-action series The Blue Road, previously known as the working title “Road,” will premiere on November 20.

Directed by Joon-hee Han, who previously helmed D.P. and Coin Locker Girl , the series follows two detectives investigating a string of murders that crosses the border between South Korea and Japan. The two detectives have different investigative methods and personalities as they pursue the connected murders across Korea and Japan.

Seok-gu Son stars as Seok Kim, a detective with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, while Eita Nagayama plays Inose, a detective with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.

Netflix has also released the series’ first poster and trailer. The poster features Son and Nagayama standing in back alleys in Korea and Japan, with mysterious messages written in Korean and Japanese appearing behind them.

The trailer introduces crime scenes, messages written in the victims’ blood, a Korean-Japanese businessman played by Shin-rok Kim, and a mysterious tiger drawing. It also teases growing tension between the two detectives.

The live-action adaptation is based on the 2002 Korean-Japanese collaborative comic Purungil – Ao no Michi (Blue Road), written by Keishi Edogawa and drawn by Korean artist Kaya Kwon. The five-volume series blended hard-boiled crime storytelling with themes of cultural tension and cross-border cooperation, making it a distinctive work of its time.

The manhwa follows the investigation of a gruesome cross-border serial murder case. The story begins in Tokyo, where authorities discover a twisted, contorted corpse accompanied by a blood-written message in Korean. Shortly afterward, a similar crime scene emerges in South Korea—this time with a Japanese message written near the victim. The shocking parallels force law enforcement in both countries to recognize the crimes as linked, leading two detectives, one Korean and one Japanese, to join forces in pursuit of the killer.

Source: JTBC (Jung-sun Park)