The success factors of the Netflix original series 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' (written by Lim Sang-chun, directed by Kim Won-seok) are said to include various elements, with "this" being particularly effective.
The Netflix originals have adhered to the principle of releasing all episodes at once. However, 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' is an exceptional work that broke this norm. It has a total of 16 episodes and has adopted a distributed release method, releasing 4 episodes every Friday starting March 7, 2025.
A drama official said, "We debated whether to release all episodes at once or distribute them, and given the nature of the drama, we thought that releasing them gradually over time would be more effective than delivering it all at once. By providing ample time for viewers to appreciate each episode, it allows them to immerse themselves more deeply in the story and characters."
Another official noted, "'When Life Gives You Tangerines' feels different from existing Netflix series, so I was somewhat skeptical about whether it would appeal to viewers who have become accustomed to the previous release method. Ultimately, the result was a resounding success."
'When Life Gives You Tangerines' sparked active reviews and discussions for each episode as they were released sequentially, generating sustained interest and word-of-mouth. This naturally increased the buzz around the series and facilitated the influx of new viewers. Additionally, with new episodes released weekly, it was able to prevent viewer attrition.
As a result, there is growing interest in whether Netflix will change its future content release methods. This is because 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' has addressed the drawbacks of the 'all at once' method. The previous approach of releasing all episodes simultaneously tended to lead viewers to leave the platform after binge-watching all episodes in a short period, but the distributed release has been analyzed to remedy this shortcoming and encourage long-term platform engagement from viewers.
Of course, some viewers still prefer all-at-once releases and have expressed disappointment over the distributed method; however, ultimately, the distributed release of 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' is evaluated to have achieved significant results in various aspects, such as viewer retention and amplification, increasing its buzz, and responding to changes in content consumption methods.
In fact, 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' ranked first in South Korea and 8 other countries immediately after its release, and it reached the top of the global top 10 series (non-English) category in the 3rd week after its release. After the release of episodes 4, it recorded 6,000,000 viewer counts (derived from dividing the total viewing time by the total runtime of the series), ranking 3rd in the global top 10 series (non-English) category, achieving a successful conclusion. Additionally, the online buzz analysis agency Good Data Corporation recently announced that the cumulative popularity score of 'When Life Gives You Tangerines' for the 5th week surpassed 'Squid Game Season 2,' which had maintained the top spot, and 'The Glory,' which had come in second place. Good Data's Won Soon-woo, a data PD, analyzed, "The more a work's fun index increases as it progresses, the more effective the distributed release is, while conversely, if there is uncertainty about the quality or box office potential of a work, an all-at-once release may be more advantageous."
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