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This review may contain spoilers
The best modern era C-Drama Rom-Com I’ve ever watched
Mild spoilers - last paragraph plus a Product Placement comment
A Day of Becoming You is my all-time favorite modern era C-Drama. I’m writing this review after my 3rd watch in August 2026. I watched it the first time in early 2024.
Steven Zhang as Jaing Yi and Liang Jie as Shang Sheng were perfect. Perfectly funny, perfectly ‘each other’, and perfectly romantic. Steven Chang always made you believe he was both Jiang Yi and Sheng Sheng —- even in the same scene (note the last 10- 15 minutes of episode 16) !!!!!!’ His entire body, facial expressions, and tone were completely different for both roles. Liang Jie brought such beautiful warmth and positive energy to Sheng Sheng as well as a very stoic Jiang Yi who is yet full of wonder at the loving people that have come into his life. I don’t know of any other actors who could have pulled off these dual roles while maintaining such consistently great chemistry between each other as these two.
TDOBY is a narrowly focused Romantic Comedy using the familiar body-swapping trope. However, it is played out In such a clever, hysterically believable way. It stayed true to a Rom-Com without going down rabbit holes or adding other tropes. If laughter is the best medicine, I got many times the recommended dose each time I watched. Watching was so good for my soul - I laughed so hard so many times. (I laughed just as much this third watch as I did the first watch.). TDOBY included several good life-points/lessons to ponder without being preachy.
I enjoyed watching their relationship progress. There were no spots in the story where I was bored - to me the story flowed effortlessly. Props to the writer, director, editor, and production team. The supporting cast were each great, adding to the story in meaningful ways - including Fatty, of course!
The music was great. It truly increased the romantic value of the story while also adding the necessary punches to the plot. I have a few songs in my playlist.
The visual and sound effects and how they perfectly supported the story are the best I’ve ever seen/heard.
I was not put off by the ending as some other people were. To me it brought everything back to the beginning and I appreciated their relationship all the more. The picture of them together, smiling at the end is beautiful and almost gave a sense that it was actually them, SC and LJ, a couple for real (Don’t worry, I’m not shipping them). [Not sure how true this is but when I first watched this drama I read that the ending was added to satisfy Chinese censorship.]
** Why I loved this Rom-Com and other comments - includes Mild spoilers **
Discovering they have switched - hysterical.
The walnuts!!! Unbelievably Hysterical
The switched Sheng Sheng giving instructions to the switched Jiang Yi on what he can and cannot do while in her body - hysterical
Sheng Sheng’s weight gain (all that led up to that) - hysterical
The variety show / game /interview - gut splitting
Sheng Sheng’s period. - there are no words 🤣🤣🤣
The Park scene overlooking Jung Yi’s boyhood home - heartwarming and oh, so romantic - one of the best executed romantic scenes in all the C-dramas I’ve watched.
The many scenes of JY and SS getting to know each other as a couple - so tender, romantic, and mature (probably too perfect for some - but great romances should include such ‘pillow talk’, right?)
Sheng Sheng’s protection of Jiang Yi’s image and privacy - we all should have a friend who cared about us as much.
Da Chaun - best friend no matter what who was constantly either worrying over or nagging Jiang Yi - just loved him
Tong Hua - best friend no matter what - Jiang Yi hanging out with the casually dressed Tong Hua and Tong Hau realizing, in retrospect, she was actually hanging out with Jiang Yi - so, so funny
Tong Hua saying good bye to her Idol - 😢😢😢
Sheng Sheng standing in the wake of poor Po Qing’s flatulence - what can you say 🥹🥲🤣🥹🥲🤣🥹🥲🤣
Jia Shu - a far nicer and wiser person than Jiang Yi or Tong Hau gave him credit
Li Ye - his character was well written to be so cute and endearing and funny without trying to be
Xu Shu Yi - she was his highly valued friend but I don’t think she would ever get past that place in Jiang Yi’s heart, even if he had never met Sheng Sheng.
The slippers! - what would they do without them - a funny, well-played exaggeration of a cultural practice
Jujubes!!! - I’d like to give them a try!
How much time away from work can a person have without getting fired?!?!? - biggest conundrum but not enough to lower my rating.
I will rewatch this drama again and again. If I can get a dvd version, all the better
Highly recommend!!!
10/10
A word about Product Placement
Yes, Jujubes were Product Placement (PPL), as were a couple other things. but IMO, the way TDOBY used them, even exaggerating them, within the story was well done.
Product Placement is a permanent fact in film and drama productions all over the world. We just don’t always notice it. What’s a production to do????
Think of all the cars, SUVs, and trucks we see in dramas. Chinese productions use a lot of American and European vehicles, whereas you see more Kias and Hyundais and less foreign vehicles in Korean productions, (not to mention Samsung phones, computers and appliances). It is how productions are subsidized which, theoretically, reduces costs to the production, some of which could not be made without them.
Agent Kim Reactivated made clever, exaggerated use of Kopikos in such a humorous way - and many reviewers made mention of that fact with some wondering where they could buy them. I even ordered some from Amazon.
In Perfect Crown, Grand Prince Yi An - at night atop a parking structure overlooking the city - leaning against his Mercedes 2024 AMG GT 55 4MATIC sports car with the door open and all its instrumentation showing - what a gorgeous scene that was! Mercedes supplied 13 models to TPC.
I’m guessing some of the outfits Kim Ji Won wore (she wore over 100) in Queen of Tears were PPL, not to mention the Bulgari wedding rings she and Kim Soo Hyun wore - and don’t forget the Mercedes 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL 63 (R232) he drove. Mercedes actually supplied 9 models to QOT.
Other PPLs especially in KDramas: Subway (a fixture in K-dramas) and Nespresso.
If done right, PPL doesn’t have to be an irritant. They can and do bring realism to our viewing.
A Day of Becoming You is my all-time favorite modern era C-Drama. I’m writing this review after my 3rd watch in August 2026. I watched it the first time in early 2024.
Steven Zhang as Jaing Yi and Liang Jie as Shang Sheng were perfect. Perfectly funny, perfectly ‘each other’, and perfectly romantic. Steven Chang always made you believe he was both Jiang Yi and Sheng Sheng —- even in the same scene (note the last 10- 15 minutes of episode 16) !!!!!!’ His entire body, facial expressions, and tone were completely different for both roles. Liang Jie brought such beautiful warmth and positive energy to Sheng Sheng as well as a very stoic Jiang Yi who is yet full of wonder at the loving people that have come into his life. I don’t know of any other actors who could have pulled off these dual roles while maintaining such consistently great chemistry between each other as these two.
TDOBY is a narrowly focused Romantic Comedy using the familiar body-swapping trope. However, it is played out In such a clever, hysterically believable way. It stayed true to a Rom-Com without going down rabbit holes or adding other tropes. If laughter is the best medicine, I got many times the recommended dose each time I watched. Watching was so good for my soul - I laughed so hard so many times. (I laughed just as much this third watch as I did the first watch.). TDOBY included several good life-points/lessons to ponder without being preachy.
I enjoyed watching their relationship progress. There were no spots in the story where I was bored - to me the story flowed effortlessly. Props to the writer, director, editor, and production team. The supporting cast were each great, adding to the story in meaningful ways - including Fatty, of course!
The music was great. It truly increased the romantic value of the story while also adding the necessary punches to the plot. I have a few songs in my playlist.
The visual and sound effects and how they perfectly supported the story are the best I’ve ever seen/heard.
I was not put off by the ending as some other people were. To me it brought everything back to the beginning and I appreciated their relationship all the more. The picture of them together, smiling at the end is beautiful and almost gave a sense that it was actually them, SC and LJ, a couple for real (Don’t worry, I’m not shipping them). [Not sure how true this is but when I first watched this drama I read that the ending was added to satisfy Chinese censorship.]
** Why I loved this Rom-Com and other comments - includes Mild spoilers **
Discovering they have switched - hysterical.
The walnuts!!! Unbelievably Hysterical
The switched Sheng Sheng giving instructions to the switched Jiang Yi on what he can and cannot do while in her body - hysterical
Sheng Sheng’s weight gain (all that led up to that) - hysterical
The variety show / game /interview - gut splitting
Sheng Sheng’s period. - there are no words 🤣🤣🤣
The Park scene overlooking Jung Yi’s boyhood home - heartwarming and oh, so romantic - one of the best executed romantic scenes in all the C-dramas I’ve watched.
The many scenes of JY and SS getting to know each other as a couple - so tender, romantic, and mature (probably too perfect for some - but great romances should include such ‘pillow talk’, right?)
Sheng Sheng’s protection of Jiang Yi’s image and privacy - we all should have a friend who cared about us as much.
Da Chaun - best friend no matter what who was constantly either worrying over or nagging Jiang Yi - just loved him
Tong Hua - best friend no matter what - Jiang Yi hanging out with the casually dressed Tong Hua and Tong Hau realizing, in retrospect, she was actually hanging out with Jiang Yi - so, so funny
Tong Hua saying good bye to her Idol - 😢😢😢
Sheng Sheng standing in the wake of poor Po Qing’s flatulence - what can you say 🥹🥲🤣🥹🥲🤣🥹🥲🤣
Jia Shu - a far nicer and wiser person than Jiang Yi or Tong Hau gave him credit
Li Ye - his character was well written to be so cute and endearing and funny without trying to be
Xu Shu Yi - she was his highly valued friend but I don’t think she would ever get past that place in Jiang Yi’s heart, even if he had never met Sheng Sheng.
The slippers! - what would they do without them - a funny, well-played exaggeration of a cultural practice
Jujubes!!! - I’d like to give them a try!
How much time away from work can a person have without getting fired?!?!? - biggest conundrum but not enough to lower my rating.
I will rewatch this drama again and again. If I can get a dvd version, all the better
Highly recommend!!!
10/10
A word about Product Placement
Yes, Jujubes were Product Placement (PPL), as were a couple other things. but IMO, the way TDOBY used them, even exaggerating them, within the story was well done.
Product Placement is a permanent fact in film and drama productions all over the world. We just don’t always notice it. What’s a production to do????
Think of all the cars, SUVs, and trucks we see in dramas. Chinese productions use a lot of American and European vehicles, whereas you see more Kias and Hyundais and less foreign vehicles in Korean productions, (not to mention Samsung phones, computers and appliances). It is how productions are subsidized which, theoretically, reduces costs to the production, some of which could not be made without them.
Agent Kim Reactivated made clever, exaggerated use of Kopikos in such a humorous way - and many reviewers made mention of that fact with some wondering where they could buy them. I even ordered some from Amazon.
In Perfect Crown, Grand Prince Yi An - at night atop a parking structure overlooking the city - leaning against his Mercedes 2024 AMG GT 55 4MATIC sports car with the door open and all its instrumentation showing - what a gorgeous scene that was! Mercedes supplied 13 models to TPC.
I’m guessing some of the outfits Kim Ji Won wore (she wore over 100) in Queen of Tears were PPL, not to mention the Bulgari wedding rings she and Kim Soo Hyun wore - and don’t forget the Mercedes 2022 Mercedes-AMG SL 63 (R232) he drove. Mercedes actually supplied 9 models to QOT.
Other PPLs especially in KDramas: Subway (a fixture in K-dramas) and Nespresso.
If done right, PPL doesn’t have to be an irritant. They can and do bring realism to our viewing.
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