I was attracted to The Best Day Of My Life (遇见你的那天) because it is short. It not only has just 14 episodes, each episode is also just 30 minutes long. So, it is very easy to breeze through and you can even complete it in one day if you binge watch. But shortness aside, there is nothing compelling about the story. It has its value which I will talk about in The Best Day Of My Life review below. However, being a low budget flick, it also has its fair share of negatives.
My rating: 6.5/10
Episodes: 14
Type: Romance
Aired: July 2024
Images Credit: Douban Movie
The Cast Of The Best Day Of My Life
- Zhang Jiong Min as Xie Shi / Jiang Zhou
- Jiang Zhi Nan as Xu Mu
- Wang Chuan as Shen Yi
- Yan Zhi Chao as Song Nian Nian
- Zhang You Wei as Manager Liao
- Sheng Yi Chen as Zhang Yao
- Zhang Hao Yue as Qiao Nan
Main Characters
Xie Shi / Jiang Zhou
Xie Shi is a senior executive at Like which is in the guesthouse and homestay business. He is an aloof and intelligent man with his fair share of admirers. However, he doesn’t show much interest in the opposite sex and is serious at work. Jiang Zhou is his new name which he had assumed after he left the country to study abroad.
Xu Mu
Xu Mu is a planner at an advertising company. She loves her job and is good at what she does. She is resourceful and quick-witted when she needs to resolve crisis at work. Xu Mu is also a kind and sweet woman who is still single.
Supporting Characters
Shen Yi
Shen Yi is a rich man’s son who is forced to work in his father’s media company as a low-ranking officer. His main interest is in developing an AI guide dog. Shen Yi is also Xie Shi’s best friend from their schooldays.
Song Nian Nian
Nian Nian is a novelist and Xu Mu’s bestie. She is expressive and direct. Nian Nian has no love experience which ends up hampering her writing at times.
Manager Liao
Manager Liao is Xu Mu’s direct superior and team leader at work. He is a nice, but clueless boss.
Zhang Yao
Zhang Yao is a painter and illustrator. He has many followers but keeps a very low profile.
Qiao Nan
Qiao Nan is Xie Shi’s childhood friend and cousin. They were close to each other while abroad and often regarded by others as a couple.
Synopsis
Xu Mu and Xie Shi used to be desk mates back in high school. However, he left for further studies abroad and they lost contact with each other. Years later, they meet again due to work. Xu Mu is a planner at an advertising agency and Xie Shi is a potential client. She finds Xie Shi cold and distant but when colleagues and friends mistaken them as a couple, they decide to play along.
Xie Shi suggests to Xu Mu to become a fake couple by claiming that he needs to show that he is a stable and committed guy in order to get a promotion. In actual fact, Xie Shi has secret feelings for Xu Mu which began in high school. On the other hand, Xu Mu wants to avoid going on blind dates arranged by her mother. Thus, they both agree to have a contractual relationship with the option to break it when either one of them finds someone they really like.
As they spend more time together, Xu Mu also begins to develop feelings for Xie Shi. But both of them thought the other is just in it because of the agreement that they have made.
The Best Day Of My Life Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)
The Best Day Of My Life has a happy ending. Xie Shi proposes to Xu Mu and asks her to marry him again. She agrees. 6 years later, they are godparents to Nian Nian and Shen Yi’s son. Xu Mu and Xie Shi are still childless as she thought her husband is not interested in having children due to his bitter childhood. However, he thought she is not prepared on being a mother yet and has been leaving the decision to her.
After realizing that they have misunderstood each other, Xu Mu now wants to have a baby. They subsequently end up having a son. The drama ends with the little boy going through his parents’ photo album and narrating their love story from the time they met.
When Did The Leads Get Together?
Xie Shi suggests to Xu Mu that they sign a relationship contract in Episode 4. She needs a fake boyfriend to stop her mother from arranging blind dates for her while he says he needs to be in a committed relationship to get a promotion at work. She takes up his offer and moves into his place after she ran into problems with her housemate.
When Xu Mu mistakenly thought that Xie Shi is getting engaged to Qiao Nan, she decides to go on a blind date arranged by her mother in Episode 11. But her blind date turns out to be Xie Shi. They end up getting married after Xie Shi dared her to do so when she tells him that she is looking for a real husband and not a fake relationship.
Xu Mu also learns that Xie Shi had a tough childhood with a gambler and abusive father in Episode 12. She is pained by his bitter experience. Xu Mu also finds out that Xie Shi has long harbored feelings for her since their schooldays when she comes across their school magazine that he has been keeping. She did not see his confession note that was inserted into her notebook back then as it fell away after the notebook was knocked onto the floor. So, he thought that she had rejected him. They become a real couple after the mutual confession.
Is There Any Breakup?
When a love rival, Zhang Yao, realizes that Xu Mu and Xie Shi are just pretending to be a couple, he openly tells Xie Shi that he will pursue Xu Mu in Episode 9. At the same time, Xu Mu thought that Qiao Nan and Xie Shi are a pair as they are childhood friends and close to each other. This misunderstanding deepens in Episode 10 which results in Xu Mu asking for a termination to their agreement. Xie Shi agrees to the “break up” as he thought Xu Mu likes Zhang Yao.
However, Xu Mu tells Zhang Yao that they are only friends when he seems to be hinting to her about his feelings. He sends a farewell message to Xu Mu after leaving the city. Xie Shi finds out about Xu Mu’s rejection of Zhang Yao through Shen Yi in Episode 11.
Second Couple
Nian Nian and Shen Yi are enemies from their schooldays. But she takes pity on him and hires him as her temporary assistant as she thought he is poor and needs money in Episode 4. In Episode 6, Nian Nian is stuck when she needs to write about romance for her novel. So, she consults Shen Yi who suggests that they hang out together like what real couples do. As they spend more time together, they begin to develop feelings for each other.
However, Nian Nian becomes angry when she learns that Shen Yi is actually a rich man’s son in Episode 9. She ignores him for not telling her about his identity. But both of them also miss each other and couldn’t bear to be apart. They talk things over and Shen Yi confesses his feelings to Nian Nian. She admits that she also likes him and they become a couple.
Nian Nian suggests that they get married in Episode 11 after Shen Yi comforted and supported her through her mother’s illness. They have their wedding shoot in Episode 13.
The Best Day Of My Life Review – Simple Romance
The Best Day Of My Life is a very simple romance that can be considered short and sweet. It is okay if you just want a bit of fluff and no angst to ruin your viewing pleasure. But I also think that the more discerning and perhaps older viewers might find the story shallow with the usual tropes. At its core, this is a contractual relationship romance drama which we would have seen in many productions from Guess Who I Am to Once We Get Married. 2 people who know each other from their schooldays are paired up as a pretend couple to fool her mother and predictably, they fall in love.
So, there is nothing new here. The plot is a recycled one although the start is actually quite interesting. This is when the guy pretends not to know the girl because he overheard her telling her friend that she wouldn’t be able to recognize him if they meet again. Unfortunately, the scriptwriter couldn’t sustain the fairly interesting start and let the story degenerate into a typical contractual relationship trope.
Thus, the story gets a bit draggy to me by the time we reached the halfway mark. But the good thing is the drama is kept short and this will motivate you to get to the finish line quickly.
Short And Simple
The Best Day Of My Life has a total of 14 episodes with 30 minutes per episode. If you skip some of the boring scenes, you can complete the whole drama in less a day. So, it is very easy to binge on as the story is also very simple. You can literally turn off your brain as you watch this unlike those dramas with complicated plots. There is also no toxic love rivals or parents to annoy you and make you angsty.
Basically, the drama’s value lies in its stress-free and romantic nature. This is what viewers who choose to watch this kind of drama expects. The story can be predictable and full of cliches but viewers who are into this genre tend to know what they are getting into. So, if you don’t mind another one of these contractual relationship dramas, then The Best Day Of My Life does have its entertainment value.
Everything is kept light and simple. With 2 couples and only 14 episodes, there will no character development and an in-depth plot. The typical issue of love rivals do appear but they are also very simply resolved. The couples’ relationship turning point will be quick and it may even appear as a big plot hole for some. But this is how it is for a simple and low budget romance drama. What is more important would be the chemistry between the leads to ensure the drama’s watchability.
Acting & Chemistry
Personally, I think Zhang Jiong Min and Jiang Zhi Nan did just fine as Xie Shi and Xu Mu respectively in The Best Day Of My Life. I can’t see any obvious flaws although I can’t say that they are great either. Basically, their acting is not going to make you complain but neither would it impress you much. They scrape by with the script that they were given which isn’t much to begin with.
Their chemistry isn’t mind-blowing but enough sparks is generated to make the romance believable. It could be better to me because I just find that their interactions to be a little awkward at times. They still seem so polite to each other when they are supposed to have been together for a long time towards the end. There is certainly a lack of passion there unlike other short dramas such as Mysterious Love and My Lethal Man. Anyhow, chemistry is very subjective and while it may not seem sizzling to me, the couple is still a sweet one in general. This is why I think the drama still has its selling point for those who are into contractual romances.
No Depth To The Plot (Spoilers Alert!)
While it is understandable that a short drama will need to keep things simple, I think the scriptwriter has tried to cram too much into the 14 episodes. This leaves the story a bit superficial. The second couple already takes up a fair bit of screen time which is fine since they are not annoying to watch. But their issues are just so unnecessary especially towards the end which gives me the feeling that they are included to lengthen the drama.
The main couple also has their own problems with the cliche love rivals being introduced late into the story. Then the male lead’s father is also brought into the plot which is rather lame since it doesn’t contribute much value at all. The last episode is just one long filler which definitely can be cut short. So, I’d rather the script be more focused and make effective use of the screen time to give us a more realistic progress of the romance. As it is, the protagonists just jump from a misunderstanding as broken up partners to a married couple in a flash.
My Verdict – Only If You Are Into This Genre
There is nothing special about The Best Day Of My Life. Everything about it is pretty ordinary. It is good enough if you just want something a little sweet and fluffy to pass your time. It should fulfill that need for a relaxing time with a feel good romance that doesn’t give you stress. After all, that is what contractual relationship and marriage dramas are all about. You are just watching for that sweetness overload and chemistry that makes you feel giddy.
Unfortunately, this is where the drama falls short for me. It is passable as a sweet romance but there is still a considerable gap to bridge before it can be considered as totally awesome. The sweetness overload just isn’t there. The chemistry is sufficient to make it convincing but short of electrifying. It doesn’t have the wow factor to make it better than most and hence, there is also little incentive to rewatch.
For this review of The Best Day Of My Life, I would give it a score of 6.5/10. Watch if you are a big fan of this genre. Otherwise, it is really a very average drama that you won’t remember much of once you are done watching. There are some sweet and interesting parts but the rest of the story is pretty bland overall. I think it just fails to fully capitalize on the male lead’s long hidden feelings for the female lead and turn it into a more heartfelt romance.
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