Hey, A Good Day to be a Dog Cover Art for Maybe Interactive Stories, Cinamon Inc.
A Good Day to be a Dog – Information
Author of Story: Lee Hey
Chapter Count: 88 + 4 extra chapters
Status: Completed!
Content Warnings
These content warnings do not reflect the contents of the review below; only the literary work itself.
- Trauma
- Bullying
- Animal Cruelty
- Death
Spoiler Disclaimer
This recommendation post may contain small plot spoilers for review purposes. Any major spoilers are hidden by default and are able to be revealed via click or tap.
Plot Summary
If you’re looking for a romantic and comedic story with a unique and interesting plot, A Good Day to be a Dog is a great pick! It’s written by the same author who wrote See You in My 19th Life, another fantastic story with a similar art style.
The story follows the main character Han Hae-na (or “Hana” in the English translated Webtoon), age 28, who is a school teacher that’s never had a successful relationship.
The main reason for her failed relationships is that she cannot kiss anyone of the opposite sex or she’ll turn into… yep… a dog! This strange scenario is due to a family curse caused by one of her ancestors; making this sort of a reincarnation story.
Hae-na, after having failed in many relationships due to this family curse, becomes fed up (and tipsy) and makes the mistake of kissing her coworker, Jin Seo-won (“Seon” in the English Webtoon), at an after-work party! Now, every night at midnight she turns into a dog and returns to human form in the morning. This is the primary plot conflict for A Good Day to be a Dog.
You might think, “What’s so bad about it if she turns into human again by morning?” Well firstly, she won’t be able to enter a serious relationship without having this ridiculous secret revealed eventually. She won’t be able to stay out late with friends or otherwise, and taking transportation wouldn’t exactly be easy as a dog.
Hey, Volume 5 Manhwa Cover, A Good Day to be a Dog, Wisdom House.
And, imagine waking up every night at 12 AM because your body switched to a dog’s body. How annoying! To make things worse, in order to change back into fully human, she has to kiss her coworker again in dog form!
But there’s a big problem… not only does Jin not really like her from the start, but to make things worse, he’s afraid of dogs!
Why I Enjoyed A Good Day to be a Dog
As you can tell, the premise for this story is very silly and unique. The two main love interests don’t immediately jump into a relationship, but it also isn’t a super slow burn. The pacing of the romance in this story is pretty well written and easy to enjoy.
The main characters aren’t on the best of terms from the beginning, but this story isn’t necessarily an enemies-to-lovers or anything like that.
Another aspect of A Good Day to be a Dog is that it incorporates other characters and side-plots to keep things interesting. You get to learn and see more sides of the main characters slowly, and that makes the relationship feel more natural. The relationship is also between two adults so it feels mature, yet still pulls off a lot of heart-thumping moments really well!
Not only are the romantic scenes well-timed and made perfectly dramatic, but the author draws the main male lead so well. The art style is so nice and very blush-y during the romantic scenes. I like Hana’s design too, but the story feels as though it’s written often from her perspective. Therefore, I think I appreciate the reactions and emotions portrayed by Jin a bit more!
Although there are a lot of funny scenes or concepts in this story, it also has a lot of serious and heart-wrenching moments that delve deeper into the main characters’ personal backstories.
I’m a fan of these more serious themes because it makes you root for the characters even more in their growth and goals, but it’s an important aspect to be mindful of if you’re looking for a more lighthearted read instead.
However, I personally think real relationships form stronger with communication, understanding, and overcoming a variety of life challenges together, and this story portrays these aspects in a pretty natural way (other than having a dog curse, which isn’t exactly common).
The characters in this series experience their own challenges as adults, but find ways to grow, overcome, and work together through their personal obstacles. It makes this story feel a little more mature, even with the silly premise.
Another interesting aspect of A Good Day to be a Dog is that it has a reincarnation trope (as mentioned earlier) but it isn’t overwhelming in terms of the plot.
It actually helps create conflict and background for the overall story, such as explaining the curse. It also sort of “proves” the strength of the love between the main characters in the form of a trial of sorts (if you can call it that) and keeps the story interesting!
Any Cons?
There actually isn’t a whole lot that I didn’t like about A Good Day to be a Dog, but I’ll mention a few things readers may dislike. Firstly, even though the main romance plot is between two adults, there is a third younger character who also falls in love.
Because this character is younger and still a student, this could turn some readers off. However, the story isn’t written to be a love triangle sort of scenario at all! It actually seems to be more of an innocent first crush commonly seen with high-schoolers. So instead of being disturbing, it’s more endearing and sweet. This character also plays a significant supporting role!
Hey, Volume 6 Manhwa Cover, A Good Day to be a Dog, Wisdom House.
Secondly, some of the scenarios during this series will give you some secondhand embarrassment. After all, the main character is trying to solve her silly dog curse with someone who she isn’t even close with (at first).
However, this aspect didn’t stop me from enjoying the plot, so you should definitely still give it a shot. If anything, it’s just some comedic scenarios that made me embarrassed or nervous for the characters!
Lastly, this is pretty much a reincarnation story. For some readers, the explanations of ancestral history and background information can be a bit confusing as new characters are introduced and tied into the characters you’re already familiar with.
You’ll have to connect some dots. This specific story doesn’t get too complicated though, so you shouldn’t have any issues understanding it! Because these are some rather small cons, you should definitely still read A Good Day to be a Dog. It’s a great story that’s fun, exciting, and really cute.
More In-Depth Review (Warning: Spoilers!)
While reading A Good Day to be a Dog, you kind of go through a whirl of emotions. You desperately want the two main characters to be together, and anyone who’s in the way is a bother! They go through a lot of trouble to end up together, after all.
This is all because of the curse. Although it’s introduced as a silly issue where poor Hae-na turns into a dog, it actually turns into an important plot point. Especially for the side character Lee Bo-gyeom, who is seen as the perpetrator for all the problems throughout the story.
However, I really like how the story twists towards the end. Lee was shown as a stubborn character with a grudge, who loved annoying the male lead Jin, and as someone who was unfairly targeting Hae-na. In reality he didn’t actually want to ruin the relationship between Jin and Hae-na, even with the grudge he held in his heart.
He simply wanted to make things right again and relieve himself of his own duties, too. It’s also clear he regretted his decisions made in the past, that started the curse in the first place.
This was probably one of the best plot twists I’ve read, that both solves the main plot issue (the curse) and serves as redemption for this previously disliked character. It also solves why Jin was afraid of dogs, and leaves the story on a good note overall.
I also really liked how A Good Day to be a Dog portrays being different or having personal challenges as normal in a pretty positive way. It shows the realistic struggles the characters have (outside of turning into a dog) and how they cope and overcome those struggles.
Personally I think the whole “turning into a dog” thing could be seen as a metaphor for being insecure or struggling with self-acceptance, but I could be reading into it too much. It could just be for the overall plot to bring the main characters together, as well as to provide comedic relief at times.
Whether the themes were meant to be taken seriously or taken as a fun and silly twist on a romantic story, this is a great read either way! No matter how you choose to interpret it, the story is still very enjoyable.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed reading this story! Not only is it very unique and well-written, but the story overall is well-rounded too. It’s got an exciting and interesting plot, a lovely art style, characters you’ll fall in love with, and a good progression of romance before and after the ship is sailed.
Overall the story is satisfying and showcases a very sweet romance theme. I also was able to binge it in a short time, which was a plus. Therefore, I highly recommend A Good Day to be a Dog.
Disclaimer: Any images used for this blog are for illustrative purposes only, are not owned by me, and are under ownership of the artist or publisher.
Images Credit: Hey, Lee. A Good Day to be a Dog. Wisdom House, 2020. Webtoon, 2018. https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/a-good-day-tobe-a-dog/list?title_no=1390.
