One and Only

one of the best dramas i've ever watched

story:
the story was perfectly paced, the events weren't slow, and they weren't overwhelming. i don't want to give away anything so i'll just keep it as that

acting/cast:
bai lu is one of my favorite actors. the way she portrayed shi yi was like perfect, and the way that shi yi interacted with zhou sheng chen...

music:
the ost was sung by zhang bi chen. that is all i need to say. (if you don't get it, i mean that it's a beautiful song and her voice matches the meaning so well)

rewatch value:
i typically don't rewatch dramas, so i'm not sure yet. but i may visit this drama again or its sequel in the future

overall:
amazing drama, i think i cried like eight times watching this. i finished it in one day

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Traigically Beautiful Storytelling

I had to stop bawling my eyes out before I wrote this review.
Although the drama didn't invest much of skinship between the couples in this series but the nuances are there. The lingering looks, the lines said with underlying mening. It says it all.

We have couples who are fated but not bound to be together.
SY and ZC are in love woth each other but vecause ZC promised never to marry he never confessed nor said aloud his feelings for her but he has good buddies who says it all for him.

CG and HXY is heartbreaking they love each other and they both know it and they can't be togteher because of their social class. When the cousin married the princess it was necessary but since the princess loves someobe else too their marriage was doomed from the start.

XY and FQ not sure how to think of these 2 but there's also Xie Chen who seems to like her.

The politics is too hard and complicated to discuss but it's basically fighting for the throne that ZC gave up on and decided to foghts wars for the country but since he's too good the people in power are scared he'd rebel and usurp the throne. I honestly wish he did. But beong an honorable man that he is he kept his promise.

The fake crown prince deserved his death and the downfall of his country was all because of his greed and affinity to avenge himself from the wmpress dowager.

Choosing death for the welfare of their friends is the best choice and their friends understood their sacrfifce.

I must say I know Allen can act but Bai Lu kinda surprised me in her acting when she was mute and the scene at the latter part she expressed herself well through her eyes.

The osts fit the scenes and strory.
Definitely rewatching this when I need a good cry.

My only peeve on this one is I wished they showed a snippet of the other generals and prince of pingqin at the end too.

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beautifully tragic

The drama is heartbreaking and that's not a spoiler... it's pretty obvious even from the beginning. The ost is so beautiful and goes so well with the series, it's such great cinematography. Bailu once again proving that she's the best actress..there's not much to say;; Bailu's character doesn't have a lot of lines but her emotions and body language convey everything that needs to be conveyed. Surprisingly this was the first drama I watched that starred Allen Ren and his acting is quite spot on as well. The drama as a whole was kind of a slow burn but there were also lots of uplifting parts that lowkey distract you from the painful ending.

Aside from the plot and the series of unfortunate events, the characters were all so well written. I absolutely loved the side plots and chemistry with the other characters such as the advisor monk, Shijies, and Shiges. I wish we were able to get more of that, but all in all, it was a sentimental and lovely series.

Now I'm pretty excited for the epilogue though...knowing that these two characters deserve a happy ending and a satisfying romance that we never was able to get from this drama.

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GREAT STORY, BUT NOT A FAN OF REN JIALUN

The story was great, with a good balance of court politics, action, and romance (though the latter is underdeveloped; the emphasis is on the protagonists' deep connection, with no physical intimacy whatsoever). I may get flak for this, but I found Ren's performance to be wooden and emotionless. He is not a versatile actor; he practically had the same expression on his face in every single episode, even in the harrowing scenes, where the script was clearly conveying that the character was supposed to be disconsolate and heartbroken (In some instances, you could even tell his tears were fake and applied artificially with an eyedropper).

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Funny how the character I loved the most is Zhou Sheng Chen and hated him the most too!!

Lemme say this first, I'm a BIG time fan of Allen Ren and Bai Lu but I still took my time to watch this drama cause I know it was gonna break my heart. I'm glad I finally gave this gem a chance and got to experience a beautiful yet tragic romance!

Now, I'm not gonna write any detailed review but I have some serious questions from episode 18 onwards.

So, after Shiyi was engaged to Prince Guangling for the second time, what I couldn't fathom was ZhouSheng Chen’s reaction. He clearly loves her and knows that she's loves him too. He had every opportunity to take power upon his hands; it was also the most logical and justified thing to do as both his brother & nephew were dead and he was the best choice to be the next emperor. So why? WHYYYYY would give the the throne to a distant relative who's only a 5 year old child?? Isn't that just giving another chance to the evildoers to cause unrest in the empire? He could've easily ascended the throne and give Shiyi the place she deserves but no, he had to make himself a coward who's afraid to break his oath(which I don't think is valid anymore) but wasn't afraid to break Shiyi's heart. And if he knew that he'll always be stubborn about it, why lead Shiyi on?? Imo the actual person who caused this whole mess of a tragedy was ZhouSheng Chen himself and no other!!(I still love my baobei Ren though and feel too guilty to rant about his character like this 😭)

If anyone has any better explanations for his stubborn actions please let me know!! 🙏🏼

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Beautiful love story

A must watch. It's a good blend between romance and the palace politics genre.

Non-Spoiler Section:

Slow paced at the start but with many little sweets. Things start to pick up from around episode 10 onwards. Best part? It’s only 24 episodes long. Right at a sweet spot without being draggy with fillers again like all other shows.

Story-wise, It’s not just all romance but also royal schemes and politics. In fact, the royal schemes form the backbone of this show. Super exciting and ruthless! I really liked how intense the schemes were (even if it tore our couple apart). It's nowhere near Nirvana in Fire, but it did remind me of NOF.

We can’t possibly do this review without talking about the leads. This is my first Allen Ren show. Bai Lu didn’t impress me much previously (from The Legends) but their chemistry and relationship in this show is 200%. They are so respectful and subtly sweet towards each other. I particularly love the flashbacks where they remember small little sweet moments like waiting to have a meal or drink tea together. It’s not sizzling romance but respectful love. The gazes that Allen Ren gives are so indescribable... they're just very comforting eyes.

All the supporting characters are also very good. I’ve never seen any of them before in other shows yet they all act so well and have really nice chemistries with each other.

Special mention to Shiyi’s mother. She is such an upright family-name-first yet loving mother.

The production/edits are also very good. Everything flows beautifully in order, there are no unnecessary and repetitive flashbacks. No long stares. Quite perfectly done. Except some battles which were a little odd if you look closely but if you don't pay attention, they're perfectly fine. The ending felt a bit rushed to me considering how slow-paced the first few episodes were but I suppose this is normal in c-dramas.

Just gonna end this with some self-absorbed awards I’m giving to the characters lol.

Uncle of the Year - Zhou Shengchen!
Wingman of the Year - The Monk
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SPOILER SECTION:
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I’m just glad his death wasn’t so graphic and it was a lot more acceptable for me. Shiyi's death on the other hand was tragic and hard for me.

And yes, I see the Game of Thrones references. Zhou Shengchen dressing up like a Night’s Watch and the Red Wedding massacre.

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One of the best

Just a note, I'm not one to watch historical dramas. But this was definitely one of the best (and even have the urge to rewatch) despite the ending.

Storyline, acting, cinematography, OST, idioms used - everything was done SO WELL.
Both the main leads have solid acting and they have brought out the characters even with the small things, such as their hand gestures, eye contact etc. Even so, all other characters acting were so good, to the extent I actually hoped there were more episodes just to include the other side characters stories! The music - it fits so much with the scenes and its just astounding!

I'm sure everyone already knows the ending for this drama to be real sad. Let's say I don't favour dramas with extreme sad drama-line for the leads cause it just feels depressed. But the story for OAO was so well executed to the extent I am so into rewatching, crying my eyes out, and subsequently watching FAE to heal my sadden soul for their past life.

This is definitely a nice drama to watch. For those who were like me that are not into historical ones, just try it! There would be FAE for you to watch after this anyway haha. Ps. just remember to prepare some tissues mostly on second half of the drama :)

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One of the purest and most powerful love stories ever watched

“One and Only” is Part 1, and “forever and ever” is part 2. You have to watch them one after the other. Because not only is that how the book is written, Part 1 in the past, and Part 2 in the present; but also because if you don’t have part 2 following the watching of One and Only, you are going to cry for a long time.
One and only is a Masterpiece. (Forever and ever as well). This is a most beautiful love story, even if it remains platonic ( at the difference of Forever and ever), because of an officially given promise…. Yet, even without kissing scene between. Bai Lu and Ren Jia Lun, their chemistry, skinship and the way they look at each other more than make up for the absence of consumed romance.
The story is a slow burn, with the underlying political schemes of this Wuxia far from boring, and I am not a big fan of political plots… and you will hate the empress dowager, and everyone greedy for power and not letting people live the peaceful they are longing for.
The production is just beautiful, although it took place in winter times, and is served by a beautiful ost. This drama will haunt me, as The Red Sleeve did…
but this one (and Forever and Ever) have something unique when you think about it: they are the only ones I watched so far - and I’ve seen hundreds of them, where there is an absolute and unwavering love between the two main protagonists, something that is more powerful than anything, a vow for eternity without fight or breaking up, but mutual respect and understanding. Love in its purest form.

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Powerful story or just Upsetting, can't decide...

Yo! this Drama!! I had to watch several other dramas to calm down from watching this drama. It has a sad ending and all but it left me more angry than sad about the injustice of it all and how pointless it all was in the end! Like I was seriously upset for days! Even watching the sequel didn't completely take the anger away 'cos it only confirms that a century later history has this kind man down as a villain!
I like my romance to come with confessions, some kisses (well-executed ones please not those lame-assed ones) and some cute fluff n stuff at the very least! If that's you...back away slowly from this one! I also don't usually do tragedies and thought I'd make an exemption with this one...sigh I shouldn't have!
Don't get me wrong, it deserves its high rating and I gave it an 8.5 because according to the rating criteria - Story, Acting, blah, blah, blah, it's all top-notch. Just don't come expecting to finish it with a big smile on your face and a warm feeling in your belly...jeez, I guess I'm still a little upset so I'll stop here!

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Okay, so many people and reviews that I read told me that this does not end happy. For me, I don't care about sad ending. It's those sad ending ones that stays with you for years after you watch it, because it's just so emotional at the end, so it last longer in my memory (open ending is the one i hate!). Even though I've prepared myself for that last episode, it's still brings tears to my eyes. It's that forbidden love story element that gets me at the end. I thought both Bai Lu and Allen Ren did well in this drama. They portray the emotion so well that you feel their lost love pain. I would say don't be frightened with the sad ending, the story and acting itself is worth the journey. Beware though: it's a slow burn :)

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Real Roller coaster of emotions

Before getting to the point a few words for you Liu zing...
Guess it would be pretty much obvious to express my hate for you Liu Zi Xing ( im talking about the character ofc), the fact that you made me really dislike your character even tho we are showed some things from your Pov and background life, making me doubt about your ' true nature' ( is he really the bad guy here?).. i arrive at the conclusion that i pretty much hated you throughtout the story
But this ...actually is something to prase you for, cuz you are supposed to be the villan in the story ( i guess.. also, omg youre so selfish! ),you are there to keep the plot progressing and i would say making things drammatic af.. well you did your job as a villan very well..

For the ending....

I never thought that this drama could have such an end, y'know... we all hope that in some way the ML saves himself ( in some twisted and smart way) maybe faking his death to then come back and save his loved one and Happy ending ( which i really like)
Till the end and with all my heart i hoped it would be the case.... but let me tell you one thing.. watch the last 2/3 episodes alone ( cuz you dont want people to judge you ..) with a bunch of napkings box cuz you will definetely need them..
Let alone the ending...(which broke my ♡) this is a really nice drama, also considering some funny situations, nice and 'cozy' moments betweed the Mcs and amazing fight scenes, i mean Zhou Sheng Chen battle skills are lit!

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