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I truly enjoyed this forbidden love story. From the intricate plot, to the cinematography to the acting prowess. Deemed as the "rebellious" Zhou Sheng Chen, Ren Jia Lun was perfect as the emotionally-stunted Master/warrior. While Bai Lu played the mute heroine with controlled grace and avoided becoming the clingy damsel in distress. Both leads effortlessly portrayed the pining and longing between them with subtle yet impactful gestures as they maneuver the political climate that prevented them from acknowledging their feelings for each other. Other characters gave credence in their roles as support or as obstacle to the lead characters' journey. The twists and turns in this drama, that culminated in its ending, were so well-woven that the sequel to this was unnecessary. Was this review helpful to you?
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Emotions potrayed perfectly even in simple gesture
I just cannot move on from this drama.. It is so heart wrenching yet so beautiful... Really really beautiful love story.. Good plot, best ost, best casts, best love story ahhhhh im just done bawling my eyes..Bai Lu indeed one of the best chinese actresse, set high standard for chinese drama.. Also kudos to Allen Ren, he is so cool, handsome and charming.. Their love story burning slowly, make their love story really really hit our heart.
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Growing up in an influential family, Cui Shi-Yi (Bai Lu) is already engaged since the day she was born. Shi-Yi was known as the niece of one of the most powerful men in the palace, Cui Guang.
Defining her personality, Shi-Yi can be described as a respectable yet elegant woman. She has a light character and reflects that she was raised carefully in the palace.
Meanwhile, our male lead, Zhousheng Chen (Allen Ren) is a commander who never lost a battle. He was also the Junior Prince of Nan Chen who leads the West State. Unfortunately, his brother, the emperor died.
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One and Only is one of those dramas that has a good plot. It is anguish filled yet you appreciate the pain. Knowing the situation of Sheng-Chen and Shi-Yi, their hearts slowly learned that they love and want to be with each other’s side. However, their love story is not the type that you would expect it to be. Their duties and responsibilities are one big wall that hinders their growing feelings.
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Sorry but no
Acting was great! Can’t fault the actors or their chemistry. Sadly have to give this drama a low rating because it happens to be the exact kind of storyline I hate. I can accept tragedy but not to the point all main characters/ couples die.Also personal pet peeve when dramas don’t have a “good” ending. Fair enough the main leads die but also no real justice? Bad guys are all fine so it’s not even like the deaths of main characters are justified? The story really needed more depth if that many people are to die.
Luckily the drama didn’t waste too much of my time being 24 episodes only. Glad it’s over and will need to find something sweeter to watch now.
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One and Lonely, Meh, double Meh.
It's a solid 7 and I'll tell you why.I finished this series an hour ago and It's not as good as I thought it was.
The story and plot is okay, I don't know why they insisted on giving us actual time indicators as someone who should've been in their mid to late 30s is also said to be of the same age as a character that was clearly a child or tween during earlier events. And just when you forget the ages don't natch, here it comes again in dialogue that something happened X amount of years ago when this person was X age.
It was entertaining.
But this is why it's not a 10
No clear Big Bad, a wishy-washy cowardly troublemaker without clear motives, except a "might as well" attitude that starts the body count towards the end.
I don't know if they meant for us to feel sorry for this character or the actor's contract conflicted with him being full-on anything.....There's just no intensity there, none. His motives are half-baked to the point that even when he's probably going to be living his best life without much of the past worries, he goes all-in with (just about) a person that annoys him to death. When, the easiest choice would be to stay still and this person wouldn't be in his way anymore.
I finished another drama of the ML that aired recently and I can't help but notice he plays the same character in each of his recent roles. Pouty with occasional smile in a suit, pouty with occasional smile with a wig and sword, then watch him kick something.
The older actors brought the A game as usual
The monk was a waste, I was waiting for him to hulk out towards the end but, the promise of earlier scenes isn't fleshed out beyond being our sounding board for the tragic hero.
And he is tragic, tragically honorable when the game changes and all bets are off. Seems to me earlier logic and "contracts made" could be changed due to circumstance but not, for him.
Cheaped out on costumes because there are two men in the crew that I got confused with as the styling was the same and they have similar builds and wide faces.
What do you call a disciple that doesn't get taught anything really? A glorified housekeeper? They couldn't teach her to defend herself? Even the one weapon she can use is never shown to be used during a pivotal moment.
The stories of some of the side characters aren't given the time they deserve, even when they seem more interesting than the Main character's arcs.
A double crossing cockroach that brings trouble every time he crosses the screen, for no reason but to cause trouble. It's over and I still don't know what he wants.
THE FL and the Monk are the most disappointing characters in this thing, even though the acting was okay. They didn't give the FL much to work with but she did have 3 scenes that were able to showcase skills.
So, this is a 7, because there's worse offerings out there right now but would I say it's something with rewatch value, nope.
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What a weak FL with many plot holes
Well, I've read the novel and have watched the sequel of the drama 'Forever and Ever'.As commons, the drama needs to add more story and plot to make it long enough to be a drama and I find it okay.
What made me disappointed was the portraying of the FL in the drama. The drama portrays the FL as a super weak, vulnerable and helpless woman. She didn't do much in the drama aside of crying, waiting or pouting.
I didn't get why the script made her to stand on the gate during the attack of Yongcheng. She had no skill of fighting or other useful skill in that battle. Standing on top of the gate overseeing the battle is just added more baggage or people to protect. The story is also unbearably so slow made me have to watch it in speed up version. And there should be a more suitable actress to play the FL role.
I am fine with a slow burning story, yet this drama is just so unbearably slow. Romance is indeed doesn't need skin-ship but there should be something to fill that void.
What I can conclude is that I've wasted my time and data😅
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Stupidity overrated ! misleading rating! WASTE OF TIME
A complete waste of time. This drama is riddled with plot holes and wasted potential, making it incredibly frustrating to watch. The narrative lacked coherence, with characters making illogical decisions that felt completely out of place. The buildup to key moments was poorly executed, left me disappointed and questioning the logic behind the story.What made it worse was the misleading high ratings—this drama is nowhere near deserving of its praise. The production value might have been decent, but that doesn’t compensate for the lackluster writing and direction. It’s disappointing to see such potential squandered
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What is it about this love story that deserve a second chance?
I went into this historical portion of the drama hoping to get one thing answer, because all other things don't matter. What is it about this love story that deserve a second chance at new life time when so many other couples, who have a more passionate love and would die for each other, have not gotten that chance (as we seen in drama land)?The first 10 eps really missed the mark on telling a compelling love story between CSC and SY. There were really no teaching of any sort (CSC supposedly teaches SY everything from painting, reading, writing, playing instrument, ect, but we did not get any of that. It was mostly SY teaching herself , which is kind of sad because the few moments of him spending time with her & trying to figure out what to teach her was so endearing. Later on, about the middle episodes, we finally got to view what they really are like as a couple as they spent a lot of time together traveling (something different from the book). Both of the lead being obvious in their feeling. In the end, I still come to the conclusion that there was nothing specials about their relationship. They both still couldn't fight for their love, there was something bigger for them to protect.
The ending instead puts a new perspective on my question above.... in that it's not about their selfish loving each other only, but their love for those around them. Perhaps god gave them a second chance because CSC was too pitiful for all the good he has done and his death was the most horrific and disrespectful. I cried for him and I cried for Shiyi. His last letter stated "I've never let anyone down except Shiyi." It's almost his indication that the people he tried to saved betrayed him and the one person he let go was his biggest mistake. God perhaps heard his cried and tried to make up for him by gifting Shiyi to him the next life time as one can never turn back time to fix the wrong. CSC left behind a honorable legacy and to those that knew and met him. When he die, those that knew him continues to build a legacy he was working towards. They even tried to save the one thing that matters to him most, his Shiyi, but she felt too wrong for his death and his people (that also dead). She says god will make it right and, if there's a next life, for him to come to her.... and come he did (in Forever and Ever).
My overall rating on this drama,is there's not enough issues here to make it this many Episodes. The ending where the female lead ask or say she'll marry him was kind of off, because he was very firm about not being with her. So I didn't feel for it.
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This review is for both “One and Only” and “Forever and Ever” dramas but the rating is different:One and Only
This drama is really a masterpiece, almost flawless, if it would not be for the poor acting skill and expressions of one of the most significant antagonists, actor Wang Xing Yue as Liu Zi Xing. The production gives the viewer gorgeous costumes, dazzling sets, great cinematography, a leading couple that doesn’t need intimacy to immerses the viewer and evokes beautiful, heartfelt, and sorrowful emotions that leaves anyone breathless even when a romantic relationship between them was forbidden. The action scenes are well choreographed and the chemistry among the soldiers and Zhousheng Chen is strongly fused by their sincere feelings and camaraderie. SPOILER ALERT: Even with the tragic ending, the drama is still worth watching! Enjoy it!
Forever and Ever (SPOILER ALERT!)
If the viewer is looking for a drama that has a nice romance feel but lacks intimacy, then this right drama. I would not consider this drama a sequel since there is little connection to the “prequel” apart for the leading couple, flashbacks that give the viewer a glimpse of their past relationship, a leading male that belongs to an old and establish rich family with a matriarch that simulates a sovereign ruler of great power and rank, a leading female that comes from a “noble” family, and some supporting actors that can be somehow compared to others in the past life. Although the leading couple is connected to the past, find each other and fall in love, this drama doesn’t capture the intensity of their feelings like it was portrayed on the drama “One and Only”. For “Forever and Ever” been a modern romance, Zhousheng Chen’s character is almost emotionally handicap with an unrealistic innocence for a man in his late twenties, even if he has spent most of his life been a bookworm. Although the Zhousheng Chen from the past does not kiss Cui Shi Yi, he was not passive at all! So, overall, this is not a bad drama, it is just a failed attempt to bring an everlasting and passionate love to the present times.
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Why did Allen Ren and Bai Liu pick this script!
Allen Ren is one of my favorite actors and Bai Liu is one of my favorite actresses. I don't have the slightest idea why the screenwriters wrote this the way they wrote this. I loved how the storyline started but I sense something was wrong when I got to Episode #16. From that point on, it just went downhill for me. I have never rated a Chinese Drama that featured Allen Ren or Bai Liu low., two top leading performers in the same drama that I became disappointed and embarrassed to view but I did and I'm sorry that I did. In the very last episode, the writers tried to clean it up but only for the last few minutes of it. I gave the actors/actresses a 10 rating because they did their best and were excellent in their parts. I will never watch another drama that makes the bad guys win. Kudos go to Allen Ren and Bai Liu for enduring a drama like this.I apologized to the rest of the actors for my rough critique.
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"If we meet again in the next life, hope you can come to marry me"
Firstly this drama really was emotional for me. I don't usually write reviews but I had to for this drama.I cried and cried during the last episodes of the drama. The emotions that the actors portrayed and the way they did those scenes made me forget that I was just watching a drama. I cried when Zhousheng Chen was executed and I wept when Shiyi read his letter. Hats off to each and every actor and actress.
Even though it was heartbreaking it made me greatful for those little moments they all shared. Like when Shiyi would wait for news about her Master's victory or when her senior brothers and sisters would spoil her and the conversations that they all shared. It made me realize how quickly things change with time, in the drama and out of it.
Zhousheng Chen's life was one that really made me emotional. He gave his life for his country going so far as to vow not to take a wife or have children so that the royal family can be rest assured that their power would not be affected by him, only to be killed because higher powers felt threatened by his "bones" and ability. It was so sad that right until the last moment he was so sacrificial, worrying about others more than himself. It was so heartbreaking to watch as he bids Shiyi farewell. He loved her so much but could never act on his emotions due to circumstances.
Shiyi's character was performed phenomenally. You see how she gradually grows from a mute noble daughter, to becoming Zhousheng Chen's deciple, to loving him, to having to leave him. I was broken hearted with her during the last episodes.
As I watched the concluding moments of the drama I have come to learn that we don't always get a happy ending. There is loss in life and we have to accept that. For every tragic thing that happens it makes us grateful for those moments where we just chattered with our loved ones, ate with them and walked a busy street with them.
I would 1000% reccomend this drama. It is a masterpiece, and I don't say it often about dramas that I watch. You will laugh, cry and smile with the characters. Don't miss out watching this drama just because it has a sad ending, it is worth it, plus there is a part 2/sequel called Forever and Ever. I am going to start it soon. I am sure that will heal most of the heartbreak and sorrow I went through.
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Amazing acting from both ML and FL
When I saw One and Only available online to watch - I got curious but then I've read comments of how the story will be and I am one of the people who likes to check the ending first to see what will happen.I then happen to read comments from people on the last 2 episodes of OaO (E23 and 24). I got so curious then I watched these last 2 episodes. I have then decided I don't think I will watch it in view of what's happening. I will just watch Forever and Ever. I've asked people on if I can watch Forever and Ever without watching OaO first. There were 2 people came back to me and recommended me that I need to watch OaO first so I can understand it better.
So on the weekend, I've started watching OaO - I am not one that would watch historical drama with so much political in it and especially with bad ending but for some reason after watching E1, I got totally hooked on it and continued on.
There is no romantic/kissing scenes in this drama but I tell you - by watching Sheng Chen and Shi Yi together, you can tell how deep is their love towards one another. They don't need words to show it!!
It is heart breaking to watch some of the scenes of them together and yet they both realized that they can not be together.
I also don't like Empress Dowager and Crown Prince (how he kept insisting to marry Shi Yi) when the engagement has been cancelled.
I totally love Allen and Bai Lu - they're really good playing their characters here.
I can't wait to continue watching Forever and Ever - I've heard that at least this drama is happy ending but from what I'm reading/seeing so far - them being together is going to be quite complicated as well.
I give a 10 for this drama and Forever and Ever. Strongly recommend for people to watch these dramas.
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Not quite your typical cdrama love story.
I've been on a Bai Lu binge lately (along with a wuxia binge in general). I've never seen anything with Ren Jialun but I really enjoyed his acting and overall presence. Overall, I felt like this drama had a good thing going, great cast-music-production, but I was honestly distraught when I got to the last episode because I was left feeling empty.The interactions between ALL the characters felt like they were missing a touch of something in my opinion. The acting was great but I think it had to do with the script/story. The constant sadness really just consumed me to be honest, maybe I'm just being brutal cause none of them were happy for more than half an episode.
Unfortunately not a drama I would recommend to those who are looking for your traditional chinese historical love story.
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