The On1y One (2024)

slow burn . boring . filler

the DIRECTOR probably had a second season of this BL series in mind because in this first season absolutely nothing happened, “but the book has 100000 pages”, I've watched countless adaptations and we know that no one makes the movie or series 100% the same as the book, I don't know if this strategy of making season 1 so uninteresting will hook people for a second season, it ended as it started without any development, it went from nothing to nowhere, many people talk about fetish that people demand a kiss, but what do we expect in a heterosexual romance series? ??? the same as GLS and Bls.

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A Superb series! Why is there no publicity made?!

I only chanced upon this drama series after hearing the same title theme song by 831 on 23 August 2024. This new song is so good that prompted me to look up on the background of this song - which is this drama series.

The first episode was slow, but when you watch the following episodes, you would understand the story flow. At the time of this review, I have watched 6 episodes - and i can tell you, i have in sum watched at least 5 times because the director has put in so much effort in creating little nuances among the 2 main characters - and the build up of their relationship. The little glances, little chuckles, facial expressions, tears, and more! Excellent. The more times that I re-watched this, the more details I managed to gather from the director and the story would flow so crystal clear to me, and I realised it is so hard to act as Jiang Tian and Sheng Wang as both characters are so complicated. Their synergy in the drama is very on-point.

I am already looking forward to the next 6 episodes.

I must say, it does not put justice to the entire team for not having much marketing effort to promote this superb series. This great series must be shared to more people!

Kudos to the team and the two main characters for making such series possible. Hopefully, we can have a season 2.

Great job to 831 for composing such an "on-point" OST for this series!

What else can I say for a perfect 10 rating to this show!

From a writer from Singapore :)

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Uhm excuse me Mr.Writer??

Allright, Lets not be too negative. I really really loved this drama, right up until half way the final episode when I realized there was only half an hour left and way too many open story lines.

And oh yes, as the minutes crept on, I got a pit in my stomach and tears in my eyes. ‘No way did they botch up this one’, is what I was thinking. This was going to be in my top 3 BL. But then came the ending.

For those who crave happy endings, don’t start on this drama. It was a 30 minutes long ‘wtf’ in my head and a wave of unbelieve.

The story was so good, the chemistry was there, I absolutely love the soundtrack.
But sorry guys, whoever wrote the ending needs counseling.

Unless a season 2 is in the making and you will redeem yourself, I will come back to edit my review and chastise myself for speaking too early :)

Please, season 2?

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Spectacular series, awfully wrapped up... unless they are messing with us.

Please, someone helps me out here to understand what the fck of a finale I have just watched!

What the hell happened? I mean, is this the finale for real? 
Cos honestly, it doesn't make any sense: you, screenwriter/s, create a gay series just to end up suggesting that it's better to nip things in the bud and put distance in order to forget that you like your own genre friend?! OMG! 
This ending could be easily the most anti-LGBT thing I have ever seen in my whole life! 
Not even the Pope himself or Mohammed could think of such a strategy of reverse psychology, Wow! LOL
Basically, you spent 12 episodes in view of teaching how to give up the one you love and how to renounce and avoid temptations, trying to correct yourself like if it were a possible choice for a gay person?! Are you fking kiddin' me?! 
Except for the very end where you give us the ridiculous sop of "Pass the next exam"/"Okay" thing?! Whaaaaaaat?

So, now: I get it all wrong, right? RIGHT? Tell me I got it completely wrong, because unfortunately that is the message I received from the finale of the series and right now I am astonished! I cannot believe what I have just seen, I must be drunk or stoned without even knowing.

Though, if I got it wrong as I hope, then my production's friends, you really don't know how to create, write and film a season finale, and I am talking about the presentation and the form of the narrative development, not about the content of the plot. So again, the fault is yours. LOL
Because what the hell happened to the male teacher couple?!
We got a confession (as if it were ever needed, I mean, your mate has just kissed you on your mouth 2 days before and you, for real, ask him now if he does like the female teacher? How stupid and slow you must be! What did you need? Two meters of his tongue in your throat to get the message? I am shouting this to the screenwriter, of course).
And then nothing else?!  SERIOUSLY?!  It is just finished this way! How is that even possible?

What happened to the boys' parents? What about the Granpa?
And also... what is the use of failing the exam for splitting up if you are still in the same freaking room as him?! Didn't it occur to the writers to let the audience know that maybe Sheng Wang was about to go back home, for example?! You know, just for adding a little bit of logical sense to this foolish end!

We are not talking here about some sort of open ending, this is not, cos there is no end of any kind here! Not a chance.
This finale just cuts abruptly a storyline and it is not for debate: if you stop the story-telling at its peak, on its climax, you just kill the story itself, and you can't even call this a cliffhanger, cos generally in this industry you get a cliffhanger AFTER the main narrative arch is concluded, for introducing a new plot that is super interesting and breathtaking; or you can have nice cliffhangers between episodes, for instance. But that, again, is not the case here! 
So, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PRODUCTION?!
DiD YOU GET BORED TO FILM ALL OF A SUDDEN? LOL

UNLESS —and here is where I have been waiting for you since the start— you did all of that cos you guys had already signed this project for 2 or 3 seasons.
If that is the case, then stop being ridiculous and just announce it to the desperate public. Anyway, there you should have put well-designed and smart cliffhangers instead of cuts and walls all over the place. You make yourself clear through your filming that a second season will follow.

But, otherwise, IF you are NOT SURE you can pull it through, if you just casually took the shot without having a clue if the series would get a renewal for a second season, then shame on you! We have seen this attitude already countless times in old western TV series and in current Japanese anime, so... WTF!
Therefore this finale is simply bad from a film technical standpoint: awful structure, absurd chapters division for the lack of time balance (you were on drugs while creating the storyboard) and in conclusion, apart from the main leads, all the other characters simply disappear from the end of the story and basically they can go suck it; I dunno what else I may add! 
Pros should never work this way; they should always have a decent respect for the audience, if not, make ourselves a favor: keep the half story for yourself if you are not able to tell one entirely and let others have the job done. Thank You.

I am pissed off as hell, cos I give a super vote to this fantastic series, one of the best gay series on TV of the last 30 years worldwide, both Asian and western TVs; I am dead serious.
It is marvelous: realistic, believable, sensitive and deep, amusing and poor of clichè. All the characters are very well characterized and defined, 3D persons; all the actors, and i mean it, are great: the entire cast plays spontaneously, never overacting.
The dialogues between Little Chili and Gao Tian Yang are superbly written and their back-and-forth exchanges are amazingly performed by the actors. Andy Chen really did a splendid performance throughout the whole series: his naturalness in playing that role makes me think of him as any of my old classmates still beside me.
Beautiful directing, nice editing, maybe not original or innovating but still very good, cos the pace of narration is amazing: great rhythm, peaks and pauses that create a beautiful dynamic in the story-telling speed, with the result of having you addicted, greedy and eager for every tiny detail in every episode.
The attunement and the chemistry between the leads are really good, so much that they totally remind you of "Your name engraved herein" (Taiwanese cinema docet indeed) with several contact points. The building up of their bond and their attachment is really well thought out; it follows natural and realistic steps, giving this way real substance to their story.

In short, literally everything was great and stunning... until... the finale arrived... my goodness...
It is just neither a proper series finale nor a season finale. No matter how you put it, cinematically speaking, it just sucks. 
If someone had told me yesterday, I would never believe that I would have managed to find a worse TV-show finale than the "Game of Thrones" one! LOL

Damn you, TV's contracts, you create prostitutes amongst authors... sigh.

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Hot take: The only ones with interesting storylines were from the supporting casts

Taiwan and its compulsiveness in making stepbrother romance as a relationship approach in a series. I liked a lot of elements from this drama, but I’ve seen too much of this concept that the impact became dull and redundant. A coming-of-age setup reminds me of some notable C-dramas I watched in previous years, and what makes this more interesting is that they give us the BL flavor to spice up the audience.

The substitute teachers and Alors Cafe owners need their show! They captivated my whole attention, and I love them the most. I demand a prequel or sequel that features them more than anyone else. The love tension is so extreme but I was left hanging by that minimal kiss and confrontation at the end. Subjectively speaking, Zhao Xi and Benny stole the show and I’m craving more from them.

Every cast did great with the portrayal of their roles. You can’t guess that these teenagers in the story were adults in real life. The squad isn’t that impactful but they still manage to provide a favorable result of high school friendship. Andy Chen as Gao Tian Yang is my favorite one from them! I’m grateful that the drama introduced me to this Gu Hai version and excited to see his next projects, hopefully, a BL show, in the future. One of my favorite episodes was the sports festival which was chaotically fun and regained the momentum of the drama’s appeal.

I applaud the production for limiting the young couple’s intimate scenes. I honestly think they can make more sexual scenarios and I’m glad they don’t. From what I’ve seen from the latest BLs today, many shows prioritize the R-18 plot more than the quality of their script.

Overall, this drama is good but downgraded by the concept of an incest-like relationship. Thankfully, the supporting characters left a good impression towards the end despite not having their proper closure to the story.

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