The initial conflict between Sheng Wang (the more carefree and rebellious boy) and Jiang Tian (the quiet and diligent boy) is very entertaining. The series handles well the tension, competition, and humor that arises from their forced cohabitation.
Unlike other dramas, The On1y One dedicates a lot of time to the development of the protagonists and their backstories, exploring themes like adolescent growth, academic pressure, and family problems with great sensitivity. You feel like you truly get to know them.
The romantic relationship is a very slow burn and is built with small gestures, intense glances, and intimate moments. For fans of slow burn and yearning, the series is a wonderful torture.
I only have one criticism I could make, but I'll let you discover it for yourself.
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Super Slow Like A Sloth, Lol
My On1y One is definitely a super slow burn, but I really liked how raw and real the emotions felt. The subtle glances, the tension, the way the two leads interact—everything is so understated yet powerful. Jiang Tian is the quiet, reserved type who doesn’t open up easily. You can tell he’s carrying something heavy. Then he meets Sheng Wang, and at first there’s friction, but slowly they start to warm up to each other.Sheng Wang, on the other hand, is the cheerful and easygoing extrovert who easily connects with his new classmates. But underneath that bright personality, he’s still grieving his mom's death. He’s actually pretty soft and sensitive inside, which adds more depth to his character.
Even though the overall concept is kinda cliché, I still found it unique. What stood out to me is that, for once, we actually see students being students. There are real classes, lectures, and schoolwork shown, which is super refreshing—unlike most high school or university BLs that only focus on romance or the characters just hanging around the campus doing nothing or eating.
I do love the actors—they have amazing chemistry—but I feel like it would've made more sense if they were portrayed as university students instead of high schoolers. It would've been more believable, especially considering their real ages. That part was a bit of a letdown. Still, I appreciate that the classmates felt like real high schoolers, which added to the realism.
Since it's such a slow burn and not a lot happens plot-wise, I ended up watching it at 1.5x speed. I don’t mind slow burns if there’s a solid payoff at the end, but the ending here felt kind of unresolved. I heard there was supposed to be a Season 2, but it got cancelled, which is a shame.
Overall, I’d give it a 7.5/10 for the acting and cinematography alone. It’s not exactly my type of show, but it definitely has its emotional moments and a unique vibe.
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This review may contain spoilers
A subtle, yet intimate love story
There's something so intimate about two people in a bedroom, in the middle of the night, and just talking. The bedside lamp casting a warm thread of light across their faces . How dark their eyes turn, as if they can’t see, while at the same time they’re more honest than usual.I am obsessed with a blurred line between platonic and romantic love. When they are important to you in a multifaceted way. Covering up your feelings with another kind of love that is just as true. One type of love does not negate the other.
The drama has many good breathing moments, avoiding being overly dramatic. You don’t get exhausted from constantly being on the edge of your seat.
For the cons, I found the side plots unnecessary. I don’t care about this student who doesn’t even have a relationship with any of the main characters, I don’t care about these teachers. Although the parents’s decisions and feelings might affect the main characters, it still felt too much. Nor do I care for the sports day event. With all these things going on, I’m surprised we still got to see the main characters together that much. Still, I wanted to see more of just the two of them.
It feels weird calling it a romance when there are no romantic moments until the end. There are plenty of beautiful and precious moments, but they didn’t feel romantic, which makes me wonder if they even developed those kinds of feelings for each other yet. Maybe they did but were unaware of it. Well, I’m unaware too.
The wisdom and poetry woven into the narration and dialogue. I love how it’s packed with these subtle details.
Their whole relationship is just so wholesome. The way Jiang Tian silently looks out for and takes care of Sheng Wang, with no questions asked. And Sheng Wang moving into the dorms with Jiang Tian so that he can have a place that feels like home. Like, why are they doing this? But at the same time, isn’t it beautiful. It’s really interesting how different they first seemed from one another, but still empathise with each other and comfort each other.
Favourite quotes:
Hey, do you remember the story our old Chinese teacher told us before? It was about a little boy who was also making a schedule. He started it during the summer vacation. Year by year, he carried on, from childhood to adulthood.
But why did he end up crying?
Because he wrote his entire life in that planner. Everything was in the plan. But real life… isn’t about theorising on paper… Don’t live your youth with regrets.
If there’s only one person in the world who understands you, then he’s more important than anyone else. I only know people do what they do at a certain age. When it’s time to be a little crazy, don’t hold back. You’ve got decades ahead to be cautious and hesitant. What’s the rush?
Isn’t there a saying that when you no longer exchange pleasantries with someone and can share troubles and honors with an ease of heart, … it means you are friends?
As the saying goes, lie down where you fall. Let’s rest here for a while. What are you going to do? Might as well lie down here for a bit. Keep me company for a while.
He is like a tree, not knowing anything about joy or sorrow. Half of it rests peacefully in the dust, half soars in the wind, half scatters in the shade, and half bathes in the sunshine. He is utterly silent, and extremely proud. He never relies on anyone, and never seeks.
Humans have fortune and calamity, just like the moon waxes and wanes.
The moon is far and can't be held, yet the sixpence is close and can be held. The moon would take time to get to, but the sixpence is within reach. The moon is a thought since it holds no value that can be seen, but the sixpence is money that can be used! And that's why the moon is love.
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So much potential. Unfortunately not actualized in this season. There is second season. Right?
The output is not particularly high, but I did think this was an enjoyable watch with a lot of potential. I really enjoyed it so I bumped it up to 7.Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian had good chemistry, and albeit occasionally cringe, they held out perfectly fine.
Sheng Wang is adorable and funny and showed physical and mental strength in multiple occasions. Jiang Tian, well he was a bit more flat, until the father story came in.
The plot itself got from basic got super interesting around the last two episodes, that it was just begging (or indicating) for second season. There must be because all things started to hook up in the last few episodes, and then ....pam pam puff.. the end credits...come... with zero meaning.
What?
Is it ending like this?
Did their budget disapear under the snap of the fingers, in the middle of the day, they got the call and went "let's wrap it all up in 5, okay?"
Good prep season but only as a playing field for season 2 that must come. Okay? It must! I NEED TO KNOW HOW HE FEELS ABOUT THE SCAR.
Ok, thank you for reading. Bye.
(side note: a recommend if there is a second season. if not I am throwing hands and rerating this to 6)
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A Total Mess
Dont call it an adaptation if you changed everything! Such a disrespect.I thought having a director whom did a great job with YNEH could also produce another title with the same quality but nope, he destroyed it completely, a disaster.
Dont come at me and say that I'm just a hater, nah I was totally happy with the first eps but then the ending of eps 2 made me a lil bit dissapointed but still gave them chance bcs I thought they would do better. haha I was such a fool, until I couldnt bear to watch it anymore and stop at eps 8. I had no beef with the actors, pure hate on the production team. Even when the drama wasnt aired yet and ppl said trash about this series, I defended them!! They said the plot is similar to addicted and there's nothing new, I corrected them! What a naive me lol I regret it now
The worst part if you ask me? Mischaracterization!! The only character that they did justice was jiangtian's mom, that's it! I hate jingjie in this drama to the core bcs she was sooo ooc, like I couldnt even remember the jingjie in the novel anymore. It seems like to me that the director just borrowing the characters' names and added one or two scenes from the book and for the rest he just made his own story.
I dont want to explain any further.
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So - So
This drama is good, but it doesn’t feel like a BL. It feels like a story of two strangers who became family instead of lovers as there’s no romantic connection, we’re two episodes left and YET there was no scene where it felt like they loved each other. The teachers plot is also so uninteresting. Otherwise I think this show is pretty enjoyable and entertaining.Was this review helpful to you?
Ending was shit.
What hack? Waste of time. Worst ending and homophobic story. They give up on both couple. Even 2nd couple ending with homophobic.I was expected more... Anyway what u can expect from china or taiwan. 😩😩😩😩😩. There acting was good but at the end bottom started to act cute lol.😮💨 I don’t want to be hater but i feel like waste of time after watching end ep. Hope there will be 2 season.Was this review helpful to you?
Its has a slow pace!
Not everyone enjoys a slow pace of romance and love. For me it's different. I love how they progress in looking at each other and getting comfortable with each other. Slowly it looks like it's turning to "I can't spend an hour without you" kind of a feeling. It's extremely hard for me to wait for 6 days for the next episode and I sincerely wish that it was more than 12 episodes overall. I do not like the support role who appeared in "History" because it kind of brought me to sense that the two MLs are actually above High School age. Coz, in reality, you can't remember what they are with the way they are wearing and all. Anyway, I am enjoying it to the max at the moment and I hope for a happy ending as spoilers say it is in the Novel. Very badly want to read the novel so if anyone knows where I can find the English translation free please share it with me.Was this review helpful to you?
DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED
I usually don't give reviews to any type of series/movie but this one has became my favourite one now.. I enjoyed every single bit of this, their chemistry, the emotions, storyline, cinematic just everything, Don't know about others but while watching this I can totally feeling their inner emotions (especially in the last ep) such a great actors they're. The series well potrait the teenage (17y/o) self of the wang and tian. Hope there will be S2 soon.At the end I'll just say if you're not looking for series full of lust without any storyline then GO FOR IT!!!Was this review helpful to you?
Most gentle coming of age BL I’ve seen this year!
I have been a MDL lurker for years and have watched literally hundreds of BLs, but never posted. So it is a true testament to how amazing this show that I’ve come out of my cave to post.I was astounded to see a high school setting done so delicately. A truly excellent director and actors brought the nuances of the story to life - from tiny eye flickers to grimaces to careful observation of each other, I FELT their affection. There was no unnecessary fighting, drama or miscommunication and I was satisfied to see that finally we got a BL plot that was more that just those things.
If you want to feel your heart flutter while watching a gentle slow burn coming of age then please please watch this! I’m usually a fan of the harder BLs but every so often I dabble in the “feelings” type of shows, and with this one you won’t be dissatisfied! ❤️🩹
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Lots of emotions, whether sad of joyful ones.
This is one of the best BL I've ever watched. The actors achieve to convey emotions through their eyes. To me the plot is basic but their performance, the music and the atmosphere makes the charm.Carefull SPOIL :
I just cried for the last 20 minutes of the last episode. Just based on the music and the actor's performance understanding their emotions is so easy without talking much. Seeing Tian so sad and disappointed that Sheng leaves the class and knowing the reason why Sheng leaves it shows such a dramatic moment.
I really hope they will announce a season 2
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THE BEST BL OF 2024 !
I honestly had zero expectations going into this series.I had not read the story .This was just another drama that popped up on my Netflix feed.But watching the first episode made it clear that it was not your typical BL.
Yes,similar stories have been done countless times before .
But what makes this special is how they delivered that same story .The story telling in this series is just so unique and beautiful.The actors did the most incredible job in bringing those characters to life in an authentic and relatable manner.
As an audience you feel every emotion that the main leads are feeling. You understand his thoughts and you understand his actions .
The characters Jiang tian and Shen wang have a very special bond between them and we get to witness the whole process of formation of that bond .This show is very realistic in its portayal of love. People may label this as "slow burn " but this showcases how love blossoms in real life.
The soundtrack adds another dimension that captures the essence of each scene and amplifies the emotional impact leaving a lasting impression.
Overall, "the on1y one " is a must-watch and exceeded expectations! The entire production team deserves accolades for creating something truly special. Outstanding acting, directing, and storytelling brought the characters to life in a genuinely captivating way. Don't miss out on this incredible series!
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