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There is a kiss scene between a secondary couple, but tbh (and I say it as someone who loves this drama) they're not that well developed.

As for the two main characters, they technically kiss, but neither of these kisses is "for real" (one is a "dare" kiss and the other one is a sort of a "revenge" kiss). And that's it.

However, there's a lot of beautiful acts of love, real character development, natural progression of a very strong bond growing between the leads (who are stellar actors, you'll see if you give this drama a try).

Double down on that: no way in hell. There's no Sheng Wang without Dong Qin. He's the first thing together with cinematography that caught my attention in this drama. From the very first scene it was so obvious I'm looking at someone who can ACT and convey so much emotions with his facial expressions.

Benjamin won me over a bit later.

If they ever wanted to make Mou Mou without Liu Dong Qin, they better just create an entire new work, a remake or something, cause I'm not interested in a continuation of The On1y One without him 😒

But they're not even stepbrothers... 😜 I'm not a fan of that trope myself. I'm not even particularly offended by it, I just feel it grew so tired and overused and is just giving desperate attempt at spicing things up, creating a taboo etc.

But here that setting actually makes sense. Both JT and SW don't easily open up to others and this whole living-together-situation and expectations of their respective parents to get closer, sort of push them towards each other more than they otherwise might've decided themselves.

But they are not stepbrothers. They think their parents will possibly marry, but it never actually happens in the drama. So they did not grow up together, they met each other at the age of 17 (almost young adults) and they're not even legally connected = no stepbrother-hood detected 😉

Yeah, the trailer alone should have a huge spoiler tag on it. But anyway, it's not like I haven't seen the novel spoilers for The On1y One everywhere while it was still airing. Enjoyed it anyway. After all, it's not about what happens, but *how* it happens 😊 Let's see if ITSAY is as good as you're saying.

I watched a trailer on Viki and it doesn't look half bad 😉 I'm gonna give it a try. The only problem is, that trailer was so darn long and seems to have spoiled me most of the outline of the story...

Gosh, I wish this part of your comment:

"Story between two people -one of them is wandering stray cat natured yearning for care still protective and guarded and the other one is derived from love weighing on himself searching for care. Their journey collides after knowing they're going to be step brothers."

was actually used as an official description of the show on streaming platforms instead of the one they have right now, that doesn't even begin to reflect the depth of this story (and misleads the people about it being yet another "step-siblings" BL). You said it very lovely and accurately.

What the actual... These two are so unfiltered! I cackled a couple of times while reading this interview. Calling Benjamin and Andy boring people?!? Whyyyyy, that's so mean 😂 The host low key shading the appearance of his former crush - I can't...

It was a very interesting read, though. Benjamin solidified himself as one and only Jiang Tian in my mind, but I am curious what other famous names were considered.

I laughed, again, at Patrick saying "Where in Taiwan will I find someone who is 185 cm, handsome and can act?".

I shuddered at the very thought of Benjamin and Dong Qin being dubbed. Dubbing in dramas almost always hinders my ability to immerse myself in the story. Aside from the guy who voiced WWX in The Untamed, whom I thought was phenomenal, I never really enjoyed a drama being dubbed.

Besides, things like intonation, how you enunciate the words and all that stuff is also part of acting. Dong Qin's voice is just as expressive as his eyes and don't even get me started on Benjamin's "Hao" in episode 7 when he was agreeing to living in dorm together. I'm so happy we were not robbed of that.

I actually kinda wish Jenny wasn't dubbed over. I assumed it was for the exact reason Patrick mentioned, but I'd take her perfect Putonghua over the dubbing anytime. Even at the expense of realism. The dubbing (admittedly synced fairly well with her lips) was still pulling me out of the story every time the camera focused on her.

I think it's quite brave to assume other's motivations for rating this show... You already failed at understanding mine.

I actually have rather low hopes for the second season (though reading some people's optimistic comments here did affect me a bit - probably against my better judgement - not gonna lie). As much as I respect the director for his works (this and YNEH are both amongst my faves) I didn't necessarily like his frequent pleas to hype the show in order to get the second season from the very beginning. I could already predict some people saying the show couldn't stand on its own quality and had to rely on such type of "promoting".

I happened to fall completely for this drama around episode 4-5 and while I do admit that in later episodes the pacing suffered from shoving in the side couple/triangle story, which didn't really get the best execution, I still consider this drama the best BL series I've ever watched. If I were to lower its rating, I'd literarily have to lower my ratings for any other BL drama I've ever seen even more.

What I enjoyed was beautiful cinematography, splendid acting and - when it was at its best - amazing writing. I think storytelling up to ep 5,6, even 7 was almost flawless, but it still managed to hold my interest and move me even afterwards. As for acting, some of the best of it from Benjamin and Dong Qin happen in the later parts of the drama. The symbolism, metaphors and references to works of literature, science or pop culture were a unique way to tell a story plus fit so well within the school drama context. Which btw was also really well portrayed - from prepping for exams, to classmates' shenanigans at school.

As for your claims that this drama is rated high on the hopes of getting the 2nd season... I actually have quite the contrary impression. Just from reading the comments here and the reviews on Viki alone, quite a lot of people lowered their rating because of not liking the ending. On Viki e.g., the show was having a rank of 9.5 before the finale and now is at 9.2 with many reviews complaining exactly about the (lack of) conclusion.

I don't watch Thai dramas much, because whenever I tried they failed to hold my interest. I Told Sunset About You was not amongst the ones I tried though, so I can't speak to how successfully it did what you're claiming it to achieve. Maybe I'd end up liking it?

Finally. May I ask you - as someone who evidently didn't enjoy the show - do you want the second season? People want season 2 because they *liked* what they got so far. Since they liked it, they rate it high. If they thought the show sucked, why would they hope for a continuation? If they don't think it sucked, why wouldn't they give it a favourable rating? I think it's a fairly simple logic.

I do, however, agree with you on judging the show on the novel. While I understand people looking for some "solace" in the novel, where the characters actually get a happy ending, referring the audience of a drama to a novel as an argument defending the show is not particularly compelling for me. One is a drama. Another one is a book. The drama is merely an adaptation of the book, and as such it can both fail to deliver or even elevate the original story to new heights. If I need to go and read a book to feel the drama is good, something did go wrong. Only that, personally, I don't feel I have to. I enjoyed this show tremendously as an individual work.

Even if it never gets a second season.

I am grateful as well. The guy catapulted himself into my top favourite asian actors and I probably wouldn't have even know of his existence if not for The On1y One (I used to attempt watching Only for Love, but I dont think I even made it to his scenes back then).

Honestly though, the casting for this drama was in general great.

Not only LDQ as SW and Benjamin as JT, but also Andy Chen as GTY, Pipi Yao as Pepper and Jennifer Hong as JT's mom (that scene between them when both cried was per-fec-tion).

Exactly this! It's not that The On1y One has no BL tropes. The thing is that when they do them, they do them right. There's a necessary build-up, and the trope alone sometimes gets a slight twist (like that kabedon-scene in episode 5, I think? Followed by this long moment of intense eye contact and warm smile from SW towards JT instead the usual flustered reaction). All coupled with A-class acting from both LDQ and Benjamin.

No problem! So, what did you think of the episode after rewatching it?

Thanks, just wrote my understanding of what actually happened😊

Oh, I saw the info about iQIYI being the ones buying the rights and rolled with it, as they also seem to have produced some of Dong Qin's other dramas (?), but what you're saying makes more sense.

I can't pretend to understand how the relationship between different platforms works. We had Tencent/We TV dramas on Viki (I know they had a deal), but sometimes also iQIYI's and Youkou's and Gaga's... But I guess iQIYI and WeTV are more of direct competitors.

Yeah, I saw some Beijing company appear at the top of the credits. Uh, whatever, no point wondering on my part 😉 Let's keep our fingers crossed we will get some continuation.

3. Oh, surely. No complaints whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned they can invest in ten more dramas and push him as a lead there 😉 He's a fantastic actor.

Well, for what is worth, The On1y One is in the Top 3 Hot Dramas on their site...

Them buying copyrights might actually be a good sign. If they didn't own it, then I'd be assuming they invested money to promote Liu Dong Qin (and by extension his other iQIYI dramas) to a wider audience. Once he got the exposure = job done.

But them buying the rights to source material might suggest at least initial intention to profit from this story long term. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean the 2nd season will ever happen, but I'd think of it more as a good thing than a bad thing, I guess.

Sheng Wang's actions were indicating he was distancing himself emotionally from Jiang Tian. It's not about transferring to another class per se, but about the fact that: he did this on purpose, he lied to Jiang Tian and he was creating a wall between them again.

I don't know how many people watching found it important, but I think it was quite evident Jiang Tian hated when Sheng Wang was distancing himself from him. The usually calm boy had the most serious emotional outburst before episode 12 in episode 6 when Sheng Wang was "closed for business" after Jiang Tian told him he still intended to move to the dorm.

Then after their declaration of "no regrets" and Sheng Wang's promise to never treat Jiang Tian perfunctorily/never lie to him again (depending on the translation you watched), Jiang Tian would even get moody when Sheng Wang simply didn't wanna tell him what he was looking for at the gymnasium. Basically, it was always a big deal for him.

The show successfully established that both Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian are very deep individuals, observant, empathetic and they often understand each other's underlying feelings, without the need of verbal explanation (I mean, minus Sheng Wang thinking his feelings are unrequited...). Jiang Tian understood what Sheng Wang was doing and it was killing him inside.

Because frankly... what do you do when the person dear to you decided to distance themselves from you, but doesn't even admit it in front of you? How do you stop them? You can't force your will upon them, it's difficult to reason with them, when they didn't verbalise their problem. Jiang Tian tried to confront Sheng Wang during the final dinner at Grandpa Ding's place about what he did at the exam, but Sheng Wang was still maintaining the facade of his lie.

For some people the ending felt overdramatic, but when you look at it within the wider context of how the boys' relationship was developing, how guarded they both were beforehand, how much of a big deal it was for them to open up to one another, the final episode is absolutely heart breaking. I'd suggest going to rewatch Jiang Tian's reaction to Sheng Wang's "proposal" monologue about finding a place of his own in episode 7, how shaken and touched he was by it and see the events of episode 12 in the context of that earlier conversation.

I'm watching Psych Hunter currently with Dong Qin (Sheng Wang's actor). It's a supernatural cdrama (but not xianxia/wuxia type, more like suspense, a bit dark, pseudo-detective story). Dong Qin plays one of the main leads and he is so so different than here, it's impressive, really.

As for Taiwanese BLs, personally I really liked "You Are Mine", which was a cute romcom with not much sadness (for a change of vibe) and crazy good chemistry between two leads. It is a bit campy, though...

If you want something slightly more serious, (and I saw you have Unknown and The Eighth Sense as your favourites), maybe a Japanese BL "Love is Better the Second Time Around" would be up to your liking. Yeah, I know it's not Taiwanese, but it's genuinely pretty nice.

I'd recommend the movie "Your Name Engraved Herein" by the same director as "The On1y One", but this it's generally famous for breaking people's hearts (though I personally didn't feel it was that sad), so maybe not?

Pretty much so, yeah. Summed it up perfectly.

I have followed this drama since the day of its release and have been lurking in here almost just as long. After the final episode and going through some of the comments, I want to address a couple of opinions I saw repeatedly said.

1. The ending is overdramatic. They’re just changing classes

Age of the protagonists aside (everything is a drama when you’re a teenager), what happened in episode 12 wasn’t simply about Sheng Wang changing classes. It was about him deliberately creating distance between himself and Jiang Tian. Again.

If you guys go back to episodes 7 and 8, you’ll remember just how much of a big deal was Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian’s shared promise to be together. How much weight it carried for Jiang Tian. Even earlier, at the end of the episode 6 when Jiang Tian decided not to move to the dorm and was telling Sheng Wang not to have regrets later… What followed was him telling Sheng Wang not ever to treat him perfunctorily.

Fast-forward 6 episodes later Sheng Wang is avoiding Jiang Tian, lying to him and deliberately creating distance between them. The sentence “Thank you, Ge” stung especially hard – not even because of the use of “Ge”, but because thanks and polite gestures of gratitude are what people do towards others with whom they’re not close.

Sure, no one died. No one even moved to another city. But in terms of psychological closeness, all the walls that were meticulously, piece by piece broken in the previous episodes, were back. To me, it was heart-wrenching.

Plus. Being in two different classes is still a big deal, if you compare it to how much time Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian were spending together before. Studying together for exams, taking the exams and school competitions together, participating in the sport festival together, having lunch breaks together, sitting right next to one another in class. Huge part of their day and experiences were shared. From now on, they won’t be.

2. It’s just a bromance.

Throughout the entire series we have hints at both boys being attracted to another, feeling uncomfortable with the possibility of becoming step-siblings in the future (while at the same time loving spending time with each other, being super close), or even getting jealous. Ok, maybe up until episode 10, I could understand your point of view (even if for me, the tension between SW and JT was palpable since day one), but after what happened in episodes 10 and 11, I just simply don’t understand how anyone could call it a bromance.

Sheng Wang is literarily attempting to kiss Jiang Tian at the end of episode 10, only to stop himself at the very last moment. Then the beginning of episode 11 clearly shows he’s thirsting over Jiang Tian, and the later conversation with their roomie indicates clearly Sheng Wang likes Jiang Tian in a way that’s more than bros.

A bromance is basically a story about very close friendship. No amount of saying “no homo” could make Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian’s relationship a bromance.

3. There was no solid connection established between the characters

These boys were literarily each other’s salvation, a new found home, a turning point in life – that is way more than a lot of people can say even about their romantic partner. I strongly disagree with ignoring/dismissing it as “no solid connection”.

4. The drama started great, but since halfway through it, there was no development between the MLs

Strongly disagreed, again. Each episode showed Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian changing, opening up, discovering their feelings. Even episode 9, which was admittedly the worst one in the entire series, still served to show a huuuuge change in Jiang Tian’s behaviour – towards his classmates and his school life – all happening *because of* Sheng Wang.

In the end I will say that I agree with some complaints about side characters and their stories. The teacher’s romance or even fake triangle could be an ok break from the main protagonists here and there, if it was scattered more evenly throughout an entire duration of the show. Shoving it down our throats when the show was reaching its finale and everyone was anticipating with anxiety what kind of ending we’d get for Sheng Wand and Jiang Tian was a bad move on the creators’ part. Naturally a lot of viewers felt like we were wasting time. Me included. And that is despite generally liking most side characters.

Well, your optimism is somewhat rubbing off on me after reading your comment. Not that I think they filmed it, but that the guerrilla marketing tactics could maybe, *just maybe*, work (but I've had enough of heartbreaks watching the finale for one day, so I choose to remain carefully sceptical).