any_anka

Correct me if I'm wrong (I don't really watch Thai shows much), but Thailand has a completely different system. They (usually) put their dramas on YouTube, where you can watch it for free. They put a lot of product placements inside, which already secures them some money. Then, if the show has a "mild" version and "uncensored" version, they would put the uncensored one on some payed streaming platform - wanna see more, pay up 😜

Thai BL actors can do a lot of promos together, because aren't they usually signed under the same agency? So it's easy to coordinate numerous fanmeets and once the CP is established, even ship-bait the audiences to watch another drama (and spend more money) with the same actors as a couple. (Personally, I think this system is quite terrible for actors. The shipping-culture seems just as crazy as in kpop fandoms plus the actors' growth is stunted, they are not given chances to explore their talents and try new acting challenges while being limited to one genre and one acting-partner for years).

But either way, it's nearly impossible to do it if you don't have the entire industry set up in such way.

I'd like to believe that the investors of The On1y One were aware of that and accounted for that fact. Even more so, since it was obvious from the beginning that the actors won't be able to do much (if any) promotional events together, considering two members of the cast are residing in China (and one of them is the ML).

I think they might've miscalculated as to how much Chinese audience will be against this drama. I mean, after all wasnt The Unknown fairly popular in China and one of the actors' fame even got boosted quite much? I just don't understand why they (Im saying they, I mean whoever is in charge of The On1y One promotions, PR etc.) won't drop some links for people who might wanna buy those magazines or merch. I think there's quite a large group of ppl that don't even realise what these interviews and photoshoots are for... The sales from international fans most definitely won't be nearly as high as they could be if Chinese audience was on board, but some ppl might've still paid money...

I focused on streaming sites, because the director was talking about streaming sites as well. They put their drama on multiple different platforms (without putting it on YouTube for free, like even Youku did with The Unknown), which is why I assume they DID hope to gain some profit from there eventually... Which is also why I don't understand no one intervened when YouTube had all the eps just casually posted by multiple accounts.

Oh well, I ranted and complained and ultimately I lost my point 😜

I guess I'm just kinda disheartened, because I feel like this show could be doing so much better commercially than it is doing right now with all the attention it got.

Yeah, I think targeting the streaming platforms is a way to go, after all...

I watched it on Viki and Gaga, but still requested it on Netflix some time ago (and I would've watched it, if they had it there as well 😜 if only for comparing subtitles).

In the meantime, the rating on Viki went down to 9.1...

Addicted was literarily a door to stardom for Johnny Huang.
Shi Boyou (Patrick Shih) from History: Crossing the Line landed a lead role in a Chinese movie *after* History.
I just started watching a new cdrama that has Edward Chen in one of the supporting roles (he's the one who played A-Han in Your Name Engraved Herein).

The video played in the streets is literarily a promo for a Chinese magazine, for which LDQ and Benjamin had their photoshoot.

The writer of Addicted is doing so "bad" that she had Stay With Me filmed based on her novel and then even made some additional money selling the rights for the rest of the story 😉 Oh, and also Advance Bravely was a drama based on her another work.

Oh... ok. Thank you.
I'm afraid that with attention spam of modern ppl, nobody will remember in 6 months that we used to want the 2nd season so bad😜

Oh well, maybe until then the company (whichever one that has legal authority to do so) takes interest to intervene on YouTube for them to remove all those pirated episodes of the show. It *had* to affect the show's performance, especially in terms of how valuable it appears for all payed streaming platforms.

Are Taiwanese BLs really so low-value though? I'm surprised. I'd risk a statement that people might not know Bubble Tea is a Taiwanese invention or that Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Life of Pie, Sense and Sensibility director) is Taiwanese or even where Taiwan is on the map 😜but they would know HIStory franchise, or WBL or YNEH. I thought BLs from Taiwan had a pretty strong "brand" at this point.

Also, Taiwanese productions don't seem to do so poorly on - at least - Netflix. There are multiple different Taiwanese shows and movies available on Netflix where I live, Victim's Game (a crime story) will soon have a 2nd season even. Then if you go on Viki, on the other hand, all top most popular Taiwanese dramas are BLs.

Yeah, I saw that. There's no info about march in the initial post, I guess it's in the comments then? (which I can't read not being on X).
Ehhh, this drama will make me go on all social media I was staying away from for mental hygiene 😜

When I read your comment abt MDL policy, I found it kinda hard to believe... but when I went to see if I can add a platform to a page (I'm new to MDL, so things are not so obvious to me), I found out there are tons of streaming sites I've never even heard of, but Gaga is indeed not there...

I usually try to be sceptical/give sb benefit of a doubt etc., but if BL dramas are indeed the second largest traffic driver and yet never get any promo/visibility, it *does* seem very suspect.

If someone wanted, say, write to admins, make an inquiry or sth - where would you write? To the general support email?

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I don't mind BL/GL/LGBT not being a separate genre. It's all about love in the end (as long as there are ways to find - e.g. by tags - content that resonates with a person).

Being categorized as a BL can sometimes backfire on a drama, anyway, if people don't get the usual tropes out of it. There was this (lovely, in my opinion) Japanese coming-of-age/slice-of-life drama that showed growing up, dealing with unrequited love etc. One of 4 main characters was a gay boy having a crush on his best friend . It wasn't suggested or hinted at. He totally had a crush on him, and ended up confessing (the whole thing was actually really wholesome - he didn't get his love reciprocated, but wasn't pushed away by his friend either). Generally neither of characters had a happy ending in their love endeavours, as part of growing up (including straight ones).

It has a very low - by Viki standards - rating of 7.6 and a huge chunk of reviews where bombing it for not being a BL (as it was categorized initially), even though big part of it was that gay boy's experience.

Sorry for that digression, you became an accidental addressee of my rant.

Why march? Was there some declaration as to when the final decision will be made?

The lack of profits from merch/magazines etc. is exactly what I was mentioning in one of my previous posts. No Chinese fans = no big purchases made.

But to be fair, I'm not even sure if international fans would know where to buy any of these things, even if they wanted to and had money to spare. I went quickly to Waves' insta page, but I didn't even see a mention of LDQ or Benjamin. I did see Taemin instead 😉

To me it's bittersweet (bitter, because they lost all this time and had to go through harsh heart-break while young), but sweet because of all the things you just said.

For me, what ultimately made this ending a hopeful one was the final scene when the camera shows their younger versions walking through the streets of Quebec, singing the song A Han used to sing to Birdy. It's like they can finally pick up where they left, only this time, the environment is different (and not as harsh as back in the past).

And of course, there were those "wan an"-s they repeatedly told each other. On the one hand it looks like they just don't want to separate yet, but to anyone who watched the movie and paid attention, we know very well what "wan an" means.

That would be one hell of an expensive coffee for me 😜 Even if I went for that entire pumpkin creation a certain brand starts selling around this time of the year.

I didn't know the story of people behind GagaOOLaLa, that's lovely.

I actually wanna defend their subtitles, though. I watched The On1y One on two platforms, Viki and Gaga. It wasn't to inflate the views, stream or anything like that. I loved the drama and I found myself finding new details to appreciate on a second watch, which is why I watched twice. I watched on two platforms, because I found Gaga's subtitles actually better in some ways than the ones on Viki.

Sure, there are typos, grammar mistakes etc. when it comes to Gaga's subs and the ones on Viki are more polished. However, the ones on Gaga were actually not censored, which is something I can't say about the Viki subtitles.

That actually made a difference in at least one (in my opinion pretty important for the development of the characters' bond) scene, when Viki team obviously tried to walk around the language used and completely altered the meaning of what happened. Gaga just went with "F... your mom", which was actually the case 😊

So yeah, you want more unfiltered and real subs, Gaga is probably the choice for you.

Yeah, I was confused why Gaga was not on the list of streaming platforms for this show... So you're telling me it's a homophobia thing, huh. Curious... and kinda hypocritical, considering how much traffic people watching BL dramas must bring to this site...

Watch it, it's a beautiful movie.
A lot of people consider the ending heart-breaking, but to me it's more bittersweet than sad and certainly full of new hope.

Ah, well... I guess it is different for different countries/regions...

It's a bit late of a reply and I don't know if it's the same for each region, but I can watch it on YouTube, on iQIYI's official channel.

Obsession with colour? I think they put tons of makeup on LDQ to hide his five o clock shadow (i.e. his facial hair) to make him look more youthful 😜 Not to mess with his skin colour. Benjamin's skin tone is darker than LDQ's and I didn't see anyone trying to hide it.

Taiwanese (and Japanese) dramas usually don't white-wash their actors that much in my impression. This is more of a kdrama/cdrama thing.

Why? Well, as far as I know, it *had* to do with social status. Back in the day if your skin was darker, it'd be associated in some societies with outdoor work and hence fair skin was linked to being richer/of higher social standing. It used to be like that in UK as well, from what I learnt back in the day. (Then it changed in some countries (at least where I live) and tan started getting associated with being able to afford vacation in exotic countries=being richer 😜)

Oh, sure. I don't expect them to have a release date or even announce that they started filming. Isn't LDQ filming something in China currently, anyway? And that's just him alone, you need to coordinate with the rest of the pretty extensive cast.

All I wish for at this moment is some form of a declaration, along the lines: "we secured the funding, the second season got greenlit, the cast is booked, s2 is scheduled to be filmed some time in the second half of next year".

Even without the threat of a ban, there's no guarantee, really. I read this interview with Patrick posted somewhere in the comments where he mentioned that while filming s1 he asked for more money and the investors gave it to him - so that suggests they do have money (good), but also that they already spent a lot. If they don't conclude it was worth it, why invest even more? There has to be some incentive to keep investing and at this point I'm wondering if they'd feel there is one.

The series got shunned in China so there goes money from selling merch, magazines, fanmeets etc. (Chinese fans' spending force is huuuge). But maybe they accounted for that.

Ok, then there's streaming on official websites - I think we all know how it went. I've never seen so many videos of full episodes posted on UTube during the actual airing. The episode would be out, and someone immediately would upload it. Some videos had hundreds of thousands of views. How many of these people bothered to go and watch the rest of the drama on Viki, GagaOOLaLa or iQIYI when they had it ready and on schedule every week for free?

Then there's a question of exposure. Since so many people watched it (even illegally), then maybe it catapulted the leads to fame? That could be some argument, considering that the investors were pushing for LDQ being involved, so he is somewhat connected to them and they may have interest in promoting him further. But was the fame-effect really so big? I couldn't tell. I'm not much on social media, I think his IG did gain some fans, but was the increase big enough?

There are too many unknowns, which is why I am very sceptical.
I know you wrote this comment in response to some negativity, sorry for spreading it further 😜

Thank you!
But honestly, this doesn't look like an official confirmation. He's been advocating for season 2 for some time now and this feels more like him being like "keep the fight guys, jia you to us!"-kinda thingy.

But at least YNEH has a hopeful ending... I always think that camera shifting to show young characters walking in the same streets as their older counterparts, singing the song that was written by Jiahan for Birdy showed that they can finally pick up were they left. This time with no obstacles from the past.

Well. There is this ongoing Taiwanese BL "First Note of Love" I think.

I don't know if it's good, though. I watched 3 episodes and put it on hold, because I got too invested into The On1y One.

Don't get me wrong. I loved the show and - despite some complaints about certain things it did - I consider it outstanding among other BLs and hope for the second season. But as of now, before it is released or in a very possible situation that it never sees the light of day, what we got as The On1y One so far is the complete body of work and that's how I see it (which is why -> "slice of life", yeah).

Oh, but I loved Tian's "very moments". And I really liked how after JT and SW moved in together, the moments disappeared only to merge into their shared memories. I think it was a cute way to underlining how close they grew and how much Jiang Tian opened up.

Having said that, I didn't like JT's "very moment" in episode 11... I thought it was confusing to put it there and... then never even address it afterwards. If we don't get the 2nd season, this memory will be just hanging there unresolved one way or the other.

Nah, it wasn't that long, mine wasn't that much shorter 😉

I also personally don't see them as brothers. They didn't grow up together, there's no blood connection, and even on paper - at least so far - they're two unrelated people.

However, Sheng Wang sees it differently, mostly thanks to the boys' parents who constantly drilled into their heads how they are supposed to act like brothers, how SW should call JT "Ge", how JT should take care of Sheng Wang as his Ge... to the point that they announced them being brothers at school, so that now everyone around them "knows" their relationship (in inverted comas because that's clearly *not* what they have).

This label of stepbrothers is also a double-edged sword. There was this very insightful post by one user (I sadly don't remember who it was) that talked about how them being "stepbrothers" was in a way helping them hide behind this title and generally attribute their growing bond to this "familial connection". I liked this interpretation and I think that's also why it takes some time for SW to truly realize his feelings.

There were earlier signs, however. Even if we ignore the racing heart sound during the dare kiss (I guess while attacking someone in such way, one would be pretty nervous, considering the consequences might be anything, including a beating 😜), Sheng Wang was clearly affected by the second kiss (feeling hot after he came back to his room while reminiscing on what just happened or later staring at JT's lips when JT showed up to collect his drunk ass).

The thing is that whenever they got close, the parents would pop up somewhere and confuse Sheng Wang (I always had the impression that JT was more aware of his feelings, but who knows with that episode 11 ending?). It was especially evident in episode 7, when Sheng Wang realised just how much Jiang Tian cares and worries for him and both boys skipped school and had their "date". It was also in this episode when Sheng Wang got visibly sulky at the thought about him and JT being brothers (first at Grandpa Ding house, second time when talking to JT about his dad's proposal). I also think that both boys, but maybe especially Sheng Wang were torn between wanting their parents to find happiness and their own emerging feelings (hence why, SW could be excited for his dad's proposal one moment and getting kinda ambivalent about having JT as his brother the next one).

But yeah, even when I reminisce on those scenes, it was always the brother-thing, not the gender-thing.

Then, the forced separation during Sheng Wang's injury was the moment when I feel SW started realising more and more than being with Jiang Tian, seeing Jiang Tian, missing Jiang Tian felt... somewhat different. It's totally plausible for me, because sometimes in order to understand our own feelings we need this fresh perspective. Sheng Wang's behaviour shifts slightly, he becomes more bashful and aware of their physical closeness. Then the witnessed kiss between Benny and Xi was the final stroke, the missing part of the puzzle that at that point was already pretty much put together.

And when he put it all together, the *real* problem emerged. The thing that was always there, until then obscuring his real feelings, but now being a real obstacle. And that was them being "brothers".

I don't even know why I narrated all that, as you obviously watched the drama 😜 But that's generally how I saw Sheng Wang's journey of discovering his own feelings. And the stepbrothers-thing was always looming in the air.