any_anka

Pretty much. I waited months for The On1y One announcement before they just fumbled everything... It still stings 😭

Relatively recent, came out a few months ago. It's also set in Republican Era. I like the aesthetics of this period a lot.
My first one Republican Era drama (not a GL/sismance) was Killer & Healer (so underrated, should be way more popular).

This is very cryptic though. I am not convinced at all 😋 (even though I really really really want it to be true)

I don't think there's anything like that yet. Actors nodding their heads during a live or letting it slip here and there does not meet my requirements to rest assured.

I still remember how The On1y One had an actual director talking about how much he wants to film it and what came out of it =.=
(The situation is better here in a sense that all actors seem to be signed under the same agency and the agency alone *seems* to be willing to make a second season, I think... With The On1y One it literally looked as if the director was the person pushing for it the most).

I think at the moment they're trying to actually make money of the first season (magazines, possible fanmeets and all that stuff). I suppose the interest in those would determine if and when s2 would actually be made. Honestly, the way I see it, it's all on Chinese fans purchasing power... I don't think they made much money from streaming the show alone, considering how probably half of the audiences were watching from sources other than official🙄

(All my speculations though).

Couple of Mirrors, yesss. I did. Sort of. One of the dramas I put on hold due to getting easily distracted, but I did enjoy it actually. Maybe it's a good moment for me to revisit.
There was another one too... Be Her Resilience (but I put it on hold too 😅)

I think only two actors from the main cast can actually speak Cantonese (Matthew and Yanzhao). Putting up with this dubbing is worth having He Changxi as Chusan, my opinion anyway 😋

Plus, it gets better... I was a bit put off as well, but got over it pretty quick (around ep 3 or 4 I didn't even care much, aside from having a bit of fun, trying to figure out who might be speaking Cantonese in reality while staring at actors lip movement 😉)

Was that a DVD, not VHS? :P
Well... there's more of these. LCD screens at the hospital, infrared faucets at the hotel where we meet cop duo for the first time... And other, not time-related inconsistencies, like e.g. driving wheel on the wrong side of the car for HK.
They didn't ruin the experience for me personally, so I just ignored them :P

I love your answer :) But also relate to the sentiment.
(Imagining a GL - hell, even a censored one - with Bai Lu... now, that would be something... 😳)

You have no choice, really ;)
(no pressure... but you have to :P)

You're welcome ;) It's right after Chusan wakes up and tries to remember what happened (before he snucks out of bed with the sheets :P)

Hey, so I was reading your review. Glad you loved the series apparently as much as I did. I also enjoyed your description of visuals as "gritty, dark but with a succinct 80's vibe" - couldn't have said it better myself.
But... I think you got some things wrong (or maybe I got what you wrote wrong - could be that too), so just wanted to chime in. There was no actual rooftop love scene. It was all in Chusan's dream. Their interaction in reality ended with Chusan trying to get the lollipop from Liuyi's mouth, the lollipop broke, Liuyi told him to get his own one and that was it. They probably chaotically went (crawled) to bed, as both were drunk.
The whole make-out session was Chusan's dream (with a "bonus", hence why he had to sneak out to wash the sheets first thing in the morning). The only effect it had was for Chusan to realise more clearly how much into Liuyi he really was.
Which is also why they never talked about it. There was nothing to talk about, unless Chusan intended to share his fantasies with Liuyi :P

I literally spotted no fillers aside from comedy moments which to me felt goofy, but fun (which is not always the case, in fact I'm often bored by the comedy inserts). But let's say we just have different sense of humour.

However, saying that the relationship was a joke until the last 5 minutes is... honestly confusing to me.
Chusan literally made Liuyi feel at home and safe and like he has a place he belongs to after Liuyi lost his entire family. He was steadfast and determined to get him, even when Liuyi was avoiding him and ready to risk it all just to keep him safe. Literally making it his life ambition to get both his dad and Liuyi from the terrible environment they were born into. How is that a joke at all?
And yeah, sure, there were some borderline ridiculous misunderstandings serving as a comical relief, but there was also a deeper reason for Liuyi's behaviour. His reaction to Jason speaking English was evidently showing how insecure he felt about the different between Chusan's and his social standing. I don't think that was much of a joke either (?).

To each their own, I suppose, but I completely disagree with you.

Let's :)
Yes, that kiss was everything. Or actually, those kisses.
I really liked that the first one was focusing more on Liuyi's desperation and Chusan's shock, followed by realisation/relief.
And theeen shortly afterwards we got a second kiss that was all passion (with rotating camera like a proper romantic movie and all ;))

It's two different languages (Mandarin and Cantonese), that's why it doesn't match.
We all complained and got over it :P

Nooo, it's the wrong decision! :P Watch it, watch it, you know you want to ;)
Join us in our pain of not knowing if s2 will ever happen :P
But also join in to witness the greatness of this show. It's super entertaining, the chemistry is on fire, the acting's above average, the cinematography is so pretty, the OST (sand by the cast) so good, the comedy elements are so cute and so much fun.
Just watch it. You won't regret it. It's still satisfying, even with that finale.

I'm saying all this with the utmost indignation btw 😋

That's what they're leaving us hanging on... 🙄

Supposedly, allegedly, not certainly, *maybe*... 😑

I watched the episode and, despite liking the cop duo and their plot, when they switched to them I was like "nooo, not now, Liuyi is in jail and we're going to spend the last minutes of the finale on these two arguing?".
But damn, that scene at the hospital was intense. I lowkey loved it. I enjoyed every single time "Jason" and his c*nty energy appeared on screen throughout the entire series, but those final moments of the episode were really something else.

There *has* to be a second season, right? Right?!

Lu Guangming, you attention stealer!

Hetero dramas are not that bad at all, you guys are watching the wrong things 😋

Ok, yes, a damsel in distress is a popular trope in Asian dramas (and an obnoxious, rude woman who treats men like trash, but still gets one in the end after he proves just how lame he is compared to her is a recent Western thing), buuuut, there are still a lot of titles that have really great couple dynamics.

Xianxia/wuxia cdramas have some real cool ones (personally I recommend Journey to Love or Moonlight Mystique - couples where both sides give and take and support each other). Or how about Taiwanese dramas with their love stories so soul-crushing, there's no damsel in distress because both characters are equally in need of help? 😋 (Check Had I Not Seen The Sun, my favourite drama of last year).

(Literally just hyping up some of my favourite shows to distract myself from the anxiety I feel about s2 of SCD 🙄)