Love Your Bones Forever 2 (2021)

Masterpiece I tell ya!

This is a real OG magnifico, extraordinary show! I laughed, I had frights, felt all anger and I freaking bawled to the point I had to stop eating my dinner!

The story line is great, the music? great, cast? Terrific!
Acting? Spot on!

This started off as a drama that you'd expect to be either cliché or soft.
But the story line developed and so did my feelings for the show.

It had me in and out of my freaking feelings, stressed out and thirsty for war!

Just to get it across... I AM NOT SATISFIED THAT THE CROWN PRINCE DIED FROM HIS ILLNESS! I WANTED THEM TO BURN IS A$$ ALIVE!!!

(pordon my french)

The music (ost) was good too, i liked the piano instrumental (background music) the most to be honest, even though all of them was good.

I think the did good with this show, i'll have to go find something cute to watch to help me move on seriously.

The costumes were beautiful too & none of the mens' wigs looked overly fake and I liked that.

The fight scenes? spectacular! Very detailed and seemed real.


i salute this show *chef's freaking kiss* man!

But tbh I rewatch value for me? 4/10

Why?
Because this show really punctured my heart and tried my life!
Thats why!

But watch it man, see what i'm talking about for yourself.

You shall not be disappointed.

Lire davantage

ONE BORING DRAMA..

First of all, I like Allen Ren and Bai Lu, I was super excited at first knowing they both would be in not only 1 but 2 dramas together. I can't help comparing Allen Ren with Seven Tan (Under the Power) which more lively dynamic duo than with Bai Lu. I can only blame it to the writer who created such a boring characters of MLs, one was quiet principled man and the other was a mute girl, when she got to talk she turn in to a shy modest high born lady, none of them has cheerful and happy demeanor so the drama painfully gloomy unrequited love story. Allen Ren is sweet and gentle man - for this drama's character though he's a bore as he supposedly a battle-harden General - bit older and mature but unfortunately he appeared more like a YOUNG reserve man devotedly in love. In my opinion, a General like Chen Kun, Luo Jin or Huang Xiao Ming or someone looking mature was actually a better fit as General. When Bai Lu character was young, Allen Ren character has already a matured respectful General, but Bai Lu character grown up - Allen Ren wasn't aged like there wasn't hardship this general face while wars he's been in that could harden any man's heart, body and life. Too much romanticism of soldiers...

Although they're really closed and cared for each other, their eyes lock in desperation but they did not utter a single word on feeling. The relationship between teacher and student was maintained, the courtship did not end happily ever after for the couple. All in all, this drama appears really slow and boring. The story line was ok, still flowing but not attractive in characters at least for me, the weather seems to predict one's future. It didn't make me sniff in sad scenes, being forced to engage to Crown Prince was actually burden for her meanwhile the General vowed not to get married and have kids. So, the man she love would rather be single, the guy she didn't love want her more than anything. After the edict of engagement, the General had heavy heart and started to question himself about his true feeling, he accepted the fact that She Yi was predestined to marry Crown Prince and wouldn't fight to find his own happiness while she'd marry up for filial duty. If he had the maturity of reality acceptance, the good looking in-love General taking in the hit of desperation and broken-heart as a man.

I like Xiao Yan the monk (Zhou Lu La) his acting very relax and real although he doesn't have important role but very significant. The young Emperor is a weak one, tears was the weapon he used often to against strong manipulative Dowager Empress. Actually I like the life style of Dowager Empress; very ambitious, dominant, malicious, harden heart, love to keep young men for entertainment. Without her attic , this drama would sink deeper. While the Crown Prince was also interested to become an Emperor, he's more keen to get married with Shi Yi, she's part of his goal in life. He's so happy to marry but abandon her in the altar, what a turn of event....and the end of this drama is..........well you guess it. Next is forever and Ever...I don't think I will watch it. I am done with this series.

Lire davantage

Allen Ren ??

I m here, for Allen Ren Of course? He is gorgeous and easy on the eyes and his acting skills developing excellently.


The story is about love, politics, betrayal, deception, loyalty things like that. I mean the young girl growing up to be a beautiful lady and is actually in love with her so called mentor but forbidden to be together like swoon worthy? However, this potential of a love story didn’t really Shine through. There isn’t much steaminess and sauciness that makes us feel like we re on clouds I like a subtle romance and build up but to me this drama did not execute the romance well. I felt the second male leads desperation and love for Shiyi more than I did for the lead male.

Committing suicide for love is just selfish and a lot of C dramas do this not just this one. You are basically leaving the person you love the most to live a lonely life pining over you.

There’s no kiss, nothing like that. Which is disappointing because I mean a kiss kiss is something so basic to show the viewers that the love that they have for one another is now bound for forever. The note he gave because he dies didn’t even I love you or something like..... he just let her be married and act all sad about it on the outside.
.

The acting sure was alright. Story has potential but actual overall disappointing didn’t meet my expectations. I did skimmed through the latter half lol f the drama because of this. The writer and directors did not give me anything to be more invested in the show. The actors did the beat they could with what they were given.

Please watch it for yourself however definitely not rewatching even if Allen Ren looked amazing.

Lire davantage

A good lead-up to Forever and Ever

"A good bone structure,
what's so special about these bones?
Even the royal family fears them,
and all the people in the land praise them."

I, like most people, awaited episode 16 knowing episodes 17-24 were coming out on the same night. I said "I'll pace myself..." Needless to say it was impossible for me to last more than these last two days! HAH. So here's my honest review on this.

STORY:
The early synopsis description of the show actually stated that ZSC 'died'. It didn't state that he was 'injured', I read that on a few fan sites, drama review sites including My Drama List. I think they changed it after a while realising that it might have been too detailed. I remember reading it thinking.. "Great, so I know what happens to him". I don't even think they should have mentioned that he got injured. So if you think about it, the storyline was already quite predictable. But like most period dramas, there's a lot of plotting, scheming, killing, heartbreak and love. I think in that sense, it's like any other drama within this genre.

PRODUCTION:
I think it's safe to say episode 1 was a real slow burner, so if you're struggling to get past it like I was (I watched it in 10 min intervals because I was loosing concentration), just know, you'll eventually get past it! It definitely picks up around episode 2-5 and by then if you're not hooked, then maybe it's not the show for you, but come back and try again!

I love that they filmed in real climates. All the snow scenes were beautiful! I also loved the way they edited the scenes. The cue's for all the music were just spot on. The library setup was my fave. I also like that all the action shots were up to parr, and not fake-looking or exaggerated.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of voiceovers. I see the need for it sometimes and I get why some directors/writers/producers might opt for it, but personally, I feel that this is a discredit to the actors who already put so much time and effort trying to memorise lines and act the scenes. I honestly couldn't get Shawn Dou's image out of my head every time Allen Ren spoke, but that's also because Bian Jiang voiced him in 'Tears in Heaven' too. It didn't ruin the show for me, but it made it really hard for me to be fully into Allen Ren. I know what Allen Ren actually sounds like—honestly, he doesn't sound that bad! He's a singer, like.. ???

Same with Bai Lu, I loved her in 'Love is Sweet' and thought she was already amazing as an actress, but I hadn't seen her in a period drama setting and I didn't think her actual voice was going to ruin the image of Shi Yi and I was curious about her portrayal. But all things considered, I was pleased with who they got as the voiceover actors and think they suited what a 'ZSC' and a 'ShiYi' should sound like. I love that the two of them are actually really great off-screen too. They're both just such extroverted people and you can tell they've got good chemistry!

CHARACTERS:
Shi Yi's inability to speak did drive me nuts in the earlier episodes and I was almost convinced she was going to speak like this the whole way through. Thankfully that stopped early on. I love the way Bai Lu portrayed her. Her smile made 16 year old Shi Yi look so innocent and it was great to see her character's growth through her change of looks. From the change of hair styles and even clothing colours.

Considering ZSC is supposed to be 25, I thought Allen played a rather convincing and matured ZSC, I almost wasn't sure about what their age gaps were which could make you believe that their relationship felt inappropriate (I know I did) but I love that they weren't too heavy on the romance for that very reason. I read a few comments below about people asking if he was going to kiss her and I can't believe that that's all some people look for. Cause can you imagine? 16's technically not a legal age! LOL.

I'm not saying there aren't plenty of CP moments (episodes 13-15 have plenty), but if you look past the need for any physical romance, there was such a deep and profound love between the two characters that didn't need to be publicly or verbally voiced out. There were many many things he did to show how much he cared for her and likewise with her—the writing of her name as their 'secret' in episode 17 was my fave because it was basically his declaration of his love for her. Shi Yi even says in episode 16, "I never had any wild thoughts, I really just want to be with him, and stay by his side, that's enough". You can definitely see that they could never have been anything more than the master/disciple relationship. *cue Forever and Ever.

PS - episodes 15-17, 23-24 will possibly require you to have tissues handy.

MUSIC:
I could instantly recognise Zhang BiChen's voice the minute her song played, I loved that they got her to sing the theme song for this. BUT my favourite would have to be Vanessa Lin's 'Ruo'. If this doesn't scream ShiYi, I don't know what else does.
"My obsession is silent,
I use all my life to guard only one person
I say nothing, only hoping to spend my life with you
I'm full of love for you
Waiting to unlock the years of time
Our eyes willl still be full of stars when we reunite"

<3

Overall, I still think they did an amazing job, and it's unlike any other Chinese Drama production that has thought to split their story in two timelines like this. I think that's a great idea and I wouldn't be surprise if we start to see more shows follow the same suite. Like many others, I'm awaiting to see what 'Forever and Ever' will hold for ZSC and ShiYi, because let's be real, that ending gave us all a heartache and we can't wait to see them finally have the ending they deserved.

Lire davantage

Alright, so they story isn't that bad after all. It's a decent quick drama. The show happens fast. Zhuosheng Chen accepts Shiyi as his disciple which is funny because in most dramas I've seen the master usually teaches the disciple something like martial arts, or calligraphy and literature, but as a master he doesn't really teach her anything. Another huge thing to point our is that anyone could have literally seen that Shiyi had a huge crush on her master, like she would always cling on to him.

Something that made me really mad was there was no plot point. Like in the whole show it was just, Nanchen army is indesctrable, like norther army could take it down, then there was this marriage where Shiyi had to marry someone she didn't like, and in the whole story there really wasn't like a climax. I also didn't really like Shiyi's behavior or personality, like she's very stubborn, she likes her master and her arranged marriage is Liu Zixing but she literally doesn't care, like she kinda needs to know that other people's feeling matter. Like that's her fiancé she shouldn't be pushing him away, unless it wasn't her fiancé.

Lire davantage

This drama pulls you in

I created an account just to write this review.

Story: I for one, am happy to see a girl from a prestigious family act according to the norms in her time. Also, it's a nice change to see a slow burn romance not a love at first sight kinda deal. I think the story is quite believable.

First episode was kinda choppy and confusing, good thing they released more than the first episode.

The story about why she went to study was also later explained so that was good coz I wasn't sure why. I do wish they would have shown more teaching interactions.

Acting : FL, I'm a fan of Bailu and have watched all her dramas, but this one is her best acting yet because her character is so different than how she is in real life (from what I've seen online of her). Her crying has truly improved and I'm so impressed! It totally grabbed my heart. When she was mute she could only use her acting skills, that was the great display of her acting skills. I love her even more now!

Allen as ML, this was the first time I watched his drama. TBH I never thought he looked handsome, but he had grown on me, when I first saw pics of white snake I didn't think he was that great looking but in here I think his styling and hair enhanced his looks and I now think he looks handsome. His acting was right for this role, the looks him and FL exchanged were excellent! I am curious how he will act in the sequel and hope for more range.

Chemistry is on point! Bailu is total chemistry queen, total CP feels. You can feel there was emotion behind the glances. Their feelings for each other totally pulled me in. Cast was also great, and you can see great group dynamics. No annoying and useless characters. Dubbing was pretty good too and wasn't out of place or character. Everyone cried very well.

Music ost was well placed and great songs. Love 如一 and was pleasantly surprised to find out ML sang it. The duet one was also great.

Rewatched already and will rewatch until sequel comes out.

Overall, I would truly recommend for all!

Lire davantage

I never thought I would cry for this drama. I'm usually very emotional but I don't cry for sad endings or sad scenes easily. This drama touched my soul beyond many things. I really couldn't control when Zhou Sheng Chen choose to surrender to them. I get easily involved with this characters. To be honest, I've never write a review on any of the dramas I've watched before. However, this one is just different. Everything about this drama was beautiful. The way they act out their characters are beautiful as well. It shows true love have no boundaries and it is blind. Especially the part where she jumps off the city gate saying that she is there to marry him. I couldn't hold myself. I was crying so hard and I'm still crying when writing about Zhou Sheng Chen and Cui Shiyi. Honestly, I started this drama because I like Bai Lu and Ren Jialun's dramas. Now, I'm actually speechless. In short, it was beautiful. Hence, I definitely suggest those who haven't it to watch. It has everything in it. Although the ending is sad, it definitely worth the watch. I'm waiting for the modern drama Forever and Ever where they reincarnated. You can look for it on Mydramalist as well.

Lire davantage

Worst ending

Too emotional and the end , worst ending , after going though every episode the end is not worth the while , nothing gained ready disappointed.

The start captures the viewers and when you get to the last 5 episodes the shit hits the fan and a single happy ending just sorrow .
The good this is that you enjoy the first 15 episodes and feel good that the story is going somewhere where the main male lead will do something out of the box but after that its only dragging on with females politics

The action is pretty good but only in a few episodes the rest is talk and gossip.
Not worth watching if your in to rom-com. No physical there is not even a kiss. All the couples are suffering. And the end its justttttt out of the world like lighting a good painting on fire

Lire davantage

Have The Box of Tissues Ready

So it goes without saying that this is a HISTORICAL drama, so have that box of tissues ready for all of you newbies out there, have that box of tissues ready. This series had some laughs in it, but it was the politicking going with the Royal Family and the court that really had you wanting to go, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!!!"

The acting in this was so well done from, the FL playing someone that lose the ability to speak due to a traumatic event in her childhood to the way the two leads were able to communicate without speaking at times. I really hope that the two were nominated for something from this drama because they really made with feel like you were in the family. Oh, let not forget the supporting cast and how they really help push the story.

Lire davantage

"Throughout my life, I've never let anyone down, but Eleven"

One and Only 《周生如故》. The drama lives up to its name: it's the one and only drama that is able to express these heart wrenching emotions in such a beautiful, poetic way. Never have I ever cried so hard in a drama, yet every tear was worth it. One could see the true love in the deep pools of pain in the characters' eyes, not just the main couple, but everyone else's. It was a tragic, beautiful love story that literally can rip your heart right out and crush it into pieces, but it is just as meaningful and deserving, if not more, as the other masterpieces out there.

**Story**:
Like many other historical costume dramas out there, One and Only is another drama adapted from a novel. The novel《一生一世美人骨》by 墨宝非宝 is a novel of wonders, tragedies, true love, and true friendship. It tells the sorrowful love story between the powerful General Zhou ShengChen (周生辰) and the highly esteemed noble princess, Cui ShiYi (催时宜) in which the master-apprentice relationship turns into romance but couldn't go further due to their own respective responsibilities and duties. The drama portrayed the ancient, dark, imperial times in China very well with political corruption, pre-set marriages for the sake of one's own benefit, and the false accusations/rebellions of Generals in order to get rid of them. Although the story itself is fantasy, it's sad when one realizes that it represents all of those people with beautiful bones and true love who couldn't be together at the fault of evil, greedy emperors, empresses, ministers, etc.

**Acting/Cast
Zhou ShengChen (Actor: Ren JiaLun 任嘉伦): Many describe him as a cold, stone-faced General, but to me, he was quite the opposite. He was full of warmth, love, care, and often worried for his eleven disciples that he practically raised himself, of which, was his most beloved one, Eleven. Although he was part of the imperial family, he was willing to change his family name from Liu to Zhou Sheng, go defend his country's borders at the age of 13, vowed to not get married and have a family, all out of patriotism and love for the people. The brutal experiences shaped him into the closed person we saw, never allowing his heart to open and reveal his true emotions/thoughts to people. His biggest wish was to protect the people of BeiChen, allow them to live in peace without war, even if it meant sacrificing himself, and he didn't expect anything in return...that is until he met Cui ShiYi. Ren JiaLun, man, ripped my heart out. He truly lived up to the character; I can't imagine anyone else portraying Zhou Sheng Chen because of how well Ren JiaLun did. I don't know how he did it, but you could see love, pain, sorrow, and helplessness in his eyes when it came to ShiYi. In an interview, Ren JiaLun commented on his own character: "The more he liked ShiYi, the more he suffered, the more lonely he became because he couldn't tell anyone. He could only let go of his emotions at some moments." It's one of the best descriptions I've heard, and Ren JiaLun executed it quite literally to perfection.

Cui ShiYi (Actress: Bai Lu 白鹿): Completely opposite of who Bai Lu is in life, Cui ShiYi is a lovely, talented, disciplined princess from a well-esteemed family. In order to be shielded away from the evilness of the court in the central state, she's sent to become the apprentice of Jr. King NanChen in the western state, whom she later falls in love with. Both him and her knew that due to their identities and status, there was no way they could be together. ShiYi knew this well, so she was happy to even just be next to him, and all she wanted was to stay at the Nan Chen mansion in western state for the rest of her life, with her master and brothers and sisters. Like Ren JiaLun, I have no idea how Bai Lu was able to show such deep, sorrowful love in her eyes. I previously watched her in "Love Is Sweet", and she did amazing, but I had no idea how good she was at crying scenes. In an interview, the director stated that she had over 30 crying scenes alone in this drama, and like the audience, he was surprised and impressed with how professional she was. I cried with her and felt deeply sad for her tragic love story. Bai Lu completely blew me away with how well she did.

I mainly wanted to commend on our two main characters, but I'll never forget our support characters: General Cui Feng, General Hong XiaoYu, General Feng Qiao, Monk Xiao Yan, Military Advisor Xie, the rest of the generals, our beloved NanChen Royal Army, the scholar at LongKang Academy, and the list goes on. The love between Cui Feng and XiaoYu tore me to pieces, Feng Qiao was the cutest ever, and the monk was so smart when it came to the love between Zhou ShengChen and Cui ShiYi. Each had their own story, and every actor/actress executed it so nicely. Of course, the actors/actresses portraying our villains deserve a shout-out for their outstanding performance; they really are professional since they made us hate them so much (but I strongly hate the characters). I love this cast, and I fell in love with the army and the tragic couples. It was like I was there with them, part of their big family, witnessing every victory and happiness, and that's why the sorrows and poignant scenes touched me as deeply as it did to the characters.

I also want to mentioned the visuals of this drama...it had some of the best sceneries and costumes I've ever seen. Ren JiaLun and Bai Lu are two of the very rare group who can act in historical costume dramas, republican era dramas, and modern ones and fit into the characters, especially outfit wise. Bai Lu's historical costumes were so simple yet so beautiful and exquisite, reflecting the beauty of the Chinese hanfu. Ren JiaLun looked so good in black and white, but when he was in the armor, whew! I hate comparing dramas, but it reminded me of The Blooms At Ruyi Pavilion. That drama had some beautiful costumes as well, but to me, they were fake, and the hair accessories were not needed, nor did it have as much history in it, but One and Only had beautiful clothing. Truly mesmerizing.

**Music**:
This drama had some of the best OSTs ever. I enjoyed every single song, and that's usually rare when it comes to dramas. The following are some of my favorites as well as some of the touching lyrics:

1. "As It Is" 《如故》sung by Zhang BiChen 张碧晨. I believe that this song was literally made for their love story; The lyrics grasp every detail and tells their love story with such devastating, poetic words; It perfectly captures every heartfelt emotion from our dear Zhou ShenCheng and CuiShiYi. It's their song. "The inkstand carries all my feelings...I struggle, my heart burns...We're both tormented on the outside...suffering from this sea of pain...But for you, I can leap down, dyeing red this love I painfully hold back. This weak empire extravagant only on the exterior, swords, knives, and warhorses forced us to give up mortal love in this life. (Our) story is like a dissipating firework, stuck in the wind, swept sand, and winter blizzards...Each stroke of my brush becomes him, it's hard to be detached"

2. "If" 《若》sung by Jin WenQi 金玟崎. These are ShiYi's words to Zhou ShengChen, her unspoken feelings and thoughts of love: "The fireflies I secretly hope for has a corner to flicker, is the spark to light up the dark night for you. Even though I have so many wishes to tell you, even though this knot of yearning has not been untied yet...count the times the moon waxes and wanes, still miss you...flowers blossom and withers, yet my love will not waver...to protect one person this entire lifetime, hope to be with you, unable to speak of it or ask for it"

3. "Always/As One" 《如一》sung by Ren JiaLun 任嘉伦. And these are Zhou ShengChen's upspoken words/thoughts from deep down his heart to ShiYi: "Turn your head and listen, do you understand I'm missing you? If I were to pick up my brush, how can I describe you with words? Under the moonlit city gates, we appreciate the beauty of the lanterns and boats together. However, I can never express my feelings to you...Reluctant to wake up from the dream of seeing every expression, smile of your's...To finally enjoy this scenery every day and night with you. Even if I'm millions of miles away, I will still come to you....No matter how far I am, my love for you will always be the same."

4. "No Worries" 《无虞》sung by Li ZiTing 李紫婷/ Jing Long 井陇. The lyrics sung by ZiTing are directly from ShiYi's heart, and the lyrics sung by Jing Long perfectly expresses Zhou ShenCheng's longing love for ShiYi that he can't show: "(ShiYi) But they are nothing compared to you, nothing to you. (Zhou) Only love comes so silently. (ShiYi) There is some valiance on your eyebrows, something I will pursue with the rest of my life. (Zhou) This loveless, intolerant heart of mine is one that can't hide my feelings. Lower my head to find a path of light, only after bidding farewell do I clearly realize, that everything I look at, makes me think of you...Who Knew I would become obsessed with that one look? (ShiYi) I still remember what I felt the first day I came here. That's why it's hard to forget every shadow of you."

*Song translations are by this Youtube link (some of the best translations): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjczFbzSU-A&t=308s

**What some may dislike/cons**:
Well, I think the biggest con to some people is the tragic ending. I quote a fan on the last few episodes: "Rip your heart out now, or they'll rip it out for you". I now understand what that means. If you want a cute, bubbly rom com, this drama is definitely not for you, but it deserves every bit of recognition out there; everyone should try it.
I would like to address some thoughts from commenters on why the story had to end like this. Why couldn't Zhou ShengChen just run away with Cui ShiYi and ignore everyone else? Why did he stay at the palace? Why couldn't he even show a bit of selfishness and allow himself to forget that he's a general sometimes? The answer is: because he's a general and she's a esteemed princess. I would like for those to put it this way: imagine the president/chairman/prime minister of your country all of the sudden disappeared and rumors state that he ran away with his loved one from the government position. How would you, the country, the citizens, everyone think? Will everyone on this earth know his story and empathize with him like we did towards Zhou ShengChen and Cui ShiYi? Zhou ShengChen gave up his imperial family name, half of his childhood, his emotions and feelings, his freedom of getting married and having a family, just to protect the his country's people, to bring peace and prosperity to them, even if it meant sacrificing himself. His responsibilities, duties, and vows constantly remind himself that he's a general. I'm glad that nothing broke that reputation. If he had ran away with Cui ShiYi, maybe they would've had a happy life, but what about their own respective families, their reputation? Entire Nan Chen mansion, his father, his generals, would be affected. ShiYi's entire clan can be affected. History will be written different. Please think first. They are some of the most selfless people I've ever seen, and I wouldn't change anything about the show at all. Not one bit.

**Favorite Quotes**:
1. "Beautiful bones are rare in the world. There are bones but no skin. Those with skins have no bones. King Xiao Nanchen is the only person in the world who has both bones and skins.”

2. "May there be no more smoke of gunpowder on the land, and may the people of Beichen live and work in peace and contentment, and the smoke in the world (representing liveliness) will continue for thousands of miles!"

3. "I can promise you that if something happens to me one day, someone will tell you when and where I will die." Zhou ShengChen kept his promise to ShiYi because her mom did tell her exactly what happened.

**Final Thoughts**:
Everything about this drama, the production, the OST, the details, were full of meanings, of sorrow, of sadness, of poetry, yet so beautiful. The expressions, the tears...I've never felt something like it before. My heart has been completely ripped out by Zhou ShengChen and CuiShiYi. My entire mind is occupied by them and their memories, and seeing pictures of them, hearing the songs, just remind me of that sorrowful journey. Was a tragic? Yes. But was it worth it? Definitely. I'm glad I witnessed their love.

**Rewatch value**:
10/10. If you're suffering like I was, I highly recommend watching the bts scenes and the sequel because they will help your heart heal; of course there will still be cracks left from this one. I'm definitely coming back to this drama in the future. It holds a special place in my heart that has somewhat mended together now after watching all the bts scenes. This story is more than catastrophic; its a poetic, elegant, scroll that is more valuable than any gem out there.

Lire davantage

'Military Slice of Life?' to 'Fated to Not Be Together'

First Week + Final Review

One and Only is a difficult piece to write a review for. It has all the elements of military, romance, political, hidden strife...but also doesn't really. If I were to summarize the plot, it is more a slow paced slice of life drama with dabbles of romance/cp set in historical military/wuxia. All the wars, palace political strife, marriage, backstabbing plots are all happening in the background and doesn't really concern the MCs much. Furthermore, the drama being a 'quiet' slow paced drama is an understatement. For most scenes, it would be 5 - 8 mins of beautiful scenery where the characters are simply strolling, not talking much and the soothing background music playing to fill the void. It is more a drama set showcase as there isn't really anything else happening from point A to B. Even writing this right now, you can place all these tags to the drama since it has been used, but there isn't enough depth to actually explore those genres to the full potential. Right now, I am ignoring all the additional etc genres and just primarily watching it for the interaction of the FL, ML and the 5 main followers.

[SPOILER] Final: Going to say this now, all the previews, MVs, trailers and all the foreshadowing in the drama all hint at the sad and bad ending. So it is really not a spoiler when everyone saw it coming and all the preview images advertising the drama showcased it. So One and Only will end in a bad ending where as the sequel Forever and Ever will hopefully be all sweet and happy. (Pray sequel be good)

Quick Story/Plot
One and Only is set in historical times where the emperor recently passed away and the 6 year old son is succeeding the throne. The story talks about the emperor's brother (ML) who swore an oath in the past to forever guard the Western border and to never succeed the throne. To further his conviction, he swore to never marry or have any children. One of the ministers also proposed to send his niece to become a student of the ML. The ("background main") story revolves around the political tension of the royal + influential families and the other actual story is the ML/FL and his followers livelihood on the Western Front. Since the story also includes frequent wars, alot of the plot are fast forwarded/skipped which brings the characters older in time.

Final: The ending was rushed and many plot holes appeared. I think the production team wanted to close out the drama so they didn't really care if the story/plot made sense and essentially fast forwarded the timeline. Story was only OK at best until the last few episodes where it was essentially disappointing and the audience is just waiting for the big sad finale. From rating of 8 > 7.5 for me.

Quick Acting/Cast/Characters
- The FL is from an influential family where at the age of 10 she lost her voice due to a political strife relating to her father. Her uncle (minister of the court) proposed that she becomes a student of the ML and follows his teachings. At a young age, she is sent to the Western province and becomes the 11th student/disciple of the ML.
- The ML is from the royal family who has given up his right to the throne at a young age. He swore an oath to guard the Western border and to never enter the central palace, marry nor have children. He is a natural leader having never been defeated in battle and amassed 10 followers who are more family than disciples. ML is easy going and doesn't really care too much about customs and rules.
- Shoutout to the followers where 5 of them appear more than the others and the FL's brother who is in for the ride.

Final: Literally the ML made the FL speak again. The ending with the characters was disappointing. Not much thought was put closing out the characters and didn't do the characters any justice. A lot of time and effort was put in for the entire drama to build up the characters and to have it ended like it did was beyond shocking and unsatisfying. Characters acting near the end was slightly off too as some scenes couldn't fit.

Music/OSTs
Music and OST are of great importance for this drama. The entire playlist is sooo good. Being a slow-paced/chill drama, the background songs fills up the scenes where the characters aren't talking much to warm/soothe the audience's heart. There are many aspects still lacking for the drama, but the music is definitely on point.

Final: Music all the way to the end was superb. An unforgetable OST Playlist when the songs start playing again, instantly reminded of the scenes.

Rewatch Value
Would go back to watch some memorable selective scenes.

Why my final rating (9.5)
Right now I reserve my initial rating of (9.5). It is still very early in the drama and still alot of stones unturned such as the marriage, the royal family and the MC's relationship. The current score is for the nice set, beautiful music, great costumes, excellet choreographed fight sequences and just the slower paced story telling. I heard rumors + saw trailers that the ending is going to be sad and filled with alot of heartbreak/pain and I can already see that incoming due to all the foreshadowing + plot devices told early on, but pray the drama will do the characters justice.

Final: One and Only is definitely a good drama with high production value, great OSTs and star-studded cast however this drama also falls into the trap of closing out too fast without much meaning and effort. Honestly the story should have ended around ep.21 with the actual ending brought forward. For most of the show it was a 10 in my heart until the very end which made me drop back down to a 9.5. A lot of people are comparing this to 'Good Bye, My Princess' and I don't think the ending is as sad and comparable because it is preparing the characters and story for the sequel Forever and Ever. So hopefully all the feelings and emotions from this drama can be taken across to the next season!

Lire davantage