The On1y One (2024)

Poetry on screen

Knowing The On1y One was directed by Patrick Liu, a man behind one of my favourite Taiwanese productions “Your Name Engraved Herein” I had high expectations. Despite it being described as yet another story about step-siblings falling in love – a trope that at this point I am already quite fed up with, to be honest.

First few minutes of the show featuring Sheng Wang’s off-screen narration about coming back to his home-town after living abroad, coupled with bird eye's view shots of Guandu Bridge and first glimpse into Liu Dong Qing’s expressive facial acting, I already had an inkling my expectations would be met. However, even then I had no idea just how much I’d fall in love with this drama.

The On1y One is a beautiful, nuanced slice-of-lice, coming of age tale, telling a story of two teenagers, Jang Tian and Sheng Wang who both carry a heavy emotional baggage, being scarred in their life by a loss of a loved one, loneliness and abandonment. You could say it’s a story of two lonely souls, who found a new warm home within each other. The progression of their relationship is portrayed in a very natural manner.

I’m someone who tends to ruin romance stories for myself by asking questions like “Why is this character even in love with another protagonist?”. Here, I never even once had to question or wonder why two main protagonists would get close to each other and feel drawn to one another.

The drama takes time to show how slowly, step by step, Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian are breaking down each other’s walls and opening up to the other person. It’s all done with the use of beautiful imagery, excellent acting from Liu Dong Qin and Benjamin Tsang (both gave exceptional performances!) and lyrical writing that makes use of metaphors and symbolism. If anyone says “there is nothing happening in this drama”, I’d be calling them out on probably not watching it carefully enough.

The story is set in a high-school environment, most precisely in an accelerated class of exceptional students. Studying, preparing for exams, cracking test papers and testing methods are all part of the drama, adding to the realistic, nostalgia-imbued, melancholic vibe of the show. References to works of literature or science phenomena are also often used as tools for creating metaphors and drawing parallelisms between what’s learnt at school and what’s experienced in real life.

Main protagonists are joined by a set of vibrant, likeable side characters, who also contribute to a more realistic and immersive experience.

I’ve watched quite a few of BL dramas in my life, The On1y One took number one spot in my personal ranking of those (and a place among my all-time-favourite Asian dramas in general) when I was just halfway-through it. It’s still occupying that spot a month after I watched the last episode.

It does has its flaws. Some side plots were clearly not as carefully crafted as the main story and pacing was sometimes off, with too much screen time devoted to side characters’ stories towards the ending of the show (with very little of those stories explored in the first half of it). Because of that, I was sometimes getting impatient while anxiously waiting for the resolution of what was happening between two main leads, being aware of the upcoming ending.

Still, those flaws were not able to ruin my overall experience, hence my final rating is 9.5.

I am looking forward to and hoping for the second season and more development to the beautiful relationship Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian built so far. However, if that second season were to never happen, I'd still absolutely adore this series.

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The summer of youth.. and the midsommer night's dream

Haaah..
I needed to let it just stew for a while after that finale because the feels.. all the feels I'm feeling.. haaah..

Between the poetic vibe and the bright lens they used to tell the story, there's a ton of whiplash on what you think you're supposed to experience, but none of that matters, because watching this is an experience in itself. I was left contemplating the meaning behind their actions as they left them in a sad and vulnerable state, while experiencing joy beyond explanation just by watching two people become the entire world to each other.

I love those bonds, just pure love. Where you know what the other person is thinking, can anticipate what they're feeling, when you know them better than they know themselves on every sort of level. The melancholy and excitement, and the growing pains of being a teenager who is suddenly thrust into unfamiliar and uncomfortable environments only to end up finding the one person who is going to be their entire life was so incredibly moving to watch.

A lot of my words until now have been vague and philosophical, so let me just say this, they perfectly managed to encapsulate the feelings of being in a new environment and then discovering that it's more home than anywhere else. Budding friendships, familial ties, first love, and all the confusion, happiness and pain that comes with it.. just perfect.

This was more than just a romance, not only because that wasn't the only focus of the story, or because they weren't the only couple in the story, no. It was because, more than a romance, this was a story of love. A love I can't quite explain, so it's best to watch and experience it firsthand.

Where's my season 2 though :(

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Just rewatched and upped score to 10.

This story is much more realistic than most BL's I have watched. The main characters have both been mostly on their own when they are brought together in a newly formed family. Before any thoughts of romance, they seem to know the others needs better than they know their own and they begin to care for each other in very touching ways. I have never seen anyone express so much, tell so much, with so few words, than Benjamin Tsang does as Jiang Tian.
That I understand Sheng Wang's reasoning (when he has not explained it) also speaks to Liu Dong Qin's acting ability. I think about these boys (characters) as if I knew them and wonder how they are doing.
The OST- wow. "Just Lonely" by Ricky Hsiao is on repeat in my playlist daily. I don't know exactly what he's saying but I could listen to him "Ooh yeh yeh, ooh yeh ooh" for 45 minutes.
I will love this show even if there's not a part 2, but I really hope there is.

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Loved the whole production!!!

The first time I'm writing the review here since this series deserved a lot of appreciation!! The direction, acting, cinematography, soundtrack, scripts, and the whole production who worked on this were doing so great where I didn't even feel that I watched an hour episode without feeling of 'slow-paced' as some reviewers said (Honestly, I kinda worry that it'll be so slow at first).

The ending was pretty clear for me, but some people said the first season only covered the half of story from the novel which I feel we deserved the second season. Hope we'll get the good news soon!

Not a spoiler, but if you loved "Your Name Engraved Herein", I bet you definitely will love this one too! I still remember how's my feeling when I watched every single episode that left me a good impression and didn't even disappoint me at all.

- ngl, I've been re-watched this series 3 times......

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The best series I've watched lately, it grabs you so much straight away. The protagonists have perfect and high acting and have crazy chemistry. I have to say that I consider this drama to be one of the best BL I have ever watched. The acting, directing and writing are impeccable. In every episode there is at least one scene that I would end up watching again and again. As for the leads, there are very few actors who have acted in a BL and could even hold a candle to them. The cinematography is beautiful: from the camera work and transitions between scenes, to the framing of shots and the use of light and color. Also, the attention to detail is crazy, some things you only notice the second time you watch it again. When you see it again it's not just about unimportant aspects, but about elements that enrich your understanding the story. This series deserves recognition and a second season.

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The best series of the year.

After The Untamed, i think this drama is gonna be my all time favorite. The storyline is so refreshing to watch and the actors (Eric and Ben) are so good in their characters that it really feels like they are the real sheng wang and jiang tian. This drama proved that it really don't need to have intimate scenes or anything to portrait the pure love and affection of two people. Each and every episode left beautiful yet painful marks on my heart. Really wishing for its second season because it is the story which really have to end and doesn't go in vain, like it's necessary and must to know what future holds for them. Really invested in the second season. At last i would say the actors are so amazing like its so refreshing to watch them. The very last episode really left me in hurtful situation. Hopefully we'll see them again, until then I'll cry and be depressed.

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I like watching BL dramas and I am really picky. If I do not find a drama interesting based from the first few episodes, I drop it. If the story seems interesting, I just fast forward the episodes multiple times and just try to grasp the interesting scenes. But this drama, The On1y One, is one of the few dramas (including non-BL dramas I have watched), the I really like to the point that I have already keep on repeating watching it for days already. I have finished watching it until the last episode for almost 3-4 times already. I even recommended to my sister to watch it. Watched it already in IQiyi, WeTV and Viki and I guess I will be watching it in Netflix also. That is just how much I like it. I hope and wish that there will be a Season 2 (and hope that it will be the same casts) because the story is just beautiful. I want Jiang Tian's and Sheng Wang's journey to continue and I wanted the whole world to see it. Due to this drama, I discover a wonderful novel. There might be differences between the drama and the novel but I hope that the novel's fans can be understanding.

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Too polished & Not Logical

Although this series seemed to capture the hearts and minds of many, I found it lacking in story in terms of empathy and logic. Not acting, however. It is exceptionally well acted. And yet, that is also what bothered me. It seemed too polished, slick, and flawless. I honestly do not look to review the actors or actresses who are performing in series. I take everything at ‘face value’. This series, with acting not the problem, still lacked a Gestalt for me to connect to, in what seemed like a flawless acting exercise. I simply could not warm up to either of the protagonists at all. Something felt absent. Even though it had all the right elements and great screen chemistry, it felt too polished to be believable. It looks and feels off. The angst, rawness, realness, silliness, immaturity, and pain of teenagers was missing. It got too wrapped up in telling a cute story.

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