One and Only (2021)

Amazing drama, amazing acting

I mainly watched this for Bai Lu and finally i was able to enjoy a drama where Allen acts and i could see his true talent and understand why so many people hype him up. I watched this drama in less than two days for how amazing the story was developed , how shiyi character became the perfect balance of a strong , sensitive and smart female lead can be and even then showed some mistakes as young but grew once she had to mature . The way ML battle team was arranged I LOVED IT. Finally its not a group of 5 guys and one girl. Two amazing sisters ready to help ShiYi to grow and rely on. None of the girls doubted for their power or skills. Most important I felt like all of this was a Girls support girls and my favorite part was when Empress said she didnt envy shiyi but felt sorry for her because she didnt even see her as a threat but as a sister. This drama is amazing and as someone that hates sad endings this one is indeed unique and worth it. It will stay in my heart forever. Thank god we have a second season else i wouldn't be able to handle it

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One and Only , Forever and Ever

I am late into the game, but I glad I gave this drama a shot. I have not watched Allen's and Bai Lu's past work. I am more aware of Allen as it seems to be crowned as the god of historical works. Tried watching Under the Power previously but it just didnt attract me after the first few episodes to continue. After watching this drama, I can't agree more to the statement that Allen is made for historical pieces. As for Bai Lu, while I am aware of her works, but it never struck me to start on them. Once again, I hardly have any criteria to watch any dramas, I mainly just watch randomly. For One and Only, it was widely debated but I only decided to watch halfway into the broadcast.

STORY
Story-wise, yes a adaption of a novel which was widely anticipated. I had not read the novel but the basic gist based on the trailer was teacher-student relationship, and political involvements. All in all, it was forbidden love. I was fully aware of the ending before I started on this drama, but because I wasn't familiar with the entire story and cast, I didn't have much expectations when I started watching. Overall, it was rather unique and interesting and whilst there were boring portions starting from the middle of the series, I still managed to complete it :)

Overall, the romance aspects were very subtle, but enough to make you smile and quiver. The main couple of course makes you all smiles, but you do realize with their minimal skinship portrayed in this series (since they are teacher & student) it's still enough to make you drawn to them. That's a well-executed and directed production I would say. I just really love how Allen's character is well-respected by his disciples and that there's balance ! No gender discrimination ! There are also female warriors and everyone gets along like a family!! Maybe more could be explained on the teaching? Because while Sheng Chen was Shiyi's teacher, I don't really see much of him teaching?

ACTING
Allen's Zhou Sheng Chen - No words for his character. He is willing to sacrifice for the nation's peace, to the extent of vowing not to have wives or children his entire life. Sometimes it just made you wish he was a little more selfish, because ultimately the nation didn't deserved him and he was awfully excuted in the most cruel way. He was a great warrior and a great teacher, is ending will be the most memorable to me, albeit a sad one. It's also provoking because his last words was "I had not let anyone down in this lifetime, but only Shi Yi". That's so bittersweet, because he had let Shi Yi go, for the sake of his promise and protecting "his people". But these are the same people, who ultimately drove him till his end. :(

Bai Lu's Shi Yi - I had no idea she was gonna be a mute character at the start, but it thoroughly impressed me because she can convey so much with such little lines! I was so happy when she regain her ability to talk again because of Sheng Chen, but it just breaks my heart again when she is unable to speak again at the last few episodes :( her crying scenes are really tear-jerking. She really conveyed the emotions with her eyes and expressions. While she wasn't trained to be a warrior, but she definitely had the spirit of one. She chose her own ending, for the sake of her family and for she know, she and Sheng Chen will reunite in their next lives.

As a couple, they are so bitter-sweet. He vowed to not marry, but he definitely moved for Shi Yi. While Shi Yi was initially a to be crown princess, she was willing to give up all she got, not for any name or title, but just to be by his side. The bad ending breaks my heart. but it was destined to be right from the start. I am glad there's a continuation (Forever & Ever) where there will be a happy ending in another lifetime. To me however, it just feels different maybe because the timelines are different, it will never be the same. They all say bad endings are long lasting, and I believe it will be true for this drama.

MUSIC
Soundtracks were awesome! Allen sang one of the OSTs ~

REWATCH VALUE
I would recommend because as a whole, it was still well-produced and executed. Acting was great, directing and music was awesome. Just got bored out by the political parts here and there and also cried my balls out for the ending :| anyway, this is also a slowburn drama, so might not be anyone as well

OVERALL
It was a good watch, I just can't wait for the sequel now. The acting was really great. Kudos to Allen & Bai Lu!!!

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Sour Face and Silent Lady

The actor who plays the ML has a permanent sour look on his face. Why does he permanently look like he just secretly ate a pack of Sour Patch Kids? He doesn't have another facial expression other than this one, and I just can't understand why. I could make allowances for some wooden stoic archetypes but to have your one and only facial expression be so sour? Hmmm.... no, I can't make logical sense of this.

Plenty of wooden actors in Chinese dramas, but none of them have this sour expression permanently pasted on their face. This trait belongs to this actor alone.

As for Bai Lu. Well, I can't fault her. She is so beautiful and likeable. I think it's impossible not to like this actress. She is one of the best Chinese actresses working today.

The plot feels quite empty. Young, mute noblewoman sent to a prince's estate to learn from him about life. Finds herself falling in love with him, and he with her. She stops being mute at some point in the story.... oh, and there are a bunch of wars going on and political intrigue. The only interesting character is the antagonist, of course, because he isn't just handed what he wants, which is to marry the woman betrothed to him in childhood, and to be the crown prince, which he is clearly the best candidate for to begin with, but.... mustn't make things easy for him or he wouldn't end up the bitter antagonist.

I was quite content with the characters that died, since I didn't like them anyway. I was rooting for the antagonist the whole time and hoping he would get everything he desired in life, after suffering so many disappointments. I don't think he was a terrible person, if I remember correctly. Anyway, all I felt watching this drama was excruciating boredom, so I skipped a lot of it, as it was incredibly slow in any case. Yeah, yeah, the FL saw the ML's "inner beauty", but for me, the story didn't reveal anything endearing, never mind beautiful behind that sour face.

4.5 silent sour faces out of 10.

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Well Rounded

For the storytelling, I surprisingly really liked the balance between the OTP romance, the political struggle and the side characters on this drama. I personally don’t dig the prolonged side characters romance story cdramas often give nor the often long-drawn power struggles featuring countless ministers and princes you don’t care for. But I can’t stand anything too fluffy without a convincing set up when the plot is politically driven. This, managed to stay focused yet convincing throughout (except first episode perhaps, where they lacked context horribly). In short, I like the length lol.

THE ONE THING I LIKE BEST about this drama is how it’s NOT TOO ANIMATED, the characters were actually all normal people without being too unrealistically lively, silly, cold, villainy, etc; and the prod team breathe life into the dramas by little scenarios like (minorrrr spoiler) how they went to the court palace at the wedding night cos Feng’s curious (without neccessrly any consequence), even in ancient turbulent times people course of actions during idle times don’t differ too much from us, this drama recognize that and it’s what made it poignant. As they allocate the screen time for those instead of happenings, the drama itself was rather the ‘platonic’ type, I’m a sucker for those but I can easily see it could be boring for some.

Some side characters make illogical and questionable decisions I could get by. I rather like how the FL is an obedient girl, as I’ve always wondered how a Confucianism-taught noble could turn out to be a rebellious brat with modern ideas in many other historical c-dramas. As for the conclusion of this drama, I myself was satisfied, it ended how a prequel should.

As for the production, this is an obvious top tier. The SCORING is movie-worthy, and I dare say the best I’ve seen in c-dramaland, the canon reprised for a costume c drama? That was also interesting. There’s no room for doubt in the acting and it’s useless to sing more praises as they are.. BL and RJL . A big applause to BL though for proving people wrong for typecasting her, Shiyi was meek and even when she’s angry, she stayed resilient but not fierce; there’s no trace of her previous demoness role ppl seem to be worried about lol. The directing is on par but not too special.

Overall, it was definitely a good watch, but rewatch value is not high as the plot is nothing new, it’s just very nicely executed.

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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.

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A poetry read out loud to us....

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

The above line kind of summarise the feelings this drama holds. Zhousheng Chen and Shiyi, it's a story about them and their love for each other. It's a story about their restrained love. The moment it begins, it's easy to guess what you are in for. You are here to witness a breathtakingly heartaching story told in a very cinematic manner. Both the protagonist never needed those grand words to convey what they felt for each other, the love between them is pure and beautiful.

ACTING
Allen Ren and Bai Lu have impressed me through their acting, it's so evident throughout the drama how much good of actors they both are, those subtle feelings, changes portrayed by them through their body is enough to adore them at heights. Their eyes have acted much more, words truly were not needed. ZSC is a character who's selfless, the essence of his character is that. He's a hero who has always been plagued by rumours, a hero who needed to be restrained in displaying his emotions, inner thoughts. Allen as ZSC is perfect and eternal. Shiyi, a crown Princess before even birth has to be caged but luckily she was sent to Nanchen Mansion as great changes took place in her life including ZSC. She was devoted to Nanchen Mansion and him, she was the family of them. I realised Bai Lu has an ability to make the whole world cry with her. Have I cried enough already with ZSC and Shiyi? No I haven't, I still tear up seeing them. I never thought I'll see ZSC crying so much either. Their scenes are heartbreaking, their lives were heartbreaking. If only they were free...
The supporting cast is no less either, I've come to adore them as well especially people around ZSC. No matter how much I hate a character but it's undeniable that they have acted great, majority of them have.

SOUNDTRACK
If you have heard even one of the OSTs, you'll know what my heart feels right now. Zhang Bichen, Allen, Zheng Yunlong, Jin Long...they are just a few names who have sung those tracks. There's isn't a single ost which doesn't move you. Such beautiful OSTs conveying the emotions going on within the scene feels so good making the already emotional scenes more emotional. Your heart just bleeds more and more. I was surprised by Allen's voice, I never knew this drama will give me full package Allen. I admire him so much now. The lyrics holds such an immense power. The bgm score is finest too. Can you appreciate these enough? Nope. The music has made this already top notch drama, an epic.

The drama feels grand, epic, magnificent, mesmerizing and in short beautiful. A cinematic portrayal. Everyone deserves a praise. ZSC and Shiyi have become eternal for me. There are speculations, suggestions and many alternatives that people would like to put forward as an ending but if you have watched the show or in midst of it, you'll know that no one had a choice and this was the most perfect ending ever. You cannot expect ZSC or Shiyi to do things which will mess up with the core of their character, the essence of their character lies in who they were, are and will be. It's all same, their core values remains unshaken. That's the most attractive thing about their character. Ending has to be in line with the plot, not with the fantasies you have in your head. The show for me is very realistic, that's how the era and palace politics works and to weave such a gorgeous tale within it is commendable. No matter how much I've cried throughout the show, I do not regret watching it. I'm grateful instead that this was the drama I was anticipating like crazy. I'll never bargain this drama experience for something else. One unique experience this is. The adaptation has been done very well as well, every little thing added is just gold.
I only have heart and teary eyes for this drama. This is one unmissable experience. I'm glad my Shiyi and ZSC will come greet us in sequel, we all have endured so much, eventually it's all happiness.

TOP TIER DRAMA OF MY LIFE

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I was promised angst, what I’ve got was clownery... kind of.

But I still enjoyed it quite a lot. The core of the show were the relationships and these in most cases they aced. For such perfect writing of the main characters, how come it did not move me on any deep level? The answer is easy - failed villains and unnecessarily complicated politics.

One and Only is a love story that was created and led by tragedies. The stepping stones for the relationship development were in most cases linked to bad events happening to the main couple. The tragedy led to sweetness, which led to more tragedy. Honestly speaking, Ren Jia Lun and Bai Lu had more on screen chemistry just looking at each other, than many other couples with full on romance going on from other dramas. The tension, love and care was so intense, I did not even need anything more than stole glances, a few hugs and not straightforward poetic love confessions. Their bond was so meaningful, it needed no reassurance .

As individual characters, I failed not to love them, even though they both possess the traits that for me is a big sin - they were too good, too trusting and too naive. Usually, this would make my blood boil, here - I completely did not mind. The fact that everyone told me to be really for the angst might have been the reason I was not annoyed too. I knew they would have a tragic ending one way or another, and it was obvious that their good nature would be the reason for their demise, so I just accepted that fact and watched in peace.

This was especially evident with Zhou Sheng Chen. He had a really bad habit of giving people chances to redeem themselves, when it was obvious some of them were unredeemable. He took too many chances with too many people, and some of these encounters and good deeds literally led to his death. Still, it’s impossible not to love the guy. He had a personality of a warm smashed potato, yet… he was perfect. How loyal he was to his people and the country was commendable.

Then we have Cui Shi Yi - the adorable angel. I don’t think I have ever seen a character more pure than her. I found strength in her innocence? She was for sure a passive character - she went with the flow of the things happening around her, barely ever taking any active steps herself. Sounds awful right? Somehow it was not. Somehow it was perfect and I loved her as a character a lot. Yes, we all love our badass warrior princesses, but sometimes a more realistic approach is much needed and just as charming.

We also have some extremely fun and memorable side characters, and few… existing with little to no personality. My ultimate favorite, the one and only mr. Sexy Monk, aka Xiao Yan. He was truly perfect - and by perfect I mean he had some interesting personality, he was good and moral, but not completely selfless and overall smoking hot. I also loved Feng Qiao with her badass fluff. That’s kind of it? I feel like many side characters were rather one dimensional. There were “the good guys” and “the bad guys”, but in many cases, they presented little if anything as individual characters.

Talking about presenting little to nothing - what a joke the villains were. The clownery was amazing. They be killing all the good guys, all the skilled people, and then being surprised the country is falling apart. What did you think will happen when you made THE ARMY your enemy? What did you think would happen after killing the only dude that was able to defend the border for years? It’s not like Liu Zi Xing had any plan formed on what to do next, after getting power. What a joke. I am truly curious how his brain works and how he perceives reality, because the level of denial he presented was truly something I struggle to understand.

Still, he was the best of all the clowns we’ve got. There was also Queen Dowager who showed up here and there to cause the issue for the main couple, but had nothing going on for herself and was just boring. There was one Prince that got involved because “power”, but he was also painfully stupid. Not to mention Yang Shao… this guy. What did he even want? What was his goal? Why was he on that side? What motivated him? We don’t know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

As I said at the beginning, the villains were the reason the emotional impact the show showed has just felt flat for me. The ending of Zhou Sheng Chen and Cui Shi Yi was tragic - truly it would be hard to make it more sad. But, since it was a result of constant extremely dumb decision making on everyone’s side (both the good and the bad guys), I could not make myself care. Last episode, I truly hoped everyone would just die (except for the monk), some side evil dude would win, and the whole country would burn and collapse. It was that ridiculous. I mean… 24 episodes and they changed the emperor 4 times - what the heck. It was never needed to go this nuts in the last few episodes. Having one, well written and presented villain would do the trick. You can get the same angsty result with less shit happening on screen.

Plot wise, not that much happened in the show - the main couple got to know each other, the main couple fought the evil guys, and the main couple died. Seems like nothing, yet because of the presentation, it was not boring. Sure, I skipped some scenes in the second half, simply because some characters felt extremely empty, but overall, I enjoyed the watch.

The amazing cinematography and some great directing choices had a lot to do with it. An aspect that I loved about One and Only was the fact, the director let some scenes breathe for a while. Lingering a little bit during some emotionally impactful scenes, with nothing but visuals and music was a great idea. Grounding the emotions, instead of skipping between the scenes as soon as the narrative was done. The show had this poetic quality to it. Not to mention, it was beautiful. Cui Shi Yi suicide was a whole ass cinematic experience.

The acting, ladies and gentlemen - Ren Jia Lun and Bai Lu are a class of their own. To be able to present so many emotions and so many raw scenes, with the plot barely happening, and most of the interactions being so tamed - they deserve an award for it. Saying I am amazed would be an understatement.

Overall, the first half was perfect. Middle dropped in the quality, but was still fairly enjoyable, but the mess that we’ve got by the end just took all the emotional impact away and left me crying from laughing so hard. Am I evil? Heartless? Soulless? Or were the events poorly established because of the weak writing of the villains?

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Most Romantic + Amazing Chemistry without much Physical Affection/Touching

9/19/2021

I've wanted to watch this drama when it first aired, but hold off until I can binge watch it. I was afraid the drama might not live up to my expectations or all the glowing reviews I've read. I am happy to say that, it deserves all the praise. It's so beautiful and heartbreaking that you can only recover knowing "Forever and Ever" is coming right up! I love Bai Lu and really liked Allen Ren in "Under the Power". They have so much chemistry; you love them so much and cry with them every step of the way. I can't wait to watch when they can live happily ever after thousands of years later.

What I like:

1. Bai Lu/Allen Ren - They ARE the show. Their chemistry is amazing. All the loving looks, torturous looks, longing gazes, side glances... all of them. As my headline stated, there isn't much touching or physical affection. There is no kiss. But I never feel the need for them to kiss (and I LOVE kisses, esp. Bai Lu's kisses). If there's a kiss, I think it might destroy the pure, innocent romance. I am happy with a few touches, and a few hugs (though they are all sad hugs). When I see tears welling up in their eyes, my tears start to fall with theirs. Bai Lu has to be the most beautiful actress when crying. She has such a natural, beautiful, heartbreaking look when she is crying. I've seen quite a few of Bai Lu's dramas, and I love her the best here. Allen Ren has equally expressive eyes and he has even less to say in words, but more with his actions and his eyes. Oh, I feel his regret for swearing not to get married. When you watch the BTS of them, you realize how great their acting is. They had so much fun and laugh so much, yet their characters are totally opposite.

2. Acting - Aside from our main leads, the supporting cast is quite good as well. Everyone acted naturally, even the villains. Over-the-top and cartoonish villains are one of my pet peeves, and I am glad we don't find that in this drama. The veterans actors are of course great, but the younger cast is quite good as well. I quite like Wang Xing Yue/Liu Zi Xing, even though he doesn't have too many scenes.

3. Cui Shi Yi (FL) - I really like Shi Yi's character, our female lead. She is shy and reserved, but smart and brave. She is not a pushover and will speak up (or sign) for what's right and just. She is not afraid to show her affection for ML and is often the one that initiates any physical affection. She might be shy, but she's straightforward and honest about her feelings and communicates well with ML. I really like her as our female lead.

4. Allen Ren in Uniform - I know this is vain, but Allen Ren looks like a prince in white and dashing/fearless when he's in black. Just looking at his face, I don't find him super attractive, but when he's in a historical drama and wearing a uniform, he just oozes charisma and charm. I felt the same way watching in "Under the Power".

5. Fight Scenes - I am pleasantly surprised that I enjoy the fight choreography and scenes in this drama. There is no slow-mo spinning or close-up of the actors' faces. No useless posing in front of the camera in the middle of the fight. The fights scenes are better than some I've seen in wuxia dramas.

6. *SPOILER* Episode 16 - this is my favorite episode. It's one of the more heartbreaking but super romantic episode. We have the death of a teacher/father figure. Our leads just spent a little couple time together to heal each other and then we got the announcement of FL's marriage again. The scene when FL tried to touch ML's nose, and he leaned forward and let her touch him.... my heart. That's one of the most romantic scenes ever esp. because we know what will happen to them in the future.

What I don't Like (nitpicking here):
1. BGM - The background music is a little tad loud for my taste. However, when the dialog resumes, the music is toned down and I can listen to what the actors are saying.

2. Sign Language - it seems like even some people who don't know FL well or long can understand her sign language?

3. *SPOILER* FL's ending - It's a little unrealistic that she was so heavily guarded for so long, yet when she walked off by herself to go up the tower, no one followed her? Only that one general who knows what's happening. But what about the other guards, maids, etc.? Literally no one until the King comes?

Other observations:
1. OST - There are a few songs in this drama and they all sounded beautiful. I'm happy that they are not played all the time but only as needed. The BGM also complements the scenes well.

2. It seems like no one is getting a happy ending in the romance department, not even the supporting cast. This has got to be the only drama I've seen that no one ends up happy. I wish they all live happily ever happy in "Forever and Ever".

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Slow Burn Romance

I just completed watching this drama. I first attracted to watch this series because I saw the ending clip in youtube. So, I thought to myself ‘wow another drama with a tragic ending. I need to watch this. This is exactly my type of drama.’ Then, I started watching it till episodes 11. At that point, I try to grab the ideas about the stories, the plots, each characters, the relationships between characters etc. I then keep watching until episodes 15, and I almost dropped the drama though. Yes, I almost did.

Imo, the first 15 episodes is a real struggle to watch because the paced is really slow. The story line focusing on the friendships that was form by respective characters especially between Zhousheng Chen and Shiyi. From how they started off as a master and disciple, and then developed feelings towards each other (although they never confessed their feelings to each other). Along with that, the story lines goes to political feuds, competition for powers, wars, etc. Up until episodes 15, there’s not much notable scenes worth mentioning.

However, the storyline started to become interesting in the middle of episodes 15. From that point, we can see the flow of the story and the tragic events that started to build up and emerges. Until the finale episodes, I do find myself enjoying the series. I able to shed some tears here and there, and my heart aches seeing all the innocence lives were taken away because of the stupidity of the emperor, the greedy empress and obsessive young guy.

Here’s some problems that I have about the drama. The storyline though is not exceeding my expectation. There’s so many loopholes and questions to ponder. There’s not much character development too. I wonder why the monk didn’t asked for help from his father when Zhousheng Chen was caught and accused for doing rebel. I expect him to do something worth mentioning because he was the closest one to Zhousheng Chen. Like, he literally did nothing tho other than being a monk. Probably, that’s how they wanted to end the story because after all, the drama only have 24 episodes.

I would like to give applause tho to the production team. I love the cinematography, it’s beautiful and spectacular to watch. They chose the dramatic cool kind of color in entire series which I find really mesmerising. I like the OSTs, it’s good and it’s nice to listen to. The acting is great esp Bai Lu. For someone who keep laughing during off set, I wonder how she can pull off such an agony and grief emotions in her acting. This is my first time tho watching these two main leads on my screen. They did amazing job in here.

All in all, this is a good drama. But, I probably won’t consider watching it again in the future except some scenes (sad scene specifically).

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Gesture speaks louder than words.

Another beautiful story of true love that is worth my tears.

For me, the strong point of this drama is recognizing the weight of their duties and responsibilities whether you are royal or not. All the decisions by the characters were justifiable and even I as a viewer understood and accept it otherwise it will ruin the plot of the story and it will become a regular plot drama.

It's the first time that I watch Bai Lu but I'm a big fan of Allen Ren that is why I give it a chance and whoever cast them must have a raise. I cannot imagine anyone that can portray ZSC as much as Allen did. He really nailed that gentle but strong-minded ZSC. Allen really shines in historical drama.

And also hats off to Bai Lu with that magnificent performance. She really made me cry and I can feel her pain.


The OST was phenomenal and it really fits every important scene esp between the leads.

Overall, this journey was really worth my bucket of tears. What an amazing drama. The only downside of this is I will be in a drama slump for weeks and I will keep repeating those amazing scenes.

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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.

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A must watch for melodrama enthusiasts and acting fans!

The novel this drama was based on actually had two sections -- a historical bad-end love story and a modern-day reincarnation. The reason this got split into 2 dramas (One and Only, then sequel Forever and Ever) is due to mainland Chinese broadcasting rules -- apparently reincarnation stories are banned? So they got to do it like this.

Hence I came into this knowing that this is the sad part I'll have to sit through before the happy stuff in Forever and Ever... and despite knowing how the love story ends, it's still very much worth a watch for the acting, the feels, and the character chemistry. You have seasoned actors Bai Lu and Ren Jialun who are KNOWN for how well their eyes convey emotion. And then despite the bad end being well-known, the surprising attention to detail in the script will amaze you -- motifs and themes being brought back to add to the emotion of the scene (and to cheat you out of more tears). I think part of this can be attributed to the fact that the novel writer had a hand in the drama script. And the director / production team really knew what they were doing. I'm not very prone to crying while watching dramas, but I absolutely lost it in the last 2 episodes and was loudly bawling from the plot, the directing, and the insert songs... Oh boy the insert songs. They added so much feeling to the scenes.

Also, if you're an Under the Power fan, you will appreciate the return of several actors like Xie Yuanyuan and Lin Yi. It's fun to see them work together again :) And one of Shengchen's generals is Linda from Never Say Goodbye!!! (ie. all of them are Ren Jialun's former co-stars? LOL)

PS: the rewatch value is purely for the 2 episodes of sugar before the big sad hit. I can't put myself through those sad scenes again -- hurt too much T-T (in a good way)

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