One and Only (2021)

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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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Mediocre Story, Acting is Ok

Summary: if you have watched many many and many more historical drama and you’d say the plot is alright because it’s the same old story re-mixed. who on earth reviewed this as 10? The last scene is like a remake of Ten Miles Peach Blossom. Watch it for the first 10 episodes for a light fun ride but don’t expect much. The first part is like Ashes of Lover and the apprenticeship part. General & I part of showing off the military base is here and all the actions, prince turned monk is also in another wuxia drama, controlling empress is also in another drama.

The main actress Bai Lu looked more in love in The Legends , less in love in The Arsenals and also mediocre in her subsequence love team-up. The main guy looks more manly now compared to his previous dramas .
Pro:
- some and barely there original plot. Mute part is somewhat a refreshing change. The disciple- mentor relationship has been on many dramas, not to mention general military dramas.
- still good acting. Barely any chemistry . Bai Lu’s eyes glowed in other older shows.

Cons:
- DUBBING VOICE . So similar to 10 miles peaches and other drama. Bailu ‘s strong voice has been tempered down with the dub. While good, it’s not great enough.
- same old story except for the mute part. Who reviewed this? Did someone pay them because the story is not very original.
- low budget. Repetitive costumes and same old places as other dramas.
Unbelievable part. Of course writers think we’re stupid that a powerful family will allow their daughter to sleepover without a chaperone. Stu-pi-d.

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"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.

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'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!

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sad but worth it!

BEST DRMA ever for me
REN JIA LUN is one of my favorite chinese actor
Not sure if there are perfect words to describe this drama
Both lead allen ren and bai lu did a great job they portray the chatacter very well ..i'm not one who cries easily but this drama made me cry lot....Still can't move on after it

This series is so underrated because of its zero skinship but the actors ML really did a great job at conveying their feelings through the look in their eyes.

it is just BEAUTIFULLY HEARTBREAKING STORY
All actors for this drama was great
Definitely ''MUST WATCH'' drama highly recommended drama

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the best Cdrama i've ever watched

Usually I never write reviews for dramas that I've watched, but this drama has touched and knocked on the door of my heart to give a little review.

I'm not good at writing reviews, I want to say this is the best drama I've ever watched even though the prequel has a tragic ending and I just don't feel satisfied with the ending that has been given.


the acting of all the actors in this drama is very good and perfect, they have given a lively performance for each of the characters they have brought, of course special for our main leads Allen Ren and BaiLu, my big thumbs up for their performance on this drama is very lively and wonderful.

a very good and beautiful soundtrack has been right to accompany this drama, you could say all the soundtracks in this drama are very pleasant to hear, the insertion of the soundtrack for all the scenes feels very harmonious and brings the atmosphere in this drama to life...

overall 10/10 for this drama...

sorry I can only give a few reviews because I'm not good at giving reviews, just because I really like this drama...

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Just two words- Tragically Beautiful

The charm of a novel adaptation lies in seeing the characters come to life this time not just in your mind but the screen as well. And if you weren't a fan of the novel before you sure want to read it now. There's a touch to it that makes it magical and unforgettable at the same time. A loyal general dedicated to protect and defend his country so much that he ends up giving it all even his life. Believe me there's something about these starcrossed love stories that hit you deeper among other things. The side characters and stories are perfectly aligned. The aesthetics and CGs are great. Most of all the performances of the actors must be applauded. Not to mention the lead characters who brought Zhousheng chen and Shi yi. I want to address the ending as well. Many of us would question the female character taking her own life. I did this for a while as to what message it conveys out to viewers. But really it's a manifestation of love that one could never have, the nameless kind. I wanted to understand the mentality of the character who embraced death in order to not let the bad guys win. She also could not live with the wrongful death of her lover. It's comprehensible though with some forceful persuasion. Personally it's a immemorial drama that is not going to be forgotten any soon.

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