One and Only (2021)

Beautiful bones are rare in this world

A tragically beautiful love story between a quite young lady from a scholarly family and her shifu, a righteous war general.

Our FL, Cui Shiyi comes from a family of Literary noblemen. After an incident where her father was killed she looses her voice. Shiyi is one of the most lovely FL I've ever seen. She is considerate and kind. Despite being considerably physically weak than the people around her she never comes across as annoying.

Her Shifu, our ML Zhou Shengchen is a military general. To avoid suspicion he has vowed to never marry or have children. Let me tell you this is the nicest man you'll ever see in any drama. He just so kind, he has the biggest heart of all. He is soo good that it almost makes him look impossible to exist. Also he isn't cold unlike other MLs, he treats our Fl really well since the start.

These two people's relationship albeit tragic is filled with warmth and gentleness which goes really well with the overarching tragic tone of the drama.

Of the side characters, I love each and every single one of them. Especially the soldiers in our ML's army.

Here are the side ships:

-A hot blooded female general × ex-crown prince, currently a monk!
-A soft hearted scholar-general × hot blooded female general 2.0
-a crazy Prince who only wants power x a bratty princess
-an emperor who is imprisoned by his own mother × his pregnant empress

The drama has brilliant cinematography and amazing Osts. Definitely watch it if you want something short and beautiful

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Awesome drama

I have watch so many Cdrama and one and only make me cry badly. Almost finish the whole tissue box.
Start to cry when CSY talking to her mum where she do not want to marry the crown Prince. All the scenes make me cry non stop. ZSC last words to SY is really touching. He like SY but they cannot be together due to his vows.
Chemistry between Bailu and Allen is so good. Allen look charming in his general suits and he look so cool. The theme song sang by Allen is so nice.
Even do is a sad ending but I totally love this drama . Currently watching forever and ever

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Beautiful, breathtaking romance

Beautiful, breathtaking and heartbreakingly sad romance drama.

I put off watching this drama because of being told how sad it was. Let me tell you, I was missing out on a beautiful romance. There are a lot of gorgeous scenes between Zhou Sheng Chen and Shi Yi. Although their love story isn't in words they say out loud but in their eyes and their actions towards each other. Each wanting, needing the other but there are reasons he has to keep his distance.

If you like Ren Jai Lun, you won't regret watching this. He is an awesome actor, who without one kiss scene can show more depth of love and romance than all the more 'spicy' dramas combined. From the moment he steps on screen he is the heart of this story.

If you decide to give this drama a chance please remember this isn't a happy story... for anyone, have a box of tissues ready (although the sad parts won't come until the last few episodes) and have Forever and Ever ready to watch immediately after this.

For me one of the saddest parts was when she was reading the blood letter he wrote before dying.
"I’ve never let down or hurt anyone in this world, expect Shi Yi."

Even though it did break my heart and leave me crying buckets of tears I don't regret for one second watching One and Only.

and on a related note Wang Xing Yue was phenomenal as the villain Liu Zi Xing.

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My very first cdrama

This is my first cdrama that i watched, my mon recommended it to me. I used to have this stereotype about cdrama that the acting and transition from one scene to another would be bad, but this drama really broke the stereotype. The acting is good, the cinematography was indeed beautiful and i really ove their wardrobes, i can see that this is a high quality drama. It may be draggy at some episodes but i didn't really mind that, i love the slowburn love that 2 lead characters have.

Overall i enjoyed this drama, EVEN GOT ME CRY A RIVER AT THE END, and leave me with some empty fealing Read More

truly heartbreaking ending.

the drama made full use of 24 episodes without any fillers impressed me much.

from story, acting to its execution and breathtaking cinematography, this gonna be one of my top personal favourite drama that scores high in every level.

the slow burn, unspoken romance was heartfelt and emotional. my first drama from BL, 2nd from RJL, their chemistry was off the chart just by staring at each other, mesmerising!

Nanchen Royal Mansion, it’s army, as time passed, it felt that has become my home and the army, my family. how I felt and connected with the supporting characters and their warmth.

ending wrecked me hard. beautiful tragedy.

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Ugh

So I just came across this c-drama, and let me start by saying that even though this series is from 2021, it's still amazing.

I'm only 15 episodes in, and I absolutely despise the empress dowager. At first, I wasn't really drawn to the male lead in the series, but his acting talent is impressive. However, I sense no chemistry between the two main characters.

I already know that this series is going to be heart-wrenching because I accidentally saw a clip from TikTok. However, this series is so remarkable that it cannot be skipped; it's not the kind of series you can fast forward through in a few minutes.

In my opinion, what makes this series so captivating is the range of emotions evoked in each episode as the story unfolds.

Also commending the entire cast. There are both likable and unlikable characters; you'll smile, laugh, cry, and get frustrated. It's a whirlwind of emotions.

I have enjoyed a wide variety of C-dramas over the years, and this is perhaps one of my top 10 favorite Chinese series.

I'm not a big fan of Bai Lu's character. It might just be me, but I find her to be quite stagnant and a bit lacking. I find some of her scenes to be quite boring and frustrating. Like a helpless puppy pitifully waiting for its master, too fixated on the ML with no self-ambition and growth. Ugh. However, I have enjoyed a few of her series like "Kunning Palace," "Till the End of the Moon," "Only for Love," and "Love is Sweet."

Anyway, there are 9 episodes left, and I'm preparing myself because I know there will be more emotional and heartbreaking scenes moving forward.

UPDATE:
Currently on episode 20, with 4 episodes to go. The latter episodes feel rushed and unpolished; some events from the palace were barely discussed properly. There were scenes that I wish were explored more, etc.

I finished it; it was devastating and heartbreaking. However, I felt that it was rushed as I mentioned previouslyIt wasn’t a perfect series; there were still some letdowns. Overall, it’s a tragically beautiful series. Prepare your tissues.

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I really only have this to say: The actors understood the assignment.

This was so well done. It was honestly one of the most beautiful and well-acted shows I'd ever seen.

The longing, yearning, love, depression, ache . . . everything was acted to perfection.

I cried so much. I've rewatched the ending scene maybe five times now, and I rewatched the scenes with the couple together so many times as well.

I'd seen Bai Lu's other work and I think she has great chemistry with her other co-stars but this was unparalleled. And these two didn't even kiss. Just the tension and deep feeling they had was perfect.

That's all I have to say about this.

Please watch it. You will not be disappointed.

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A Romantic Tragedy

ONE AND ONLY was a great Cdrama, especially if you like historical period and costume dramas. I admit, I had a difficult time getting into this one at first. I had a few false starts and dropped it several times before going back to it, due to the seemingly predictable and generic romance. It really did develop and pull me in.

Once I finally got going however, I discovered it was a really good show, and quite short in terms of average Cdrama length (24 eps instead of 60-80+ eps). I noticed it used flashback scenes, not overly frequent, but perhaps more so than other dramas in order to condense the storyline. While I do enjoy the longer series (as they create a depth and deeper emotional bonds), but this was a nice change of pace.

" A young man determined to become a general takes a mute, ill-fated princess as his disciple, forming a forbidden bond amid palace power struggles."

The actors were all very good in their roles, and the characters were all very likeable as well. The story was a bit slow starting, focusing on the friendship and blooming romance aspect rather than on the rest of the story, but gradually became more interesting and compelling, especially as villains and other main characters stepped into play. I really enjoyed the music as well, it was very fitting.

Overall, ONE AND ONLY was a great watch. I recommend if you like historical romantic Cdramas. Must warn, it is tragic and emotional.

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A poetic screenplay about a grim, downward spiral that I grew to hate . .

The premise is 'witness a historical, grim epic power dispute, through the eyes of a wide-eyed girl/woman aged 14 - 24.' Nirvana in Fire and The Rise of Phoenixes are my gold standards for tragic male dominated political battles, and this drama falls far far short. Yes, there is a tragic/forbidden romance element that is introduced strong at the start. But, Shi Yi is a passive character and neither she nor Zhou Sheng Chen are focused on their romance as much as their duty to a crumbling and corrupt empire.

Rating it against my gold standard, the court intrigues and strategies of this drama are simplistic, and the villains overacted, cartoonish and not given sufficient back stories. Zhou Sheng Chen lives with integrity, is a talented general, and is made noble by his constant self-sacrifice, but he's also very one note and does not develop any complexity, nor displays any sort of talent for politics or romance.

There was a great use of poetry in this show, very touching beautiful lines . . . and that was the only highlight.

Once I realized that the political intrigue elements, which are the weakest points of this plot, were going to dominate the last 1/3 of the drama, I decided to drop it.

Acting is so so, chemistry is good as child with crush on teacher, but fizzles as Shi Yi becomes a full adult. Music set the mood fine, and I would not rewatch.

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