Watch it as the first half of a story, it's still 100% worth it

Watch this as the first half of a story because that's what it is, and it’s 100% worth it. It's SO beautifully done. If you go into it thinking that it's a complete story, you will likely leave feeling disappointed or upset. I suspect this is why ratings are lower than I believe they ought to be. I haven’t ever immediately rewatched any show from beginning to end in adulthood and I’m in the midst of rewatching this one. The resounding refrain in my mind is – “The On1y One, how are you so good?!” It’s really well put together and has such great cinematic storytelling.

My suggestion is to watch the drama, then pick up the novel and read Chapter 60 onwards, which is what I did. The drama follows the novel closely enough for it to be possible to continue on.

If you go into this looking for smut, that’s not what this is and you’ll be disappointed. It is a lovely coming-of-age love story with excellent storytelling.

WHY I LOVE THIS:
- It’s incredibly sweet without being saccharine. No one’s overacting, everything feels genuine, deep and gentle.
- It’s beautifully shot and edited so that you can see into the inner emotions and thoughts of the characters, even when unspoken.
- There’s something to the order in which details are revealed that is really captivating and transforms the watching experience into a wonderfully slow peeling of layers.
- The way that these episodes are bookended with further glimpses into characters with the intro/outro and poetic commentary voiceover – it’s gorgeous.
- I’m in my 40s and I feel emotionally moved and transported into adolescence. This feels like the experience of adolescence distilled into a show.

WHY I DIDN'T GIVE IT 10 STARS:
- I find piggy back rides a little silly, but I get that it’s a regular trope.
- The acting is generally solid, nothing is bad. However, the acting in some episodes is really good, so in comparison, there were a number of lines in other places that I wish were delivered a little differently so that they could have landed a little better.
- There are a couple plot devices that feel a little contrived just to move the story along, which I didn’t love, but it wasn’t too distracting.

I watched this once, then read the 2nd half of the novel, and now am rewatching it again from the beginning. Now knowing what comes next in the story, it’s clear that they’ve laid the story foundation for filming a second half. This is the first 59 chapters of a 120 chapter novel. I truly hope they are given an opportunity to make the second half of the story as well as they did the first.

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