Complex characters, controversial themes, personal stories, family relationships, LGBT+ empowerment, and romance are the identifying nuances of Taiwanese filmmaker Liu Kuang Hui. The protagonists of his works reflect their inner world, as shown in 'Your Name Engraved Herein', in which fear and sin already appeared burning the insides of the protagonists because of a forbidden love, the first love, the love relationship /hate, two young people united by friendship as if they were brothers, the differences of social classes...
In the work of someone who expressed that this film takes a lot of his own life, stating that A-Han's narrative arc is based approximately 80% on his own experiences, since originally, it was not his intention to make a gay film, but a personal film about his first love, and his first love is the story of a boy who likes another boy, features typical of the Taiwanese film and television director appear.
This is confirmed in his next work, the short film 'Best Sisters Forever', from 2021, and has continued to this day in some other films, such as 'The Story of the Stone' (2018), and the series 'Hello Again! ' (2019).
Liu Kuang Hui is a very versatile director and screenwriter, as he does not limit himself to creating his own literary and technical texts to later be brought to the screen, nor to adapting those titles of novels that he admires and that have served as inspiration, but rather who cites them in his films, reviews and updates them, nourishes them with other cultural elements that, ultimately, give personality to his filmography. This allows his work to be easily recognizable due to its numerous intertextual references.
The latest piece of his authorship as director and screenwriter so far, 'The On1y One', is a sentimental initiation series that tells the story of queer love between two teenagers who begin to develop emotionally.
This long-awaited LGBT+ drama takes place in the present day, and tells the story of Sheng Wang, a dreamy, rich and popular young man, whose world changes when, after transferring to a new high school due to his father's job, he meets Jiang Tian, a tall, intelligent and lonely student who lives with his mother.
As he settles into his luxurious new home, Sheng Wang is determined to stay focused on his desire to meet the person who, according to his mathematical calculations, would be one of the 0.0000173 inhabitants of planet Earth with whom he would meet. It would have to coincide first that they know each other, and then that he gets to like her the way he would like too.
The two begin a rivalry that becomes even more complicated when Jian Tian's mother enters into a romantic relationship with Sheng Wang's father, and the four of them are suddenly forced to live under the same roof. Since they are not blood relatives, nor do they consider themselves true stepbrothers since their parents are not legally married, they must face life together, the growing respect, the secret admiration of one for the other, which becomes a forbidden attraction.
While Sheng Wang must face his new life, with all the significant changes that this entails, he must not only get used to suddenly living with two strangers, but also to the cold welcome that his classmate sees in him a tough competition.
The confrontation is felt from the first minutes in which Sheng Wang sets foot in his new institute. Luckily, he has new friends with whom he can vent tensions, among whom Gao Tianyang (Andy Chen) stands out.
At first, Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian couldn't be less alike. Jiang Tian is a intelligent who likes to be alone. Sheng Wang is also intelligent and popular who everyone likes, who is invited to games and parties and who seems to have everything going for him. But by chance of sitting next to each other in the classroom, the two form an immediate bond, and then the closeness carries over to the home they will share as part of an unexpected family.
In addition to the characters and the plot, which deals with the stories of LGBT+ teenagers with openness and sensitivity, the pacing of the series is also perfect. With twelve episodes of about 45 minutes, it practically flies by. Every character's story, every relationship is perfectly arced throughout the series, while leaving plenty of room for character growth and exploration and romance. That's a rarity in any medium, and it's staggeringly impressive that the creators made it work.
I have no doubt that the series, as an artistic phenomenon, also managed to confirm and bring out a pool of stars, especially in the new actors who play the study companions of the two protagonists.
The series is told from Sheng Wang's point of view, but in the final four or five minutes, before the credits roll, we will have Jiang Tian's vision, and this helps fill in the gaps in the story.
Chinese actor Liu Dong Qin ('Psych-Hunter', 2020; 'To Be with You', 2021) plays Sheng Wang, whose main objective is to make his way in life based on intelligence and studies. His rich origin and the constant change of school and place of residence have determined his fighting spirit and earned the friendship of everyone around him.
It is about a teenager whose mother dies when he was a child, and whose life has developed with a certain animosity towards his father, much more so now that he discovers that he has a stepmother and a stepbrother, just the boy who sits next to him at school and with whom he doesn't get along at all.
The Chinese-born Taiwanese actor Benjamin Tsang plays Jiang Tian, ​​who has grown up estranged from his father after his parents' divorce, and from whom he only receives monetary support from time to time, money that he immediately gives to his mother, because both have lived in financial difficulties.
Also with an extensive filmography and experience in films with LGBT+ themes, the 28-year-old actor has starred in the short films 'Boxing' and 'A Cohabitation', both from 2019. In the first he plays Wei, a boxer who falls in love of Rong, his training partner, and in the ring he will have the ideal setting to declare his love, while in the second he puts a face to one of the members of a gay couple who is forced to separate because one of them has HIV.
Its beauty immediately attracts attention. He is a very physical actor. It looks robust and mysterious. In the interaction scenes with the actor who plays Sheng Wang, he is able to transform into a fantasy creature. He is also able to bring childlike innocence to Jiang Tian's interpersonal relationships.
As the two teenagers discover and explore their desires, the physical aspect of the story is striking, in which each scene represents a moment of action during which the characters are in a constant state of alert, and react without understanding what is happening to them happening, without knowing how to respond and, above all, how to put it into words. For the actors, it is a real challenge to work with a director who is so ambitious in the stories he tells, since Liu Kuang Hui does not want Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian to express their emotions like adults.
In my opinion, the director wants to make a very physical series, and capture that moment when desire and attraction rise from the intestine to the heart, and barely touch consciousness. In some ways, they are both lonely guys. They are not conceived as part of a group. Although we see, quite early on, that Sheng Wang integrates easily with the rest of his companions, we get the feeling that he lives in a kind of solitude that is not tinged with melancholy. He, like Jiang Tian, ​​keeps a bit to himself.
On the other hand, the animosity that dwells within them is, at least initially, the only language they share. They don't know where it comes from, or at least they don't know how to put it into words. Perhaps it is due to their similar intellectual abilities, but above all to their different environments. Jiang Tian has to trudge through the streets from his humble abode for a long time to get to school, while Sheng Wang makes a similar journey in a luxurious car driven by someone else. The gap between everyday life that leads distance from each other and separates them.
Shen Wang shows himself, creates poetic images in his mind; Jiang Tian is more in tune with the nature around him. They feel incompatible. When their parents announce to the two children that they will live under the same roof, it is obvious that neither of them wants to make peace. They want to remain at enmity, without realizing where they are going. They behave like explorers, adventurers.
However, if their first disputes seem to arise without control, then, little by little, we have the feeling that it has almost become a kind of chivalric rite. Here, the director once again shows his mastery of cinematographic language: he does not want the scenes to be repetitive. Each one had to erupt in a different way, and out of nowhere. But they are inevitably called by animosity and in their constant duel they reach the zenith when, indifferently, one steals a kiss from the other on two occasions, once as part of a game, the other as revenge.
These are the first steps. They are both a sensual moment. Especially the second one, as it is something spontaneous. Time stops. And so, Sheng Wang immerses himself, once again, in his poetic images full of love. For Jiang Tian, ​​something clicks at that moment. He feels an erotic discharge, links this moment with other recent memories, and finally everything begins to make sense.
The rivalry between them increases, until it becomes a story in itself. The more it grows, the more it blossoms, and the dramaturgy of the relationships between Jiang Tian and Sheng Wang evolves and becomes more sophisticated. It never stagnates, it is a dialogue. Little by little they are allowed to understand what is bothering them and what is changing.
The wish for Sheng Wang comes later. It is more indeterminate. He has to overcome his fear of rivalry and physical contact with Jiang Tian. Once he senses Jiang Tian's attraction towards him, he needs to keep his distance. He resists Jiang Tian's wish.
That's where the construction of the series becomes so unique: we're really in the frame of a drama about growing up, not a chronicle of summer heartbreak, nor, once again, anticipating what's going to happen. The reactions and evolution of the characters are as unexpected as the twists and turns: school conflicts, living in the same house, sharing the same spaces, the beginning of a love relationship... Everything remains a mystery. In the script and staging there are live characters who are surprising and at the same time surprised.
Liu Dong Qin and Benjamin Tsang, first and foremost, are perfect in the roles. Their chemistry is off the charts. Each line of dialogue is infused with feeling, from deep conversations about life and love to simple exchanges of the seemingly most insignificant word, a characteristic riff that resonates and takes on different meanings throughout the audiovisual. Without this key duo, 'The On1y One' wouldn't work. Fortunately, it does, and in the best tradition of romantic drama, you will find yourself rooting for them to figure out their feelings and come together in an indestructible bond from the beginning, much stronger than being step-siblings without any blood connection.
The fact that they are two proven actors, with a strong command of acting, works to the benefit of the series, with the nervous and uncomfortable energy of Benjamin Tsang merging perfectly with the confidence and security of Liu Dong Qin, who will not hesitate to kiss him without warning as part of a game of Truth and Dare with their fellow students.
At least, before the two start switching roles, for reasons too spoiler-filled to mention here. Beyond the two main characters, the world in which the two protagonists operate is populated by a group of adorable characters.
The romance and relationship between the two teenagers is one of the three axes that structure and are transversal to the entire story set in the present somewhere in Taiwan, but which could very well be any corner of the world. The other two are the relationship between Sheng Wang's father and Jiang Tian's mother, who by joining in a cohabitation union, that is, without a marriage bond, cause their children, two adversaries at school, to become close people and will cause a romance to be established between them that goes from the platonic to the physical, but with a certain degree of containment, given the circumstances of seeing each other as if they were two stepbrothers, and finally, school, friends outside the enclosure student, and classmates and teachers.
Led by Liu Kuang Hui in writing, Chinese screenwriters Ma Jing, Guo Guang Yun and Deng Yao Yu, who have jointly written the script for the series 'The Untamed Special Edition' and 'The Untamed', adapt the story of the little (great) gem of teenage romance, which is the novel "Mou Mou", by Mu Su Li, to tell us a classic love story in which two lonely souls write a sweet but sad love story, while they travel together through the paths that lead them to develop a precious relationship.
The fact that both belong to apparently different worlds does not prevent them from creating a transformative connection. The premise plays with the codes of the most classic teenage drama, but includes a forbidden love plot with the trope of a romantic relationship between two people who in the eyes of many can be considered stepbrothers, turned lovers, which has aroused the interest of a large part of the public. In this sense, the television story would run in the direction of other teenage productions of recent years, such as the Chinese and Thai versions of 'Addicted Heroin' and 'Stay With Me: The Series'.
It is a work that fascinates for its very cinematic production values, photography, soundtrack, editing, sound design, opening (header), and interpretation of the two protagonists.
On the other hand, it is important to point out the role of music as a narrative element that influences dramatic development. The music accentuates and intensifies the characters' feelings and has its climax when the songs by music producer James Chang and the vocal arrangements by Shivia Lee and Steven Lai are heard.
Songs are very important in all of Liu Kuang Hui's work, and this one fits perfectly. The main theme songs of the series are "Love Proverbs" / Mou Mou, "Just Lonely", voiced by Ricky Hsiao, "Rainbow Love / Give Mou Mou", performed by Princess Ai, "Interlude" (TRASH) and "17 Run to You", a song sung by Nasi Lee, among others.
In summary, part of what makes the series produced by Dragonfire International Co. Limited, Beijing Jinying Technology Co. Ltd. and Ilustrato Picture Ltd., work so well is, without a doubt, the trustworthiness and kindness of the source material, which is a huge hit with over a billion views. The series manages to adapt not only the story of Mu Su Li's novel, but also its spirit. Having these characters established and already loved by fans of the literary work gives it a step above the competition. And while we have seen many popular original works crash and burn when translated to television, this is not the case with 'The On1y One', as the different technical aspects, the work of the director, the scriptwriters and the acting cast also triumph unquestionably.