Mou Mou (2024)

A piece of art with deep emotional rollercoaster

Story between two people -one of them is wandering stray cat natured yearning for care still protective and guarded and the other one is derived from love weighing on himself searching for care. Their journey collides after knowing they're going to be step brothers.

Every episode amazes with details. Most attractive part of this series is it's narrative representation detailed with depth of every lessons, genuine friendship , slowly acceptance, Figuritive characters with flexibilities.

People who are thinking it as another cliche about step brothers to lovers trope let me clear you're absolutely missing out a beautiful coming of age exploring tale concluding self discovery,love,trauma, slice of life, manifesting through different relationships. As it's a Taiwanese show no need to to mention how phenomenal the actors are. Another interesting part in there are lots of cameos from previous shows holding significant characters here. Main leads are damn talented to bring characters into life embodied with more evolving way that made this show magnificent enough to bear long lasting effect. Anyone complaining about it being slow burn let me tell that's the magic of this show.

To sum up I have to express in short from my perspective it's a sentimental centric artistic series carrying deep value of bunch of emotions.

If it's not your type then skip but don't badmouth without watching.

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Superb!

Everything about this series was awesome! There have been numerous insightful reviews about this series. The chemistry between the 2 ML's was off the charts. Their relationship developed in season 1 to the point where Sheng was attracted physically to Tian but felt uncomfortable with the attraction because he didn't want to destroy their friendship and complicate their relationship as step brothers. Tian who noticed everything about Sheng knew something was different and that Sheng lied about his exam to distant himself from him. Season 1 left everything up in the air. All I can say is after the Chinese Addicted series wasn't completed and the series Stay with Me wasn't given a Season 2, this series better have a season 2 or I'm going to be severely upset!

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A genuine and breathtaking exploration of queerness

Gosh, this series is beautiful. It is so rare to come across a series that genuinely takes it's time to explore the idea of slowly coming of age and realizing your sexuality, and all the desire and fear that comes with it. It is so rare to come across a series that builds up a relationship slowly, genuinely, where proximity feels like something tangible, like the audience can actually see the distance between the characters shift with each episode. It is so rare to come across a series where each gesture doesn't have to be romantic right away, where the relationship is special and something to treasure even in the moments before they realize it's heading towards something more romantic. They're friends, they're partners, they're family. They're all these things even before they realize they want to be anything else.

It is so rare to come across a series that explores all the happiness, yearning, and pain one might feel in their school years in all its authenticity, instead of downplaying it for potential a adult audience who may no longer be in that phase of their lives. As an adult, you may watch a particular moment and think, why is that such a big deal? But I think maybe we can try to remember our teenage selves in those moments. When you're in that time of your life, such small things can make or break your world. I remember weeping, bawling at things that barely scratch the surface of my life now. I remember laughing and being happy at the silliest things. We grow and we change, but maybe in watching this show, we can honour the feelings of our younger selves, too.

Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian don't meet under the ideal circumstances: With their parents moving in together, they are forced to fit into this idea of family that their parents are trying to construct. The role of brother is immediately pushed on each of them, but they don't want it. Each of their single parents having been so absent for a large part of their upbringing, they are not used to the idea of being able to rely on someone, to find someone who is also in the same boat that they can count. To make it more complicated, they are also in the same class, which means there are even more people who are keeping them together: their classmates and their teachers. Of course, they're both skeptical (to different extents). At most, perhaps they hope to get along well. But fate is funny, and sometimes the person you meet under the worst circumstances ends up being the person who truly sees you and makes you feel not alone in all the ways you are not alone. And it's complicated, because you don't feel like you're allowed to love them in that way, but when has love ever been a choice?

What I love about this drama is how integral space is to their relationship. The space between their desks, where they pass ink refills and test papers and sticky notes. The space of the kitchen table where they have to meet every morning for breakfast and share food. The space of the desk in Jiang Tian's room where they spend hours solving physics and math equations, practising handwriting, studying and revising, learning to count on each other in those ways. The space of the cafe run by their teachers, the corner store, the old man's house, all the places where their word grows a little bigger, where they find adults they can rely on in ways they might not be able to rely on their parents. In each space, their relationship is different. Between the school desks, they are classmates. At the kitchen table, they are brothers. In Jiang Tian's room, they are strangers first, then friends. And in all those spaces outside, they learn what they can be to each other in ways that other people aren't forcing them to be. And that doesn't have to be romantic right away, but they do realize it's something special. They might not be brothers, but they are family. They are each other's person. If there's one thing you will feel after watching the series is truly feeling that they are each other's person. In all the ways that count (and more).

I find that often watching a romance series, especially a gay romance series, I want to live vicariously through them and want them to fix something inside me by giving me quicker happiness. You know, confession, a kiss, getting together. But this show goes beyond that to me. Of course, not going to spoil anything about the trajectory of their relationship and the plot (and this story is undoubtedly a romance), but right from the first few episodes I knew their bond and relationship was special to me without all those things, too. Their building relationship wasn't a means to an end, it wasn't just the prequel to a grand romantic ending. It was special by itself. I felt warm seeing them get closer to each other, not because I thought this would make the confession come quicker, but just because I liked seeing them get closer. Whatever their relationship might be at any stage in the series, it is so special. And it's so comforting to me, not just as a queer person, but just as a person. This realization that queer love is like this, too. It is also between friends, family, and acquaintances. Queer love isn't just a kiss. It is also someone carrying you home on their back, not because they want anything romantic from you, but because they just want you to be home safe. It's someone giving you the answers on a math test. It's someone giving you a band-aid. It's someone wanting to be your friend. It's someone wanting you there, always.

Family is such a big part of their story. They have complicated relationships with their parents and the series does show us the good and bad parts of it. And truly, I like the dynamics of forced brotherhood too. Having grown up in an Asian country, even platonic friendship bonds are often parallel to pseudo-sibling relationships of sorts (e.g., you might call an older boy or girl using the word for older brother or sister). It doesn't mean they're your sibling, but that context is there. So, I think that kind of relationship can be explored without them being like literal brothers. And this show does do that. Their relationship is not brotherly, but there are things you can do for your brother that you might do for your romantic partner, too. I feel that we often think of romantic love as the highest form of love and certain gestures as explicitly romantic. But hugging someone, carrying them, bringing them food, wanting them to do well on a test, wanting them to smile, wanting them to be closer to you...all these things aren't necessarily romantic. What I like that the same gesture can change with time. You might do a lot of things with someone and mean them in a platonic light at a certain point of time and then maybe after some time when you realize your feelings, you think back to those gestures and their context changes. But in that moment of time in the past, your past intentionality is valid, too. Something can be both platonic and romantic. I think this show really makes the most of the uncertainty of their relationship to explore both these dynamics in a way that feels sincere and authentic. If at any point in the show Sheng Wang does call Jiang Tian "Ge", it doesn't have to mean literal brother. The word can mean what it means to them, the relationship can mean what it means to them.

The show also very beautifully portrays that liking someone doesn't mean you have overcome all your problems. You can like someone with all you have and still be hesitant about things. For example, a very lighthearted scenario, if you hate mint chocolate ice cream and your crush offers it to you, you might not automatically accept it even if means you're going to share ice cream with them. The parts that make you are still yours, and they don't all have to change even when you realize you have deeper feelings for someone. You can like someone with all you have and still be lonely, sad or scared. Liking someone isn't a permanent solution. But it does make all these things a little easier. It might not solve all your problems, but maybe love makes it a little easier to exist. And maybe that's what we can hope for.

I feel so deeply for both Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian. I feel so deeply for what they feel for each other. Gosh, this show does such a beautiful job showing queer awakening. How it feels exciting, undeniable, but also scary and sometimes deeply shameful. This is true, even without the whole complicated situation with their family. It's just so real. They're young and innocent, they're just realizing who they are. There is nothing wrong about their desire. It's pure. It's something special. The show shows it to us as something special. I wish beyond anything I had seen even a glimpse of this when I was younger. Because even through their fear and guilt, it is clear that there is nothing wrong with who they are. I wish more people get to see that on the screen. I wish more people at various stages in their journey (or even on a different journey) get to see someone similar to them on the screen and see their own capacity to love reflected in the characters, and realize that it is not something to fear. It is only something to cherish, forever.

The music is beautiful, the visuals are stunning, the acting is so freaking good, like beyond good. Dongqin and Benjamin have such a strong grasp on their characters. They're so convincingly age 17, you will NOT doubt it. They bring their characters to life through subtleties. Like, something as simple as head tilt feels intentional. The shared glances. Their body language when they're together is palpable, and you can see the ways their shoulders pressed closer or turning towards each other, and also when they're not together, when you can see they really are inhabiting the body of a restless teenager (especially Dongqin's Sheng Wang). Benjamin is amazing because it's so hard to portray a character that is stoic but also gentle? Benjamin's Jiang Tian isn't expressionless. He's reserve, but still soft, still undeniably caring (gosh he is such a giver, someone teach that man how to take), and sometimes awkward, sometimes cool. And Dongqin...well I can't imagine a different Sheng Wang and I will never be able to. Sheng Wang is adorable, annoying, pushy, clingy, stubborn, scared, sensitive, lonely, and so, so, so kind. He's good. He's a good person. The moment he realizes he can push Jiang Tian's buttons and Jiang Tian will still be there, the moment he realizes that he is so immensely cared for, he's so unrestrained. He's playful, he's truly so freaking annoying. I love them both, they're so perfect for each other. And all the Class A students, they're all so good, their dynamics are so fun, I really felt like I was back in school, even if school in my country wasn't like school in the series. But often school dramas use school as a backdrop, but this show (and the novel, which please the novel is true gem here), really makes the most of that space. It's not such a setting, it's a time in their lives. This series is truly a study on nostalgia.

All in all...if you've been considering watching it, please do. It will move something inside you. And then read the novel too. I know fans have said the novel and the series feel different but gosh, they're both so beautiful together. I just...we have a lot more queer series these days, but it's still not a lot compared to straight romances. We still have such a long way to go in terns of representation. It's not easy to find a queer show that truly explores the characters with care and effort, treating their relationship and journeys as something special, both together and seperately. It's not easy to find a director, actors, and crew who care so much. All the interviews and behind-the-scenes clips I have seen of this show, I can see how earnest everyone is in playing their role. Even the smallest of moments. And Dongqin and Benjamin speak of their characters so fondly. I don't know. It's something special. I am so happy to have come across this show and watched it (even if it means I am now incapable of thinking of anything else in the near future).

Please watch it. Please give this a chance. You will not regret it.

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Cautions! Maybe contains little bit spoiler :)

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, JUST WATCH THIS DRAMA!!!!
REMEMBER TO WATCH ON THE OFFICIAL PLATFORM BECAUSE IT'S ON NETFLIX, IQIYI, WETV, VIKI, GAGAOOLALA.
To be honest, at first I was hesitant and not very interested because I had just finished THE SPIREALM so I was in the moving on phase from Ruange AHAHAH. And again, the theme of this drama is created quite often, the theme of adopted brothers and sisters falling in love, a theme often found in Chinese BL dramas. For me, the best drama with that theme is ADDICTED HERION, so it was clear that I was skeptical about watching THE ON1Y ONE. But I thank my FYP tiktok AWOWJOWODOWKWKK they made me curious and tried to watch it AND I'M ADDICTED LOL. Entering the story which has a market plot but believe me Mr. Pat3liu directed it in a very epic and interesting way. Maybe many fans of the novel are disappointed with the plot which doesn't match the novel, but HELLO GUYS! This is a drama so adjustments need to be made so that the story makes more sense and can be accepted by others, not just novel readers. Next, Benjamin and Dongqin's chemistry, I admit their chemistry is crazy, it's very compatible, you could even say that their meeting was like fate, it's their first time playing a role in a BL drama but their acting seems very natural, kudos to the casting team. The music, lighting arrangement, background theme, and direction are very good, throughout watching I wondered how he had an idea like that. It's very clear why I gave this drama a 10/10, I hope season 2 happens without a hitch and can be broadcast soon :))))))

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The Only OnE : A novel constructed in a delicate and profound way

The BL "The Only One" presents an engaging and touching narrative, centered on the story of two students, Wang and Tian, ​​whose friendship blossoms into a mutual love, full of affection and care. From the beginning, the relationship between the two protagonists develops with subtlety and sensitivity, captivating viewers with the authentic way in which emotions are portrayed. The connection between them goes beyond romantic love; there is a complicity that demonstrates the emotional support they offer each other, building a solid foundation for their relationship.

The great merit of "The Only One" is the way in which the romance between Wang and Tian is presented with a rare smoothness. Their friendship is the foundation, and the transition to love is done with care and respect, without rushing. This makes the journey of both even more special, as the viewer is able to follow each step of this relationship. The feeling between them is characterized by deep respect and attention, with scenes of affection and delicacy that reveal how much they care about each other's well-being.

However, the final episode brings a dramatic twist that has had a significant impact on fans: Wang has to move to a new room and be separated from Tian, ​​leaving a feeling of sadness and uncertainty in the air. This temporary separation serves as an emotional trigger for both the characters and the audience, who mourn the separation. Although the ending leaves a bittersweet taste, it also warms the hearts of fans by suggesting the possibility of a second season, generating expectations for what is to come.

One of the elements that most contributes to the emotional success of "The Only One" is the soundtrack. The songs are carefully chosen to highlight the crucial moments of the plot, accompanying Wang and Tian's feelings with melodies that intensify the emotional weight of the scenes. The soundtrack manages to immerse viewers in a melancholic and, at the same time, hopeful atmosphere, amplifying the connection with the story and the characters.

In addition, the visual aspect of the series is another strong point. The colors in the scenes are meticulously worked, bringing out the mood of each moment. In the most intimate and tender scenes between Wang and Tian, ​​soft tones predominate, creating a sense of welcome. On the other hand, in the most dramatic scenes or scenes of separation, there is a change in colors, which reflects the anguish and emotional dilemma of the characters. This visual care is essential to intensify the viewer's immersion and convey, nonverbally, the feelings of the protagonists.

Although the ending was striking and sad for many, the series as a whole maintains a harmonious balance between moments of joy, tenderness and tension. "The Only One" not only explores the love between two young students, but also reflects on the challenges and uncertainties that arise when deep feelings are put to the test.

In short, "The Only One" is a work that wins over with its sensitivity, with a romance constructed in a delicate and profound way, a soundtrack that enriches each scene and a visual that captivates the eyes and the heart. The last episode may have left many hearts broken, but it also opened the door to new possibilities, making fans long for a sequel that resolves this separation and brings a happier ending for Wang and Tian.

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