I have been avoiding this show and I regret it

It is so unserious with the way it progresses which makes it so fun to watch.
Let me preface by saying that I have been an OOO fan since 2020 and this is the first kpop group that made me see the appeal of kpop, in general. They are a group where I have liked the majority of their discography. I do not buy physical albums, except for this group's and I own three of their physical album. I say this to say that this review may be a little biased.

When this show was first announced, I was quite surprised. A whole kpop group will be starring in an adaptation of a shounen ai/bl manhwa where the main romance involves two group members. Semantic Error had two idols but they were from different groups so this was unexpected.
Queer baiting in the entertainment industry is nothing new so I found this plot to be very interesting since the group has been accused of doing this. Now, in actuality I do not believe OnlyOneOf partakes in this fraudulent "Business Gay Performance" but when seeing their paired up music videos, fan meetings in Korea, and their tours in the U.S. and people speculate, I can sort of see why some say that but we do not actually knows these people nor is queerness still openly embraced in most countries (yes, including the regressing U.S.).


While I found the premise interesting, the overall plot, characters, and character interactions were so typical. The dialogue and scenes were regurgitated . From the beginning when it shows that "dream" and the "because you wanted it", it was so trope-y. If you have ever read straight or even queer (specifically MlM/BL) romance media like books or manga, manhwa, and manhua, they will have these dreams/sequences displaying desires or past memories and those awful phrases that are perpetually recycled. The two too many moments where Ji-hoon (Nine) cornered a flustered Eden (Mill) with his questions before Eden speedily gets away made me roll my eyes. I have to mention that one scene where Ji-hoon stepped in when a male fan asked Eden for a hug and gave the hug to the fan instead cause the dominant characters in every romance do this weird thing. I am tired.
BUT I did appreciate that the story has Eden as someone who was attracted to boys from a young age rather than the stereotypical "I was only attracted to women until I met you/only gay for you". Also, I was surprised that they kissed. I do not really care for couples kissing tbh especially since "What Did You Eat Yesterday" barely shows any hugs and it is one of my favorite comfort shows.

If you are a fan, you know that they can sing and dance so well but that does not mean they can act well. I am so sorry but the acting was so unmoving? is the word I want to say. Like I did not care about any of the "serious" parts of this. KB's character Hyunbin came off as just goofy which I did enjoy but I doubt that was the intention lol.
Even I have favorite members in OOO which are Rie (Gun) and Yoojung (Jay). Rie had such a small part but I found him to be the best in acting; he was literally just being himself. I will acknowledge how Mill, Junji, and Yoojung tried really hard (especially Yoojung having to speak in English) and I commend them but that is all I can say about the acting in the entire show.

Going onto character dynamics, I found it fun. Being that I am familiar with the group, the dynamics presented in the first episode were funny. Nine is actually the youngest member but is playing the oldest even among Junji's (Sung) and Rie's respected characters. I sincerely could not take Nine serious in this show at all. If you know how he actually functions in the group's vlogs, seeing this clown play a serious role was so amusing. It is one of many aspects in the show that proved it to be entertaining to me.

Sidenote:I found it interesting they have these age switch ups since, from what I have always seen in Japanese BLs, the older and younger characters are portrayed by actors that match the dynamic. There are many examples but one recent movie I came across was "Sono Koi, Jihanki de Kaemasu ka?" where the older character was played an older actor compared to the younger counterpart.

Adding clips from their vlogs, music videos, and implementing OOO's actual songs was such a good touch. I loved seeing the small clip of Mill in NYC during their U.S. tour to add some character to Eden.

Again, I did enjoy it regardless of my gripes. This is not one that I would rewatch but there aren't many shows/movies I would rewatch.
Overall, I give this an 7.5

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Just watch the first 4 episodes and the last 4 minutes of episode 6.

As soon as I watched the first episode, I knew this was going to be a good show. I have not liked most BL shows (I prefer reading the comics) but I really anticipated this show since I am familiar with the mangaka.

We are all aware this is going to be a trope-y romance where they carry their adolescent feelings into their adulthood and we are going to love it.

The first two episodes were so fun with the introduction of the characters which were all enjoyable the majority of the time. Although, I will say that they did not feel quite fleshed out. Iwanaga felt surface level, like his words and responses to Miyata throughout the whole show did not move me. Miyata spent the first three episodes sharing his feelings and it felt like Iwanaga wasn’t actually listening with his flirty coquettish behavior. BUT THIS DOES NOT MEAN I DID NOT ENJOY THIS CHARACTER.
The way Iwanaga reacted and responded were very funny with each and every moment. When he stayed to eat the cake in episode 2 after Miyata walks out on him was great. He has walked away from this man to leave him on his lonesome so many times throughout the show and I love that for him and me. Miyata having his guard up and not trusting Iwanaga right out the bat was to be expected but his reasoning of not trusting him felt like it needed to be fleshed out more since it seemed like he was holding onto the way his young teenage self felt. Made him a bit unreasonable to me, at times, or maybe I am being a bit biased towards Iwanaga.
Shiriashi was adorable with his little schemes and jabs; I was okay with him being a menace for the man he pined for. You can tell I have read way too many dramatic BL comics where revenge on a love rival have been severe so the way Shiriashi behaved was nothing.
I found the dialogue to be so fun and entertaining like each character did respond in the way that I would expect. Sometimes BL dramas/movies have the odd/uncomfortable dialogue that ruins it for me. I do not care for very intimate scenes in shows but the one in episode 3 felt necessary. It broadened my view on Miyata’s feelings with the call back to the past when Iwanaga apologized for his first kiss. “Don’t be sorry. If you like me, don’t be sorry”. THIS LINE WAS SO GOOD.
If there is an episode I have to pick that made this story it would be the fourth one. Episode 4, in particular, was memorable since so much happened and Miyata showed many different reactions/faces and said many surprising things. This wasn’t that surprising cause he has always been blunt but I was kind of shook he said he thought of Iwanaga while pleasuring himself outside right in front of the moon.

Episodes 5, I felt the momentum of my enjoyment and anticipation of the show falter a bit. It felt unnecessary to have that kind of drama and going into episode 6 felt like such a chore but the last scene of episode 6 made it worth getting through. I did not care about what was happening or what was being resolved. Just because I did not like the last two episodes does not mean this was not a good story. Your typical romance/BL has to have the drama.
I have read some of the author’s English translated works on MangaPlaza and on Kindle and their stories tend to have very similar dynamics which felt familiar in this show. I mention that since Miyata and Iwanaga were similar to certain characters throughout their works and I think they did a great job, as well as the show doing a great adaptation. I can see the author’s other works getting adapted.

I would definitely rewatch the first four episodes.

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