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On the surface, The One starts off like many fashion-based shoujo mangas with a beautiful naive girl somehow finding herself in the throes of the dangerous, alluring and exciting fashion industry. However, somewhere along the line, among the typical tropes in this genre, the readers are introduced to an intense and intriguing story with complex characters who overcome their their tragic dark pasts. Granted, I still have two more chapters to read (at the time of this review) but I feel just that connected and confident in this story line, especially given what it's been thus far.

Story
Lele, our heroine, follows in the footsteps ... of her famous mother finally giving into the whims of her Aunt who is now a fixture in the fashion industry, first as a model herself and now as an agent. This leads to her meeting an interesting cast of characters to include the other main characters - a pair of gorgeous twin brothers - one an aloof, elusive director and the other a narcissistic supermodel. In the course of her life slowly becoming intertwined with hers, Lele learns of the twins past and helps them to come to gripes with their demons.

I really didn't think that I would enjoy this Manhua after reading the first few chapters. But I quickly found myself reading through, and somewhere down the line (maybe volume 3 or so) I was effectively hooked. I believe it's because Nicky Lee has a way of creating believable characters, weaving bits of their personality, past and growth into each chapter making it feel more natural instead of forced.

Art
I think Nicky Lee's panels really shine during the high fashion moments. When she's drawing top names of the industry (at the time of the manhua's publishing) they really pop. The photo shoots, poses and catwalk scenes feel authentic and exciting. Overall I thought the art was good, but the fashion scenes is what puts it over (in my opinion).

Characters
Now our 3 main characters are pretty well fleshed out. We get a bit of background on the supporting characters but I would've like to learn more - like more about about Eros guardians or Lele's adorably muscle-bound BFF Leo, but I guess focusing too much on them would've delved away from the main storyline too much. Overall, I enjoyed the characters and felt like they all had a specific purpose to the plot, even if that purpose wasn't revealed until later.