KO One (2005)

KO One (traditional Chinese: 終極一班; simplified Chinese: 终极一班; pinyin: zhōng jí yī bān; lit. 'The Ultimate Class') is a 2005 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang, Calvin Chen, Aaron Yan and Danson Tang. It was produced by Comic International Productions (可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and Gala Television, it was first broadcast in Taiwan on cable TV Gala Television (GTV) Variety Show/CH 28 (八大綜合台) on November 26, 2005 to May 27, 2006.

Before this drama was aired there was not much interest in it, due to the storyline and unfamiliar cast. Despite the new encounters, the ratings of KO One exceeded expectations. Although the ratings were not high, it brought fame to three of the four leads (Jiro Wang, Calvin Chen, Aaron Yan), who are part of the then newly formed Taiwanese boy band called Fahrenheit. This drama also brought fame to the Taiwanese artist, Tank who wrote and sang the opening and ending theme songs. The KO One original soundtrack was the best selling soundtrack of 2013, selling more than 60,000 copies in Taiwan within the first month of release.

On December 26, 2012, a new series is released at the same time on GTV, named KO One Return, which continues the story of KO One.

Synopsis

Zhong Ji Yi Ban is a class in Ba Le High School designed especially for the delinquents and rejects that other high schools would not accept. Even so, everyone in the class is loyal to the leader, Wang Da Dong (Jiro Wang), who is KO.3, and would die for friends. Another KO. 3, Wang Ya Se, also called Ya Se Wang (Calvin Chen), and KO.4, Ding Xiao Yu (Aaron Yan) soon join the class and out of some fortuitous events, their lives become tied together and they become best buddies. Another student, Lei Ke Si (Danson Tang), who had been gone for a whole semester, rejoins the class. Although Lei Ke Si seems like a weak kid with only good intentions, Ya Se suspects Lei Ke Si is KO.2 because legends say that KO.1 and KO.2 are capable of concealing their true identities.

At the same time, incidents start to occur and the culprit always leads to Ya Se. Ya Se is actually being framed by Lei Ke Si, who is actually the real culprit. Lei Ke Si makes Ya Se look bad so that Da Dong won't believe him when he says that Lei Ke Si is KO.2. Soon, An Qi, who is Da Dong's and Lei Ke Si's childhood crush, appears. Lei Ke Si reveals his true identity as KO.2 and fights Da Dong for An Qi. After Lei Ke Se leaves the class, Xiao Yu starts to crush on An Qi. Both Da Dong and Xiao Yu fight over An Qi, but Da Dong doesn't realize his crush on the teacher of KO One, Tian Xin (Melody) until An Qi tells him. An Qi decides to return to America. Soon after, two new female students join the class. One of them is Cai Wu Xiong (Bernice Tsai) who develops a crush on Ya Se. In the beginning, he refuses to accept her due to her gorilla-like behavior, but he eventually falls in love with her. At the end, Lei Ke Si returns to tell the class the secret to defeating their enemy, Hei Long. In the final battle, Da Dong, Ya Se, Xiao Yu and Lei Ke Si combine their powers to defeat the evil roaming around them, but the fight triggers a big explosion that causes both forces to lose their powers.

Characters

Main characters

Wang Da Dong (汪大東)

The ringleader of the school gang "Zhong Ji Yi Ban" (終極一班 / Ultimate Class). Self-confident and stubborn. Acting like an obedient child at home, he keep his parents in the dark about his school life. Everybody in Zhong Ji Yi Ban listens to him.

Da Dong is number three on the KO Rank and has the battle level of 9,000.

Although Da Dong seems harsh and cold, he is actually a good person at heart and shows his caring side whenever his friends need help.

He carries the "Long Wen Ao" (龍紋鏊 / Dragon Tattooed Pan) as his primary weapon. The unique aspect of this weapon is that it can vary its master's fighting count according to the opponent's fighting count; it becomes stronger when fighting strong opponents and remains normal when facing weaker ones (遇強則強、遇弱則弱).

Wang Ya Se (王亞瑟)

The son of the gangster leader of "Tu Long Bang" (土龍幫).

Rich, powerful, self-centered, and his concerns are his looks.

Like Da Dong, he has a 3rd position on the KO Rank, his battle level being 9,000. Because he and Da Dong shared the third position, he joined Zhong Ji Yi Ban intending to challenge him. They later became best buddies.

His primary weapon is the Shi Zhong Jian (石中劍 / Sword in the Stone), a spiritual dagger created by the wizard Merlin and used by King Arthur. When he removes the stone from the dagger, the sword essence will possess Ya Se, allowing him to instantly gain evil powers at the expense of losing control over his own actions.

Ding Xiao Yu (丁小雨)

Xiao Yu is an exchange student from "Tuo Nan High School" (拓南高中), known as the 4th ranked fighter on the KO Rank, his fighting count being 8,500. He is prone to giving others cold looks if they are not willing to leave him alone.

He doesn't like violence. He is known to be great at withstanding constant beating, and he will not fight back. However, if anyone hits his head, he will definitely fight back.

He uses his powerful fists as weapons and has the battle level of 8500. Xiao Yu's left fist is said to have the power of an atomic bomb, while his right fist has ten times the power of his left fist. However, if he uses the right hand, he will become unable to use more power within three hours and might risk losing his own life.

Huang An Qi (黃安琪)

An Qi is daughter of a famous politician and Da Dong's and Lei Ke Si's childhood best friend. She has been in love with Da Dong for a really long time, but never truly knew how he felt. She never knew Lei Ke Si was in love with her. She moved to America five years ago, but during that time she has written over five hundred letters to Da Dong - two letters per week. She never got any response from Da Dong, but he has secretly been collecting and memorizing them.

Her love for Da Dong is the reason why Lei Ke Si hates Da Dong. When Lei Ke Si finally reveals his identity as KO. 2 and gets Da Dong into a hospital, she decides to return to America because she believes she caused the rivalry between him and his best friend. Before she leaves, Da Dong tells her that he has been secretly memorizing her letters, so she stayed in Taiwan.

Tian Xin (田欣)

The homeroom teacher of Zhong Ji Yi Ban (終極一班). Because of her little brother's past, she becomes a teacher, in hopes to getting bad students back on the right track.

As a person, she is very nice and likes to babble a lot when she gets angry.

At first, Da Dong did not like her at all because of her position as a teacher but was eventually touched by her kindness and decided to let her become their homeroom teacher.

Sha Jie (煞姊)

Number 13th on the KO Rank.

Sha Jie is the leader of the girl gang of the class. She is extremely mean and fierce.

She has been in love with Da Dong since before the start of the series, but he hasn't shown any signs of liking her back.

Lei Ke Si (雷克斯)

Da Dong's childhood friend whom Da Dong has absolute trust in. Lei Ke Si has liked An Qi since they were kids, but because she was in love with Da Dong, he developed a strong hatred for his best friend.

In school, he is known as Da Dong's brain.

Because of his disguise as a weak kid with good intentions, nobody knows Lei Ke Si is actually KO. 2 - the next strongest fighter on the KO Rank, with a battle level of 10,000.

His weapon is "Ah Rui Xi Zhi Shou" (阿瑞斯之手 / Ares' Hand), a metal glove reclaimed from the realm of darkness.

Episode guide

KO Rank

Groups

Cast

Main cast

Jiro Wang (汪東城) as Wang Da Dong (汪大東)

Calvin Chen (陳奕儒) as Wang Ya Se (王亞瑟)

Aaron Yan (炎亞綸) as Ding Xiao Yu (丁小雨)

Stephanie Lee (李妹研) as Huang An Qi (黃安琪)

Melody (殷悦) as Tian Xin (田欣)

Sunnie Huang (黄小柔) as Sha Jie (煞姊)

Danson Tang (唐禹哲) as Lei Ke Si (雷克斯)

Extended cast

Production credits and trivia

Producer: Chen Zi Han (陳芷涵) / Wang Xin Gue (王信貴) / Liu Xing (劉行)

Director: Liao Fei Hong (廫猆鴻)

Screenwriter: Qi Xi Lin (齊鍚麟) / Lan Jin Xiang (藍今翔)

Da Dong has the best potential to be KO.1 among all the KO fighters.

It is rumored that the descendant of Guo Jing is the legendary KO.1 Tian Hong Guang and his sister Tian Xin.

The director had a hard time choreographing the moves with the actors.

The director intended to incorporate a KO.9 into the last few episodes, but due to their schedule, KO. 9 was credited as guest star instead.

External links

GTV KO One official homepage (in Chinese)

KO One - Japanese website (in Japanese)

TVMao - Ep 1-10 synopsis (in Chinese)

KO One Quiz (in Chinese)

References