Redeem: Only One Forever, Vol. 1 Review

Scarlet Beriko’s Redeem: Only One Forever, Vol. 1 opens with a devastating hook: Chiaki watches his boyfriend, Kuon, die in a tragic accident, only to wake up ten years in the past. What ultimately follows is the first installment of a fantasy-tinged BL romance built around loss, persistence, and the strange pain of loving someone who has not yet become the person you remember.

Plot

The premise is immediately emotional. As stated above, at just twenty-one, Chiaki loses Kuon right in front of him. Then, without warning, he finds himself thrown back a decade and trapped in his younger body. In this new timeline, Chiaki tries to tell Kuon that they are future lovers, but the Kuon he meets is not the warm partner he knew. And at twenty-eight, this version of Kuon is colder, wounded, and determined to push him away.

That setup gives Vol. 1 a strong sense of urgency, but it also gives the romance an unusual imbalance. Chiaki remembers a life and love that Kuon has not experienced yet. Because of that, the story is less about two people falling in love at the same pace and more about one person trying to reach a version of someone who has been hardened by pain.

Characters

Chiaki is easy to root for because his determination comes from grief rather than simple romantic stubbornness. He knows what he lost, and that knowledge makes him reckless, hopeful, and painfully sincere. His insistence could have felt one-note, but the emotional weight behind it gives his (sometimes crazy) choices more texture.

Kuon, on the other hand, is the sharper mystery. The older version Chiaki loved clearly exists somewhere in the future, but the man in front of him is guarded and damaged. That contrast gives the volume its best tension. Chiaki is not only trying to save Kuon from death. He is trying to understand the wounds that shaped him before they ever became important to one another.

Art

The art is especially important here because Redeem began as a SMARTOON, now turned into a book-format version of Scarlet Beriko’s first SMARTOON work. So, in other words, expect the volume to offer you a polished, webtoon-like visual rhythm. The story needs big emotional readability, and the art supports that through expressive faces too, whether it’s clean romantic framing or a strong contrast between Chiaki’s openness and Kuon’s guarded presence.

Because the premise moves between tragedy, comedy, fantasy, and romance, the visuals have to carry several tonal shifts without making the story feel uneven. Fortunately, they do exactly that.

Themes

The title’s idea of “redeem” fits the story well. This is a romance about trying to recover what was lost, but it is also about whether love can save someone before tragedy repeats itself. Chiaki wants his future back, but the volume’s deeper question is whether that future can exist if he does not first accept the pain Kuon is carrying now.

There is also a strong theme surrounding the significance of memory. Chiaki’s love is real, but it belongs to a timeline Kuon has not lived. That makes every sweet moment complicated. He is chasing a known future while slowly forming a new relationship in the present.

Verdict

Redeem: Only One Forever, Vol. 1 is a compelling start for readers who enjoy BL romance with fantasy stakes and heavy emotional pull. Its time-travel premise gives the story instant momentum, but the real strength is the relationship between Chiaki and this colder, more wounded version of Kuon.

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