A Gentler, Sweeter and More Romantic Remake
Subjective Gut Rating: 8.25“Stay with Me” is like the gentler, sweeter and more romantic little brother of “Addicted”. “Addicted” is the more rebellious, sex-crazed older brother, but it also paved the way for many future Chinese BLs (or caused censorship to put the hammer down).
The leads in “Stay with Me” are quite likable compared to their counterparts in the other drama. Wu Bi is quite adorable when he’s so in love with Su Yu and gets all pettily jealous over little things. In “Addicted”, Gu Hai annoyed the heck out of me with how pushy he was. But that was a 2016 drama, and times have changed. Back to “Stay with Me”, the drama never had Wu Bi or Su Yu declare their love for each other, but you know for a fact that this is not a bromance, but a romantic story between them. There are so many moments, gestures, hugs and subtle lingering touches that they shared and I wonder how these scenes pass censorship. I am trying to recall if I’ve seen a Chinese BL with kisses on the cheeks recently.
The main focus of the drama is definitely on our leads, Wu Bi and Su Yu. Two lovely teenagers go from enemies to lovers, complete and fill each other’s hearts with love and care. Surrounding them are Su Yu’s very supportive father and stepmother, an adorable little stepsister, Duo Duo, who is wise beyond her years. We also have a few friends who don’t take up too much screen time. Technically, there isn’t really a character that I dislike, except for Wu Bi’s cousin’s ugly pig tail. That is definitely not fashionable at all. LOL.
The bond between this newly found family is the best part of the show. None of the parents are evil, they just show their love differently. However, the broken families have a big impact on the leads. They both just want to be loved. Simple as that. I love it when there are scenes of the new family together and the theme song, “The Meaning of Family” starts playing. The lyrics are perfect for these scenes, especially when Duo Duo starts singing if you need to look similar or have the same last names to be called family. The scene of this new family celebrating Wu Bi’s birthday is so heartwarming.
This drama is not without its faults. I think the acting of the leads could be better. I am also disappointed that they are both dubbed and not using their original voices. Heck, even Duo Duo uses her original voice and that adds 10000 points to her adorableness. There are a couple scenes with very fake green screens. There are only four songs in the OST and it lacks variety, though they are lovely. This is definitely not a big budget production, so maybe that’s why I am having all these minor disappointments.
Overall, I had a good time binge-watching this drama. The pacing is not bad but the ending might not be satisfactory to all. I knew what kind of ending it had before starting this. I am prepared, still not happy though 🙂
Completed: 11/3/2023 - Review #372
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Horrible Ending
Having watched this series since it aired, I had enjoyed it. When I got to the end of the Final Episode I was very disappointed in how it ended. I am hoping that they are settling up a sequel. Wu Bi has some seriously Evil members of his family!I have rewatched all of the episodes except for the last one 3 times. If it were not for the ending I would have given this Series at least a 9.5 rating!
Beware of them side of the Family! As bad as Wu Bi's Uncle is, his Cousin takes evil to a new level!
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A decent remake, yet incomplete
This remake has some similarities with the original but switched out most of the testosterone, impulse, lack of consent and lust with a whole lot of found family, slices of life, fluff and dare I say romance.Do not get me wrong there is still the need to own the other person and signs of addiction towards each other, just not as hard core and where there once was pinning down, and more or less kidnapping we now have playful games and kisses on the cheek.
How this made it though the notorious hands of Chinese censorship is beyond me but I thank who ever let the obvious gayness slide and called it "bromance" instead. there are som pretty decent friendships, an odd use of crossdressing, and whole lot of meals. The star of this show is however the boys little sister.
The things that drag down the score are the over use of flash backs and never ending montages, the uneven pacing and odd ending leaving me with a feeling of incomplete, which is a bit to bad.
All an all a decent watch but just a little bit incomplete...
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Honestly not the worst thing I’ve seen, but I disliked it more than I liked it.
The first and larger portion of this series was an annoying cycle of fight, friends, fight, ignore/pine and repeat. The last portion of this series was 50% dramatics and 50% wholesome montage.I liked the found family aspect and watching how everyone’s relationships change and grow. The story itself isn’t half bad, and some episodes were definitely better than others, but the delivery was uninspired and cliche. This series takes itself pretty seriously, but as a viewer it is very hard to take the cheesy montages, over-the-top dramatics, and editing seriously.
For example, what can a gang of 20 bodyguards do to one pretty young man seeking revenge for his sick boyfriend? Nothing apparently.
By the end of it, I was just wondering if there was any reason for it to be this long? I don’t mind watching a long series, but do I really have to watch the entire parent-teacher conference?! I didn’t really have the desire to watch the boys dance to Mario Kart-esque music either.
When it comes to the relationship between our main characters, I understand their situation is delicate, but at times their relationship was so fragile I could blow on it and it’d fall apart. One day these boys are two peas in a pod, and obsessed with each other, and the next day their relationship is beyond repair. Every time they resolved their problem, it wasn’t because they were honest and talked it out, but rather they decided they weren’t angry anymore.
This felt like running in circles. I thought you were best friends, brothers in arms, but no, they can’t even say two sentences to clear the air. And they want us to believe there is something more going on?
Their relationship was cute once they were dating, but still not satisfying because we never really got to see progression of their romantic relationship. I understand that this is because of the tight rules and censorship, but for most of the series their relationship was swampy and vague. This made the skip to hinting that Wu Bi and Su Yu were intimate with each other feel unbelievable, and most of the time it came off as fan service or a montage that checks the boxes for what is "supposed" to happen in a "BL relationship." Despite the tropes their relationship fell into, it still had a few endearing moments.
The acting and dialogue was really stiff, and this was actually emphasized by the editing. This was one of the fatal cheapening flaws of the series. A lot of conversations would finish and then the camera would hold a pause until cutting to the next scene. Sometimes it just felt like the actors were standing around until they remembered their queue.
I just finished watching this today, and looking through my notes has proven to me that I have already forgotten half the plot.
Overall, it’s just too soapy and melodramatic. I would say the highlight of the series is Su Yu’s face and the low point is Wu Bi’s face. I’m joking, they're obviously both attractive, but I really do wonder how they found a face that can look that miserable. In his defense, he looks much happier once he has a boyfriend.
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This review may contain spoilers
I couldn't suspend my disbelief any further
When I opened this MDL page I read in the comments that there will be no second season, which is awful since it leaves this drama without a proper ending - not even for its own season. The last episode ends with a cliffhanger, so we will never know what was supposed to happen to any character, even the protagonists. I was very tempted to lower my rating when I read the news, but I guess I'm feeling generous.The story is about Su Yu and Wu Bi, two high-schoolers who come from very different environments (Su Yu lives with his father in a poor neighborhood, Wu Bi lives a comfortable life with his rich father), but end up in the same classroom and gradually become best friends thanks to a series of coincidences. Little do they know that Su Yu's mother, who abandoned him after divorcing from his father six years prior, just got married to Wu Bi's father, who had been a widower for a few years.
The initial tangle of different relationships between the characters was very interesting to follow and actually made me more and more interested in everyone, even the secondary characters. The resolution of the first main conflict between Su Yu and Wu Bi, however, led the story to a less interesting and much more annoying part: one full with misunderstandings and lack of communication between the main characters. After that, the plot got a lot slower and fluffier, with cute and touching moments between the two main leads and also lots of "fanservice" moments. There were some events here and there to make the plot more lively, but for some reason everything felt much slower and I had trouble getting through the second part of the drama in particular. I also had to suspend my disbelief in multiple occasions, because the abilities of certain characters and the convenience of certain elements of the plot were just too much for me to take them seriously. I could have ignored it if it was just one thing or two, but there were too many times I rolled my eyes at the screen.
The main highlight of this drama are the two main characters. I felt like Su Yu and Wu Bi's feelings were truly genuine and that was great to watch. I know that this was an adaptation from a BL novel and that the love story had to be censored, but the production team managed to include lots of lines, gazes and moments that were just ambiguous enough to make it in the final version of the episodes. The main theme of the story was the idea of "family", in theory, but to be entirely honest I couldn't feel much of a bond between the characters other than between the two protagonists.
The secondary characters did an okay job, with some shining and others not so much. The parents of Su Yu and Wu Bi definitely had a better treatment as their characters got explored.
The production felt a little lacking. I am not aware of how much budget did they have, but there were multiple times when I just thought "oh, I guess they couldn't afford doing this thing properly?" and similar.
The OST seems to be made of two songs that are played at least once per episode, sometimes at moments that didn't fit the mood of the scene at all. To be entirely honest, sometimes I wished they didn't use music at all.
Overall I can't say that I'm entirely unsatisfied, because I felt like the relationship between Su Yu and Wu Bi developing and getting stronger and stronger across the episodes was definitely worth my time. However, considering that this drama is not finished, I'm not sure I want to recommend this to anyone. If you like bromance and you don't mind an open (VERY open) ending, go ahead.
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I Want More!
I loved the story of enemies, turned friends, and then into more. I feel they did a wonderful job, conveying the relationship between the two characters in spite of their having to censor. I’m glad they didn’t spend a lot of time on Wu Bi’s dysfunctional family. However, if there is a season two(fingers crossed 🤞🏻 ), I’m sure we will see more development in that department.I loved seeing the blended family grow together, and that little girl is such the glue that holds and bridges that family, without putting extra pressure on her into that roll.
There are slight clues in the last scenes that indicate a positive outcome, we can only hope that is the case if we don’t get a second season.
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How to bury a maybe-BL under a whole load of other stuff
This remake of the earlier censored "Addicted" is like being offered water after you've already drunk several bottles of Soju. Lacking the sexual tension and physical interactions of "Addicted", "Stay With Me" becomes a long (24 episodes? Really??) slog through a history of 3 families, connected by marriage, divorce and accident. The relationship between the two boys too often takes a back seat to the melodrama of parent conflict, child-rearing and earning a living. The series looks great: photography and action on-screen is top grade, although the missing millions of Beijing (car scenes on empty streets, for instance) is bizarre.Was this review helpful to you?
China has many potentials for making BLs
Okay just finished this drama after a week of binge-watching. I have never written any reviews before. Stay With Me indeed touched my heart and i can’t help spending time writing this review. NGL the past 7 days give me more butterflies than my entire career of watching BLs. I won’t forget the moments i blushed at the dialogs/interactions between the MLs. I loved this drama. It will take time for me to get over it and I’m gonna miss the MLs especially Wu Bi. There are so many quotes from Wu Bi that give me butterflies. The way he is so jealous and protective of Su Yu completely melts my heart. You can tell that he is madly in love with Su Yu. As a gay guy myself, Wu Bi is my babe goal. The line “Su Yu is mine” will forever Stay With Me and i know it will cheer me up whenever i think of it. The ending gives me a bittersweet feeling. I’m sad that Wu Bi ended up that way and we have no idea what will happen to him and Su Yu next. However, this open ending gives me hope for a season 2. So yeah, it’s a bittersweet feeling. SWM is the first Chinese BL that i’m really invested into and it opens my eyes a lot. Before it, i was stuck in the world of Thai BLs and i always wondered why it is so hard to find a good BL that can touch my heart. Now i know that there is a big gap between China and Thailand in terms of drama production. Thailand especially GMMTV still has a long way to go. China has mastered their storytelling, acting and production. I will definitely explore more about Chinese BL dramas. Too bad, LGBT content is censored in China. If they were allowed to develop and produce LGBT content at full force, i strongly believe Chinese BLs would take the world by storm.Was this review helpful to you?
The chemistry between the leads is unreal. I knew the actor who plays Su Yu, but I never really paid attention to him, in this drama he shines, same with Wu Bi.
The story is soft and cute, and I loved everything about it, I just felt like they could've kissed I KNOW WHY IT DIDN'T HAPPEN, but I was just rooting for it every single moment. But even though it was disappointing, didn't affect the story or how I viewed their romantic relationship.
I'm happy to know that there's gonna be a season 2, can't wait.
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A Beautiful Story of Love, Loss, and Family
What a ride it's been through this whole season... They did such a wonderful and beautiful job showing the relationship of the boys, as well as to their mixed, complicated family.I really appreciate the production and writers who understand that the audience is smart and can understand nuance and subtle nods (and some obvious hints) throughout. Without having to dumb things down, be overtly sexual, or just in-your-face about things, they can show rather than tell in this adaptation. [yeah, I think it really was lube :0] It really makes the show more fun to watch - when you think to yourself "ah, I see what they did here hehe" or "wow that was pretty funny and creative how they showed that" in spite of their social/legal limitations and restrictions for Chinese crew and actors.
Of course it wasn't perfect, with some questionable dubbing or awkward timings of some scenes. And no one will forget the green screen "beach" scene. Hope their popularity will give them enough budget to be able to transport the cast and crew to a real beach in season 2.
I get the reason for ending season 1 on an open cliffhanger - cuz that's what many shows do to drum up excitement for the next season. But in this case, the production is really gambling on the fact that they'll be able to come back without interference. I really hope they'll be able to come back full forced and finish the story that deserves to be told, but if not, it was great while it lasted!
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If you're looking for BL, READ THIS FIRST!
You might be wondering: Is it BL?, and the quick answer is no. No, it is not a BL series... or at least not for the most part.This season has 24 episodes: It's a family series for the first 18 and a censored BL series for the last 6 ones.
The series relies heavily on the imagination and the book knowledge of the viewer. Meaning, if you don't know any of the subtext, innuendos will fly you by like a bird in a beautiful summer day and you wouldn't think any romantic relationship between them it's happening right up until episode 19 ish I would say.
The series is well done, and if you are aware and willing to endure it as it is then you will enjoy it!
(like, it's not BL but it's the closest thing China can offer for now. Meaning settling in for censorship, hints and assumptions is what you have to put off with)
And that's what I did, I personally enjoyed the first 18 family series episodes and then I did enjoy those last 6 episodes where they nicely hinted their homosexual relationship to us. Which didn't make me happy happy, but I guess for gay guys living that ban first hand in China it must have, or at least it must have counted as some sort of representation in their own media to them, crumbs.
C'est la vie, right? Not everything is easy-peasy. I also suffered. I was heavily involved in their real romantic story that I knew from the book after Addicted the series got banned. I came to this series reluctantly because I couldn't bare the possibility to watch a gay relationship to be censored and hidden like it is something shameful and disgraceful. I cannot fathom or entertain that idea, not living proudly as I do and having enjoyed so many BL stories from others countries for so many years that have made me so incredibly happy for so long. That's why I never came back to Chinese adaptations of gay romantic stories ever since the ban of Addicted so many years ago and that's why I suffered by coming back to this. That gay ban left me angry, helpless and disappointed with their government, like, bruh.
It's save to say I needed some sort of closure, well, no, I have read the book, the original story is crazy by the way thank god is fiction, so no I didn't need closure but I wanted to see the story adaptation, I wanted a visual nice closure to that story that started with Addicted so many years ago. That's why I stayed and finished this series. And that's why I will watch the second season and be done with Chinese adaptations, since as I said, watching a gay relationship being censored is too painful for me.
I hope this review from a BL lover comes in handy to any other BL lover wanting to venture in the censored waters of Chinese adaptations.
My name is Alonso...
(a Venezuelan guy living his gay self far away from his also very conservative home country)
... and I will leave you with a massive: Cheers, x!
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Yes please watch it, it's worth all 24 episodes
As a remake, it fixes all all the problems that made Addicted subpar.Stay With Me has complex (and likeable) characters, depth in its storytelling, and exceptional visuals.
Fundamentally, the narrative has so much potential because all of SWM's characters are carefully constructed to show how they are missing something in their lives.
Both Wubi and Suyu feel like they don’t truly belong to their families. And it is in the context of these circumstances that they realise: In a relationship that involves only them both, perhaps they can belong to each other.
Over the course of 24 delicate episodes, the series weaves a wonderful narrative on relationships and parental love, high school friendships and romance, and what it means to feel like one belongs. The episodes are easy to watch and draw you in quickly with heartwarming stories of their family life.
Despite the ambiguity in Wubi and Suyu’s relationship, the show drops plenty of hints to suggest the depth of their emotional bond, making it clear that the nature of their relationship isn’t that of mere buddies.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/08/26/stay-with-me-2023-bl-review/
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