This review may contain spoilers
Not from the novel, rushed ending
If you thought it is an continuation of "Addicted" and have read the novels you will get disappointed. This version has nothing to do with the novels at all. It's a story of what might have happened. The story is a bit confusing and till the end there is no resolution especially with the woman who "drove Yoki to the ground".Instead of wasting 6 minutes with a long intro and credits they should have invested more time in the actual story telling. Because they did, especially the last two episodes felt rushed, even when the finale got 11 extra minutes or so. I still have no idea what the contract was with the village chief because the translation was not clear enough. Also the subtitles had timing issues, so sometimes they subs where only shown for a second or two which is annoying because you have to stop the playback and go back and stop at the right moment.
The most positive about the show are the actors which did a really good job and the music. The negative is, that the show in a show did not feel like it... Normally you have tons of crew. multiple cameras, boom microphones and lights and nothing was present. I guess they had budget constraints, but they could have build in their own crew/stuff into the scenes to make it believable. Overall, this is an ok show, but nothing special.
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My shalala is back = Not addicted just in love
I didn’t even think I needed this until I watched the first few episodes.I was ignoring many famous BL series because I didn’t want to get addicted again. But our OGs were pulling me in so hard that I couldn’t ignore them. I knew that if I started this series, I’d end up rewatching Addicted Heroin for the nth time—and still, I couldn’t ignore how much I missed them. So yes, I went back… again.
Coming to the series… how was it?
For me, it felt like coming back home. I was giggling, kicking the air, and pausing a hundred times just to process certain scenes—not in a bad way, but in a very spicy way.
I don’t know how new BL watchers will feel about it, but for me, I’ve waited 10 years because this is a continuation of Addicted Heroin (side couples story). Literally, 10 years. So even if they’re just sitting together, I still get butterflies.
Their acting is so good, and honestly, our leads have become insanely hot and sexy. Just watching them on screen feels refreshing for the eyes.
I also loved the topic they touched on—false accusations and fake allegations against actors regarding relationships and cheating. It felt very real. We judge so many actors just because they’re famous, forgetting that they’re humans first.
The music is calm and soothing, and there’s one Korean OST that I absolutely loved—it just flows straight into your heart.
There were a few instances where I felt some miscommunication between the writer and the editor. At times, I also felt that Chinese humor is hard to translate accurately into English, so as viewers we end up feeling a bit confused—like, what exactly is happening here?
Disclaimer: my high rating is purely based on my long-awaited love for lead actors. So don’t judge me even if I rate this a 10 after saying all this.
And please, don’t let me meet that idiot director—how dare he do such things to our pookie?!
Now… the romance.
Oh. My. God. Who is even saying they don’t have chemistry?! That finger-in-the-mouth scene… AAAAAHHHHHH.
Just go watch it, idiots. No need to waste time reading my review. Like me, I’m sure you’ll end up watching it in one go.
-Ahhhh the ending.. How can you rush it like that. Give justice to my pookies!!!!!
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Poorly written and disappointing
This BL features the story of You Qi and Yang Meng, two support characters from the BL Chinese Addicted that was abruptly stopped mid run because of censorship from Chinese Government. Having said that, this drama does not feel like a real continuation of that story as we find back the two characters at adult age, after leaving them during their high school year. The series exploit a bit their past but not well enough and the hints about the previous series are too sparse to be anything more than trivial. It feels more like they capitalized on the iconic series rather than to make it cohesive.Still, the beginning of the series was quite fun, the leads had a very good chemistry with swoony and hot intimates moments. However, the writing was quite bad with a conclusion that felt very clumsy and parodic. The series was full of wild shift in tones with the comedy aspect being too much for me and making the most poignant stuff feel not as important. They approached for example the topic of discrimination for actors regarding their sexuality, before brushing it off by more over the top comedy. Similarly, the OST was also a strange mix of genre : Korean, English, Chinese balad...most overpowering what could have been emotional scenes.
I would not recommend this to people as there are definitely better BL out there. The premise of the series and the chemistry between the actors is quite good, but everything else felt a miss. The imbalance of tones, the weakness of the writing and the over the top ending brushing off a lot of things, are making it a watch I would not recommend.
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Enjoyable to watch, unfortunately you have to "guess" the gaps in the plot of the last episodes
watched on GagaOOLala.
The last 2 episodes were chaotic. I missed the explanation of why and what they did for the whole year after the breakup? Why was You Xi in the desert? Lots of gaps and a disjointed plot. I had to guess a lot. The last episode was a summary of experiences and memories to condense the grand finale into just 5 minutes. The plot was good, good chemistry, but the ending was poorly written.
Am I the only one who feels like the author ran out of ideas and wanted to end it in a hurry?
Otherwise, I liked this series, it's just a shame that it ended chaotically and with unanswered questions, even with a happy ending.
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Eps. 1-10 are excellent, but it had trouble getting from there to the ending it wanted to have
I really loved the start of this one! The first ten episodes were excellent — solid performances from all actors and the chemistry was perfect. I actually quite liked the plot line/commentary on the entertainment industry, which felt like it elevated the show. The pacing generally felt good until about episode 10. I can’t underscore enough how great the acting and chemistry was from the main couple. So good! Really well done, including the breakups and crying scenes.However, the show falters in episodes 11-12. It seemed to only sort of complete all the plot lines and requires the audience to fill-in-the-blanks. There were closeups on a few different highlighted details that never came back into the story or we have to assume what happened with them. In the last two episodes, there was too much flashback and not enough story for the amount of story the show seemed to actually wanted to tell. Ultimately, Love After Addiction was trying to do too much with the number of episodes/minutes it had.
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Disappointing
Considering the leads came from Addicted, I was highly disappointed in the finished product. It was cute and sweet, but the last two episodes were somewhat confusing, at times. Maybe it was the subtitles or the translation—I’m not sure.The misunderstanding between the leads didn’t make much sense to me. Neither did their reasoning for reconciling.
I felt it should have been better. There was little depth to the story, as well as little fire between both couples.
Just not great. Disappointing. I wanted to like it more.
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This review may contain spoilers
Finally <3
Honestly, I love it. And here's why:1. The original "Addicted" got me hooked for years now, and one of the main reasons for this was the scenery. I loved it for being not so clean and perfectly as other BL-dramas, and for showing another PRC - far away from the shining, bright side of usual chinese dramas.
"Love after addiction" now gives me a similar vibe of people just living their lives in their environment, showing some universal realistic struggles (like the villagers trying to sell their goods while competing with low-priced industries)
2. Although both Leads have some struggles, it is not scripted in a overdramatic way. While some decisions might not have been in the "ideal" drama way, I found all of them quite reasonable.
I especially loved and appreciated Yokis personality as he never tries to hurt the people around him and would rather suffer himself; this is clearly shown multiple times,when he decides not to reveal this actress, and continues in accepting Yang Mengs decision to leave him.
3. The little hints in the end pointing at the "Addiction"cast <3
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Loved, loved, loved their chemistry ❣️
When I heard that we would get to see these two boys in a series together again after ten years, I was incredibly moved. I knew before the premiere that it wouldn’t be their story after Addicted, since they didn’t get the rights from the author, so I was expecting something different.The first four episodes was overall good. Even though it was clear from the start that the series had a fairly low budget, the shots throughout were beautiful and the chemistry between the two leads might be some of the best I’ve ever seen. That chemistry was honestly what kept me watching until the end.
The script, however, had holes from the very beginning, and the direction didn’t help at all. Aside from the gorgeous cinematography and the main couple’s chemistry, I didn’t find much else interesting. Each episode felt worse than the one before, and the writing became almost nonsensical in the final episodes. For such a short series, there were far too many filler scenes. I won’t even comment on the second couple.
Despite all that, I finished it, mostly for emotional reasons and out of respect for these two amazing actors, who kept the promise they made to their fans even ten years later.
I can’t give it more than 7 out of 10, and even that seems pretty generous overall.
Still, I really hope to see them together again in another project with a tighter script, their chemistry is absolutely chef’s kiss. 🤌
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After Addicted..... huh.. dissappointed
After I got to know that we are getting from the support couple from Addicted I was very excited, but it was a dissappointment, I would not say unwatchable, but not rewatchable. The chemistry of the main couple was very good which drove the show actually and second couple fell short. The second couple broke the second leads syndrome , I genuinly thought the second couple was not necessary. The stoey was rushed, due to short episode spans, But the music and chemistry hooked me till the end but the ending was a total dissappointment, it was so random and unfinished like tehy had to shoot it yesterday and release today. The ending and story were the once that stopped me from giving it any more rating, the premise was repetitive but could have worked very well if done right, but unfortunately it wasn't. If you want a short drama and liitle comedic and fluffy, yet able to make you cry at moments go for it but be ready for dissappointing ending.Was this review helpful to you?
Letter to the fans
When I first heard the reunion between two main lead, it really throw back to when I was watching Addicted back in the days.Personally, the script had ton of potential but is drawn back by weird decisions and ultimately budget. Unfortunately each episode is only 20 minutes with major plots that feel like fever dream or skimped over. Scripwriting felt like old bl shows in 2015 or 2016, but at least is nice to look at. This also might be controversial take but this series DID NOT need a second couple. I seriously skipped them or roll over my eyes when it come to their scene. They barely added much entertainment or move the plot point. The scene-time with them could have used for main couple and plot point. Yoki and Yang are on point when it come to chemistry, their scene at the boat was sparkfly.
My favorite part when it come to series is setting, cinematography, and town people themselves. The location scouter deserve a raise. This by far one of the mostly beautiful town ever. The location really gave the series a refreshing and editing of the show give it a refreshing feels. The blue hues of the series give a mood of a morning before the sunrise.
I really think the productions team, Chen And Feng Song did their best to give us this productions. I want to thank Chen and Feng Song who put their own money and time into this projects. I am really grateful, even though there is some draw back but I am very happy.
This is my first review, sorry for any confusion.
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The Real Stars: Yo Ki & Yang Meng
If we are being real, Yo Ki and Yang Meng are the only reason to watch this show. While the main story was sometimes too heavy or confusing, these two kept things fun and sweet.Lin Feng Song (Yo Ki) played the persistent pursuer perfectly, and Chen Wen (Yang Meng) was adorable as the guy who acted annoyed but clearly loved the attention. Their scenes felt like a breath of fresh air. I found myself fast-forwarding through everything else just to see them together.
Even if the editing wasn’t perfect and the other couples were boring, the "ChengWen" duo made it all worth it. They took a side story and turned it into the best part of the entire series. They are the definition of "carrying the show on their backs."
My Ratings:
Story Plot: 5/10 (A bit boring)
Visuals/Editing: 6/10 (Could be better)
Yo Ki & Yang Meng Chemistry: 10/10 (Amazing!)
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Good acting and chemistry but flawed script and continuity
I'm gonna preface by saying I really enjoyed watching this series. I really liked the main actors, their chemistry and romance.My biggest gripe with this series is the script... I'm guessing due to the time constraints of having a 12 episodes 25 minutes runtime. Way too short for the whole story/plot. The script plot was sometimes nonsensical, defied logic and left a lot to be guessed on our own. They're filming a reality tv show with no cameras/drones around? The whole fish thing was weird and I didn't really understand what happened...Lots of parts were too rushed and cut weirdly. What saved this for me were the main actors and me really liking their chemistry and characters/story, despite the flaws I mentioned before,I still really recommend it!
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