This review may contain spoilers
Wish Things Were Different For These Series
Alright, so I have a few things to say about this show and the Addicted show from 2016 and also the Thai remake coming up. So, some people say this show is cursed cause every remake is always bad somehow, or lacking something, or just not satisfactory to the viewers to the max. I know a lot of people enjoyed this one more than Addicted (2016) for many reasonable reasons, but at the same time this show lacks too, as well as I feel like the Thai remake will as well. Now, let me talk about some things I did write down during the time I was watching this show while I still had the storyline of Addicted (2016) fresh in my head, and I compared the differences in both since I had in mind watching Stay With Me and the Thai remake and review them all in their similarities and differences, but I can’t bring myself to. But yeah, in this one I noticed that support characters don’t act like NPC (same with other characters/including side), I don’t remember much since I watched Addicted (2016) a while ago but the storyline was just not there, it wasn’t executed properly and neither were the characters, so this was something very refreshing about this version. Second, there’s more information about more characters and storyline, in this version it goes into more depth about each character, it reveals characters that weren’t even shown in the 2016 version, this makes the story easier to understand and just overall more informative and realistic. Third, we get to see more of them at school and other characters instead of just mainly focusing on them two. Literally the 2016 version was like a whole mess just focused on the 2 main characters, the rest were like cardboard cutouts with no personality or past, future or present, it felt dull and empty. Fourth, cute scenes filled with chemistry. The difference from this one to the 2016 is day and night, I didn’t get to finish this one so idk if the entire kidnaping thing and literal sexual harassment happens, but based on how far I got, things seemed more innocent, cute, consensual, and just overall healthy or at least I should say healthier from what I saw. It was honestly extremely refreshing to see. Regardless of that, I’m not a huge fan of censored BL/bromance. I wouldn’t avoid watching it completely, I’m sure theres really good ones out there for me, and I’m aware this is a good one but I just couldn’t continue, the lack of intimacy is something that I dislike. I know based on what I saw, with their censorship, they tried their best to make it work and with the 9 episodes I saw I already felt the chemistry, but still, this story more than any other I feel NEEDS that intimacy. But regardless I understand the circumstances, and to also put out there, I did see the uncensored 2016 version, that’s why it’s like day and night for me. But moving on, it has sense of humor/funny scenes/not always on the serious side. Literally, the 2016 version is just black and white, the whole vibe is depressing, the way things were was depressing, god that thing was just horrible, this one is livelier, definitely the fact that it has way more things than the 2016 helps with the liveliness, the 2016 version felt more like a quick dark story. And lastly what I wrote down as part of my review was that the way they found out how they were step brothers was different in both shows, I forgot both versions at the moment of me writing this review, but in the back of my mind I can faintly remember the difference, once again it was like day and night, and everything this show had the the other didn’t played a huge part in this and most of it all. Anyway, this was about how far I got, notice how I didn’t write mainly anything negative about this one, because at the end of the day this show was good, I can recognize this will probably be one of the better versions of Addicted in a while if they continue making more remakes, but it lacked things that I just couldn’t continue, and 24 episodes is long. I need a hook. But I will not deny this show is good, and I do recommend it if you enjoy censored BL/bromance. Now, another thing I also wanna mention here is about the fact I think someone dies? Or idk they get into an accident and we don’t know what happens next that’s why a lot of people are asking for season 2. And no man… I’m not about to go through all that just to have no second season, I’ve been watching HIStory shows recently and I already felt that with one of the shows, won’t say which one incase anyone is interested in watching, don’t wanna spoil. But yeah, that’s pretty much all I have to say, I do recommend if you’re aware of what to expect and ready for it all. Wish we had a version like this but with more intimacy, it would be perfect. But for now this is what we get. And I won’t even speak about the Thai one, I haven’t watched it, haven’t heard much about it, don’t even wanna try it. I’m getting horrible vibes off that one. But yeah here goes to the end of my addicted journey, and if in the future I change my mind, I’ll write another review. But for now this is where I stand.Was this review helpful to you?
Unoriginal, Don't Even Want To Continue
Okay, this BL has a lot of good reviews, high ratings, in my book that's a big red flag, most high rating shows aren't up to my liking nor standards but regardless I watched the first episode, let me just say it didn't hook me, it's your typical stepbrother story, same old same old with Taiwanese BL's. I mean I got nothing against that but like make it more unique and interesting? It's always the same, enemies to lovers type of thing, a dead parent or divorced parents. I've watched too many BL's like this and most of them are not that good cause they're so repetitive. I did some research too and the story seems to be dull and like a slowburn, nothing wrong with that again but at least give us something later on. But no... apparently it's one of those BL's that end and literally make us crave more while a second season is yet to be confirmed. So, I'm gonna save my time on this one and rate it a 7. I could rate it lower but I know theres quality and potential there. I saw some of the dropped reviews and they looked like they were AI generated, they all had a 10 star even tho it was dropped. Maybe it was a mistake, but regardless I'm trying to be honest, and if anyone is looking for a similar opinion like me after watching the first episode then it'll be easier to find. If this show gets a second season and I find out about it and it's also better, maybe I'll give this show a try. But right now. No, thank you.Was this review helpful to you?
It's Time For Me To Move On
It's time for me to let this series go and move on, I've been stuck on it for way too long hoping it would get better and waiting for me to get the motivation to watch it. For time stamps I started this series 4 months ago, watched episodes 1-5, then stopped and left it there for about a month, then watched episode 6, then got back to it and watched episode 7 to 10, 2 months later. And the last time I watched the last episode which was technically episode 9 because I didn't start episode 10, was 25 days ago. The beginning was ok, then I got a bit uninterested but after waiting a while and getting back to it I kind of got the spark to watch it again for a little, I seriously thought this would be the time I finished it and I just needed to wait it out, but I got stuck on episode 10 once again, I couldn't start it, I couldn't finish this series. And why? Because there isn't much to it anymore, and to be honest, there never was. This story is very messy, I already didn't like the fact that we got all the action in the first episode, I think a enemies to lover or strangers to lovers would've been good but everything basically got spoiled in the first episode, no room for tension, or yearning, or slow burn. Then the whole story, was just... not my cup of tea. Don't get me wrong I love the whole hitman criminal plots but this wasn't it and it wasn't executed well. The acting was good, ofc. But the characters were annoying, and I think that made the acting look worse than it actually is, these are all great actors but with the script and lines I'm sure it was hard to execute a well performance, regardless they ate it up. But it just didn't deliver. I am sadly disappointed, I really tried so hard to like this because I love First, Khao, Joong and Dunk. And they all have great chemistry, and great acting skills. But this just wasn't it at all. Idk what it is this year and last year with series that have well known actors being horrible, I was also disappointed with Love Sea and Kidnap. But older series are better, I think we need to take a step back, take notes, listen to what people actually like, and take action based on that. I see a lot of people liked this series, and I'm shocked, some didn't like it as well. I know every BL watcher has a different motive to watch series, but lets be honest about ratings and reviews, and don't just base it off chemistry and NC scenes, instead the actual story and how well it was made. I think a 7.5 is a generous rating on my part, I've seen people rate it lower. I can admire the good aspects of it thats why I wouldn't go lower, and I didn't hate it completely, there were good moments, but to say the least. It was disappointing. Hoping next year is a better year for the LGBTQ+ content industry, and I hope these actors get better series moving forward.Was this review helpful to you?
