Addicted (2016)

Comparison Time

Okay so have seen both the original and the adaptation and I will say it without any regrets: The Original Is A 100x Better!

Now Comparison Time:
The love Gu Hai showed in these 15 episodes was way better than Wu Bai
The original series was about them unlike the adaptation where they cared about every character's story unfortunately and put equal focus on them
Of course the original had some faults but which show doesn't?
This drama is up on my high-priority list!
I was going to wish for a season 2 from the original but that is never going to happen so I will patiently wait for a season 2 from the adaptation
The adaptation itself was not bad but it was a bromance that you had to imagine as a BL.
However, I do understand the Chinese censorship.
The original was a straight-up BL and you don't need to imagine anything at all.
Both of them have a high rating from my side. I like both the couples and I think their chemistry is off the charts if compared with some leading Thai BLs.

Summary: Feel free to watch both stories and while you wait for another season, feel free to read more than 100 chapters of the book :D

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Unmatched and Unparalleled

This series is based on a book series which I've read countless times before. The show and the books are not for the faint of heart and it has content that some may find triggering. The show features dubious consent and the novel has a brutal rape scene between the two main leads. This may lead some people to not condone or enjoy this series but I personally found this show to be the best BL I've ever seen. Real life is not fiction and shows are not meant to portray all LGBT relationships. People who can't understand the difference here should not watch. Taking that into account this show has wonderful acting, a gorgeous soundtrack especially when it comes to the OST, two ML who have magnetic and profound chemistry, and very touching moments. The show does end on a cliffhanger because it was banned by the Chinese government. Google if it you are interested, but the story itself is completed. The author completed the book series and I recommend people watch the show and continue with reading the books to see how their relationship proceeds. The two ML are masculine and begin as sort of "enemies". They have a very cat-and-mouse relationship at first which the actors do a great job in portraying. The emotional and sexual tension between the ML can be felt throughout the show and it makes the scenes poignant and ADDICTIVE. You just keep wanting more of them. No other BL or story has ever captured the magic that this series has with these actors, for me. So basically if you can differentiate between fiction and reality and want to see a BL where the ML have insane chemistry watch this.

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BEST BL EVER.
The chemestry between the characters is something that couldn't be explain.
The story, finally, is different from every BL that i watch. Original, beautiful, touching, happy, real. Even if the relationship is develop very fast ( the part of Gu Hai ) his falling in love seem so real that this doesn't count, it's amzing like this. This series is perfection.
It's so sad that they have banned from China. But at least the last episode has a happy ending! HAHAH
The song, oh gosh, i falling in love with the song, they make me found out song like " Hero - Family of the year. " or " Touble i'm in - Twinbed" .
they put it the song in the right place of the series. The filming is the best i ever seen in a BL, seem so professional.
So, in the end, WATCH IT.

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Addicted was so popular in China that the government BANNED not only the show from airing its episodes but BANNED THE TWO MAIN ACTORS FROM BEING SEEN TOGETHER IN PUBLIC. Addicted was breaking records in China as a web series with its millions of views when compared to China's usual TV programming at that time. But the thing is that China has had several other BL shows made for online viewing without censorship but somehow Addicted spread like wildfire and true to its name the Chinese audience became addicted to it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Addicted is the first BL I ever reviewed,

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I’m inspired

Questions are asked why the Chinese authorities banned this Addiction series specifically, and banned the two leads from being seen together: there are other gay series that are not banned, why? First, this is not a 'gay' series, there is no aggrandisement of any gay lifestyle or anything characteristically gay: on the contrary, these two masculine actors portray two (twenty-four year old) adolescents who happen to fall in love, like any two other people, simple as that: they are portrayed as normal, adjusted, healthy, and reasonable in every respect:that is the problem for the authorities. Two guys falling in love is depicted as the most normal way of life, nothing unusual, or weird, or bizarre, or anything to attract attention: two guys struggling, as any couple would do, in courting. That the casting was genius to match these two guys together: the raw, unashamed direction of the physical and emotional affection and human sensitivity between the two is so touchingly sensitive, there is no shame or embarrassment, makes normality of what might be titillating...it is not anything but normal and healthy, therein is the rub: their love is so attractive, if these are your feelings, hey you, go for it.

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Awesome at every level!

As a television professional, a friend referred me to Addiction here in 2022 after it was made in 2016. The initial budget of 1 million USD for 15 episodes made me wonder if it had been made on an iPhone. It hadn't and is a creation of such artistry, dedication and love to the telling of a thrilling - if disturbed at core- story. The curation and crafting of the script, the performances and the music create a painting to be hung high in a wonderful gallery. That the camera burn off the screen, is rare. I don't speak Chinese but have a good understanding of the culture and the people having lived in this great country. The two stars live! The director achieves the sense of being flies on the wall of this most passionate love story which is thrilling by virtue of its lack of explicit sex, though one would be intrigued to know what censors cut. A lot. And the series has become a cult legend for its cancellation having tripped on new morals legislation of China's film and television authorities. A tragedy really. The last three episodes were not screened in China and in seeing them they would seem oddly rough and as if the scenes were stretched to fill the time. What was in the original, perhaps we will never know. Perhaps that the magic of the series. It is a glimpse into the lives of two uniquely beautiful souls, one very troubled and the other in Yin being a character that could go up again Titanic's Jack as a victim as much as a hero. The abduction and rape scene is one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen and it comes out of nowhere - as if you truly are witnessing this travesty and betrayal of the lover to the loved. It is an awfully awfully sad scene. I don't know- again - what was in the original and perhaps in relation to that sequence censors may have saved us the experience of such an awful event. Gu Hai is disturbed. They both have needs which cross the line into the psychopathology. Viewers will note that perhaps 50% of the scenes are set to music which is as subtle as it is beautiful. An unseen device which tells us more of the story This is most impressive. Terming it BL puts it in the genre of cutesy Asian stories for young girls romanticizing Korean singers hugging each other - and nothing wrong with that - but Addicted doesn't touch that genre in its essence, i ts intend and its explicit horror which runs to the side. The fact both actors were and are banned by the Government from every appearing together in any form of media is remarkable and adds to the legend of the great Addiction of Gu Hai and Yin. Johnny Huang went onto great fame and wealth as a machismo superstar of Chinese films, Timmy Xu as a beautiful performer in music and film. But the chemistry created between them is with few peers in cinema or film anywhere. For those outside China, the videos on youtube of the making of Addicted are intriguing to watch. Almost as much as the series. You find them on youtube at this time of writing. I don't do film or television reviews, this is a one time. Jeffrey James

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The move was fantastic. You really start feeling for the characters. The story was great even though you can tell scenes have been deleted. The ABSOLUTE WORST PART is the series is cut off!! You never get the ending of the series and there is no season 2. It was censored in China and that was all she wrote. The same thing happened to a few other shows i was watching. It is very frustrating. I just wish we were told when a series is cut off so we can choose not to watch. I have gap never to be filled in the world my series lay. Why can't the stories be taken out of China and finished up in another country or completely done elsewhere. OK i am done ranting.

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