Addicted Heroin (2016)

Mind blowing but not in a good way. I watched this series because of the reviews. When I finished watching I literally questioned myself. What am I missing? Why do people find this okay? Why does it have such high ratings? And I presume partially that's because it's hard to find a decent LGBTQ series that doesn't end in tragedy.
Still, no matter how I look at it, Gu Hai is really going about showing his affections to Bai Luo Yin the wrong way. I didn't not find it endearing not even at the end when they were in the car alone. What he said sounded literally threatening, but I guess it was supposed to be some sort of declaration of love and commitment?!?
All that aggression made me sad, because this could have been a nice series that was actually given a happy ending for a change.

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Toxic BL Drama Show That Shows How Much BL's Have Improved

Okay so who lied to me and said this was a really good series? Because it really wasn't it was actually pretty bad. If you like this series probably don't read the rest of my review, because it's going to be pretty negative and roastful.

First of all, the whole "stepbrother romance thing" is weird enough upfront. I don't like that plotline, especially not in the context of this story. The parental issues our 2 main characters have was actually quite interesting though, so I'll give the show that. Also Bai Luo Yin's father was the best character in the show. But it's overshadowed by the crap later on.

Our main characters Bai Luo Yin and Gu Hai are really pretty boring. One is a borderline crazy stalker and eventual kidnapper (Gu Hai) while the other is exceedingly stubborn and wants seemingly nothing to do with the other for the most part (Bai Luo Yin). These traits make up just straight up bad character portrayals. The actors themselves played the parts well, but I just couldn't stand their characters at all. Especially together, which is where we get into the super serious problems I had with this series. STOP ROMANTICIZING SEXUAL ASSAULT. Too many BL series do this, granted not so much anymore because I think they finally realize it's super not okay. But back in the day, like when this aired it was too common. Literally Gu Hai's character does all these pretty kind things throughout the show and then BAM, he's literally an awful person! He has Bai Luo Yin kidnapped, tied up and he forces himself upon him. Assault does not always just mean sex by the way, if someone isn't interested in being groped or kissed DON'T DO IT! Then the show doesn't address any of it ever again. Absolutely not.

Amongst the varying levels of toxicity thrown into later episodes randomly, there's this weird disease subplot that also pissed me off. DO NOT get a disease for someone, like wtf that's so stupid and careless to throw in there! I mean it ends up being not real, but the idea is stupid and not something to be romanticized along with everything else. Also random note, the music in this show was weird too. Like either brokeback mountain esque, loud dubstep or whatever else. So weird, please don't watch this. I feel like because it was banned a lot of viewers have this weird attachment to the show? Well I went in knowing this and still hated it. I'm glad LGBTQ BL representation is getting much MUCH better with shows like UWMA and LBC. These types of important topics need to be portrayed correctly please and were definitely improving!

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I don't think there are any spoilers here, but there are plot themes & events referred to vaguely.

First of all, for people who had trouble with the darker aspects of this series, well, the title should have given you a clue. This isn't a sweet tween drama - Gu Hai's feelings for Bai Luo Yin are over-the-top, obsessive, and unhealthy - like heroin is. This isn't meant to be an ideal relationship - relationships can be complicated, even toxic.

Many reviewers have said Luo Yin doesn't reciprocate Gu Hai's feelings, but he really does - it's just that his expressions of love are subtle. When Gu Hai asks him if he likes him, he says "you already know the answer, so why ask?" Plus, Luo Yin invited him to live with him and sleep in the same bed, so that's another hint.

- Loved the cast. Timmy Xu who plays Bai Luo Yin is so beautiful it's painful to look at him. The acting is very solid.

- The writing is unusual, as it skips the saccharine quality of a lot of BL and actually gets a tad dark - you'll know what I mean when you see it. It's played for humor, and the Chinese title of the series is "addictive", so it does make sense, but some people will not find any of it funny. The power imbalance was kind of hot, to me at least.

- Although both boys have (semi- and ex-) girlfriends, this isn't the major and consuming obstacle to the main pairing like it is in many of the earlier BLs. Here, the girlfriends here mostly serve to help the mains figure our their sexuality, and they both fit into the addiction theme.

- While you have to wait for it, there are a couple of hot consensual love scenes, at least in the uncensored version. One of the characters is way more aggressive than the other, and in a couple of cases semi-forces the other, although never for anything more than a hand-job . In one scene the more passive one was clearly parading himself in an effort to drive the other crazy, but "he was asking for it" is a bit cringe-inducing even if it's two guys.

- If there's a flaw, there is some repetition, (although common to most serial dramas), especially rejection of physical intimacy. It later turns out there is some fear of pain involved, but hand and blow jobs don't hurt. Also, the main actors are clearly way too old for high school, although I'm not complaining about that.

Ironically, the censored version is more transgressive than the full version - there are physical scenes where cutting out just as it's starting makes it look like one raped the other whereas in the full version you can see that they didn't even have sex.

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I really dont know why people like this?! Its an absolutely terrible example for young people. This is not a good relationship. Its just abusive and I am not afraid to say: it contains rape footage.

The acting is good. The atmosphere is depressive and the story is boring. There is no chemistry between the main actors and one of them is suffering all the time and I was suffering with him!

I do not know much about Chinese culture in general, but if this kind of relationship is normal, then it is sad indeed. There has been so many better stories than this with better representation of BL and relationships in general.

I am very disappointed.

Not worth watching.

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So utterly cute! My heart is full whenever Gu Hai and Luo Yin are onscreen together! And when they 'broke' up, my heart hurt. The chemistry between the two leads is electric and without a doubt, is one of the best BL couples no cap! The performances of everyone was ace! The writing was strong though there were some questionable plot points that don't make much sense like why Gu Hai and Luo Yin started to live together when Gu Hai had his own apartment or how neither of their parents mentioned the names of their sons for so long when they should know that their sons attend the same school and are in the same year, Also, the girlfriend coming back at the end seemed a bit shoe-horned in and makes it all the more annoying that there won't be a second season due to China's ridiculous censorship! Imagine all the BL content that China could have put out without that inane ban! The Untamed would have been so much better! This series could have been one of the best BLs ever alongside SOTUS & SOTUS S if it wasn't for China's censorship. I'm so angry! Anyways, the musical themes used in this show are very good though they don't really fit in with the story or atmosphere. And why did the drama use musical scores from iconic gay films such as Carol and Brokeback Mountain? How does music inspired by the 1950's and music inspired by the American wilderness work in a high school setting? And the usage of The Lion King's Can You Feel the Love Tonight was kinda random? Wouldn't it have been expensive to get the right to use them? I wonder how if they got clearance? Or maybe the fact that its in China means that they don't need clearance? Anyways, I also really liked that the two leads are not conventionally beautiful but rather regular-looking. It's nice seeing ordinary people get the spotlight unlike in Thai dramas where everyone is pretty.

A reviewer on Viki said it best: "I wish that the cast and crew would just pick up and move to another country where they can start right back up where they left off and finish this series. Every person that has been involved since the beginning deserves to see the proof of their hard work and we fans deserve to know what happened to the characters that we got angry with, laughed , cried, and fell in love with, as well as those of us that who fell in lust with them and their hot steamy love scenes where we could almost see and feel the electricity and fire that sparked between them with every look, kiss, and touch. I want that kind of passion in my life. Even imagining a miniscule percentage of that intensity in my life has my heart pounding." Perfectly describes my feelings towards watching Addicted.

On a side note, I watched this using the free trial on Viki due to reports of scenes that were cut on the versions on YouTube. And the quality was good too!

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Although the story is quite enjoyable to watch, there were a lot of moments that made me feel uncomfortable. Firstly, the other guy cannot understand what "NO" means. Of course, it's no surprise, that this is portrayed as if it was supposed to be cute/sweet/whatever. It just made me feel uncomfortable. There's even the scene wherein he asked for the other guy to be abducted. Although he really loves the other guy (supposedly, this is drama so yeah), this can easily turn into an abusive relationship if we were to actually look at it realistically. The guy was possessive, manipulative, and violent (to others). He even beats people up for no reason (for comedic value, I guess idk), which is already bullying if we look at it from outside their perspective like wat. There are a lot of problems with the other guy's personality, seriously. There are also those storylines that are like wUt, like the other guy's ex-gf. It's also quite unfortunate that we won't be seeing the two friends' love story because of China's ban >:( The main thing that made this show enjoyable to watch was because the actors were really good. However, as I have mentioned, there were a lot of problematic things that happened in the show (and please don't say iT's JuST a ShOw).

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Abusive and obsession in any relationship is bad and should not be encouraged

I am so disappointed with this drama as the relationship it portrays should not be encouraged. I especially did not like the fact that it is not OK to force yourself to someone you like , not OK to sexually and mentally abuse another person and keep pestering them to accept your love, not OK to kidnap someone and raping him. This is not acceptable especially with all the young teenagers watching this drama who are easily influenced by social media and films. No one has any right to force themselves on you. No one has any right to pester you and following you around because this is sexual and mental harassment. I do not like this drama and every episodes are showing how one male lead is forcing himself to the other male lead. No wonder this drama is banned because we should not encourage this type of drama. Not acceptable in any relationship at all.

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A Guilty Pleasure

First, let me tell you right off the bat, if you are here to enjoy the bickering and banter between the two leads, maybe you can give this show a try but if you are the type who can't stand questionable plot points and downright toxic tropes, turn away and never come back. Some people regard this as terrible, and rightly so.

✅ Clingy ex-girlfriends
✅ Non-consensual sexual advances/dubcon
✅ Moments that don't make sense and make you go "WTF?!"
✅ Mediocre acting for some scenes
✅ Prank in the form of some physical assault

There are so many moments in this show where, as a critical viewer, you'd be 100% totally turned off and decide to drop it. I wouldn't blame you. Now, I sat through all the episodes and found some moments of redemption, albeit that's all they are, moments. These moments all combined are not even close to outweighing all the problems this show has. But to the lead actors' credit, they are able to somehow carry the show even if at the barest minimum.

The story had potential but was never realized, maybe only very remotely. Alas, the writing was questionable at best and stopped down to toxic levels at worst. Things were starting to get interesting towards the end. If only the show was not stymied by Chinese censorship, we might have seen a proper end to the story even if at this stage, we're left with only barely anything of substance (other than the two main characters' romance).

Even with the unquestionably dubious storyline and toxic tropes, I managed to enjoy some portions of it thanks to Johnny and Timmy's 'chemistry', even when it isn't apparent most of the time.

Again, I say that I'm putting this show in my "guilty pleasure" collections of shows I've watched. Most will objectively and subjectively not like this, and for good and very valid reasons, but I liked it enough to even give a few minutes of my time to write this review. It's stupid fun.

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It's okay...

Okay so I'm not sure why everyones loves this BL so much...Gu Hai is extremely toxic! He literally kidnapped Bai Luo and SA him. Like what??? That's unacceptable! They're wasn't much chemistry between the actors in my opinion, I just wasn't feeling what everyone else was feeling. I wouldn't recommend this BL to be honest. It's like Gu Hai was trying to be romantic but he was doing so wrong lol. Like dude your being a stalker and your obsession with this boy is weird. Get help and leave him alone. I guess there were some cute scenes here and there but it wasn't all that. I wouldn’t watch this again.

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