Passerby
This review may contain spoilers
Worst of all...?
EDIT: Just finished. Long review ahead!!!
This Thai adaptation was the 3rd drama adaptation of the novel "Are You Addicted?" The first two adaptations were produced by China titled "Addicted" on 2016 and "Stay With Me" on 2023. When the news that the novel was getting a Thai adaptation, people were expectant and had high hopes because people believed there would be no limitations and censorship compared to the first two. However, things did not go well with this one.
PLOT: Since the source material is Chinese, the first two adaptations did not really change a lot plot-wise. This adaptation really presented Thai culture.
- From the get go, episode 1, it was different from the first two adaptations.
-They included religious activities/practices that were not in the source material.
- Hero had someone (the lady) who he stayed with, while the novel and the first two adaptations did not. Poppy had a job while Lou Yin/Su Yu did not.
- Unfortunately, they did not execute well the "penmanship" scenes which really affected the chemistry of Hero and Poppy. In my opinion, those parts were iconic and should always be present in every adaptation of the novel.
- They also rushed to remove Lala/Jin Lu Lu's parts. The "mooncake" part lost its original significance and just became off.
- The supposed first plot point wherein the mother would gate crash the auntie's store grand opening was also not the same and rushed. In this adaptation, it happened during the parent's day where both parents attended instead of only the mother.
- The second plot point, the r*pe scene, was also change and was not as impactful as it should've been.
- ML's cousin was tamer in this adaptation. He was so much of a nuisance in the novel. For the record, yes he was attracted to the MC.
- The father was so much harsher in this adaptation.
- The ending was different from the novel and the other two adaptations, mainly Stay With Me. For the record, Stay With Me depicted the exact ending of the 1st novel. The two lead characters did get into an accident because ML's cousin tampered the breaks of the car.
Going in to the 5th episode, Hero and Poppy's chemistry is not there just yet. What I did like was Hero's confession scene. The way he laid his head cutely on Poppy's tied hands was a cute detail. However, the "angle kiss" was rather disappointing. I understood why (and this was also controversial and problematic) but it could've been avoided if they did not cast a minor as one of the lead role.
EDIT: The chemistry of the two is nonexistent. I just couldn't feel the attraction between them even with the montage of them sleeping.
CASTS: Personally, they could've done better with the casting, especially with Poppy. This adaptation was rather badly welcomed because the casting of a minor, being paired with an adult, and being part of a series which deals with adult themes.
August's (Hero) acting is good but Mac's (Poppy) is not. He did not portray Bai Lou Yin to my expectations. The same with Poppy's family. It felt so detached like I couldn't feel the family vibes with them. I think it's because of poor execution. The leads' friends were also stiff. I don't think they're friends at all LOL.
MUSIC: The OST matches the vibes of the series. But it's not impactful to me to the point that I would look it up.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Now this deserves a little praise. I loved the locations, especially that area to Poppy's house with the tall trees. However, it's a little stereotypical that the color grading is yellow or warm just because they're in the country side. It's just like in western movies wherein if the location is in Mexico, it would always be warm/yellow-toned.
TONE & MOOD: I am conflicted with this. The common Thai humor is pretty obvious. The series is "sunny" and "bright" overall and while I understand the humorous tone (the novel had humorous undertone too) it took away the seriousness of some scenes. I felt like the series was just presented too bright.
CONCLUSION: I have finished watching and I could tell that this would be the adaptation with the lowest rating among the three adaptations. From the controversial casting of a minor to the overall writing and execution, I believed this was a wasted opportunity to finally produce a decent adaptation of the novel. In all honesty, I have just fast forwarded the remaining half of the drama. While I understand and appreciate that they adapted it culturally, in the end the execution was just a fail.
This Thai adaptation was the 3rd drama adaptation of the novel "Are You Addicted?" The first two adaptations were produced by China titled "Addicted" on 2016 and "Stay With Me" on 2023. When the news that the novel was getting a Thai adaptation, people were expectant and had high hopes because people believed there would be no limitations and censorship compared to the first two. However, things did not go well with this one.
PLOT: Since the source material is Chinese, the first two adaptations did not really change a lot plot-wise. This adaptation really presented Thai culture.
- From the get go, episode 1, it was different from the first two adaptations.
-They included religious activities/practices that were not in the source material.
- Hero had someone (the lady) who he stayed with, while the novel and the first two adaptations did not. Poppy had a job while Lou Yin/Su Yu did not.
- Unfortunately, they did not execute well the "penmanship" scenes which really affected the chemistry of Hero and Poppy. In my opinion, those parts were iconic and should always be present in every adaptation of the novel.
- They also rushed to remove Lala/Jin Lu Lu's parts. The "mooncake" part lost its original significance and just became off.
- The supposed first plot point wherein the mother would gate crash the auntie's store grand opening was also not the same and rushed. In this adaptation, it happened during the parent's day where both parents attended instead of only the mother.
- The second plot point, the r*pe scene, was also change and was not as impactful as it should've been.
- ML's cousin was tamer in this adaptation. He was so much of a nuisance in the novel. For the record, yes he was attracted to the MC.
- The father was so much harsher in this adaptation.
- The ending was different from the novel and the other two adaptations, mainly Stay With Me. For the record, Stay With Me depicted the exact ending of the 1st novel. The two lead characters did get into an accident because ML's cousin tampered the breaks of the car.
Going in to the 5th episode, Hero and Poppy's chemistry is not there just yet. What I did like was Hero's confession scene. The way he laid his head cutely on Poppy's tied hands was a cute detail. However, the "angle kiss" was rather disappointing. I understood why (and this was also controversial and problematic) but it could've been avoided if they did not cast a minor as one of the lead role.
EDIT: The chemistry of the two is nonexistent. I just couldn't feel the attraction between them even with the montage of them sleeping.
CASTS: Personally, they could've done better with the casting, especially with Poppy. This adaptation was rather badly welcomed because the casting of a minor, being paired with an adult, and being part of a series which deals with adult themes.
August's (Hero) acting is good but Mac's (Poppy) is not. He did not portray Bai Lou Yin to my expectations. The same with Poppy's family. It felt so detached like I couldn't feel the family vibes with them. I think it's because of poor execution. The leads' friends were also stiff. I don't think they're friends at all LOL.
MUSIC: The OST matches the vibes of the series. But it's not impactful to me to the point that I would look it up.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Now this deserves a little praise. I loved the locations, especially that area to Poppy's house with the tall trees. However, it's a little stereotypical that the color grading is yellow or warm just because they're in the country side. It's just like in western movies wherein if the location is in Mexico, it would always be warm/yellow-toned.
TONE & MOOD: I am conflicted with this. The common Thai humor is pretty obvious. The series is "sunny" and "bright" overall and while I understand the humorous tone (the novel had humorous undertone too) it took away the seriousness of some scenes. I felt like the series was just presented too bright.
CONCLUSION: I have finished watching and I could tell that this would be the adaptation with the lowest rating among the three adaptations. From the controversial casting of a minor to the overall writing and execution, I believed this was a wasted opportunity to finally produce a decent adaptation of the novel. In all honesty, I have just fast forwarded the remaining half of the drama. While I understand and appreciate that they adapted it culturally, in the end the execution was just a fail.
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