Hero Rahat, after the death of his mother, does not have a good relationship with his father. In the eyes of a 16-year-old teenager, the man, head of a wealthy family, with an authoritarian and dominant character, is responsible for the loss of the person who carried him in her womb. Bearing a deep grudge against him, Hero does not accept that his father, the military Kulchanchanaocha, has remarried. Therefore, due to constant disagreements, he decides to leave the family home to live with his aunt on his mother's side in a rural area.
For her part, for as long as she can remember, Poppy Luesil has lived a humble life in a poor social environment with her careless but loving father, Han Hanchai (Pep Nophasit Thiengtham). His parents divorced many years ago and since then Poppy has made the decision to stay with her father and forget about her mother, who has also made no effort to maintain a close relationship with her son. For this reason, Poppy has a shy and reserved character. Even so, using his intelligence and excellent penmanship, he has developed his skills, earning a good reputation as a diligent student and recognized as such.
When she turns sixteen, her estranged biological mother, Khing Jarinya (Meenay Jutai), remarries Hero's father. Khing's wish is that Poppy agrees to live with her new husband and his son so that she can obtain better training and prosper socially. However, Poppy categorically rejects that proposal and decides to stay with her father.
By chance of fate, the new stepbrothers meet in the same class at a secondary school, without being aware of the family ties they maintain with each other. Although at first their personalities clash and they have several school disputes because Hero takes out his frustrations on the young boy, for which he constantly makes fun of him, they slowly develop a good friendship that later culminates in Hero's falling in love with Poppy, and he will do everything everything possible to consolidate your relationship.
The latter, who resists having a romantic relationship with Hero, will experience how the persistence and feelings of his new classmate and stepbrother will gradually overcome his barriers and resistance until, finally, he admits that his feelings also overcome the "friendship" label.
But after discovering the family bond that unites them, new problems will come to stand in the way of the two teenagers, and both must learn to use love to overcome class barriers and the obstacles of those around them.
Their classmates, Tiger Yawamon (Jur Vasin Traiprakhong) and Only (Newyear Nawaphat Thannamongkhonsawat), who also show a romantic attraction between them, witness the evolution of the two young people's relationship, which crystallizes when they both go to live together to Poppy's humble family home.
These two young people continue their steps within the BL universe, after starring in the series 'Hit Bite Love' and the film 'Firstly "Like" You, fictions in which Jur plays "Burger" Burinphat, and Newyear plays King.
Directed by Yuan Tin Tun Danop ('Hit Bite Love'), 'Addicted Heroine' tells the story of Hero and Poopy, two teenagers who, despite their social differences and personal history, forge a close loving relationship.
Reviewing what was seen in the first episode and reading the first BL novel I read, the Thai series, whose script is written by Poy Orachat Brahmasreni ('Gen Y Season 2'), Chim Sedthawut Inboon ('Never Let Me Go') and Park Thamsarun Khusunthia ('Club Friday Season 16: Young Love'), adapts the famous fiction Are You Addicted?, written by the Chinese novelist Chai Jidan, and although it has similar characters and a plot, the names of the characters and the approach to the relationship dynamics of the two main protagonists are different.
With themes such as homosexual romance, coming of age, youth and their way of facing life, family roles, poverty, daily life, self-discovery and acceptance, the series stars August Vachiravit Paisarnkulwong (remembered by play Pete, one of the two protagonists of the two seasons of 'Love Sick the Series', which marked his acting debut) as Hero Rahat, and Mac Nattapat Nimjirawat as Poppy Luesil, in his first leading role after participating in numerous films and series, such as 'The Broken Us' and 'My Forever Sunshine'.
The character played by August is just a shadow of the character that came from the pen of Chai Jidan. No matter how hard he tries, I doubt he can achieve the vibrations that arouses that strong-willed but lonely student who wants to free himself from the influence of his authoritarian father and has difficulty expressing his emotions until the moment he knows true love. Knowing that he is a proven and recognized actor, I assume this is due to the weak drawing of his character in the literary and technical script.
But in my opinion, the biggest mistake is having turned the strong and independent character played by Mac into a lame perfect student overwhelmed by shyness and timidness.
In this sense, the worst point is the literary script, and it turns a great novelistic work into an extremely generic story, one of those that we have already seen a thousand times before, and in some moments it becomes meaningless, with unnecessary and at certain moments inexplicable twists and turns, which leads to the great probability of ending up in oblivion due to the way it was carried out by abandoning a solid construction of characters and conflicts in a trite idea.
Despite its beautiful photography and remarkable music, the series does not awaken in me the same emotions that I experienced when reading the novel. This is mainly because the greatness of the original work and the two failed Chinese versions of it ('Addicted' and 'Stay With Me The Series') lies in the strength and independence of the personalities of the two protagonists and the inevitable clash of these throughout the entire relationship, and this is weighed down by changing the character of Poppy, whose name even makes me laugh.
Still, I'll allow myself to see how it continues.
I will surely come back to the review to update it.