i'm going to be fair and give the honest rating that i think but i am upping it with like a 3 point curve (so a 5, but an 8 for what im about to explain) because i believe that if you have stumbled upon bl like i had and just watch this stuff to get lost mindlessly it is worth it.

it's insulting to call this "bromance" imo. they are a legitimate couple. they're in love. it's weird to me how this genre is so ridiculously rape-y and misogynist and weird and fetishizing but even with the growing censorship in china they put life into this relationship. the novel isn't amazing and i think addicted is one of the grossest things she has written and what was produced but almost all their scenes where they are heavily physical were non-consensual.

so here you have a novel about two dudes in love, it gets a visual adaptation, and there are limits to what they can show. they were more touching and intimate than any other chinese ones i've seen (addicted, like love) and the other couples ARE LITERALLY KISSING (or "kissing" in addicted's case)

there's nothing platonic about the end of this relationship. they may not officially ever say they're together but there is every cue to believe what they have together. and it's really cute and the actors have great chemistry.

the censorship itself is a huge problem so i find that it is reasonable to attack that. but we know the paramaters and this still managed to show us love better than other ones. perhaps people hate the fact that they believe they need to literally have sex on screen for it to be legitimate. if so, that's sad and kinda weird.

anyway u want sth fun and cute and dumb i recommend it and they ! are in love!!!! yuan xong's dedication to xia yao is a beauty to watch and how xia yao returns those feelings. like yx is so in love with him and protective and xy accepts it and tries to give it back in kind. cute