A romance built around obsession, secrets, and what feels like a manipulated sleight of hand wasn’t something I expected to be drawn to, but here I am.

Adapted from Hwang Seol’s novel Rule No. 1: Don’t Be Too Emotional, the Thai BL Don’t Be Too Emotional stars Tee Boonyakait Wongsajaem as Big Jane and Heng Thatpong Rojsangruang as Little Jane in a story where getting what you want always comes with a price.

Big Jane, or Jane Patrick, is something of a legend. Mysterious, dangerously charming, and known for granting people’s wishes in exchange for a non-negotiable price, he’s the kind of person most people have learned not to get too close to. Little Jane, or Jennalee, apparently missed the warning. When the young football player approaches Big Jane wanting his ball back, he does it without the fear everyone else seems to have. Despite being repeatedly warned that Big Jane is dangerous and that he should never ask him for anything, Little Jane begins seeing someone much more complicated beneath the reputation. And the closer they become, the more difficult it is to figure out exactly who Big Jane is, what he wants, and how much of what’s happening around them is exactly what it seems.

Like the synopsis suggests, Don’t Be Too Emotional is a series that keeps viewers guessing while also being torn between either rooting for romance or pushing it away.

And that’s honestly its biggest draw.

To be completely honest, I have no idea how to go about this review. There are so many moving parts, so many plot twists, and so much happening in Don’t Be Too Emotional that it would take forever to break it all down. So, instead, I’ll focus on what I loved about this series and what managed to pull me out of it.

The acting and chemistry were great, the storyline was engaging, the ensemble cast was amazing, and the “Colorblind” OST for this series was catchy as hell. But what I liked most is that Big Jane never truly changed.

In the series, Big Jane is a major red flag, and he remains one until the end. While there are a few key changes in how he approaches certain things and life, he’s essentially as much of a red flag at the end of the series as he is at the beginning. The series doesn’t suddenly try to convince us that love has magically changed everything about him.

And while, in real life, that would be a reason to walk away, it was interesting watching a story where, rather than having the red flag redeemed, his love interest eventually accepts that he’s fallen in love with a “demon CEO.”

Big Jane is still Big Jane. And apparently, that’s the man Little Jane wants.

That said, it was a little tiring at times watching Little Jane fight his feelings because of this, even if it was important for him to fight them. Mainly because half of what he puts himself through emotionally comes from not communicating with Big Jane and depending too much on hearsay.

Considering who Big Jane is, I completely understand questioning him. I just occasionally wanted Little Jane to ask the man himself rather than everyone around him.

All in all, however, this was a fun and sexy “bad boy gets his man” series.

The only con I had outside of the initial lack of communication was the amnesia storyline, and that has more to do with my own disdain for amnesia plots than the series itself.

I am not a fan of amnesia plots in series, movies, or books. Not only is amnesia unlikely to happen the way it so often does in fictional scenarios like this, but it usually feels like an unnecessary plot addition used to progress a story when a writer is blocked or to give a series that could have ended a reason to keep going. And medically, it rarely works the convenient way fiction needs it to.

So, I was very glad Don’t Be Too Emotional didn’t drag that particular plot out for too long. Because outside of that, Don’t Be Too Emotional was a fun watch. It wasn’t life-changing or a cinematic masterpiece for me. Nor is it a series people should take relationship advice from. The opposite actually. But it was very entertaining. Tee and Heng have great chemistry together, and I’d be interested to see them in many more projects.

More than anything, though, I appreciate that the series committed to the man Big Jane was from the beginning. He may have changed his opinion about some things. He may make different choices because Little Jane matters to him. But the story never completely removes the danger, obsession, or manipulation that made him Big Jane in the first place.

Little Jane doesn’t fall in love with a red flag and magically turn him green. He falls in love with the “demon CEO” and eventually decides he wants him anyway.

For a sexy, angsty series where the bad boy gets his guy without having to stop being the bad boy first, check out Don’t Be Too Emotional, now streaming on iQIYI.

Rating- 4.5 out of 5