Não Diga Não (2021)

I’m so impressed!

I started watching this for entertainment and to enjoy the cuteness of such an attractive cast. However, I’m more and more impressed by this series. I find it so much better in terms of writing, acting, effects, music, and characterization than any other asian BL drama that I’ve ever watched.

I’d even say it’s rather progressive without being on the nose. Fiat is a (previously) promiscuous character and, while this causes issues in the series, him pursuing Leo and being open about what he wants is not shown in a negative light. I love that. He is who he is as far as sexuality goes and his growth as a character is more about learning to trust and communicate and become more mature. It’s really great.

Leo is already as close to perfect as you can get so I’m not sure how much room there is for growth. I’d say his singular flaw is that he takes not being allowed to be the perfect boyfriend in the face of his partner’s emotional turmoil personally. Like, let’s not make this about you! But this kind of thing does make the character feel more real. Not entirely perfect after all but close. And I think I’m in love with Ja. What a beautiful man and he plays the best boyfriend in history so well. I’m just praying (uselessly) that Leo doesn’t get hurt by the end of this series. Obviously, he will, but so far Leo and Fiat’s relationship is astonishingly healthy. It’s supportive and these two actually communicate about all kinds of things from their worries to their sex life. Very refreshing! I especially love Leo letting Fiat handle himself when Fiat expresses that he can, and by Fiat handling things beautifully. It’s not always about swooping in to save your partner but about trusting in his capabilities as well. The chemistry is real and the intimate scenes are A++.

I even love the side couple and find all characters at least somewhat interesting. That’s quite rare. Usually there’s at least one character or storyline I’m not into. Not with this series.

I’m also taken with how at least some notable antagonists, while perhaps super creepy and abusive (which is a feat in good writing all on its own), were not entirely demonized. Nuance in writing is great!

The acting is also on point. I’ve found Fiat’s crying a bit over dramatic before but it was convincing in the latest episode. And what a punch in the feels with Leon and Pob. This is not just entertaining, cute and sexy anymore. I was getting choked up in the latest episode. 🥲 Can’t wait for the finale but I don’t want it to end!

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Take away her pen!

After watching Wedding Plan, I thought Mame started improving as a writer. However after watching this and LoveSea, I can safely say that this is not the case and she still sucks. I'm not saying that Wedding Plan is good (it's passably entertaining at BEST) but it is miles ahead of her other series, including this one.

Let's list all the things I hate about this series:
- this is not a standalone and requires you to watch TharnType 2 (gross) to follow their story from the beginning. This is literally just them navigating they relationship after getting together so you'll feel like you're dropped into a pre-existing universe. I refuse to watch TharnType 2 so I probably missed a lot of info needed to fully follow this series.
- no trigger warning for complex ptsd.
- most conflicts are stupid.
- The whole calling the guy who bottoms the "wifey". The way they weaponize feminine terms into being derogatory is so common in BLs but the thing is Mame does this too much.
- distribution of someone's nudes and sex tapes is literally called revenge porn and the only legal issue against it that they brought up was extortion. It's literal revenge porn and the handling of it SUCKS. The dad was an asshole too - blaming his son and belittling his worth because his son is a victim of revenge porn????
- Fiat's dad is just a shit parent. Instead of communicating openly, getting therapy for his kids, or even mediating the problems between his new wife and kids, he just does nothing and shouts at Fiat all the time. I absolutely hate him and his reasoning behind doing things is just not acceptable as a human being.
- Leo is supposed to be seen as this green flag character which is true for a lot of the scenes but the moment that he made Fiat's trauma response to be about him was so annoying. The whole "don't you trust me? Am I useless to you?" is incredibly horrible when your partner is literally hyperventilating and experiencing an extreme trauma response. Literally the shittiest and most self-centred response ever.
- If mom had post-natal psychosis, the dad should've admitted her to the psych ward AND because she has harmed Fiat, a restraining order should have been placed. And again my point about childhood complex PTSD therapy for Fiat. This boy is just the victim of so much neglect and the mom is also a victim of an untreated psychiatric condition.
- Consent is not treated as the norm but more of a statement made by the main characters to show that they're a green flag. It feels very performative and not treated as the bare minimum as it should be.
- I don't enjoy Leon's mom testing Pob. Rich people who tests the integrity of less fortunate people are assholes in my eyes. Even if Pob accepted the money for the literal orphans and took on talking to Leon about moving away, it would have been an extremely valid decision. Money and finances should never be used to test morality for people who are struggling.
- Cat death for plot progression. I am a cat person so I'd rather the cat live and the couple break up.
- Unrealistic love solves all trope to trauma. Fiat went from trembling at the sight of his mom to being able to calmly handle his mom's psychiatric outburst just because Leo's there next to him.
- This series does not portray women and femininity in a net positive light. The female characters are either: one-dimensional, scheming, clinically insane, or jealous assholes. They've got the girls here BEGGING for mediocre men and it is so gross to me like make it realistic pls. The script feels like it's written by someone who either hates women and/or has a lot internalized misogyny.
- Leo was so angry at Fiat (who was drugged) for getting hugged when he was literally smashing lips with another girl that same day. Both were tricked into it but why were you so angry when you KNOW Fiat got tricked for the same reason you did.
- The getting back together speech by Leo is psychotic man like he literally said there's a beast inside of him that might hurt Fiat because of how possessive he is like.......... nurse he's out again!

OK now unto the much shorter list of things i enjoyed:
- I do like post getting together fluff so the first episode where they are just navigating how to transition from friends to lovers is cute.
- I love Leo's family and how they just accept Fiat as who he is. They never allowed Fiat's self hatred to fester which I appreciate.
- I do like that Fiat is not portrayed as the innocent maiden that has to be coerced to have sex which is a common BL trope.

Look, the only reason I finished this is because my new year's resolution is to stop being a quitter but man I shouldn't have even started this.

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Don't Say... I Didn't Warn You

Oh boy. This series has some of my favourite kissing and NC scenes, I'm not even going to lie.
But before I get into all that, a few disclaimers; I dropped TharnType after its first two episodes, and I have not read any of the original source material.

I'm going to start with my grievances regarding this series, and the primary reasons for my 7.5 rating.

The first episode had me almost dropping it because I did not connect with the characters. Now, I'm not necessarily blaming it for this because I feel that it was safe to assume on their end that most people watching DSN would be fans of TharnType, which I am decidedly not. Because they would already be familiar with Leo and Fiat.
But, I stuck with it, and I can at least promise you that by the end of the series, I had long connected to the characters, understood them (more or less) and loved them. It's just a bit of an awkward, confusing start for those outside the TharnType atmosphere.

Besides the character disconnect, what genuinely irritated and annoyed me were the incessant sound effects. A product of its time, but Lord help me I almost threw my ChromeBook out the window when yet another "funny" sound was played for the umpteenth time. I'm pretty sure I got desensitized to it, as I can't remember much of those effects later on in the series. Or maybe it's just heavy at the start.

I seem to be an outlier regarding the midpoint of the series, though. I didn't mind any of the angst and plots, nor did I mind the imbalance between how much of the plot revolves around Fiat instead of Leo. There is an imbalance for sure; if you don't end up liking Fiat early on, I'm afraid you won't enjoy the plot as much.
I also want to add that this is not a show that starts like most BLs--where characters are either strangers or enemies or friendzoned friends. It starts when the main leads have officially entered into a relationship, so if the romantic build-up is the primary reason for your BL enjoyment, this once again may be a big obstacle to you. That's not to say there's no romance--there's plenty, a lot of scenes and moments, but none of the "uncertainty fluff" before a relationship.

There is a case of the Episode 11 Curse, and I frankly hated that specific angsty misunderstanding so much that I skipped it entirely once I figured out they were about to curse me again, and I never felt like I missed anything by the end. It's just filler angst for the sake of it.

There is ALSO a case of the plot and characters not addressing sexual assault/rape properly. I decided to mention it in my review because it can be triggering to some. Also, the character it had happened to blames themselves for it, and while this could've been interesting, this series simply didn't give this point the nuance and care it needed.

Now, onto the things I did enjoy.
To get the shallow side of me out of the way immediately, LeoFiat's kisses and NC scenes are very, very hot and sweet. And there's plenty of love these characters show on screen. JaFirst natural chemistry also shines through, and though their acting here compared to Be Mine Superstar is a little more amateurish at times (which is a given), it didn't bother me much.

I liked the side characters. Both the positively supporting characters, like Fiat and Leo's friend group, but also those acting out more villainous support. Some character motivations and decisions were a bit nonsensical, but mostly in good fun. I liked Anda the most, she's a badass queen.

This I mention under things I did enjoy but I'm truly mostly neutral on it. Leon and Pob. They're a side romance. While I didn't skip their scenes, I also can't say I cared much for them. I just don't like the character archetype Leon was when pursuing Pob, but I did like him outside of those scenes. The ending to their romance did surprise me, though. It was certainly unexpected.

Most of my enjoyment did, in the end, come from Leo and Fiat together. I liked them both a lot, which seems to be somewhat of an unpopular opinion regarding Fiat--I think he was an interesting character and found him adorable. But! I definitely understand not liking him.

TLDR; If you don't like Fiat by episode 3, this series may be a lost cause for you. Go into this series not expecting a masterpiece, but more so plots and characters that are there to create a fun experience (not every plot point necessarily is *fun*, though, but it's hard to explain). It resembles a lot more of the earlier-time BLs than the high-expectation-deep-and-nuanced series that I prefer and hope for nowadays.

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why? why doing this to yourself? DONT

I have so many bad things to say that i won’t even know where to start it. Okay, in the beginning i was really (like really) excited, this BL have been in my list for a little while and i was really interested in watching it. And at the first episodes it was kinda good? It’s cute to see main couple and their friends interacting but then, i started realizing how ????? confusing it was, like during the 8 episodes i watched i never understood very well what was happening, like it seemed to have various stories and problems happening all at the same time. On episode 7 i was already tired of it, the characters won’t talk about their feelings in a real way you know? like something bad happened and they simply wouldn’t address it in the correct way. Mental health problems seemed like a “””funny””” thing here which is really really bad and annoying. The sex scenes are not bad but not good either because I felt like the actors didn’t have any chemistry with each other and that is extremely painful to watch. About Leon’s love story i couldn’t understand what was happening, like did the boy liked in back or not? Why didn’t they have a happy ending?????? Anyways, until episode 7 i watched it without skipping too much but from 7 till the end i just wanted to end it KSKSKSKSK. I sincerely don’t liked it. The actors aren’t bad, it was just the plot and story.

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Grosse décéption

Bon, je vais être claire dès le début, je n'ai pas aimé ce BL. J'étais anxieuse à la commencer, je n'avais pas aimé le personnage joué par First dans Tharntype, mais je me suis lancée. La seule chose de positive que je garde : l'alchimie extra entre Ja et First, ils sont adorables ensemble, mais c'est tout.
L'histoire est ennuyeuse, j'ai même passé des passages par ennui. Le second couple, pas intéressant du tout, limite j'ai oublié leur histoire.
J'ai eu du mal à le finir, tellement l'histoire n'était pas intéressant, je pensais même à l'abandonner, j'ai simplement voulu le finir pour le couple principal

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Bộ phim này rất hay, nội dung hay nhưng để nói là xuất sắc thì chưa tới, chi tiết phim đầy đủ, không có gì là thừa thải và thiếu , diễn xuất của diễn viên ở vài phân cảnh còn hơi gượng gạo nhưng rất dễ thương. Mình rất thích bộ phim này. Mình không hy vọng sẽ có phần tiếp theo nhưng mình hy vọng cặp đôi JaFirst và SmartJame sẽ trở lại với nhau trong những dự án mới nhất , để có thể đem đến cho khán giả những hình ảnh couple dễ thương, lãng mãn của họ#LGBTQ+

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❗️ FULL RECAP ❗️

1st > Watching this drama is not possible without SKIPping the first two episodes.
Make sure you do that. Nothing will be missed and you can always check it out at the end.

-

Fiat and Leo finally admit their feelings and decide to become a couple.
As friends 'without benefits' for too long, they don't know how to turn the switch, and that's their first issue. Especially for Leo, who has been treating Fiat more or less like his child. Where do you go from there to XXX-!?! Leo must also overcome his past as a playboy and adopt new habits!

Fiat's actions and character are explained in the plot that underpins this show.
He was traumatized as a child by his mentally ill mother. The love she gave him would be his only love. He would hate everyone and only care about her/himself, or he would suffer. Every time he expressed disagreement, she hurt him. Up until the age of 6, that was his childhood.

In order to protect him, his father obtained a restraining order and had her admitted to a mental hospital. Since his father knew she could never get close to him as long as he lived in his house, he always kept an eye on him. He made sure he knew what he was doing. Also revealed was that Fiat's father remarried due to him crying for his mother when he was a child, believing he needed a mother figure. In other words, he has prioritized him from the beginning.
Sadly, his mother's brainwashing was too deeply ingrained in his mind to undo, so the outcome was the complete opposite! A life of hating his father and all those around him, especially women, defined Fiat's life. Until she showed up at Leo's house to look for him. After moving out of the family house to live with his boyfriend (the love of his life), she came back to claim the place she used to/still believes she owned!

Fiat is seeing his mother for the first time since she disappeared (his father never told him about the abuse his mother did so he assumed she was kicked out & replaced). The first time he glanced at her, he couldn't identify her; however, as soon as Leo appeared beside him, something in his brain snapped and he recognized her. His mother!
In the days following her appearance, he kept having nightmares and negative thoughts that he could not explain. There was a feeling of unease and fear in his heart. Whenever she appeared in front of him, he would feel bursting pains in his head. His horrific memories were about to surface, and they did.

Eventually, Fiat discovers the truth about his mother's illness, the abuse, and the reason behind his urge to hurt his father and the people around him (most importantly, his hatred of women and almost causing his stepmother to miscarry his sister even before he understood why!). With Leo's help and after facing all that, he mends his relationship with all the parties involved.

-

Secondary characters: Leon & Pob
Soon after they become a couple, Pob gets approved for an overseas volunteer job, so they part ways.
*Producers(MEMINDY) have announced a new series for their return called "Just Say Yes! The Series.".

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not bad, not great either

*btw i didn't watch tharntype 2 before this, i watched this as a standalone along with that special episode that gave a brief recap of what happened before the show

this is one of those shows that honestly? wasn't very good, but I enjoyed it anyway for some reason. it's not THAT bad to the point where I would call this a trash watch but that's probably what it was for me lmao. i've rewatched this series a few times already

this is a stupid show. it's cringe, corny, and silly even without those over the top sound effects being dabbled in everywhere they can be. basically more of a "turn your brain off and watch" type of show where you watch the leads be cute and smooch until the mandated episode 11 conflict that's probably the most contrived thing you've ever seen lol

tbh i don't think that the sex scenes in this are done....that well? i don't entirely fault JaFirst for this because i think they can do it! i'm not sure what happened behind the scenes but it seems like JaFirst weren't entirely sure of what else to do beyond neck kissing? it gets more distractingly obvious if you rewatch the scenes more than once since the show....really likes to...linger. and drag these scenes out lmao. they really should've just cut away after a minute and leave it up to the imagination

in return though, i do think JaFirst pulls off the awkward sweetness of their characters quite well. i find them cute, even if their characters strike me as more Unreal even more than usual when it comes to these types of shows lol. like the leads do sorta have a little depth to them?? but it's certainly not written that well.....which is this show in a nutshell.

i 100% rated this show based on my personal enjoyment and not on how good it actually is. i also could not tell you for the life of me why i even like it

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if you liked this, you're lying

how can you rate this a ten? for what exactly? the worst acting ever coming from the lead who has the most screen time? or the annoying plot that doesn't get better.

the idea of the lead being a playboy and everyone calling him a s word was so weird I felt like I'm watching something really weird. the amount of drama around him was really suffocating to the point that his partner wasn't introduced proberly because there was no time for him

they were constantly cleaning after Fiat's mess all the time.

the only scenes I actually enjoyed was between Fiat's friends, Fiat and Leon , and the steamy scenes between Leo and fiat.

I honestly think everyone liked it because of the chemistry nothing more.

the plot about his mother was stupid as f tbh I really disliked it.

overall it could have been excuted so much better and the plot could have been worked on more instead of being a mess like that.

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A TOTAL HONEST OVERALL REVIEW <3

the story was kinda very ridiculous like fiat hooking up with multiple people cause he's crush isnt asking him out or cause he thinks that he doesnt like him back /srs thats nothing but pscycho behavior

hate how sometimes fiat took leo for granted and ikr fiat has gone through many problems nd childhold trauma but still there are rarely about leo's struggles & pain and ig in epi 9 there was a scene were fiat said hurtful things to leo but still i hoped fiat to chase nd get back him but again it was leo :(

LEO ONE OF THE BEST CHARACTER EVER <3

if dramas with alot of skinship is your cup of tea like me then definetly watch it hehe some intimate scenes were very unnessary tho even bc in an video fiat aka first himself said "too many sex scenes" like i dont complain tho lol

really loved the 2nd main couple theres nothing that i dont liked about them and liked all the other supporting characters specially leo's mom loved her relation with fiat nd his sons and the break up of leon nd pob in end was unnecessary lmao but idc as they are giving as a special episode of them

And the most important thing is i didnt got bored at any point ! loved it overall one of my fav bl series ever !!

FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE DECIDING TO WATCH THIS PLEASE DONT BAD REVIEWS CHANGE YOUR DECISION GO AHEAD AND WATCH IT YOU GONNA LOVE IT ♡゙

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AS LONG AS THERE'S TRUE LOVE BL IS EVERYTHING

I don't know what kept me from writing a review about this series and I had to rewatch it three consequent times to come to a conclusion if it really deserved my perfect 10 score and in deed I realised it did.

Don't say no the Series isn't your average Thai BL as a majority of these Series only tend to narrate the story of how two people fall in love but shockingly it's tale is about how couples survive long enough.

The Actors are very cute and handsome and you feel the absolute exploitation of their characters while the comedy part of it feels like a cherry on top of the cake. The characters are very deep and not so complicated to understand and there's that wonderful OST that keeps me standing on my toes and singing the chorus every time they go in for a break.

Entirely, the story feels original and it makes this series one of your most realistic BL Dramas where you don't have to get the feeling that a number of events have been exaggerated and the production quality was very high I was so impressed from the beginning by all the personalities of the actor's.

Generally, this series deserves my ten after all because of all feelings there are in the world about love while lacking a definite antagonistic, the smooth flow of events allow me to get a new picture that surviving in love isn't about having only antagonists trying to force lovers apart but also lovers learning to love one another slowly and bearing with each other just as much I'd recommend it for any real BL couples out there as I felt the top notch chemistry of the couples and I realised that love is one of the most wonderful things in life ever made.




     

  

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