Maldición, los actores son lindos :')
Es una de esas series con momentos realmente bonitos (los actores ayudaron mucho, no nos engañemos), aunque me dio pena tener que, en ocasiones, echarle imaginación al desarrollo emocional de los personajes o ver actitudes realmente tóxicas entre los protagonistas. La recomiendo para pasar un rato tierno; las personalidades son fuertes y las escenas íntimas están muy bien actuadas ✨, los productores también hicieron su trabajo con un puñado de planos realmente aesthetics e incluso los deslices del cast le dan un aspecto tímido a las escenas que te saca una sonrisa (o una carcajada si eres como yo :D)¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
This review may contain spoilers
Bueno, a mi me parece uno de los mejores BL que puede haber. La historia me parece super graciosa, y sobre todo el personaje de Type, que es el que más evoluciona a lo largo de toda la serie. Pasa de odiar a un genero a "aceptarlo" aunque no sea del todo. Es el personaje en el cual más importancia se le puede dar, porque Tharn sigue siendolo dulce y amoroso en todos los capitulos. Me gusta ver la evolución de Type también porque sacrifica todo por el otro, y eso no se hace así a la ligera. Espero ver en la segunda temporada evolución de ambos personajes.El reparto lo han bordado, no tiene nada que ver que ellos dos se eligieran entre sí o que las fans de Mew pidieran datos a Gulf. Quitando la ironía, creo que acertarón de pleno, porque a ambos le pegan ser TharnType y porque ambos puede proyectar la quimica que tienen los personajes. También tengo que añadir que los personajes secundarios fueron super acertados, Tecno me enamoró desde el principio, el personaje en si super gracioso, divertido,etc..
El OST creo que nos los sabemos todo el mundo de memoria, aunque solo sea dos lineas, porque es de esas canciones que como la escuches se te queda en la mente. También la canción que canta Tharn, esa sí que es preciosa y me encanta la voz de Mew.
Tengo que añadir que no le puedo poner muchas pegas a esta serie, es de esas que no tienes donde rascar, porque todo lo que he visto me pareció apropiado.
PD: Tengo que añadir que gracias a MewGulf y la química y todo el rollo que tienen ellos dos ha salido una serie tan buena, y no porque sean guapos, porque sí lo son y eso ayuda mucho pero es por los sentimientos que nos trasmiten sus miradas.
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
NO
No sé si es la peor serie que he visto, pero definitivamente de las peores.La trama no es tan mala, tiene potencial, lo malo es el desarrollo de la historia, para empezar, en algunos momentos es MUY lenta, entonces resulta aburrido verla, aunque yo soy una persona que se aburre fácil al ver las series, esto fue otro nivel, me tocaba hacer algo mientras la veía, si no hacía algo me estresaba de lo aburrida que era, solo seguí con ella por la esperanza de que en algún punto de la serie algo interesante pasara, pero esto no pasó en ningún momento, tanto así que no quise ver ni los especiales ni la segunda temporada.
Otra cosa que no me gustó PARA NADA, fue lo tóxica que era la pareja principal, definitivamente eso era lo que más aburría, todos los problemas eran producidos por celos (pero en un nivel alto), así que fastidiaba ver cómo se enojaban porque uno miró a una mosca y no al otro, ya era cansón el tema.
Type, definitivamente su desarrollo en la historia fue muy bueno, me gustó como trataron lo que pasó con seriedad y en ningún momento se burlaron de aquello, pero algunos de los comportamientos que tenía (hablo específicamente de sus celos) era algo que no me gustó PARA NADA, si fuera una serie de hace varios años pensaría: "Bueno, era un pensamiento diferente al de ahora, no lo justifica, pero bueno", PERO ES UNA SERIE DEL 2019, NO ES VIEJA.
Literalmente lo único bueno de la serie es su OST, no he leído la letra de las canciones, por lo que no sé que dicen, pero bueno, las canciones son pegadizas y buenas.
En conclusión definitivamente no la recomiendo, es muy lenta, tiene muchas cosas que son ???? la verdad no entiendo por qué hay tanta gente que la ama, pero bueno, cada quien tiene sus gustos, aunque en lo personal NO LA RECOMIENDO.
Gracias por leer :D
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
This review may contain spoilers
Bueno, aunque me gustó bastante la historia siento que algunos capítulos olvidan que Type fue abusado sexualmente, como cuando Tharn casi que lo fuerza en el bar después de verlo coqueteando con chicas, su reacción, pese a que Tharn no se apartaba, no tuvo sentido teniendo en cuenta su pasado. Siento que tampoco se profundizó mucho en este tema ni la violación de Tar. Me molestó bastante que, aunque Tharn mentía y ponía a sus ex por encima de Type constantemente, la serie quisiera hacernos creer que Type era el que estaba mal en esa situación ¿Quién quiere ver a su pareja con sus ex? ¿Quién no se enfadaría si besan a tu pareja en tu cara?
Por otro lado el desarrollo de Tar me gustó bastante.
Debo decir que me di cuenta de que esto es anterior a Love By Chance, su secuela, al terminar, y NO me gustó para nada el cambio de reparto en las parejas secundarias (Especialmente Techno y Tar) pero bueno, nada se puede hacer, y voy a ignorar los cambios de historia que hicieron en las TRES temporadas (sin contar la segunda de TharnType, que aún no he visto) y que confundían muchísimo.
Lo que menos me ha gustado es como intentan hacer a Lhong parecer bueno DESPUÉS de decirte que por él violaron a Tar entre tres hombres...horrible eso.
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
Es un rotundo NO
Polémica, mucha gente la ama, y mucha gente la odia. Personalmente dejé de mirar BL’s a causa de esta serie.A lo largo de esta historia vamos a ver cómo se desarrolla la relación de nuestros protagonistas mientras se tocan una serie de temas complejos como la homofobia, el acoso sexual, las violaciones, tema que está por demás manoseado en TharnType y aún así nunca se le da un arco adecuado, cuando son temas tan serios, no deberían ser usados como rellenos de otra trama que podría haber sobrevivido por sí sola.
Es un concepto que se utiliza en varias ocasiones, y no sólo en esta serie, siento que debería hacer un post aparte respecto de este asunto en la industria de las series BL en Tailandia. Se lo banaliza mucho, cuando se trata de algo muy difícil, e insisto si no hay intención de profundizar en las consecuencias, el daño a las víctimas y dar una contención digna no debería ser usado como “algo más” o relleno o para que parezca más seria la trama, no es más seria si no se trata el tema con la importancia que merece. De hecho, los perpetradores de este delito, en esta serie, ni siquiera enfrentan consecuencias legales. Fue vergonzoso en ese aspecto.
Segundo punto en contra, la violencia con la que se maneja Type, tanto para hablar como sus reacciones, y la violencia física que ejerce, no quiero profundizar para no spoilear si aún no la vieron y tienen planeado hacerlo. Pero es grave y se da desde el primer capítulo hasta finales de la serie, demostrando que ni siquiera tenemos un crecimiento de personaje, ya hacia el final del capítulo 12 tenemos una especie de arco de redención para este personaje, que si bien toda la escena me parece “bien”, no es suficiente para redimir al Type de los 11 capítulos previos.
Respecto de los personajes secundarios, la verdad no siento que ninguno sea especialmente memorable, sólo Tar, personaje que no me gusto nada, todo en torno a él me parecía realmente turbio, lo introducen en los primeros capítulos y no es relevante hasta los últimos 2 o 3 episodios, por lo que durante toda la serie no tenemos ni idea de que hace ahí o cómo se relaciona con la trama principal, y aún cuando lo descubrimos todo carece un poco de sentido, no está bien resuelto en mi opinión, ni eso, ni alguna que otra trama secundaria que dejaron sin concluir.
Si el día de mañana tienen una relación aléjense de todo lo que se parezca a esto aunque sea en 1%. Si alguien dice que los odia por su orientación sexual, no es por ahí, y una persona se queda dormida tampoco se lo toca sin su consentimiento porque es abuso sexual gente, esta serie es una red flag andante.
Ganó muchísima popularidad y hay gente que la ama, la verdad es que me resulta muy difícil a mi, la deje en el capítulo 3 porque no podía aguantar más, cuando volví al mundo de los BL’s decidí darle una segunda oportunidad por los comentarios respecto de lo buena que era, sin embargo no esperaba absolutamente nada, pero las relaciones al menos eran consentidas de ahora en adelante, algunas.. así que puedo decir que a medida que avanza se vuelve un poco más soportable. Pero para mi sigue siendo un No rotundo.
A pesar de esto es destacable la actuación de Gulf y de Mew, transmitían muy bien sus emociones, ambos tienen varios proyectos esperándolos y espero poder volver a verlos con mejores protagónicos.
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
No desperdicien su tiempo con esta serie.
- Review sin spoilers -Preferiría beber veneno de ratas antes que volver a ver 5 minutos de esta serie. Malísima y extremadamente sobrevalorada.
Guión aburridísimo, diálogos redundantes y lentos, mala producción y ejecución, actores estáticos con muy pocas cualidades y recursos actorales. Realmente solo se recitan las líneas a la cara haciendo gestos exagerados y tampoco es que el guión o las cámaras dieran cabida a hacerlo un poco más dinámico. En fin, un tostón.
Mientras lo veía pensaba en si la fama de la serie se podía basar en posibles escenas subidas de tono o algún tipo de fan service, pero nada que ver. Soy incapaz de explicarme su renombre.
Aparenta ser una amable y dulce historia romántica para adolescentes por el ambiente escolar, el elenco y la música del OST (aunque la letra ya da pistas). Sin embargo, la escritora aprovecha estos inocentes elementos juveniles para romantificar, normalizar y naturalizar el abuso sexual, la manipulación, los celos patológicos, la pedofília, el incesto, homofobia, misogínia... Es un continuo sin descanso en toda la historia.
Y es que la construcción de la relación de la pareja se basa en superar estos "obstáculos diarios típicos que atraviesa cualquier pareja y persona" sin despeinarse. Todo vale con tal de mantenerles juntos por "amor".
(Amor que ni se huele porque Type inunda todo de odio, incluído a Tharn. Solo a veces parece ser capaz de medio soportarle y dedicarle algún gesto cariñoso de la nada, para volver inmediatamente a amenazarle e insultarle como acostumbra).
Personajes absurdos, planos y monotema, no muestan más de una o dos emociones en toda la serie. Tampoco se entienden sus razonamientos para la toma de decisiones. Actúan de forma aleatoria, fuera de personaje y momento total.
De verdad, Type es ridículamente repelente e irritante. Inverosímil que tenga amigos o que pueda atraer románticamente a nadie, ni siquiera a los espectadores y mucho menos a otro hombre gay.
En fin, un despropósito de serie en todas sus áreas y facetas, tanto técnicas como morales.
Después de verla, sigo sin entender por qué los fans la aclaman tanto, pero de verdad que no hay nada que merezca la pena ver aquí.
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
First and for the love of god, why is Type's character written like the biggest asshole in town. If ever id meet someone like Type in real life id definitely run the other way. Yes there was a traumatic experience but its not an excuse to be an arse.
My advise to my fellow LGBTQ memebers here, dont ever date someone like Type in real life. He will make your life a living hell, this guy is so toxic and you deserve better. And also when your roommate tells you he hates gays like you, you go away as fast as you can, not secretly touch him when he is sleeping. That's called sexual harassment. And all the more reason for him to hate gay guys. And also, when somebody sexually harasses you, you dont open the cave to let them in, you go to police. The show is just not sending the right message.
One of the most annoying character ever is Tar. He was annoying in Love by Chance and he was as equally annoying here. (i dont hate the actors just the character). He was introduced so early in the show only to really matter in the last 2 or 3 episodes - and a bit creepy almost incestious onesided relationship with the stepbrother.
When i reviewed SOTUS, i said there was almost no intimate moments - this one is the exact opposite.
Hard to rewatch. I give it an overall rating of 6.
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
This review may contain spoilers
This was a popular series, and deservedly so! As you can see, my ratings are all over the place, so I will explain why.I loved the music. For me, Mew (Tharn) carried this show, with brilliant acting = A+. Mild (Techno) was great = A+. Gulf (Type) was really good, too = A. Kaownah (Lhong) was a great singer and a decent actor (although, with all the crying, some real tears would have been welcome) = A-.
The chemistry between Mew and Gulf was off the charts! (That ice cube kissing scene in the last episode was epic.)
Now, for my issues with the series (hence, some of my lower ratings):
Despite some great performances, THE STORY WAS SO BAD I nearly dropped it after about four episodes. Here's why:
1) THARN'S MOLESTATION OF TYPE, WHILE TYPE WAS SLEEPING (And yes, that's what it was.)
For someone who was supposed to be the "good guy," this was not cool, not funny, not appropriate. Can something like this be portrayed in a drama? Yes, of course it can. But it should be presented as what it is, a molestation. Not as something cute, that can just be dismissed as "oh well."
2) THE WAY TYPE'S CHILDHOOD RAPE STORY WAS HANDLED.
At first I was intrigued, because Type was obviously scarred, and his intense hatred of gays made sense. All good. Then, without any buildup, Type has no issue with getting a blow job from his hated gay roommate. Then, in the next episode, he comes out and asks Tharn for anal sex (with Type as receiver), just one time, to "get it over with, once and for all." Are you kidding me? This was a childhood rape victim? And, Tharn's going along with it was almost as incredulous.
I seriously think (and wish) that the author would have had a better story, had she simply made Type a bigoted homophobe who eventually came around. That in itself would have been dramatic enough. As written, the "rape victim suddenly turned gay" storyline was not only unbelievable, but incredibly insensitive and offensive to actual victims of childhood rape.
3) THE TIMELINE.
I was confused (and still am) about what the timeline was for this story. There was no "six months later" that I could see. So, even if we allow for some time lapses here and there, we saw absolutely zero development of Type's character. He went from understandably hating gays, to suddenly having sex with Tharn. So, how exactly did this happen? We got no explanation.
4) THE ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THARN/TYPE.
Not talking about the sexy hotness. That was there in spades, no question! But, it was never explained why Tharn was so taken with Type. Let's face it, Type was a hot mess on many levels. Did Tharn just think Type was hot? What in Type's personality attracted Tharn?
5) LHONG'S ENDING.
Why on Earth didn't Lhong end up in prison, or committed to a psych ward?????
The following were not dealbreakers, but I found them a little hard to swallow:
a) MEW PLAYING A 19 YEAR OLD. Sorry, not buying it. Mew is 28, and he looks 28. Don't get me wrong, 28 isn't exactly old, but it's nowhere near 19. Mew looks like a hot, sexy 28 year old. He looks like he should be a teacher in the college. (That said, I had no problem with Mew/Gulf. Gulf is 21 but could easily pass for 24-25. They look fine together.)
b) TAR LOOKED 14. (Apparently he's 25 or something, a few years older than Gulf. But that's not the point.) Tar looked completely juvenile and the idea of Tharn falling for him -- to the point of being destroyed when Tar left him -- was almost laughable to me. To go along with that...
c) THE BED SCENE WITH TAR/THARN WAS SILLY. Tharn was there begging for Tar to let him up when, in real life, I'm sure Mew could have thrown him off with almost no effort!
d) TYPE HITS THARN IN THE BALLS IN THE BAR BATHROOM. Why? Totally uncalled for.
e) LHONG/TYPE IN THE LAST EPISODE. Type looks like he could easily kick Lhong's ass, but he sat there being strangled, without fighting back even a little.
f) LHONG DROPPING THE GLASS. Really? It was dumb when Pete did it in LBC (especially since he and Ae had already slept together, but I digress... ) and it was dumb here. And then, Lhong uncomfortably makes an excuse and practically runs out of the room. Tharn and Type just shrug it off. Seriously? Was there anyone who didn't know right then and there that Lhong was hopelessly in love with Tharn?? Without the glass drop, Lhong's devious behavior would have been even more of a surprise.
g) THORN, THARN'S OLDER BROTHER. Not only does the actor who plays Thorn NOT look older than Mew, but he is actually younger in real life.
With all that said, I can't say I didn't enjoy the series. I did. There were really great moments. But, despite all the good, it had some real flaws.
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
This review may contain spoilers
OVERRATED and TOXIC
First of all, when I first started watching this bl I immediately loved and adored it. This was due to my idiotic self for not realizing the many flaws and problems this drama has that is hidden under many unnecessary steamy scenes and way too cheesy lines.I know that a lot of people love this show because of the actors, and because of their chemistry on-screen and off-screen, but that does not excuse the fact that this drama has a ton of glaring problems.
1. ROMANTICIZING SEXUAL ASSAULT
This is very clearly shown in the first few episodes if the drama. When Type was asleep, Tharn would always kiss him. There was even one time when Type got drunk, then Tharn gave him HICKEYS. How do people not see that behavior disgusting? Keep in mind that at the time both of them were not friends, and Type clearly did not like Tharn at all. Tharn kissed and gave hickeys to Type WITHOUT HIS CONSENT. This us borderline sexual assault/molestation. What's worse is, they didn't even address this issue in the following episodes, like its a "cute" or normal thing to do to someone.
2. TYPE'S TOXIC BEHAVIOR
People like to defend Type's toxic actions because he has "anger issues" or because he had a traumatic experience in the past. While I agree that Type's trauma and issues should not be overlooked, it does not excuse the fact that he slapped, hit, punch, and kick Tharn many, many times, and he did not even bother to apologize to him after. Another thing that people overlooked is how horribly he treated the girl he "dated". Just because you love someone else, does not excuse the fact that she deserved an explanation as to why he led her on, and why he ghosted her.
3. HORRIBLE CHARACTERS/ CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Both of the main characters are extremely one dimensional, and do not have proper character development at all. Are you saying that Type, a man who was sexually assaulted by a man in the past, and who is struggling with trauma, can just ask another man that he doesn't know or like that much for sex to "get it over with"? I don't think so. Trauma CANNOT be solved in just one day, and it cannot just disappear just because a person is in love. The way the show dealt with his trauma is AWFUL and DISGUSTING. The show just basically swept his trauma under the rug, and they did not show Type battling and conquering his trauma and issues. The message that they are basically saying is that your deep-rooted trauma and issues can just be solved in a day, and will just disappear once you find a person to date.
For Tharn, I already talked about his DISGUSTING sexual assault that was never addressed by the show, so I'm not gonna repeat myself again. I might just be nit piking by saying this but I absolutely despise how everything he says to Type is so incredibly cheesy and unrealistic that it makes me die inside from cringe. Its not cute. Its unrealistic, and nobody in their right minds would ever talk like that all the time. Another one of my problems about his character is that it was never shown hoe he fell so deeply in love with Type. All that we were told is that Tharn finds him attractive. That's all. How did he fall in love with him? Why did he fall in love him even though Type was a complete asshole to him? It's a complete mystery to the viewers. After the first time they slept together, they were immediately so lovey-dovey.
4. HORRIBLE ANTAGONIST
Another thing about the show that fans love so much is the antagonist. I totally agree that the actor who played Lhong is decent, but his character, obviously, is not. I don't understand why the show wants us to empathize or feel sorry for him. Did they forget that he singlehandedly destroyed his best friend's relationships? Did they forget that he paid men to RAPE a boy? Did they forget that he tried to MURDER Type? But because he was a victim of unrequited love, I supposed his actions were justifiable, right? Right? As if.
In summary, this show is bad because it romanticizes and normalizes sexual assault/molestation and toxic behavior in relationships, it handles mental issues and trauma horribly, has underdeveloped and one-dimensional characters, has borderline cringe-worthy dialogue, and has a confusing, lackluster, horrendous plot.
Just because this show is popular, does not mean that it is good. This show has so many glaring problems that fans choose to ignore, and I absolutely hate it. I absolutely despise the normalization of certain toxic attitudes prevalent in bl shows, and I really hope it changes.
My favorite thing about this show is the music. I love the OST and I think Mew is a talented singer.
My favorite character in this show is Type's soccer ball, because I felt the same way while watching the show. Kicked around and played with.
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
This review may contain spoilers
I stuck with this series because of the acting. Gulf did an amazing job with Type and Mew, when his character wasn't creepy or crying, was pretty fun. Mild's Techno was wonderful, I much preferred his interpretation of the character than the one in Love By Chance.Having watched now both T/T and LBC, and read a bit here and there about the other storylines of the novels, it seems that virtually every storyline in this story universe has some element of sexual assault in the backstory or conflict (even Ae/Pete, which is a wholly consensual relationship, is triggered by a sexual assault and blackmail that Pete is trying to deal with). These plot device assaults are not dealt with well, the effects on the characters come and go as suits the storyline, and there are no consequences for rapists. When characters we are supposed to like commit assaults, it's treated as part of the romantic development rather than called out for what it is.
This is particularly badly done in T/T. Type has a traumatic, really major sexual assault in his history. In the entire series, the only scene in which this history was used in a way that felt realistic and important is when he recognizes Tar's trauma, which occurs in the last episode.
Tharn is gross. Just awful. He has zero respect for Type's boundaries. He sexually assaults him multiple times: in the shower; while he's sleeping; tells Type to "watch his ass" after they become friends again and after Tharn knows about Type having been kidnapped and raped; pushes him into a wall and threatens him when he thinks Type is flirting at a bar... just horrible. He agrees to have sex with Type even when Type explains that he is offering because a) he feels like he owes Tharn and b) he's afraid Tharn is going to do it at some point anyway so he wants to get it over with. When someone tells you they don't think they can say no to having sex with you because of factors that don't have to do with their immense desire to have sex with you, going ahead and having sex with them is rape. The writing completely ignores the coercive element of their first time. No, in fact, afterwards, Tharn tells Type that even though he said they could do it just once, it wasn't going to be just once, and then proceeds to continue to pester him until Type gives in again, which basically marks the start of their "romantic" relationship.
These constant assaults are not treated by the writer or director AS assaults, never problematized or called out. They are also really confusingly shot and plotted, to the point where at the beginning I thought we were seeing Type's fearful dreams/worries playing out (which would have been MUCH better, in that we would have understood more Type's reaction while being able to continue respecting/liking Tarn)
On top of the outright assaults, Tharn is horribly emotionally manipulative. We can, of course, dislike Type's homophobia. But given that it's routed in trauma, and that Tharn knows this, a realistic and compelling storyline would have Type moving through his fears and overcoming his prejudices while Tharn gives him some emotional space to process these changes and reconsider his worldview.
What we get instead is that every time Type concedes something, Tharn pushes the next boundary without asking and then gets mad/withdraws affection when Type is upset. On the very day that Type admits they are something more than friends, Tharn convinces him to go out into public and then kisses him IN PUBLIC without asking. On what planet would you expect the traumatised, recently severely homophobic guy who is struggling with his sexuality and only hours ago was willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, there's something more going on between you than being fuck buddies is suddenly ready to be outed at a bar? None. Actual people who understand relationships would not make that move and if they did, they would understand that THEY were the ones who did something wrong.
What does Tharn do? He gets mad, sulks, leaves for days and doesn't come back until Type apologizes.
The Tar storyline is also terrible, but I'm going to leave it here. I can't honestly recommend the show, although I can understand if you just want to kind of close your eyes/mind to the flaws and try to enjoy the fluffy parts, because that's clearly what I did. The characters are so inconsistent that when they are not being awful, they are pretty cute and likeable, so the fun fluffy scenes are there. Still, I'm not sure if it's worth it. I feel sort of gross for having watched it to the end.
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
This review may contain spoilers
Disclaimer: I did not like this drama. It will be a harsh rant review so if you don't think you can handle it, don't read it. If you do read it, don't write to me that I'm hurting people's feelings with it.What’s more: I do NOT care about the novel. I do not care how well everything was explained and shown in the novel. I’m reviewing the drama. If the show cannot be consumed without my prior knowledge about the plot of the novel, it speaks volumes about the quality of the drama itself.
At first I refused to rate this drama. I had truly no idea what rating would do it justice. For how they handled certain topics it should get -100, but the acting was decent, at times even good, the set design, audio editing, lighting and other technical aspects were good too, and these definitely do not deserve such a low rating. That said, since MDL forces me to state my stars, I will go with my feelings, be as subjective as possible and give it “well deserved” 2.5 stars.
DIRECTING/WRITING
Sadly, the lack of experience in directing is quite obvious. While there was a lot of thought put into „steamy” scenes and how to show them in the most attractive, sensual way, not the same amount of work had been put into directing and showing the overall plot. The biggest problem I had was the confusing time progression and weird time jumps without proper explanation.
Another aspect of directing that caught me off guard was a random and rushed beginning. Why we did not see how the friendship of Type and Tharn was established? All we've got was one line of Type saying Tharn is good looking, nice and most likely will help him get a girl and exactly 1 minute and 17 seconds of them meeting for the first time three weeks ago.
The fact we did not see these two establishing the relationship and spending time together as friends was one of the reasons Tharn's big love seemed so out of place. After seeing the whole drama, it's safe to assume he fell for Type before Type found out he is gay. But we did not see that, so with how badly Type was treating him, it was given I would question Tharn's sanity and reasons behind his feelings. When did he fall for Type? That's the question the drama does not really answer.
Unanswered questions, scenes that seem to have no reason for existing, loose ends - all of them happened at some point. I kept seeing people asking questions about certain plot points and plotlines and the only way to understand the reasoning behind them was to hear from someone who read the novel which was usually followed by continuous excuses of time restriction.
If you know you cannot possibly fit all the plotlines in the time framework set for your drama, you should rewrite it. As much as I liked the “Korean” guy and his roommate, they should not be part of the plot. Not only were their characters not developed, they brought close to nothing to the show, but instead have taken away the precious time that could be used to develop the main plot and explain all the unanswered questions. You need to be smart with how you write and be realistic about it. If you know you only have 12 episodes and a lot of work to be done on the main characters and their relationship, don't waste your time on side characters and plotlines.
THARN'S CHARACTER
I know he has a lot of supporters and many people were extremely protective over him and hated Type quite a lot with how he treated Tharn. That said, while Tharn was quite a nice and sweet guy in the second half of the drama, the first few episodes showed him as a creep who disregards any type of personal space and is willing to sexually harass someone just to get back for the name calling.
Many people may claim that giving someone hickeys without a consent or rather being fully aware the person would not agree to it, is not a big deal, but it is. They were not friends back then, not a couple. Type was asleep after getting drunk. Imagine that you woke up one day and it turned out that some guy you knew, but did not have a good relationship with, gave you hickeys all over your neck and upper torso. Do you find it cute? Romantic? Innocent? I would either call the police or inform my professors about it.
Also, what kind of sane person instead of punching a homophobic asshole says they will screw him? What's in the brain of that man? I would not want to touch a guy like Type with a stick. Kissing him as revenge, giving him hickeys. It's so amazingly illogical I cannot even try to grasp what was going on. All the touching of Type's face and giving him forehead kisses when he was asleep (before they were a couple, back at the beginning when Type hated Tharn) were not romantic. It was gross and weird and inappropriate.
What also amazes me about Tharn, is how not observant and ignorant he is about the feelings of people around him. How he failed to see Lhong was sabotaging all of his relationships? How could he not see the frantic behaviour of Tar when he came to see him, which obviously would lead to the conclusion something is not right? How he ignored Type’s mental struggles and instead of educating himself about the symptoms of his mental health issues, he ignored them.
TYPE'S CHARACTER
Since I'm planning to write in more detail later on about all the mental health issues, I'll just focus on how his character was written. From the beginning there was not much thought put into developing the characters and showing their gradual change and how it happened - as a result, Type’s character is extremely inconsistent. They bring up his trauma and homophobia when it fits the storyline, forget about it when they want to progress the sexy scenes and at the end of the day, nothing makes sense. Even not taking into consideration his hatred for gays, he was not a nice, lovely and a good guy that I would root for. He was an asshole, way too impulsive and had close to zero redeeming qualities. I failed to see why I should cheer for him and his happiness when I simply did not like him as a human being.
MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES
Total disregard of any mental health topics in this drama frustrates me so bad it's exhausting to watch. Let's start with Type being sexually assaulted as a child by a pedophile, in the present times, having phobia and generalized hatred towards gays and PTSD that was miraculously cured by the power of love and blowjobs. No mention of him going to a psychologist or psychiatrist. No previous treatments as a child.
This leads to Tharn's inappropriate behaviour towards Type when he had panic attacks. If you are the clear reason for someone's panic attack and they tell you to let them go in a hysterical manner, you don't hug them closer to you, you let them go and bring help. There is a reason why rape victims are treated by medical staff of the opposite gender than the person who attacked them, why the police officer are not of the same sex as the attacker. The scenes with Tharn being the cause for the panic attack AND the one that calms Type’s down (sometimes with quite sensual touches) just shows how not willing to do any type of research on the topic the writer was.
Episode two, the scene where Tharn almost sits on top of Type, being angry about Type insulting his father - first Tharn is trying to annoy and make Type angry, when Type starts to have panic attack and begs him to let him go, Tharn says “I just want to help you relax. Calm down” as he caresses his face and tight in a clearly sensual manner, Type gets even more anxious still begging for Tharn to let him go and not hurt him. At some point, finally Type is able to move and he kicks Tharn away from himself to which Tharn says “What the hell is wrong with you, Type?” and I want to ask: What the hell is wrong with the person who wrote this scene? If you fail to see how disturbing and wrong and weirdly written this scene is, I have nothing to tell you.
That said, not all of Tharn’s reactions to Type’s attacks were wrong. When Type woke up in the middle of the night and he himself grabbed Tharn and hugged him, it was a good decision to hug him back and with a calm voice make him feel more at ease. This was one of the instances when I was nodding my head thinking - the boy is slowly learning what is appropriate and what is not. The joy was usually short lived though.
The whole PTSD, panic attacks and all the mental health related issues Type had are gone by the time he and Tharn are together. Why? Because they have no purpose to the main romantic plot anymore. They were just tools to make the romance more angsty, be a good excuse for Type’s hatred towards gays and make “steamy scenes” more “steamy”. After all that, without any professional help, by some random miracle, Type was cured. Why exactly do we need mental health professionals when you can just cure your problems with one good blowjob?
The writers also make Tharn look like an extremely self centered person who is not willing to learn and research about the serious topic concerning the person he claims to love. While his lack of proper reaction could be partially an excuse before he knew about Type’s past, after he found out, the fact there was not even one proper serious talk about it amazes me. Not even once Tharn asked if Type often has the panic attacks, how he should act when it happens, if he tried to get professional help. Nothing. The topic is gone and not mentioned again.
Tar’s depression, suicide thoughts and how the heck no one noticed it for so long? I refuse to believe that his brother did not even once come to his room before that one accidental time in the middle of the drama. It’s close to impossible for him not to know how bad his brother’s mental health is, seeing how he wasn’t truly trying to hide it well. Tar was also the only character that was mentioned to receive mental health help from a psychiatrist, how good the help was is a totally different issue. His character is still better “treated” by the writers than Type. They at least tried to show different symptoms of depression and all the more realistic implications it might have.
Lhong’s story is another way of explaining bad behavior by giving a character a tragic past. While I kind of appreciate the additional episode and the background info on Lhong, I’d say it was an amazing waste of time. Good 70% of the time in the episode was just flashbacks to what happened in the previous episode and just a few new scenes showing Lhong’s past. Why not use that time to truly develop and dive deep into this character’s motivation? He obviously had huge mental health issues, yet again, they are not being addressed by anyone.
Both Lhong and Tar should be in observation in the hospital for some time, since they are either a danger to themselves or to others. I guess, mental health help is a concept that does not exist in the universe created by the writer.
San’s love for Tharn when they were younger was quite disturbing too. The idea that he wanted to take Tharn’s virginity because he was young, cute and innocent just sounds wrong for me. Those are the adjectives you use to describe a child. I have no idea how old Sad was when their relationship happened, but it did sound alarming to me.
WHAT I LIKED
I must say, I kind of enjoyed some fluffy scenes of Tharn and Type. I had to force myself to ignore and try not to remember all the stuff that happened in the first half of the show, but when I was able to do that, the scenes were quite cute. I liked the domestic scenes when Type was playing with Tharn hair. I guess I enjoyed their interactions the most in episode 10. Truth to be told, I would not mind this drama that much, or even like it, if the writer did not introduce the topic of sexual assault on the minor and mental health issues that follow. It was just so poorly written, I cannot ignore it.
My favorite character was for sure Techno. He was one of the best written and most realistic ones. Also, probably the only one without huge trauma and mental health issues. I enjoyed most of his scenes and Mild acting was quite good.
One scene that stood out for me was when Type was confronted by his friend after that friend confessed he is gay. It was a well written and well filmed scene. I just wished there was a follow up, since it was an amazing opportunity for Type’s character growth.
It’s important to add: the last episode was a MESS. Like… “how is Lhong not in prison” was the only thing on my mind when I was watching it. I could not focus on anything else.
Overall, the quality of the production was not bad, the acting was good, the chemistry between characters was nice, the music was fine, the technical aspects were well thought through… The writing… was tragic. Did I over-analyze it? Probably. Some might say I should not try to dig deep into this drama since it’s just a romance BL and they are not supposed to be taken this seriously. I would like to say though, the author themselves introduced those deep, tragic and thought provoking themes in it, so I cannot be blamed for taking it too seriously. I cannot ignore such a bad representation. It would make me feel guilty.
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
This review may contain spoilers
No.
I'll be very honest with this review because I have a lot to say about this series.Many people overlooked the toxic, abusive and just plainly ridiculous plot lines this series had just because of Mew and Gulf, which is very sickening to me. I can't actually believe this series got so much love with all of these aspects that shouldn't be a part of a healthy relationship. I watched this series in hopes of them correcting the mistakes made earlier in the series (sexual assault, serious bullying etc) but they just made it worse. Not only did they not do anything to show that what Tharn did to Type in the beginning of the series (rape) is not okay, they also showed physical abuse and manipulative behavior between the characters (Type mainly being the toxic one). The toxic behavior from Type was explained as him being overly jealous and apparently easily agitated but that is not a reason to punch your s/o.
What else was wrong with this series? The representation of mental illness. The total ignorance towards Type's mental illness was terrible. The way everything was displayed made me feel disgusted. I don't even have any words about that.
There is so much media that discriminates and shows only negative sides of gay relationships and ignorance of mental illnesses. It's literally 2020 so it's time to show healthy representation of gay people and mental illnesses. Tharn type is not that.
¿Te ha parecido útil esta reseña?
