TharnType The Series (2019)

Gives a Good First Impression But Has Major Story Problems

I was looking forward to TharnType given its consistently high viewer ratings, so maybe my expectations were too high. Many other reviewers have noted the problems with the lead characters, so I'll try to add a fresh perspective here. Like so many BL dramas, the writing seems to be a bit two-faced, on one hand being a champion of same-gender romance while backstabbing the genre with horrible stereotypes. Leaving the childhood abuse of Type aside, a man of 19 years old should have figured his sexual orientation out soon after puberty. The suggestion that he's straight but suddenly becomes gay -- and gay only for Tharn -- is absolutely absurd. I accepted the explanation for Type's homophobia based on the childhood rape, but, in reality, it would probably scar a person for life and preempt any kind of romantic connection. I can think of several better backstories for homophobia. Other's have noted that the Tharn character comes off as a bit of a creepy predator in the first few episodes, another horrible gay myth. This undermines the audience fully embracing his character. And, of course, Type is so consistently homophobic and obnoxious, he's hard to like too. The romance is better than the formulaic BL dramas that never go beyond bromance with benefits, but TharnType has been eclipsed by newer dramas like WhyRU? where the main characters -- Tutor and Fighter -- set a new benchmark for steamy romantic and gut-wrenching breakup scenes. The camera work is not as good as other productions I've seen -- with some very poor framing. I should mention the sound was well above average for Thai productions which seem to have a lot of audio mistakes like off-mic dialogue, distortion and clothes rustling. I only observed a few mistakes in the music mix, but that's the fault of the editor. One final though to aspiring BL drama writers: if you want the audience to connect with your main characters, violence (rape) and sex do not mix.. Avoid the genre stereotypes. They're cliches that rarely reflect real life. And no matter how many hours your drama runs, your main characters better not utter "I'm Sorry" more than about 3 times. That phrase loses its impact really fast.

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Toxic characters

It's way too overrated just because the leads have great chemistry off screen (no they are not dating in real life) there is no whatsoever character development of type . How can a rape victim and a homophobic suddenly want a blowjob from a gay .
Tharn also molested him in sleep . Doesn't potray the good guy . Why did Tharn fall in love with Type . There is no explanation or any cute moment of them to show him falling in love. Type also just suddenly falls in love after sex . The antagonist is annoying. Their relationship is almost unbelievable. I would not recommend this drama to anyone who can easily get triggered.

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The story builds up, starts making more sense halfway, and progressively gets better.

Before anything, allow me to say this: Much has been said about TharnType, especially with its treatment of trauma and mental health. I find that I agree with most negative sentiments, and that the execution could have been better—however, don't let this discourage you from picking this series up, because it does have a lot to offer. If I may make the comparison, I often find that in Japanese BL, female authors would use it to explore the more, say, appalling themes of love and lust, in the "safe space" of imagination and subsitution of the heroine with a male character. It is a guilty pleasure for many to consume BL. Truly, this is a very interesting topic worthy of discussion, but as this is a review on MyDramaList and not a Reddit thread, I'll instead advise you to just keep an open mind and watch TharnType for what it is: fiction. At the end, let your takeaway be a more critical perspective, and let it help you in further discourse about such matters.

Now, onto other things. To put it frankly, TharnType's biggest thing for me was the plot. The story builds up, starts making more sense halfway, and progressively gets better. Early warning: every episode will make you smile, laugh and blush... then get your heart broken. TharnType is not a light-hearted giggle-fest, made quite clear by the tension between Tharn and Type (especially with the former's homophobic tendencies). Make no mistake, however: this is definitely not a bad thing!

I found TharnType delightful, with all its fluff and mischievous playful romance. On the flipside, all the drama actually weaves quite well into the story, though it might not be completely apparent at first. If, at any point, you feel frustrated by Type's hard-headedness, or the, well, non-consensual stuff in the beginning, I suggest that you don't drop it just yet. Trust that it gets better. TharnType had me muttering "Interesting..." under my breath a few good times.

Another thing worth noting is the use of "side" characters and stories. They're not just for fillers and decoration—without spoiling anything, these "sides" are part of the build-up. A piece of advice: even if it starts off kind of confusing, pay good attention to them.

There's something negative I'd like to point out though. Can I just say that the music was so manipulative? It's my lowest-rated aspect for a reason. I felt like it was too loud and suggestive at times. Perhaps they could have toned it down (especially the suspense music, geez) and left us to interpret the plot with a more "subtle" soundtrack.

To close, I only, truly appreciated the pacing of the previous episodes as I approached the finale. The 12th and last episode, damn. Good stuff.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Given this premise, I highly suggest keeping yourself away from any spoilers. If you're watching this series anywhere with a comment box (like YouTube), do yourself a favor and don't scroll down until after the episode.

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When I first started watching the first episode, I didn’t have much hope, especially I was only going to watched it because I was bored and got nothing else to watched. But that was the best decision I ever did is to watched Tharntype.
- Yes, this show has portrayed sex abuse and even in the beginning you’ll get uncomfortable cos it can be little “rapey” , but the development between two characters are unbelievable. Not on episode bore me because I enjoyed it very much. The chemistry between Mew and Gul is seriously what I live for right now. If you stop watching this drama or you feel uncomfortable coz you feel uncomfortable of the sex abuse. Please just give it a chance. Honestly, made me uncomfortable too but I’m the end the relationship between the two main leads amazed me. If you ask me ITS THE BEST BL At least 2019. ( for me best BL of all time).

I guess in the end, Tharntype can be either you don’t “care” for it to I really freaking love it.

I’m just saying, hate me or not so far THARNTYPE BEAT 2gether.

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Why is this series so HIGHLY praised?

I do not understand why this series is regarded so highly amongst other series that outclass this IMO.

story wise: there were practically None.
Acting: superb, the chemistry was great between the two MCs
Music: .... really forgettable, half the times I don't notice it and the other half is the cheerful, goofy music in SERIOUS scenes like pretend sexual assault passed of as a joke...
rewatch value: little to none since everything gets tied up by the end... unless you're watching for those hot scenes.

this series can be summarized in two words: LUST and SEX.

BELOW WILL CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS.... read at own discretion

Many things I didn't like about this series:
1) Non-consensual behavior. From ep 1-4, Tharn's behavior was disturbing and non-consensual but what is worse is that it was always played off as a joke or something playful so its fine to cross the line, WHEN UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE WAS HIS ACTIONS REMOTELY ACCEPTABLE IN REAL LIFE.
2) Lack of plot, communication, and character development. This series is 70% or more about Tharn lusting for Type and Type wanting to have sex with Tharn. 15% drama, 5% comic relief, 5% cute scenes, and 5% WTF TYPE!!! I'm sure everyone who watched this series, at one point, was frustrated at Type. Also what is character development?? Tharn's character exists solely to lust for type. And Type?? well he dates a guy, whose also gay, but still hates gays... but only likes Type (the I don't like men trope). What is logic??? sure you can say later, he learns to admit his feelings but does he actually grow as a person? I'd say no, at least none up to the finale.
3) Using rape and sexual assault as a plot device to strengthen the relationship between to the MCs. what more can I say? There was no serious conversation about it. It was purely plot device.
4) Inconsistencies. Type's behavior is so inconsistent, I was confused at his behavior. He supposedly is experimenting his sexuality with Tharn but it was passed of as "I'll use my body to repay Tharn". I thought he was majorly against GAY anything so without knowing that, why would someone offer their body as a form of repayment?? Then it was supposedly a one time thing.... but then the next scene was sex AGAIN??? and they never addressed it or had a real conversation. There is 0% of meaningful conversations in this series. And by meaningful I mean the, coming in terms with one's sexuality, or coming out to friends and family, or sharing traumatic experiences. The love confession scenes are not "meaningful" here.

Things that were good:
1) Intimate and cute scenes... surprisingly much more intimate than your usual Thai BL. Often times I wish it were shorter...
2) the chemistry between Mew and Gulf are REALLY good. I would love to see them together in a less problematic/toxic relationship.

Overall, this series is probably considered REALLY GOOD because of the chemistry between the two MCs and all the skinship and intimate scenes. One episode here has more intimate scenes than the whole of DBK or SOTUS... and that's probably why people don't like those series as much as this one...

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I quite enjoyed watching this series and the chemistry between Tharn & Type is undeniably super cute. The actors and the production were good though there were still some cringy and awkward moments. But I just cannot get past some of the problems in the plot that sometimes makes me feel conflicted when watching.

One of the issues I had was when Tharn kissed and put hickeys on Type while he was drunk and asleep. That was technically an assault and I know somehow its common in Yaoi/BL but I think it's about time we put an end to those kinds of storylines especially for live-action series. Type is a sexual assault victim that has such a great trauma that he became homophobic and what Type did would have been so triggering for him.

With regards to Type, I am not sure why but I did not feel like he redeemed himself from all the homophobic and jerk things he did. I get that his trauma is the reason why he is homophobic so we need to feel sorry for him then he fell in love with a guy, realized not all homosexuals are bad, so he redeemed himself. But I don't know it feels lacking somehow. Maybe they could have addressed his trauma more and made him realize that his trauma should not justify his hateful and jerk behavior. Or maybe it would have been better if he was instead scared of homosexuals more than hateful. All of the homophobic things he did were very hurtful and, as someone who is LGBTQ+, I felt it and somehow it was never really established that he truly felt remorse for those things he did because it’s “justified”. But still, I could not truly hate him maybe partly because of the way Gulf portrayed the character as well.

My biggest issue would be the part with Lhong. It was sort of a good twist but I did not like how it was handled because honestly he should have been imprisoned or at least maybe treated for mental health issues. The things he did were crimes and he brought so much trauma to Tar that it felt so unfair that they just let him go like that. I did not like how the series was trying to justify all the things he did because he was neglected as a child and that we need to feel sorry for him. CHILDHOOD TRAUMA IS NO EXCUSE FOR ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR!!

I think overall I just had an issue on how the mental health issues, that at least 4 characters have, were handled. I guess I’m just tired of shows who use mental issues just to have “interesting” plots instead of maybe trying to at least do some research on them and then maybe help in providing awareness as well.

I am a hardcore Yaoi/BL fan since 2010 but and battling with some mental health issues and trauma. These kinds of series sometimes become a literal guilty pleasure for me because I find the BL couples so adorable and lovely but at the same time, I feel so guilty/conflicted when watching that sometimes I hate myself for liking the show in the first place. T_T T_T

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English is not my first language.

I didn't dislike this drama but I didn't love it as much as a lot of BL fans did.

I loved :
- the chemistry between the two leads. It was really incredible, they looked like a real couple!
- the story (or at least, what they wanted to show even if it was a failure) and more precisely all the things about being homophobic because of a trauma. I found this idea really interesting and new.
- I really liked the music, some scenes were really sweet and others very funny.

And....that's all.

What I disliked :

How they dealt with the trauma-thing and the scene that was almost a sexual abuse scene. I really liked the fact that Type was homophobic because of something that happened when he was a child. At first it was really interesting. But then there was a scene : Type was almost sexually abused by Tharn. I know that Tharn is a good guy, that Type "responded" and also that for BL viewers this intimate scene was "nice" to watch but I couldn't really love it. Type had never agreed with this. Moreover, all the plot around the trauma lasted for only few episodes and then, when they were a couple, everything was forgotten. It's a shame because the scenarists reduced the trauma thing as just an obstacle or an excuse to explain Type being homophobic, whereas trauma is something really difficult to overcome and many people suffer of this in real life. In the Taiwanese drama Mars, the heroine was victim of sexual abuses but her evolution and how the male lead helps her to overcome her trauma are really well-shown. In Tharn Type, Tharn doesn't seemed to care about Type's past and even Type himself seems to forgot about his own trauma. BUT IT'S A TRAUMA GUYS !! How can we "forget" a trauma?

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I didn't intend to write a review for this drama because one user who I had the chance to talk with in my feeds has already said everything I thought was wrong with the plot and the characters (Kate, your review is iconic). In her review, the terrible mental health representation and the abuser behaviour was extremely well explained so I suggest you all to go read it (the review was posted in January 2020, user KATE). But I decided to add a few things so that I could explain my rather high rating. So everything I write in this review will be a continuation of what she said.

First things first, I don't know how so many people are able to look past the obvious train wreck that is the plot. Yes, the chemistry is great but does it justify the "uncomfortable scenes" in this show? The scene that bothered me the most was the one where Tharn kisses and touches Type while he is drunk and sleeping; it simply doesn't match Tharn's personality and if the writer and the director's intention was to make it hot and get our hearts racing they certainly did that... my heart was racing with FURY. The fact that Type kept punching Tharn despite him being the man he loves and sleeps with every night made me really angry as well. Is violence okay just because you're jealous and furious? I am praying that the plot is different in season 2 because by the last episode the characters did seem to have developed as human beings and as lovers.

Although the transitions were super strange and we didn't know how much time had passed from one scene to the other (like how did Type suddenly offer to be a bottom in a sexual intercourse with a gay man that he clearly despised?? Wasn't he traumatised?? What????), I enjoyed the pace of the show. It wasn't boring, that's for sure.

I think the actors did the best they could with the plot they were given. The acting was decent and the chemistry between the main leads was great, which gets me to talk about the three main reasons why I gave this show a decent rating:

1- the secondary characters. I loooooved Techno so much! So funny and endearing. The parents were great. The girl Type was trying to seduce wasn't a villain, like they usually are in BL shows, and I appreciated it. Even characters that I didn't particularly like (like Tar) were important to the plot. The ones that weren't relevant to the plot made me laugh (the Korean guy and his roommate were super funny). So yeah, I really liked it.

2- the fact that this is within the Love by Chance universe. I looooove Love by Chance and it was super cool revisiting this universe. Some characters even appeared at the beginning and at the end and I was so happy! My heart was warm. I hope LBC2 and TharnType2 continues with the series crossing thing, it's really fun.

3- Mew. Just Mew. Mew Mew Mew Mew. Oh boy, that man made me feel THINGS. Every time he breathed I had a mini heart attack. When he played the drums I almost couldn't watch it because of how hot he was. His hands....... enough said. When he SMILED???????? haha.............. *sweating intensifies*. The scene where he was playing with his band and smiling and mouthing the lyrics and Type was looking at him and his eyes were shining... I....... I couldn't not give it at least 7 stars, I'm sorry. Mew is amazing and so is Tharn. EXCEPT FOR THE ALMOST RAPE SCENES. I'm sorry but it's so out of character that it genuinely frustrates me. I'm not trying to find excuses for Tharn's behaviour just because Mew is the hottest man in Thailand, by the way. I really do think these "almost-rape scenes" were there to make it more appealing and sexy for some people, which ended up ruining the show for me, and the sneaky/mischievous behaviour truly doesn't fit Tharn's character at all, in my opinion.

Ooof, now I can breathe.
Will season 2 justify these 7.5 stars and prove I was right about the character development and a promising, healthy, less train wreckish plot? I don't know. Honestly, all I have to say right now, in case you didn't get at what point I love this man, is: Mew; the power that this man holds.

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Why is this so popular!?

There are too many things that totally bothered me watching this series and i will list a couple of them:
1. Sexual Assault
2.Normalizing Rape
3.Normalizing toxic relationships
okay so i will now explaining everything.
1.Sexual Assault
Like come onnn. Type was obviously not into Tharn from the beggining he was comfortable being around him because of the traumatic things that had happened in his past, he tried to get away but Tharn literally forced him to do things he never agreed too, i mean okay in the StoryLine Type does fall for him but thats so bullshit. Why would you fall in Love with the guy who sexually assaulted you!? Oh right, he probably got forced.
2.Normalizing Rape
Yeah its about Type and Tharn again. Forcing somebody to sleep without just because you like them and they kissed you back when you obviously forced them too is Rape! Its Rape when the other person (in this case type) is forced into stuff he never wanted. Also when this whole thing with Thar happened and he got raped it got sooo normalized its disgusting.
3.Normalizing toxic relationships
How often did they fight? and how often did they got back together just to fight again??
Its sad how much they fought and it got frustrating at some points. But this time its Type, he is literally such a toxic and controlling Character that it makes me sick.

Would not recommendt.

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After binge-watching all 12 episodes over the weekend, the ending completely let me down. I felt the ending was unrealistic and did not serve the characters well. Please do bear in mind that my review is based on the fact that I have never read the novel nor watched LBC.

1. In the final confrontation scene between Tharn, Type and Lhong (which in itself was a bit long IMO), Tharn was seen to be beating himself up over what happened to Tar (someone he loved deeply before meeting Type). Yet there was no follow up to that. A meeting with Tar over the unfortunate circumstances will provide so much emotional resonance. This would have allowed some character depth to Tharn and also enable Tar to have some sort of closure given that he is the real victim. As it is, Tar miraculously recover from his year-long anxiety and depression in the last few scenes and can continue his education at France which was super-unrealistic. Also, given that his band broke up over this Tharn/Tar separation, I felt they could have also resolved the dispute between Tharn and Tum.

2. Tharn and Type's characterization. From the beginning, it seems like Tharn and Type enjoyed a healthy friendship (despite how brief it was given that they are first year's students). But this was not shown and viewers were quickly introduced to their dispute over Tharn's homosexuality. Flashback would have great to establish this. What I couldn't accept was Tharn's inconsistent characterization. He was portrayed as a loving son/brother (in his scenes with his family) and loyal friend (flashback with Lhong) yet he crossed the line and sexually assault Type because he has a crush on Type. That was highly disturbing to me.

3. The good thing that came out from the series is Techno. Played extremely well, the character is likeable without being annoying. However, we also did not get to know him more other than his ambition to be a football captain. Perhaps that is the reason I like the character. There was no introduction of background with serious implications to the character.

All in all, I would have a hard time recommending this one to anyone other than to enjoy the fluffy scenes between Tharn and Type.

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**Long story short: this story was pretty bad.

I didn't finish this show.
I just couldn't.
I stopped at ep 11/12, because I was tired, and I just didn't feel like going on. I know I was so close to the end, but maybe I'll go back to it later? Probably not :/

This series is kind of exasperating, and most people can look past all the other stuff because they're mainly just here for the main couple and cute cuddly things,,, but bro, I'm just tired....

Now, before you think I'm gonna shit on your favourite show, let me first disclaim that this story wasn't bad in the TERRIBLE way, it was bad in the "THIS-IS-PRETTY-CONTROVERSIAL-AND-ALSO-IM-TIRED" way. This review is spoiler-free :")

------> REVIEW START<-------

First off, the story starts pretty questionably (as all BL dramas do, because why not) with Tharn, our main guy, doing some questionable things to Type, the main character........and then the series just kinda sweeps it under the rug and it's never spoken about after that. Now, besides this, Tharn is an unproblematic KING for the most part, until....he's not, and I just get tired.

Now my main gripe with this series, besides the #controversial things they got happening here, that they just DON'T address, is the fact that:

1. some things just don't add up/make ZERO sense, but it's NEVER looked at and

2. i just got so frustrated with it, and it's completely turned me off—so much so that I simply don't want to continue.

The series definitely needs to address a few things, namely
1. San (yeah, he's a good guy i guess? in the present at least. But also, sis is very problematic and what he did to Tharn was creepy...)

2. Miscommunication trope. If you're not a fan of this trope, try your best not to get a heart attack from this show because it's EVERYWHERE. ALL THE TIME. Bro, I just don't have the patience for this? it's not to an unbearable degree, but they weren't necessarily pulling their punches with it either.

3. ---------WHAT EVEN WAS THE POINT OF TYPE'S SEXUAL TRAUMA?????!?!?! HMMMMMMMM????? QUE????? It's never addressed????? I don't want to spoil, but man you'd think this would also include some level of Type coming to terms with the fact that he was molested as a child, and learning to come to terms with himself, his body and not hating being touched by a guy....but he just completely gets over it? It was like he did a full 180 (**dua lipa emerges from underneath my bed...**) I was like LOLOLOLOLOLOL alright then I guess this is happening now?? Bishes don't got time for this we're on a 12 episode time crunch here! ain't nobody got time for you overcoming your psychological traumas,,,, just jump headfirst and it'll be totally fine. Right.

Crazy thing is, after this his trauma is just---never---looked at----ever again....hmmm.....Why do i feel like this whole sexual trauma thing Type's got going on was just a convenient plot device used to justify Type being homophobic because ----**sexual tension***. hMM...I wonder.......

Anyways, those **extremely MINOR** gripes out of the way,,,.. :)What I did like about this show was:
1. Chemistry. The actors did a great job at actually seeming like they were in love, or at least attracted to each other. At times it was like a lil bit stiff, but that's just because I'm hypersensitive towards details like this. They were pretty believable, and I could tell they must have put some actual effort into being comfortable with each other.

2. oh my gosh I loved P'Techno. No is great. SO great. Every time he entered the frame I never skipped. This actor was great at expressions, and his interactions with Type always crack me up! :D

....There's nothing else I can think of to give props to. I'm kinda conflicted over whether or not I like Type or Tharn. I've definitely grown a soft spot for Type, especially since he's come a long way. But this couple started out as a pretty generic case of "I'm only gay 4 u/bro no homo/i hate gays!!!!!1....." to **attempt at deep relationship n understanding to** to **did you forget this is a soap opera** kinda thing.

I'm tired now. Overall, this show could have actually been even better, but maybe it wasn't meant to be. I think a little bit more patience in the writing, and less MISUNDERSTANDINGS and vengeful exes (scorned hoes/jealous unrequited love) would have been the icing on the cake.

But hey---this is TV. Sensationalism is what we need. Drama. Sus. And Other may love that, but I think I've had enough of that from watching k-dramas.. :")Would I recommend Tharn Type to anyone? Sure, but it wouldn't be at the top of my list, that's for sure.

FINAL SCORES

Acting - 8/10
Story/Plot - 4/10
Rewatch Value - 3/10 (bro I don't wanna go through this again. If I did I'd just specifically skip to all the scenes that DON'T rub me the wrong way, while ignoring the ones that came before and after...and that's not sexy)

Overall : 6.5/10
Regular, sprinkled with some #controversy, could be better, No and Type are best boys.

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I've seen a lot of BLs, and I'm Bi, so I get the homophobia and all, this BL is one of the very few were I've seen a Gay man out and proud, let us remember that in Thailand being gay may not be a crime like it still is in many dark edges countries but it's still not really accepted by society.
The main characters are both humans that make mistakes but that is the beauty of it, Type is presented as an homophobic because of a trauma he lived in the past, it could happen to anyone, but with each episode he is learning that not everyone is the same and is slowly growing and becoming more open minded.
Tharn is a strong character that as Type said has a warm heart but is a demon when he gets mad, what happens between them is all part of their relationship, and no relationship is perfect.
But for a BL in a country where you still can't get married, can't adopt a child, and do most things any Argentine like me can, I see a lot of good points and a real story that anyone can relate to.

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