TharnType (2019)

the series brings up important topics that provoke discussion

Story - The overall story was interesting, but I think the biggest takeaway from it is that it makes people discuss things that I don't think get talked about enough. As you can tell by the comment section that exploded (esp in the first few eps), we, as the audience, explored and discussed issues of sexual assault, consent/gray areas, PTSD, anxiety, depression, trauma, different avenues of healing (or not healing), internalized & externalized homophobia, obsession, and more. I think these are important discussions to have, esp with a young (not like children, but like teen and up) audience to have as they are going through similar issues as they also explore their sexuality. But yes, this is taken from a novel & you can tell because there's gaps in the series when they cut scenes or don't include the characters' thoughts that might've helped the audience understand the story, but the major gist was there & I think it was pretty solid overall... albeit with a few loose ends that I wish were tied up (like Type's best friend, etc.) & some plot holes.

Acting/Cast - I think this cast did a phenomenal job. You can really feel the chemistry b/w Mew and Gulf (bringing up the fact that Mew was the only one who could make Gulf blush at auditions since that's relevant & apparent). We also get Mild playing a comedic-but-serious-when-he-needs-to-be Techno (I didn't think someone could replace Gun, but Mild did really well). Kaownah also did a phenomenal job of feeling off but not being able to pinpoint why. I also give props to all the actors they had to recast for roles given how popular the old LBC cast was & so they had to fill their shoes, which I think they did. My only real qualm is how old everyone is. It makes it easier to forget that they're young (they're only supposed to be like what 17? 18? They're freshmen, so...) because that makes the audience think that they should act/behave in a more mature manner.

Music: I mentioned this in a comment before, but the music really adds to the scenes. It's nothing memorable per se, but it really adds to each moment during the show (e.g., when they kiss and the music crescendos, etc.). There's also the main song, that was also great.

Rewatch: I never really rewatch shows, but I've rewatched episodes multiple times already. The fluff is sweet, the drama was dramatic, and again, it provoked thoughts about serious topics, which I think was great.

Overall: This was a solid watch! I anticipated every new episode coming out each week, and I'm sad it's over now, but it had a lot of strong points. However, I would like to give a content warning for those watching it, just in case it triggers the viewer.

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[Before reading this review please note that when I originally posted it I wasn't aware of the novel. While I stand by this review of the series, I don't think it is reflective of the novel if talking to other people is anything to go by. So maybe read the novel yourself before watching?]

Before we start this review, let's meet the cast. To your left you have Tharn 'I'm only a top when I'm being creepy but I'll bottom if I'm in love with you' and to your right you have Type 'I really hate gays, except this one. This is the gay man I'm dating but that doesn't make me gay.'

The relationship in this drama is beyond unhealthy. It glorifies manipulation and confrontation instead of trust, understanding and communication. If either one of the leads were female, everyone would be dropping this drama like there is no tomorrow. I will admit the two leads have an amazing amount of chemistry and much like a car crash about to happen, you can't stop watching them. However, the sheer amount of chemistry doesn't make up for the terrible story telling.

[Redacted as it contained some pretty sizable spoilers.]

I watched it after reading rave reviews about how this is the most groundbreaking BL drama ever with amazing chemistry. I gravitate towards dramas with cohabitation and great chemistry regardless of gender so it seemed like a no brainer to pick this up but I have to go against the grain and say this was a terrible story who got lucky with the cast.

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Now this is not a bashing of Tharntype. The actors behind this drama did great with what was handed to them. Tharn and Type have great chemistry and I would not have changed who have played them one bit. They fit perfectly. My problem with this series is with the characters and story itself.

Warning spoiler territory!

Now the first half of Tharntype I was with, and I was along with the ride. Love by Chance was a cute drama and I was excited to watch it's prequel. The story was going well and I assumed it would carry along with Type realizing he had more romantic feelings for Type and start to grow out of his toxic way of thinking.

Boy was I wrong.

After Type punched Tharn for being jealous of him going out with a girl (her name escapes me), that's when I knew this series was not going to go the way I wanted. Type's character just seemed to go downhill for me. He does not get worse in my opinion, but he does not change. His character growth only goes far enough to accommodate his like for Tharn and that's it. Other than that in my eyes Type is still homophobic. The story could of changed this around by making Type see eye to eye to his old childhood friend but they pretty much swept that under the rug and forgot about it. And Type punching Tharn instead of his ex goes to show that the writers genuinely thought this type of behavior was okay.

I just couldn't get behind the couple being together at all. Their toxic dynamic was not romantic for me at all. Enough for me to put off the series for weeks after ep 11 and skimming through the finale. Again this isn't the fault of the actors, but the writing. The writer could of done something great with this series but they totally missed the shot on this one.

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romanticize sexual assault?

I dropped this series after only two episodes. That’s the case because it was pretty clear this show didn’t have the right values.
In the first episode Type gets sexually assaulted in his drunken sleep.
In the second episode Tharp once again tries to sexually molest him. Only when Type has a breakdown Tharn stops.
I’ve googles this series to see if it gets better but apparently there are just more times where Tharn tries to force sexual situations on Type.
The series doesn’t even address this though and rather covers it up as a prank or a cute little moment.
This stuff just aggravates me because there are many people out there that had to deal with rape or sexual assault and it’s everything but cute or funny!

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Not a well written onr

Ok, this is my first time to write reviews and I might make some grammartical mistakes, so I hope y'all won’t mind that. So let's begin?

Hmm, TharnType seems really famous and obviously and I saw many didn’t even like it. So I tried out and guess what? I didn’t like it—

ACTING— Everyone did a great job here especially Gulf and Mild. Mew also did great but he definitely wasn’t really suitable for a 19 year old dude. And Mild was actually better for the character of Techno than Gun, as his goofy looks were perfect (Gun looks rather timid which is not the case but no offense ✌️)

MUSIC— Ummm, it wasn’t my favourite tho—

And finally.....

STORY— Ok, the plot idea was actually great but yet. There are so many flaws here. I'll go divide it in parts

THARN'S ‘GOOD GUY’ PERSONALITY: People here saying they romanticize sexual assault but the first episode made me look at it as if it was comedic. Tharn be like, 'Imma go prank'. Yet, I didn’t like it. And that shower scene where Tharn be like 'Let me in and get your pants'. And again, blow job. It was again uncomfortable. Like, I would like to ask the writer, 'Do you even know what's the defination of a good guy?'.
And that getting jealous part. I swear I skipped that part. I was like, 'I would have given a silent treatment lol'.

TYPE: This dude's weird. How can someone get over a longtime trauma in one day huh? Plus why did he even allow to Tharn to do the blowjob huh??? Like you don't get those chills and push that person??? If Tharn do it to me, I would literally shout at him as he's invading my privacy. And that bathroom scene. He acted as if he just reveal his evil personality suddenly lmao. Like he was nuts that time.

THARN'S DISCOVERY OF BEING GAY: Dude, no ones talking about it??? He literally had to sleep with people to find his real sexuality. Even funnier, he didn’t like being a bottom. So literally P'San and Tharn had sex two Fucking times (well, correct me). And what was his age? 14. Like dude this might be worst way of finding out about who you are.
And here, I won’t blame him. Here's my friend's opinion about it—

'Like NGL, if Hailey Kiyoko asked me if I wanna fuck, I'd probably say yes-
But it'll be her fault since she's the adult'.

Like literally, this is seriously not good. Finding about your sexuality is also sexual?? Bro that's not the way. And here again, Tharn's brother Thorn still justifying by still roaming around with that doughe-bag.

LHONG: Wtf Antagonist of the thai bl. Literally he either doesn’t have money to buy it or just misery. Dude, if you want it, just get it?
Like he can simply confess to his friend and whatever. You cant just let him be in the shelf of the stores all the time. And instead damaging everyone's life and broke his friend's heart all the time. Even better, to show, ' I am the only one who stays with you all the time'.
Idk why Tar didn’t just turn him in jail with the help of the proves he got right? You can even get help from Type too.
And here, I feel pity as he was suffering from unrequited love but I am not justifying. Literally he called 3 fucking men for the rape yuckk.

PUFAI: Gosh I tend to hate such stuffs. I feel terrible day by day. Like why you make it obvious and leave it on a cliffhanger??? And sorry, I am mad.

WHY THARN LOVES TYPE: Uhhh, this is real 'case of the defence'. How can an asshole like Type can make a person fall in love huh? Especially Tharn was literally bullied. Such a big question mark.

JUSTICE: Ok, almost everyone need justice.
Tharn needs justice for getting treated badly by Type, getting heartbroken by Lhong and P'San?
Type needs justice as Tharn literally assaulted him
Pufai needs justice for been left in a cliffhanger.
And also Techno who has been continuously molested by Kengkla and betrayed by Technic
(Still think that Kengkla is kinda fake with Techno?)

Overall Story Review: As an asexual, I do watch sexual content but the '50% sex' thing was too much. Adding smut is like adding sugar. If you add more than enough you'll end up barfing. And mostly, justifying, romanticizing and 'comidicizing' (my invented word lmfao) sexual assault. Especially, the way they made Tharn look bad was digusting. Everyone needs justice here. And this story isn't even the worst.....

Thankyou....

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This was the first Thai drama I tried to watch before dropping it after 1 episode because of how annoying Type was and the sexual assault scene. (I picked up UWMA after and had much better luck in getting hooked). However, my friend started watching it, so I picked it up again.

Story - If you're going to make a bigoted character who has a traumatic past, please make it realistic. During the first 4 episodes of the drama, I was bewildered at the fact that Type was letting Tharn touch him, grab him, and get so close. I know trauma can be expressed in different ways, but with Type's particular expression of homophobia I just wasn't convinced that he would turn gay in such a seemingly short time. It really seemed like all of the drama happened in the first four episodes as well. It was the most interesting part in my opinion because it was supposed to show Type change his perspective on homosexuality. After the first 4 episodes were done, I honestly felt like there was no conflict. I suppose that explains the reason for 12 episodes because there's only so much you can do with the story after the main conflict is "resolved".

The last two episodes had me laughing with Lhong going full on yandere mode. I had always wondered if he liked Tharn but never questioned it. When he dropped the glass at the news of Tharn and Type being together, I was wondering where the resolution was. I know the director wanted to pull the twist, but some things about Lhong were just left really open. Also, are they just going to ignore the fact that he committed some pretty serious crimes like (paid) rape, blackmail, and attempted murder?

Also, I found San to be somewhat of a predator even if he was similar age to Tharn. He literally told Thorn straight to his face about how he couldn't resist Tharn's innocence. This part with San and Thorn aggravated me. What if he did that to Thanya? All I'm saying is that San rubbed me the wrong way.

Acting - I really had issue with Gulf's acting to the point of laughing at first. He seemed to get better but it could've just been the change in Type's character. Mew is the standout for me. The way he conveyed Tharn's more vulnerable side was amazing, and I couldn't handle seeing him cry.

Techno was my favorite character because of how loyal and understanding he was, and his actor made me laugh in a good way.

Music - The music placement was pretty good to highlight certain moments appropriately. I praise this part because UWMA did really bad in this respect. The OP and Tharn's song were pretty good to listen to but nothing extraordinary.

Sidenote - I watched UWMA and SOTUS before this. Coming off those two dramas, I was not prepared for the HBO-level of intimacy in this series. You can tell the director knew what the audience wanted. I didn't really appreciate the fast pacing of the intimate scenes. I'm too soft for this. ;-;

Overall - The story was the weakest part in my opinion. The drama had very few high points for me, and I ultimately have no attachment to the drama. I'm glad I watched it, but I most likely won't be rewatching.

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Far too many issues

I’m going to start this off by saying I absolutely adore all the actors in the drama and I believe they did as well as they could’ve with the really poor writing and plot development.

Now, where do I begin.

When I watched the drama for the first time, I thought it was a relatively good drama albeit some confusing timelines but overall I actually really liked it. However, I revisited the drama to refresh my memory before the second season and I was so shocked at just how awful so many things were.

First of all, the entire relationship between Tharn and Type makes little to no sense.
Type, someone who was sexually abused as a child, falling in love with Tharn, someone who forced/molested Type. There is absolutely nothing wrong if Type had fallen in love naturally by realising Tharn was a good, caring person but Tharn was not.
I was shocked when rewatching just how much Tharn forced himself onto Type despite knowing how much Type dislikes gays and for a very justifiable reason. While Type was drunk, Tharn makes hickeys on his neck. For what reason was that necessary?? Later on, Type is still not okay with Tharn and for some odd reason, Type is perfectly fine with receiving a blowjob and not only offering to sleep with Tharn but also being on the receiving end. This just makes absolutely no sense.
These issues were all in the first few episodes of the drama, I won’t even get into the other issues that also occurred.

Lhong was crazy. How he didn’t go to prison for what he did is still a mystery and once again, doesn’t make any sense. They tried to justify some of his actions with his special episode but no amount of justification should exempt him from prison or at least a mental ward. I won’t go into detail but you all already know just how messed up he was.

I’m not even going to address Tar and Tum’s situation as that is even more mental health issues that just was not handled well.

As I never read the books, I cannot say whether they were better explained or not but for the original author to come up with all the characters and have them all have a traumatising background definitely rubs me the wrong way. At points it seems like sexual abuse is being romanticised and in no way is that okay.

Overall, I liked the actors and I am grateful it has brought us MewGulf but I cannot support just how wrong all the relationships were and I cannot continue to enjoy the show as much as I did the first time I watched it.

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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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HATE HATE HATE HATE

*some things I wrote about the actual scenes in the show could be exaggerated or incorrect. I have not seen the show since 2021 and no one thought in my mind is thinking about doing it. thank you*

I don't understand how this show has an overall rating of 7.7. When i first watched this show in 2021, it was one of my first thai bls and I didn't have any expectations for how a thai bl should be. I loved it. Watched it every second I could. I even watched the second season. But now that I have been watching bls for over 2 years, my opinion has changed drastically.

1. Type, just Type

Type is one of the main characters and is described in the description as "a friendly boy, he hates gay people" which is wild. Type was molested by a man when he was younger which, i guess, gives him the right to be homophobic. Type does toxic things throughout both seasons and Tharn, honestly, deserves better. ALSO Type did not just have "anger issues", he is physco.

2. Sexual Assault

Sexual assault seems to be a theme all throughout this series. One of the first times (that I can remember, I haven't re-watched this series because who would) that this happens is when Type is in the shower and Tharn comes in and just goes down on him. I didn't realize that was how that kind of stuff worked. Tharn also always kissed and gave hickeys to Type while Type was sleeping!! WTF

3. I don't understand how they ended up getting together

Basically, Tharn wants to have sex with Type but Type hates gay people and wants to kick Tharn out of the dorm they share. Tharn doesn't shove the idea of sex down his throat but one day Type wakes up and decides he will have sex with him?? I thought you hated gay people and now you are gonna have sex with a man? OK. Type doesn't want to kiss Tharn but then they kiss with ice in their mouths, idek. How was THIS a starting moment for their relationship? What sparked between them? I don't understand.

This show has bad characters, sexual assault within their relationship, and doesn't make any sense. I think people who like it are just hypnotised by the show and will understand a few months after they finish it!:)

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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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