TharnType (2019)

Great chemistry

This is by far my fav bl drama. The chemistry of the characters is so good which makes their acter better. The storyline was different and the director did a great job at providing enough information on their past for the viewer to sympathize with them. The huge mystery behind Tharn's exes was kept hidden very well and, honestly, I could have never thought that Lhong was the culprit and such an asshole. Even though the relationship was kind of toxic, they made it work. I went back to watch this series 4 times more, so far. I think it was because of the attachment I had with Gulf's character 'Type'. Have to add that the music was very addicting as well. I definitely listened to the songs after finishing the series.

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I hate it but I love it.

"They're so toxic together," I say as I click on another episode.

Let's start with the things I did not like.
Seriously. How can I watch a series where the couple is so awful yet enjoy it?
First, I don't care what anyone says, Tharn literally molests Type. Multiple times he goes in on Type while the boy is actively saying no. Second, Type is a homophobic shithead. We know this. Yet he's begging for dick by the fourth episode. Make it make sense please. Also, Type is so emotionally abusive. Yet Tharn is such a glutton for punishment, like Type insults him and he's like "uwu that's my baby" Plus Tharn defends Type's homophobia multiple times, which is gross.
Lastly there were many many plotholes that were not filled. Like what happened to San? What happens to Tum? What happened to Type's friend that came out to him? How is Type so okay with PDA by the last episode? What about his family? Why was Lhong's ending so...neutral?

Okay. Anyway, lets go into the things I did like.
The lead actors had amazing chemistry. The actor for Type was great at pretending to be homophobic. Actually the actors for Tharn and Lhong in particular stood out to me with their acting. They were really good at portraying strong emotions.
The trauma was handled in a careful, sensitive way. Type's actor did great with that, as did Tar's. The steamy scenes were super sexy. That's what I might come back to, actually, the steamy scenes. Lol. The breakup made me sob like a baby. This drama did a great job at showing the sensitive sides of men. There was a lot of crying and I think that is super healthy especially in societies that like to put people into boxes. I know that despite having so many criticisms, I've rated it relatively high, but that's because overall I did enjoy it. I was hooked in the first twenty minutes. It kept me watching. I was worried about the characters and their problems. So I grudgingly give it these high-ish scores. That said, please don't make tv shows or stories like these that have consent issues. It sucks.

Edit: okay I realized there's a second season and some specials, all of which I have now watched. Most of my questions above got answered. But it was honestly more stressful. These boys don't know how to communicate. And they fight about such meaningless bullshit. Literally every other day they're fighting about something stupid. Type is super aggressive. He can't speak kindly to most people at all, not even Tharn. Most people are nice to their partners. Type is not. He's a sarcastic asshole like 73% of the time. I don't care if you've had a shitty day at work, do not take it out on your partner. These two are the same as most toxic relationships: "When it's bad, it's really bad. But when it's good, it's really good." That's probably the only reason I could keep watching. The cute parts between the two of them were really cute.
In terms of character development, the second season was much improved from the first. I found the character of Champ very interesting because I couldn't really figure out what his sexual orientation was. Not that it has to be specified. Type's never was either. Just because he likes one man doesn't mean he likes men in general. (I just can't imagine this character sucking dick. I can't.) But Champ appears to have no interest in romance or sex. He states that being single is easiest, that he doesn't understand love. He may be ace, I dunno. That'd be some really cool representation. But he does like Doc, and their story was a nice wholesome distraction from the craziness of the main story. So that's why I liked Champ. He was a unique person and I haven't seen many characters like him who don't really worry about love.

Edit2: returned once again to score the rewatch value and music higher because I literally just watched it all again after a week trying to keep it out of my head lol and also the music gets better the more I hear it. I'm starting to think I like this show more than I'm willing to admit 😑

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Recently start watching this and am seeing everyone bashing tharn but omg type attitude sucked. I understand you went through a horrible ordeal but didn't give him the right to treat tharn in that matter. What had me literally cussing was when type had a girlfriend and he slapped tharn and said am not gay ooooh blood pressure went up 🤣😂. What I will never understand in this series he hated gays but he stayed in the same room with the individual 🤔😒 had sex . I only finished this because of tharn. Type ooooh he made me wanted to sin my fireball soul. Gay or straight ain't nobody taking that crap what Type was doing

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TOXICITY IS EVERYWHERE

How can a drama with all the characters being toxic??? I would be dead by poison if I was also a part of that drama. The story is quite catchy and full of different types of emotion but I would never want to be with someone with the traits of all the characters (excluding Techno because he's a true friend and the funniest one). I hope they should've made a better story for Tar because this is the reason I rated the story with 6/10. That was one of the worst storylines I've seen so far in Drama World.

How could I forget the kissing scenes??? I can't remember how many kissing/sex scenes are in this drama. That was too much. It even beats KinnPorsche and Love In The Air.

The acting is really good in this drama. What I like about their acting is how well the actors portray their character. I guess there is some backlash regarding the toxicity of most characters here. But it is how the script is given to them. The main characters have good chemistry. The romantic scenes here are actually enticing though but why would they always cut it and finish with kissing? hahaha

If only this series has good storyline, I would give this a rewatch.

Anyways, this is watchable but I would not recommend this to someone who wants a healthy BL drama.

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Dropped

Well, the beginning was interesting and I got curious about the plot but it ended way too fast. They acted like Tom and Jerry for first four episodes and then were all over each other. I have to say I thought I'm gonna sympathize with Type after his traumatic past but he ruined my image of him in sixth ep. I get why he hated LGBTQ community but that doesn't mean he could hurt Tharn in the way he did. Tharn was also at fault for molesting him in the first eps even though he knew he hated gays and he did it in his sleep without consent which is a crime. He kept pouncing on him until he agreed to let him his way. Their whole relationship was toxic from the beginning. Also Tharn shouldn't agree to being bed buddies when he loved him, he knew very well what it meant but in the end it helped him to get closer to him. Now Type. I did not get why Type offered Tharn to sleep with him for some favors he did for him like some prostitute. He doesn't like to owe anyone and thought this was the only thing that Tharn wanted but taking him out on a date would be just more better and respectful. The whole time he was annoyed having sex with him so how could this repay anything? But Tharn got his hopes high he got more closet to him. Then after they turned to bed buddies, he went to see girl behind Tharn's back and now he's a complete asshole. He lied to Tharn but then told him it's none of his business and they are just f buddies even though he knew Tharn's feelings for him and what's more he knew the girl he's seeing has a crush on him. He slept with Tharn while chatting to her how he likes her. Then he wanted to sleep with her on their very first date. Well, she shouldn't invite him to her house which makes her look like a hoe but still. In the end he couldn't sleep with her as he somehow realized his feelings for Tharn and ran back to his d. Jeez, they both are way toxic and when I read they'll break up more than two times I gave up. It's just relationship that doesn't work and in the end they keep hurting each other.

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I get it

I have such a LOVE LOVE/hate relationship with this drama.
I have watched it seven times at this point. And I will definitely watch it so many more times.

Is it a good drama? Meh.
Am I completely obsessed with it? HELL yeah.

Here is the thing - this drama had a great idea, but extremely poor execution. They threw away the one plot point that could've explained a lot of Type's actions even if it didn't excuse them. His abuse should've been the catalyst to explain and form a frame for his development but unfortunately they forgot about it after the fourth episode. This is beyond tragic because by including the trauma as a central "set piece", so to speak, it could've been not just referenced by Type, it could be used for him to explore and later accept the part of himself that hates his abuser but loves Tharn, who has nothing in common with that man. They could've made a clear distinction between his pedophilic abuser and gay Tharn, who only loves him and doesn't want to hurt him - unfortunately that was not the way the show went and it suffered a lot for it. The next time Type's abuse gets brought up is literally at the end of season 2 and that's just such poor execution for something that could've elevated the show greately. Can we as the audience still infer a lot from Type's behaviour? Sure, but it's never stated as such in the show so he could be traumatized and deeply confused and questioning himself - or he could just be a dick.

Plot? What plot? The relationship is the plot, if you are expecting anything else ... well, we get a semblance of a plot near the end of the show but honestly, how Tharn and Type become a couple and how they develop as a couple - that's the plot of this show, more or less. Again, is that really plot? I personally don't think so but some other people might.

Many of the things that don't make sense in this drama are due to the lack of time indicators - you thought Type first extremely refused, then propositioned Tharn the next day? Naynay, there's actually a gap of several weeks here that the audience just isn't privy to because the production made no indication of how much time passes in between scenes. It makes many things horribly confusing because it seems like Type is just flip-flopping all over the place.

Now onto the problematic stuff. It's there, it's unavoidable - Type is a loudmouthed ass and his development is first super slow, then even seems to go backwards in places, then just doesn't develop in a normal way. Who punches their SO when they are being kissed by someone else? Type's emotions are all over the place and again - if they had EXPLAINED THIS BETTER it could've made sense without excusing his behaviour.
However the production clearly was out to progress the relationship as fast as possible and so a lot was left on the cutting-room floor unfortunately.
Tharn is no angel either, they both honestly deserve each other with how toxic and combative they are.
Coming unto a guy who is so clearly averse to you? Uncool. Assaulting Type in the shower, no matter how much you "know" he wants it? Absolutely unforgivable.
The show also equates gay = pedo which is obviously completely unexcusable.

However - when they are sweet, they are unbearably, teeth-rottingly adorable and this is were Mew's and Gulf's chemisty is just out of this world. There is a reason this drama stays in people's mind: not just the chemistry but the absolute physical comfort they have with each other. When they kiss, you absolutely believing not just that they love each other, but that they are super sexually attracted to each other too - you buy them as sex friends, as a couple. There's a reason there were so many rumors about the actors at the time. It's the sort of dynamic that had been, until that point, completely unseen in the BL landscape. And they honestly sell it almost too well: they are intimate and lovely to look at. Which makes the scenes when they are tearing each other apart even worse because you SEE, you BELIEVE, how much they love each other, so the scenes when they are vicious are so heartbreaking.

The acting is for the most part, quite good. Gulf sells the trauma incredibly well, he's magnificent in all scenes where strong emotions are to be portrayed. His confusion towards his own feelings come across really well and you can tell he's an emotionally stunted young man who's sharp with his words but not a dumb brute.
Mew I found a little flat in some scenes, but he too sell high emotion really well, and he's fantastic when Tharn is being cheeky or forelorn.
Personally, I found that Tharn obviously looks quite a bit older than Type (Mew was 28 when this was shot) but when it comes to those two, I think that didn't stand out much. However, when it comes to the past relationship between Tharn and Tar, I was swallowing my disgust because Tar literally looks 13, no matter how old the actor was. It left a really bad taste in my mouth, especially because Tharn so nonplused talked about his own sexual experience at 14 with a 19 year old ... seriously, so messed up. There are quite a few of these aspects randomly thrown into the show that I found to be highly disturbing but that the drama absolutely did not acknowledge (see above). What happened to Tar and the fact that Lhong got no punishment for it is a big one here.

I HATE EVERYTHING RELATING TO THE MUSIC IN THIS WITH A PASSION! I want to rip whoever was responsible for the audio production in this drama a whole new gaping hole because - wow, does it suck. The mics were either too sensitive or someone had no idea what they were doing, because they pickes up sounds from the staff, background noise from filming, small bits like russling papers, people coughing even. Not to mention that the music so often overshadows dialogue in really unfortunate moments and IS JUST PLAIN TOO LOUD. I'm going to commit a serious crime againt the guitar player in episode 5 (or was it 6) who was way too loud over one of the most intimate scenes in the show.

The secondary character I found all to be lovely, they all added something or brought a new aspect or conflict to the show, some were hilarious, some were just nice, others were hugly annoying - but they all had their place.

Now the finale - was it dumb? Yes. Was it worth destroying Tharn's entire being over a really not-thought-out plan that nearly killed Type? Nope, not in the least. Did the Long get what he deserved? He's not in jail, so no.

I can readily admit that this show is not that good, okay. But I still can't stop loving it.

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The plot is amazing. The chemistry and love between Tharn and Type is definitely my favourite no matter how many shows I've watch. HOWEVER, the relationship did started out in a very toxix way, the whole relationship basically built from the foundation of rape. And the way rape is celebrate is just scary for me sometime.

I do love each and every song is this show there the only "perfect" thing in this show.

As much as I love Gulf; I would still say the acting in this show is still very much quite awkward either Gulf or New. The crying scene are soooooo bad. If they didn't narrate their thought I probably wouldn't know he's crying.

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Lots of potential, decent progress but didn't quite make it

Tons of potential that was not fully met. Had lots of things that I expect, but never see in most bl dramas for eg std testing scene or like realistic depictions of college kids. Story had so much potential but really fell off halfway. Don't like the borderline non con bits. I like how the relationship became less toxic as time went by (only to become bad again in S2 lol). Chemistry b/w actors is great, most bls feels like 2 str8 guys trying to be gay for me haha but this was believable. I also really like Type's character (love the mean ones). Overall I think, story had tonnes of potential to explore themes of homosexuality, r*pe and trauma but fell into pandering to fanservice type of things before fully exploring those themes. But still felt like a more realistic depiction of gay relationships than most bls. (I rly hate the lhong's story or wtv though)

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This was a lot to take in.

Good lord okay. When I was watching this I almost dropped in twice. I honestly hate the "homophobe and gay" trope. Type was so absolutely mean to Tharn, and he kept up with it. Even (at least the English subtitles) Type called Tharn and two others derogatory terms, and yet Tharn and no stood up for him and in the end he wasnt the bad guy. I jsut couldnt look over the chemistry both acters didnt have, All the kisses looked very fake. Overall the acting was really good to the point I thought the "Homophobic character" seemed to real. Both of there characters were always battling with eavh other and would hurt Tharn in the end. I thought all of there arguments were ones that didnt need to be started. The amount of times I dropped my jaw from the show is insane. The way Type was sleeping with Tharn and going ona date with that girl at the same time then coming back to Tharn and just saying "Well i didnt do it for you. Sorry" I was literally waiting fro Tharn to kick him out of the apartment, but Im not here to hate on this show overall. The show wasnt the horrible. I thought the music was pretty and the acting was super real. I didnt give the show up and honestly some scenes were super nerve racking and exciting to watch, but would I really recommended this to someone? Probually not.

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OFF-CHART CHEMISTRY

No matter whether you hate or love this show, you can't deny the out-of-the-world chemistry between mewgulf. And that's not just because of the steamy scenes, but their eyes, when they look at each other, and their touches, that feels soo natural and not scripted at all. And the steamy scenes didn't feel like too much, just the right amount to tease the viewers .(For example in don't say no, those scenes were far too long, to a point where all the steam kind of faded away and I was waiting for the scenes to end.)
I fell for their chemistry to a point, where I can't say whether the ship tharntype or mewgulf more. And believe me, I don't ship real people, but only characters, like if the actors are in a relationship in real life, it's good for them, but I usually don't feel much about it... But the fanservice mewgulf deliver is just so natural, I started shipping them and idc whether they are real, really good besties or really great actors, I love watching them together.

That's the very reason, I like this series a lot and gave it a 8, even though it has various issues: The first few episodes until they first have sex, has quite a few sexual assault scenes. The way they deal with type's trauma is half assed, him being such a homophobe is not really reasonable and how they handle tar and lhong is just wrong. But I guess from reading many yaoi, I've kind of learned to fade out such things, especially rape/sexual assault, to enjoy the story, if the rest is good (my biggest guilty pleasure: Hidoku shinaide, the whole first volume is only about sexual assault, rape and blackmailing).

What I enjoyed beside the chemistry was the cuteness of Gulf/Tharn, Techno (he is sooo funny! The actor did an amazing job), Tharn's supportive family (even though they are sometimes too cringe) and how type handles the problem in the last few episodes instead of crying in the corner. I generally love how sassy he is, when he deals with "pests".

If they had handled at least type's trauma correctly and left out all the sexual assault stuff, I would have given it a solid 9 or maybe even 9.5. And objectly speaking, this show deserves a 6.5 or 7, but I enjoyed the couple too much and I'm still fangirling over them, therefore an 8 from me 😊 (Edit: TharnType/MewGulf haunt me soooo much, that I have to give this show a 9, I just love them!)



In ep1 or 2, when tharn kissed gulf all over the body, while gulf was drunk and asleep, I was really disappointed. I hoped he would just give a hickey on the neck as a prank (I know, that's also sexual harassment, but still I would have let it slide), but every time he kissed, I hoped he would just stopped and asked "Dude, didn't you just assure Techno, that you wouldn't do anything to a drunk person? You think sexual assault is okay as long as it doesn't end up being rape? Didn't you say, that not all gay people are the same? Now you are committing a crime and still claim to be innocent?". Those questions popped every time tharn did sth to type w/o his consent. The sad thing is, all of them could have been easily avoided and were unnecessary. Type could have been a homophobic queer person, w/o realising it, and could have been sexually frustrated and attracted to tharn. Then their first make out session could have been the trigger for his trauma. It's such a huge missed opportunity, that would have made this series much better.
And regarding the trauma, tharn should have been the one to show type, that not all gay people are the same and that a queer relationship is not much different from straight one, instead he was the another person who assaulted type.
And tbh I did see much of a growth of type regarding his homophobic side, which is quite disappointing, since that should have been one of the main aspects of the show...
And how they handle the gang rape of tar is just fucked up. They would have given him more screen time, so that the viewers could see, how he handles the situation after telling others about this incident. And I was perplexed at how lhong escaped the whole situation with a few punches! He should bein jail or at least get mental help! The whole situation was handled so wrongly... They should have taken sth else, instead of handling gang rape so carelessly...

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Important documentation

I really like this drama — I think the cast is cute, with good acting, and they have chemistry. However, this won't get a top score from me because there are some scenes where I feel the "setup" or perspective seems off. There's nothing wrong with a drama that sheds light on difficult topics like SA. These are real issues in our world that need to be addressed to raise awareness. For those giving it poor reviews just because it contains "triggering" scenes — then don't watch it if it's too much for you. Each episode even has a warning about intense scenes at the start.

My main criticism is how these topics are portrayed. SA should not be depicted as sexy, hot, or romanticized, yet that's what happens here - this is the main issue. But, It’s not the worst portrayal ever, and Type really has an awful mouth sometimes, so there's a bit of balance.

Another thing I dislike in the type of dramas like this is how female characters are often treated. TarnType is a great example of what I mean. The girls are frequently disrespected and emotionally manipulated, often treated as disposable. And once they're out of the picture, the main characters talk badly about them and generalize about women in a negative way. It’s just unhealthy and toxic.

But Despite all this, the characters end up in a good place (kid of), which is nice to see. The story picks up, and I found myself really invested! Many good intreagues and new characters that keeps it interesting throughout. A story that dares to take a step in to toxic drama without suger coating it. Overall, it’s a good drama.

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Watch if you are Mature enough for the Topic and Discussion

Let's start off by saying this is one of the enemy to lovers trope that is actually good. But also beware as both characters do have their own character flaws that I think was needed. This actually also showcases a sense of toxic relationship, in a sense that we see both characters being unsure as to how the other feels about them that you would see one of them walking on eggshells. I do however have read a few part of the book that wasn't really shown in the series in order to help me understand this series more.

Now let's talk about the problems that arises from the first episode, we see Type being prejudiced about gay people because of his trauma which I found justifies his prejudices on Tharn. But there were also actions from Tharn that also made me feel uncomfortable as how assertive he was towards Type who he didn't know was traumatized. We do however see the both of them in the later parts being closer (Type especially to Tharn. if you had read a translation of the novel then you would actually understand more as to why Type slowly become closer to Tharn and why he's let him stay close with him despite his rejection in the first few episodes.

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