Golden Blood (2021)

Not Your Typical BL

I just want to say that I liked this. It seems there are a lt of not so good reviews, but this is so different from most BL stories that I enjoyed most of it. Yes, it has a few weak spots, but overall, I felt I was able to appreciate the storyline and feel the emotions the two characters were dealing with. I guess I am not as critical as some when it comes to acting abilities as I thought all of them did a decent job of acting. While I enjoyed the storyline of the secondary couple, I did not think that it was better than the main characters. I have watched some BL that was better, but I have also watched some that were worse. I hope if you watch this series you will enjoy it as much as I did!

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I REALLY LOVED IT! Don’t listen to bad reviews just watch it!

I just finished this drama today! It was a little short having only 8 episodes but the episodes are about or are over an hour long. Definitely watch the series over the movie seeing as the movie version is only 2 hrs long they would cut out quite a lot.
I loved the main couple Sun and Sky! They really are soul mates and thats one of the things I love about their relationship. Gun did really well being a lead role I’m proud of him! He looks good in his school uniform! :)
Boat I have never seen in a drama before but he was really good he played Sun really well he was like a sweet puppy at times then can defend the one he loves even putting his life on the line.
The side couple Pitch and Bank were really cute too love how they were together at the end.
Like always the girl characters annoyed me, and it was a little silly that Sun and Sky’s friends did not seem to realise they liked each other lol
I think this drama is pretty fun and has many sweet scenes, has action with Sky’s dad being some kinda mafia boss fighting can be rare in many school bl’s, but it was not over done. Many kissing scenes ^^
But bottom line is, this drama is not as bad as some are making out, I enjoyed ever episode and I could not stop clicking to see the next one!
(Its on YouTube it even has its own channel)
The acting was not bad and Gun did well!
The end with how they ended up forever loving each other no matter what was very endearing.

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Worth watching

So I was really hesitant to even start watching this series because of all these negative reviews. I thought it would be a waste of time However I am glad that I ignored these reviews and decided to watch Golden Blood. I wanted to give it a chance. Okay, so maybe the acting was sometimes cringe and awkward but overall I enjoyed this series. Even though many people pointed out that they wished Pitch and Bank were the main couple, I liked the chemistry between Sun and Sky- they were really cute, I loved seeing them interact. The plot was good. I was laughing, smiling and crying while watching this series. The only big complaint I have- Pitch and Bank were also cute so they should have had more scenes together. All in all, I will definitely rewatch this series one day!

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WONDERFUL SERIES

This very special, visceral series, elaborated in detail, caught my attention right from the beginning. Processing one or two levels higher than other series from this area, especially the fights seemed more than precise, truly. Sky and Sun, two young men, so different in origin, in addition to the side couple Bank - Pitch and neither the two girls who did not act like bushes in the series - even though they actually played the poor girls (and with Toktaeng, almost no one would have guessed her real age , partly also at Pitch-e ?, that's the "secret" of the Thais...). I evaluate comprehensively how the entire series affected me, I overlook the little things compared to the whole (the "bad" mobster, the final completely unnecessary separation of several years) which are unimportant, I don't need to prove my smallness by constant criticism. On the other hand, Sky, who is controversial as an actor for some viewers, also attracted me, in an original way, in a different way, with his strange facial expressions, the fact that he actually looks completely ordinary, I believed him. Absolutely great experience for me.

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Blood Donation

Okay, this review may sound strange, but I cannot let this point slide as a Lab Technologist. (I'll leave the normal review of the series to the others)
Here we go,
In one scene, Sun needs a massive blood transfusion, and they bring to him all the blood he has been donating as a backup in case Sky needs since they both share the same rare blood group.
They said that Sun has been donating blood every three months. A person can only donate 470ml (two blood units) at a time, and the blood units are only stored for 42 days if we do not freeze them. Frozen blood can be stored for ten years, but freezing blood is a poor way of storing it because there is a high chance that most of the RBCs will be hemolyzed upon thawing, thus losing the blood's value. So generally speaking, blood is stored in the refrigerator for up to 42 days.
While I can understand that Sun is donating his blood to keep some blood available in case Sky needs it.
In that particular scene, the stored blood wasn't that much in the first place, as Sky's father led his son to believe. The blood couldn't be more than 2 or 3 units. I think they should've shown Sky donating his blood to save Sun, instead.
Anyway, I just wanted to clear this point out.

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I'm a sucker for bodyguard shows so I watched this anyway

Golden Blood features your typical bodyguard romance plot, which isn’t original but one that I’m honestly a sucker for. Unfortunately, the show falls flat with weak acting and uninteresting characters.

Gun, while a more familiar face in the BL scene, fails to deliver in a main role. When showcasing depth of emotion and heartache, however, Gun’s acting lacked refinement despite his relative experience in previous BLs. It’s clear that Boat, who played Sun, is the stronger actor in the Sun-Sky pairing, as he conveyed so much more with less.

The highlight for me was actually the side couple: Bank, Sky’s best friend, and Pitch. Their relationship was so soft and pure, evolving wholesomely with hardly any unnecessary drama. They also provided some moments of comic relief, which were welcome in tense scenes.

The intensifying rivalry between competing mafia groups also keeps the storyline sufficiently exciting, but isn't enough to carry the entire show.

Read my full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2021/11/22/golden-blood-2021/

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enjoyable but not in the way it wants to be

Is this show great? No.
Has it good acting? No.
An interesting story? No.
Did I enjoy this show? Absolutely, but not in the way I should (probably).

I did have a great time watching it and laughed quite a lot, but not when the show wanted me to laugh. I found myself cry-laughing when serious stuff happened. I think I have Tumblr to thank for that as well.

The story was filled with many clichés that weren't executed in a new or fun way (forced proximity, the girls who are just there to make the guys jealous, the mean father who wants to separate the couple, etc.) The side couple was not all that bad and actually had quite some chemistry, but it felt very awkward in terms of continuity. Pitch was the walking stereotype of the creepy over-the-top flirty antagonist until he just...wasn't anymore. I don't know what happened but I suddenly found myself actually...liking him??? Also, his and Bank's (the side couple) storyline obviously got cut short (scene of a preview that alluded to some drama never happened) which took the flow out of their storyline and the overall story.

I guess if you look for a well-written story with good acting and revolutionary takes on clichés, don't watch it. But if you look for some cheap entertainment with many (unintentional) hilarious scenes and an enjoyable (cut-short) side couple and many missed opportunities for actual deep metaphors (cube), then I found the perfect BL for you!

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My god this was awful. This lacked in so many places I don’t even know what to say. The cringe was just so high I got goosebumps. The script was downright dreadful, barely interesting characters it’s like the writer didn’t even make an effort. I’ve put a lot more exertions in trying to finish this drama than the production did in making a sensible, watchable drama.

The premise had potential, I’ll admit- a son of a mafia with a rare blood type and a bodyguard raised solely to be a blood bank; a turf war on the verge of brimming over; a spoiled, over-protected, rich kid experiencing falling in love and the orphaned bodyguard who doesn’t believe his life is worth more than the bag of blood he donates regularly struggling with his growing feelings that threaten to cross the line of what he was entrusted to protect…. This could have been a beautiful tragedy or even a slightly dark rom-com but it seems the script writer didn’t know how to expand on this to go any further. The script looked like it wouldn’t pass a middle school English writing class. The terrible script was accompanied by mediocre acting, lackluster dialogue, with the exception of one or two scenes, poorly choreographed fight scenes, one dimensional characters and comical villains who narrate their evil plans out loud and punctuate it by belting out a boisterous hahaha at the end. And Gun’s acting was just … ugh no, nah. I couldn’t even find salvation in the side couple because again they were very poorly developed. Like when did they get together did they even show that? Or did I miss it while I was desperately trying to smooth out the hair on my arms that’ve been standing like they were exposed to static electricity.

My goodness! If the growing number of titles on my dropped list wasn’t bugging me so much I should have dropped this by that episode where the violins came out.

I really wanted to support Gun since I really liked his character in LBC before it was ruined but unfortunately this was more of a trial of patience for me than a support for him.

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I thought Tharntype 2 was the only (Thai) series that I would give a rating below 7 this year, But this one actually deserved a lower star :(

The hype that I felt in the first episode slowly faded as time goes by. After episode 2, I did realize that this series wouldn’t get any better. Even worse!

Honestly I really want to dropped this show (like any other shows that made me down), but turn out the cuteness amongst PitchBank kept me going till the last second.

Thank god they only have 8 episodes, I couldn’t imagine if they had more than 10 episodes ?

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Should've Been Called Bronze Blood

So with this series, at first it felt like there was no wasted time which I liked! When you have an 8 episode series, you kind of have to rush things a little bit. We had moments at the beginning that really felt like they would pay off. But alas, they really didn't. This series became very stale very fast, and without our side couple Pitch & Bank I would've probably stopped watching.

Positives first. Gun is wayyyy better in this than in LBC. This character suits him (for the most part)! The chemistry is sweet and some the moments are well done . Mostly between Pitch and Bank though. Which I was not expecting at all! They felt so out of nowhere but then I ended up really liking them. They stole the show basically! Both girls in this irritated me, but they really weren't given much to work with to be likable. The storyline with the dad I could care less about. The Reveal about the gold blood was kind of cool, I didn't know that that existed. But it is very rare!I liked that Sky is taking an actual initiative now because he doesn't want Sun getting continuously hurt. That's some character growth! I also really liked Boat's song in this. He has such a nice voice! Gun's was good too, but I kinda wish they hadn't overplayed the crap out of both of them.

Now onto the negatives. Again, our main couple fell flat by the end. Especially when we find out that the dad doesn't approve. And then they have to wait six years to be together basically. Wtf even was that!? I hate that in storylines, ain't nobody got time to wait around like that! Like c'mon dude lets be at least a little realistic. The chemistry between Sky and Sun dwindled out to basically nothing by the end. Which is a shame, especially since none of their "cute moments" felt cute lol. Like the kissing was so bad! Again Pitch and Bank were superior in every regard. I'm sure most will forget about this series in about a month, probably less. Watch for the Pitch Bank stuff if anything, but its not a lot lol.

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It didn't give what it was supposed to gave

The irony of Golden Blood is that despite a good (albeit unoriginal) concept, it was more enjoyable when it strayed from the bodyguard and mafia shenanigans. All of the action sequences looked cheap and poorly done. I never felt like there were any real stakes or danger, even when the slow-motion yelling and sudden rainstorm that appeared from nowhere tried to convince me otherwise. There were a grand total of two stunts (both in episode 7) that weren't eye-roll inducing but overall, the action lacked choreography and style. One could argue that most viewers are only engaged for the BL romances but if the plot calls for action, there should have been a better attempt to commit. The action sequences drew me out of the show every single time. Which is why I couldn't even complain when episodes 5 and 6 took a break from the action.

But even outside of the obvious issues with the bad action sequences, the writing lacked. Scenes were written for pure convenience of cuteness or drama without really leading up to it. For example, in ep 5, Bank and Pitch are fully aware of Sun being a hired bodyguard for Sky. Yet, in ep 6, they suspect that they aren't cousins so they spy on them, ultimately leading to an almost-kiss in a pond. It made no sense that they were suspicious about the validity of their kinship when it was already revealed that Sun was a bodyguard. And again with Bank and Pitch; Pitch pursues Bank relentlessly for 4 episodes and when they finally kiss, he panics. No nuance whatsoever.

Toktang and Juno were quite likable for characters who served absolutely no purpose to the story other than forced drama. It made no sense that the girls continued to pursue Sun and Sky until the very last episode, as they were paid dust up and until episode 7. And what bugs me more than the terrible writing for the girls was that Sky selfishly used them and played with their feelings for revenge against Sun but never apologized or got called out for it.

So far, I've only complained about the writing and less-than-stellar production value but I was genuinely invested in the two main romances, despite all. Gun's (Sky) acting wasn't always the best (to put it lightly) but he had great chemistry with Boat (Sun). Boat's acting was good even though he wasn't very convincing as an intimidating bodyguard. I think the Bank/Pitch romance was equally as enjoyable to watch. Arguably moreso as they had a more palpable dynamic.

Overall, it's far from the top of my recommendation list but with only 8 episodes, it's a quick and fun watch. Maybe the poor action sequences won't bother the typical viewer as much as it bothered me.

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