Golden Blood (2021)

I have mixed feelings about this series

I'll start with what I did not like.

The editing was very sloppy and let the down the series. Where the series was supposed to be a bit more fast paced it was so slow that it felt extremely dragged out and the parts that was supposed to be a build up was cut short. I felt very disconnected for a lot of the series and couldn't really get emotionally invested in the characters (apart from Bank and Pitch).

The acting was also a hit and miss through out. some parts were great and other parts was like i'm watching newbies act. This could also be due to the chemistry between our leads was not so great. It felt forced and awkward (not sure who the actor is that played Sun but I actually liked his acting and the way he portrayed his character ... it was very consistent through out).

The two girls. Not sure what their part was in this apart from Sky trying to use the one to my Sun jealous but other than that they were of no value especially the part where the one chick was crying when Sun said he loved Sky. Like seriously the guy has not expressed a single ounce of affection towards you so why cry or be shocked when he doesn't like you. That was wasted air time that could have been used to iron out other parts that could have added value to the main storyline.

What I did like:

Bank and Pitch - their chemistry was great and they brought something (comedy, romance, fun and a breath of fresh air among all the drama) to the series that I didn't realised I needed until I finished the series. Their acting was also very well suited for the roles that they had.

I actually liked the storyline. Not the most original but it was a bit of a different take on this trope and I really appreciated that most of the series took place of campus (well all of the action and romance parts).

Just realised that I don't have as many likes that I thought when I started writing this review. Overall it wasn't a complete disaster like some other BL's that I didn't even bother finishing so that is already a win for this series. I will defs be rewatching (I think this series has great rewatch potential because it is light and does not require the viewer to pay a lot of attention. Great to watch as you are in bed waiting to fall asleep) this series to see if things make a bit more sense now that I have the big picture

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Behind the Times, but Still Recommend

I loved the chemistry between Sky and Sun. Both actors were spot on in their roles! Pitch and Bank were a great (comic relief) couple too!

Some of the things I didn't like were as follows:

1. Pitch's sudden character change towards the beginning. I didn't quite get that?
2. Both Juno and Toekyang were portrayed as weak characters that can't defend themselves or fight in a demanding situation. I felt that suggested that boys are supposed to be physically strong and mighty and girls need a man to protect them. I'm not exactly sure the year this series took place and the gender stereotypes/roles in Thailand (or if to what extent they exist per see), but it did feel behind the times.
3. Boat's song was pretty good, but definitely overplayed throughout the series (though it was cool when Sun actually sung the song by the fire)
4. The last episode had some fire love scenes, but the agreement between the boys and Sky's father was just what?
5. This drama felt like an early to mid - 2010s style drama, not one from 2021 just based on the production style. But then again, this is also my first Thai drama, so the film industry likely has some differences from China, Taiwan, and Korea. However, I will say that I didn't really get into the LGBTQIA+ Chinese/Taiwanese/Korean dramas, but I was addicted to this one.

Definitely would still recommend watching this one, especially if you are into BL dramas!

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Doce, no fim, sem tanto sabor

Ok, é um clichê que a gente gosta de assistir. Mas a história desse drama parece ter sido desenvolvido por um adolescente e acabou por ser um tanto exaustivo por falta de detalhes. É sobre mafia, mas não há muito aspecto de mafia. Inesperadamente, tive mais expectativas sobre isso e acabei frustrada.

Sun e Sky: Ambos atores são lindos. O personagem Sun é sério e parece sincero muita das vezes. Quanto a Sky, um rico mimado e que parece bem superficial. A atuação estava mediana, deu para alcançar um entretenimento durante as discussões que te faziam querer morrer de vergonha e frustração.

Pitch e Bank: Perfeitos, humildes, honestos. Um doce amor onde se entregam totalmente. Traz uma sensação muito aconchegante e terna para quem assiste. Os atores Tenon e Sugus foram incriveis e demonstraram muita capacidade em expandir as expressões e particularidade dos personagens. Eu diria que foi um trabalho excelente por parte deles. É inegavel que eu tenha continuado a assistir somente por eles! Do começo ao fim, eu estava ansiosa por pelo menos 1 minuto de episodio com os dois. Pitch e Bank foi incomparavel, supremo e necessario para o sucesso do drama!

Muitas criticas, pouco me falta de vontade para dizer mais... O final foi bastante decepcionante, mas eu aproveitei bem a pequena cena entre meu casal favorito PitchBank. Nota 7.0

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BL de ação que falha no BL e falha na ação, entregando apenas tédio.

Comecei cheia de expectativas, pois só tinha ouvido coisas boas dessa série, e o plot diferente também me chamou a atenção, pois é raro ver um bl, principalmente tailandês, fora do espectro dos plots de faculdade de engenharia. Mas o que essa série tinha de promissora ela teve de decepcionante, desde o começo ela já falha em envolver, os dois primeiros episódios são basicamente brigas sem sentido com as meninas sendo assediadas, que aliás, parece que a utilidade delas ali é só serem assediadas pra começar uma briga e alguém pagar de herói (e ser rivais românicas dos personagens principais), fora isso elas não tem utilidade nenhuma e nenhum desenvolvimento. A série tenta o diferencial de ser uma série de ação, mas falha nesse aspecto, com vilões rasos e sem muitas motivações, pq okay, o cara tentou sequestrar o Sky a série toda e quando finalmente conseguiu pq não deu só um tiro na cabeça dele? Um sequestro é algo com uma motivação, você quer dinheiro, você quer chantagem, se você quer matar alguém simplesmente mata, precisa dar showzinho não, só mata igual mataram a mãe do Sky. Fora isso, a falta de química do casal principal é gritante. O rapaz que interpreta o Sky atuou de forma péssima e o Sun se propõe a ser aquele tipo de personagem Lan Zhan, que é frio por dentro, mas você sabe que tem um grande coração, mas ele não conseguiu transmitir isso, em muitos momentos parecia só um robô repetindo "jovem mestre, jovem mestre". Inclusive a série coreana where your eyes linger tem um plot bem parecido com esse, mas consegue envolver muito mais o telespectador. Pra mim Golden Blood teve apenas um ponto positivo e foi o casal secundário, pois os atores eram cheios de carisma e mereceriam mais espaço, mas infelizmente não tiveram um bom desenvolvimento. Enfim, a série se propõe a ser um BL de ação, mas falha no BL e falha na ação, entregando apenas tédio.

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I Liked It!

Everybody’s a critic! You know how lucky we are to even have BL movies and series to critique? I know most take these little gems for granted, but not I! I am grateful for each one, except maybe The Shipper, but even that, despite my review, was still liked by many fans.
I think the problem with this was the mismatched leads. On the one hand you had the devastatingly handsome Boat, and on the other the goofy Gun. But, I think one of the messages of this story was that you can’t pick who or why you fall in love. I have seen some odd matches, and this was no different.
But, despite this, I disagree that Gun is a bad actor. He actually did a bang up job. Of course, he had most of the opportunities for animation: laughing, tears, anger, despair, joy. Poor Boat was so restricted by his character he hardly got to compete. Again, Gun is not your typical handsome lead; although, there were times when I thought him quite attractive. Most of the time, however, he was twisting and contorting his face into some fairly unattractive configurations. But, that is just who he is. Gun got to exercise his acting skill here, and he did admirably. Let’s face it, it’s hard to convince the audience that you are the handsome dramatic leading man when you are paired with such a looker! I think Mark was a better pair for Gun, and that doesn’t mean that Mark isn’t a looker. They just seemed more suited to each other. Actually, Mark might have made a better choice than Gun for a love interest, but what is done is done, and it is nice to see that Gun is not being over-looked. In fact, I can see a bright future for him.
As for the series, the music was very good. The story was good, too. I pretty much take all of these BL stories at face value. I am just glad they keep making them, and I love them all. Tea and Bun were a little annoying at first, but I grew to love them. Jane and Apple didn’t need to be in the story at all, but it is always good to see Apple. It flew by. It would have been ok if it were 12 episodes, but it had a happy ending, I guess. I really don’t know what those two boys are going to do in the future. Gun has a degree. Boat still has nothing, and six years have passed. I suppose he won’t go to college. I guess he will just live off Gun, which doesn’t make for years of contentment. Oh, well.
The last thing I want to mention is Gun’s wardrobe. Those clothes were fabulous. I couldn’t wait for the next scene just to see what Gun was wearing, and he wears clothes very well. They really helped make him appear handsome, and his hair cut wasn’t bad, either. Oh, one or two more, the sets and locations. Sky's bed! French provincial cane! To die! And, who wouldn't want to live in Sky's house?
Ok, now that I am finished, I am going back to watch the whole series again.

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Akward Kissing Moments

I like the concept of the story its very rare to see this the bodyguard concepts in bls thank god thai bls nowadays are not the typical engineer cliche sht, but some parts i found it cliche but i like it better than other thai bls , the pace is fine for me not too fast not too slow . The acting is kinda weird for the main couple sky's acting is very cringey and his kissing moments with Sun is so akward makes me want to like the second couple more BankPitch chemistry are the best for me you can fill ther feelings of each other unlike Sun giving his feelings all to Sky but Sky is doesnt even want to kiss Sun its like his first time kissing a guy like very disappointing hayzzz.. Anyways i love the ost and i think its watchable if your a fan of suspense action and a little bit romcom but still Where your eyes linger is still the BEST BODYGUARD BL SO FAR!!! Waiting for KinnPorsche cant wait heheheh..

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Made me happy

I can’t believe y’all didn’t like this as much as I did! The acting was great compared to other Thai bls that I’ve seen. I notice subtle things when actors use them for their characters, glances, facial expressions, actions— tiny things that aren’t forced and make them feel more realistic. They make me enjoy shows more often then not. Not any of that annoying humour that is there to awkwardly pass the time like in other shows. I liked both couples too, and the story was a break from all of the engineering schoolboys. To each their own, I guess. Y’all can stick to gmm

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Quite good but has a happy ending that isn't all that well done

Despite the flaws of the series, I love the two BL couples in this series. I think Bank and Pitch are the cuter couple to watch but Sky and Sun (the main couple) understandably have the better story.

The story has strong potential that is sufficiently but somehow not totally fulfilled. The unfolding of the events in the story is quite well executed for at least the first seven episodes, which salvages the series from being one of those BLs with potential but fail. Though there is BL fluff, we don't get the sense that nothing all that significant happens until the last two episodes.

Gun and Boat performed their roles as Sky and Sun really well. I thought Boat would simply be quite expressionless throughout given his role as Sky's bodyguard and someone who cannot or does not want to betray his emotions. But we see the moments of tenderness in Sun that cannot be too obvious too. The transition of Sun from someone who largely hides his love for Sky to someone who no longer hides his love is convincingly portrayed without affecting the coherence of the character.

The flaws of the series, unfortunately, are also significant. The early characterization of Pitch is bewildering, for one. He's practically presented as a toxic relentless bad guy in the way he pursues the Toktang but suddenly becomes a rather sweet and helpful guy who would stand up for his juniors. The tensions between Pitch and Sky/Sun/Bank at first are not only unnecessary but also confusing.

The two female characters, Toktang and Juno, seem like possibly important characters at first, but turn into jokes by Episode 2 when it becomes clear that the two guys they like are going to be paired with the other two guys around them. And Juno, who is simply a stock character at first, inexplicably becomes quite brash is her behavior, going all out to pursue Sun who shows no interest in her.

Even the main character, Sky, begins to act somewhat out of character when he pretends to date Toktang just to make Sun jealous. This is simply not the sort of asshole behavior that I was expecting from this guy who may be a little bratty but has a sense of justice and fairness.

Another flaw in the series is in the less than skillful handling of the last part of the story involving the objection of Sky's father to his relationship with Sun. The father's objection, while quite plausible, is written in too clumsily as the final obstacle to their relationship. You can practically see the the heavy hands of the writers adding it into the plot. First, the father seems to want to go as far as killing Sun (he's a mafia figure, after all). But perhaps someone realizes that this would make the father too much of a villain, so, very quickly, the father's tactic turns out to be one of wanting to "test" the relationship and see if Sun is worthy of Sky. This unconvincing and quite obviously added to bring closure to the story. If he really just wants to test the relationship, it means that would actually accept their relationship if they truly love each other. But he still seems to hope to break them up.

The second half of the last episode is unnecessarily draggy. I would have liked to see more of Bank and Pitch in the episode. Though the fact that Sun and Sky are still in love with each other despite being separated for six years by a manipulative father is supposed to be touching. But it wasn't some inevitable tragedy that separates them to begin with, so their reunion isn't exactly moving. There's a similar turn in the plot in the Taiwanese BL, We Best Love, and it's better handled because because one of the main characters do not really know what his father has done. In Golden Blood, Sky and Sun agree to be separated without being able to contact each other. Really, both of them are adults, and could have just rebelled against the father's "test" but decided to submit to the test of this homophobic, unreasonable father who may not even be serious about letting them be together after passing his "test".

The series would actually have ended quite well without the homophobic father part of the plot. The crisis created by the enemy of Sky's father is sufficient to bring the story to a climax and could have been more prolonged. The father's objection isn't really necessary to form the material for one episode either since more could have been shown about Pitch and Bank becoming a couple while Sky's father could have "redeemed" himself by at least just accepting Sun and Sky's relationship.

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What a cute little drama (only 8 eps)! I loved both the pairings, SunSky and PitchBank, though I do wish that PitchBank had been a little more developed, given more screen time. Both couples were so cute, though, that I wanted to pinch their cheeks!

I was actually surprised by how hard I fell for PitchBank, especially considering how Pitch was introduced. But he turned out to be so funny and sweet and loyal. The way he accepted that Bank and Sky came as a package deal which meant they would all get involved in Sky’s father shady business on a regular basis, was just marvelous. Also, he and Bank were pretty much the polar opposite of SunSky, with them, there was no drama, no big upheavals, just some confusion and miscommunication. But they clicked so fast and slipped into a stable relationship so smoothly…

With SunSky, I was mostly enamored with how Sun blossomed when he finally allowed himself to want Sky and love him as a lover, not just as a servant his master. He became so relaxed and smiley and overall simply happy that it was a marvel to watch. Wonderful.

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Comedy, action, romance, every element is exciting

A drama that I thought was interesting after a long time.
Comedy, action, romance, every element is exciting.
It's a short series, but it's worth watching.

story
This series focuses on status and love rather than the rare element of blood.
There is also a comedy part so you can relax and watch.
I found the change in their relationship interesting. Especially Sun and Sky are very cute.

acting
Despite the short practice period, everyone exceeded expectations. If there was more preparation period, it would have been further improved.

music
Very nice.

Personal negative factors
・ The girls end up with a bad end.
・ Six years is too long
・ I wanted to see the after story.

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Better Than Expected

Like most BL fans, I'm here for Gun lol While this show definitely exceeded my expectations, I'm giving it a just above average score. The story was all the way there and just when I thought something would go left it would go right. Moments I thought were about to be cliché would throw me for a loop. I thought there was pretty good chemistry between the entire cast (which is good for any series) and they even gave decent screen time to the side couple. I'm pretty good about liking the side couples more because I never get enough of them, but I'm glad that wasn't the case here, side couple was still my fav though. It did have it's REALLY tacky moments and the fight scenes had me hunched over in laughter. Would recommend to a newbie BL fan but not much else.
Enjoy...

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