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.