This review may contain spoilers
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.
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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