Reviews

I loved it

Forget all the negative comments, if ur planning to watch it, go for it… this series is truly good. I’m not sure what makes the other reviewers put this drama so down when it’s actually good but to each their own I guess …
Pondphuwin were amazing, there were so many beautiful and cute scenes that I was not expecting but it was a happy surprise.. they’re gorgeous, beautiful ppl who are in love with each other, what can be more beautiful than that?? Also, I felt ppw connect in the most raw and loving way in this series… I loved them so much

Ofc there are plot holes and shortcomings in the show, like my biggest question was why are the richest ppl not hiring proper bodyguards for themselves when they knew they are in life threatening danger?
My Perth baby was beautiful, he was such a great character, I loved him but chimon, I’m sorry but his character was not it.. I wished he brought something to the table but he kind of didn’t.. he was just there

Anyways, a great watch, I enjoyed watching it

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Impeccable ensemble of actors who brilliantly carried the whole series despite the so-so story.

Wow. The line up of actors in this is crazy good! So my expectation was a bit high! This is what they usually say great cast but mediocre script. With this is I would repeatedly praise and go on and on how good the actors were despite the mediocre story. It could have been a movie because of the script/story, but it was such a treat how they made it into a limited series just to see the brilliance of these actors. The story doesn't have much depth into it but the actors-gave it so much life, the attention into details of the actors with the characters they are playing is what made me finish is it till the end.

They gave the characters their own life-they interpreted it in such a way that it surpassed the story itself. I stayed because of the characters.

Nam Gi Jun played by So Ji Sub is such a straightforward character, but you would see throughout the series his ruthlessness is also equated to his humanity. The ways he made layers in his character is brilliant and subtle at the same time. That made it so satisfying and not overly glorified.

Give it a try and you would be on a ride-it was a treat especially for those who want a cleanse and witness the action-packed intense scenes-straightforward fighting filled with grit.

The one thing I appreciate is that for every fight scene you could see that when they focus the intended character each actor will have their own side-the side of the will and grit to live and stay. To fight for each of their own causes.

Don't want to spoil but it would have been nice if this was longer to explore of their so-called world. I don't know if I am biased but at some point it resembles the world of John Wick - maybe inspired by it but sadly if this is so it would have been really better if they made it to a full blown series-maybe it would have been given another turn and maybe a world of its own would be created. It has that potential!!!

But all in all it was a nice one-the actors gave this one a life. Easy watch and entertaining one!

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I had high hopes for this drama

The acting was subpar, I won't lie but the beginning of the story gave me high hopes. As the story progressed though, it just got more egregious and silly. How is she genuinely getting away with so many crimes and so openly? And somehow NO ONE has figured it out? Oh and don't get me started on the crap ending! For basically nothing to happen to her except prison...? Exactly what was hell for her...? Additionally, Sawako and Juri/Komi somehow survive multiple stabbings (+FIRE FOR SAWAKO) but Makoto gets ONE stab in the stomach and dies? Right, because that makes sense. Just a genuine letdown.

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Chaotic drama about Short Drama.

I watched this by chance without looking female Lead and i only know Liu Sansi but for his drama i ever watch he was actually average but i still enjoy his choice of script. The chemistry between the leads was satisfying to watch.

It was better than i expected and Zhang Ruoxi acting as dual personality was quite entertaining. The kissing scenes are great, Plus, SFL (the original FL) also comes to her senses later on. FL only has money on her mind, completing her mission to seduce ML and infuriate the original FL. ML plays along with FL the meat, and the original FL stimulated into a dark transformation, causing the paper doll to awaken! Then the two awakened paper dolls subvert the FL's expectations, and the ML is taken back to the real world by the FL.

Personally the ending was anticlimax but it was decent drama to watch.

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powerful characters pretend to be powerless while villains with zero legal standing run the show

The most offensive part of the 16 episode at approximately 60 minutes each drama is how it treats Joseon-era law like a buffet—the writers pick the rules that torture the characters but ignore the ones that would actually solve the plot.
This slave trap that it constantly promotes shows that it is happy to enforce rigid, archaic "parental rights" and "slave status" to justify a scene where a legendary, high-skilled female lead is reduced to a passive widow waiting to be beaten in a courtyard. It strips her of her physician intelligence and thief agency just for a cheap damsel in distress moment.
Yet, five minutes later, the show ignores the most absolute law of the era which is treason and we are expected to believe a bastard concubine’s son (2ML) can arrest a Grand Prince (ML) and survive.
The Male Lead is perhaps the most frustrating hero in recent K-Drama history.
When the Queen Dowager—the only person with a functioning brain—rightfully orders the 2ML’s execution for arresting royalty, the ML stops her.
The Result of "saving" his rival, he directly causes the next hour of misery. He allows the very man he saved to stand in a courtyard and challenge his marriage proposal. The rivalry isn't "epic"; it’s a self-inflicted wound. The ML isn't a "noble strategist"—he’s a spineless martyr who values a "political chess game" over the immediate physical safety of the woman he supposedly loves.
The chemistry is non-existent because the Female Lead (Eun-jo) has the personality of a dry loofah.
Is it Survival or Stupidity? The show blames her "aloofness" on survival, but it’s actually Noble Idiocy in its purest form. She stands silently in a "Triangle of Incompetence" while two men—one who shouldn't legally be able to speak to the other—fight over her like she’s a piece of furniture.
When the Grand Prince offers a literal royal decree to extract her from a house where she was just almost stabbed to death at the end of episode seven, she hesitates. At this point, her "independence" feels less like strength and more like a lack of common sense.
The show is a mess of shambolic logic. It forces us to endure the nonsense of a high-status Prince being bullied by a low-status bastard, all the while the "badass" female lead stands by and watches.
My final thought: In the warped logic of this script, the father is being framed as a "tragic figure" who thinks he’s protecting his daughter’s moral purity.
The father thinks a Royal Marriage is just a different kind of "ownership" or a political cage.
He is so obsessed with the idea of her being "free" that he’s willing to let her stay in a house where she is literally a slave being beaten.
If the ML asked, "Why was it okay to sell her to a dead man's house of stabbers, corrupted murderers but a Prince is too much?" the father would have no answer, and the plot would end. The writers keep the ML silent to keep the misery going.
The last couple of episodes were decent, but he didn’t make up for the dross that happened before

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The Art Of Sarah -- A Fable of Modern Society

As a piece of fiction, I enjoyed the show and its social commentary. It made me think. It was somewhat like a fable that tells how society is all about keeping up appearances, blurring the lines between the real and fake. Sarah Kim is an extreme case but honestly, doesn't everyone put on a mask to get ahead? Sarah Kim put in actual work into her brand and ironically operated it like many other luxury brands -- yes, she faked her resume, identity and the history of Boudoir -- but really, how different was it from the legitimate luxury brands?

Another memorable part is Sarah's claim about how there were no victims so it wasn't a scam. She successfully conned all those people because she "looked at what they didn't have, not at what they have". She fulfilled their needs and desires in exchange for their money and trust -- a family member for the loan shark, a nice apartment for the sugar baby, a "friendship" with Nox's CEO etc. It might have been a con, but it always looked like there was something genuine there. I especially liked her story with the loan shark, it felt a little like a father-daughter relationship.

As for the ending, I found it fitting for the themes of the drama and also a little ironic and bittersweet. Sarah Kim made use of the wealthy's insecurities to sell those bags, and she saw through the loopholes in the system. But she was actually the most insecure person in the entire show. Her entire self-worth is tied to Boudoir and the Sarah Kim she created. We see that even as Mok Ga-hui, she projected herself onto that silver bag, telling it to flee as it didn't belong there. When Boudoir was at risk of being exposed, she sees herself drowning yet again -- she is unable to continue living without it. Yes, she succeeded in protecting her art, but in the process, she lost something important. The ending may be up to interpretation, but for me, it shows that Sarah Kim didn't know or love herself. Which ties back to the hints of her unstable childhood, leading to her instability as an adult as well.

TLDR; it was a unique watch and one of the more interesting kdramas as of late.

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Brilliant casting and brutal content

There honestly isn’t much I need to say about VIP except that it was a great watch. With a cast this strong, I wasn’t even surprised that it turned out as good as it did. The performances are intense and everyone plays their role so good that the tension never drops for a second.

That being said, I need to give a serious warning!!!!!

If you’re planning to watch this movie, please know that it contains multiple scenes involving sexual assault in extreme gore tones. The violence is not subtle. It’s graphic, disturbing, and at times very difficult to sit through. I personally had to look away several times because some scenes were that intense.
This isn’t a casual thriller you put on for entertainment. It’s dark, brutal, and emotionally heavy. So if you’re sensitive to graphic violence or SA themes, please take that into consideration before watching.

But purely from a filmmaking and acting standpoint, it delivers exactly what it sets out to do; unsettling, gripping, and powerful.

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Like most viewers, I started watching this drama with no expectations. I've seen several NJH dramas, but I've never seen an MSM drama before.
But, d*mn, this is Gold.

Great script, poetic dialogue, amazing cast, great acting, beautiful direction, setting, and costumes. Perfect storyline, addictive soundtrack, and no unnecessary villains (the stepbrother, the grand prince's mother, the concubine, and even the king aren't bad guys, though they are troublesome in some ways). Most importantly, the clean ending. I've rarely seen a drama with such a satisfying ending.

The two leads are visually stunning, and the way they delivered the story was mesmerizing. Plus, the balance of the story? The writer is a genius. I loved everything about this drama, especially the Dodo couple. And Daechu. He is so entertaining, that I love his scenes so much ^^

This will definitely be my favorite drama for a long time. Thank you to the TMBT production team for creating such a masterpiece.

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Don't waste your time watching this

Like my S1 review I want to start the positives. When the leads finally got together, they are so sweet! The acting in this drama definitely deserves an applause, especially in S1, you cried with the characters, you laughed with the characters, it's a shame that the screenwriters completely ruined this. I had pointed this out in my other review, but I want to say it again: out of the 56 episodes of both seasons, they are together for 7! 7!! thats insane especially since they had chemistry so early in the show. It just became a routine of watching the show on ×2 speed and skipping until something finally happened between them. I understand that S1 may be focusing on Mu Dan's career and all, but their chemistry was so good it makes sense for them to get together in S2, then we have a sweet S2 with our couple, but no the writers drag it through the gutter and use absolutely illogical and ridiculous plots like having Liu Lang sabotage their relationship and that cliche excuse 'oh we can't be together, its too dangerous'. I was so fed up with the whole show I watched it on ×2 speed and just skipped. I only stayed waiting for the romance in the end.

Aside from romance the plot was not it either. It was nice to see some more characters being flushed out, especially Jiang Chang Yang and his past, but that was where the positives stopped. The takedown of Prince Ning was so anticlimactic, I didn't feel any satisfaction. Also the cliche faked death was not helpful either. Furthermore, the whole backstory with the FL's mother being murdered was the most unnecessary plot point ever. It makes no sense, and did not add to the plot or characters at all. It was just there for that little bit of angst.

Honestly, don't waste your time watching this, but listen to the OST, I loved it!

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Here we go again....

Unfortunately this series also follows the same line of most GMM shows. I wanted it to be good, the story had potential. It's like one of those early 2000 rom-coms, light-hearted, unhealthy but charming.

Now that it's over, my opinion still remains the same. The things that happened to Pai was embarrassing and super traumatic, but it's just tossed aside & trivialised for cute moments between the couple. No serious consequences whatsoever, no real human being is that much of a saint. Obvious lazy writing & bad direction. It's like they want to finish this as soon as possible & get started on the next project.

Everything is super unrealistic, it borders on annoying. Everyone looks like they are about to go to a photoshoot, even while sleeping. Too polished and artificial. It's like looking pretty is the primary objective. I think there is a fatigue of these kinds of shows. There is a need for something raw & grounded.
The leads have chemistry & it's entertaining, that's about it. A light-hearted watch, yes but I wish there were more compelling stories & performances.

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Please do not waste your time watching this

I want to start by saying a few positives to this first season. I enjoyed the OST, arguably the best part of this drama, the songs are beautiful. I also loved the costumes and set, all really gorgeous and lovely to watch. I also would say this first season is way way way better the S2, especially story wise. I love how the FL is presented as a smart strong character willing to fight for herself, doing everything she can. I also wanted to applaud the acting. The actors really did a good job here; whenever a character died their conveyed their emotions so wonderfully leaving me in tears and devastated even though we only so that character on screen for a couple episodes. The actors truly made them laugh and cry with them; if only the screen writing was better.

Now the endless negatives. The first being that out of both seasons, all 56 episodes, the leads are together for 7! 7 episodes! To say that this romance is a slow burn is an understatement, they had wonderful chemistry from ep 10 onwards in s1, it was completely unreasonable for the writers to put of such a key part of the show (I will discuss this more in my S2 review). Additionally, the whole story got really really predictable, with Liu Chang pining for Mu Dan, the You Zhen getting mad and harming Mu Dan, it just got very irritating fast. Honestly I had such high hopes for this drama due to its celebration both internationally and in the mainland, but it was so not worth it. Do not watch this please for your own sake!

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Where Romance Excels and Worldbuilding Could Have Gone Further

❗️*** SPOLIERS***❗️

This review is inherently biased — and I’m owning that immediately. But please give this show a chance.

I genuinely connected with the central pairing. Gawin (Tong) and Joss (Mark) have subtle, restrained chemistry built on micro-expressions, sustained eye contact, and emotional pauses rather than theatrics. Their performances feel grounded and collaborative, and the nuance in their acting is consistently impressive.

Now, yes — the first episode is a little campy. The tone, sound design, and some of the vampire movement effects had me blinking (cough Twilight cough). But the show quickly finds its rhythm, and the production improves as the story progresses.

Where things get more complicated is the mythology. The golden blood concept, the covenant system, the prohibition against drinking human blood, and the introduction of unique abilities all show strong creativity. There’s clearly a solid conceptual foundation. The ideas are imaginative and ambitious.

However, the mechanics aren’t always clearly defined. If vampires can’t drink human blood, what sustains them? Is abstinence moral, biological, or both? Does golden blood function as literal blood, or as something closer to essence? Joss’s golden blood seems to affect more than just blood exchange — tears and sweat imply something broader. Mark’s gradual sensory and emotional shift suggests proximity to golden blood alters vampire nature itself. It’s fascinating — but underexplained.

The same ambiguity applies to individualized vampire abilities. Strength and speed are universal, but some characters have healing, mind control, or prophetic vision. Are these tied to bloodline, past lives, trauma, randomness? The show doesn’t fully say. And listen — I understand this is fantasy. Creative liberties come with the genre, and sometimes we just roll with it. I’m not asking for a scientific dissertation. I just want a little more internal context so the rules feel intentional rather than incidental.

That said — this is a creativity issue in execution, not imagination. The framework is there. With clearer structural rules, the worldbuilding could have been incredibly cohesive. As it stands, some moments feel implied rather than intentionally layered.

Where the show truly shines is dialogue and emotional writing.

In Episode 5, when Mark reads the highlighted line from Pride and Prejudice — “I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun” — it’s beautifully placed. The thematic alignment with emotional awakening is chef’s kiss.

And Mark’s later confession? Entirely original. Lines like:

“This is the first time I love and care for someone.”

“If vampires are withered flowers, we’ll make them bloom.”

“If I were to kiss you and go to hell, I would — so I could brag to the devils that I saw heaven without entering.”

The cadence feels like contemporary romantic literature. The writing is poetic, surprisingly elegant, and beautifully preserved even in translation. The series absolutely earns points for its emotional resonance and creative ambition.

⚠️ I haven’t read the original My Golden Blood novel by Dawin, so I can’t tell whether the unanswered mechanics and plot gaps originate in the source material or emerged during adaptation. It’s entirely possible the novel explains the golden blood system more clearly and that details were streamlined for television. If anyone familiar with the book knows, I’d genuinely love to hear.

Overall, the show is decent — and more than that, it’s creatively ambitious. It may not be structurally perfect, but it has strong chemistry, thoughtful romantic writing, and a clear artistic vision. Some viewers focus heavily on the inconsistencies, which are valid critiques — but I think that sometimes overshadows what the show genuinely does well.

It feels like a diamond in the rough. Not flawless. Not airtight in mechanics. But emotionally compelling, original within its niche, and undeniably sincere.

My Golden Blood isn’t perfect, but it’s powerful where it matters most.

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