When watching K dramas without knowing their year of release, you can often sense if a drama comes before/after Goblin. This masterpiece ushered in new standards of storytelling scope, production values and cinematography to Korean dramas and everyone else scrambled to keep up. From the first frame to last it feels like you're watching a top-drawer movie with every scene perfectly composed, framed and lit. The Goblin's house itself (a character all in it's own right) is a masterpiece of endlessly interesting set-design and dressing, but the exteriors also, whether they be the many fantasy/historical sequences or more mundane Seoul streets are all realised with loving care and attention to detail. And don't get me started on the Canadian scenes...
The casting too is utterly perfect; Kim Go Eun is the ultimate girl-next-door type (옆집 소녀 ha!), Gong Yoo with his masterful ability to go from hard-as-nails-hero to tender suitor, right down to Yook Sung Jae's fragile naivety. And that's before we get to Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na's perfect "second couple" - so successful they spawned a spin-off industry that's been going ever since.
The OSTs are easily a match for the high standard of the visuals. I own the double-CD pack of this and still play it nearly every day 2 years after first watching. Everyone has their favourite OST song from Goblin, but the Ailee classic remains one of the absolute high water marks of Korean drama OSTs.
Goblin remains an utter game changer in K-drama and the first few seconds of this video (Kim Go Eun's crying scene) are part of the reason why. I stumbled upon this video in a bored moment and the emotions instantly came flooding back and I welled up with tears, not just from the raw moment shown here (a Kim Go Eun acting masterclass), but from the lifelong memories given to me by this wonderful wonderful drama.
I know it will sound ridiculously over the top, but for me at least, television was never the same again.
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Let me say the good things first:
1. I love their acting on the sad scenes, I mean, they made me moved and cry.
2. The music is PERFECT because it really fits in specific scenes. The background music adds that tension, depressed and happy feelings. If the scenes made me cry, the added background music made me cry more.
3. I think the plot is good :) The bromance is good too.
Now the not-so-good things:
1. There are some parts that I don't feel the romantic connection between the Goblin and the High School Girl. I don't know why, but I just don't feel it (I even love the connection between the Grim Reaper and the Chicken Restaurant Owner than the 2 leads), but during the middle till the end (especially when the lead girl character is 29 y/o), I am feeling their connection and I liked it.
2. I don't like the thing where they add something (like a recap) on some episodes that makes it damn long, I even have to skip it, sorry but I'm an impatient person.
3. I love the sad scenes more than some scenes, because in some scenes, I got bored a little bit (I used my phone during the boring scenes, which means that I really got bored). I was not interested (a bit) on the flashbacks (idk why, sorry D: )
My rewatch value is 7 because I could watch it again, but I'm that type of person who doesn't want to watch depressing scenes again because I don't want to cry a lot.
Overall, I think the drama is great! I cannot count how many times I cried in just this drama.. Probably 30 or 40 LOL. Because most of the scenes really made me cry.
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Finally it was the finale! I have been waiting for the finale just for me to see what will really happen although at the back of my mind I knew it already! I would say I have a mixed impressions on the finale and the total drama itself. One thing for sure this drama has captured the hearts of many kdrama viewers. It has the perfect production value, cinematography, writing and character development! The acting of everybody are just excellent! I salute especially Kim Go Eun as Ji-Eun Tak the bride of the Goblin. Her acting is fantastic, controlled and natural. She has matured dramatically from the last time I watched her in Cheese in the Trap. And she is just young and yet she can act incredibly good! Gong Yoo, Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In-ha also did a remarkable acting performance. Let us go to the story. It has one of the most uniquely written story! Every plot made sense! The writer successfully made an attempt to inject many light hearted scenes to balance off the very serious theme of the drama. And this is what that mixed impressions that I am saying. This is very sad story, bittersweet and depressing! Even tough we get a happy ending ( opps possible spoiler here) it is still not a happy ending at all! Because we know that Goblin is an immortal being and after the life of the bride, Goblin stays behind and still feel sad and lonely! He will still be a wanderer alone and it hurts me to think that until when will he be living? But the central theme is the selling point of this drama, that love will see you through beyond the borders of eternity! I just want to say this, and perhaps I belong to the minorities, I cant really see the connections between the lead! I dont see any romance maybe because i see them as siblings perhaps or just an uncle-niece relationship! Blame the age gap of the leads! I just cant seem to connect with them as well.
The music is incredibly amazing! I love how they were put in the drama! It gives the fantasy feel! I like most of them.
Because of its depressing tone I will only do selective rewatching like the bromance scenes of the 2 lead actors!
Overall, this is highly recommended drama. Good acting, story and script! Worth my 16 hours of viewing.
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Every episode in some way or another brought me to tears (maybe I am just an overly emotional person though). The music, acting/cast, cinematography and writing was so on point and beautifully portrayed. This has now become one of my all time favourite dramas. I look forward to rewatching this with my mum as I know she will love it.
I liked everything about this drama. The cast really fit and blended well together and the emotional scenes were so believable . I've not seen any of their previous work and I am now excited to watch their other dramas.
I would recommend this to anyone who (like me) enjoys a mix of romance, fantasy & supernatural elements. I apologise if this review is all over the place. It's my first time writing one on here and I didn't quite know what to say other than this drama was simply beautiful!
Enjoy!
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Have both my favorite actor Lee Dong Wook and Gong Yoo (this is the 1st drama I watch with him in it) as the male leads - because as Kim Eun Sook proved in her other dramas, she can give enough screentime to more than one actor - was a pleasant experience. They have great chemistry, their bromance was awesome and it sometimes overshadowed the main couple. I lived for their bickering, they brought me to tears and this doesn't happen much. Needless to say their acting was great. I loved LDW as the Grim Reaper and he moved me a lot, he was really fit to play a serious and a bit depressed immortal angel of death. Gong Yoo was also a surprise, since this is my first drama with him. I felt like he brought peace o the set, I don't know. He gives me the aura of a heartwarming person. I'm a bit torn about Kim Go Eun. She is believable as a 19 year old even though sometimes she used too much aegyo. OK that she's still a teen, but tone it down a bit, gurl. Like I said, her chemistry with Gong Yoo was there but there were times I didn't feel as much for Goblin/Eun Tak couple as I did for Goblin/Grim Reaper. Perhaps it was the age gap that made them give the feel of dad-daughter or oppa-dongsaeng, because it depended on the moment. Eun Tak could go to 19 year old to wise girl in a heartbeat and the Goblin could act like a small child one moment and like a mature guy the next. Overall, though, they are balanced in my opinion. And I liked that in many moments in the second half of the drama where they had to film kisses or couple-y scenes, they seemed very comfortable acting as a couple. Yoo In Na was perfect as a beautiful BBQ shop owner. She was witty and funny and I loved her sense of fashion. I also liked Yook Sung Jae as Deok Hwa.
The music was great, you can tell they spent a nice deal of money and time to make it good.
In general, I would say that this drama is for fantasy lovers the most with a side of romantic comedy. If you're looking for something mysterious, there are few questions you're gonna ask yourself indeed, but is not complicated like a melo. Let's just say, the story is simple and the message the author wants to convey is too.
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My facts are here:
Positive:
- Great storyline - one of a kind in K-dramas till now. I learned a lot about Korean people's beliefs.
- Great friendship between Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook. I loved every moment of their communication. It seemed they're friends in real life
- Great chemistry between Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na. The love between their characters was very well acted as if they're couple in real life. I loved every moment of their relationship.
- The Goblin character is really complicated and I liked it very much.. It's well played. But I fell for Grim Reaper Character - it;s also very complicted and I loved it in every single moment even more.
- The emotions that Gong Yoo and Yoo In Na were like they're real brother and sister. They are great actors and so is Lee Dong Wook.
- No loopholes and more realistic ending..
Negative:
- Lack of Chemistry between the goblin and his bride. Mostly of her part, the actress Kim Go Eun just didn't do well in my opinon. She didn't put her heart in the role and it seemed out of place. This is way I don't give 10 to this Drama. When Gong Yoo showed passion and deep emotions, she didn't respond and it seemed forced. I don't think I will watch another drama with Kim Go Eun.
- Time loops withous some kind of explaination what happened those years
- Yoo in Na parting with Grim reaper. I couldn't understand if she died after she "left"". If she didn;t die why nobody looked for her?
I liked Goblin I watched it slow to understand better the things. So, if you wonder to watch it, do it, but take 1 or 2 episode per day for example. The producer and writer of this Drama are great, but they shouldn't concentrate too much on the tears. Characters moved on with their lives, that should be shown. I will rewatch this drama some time in the future.
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So as soon as i started watching this i got sucked into it the world because the cinematography is amazing in this just like most korean dramas but the execution was amazing for this. as i got to the end of the first episode i just fell in love with every character in the drama. the way the cast portrait the characters is just amazing and i highly doubt any other actors would have been able to do any better than this!
the story gets confusing a bit at times i mean they don't get in depth on some subjects but still it doesn't ruin it for you although it would have been a nice touch if they had elaborated. they are hilarious moments, extremely sad and some freaky moments. they just know how to make you feel a mix range of emotions and that's what made me love this drama even more. the bromance was amazing! i mean one of the best i have seen so far, and the actual romance was sweet and i'll be honest i usually don't like it when the main leads have such a huge age gap but it actually didn't seem weird in this drama, and i'm actually not being biased lol
the soundtrack. one word...AMAZING. I usually like a lot of ost but this one was so good i had to download them and listened to them on repeat for a good 2 weeks after i finished the whole drama!
all in all this is a drama you will not regret watching honestly. the best drama of the year so far and i'll be honest i don't think anything will top this for a while for me personally!
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I've been looking forward to watching Goblin for a good while now because of all the rave reviews I've been seeing online. The drama appears to be heralded as one of (if not 'The') best Korea has to offer, which I'm quite surprised about. Six episodes into the show, I expected the pace to have quickened and the story to have developed further. To me it appears as though the writer created a promising premise, and an interesting universe, but did not think deeply about the main conflict of the story and how that will pan out over 16 episodes. A story needs to have enough substance to be able to fill each episode effectively. 'The Goblin is cursed with immortality and only his bride can emancipate him from this anguish - but will she?' seems to be as far as the writer got. The painstaking process of waiting for her to make a decision is simply boring and holds no tension beyond 1 or 2 episodes. To me, the show appears to be all style, and no substance.
I understand that not every drama needs to be fast-paced, or each episode does not need to end on a cliff-hanger for a drama to be good. Sometimes, the emotions between two people in love, or the lingering tension created by the threat of something tearing them apart, is enough to sustain interest from an audience. But this only works if the two main leads have undeniable chemistry. Unfortunately, the age difference between the leads kills all the chemistry, and makes it unsavory to watch. The female lead behaves even younger than she is while the Goblin appears too mature and stoic. I feel like I'm watching an Uncle supervise his niece as she frolics about like a child. Even Gong Yoo's superior good-looks is not enough the light the spark here. And I don't blame the actors either - they've done a good job with what they've been given.
Of course, when we have an immortal being like the Goblin, his age difference should be irrelevant because eventually there will come a time when the girl will catch up to his age and surpass it. The writer could have used this idea to showcase a love-story that blossom over her lifetime. But alas, I don't think that's where the show is heading.
I'll keep going for another episode but sadly, this one might be going into my Dropped pile.
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