Character development, which is crucial for a good drama, felt disappointingly shallow. The important characters just didn't get the depth they needed, making them feel kind of distant and undeveloped. The romance was generally bad and forced, lacking that genuine chemistry that should've pulled at the heartstrings.
The story itself got a bit messy sometimes, throwing in inconsistent mythological bits that interrupted everything. Even though "Goblin" had its moments of grandeur and some heartfelt acting, it couldn't keep up a consistently engaging storyline or build compelling character arcs.
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Unfortunately, there were a lot of inconsistencies and unexplained phenomena in the story line, especially toward the end. I was disappointed with the last few episodes; they felt rushed and slapped together last minute. In fact, I think that's what really happened, considering the delays in production. The creators had opportunities to tie together the themes they touched upon and get creative with it, but they completely missed those chances. And talk about overdoing it with the product placement!
All that being said, I still loved it, if not mostly for the awesome and unbearably cute bromance between Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook. They had great chemistry together and their dynamic was way more interesting than the actual boy-girl romance, in my opinion. They are two of my favorite actors, so there you go, I'm totally biased! With this bias in mind, I give it a generous 8 out of 10.
I'm secretly kind of glad it was a letdown at the end, because otherwise I'd be feeling those post-drama blues!
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It's not perfect. The faults I mentioned (and those that have been and will be mentioned by others) are present in Goblin. Yet Goblin isn't the sort of artwork to reveal these faults to the engaged viewer.
Again, much will be said in the way of critique and analysis, as it should be. But if you come across this show and ever find yourself immersed — hopefully in the first episode — Goblin will refuse to release you until its final moment. It does what every artist hopes their work will do: it submerges you in the world it constructs and, when it ends, leaves a part of its world with you.
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Problematic and detestable.
I have a lot of problems with this show, but I'll start off with the most major one, the age gap. She was a 19 year old girl in HIGH SCHOOL and he was a grown ass middle aged man (939 but whatever he looks 50 in the show). Would it have killed the writers to make the fl a little older?? Or at least choose an older and mature looking actress?? Even the actors themselves had a 10 year age gap in real life I can only imagine how awkward it must have been... I was so uncomfortable watching their so called "romantic" scenes because all I could see was a father-daughter dynamic. She literally calls him "ahjussi" for god's sake. It is so creepy and vile that so many people support this and even more so, ROMANTICIZE IT. How and why are people not seeing a problem with this??The story is nothing special, I was bored out of my mind and sometimes, I would play a game where I would try and finish the dialogue of what a character was saying or try to predict the next scene or plot point, that's how clichéd, boring and predictable this was. I was bored even while watching this on 2x speed. And of course all the 3 main characters are magically reincarnated with the same faces and personalities and conveniently meet each other again. What was the point of dying if that was going to happen? The constant flashbacks to Kim Shin's life 900 years ago were so boring like bro move on it's been a century ????. The main leads had no chemistry whatsoever, maybe this show would have been a little less detestable if Kim Shin and Ji Eun-tak were father and daughter instead of "lovers". The second lead couple also had no chemistry. Eun tak's character was plain and boring, she is a blank slate with no personality or mind of her own. Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook's visuals and bromance carried the show in all honestly. I genuinely cannot fathom how this hot mess came to be the 4th highest rated TvN show and most popular show on MDL...I honestly see this show as a stain in LDW's career, he has so many hits like A Shop for Killers, Strangers from Hell, etc...I wonder why he chose this show...
I could go on and on, but I think I've said enough. This show is a hot piece of garbage and I regret watching it. Watch this show if you hate yourself and like seeing minors getting groomed.
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Slow, childish, plotholes, poor execution of a story that could have been great.
I had seen so many people mentioning how good this drama was that I decided to give it a go having nothing else to watch. I was disappointed and I didn't even have high hopes as I find hyped shows are usually not my cup of tea.The first third of this drama was hard to watch and I had to push myself to continue, mostly I found the portrayal of a 19 year old girl very unrealistic, she was very childish. Maybe it's just me, but I've never met (nor was I that way) anyone that age to act like that. Then I kind of got used to it by the middle, but also she seemed to slowly get out of it when she turned 20, what was also unrealistic. To top it over, Goblin was doing the opposite and as the drama goes he becomes more childish. Not going to lie it was funny at times, but overall it was mostly cringy.
The age gap of the characters was problematic (without taking into account the 900 years) and to me it made it worse the fact they blatantly tried to make this look better by making him more childish, also because it felt it tainted his character as this important and powerful Goryeo warrior. I feel there was a problem with trying to keep this balance of wanting to be serious and sad and tragic with the romcom aspect, I couldn't take things as seriously.
I think the story would have been a lot better had they started it when she was 29, it could have been way more mature. I did like the relationship of the 3 as housemates though and I found it the best part of the show.
There are too many plotholes and I could give it a pass if it wasn't because they had plenty of running time to address them. For example, the images of their Goryeo lives were repeated over and over way too much but in the end I didn't feel they fully showed well enough how things happened. Despite those images, I'm being told what happened more than shown, what is a shame. A lot of times the show seemed to go in circles not wanting to commit to a path for the story, at least not until the later episodes as usual (I seriously dislike this common thing of not doing anything until two episodes of the end, make a film instead!!), but by the end I was already kind of tired of the story to the point that I couldn't care enough for the consequences that were about to happen to the characters. Talking about characters, so many side characters with lost potential and so many plotholes in all characters.
The ending is... I don't want to say bad because it could have been worse, but... it's bad. Could have been poetic, could have been satisfactory but it's none and it's solved in the most weird, anticlimatic and pointless way in my opinion. So much potential for epic-ness wasted in there.
I have watched worse dramas than this one, but I still don't think I would be able to recommend this one if simply for the fact it's too long and not much happens to justify its run time. If it's because any or all of the actors, then go ahead, but if you don't care about the actors and are there for the story then I would say look somewhere else because this is not it.
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If you haven't already, watch this drama.
Can we just take a moment to acknowledge Kim Eun-sook's wonderful storytelling. And a standing O for the cast and all the production crew for their hard work!
+/- Plot:
Hardly have I ever encountered a drama that has required me to think outside of the box when looking for the plot twists and trying to theorize about the backstory and characteristics of a character. The story as a whole was unexpectedly thrilling and as the weeks continued through, more questions erupted--but never in a way that left me utterly confused and unsatisfied. I loved how we slowly came to fully understand how the characters were previously connected and such.
I will say however, that midway through I slightly lost some interest as there wasn't much romance development. But it was understandably adorable as I assume they wanted to play up the innocence factor, it being a "first love" and all.
The only reason I gave the storyline a 9.5 was because there's no option for a 9.8 and I wanted to give a more honest rating. I was not in love with the ending of the show, to be perfectly honest I would have been over the moon with episode 15 being the final episode. I just felt that the final episode was a little ??, although looking back on it I realize that it was kind of a nice touch for the final character development of Ji Eun-Tak.
+/- Acting/Cast:
I felt as though the cast as a whole had such great chemistry, everyone just seemed to mesh together so well and all seemed so at ease and comfortable in their characters. It's something that's pretty uncommon I'd say. It was heartwarming to see the fun times that the cast shared behind the scenes and how they're so at ease especially throughout their ad-libbing sections.
The sizzle between Kim Go-Eun and Gong Yoo is undeniable! It's like a needle in a haystack when you find kisses this good in the copious amounts of dramas produced. I'm happy to say that it's getting better though! But back to the actors, Kim Go-Eun really sparkled in this roll. She had the perfect amount of innocence as the school girl and maturity as the character grew up. And I'll try to contain my fangirling, but we all know that Gong Yoo has stolen every girl and woman's heart. He is both wonderfully intense as the Goryeo Man and soooo adorable in his first love.
My goodness, that bromance though. It was sweet to see how we saw the brotherhood grow deeper as they grew more fond of one another. Not only was the chemistry and witty banter between Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook amazing, but the extra comical effect of Yook Sungjae made everything perfection. I really hope to see them working together in the future! (If you haven't seen Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook's amazing spoofs of the cover artwork, you definitely should--so cute!)
And a special shout out to the beautiful Yoo In-Ha, so much beauty, charisma, and sass packed into her character. She was even more comical than I expected and it totally worked...also unexpected.
+/- Music:
All of the music was perfectly interwoven with the filmography! I couldn't believe my eyes and ears when Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook came strutting down the dark road, it was just pure matrimony. I am a huge fan of the soundtrack and have been listening to it on repeat for at least 2-3 days straight. My favorite song from the album changes from day to day, so that tells you that all of it is simply amazing.
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Super famous but didn't convinced me...
Watched this drama about a year ago because it was literally everywhere,and seemed like a must-have if you like K-Drama like me! So i said to myself:"Why not give it a try!?". It turned out to be a pretty basic K-Drama. Music's and places were gorgeous,and the story in itself had a strong basement for a really wonderful and well made show but sadly turned out to be the classic dramawith a good add of romance. Also I've founded it really confusing since they didn't closed al lot of questions, like the one about the headstones and the relationship with the place in Canada. Plus they added A LOT of repeated scenes nearly the end of the show, especially the one pf him walking in the snow tempest. Sadly I'm notgonna give this show a rewatch was reallyhard and boringto follow in many pieces...Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
A Spellbinding Journey of Love, Immortality, and Redemption in a Must-Watch Korean Drama!
"Goblin" is an absolute gem of a Korean drama that I couldn't get enough of. From the very beginning, I was drawn into the enchanting world of fantasy, romance, and drama it beautifully crafted. The story of the immortal goblin and his destined bride was both heartwarming and heart-wrenching, taking me on an emotional rollercoaster. The chemistry between the lead characters was simply electric, and their performances were outstanding. The drama's stunning cinematography and haunting soundtrack added a magical touch to the whole experience. Even after finishing the series, I found myself thinking about "Goblin" and its powerful themes of love, sacrifice, and redemption. This drama has rightfully earned its place as one of my all-time favorites, leaving an indelible mark on my heart and soul.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Astonishing visuals, hollow story
First few episodes were kinda cute. Characters were well written, great chemistry between main characters with smart humour with surprisingly good bromance. But after few episodes you gonna ask yourself: Hey, how come these episodes are THAT long (almost 90 mintues each) and we are in the middle of the show and nothing actually important happens? Well thats the main issue with this show. Im used to slow paced story in korean TV shows and im ok with it but this is just over the top. The thing is that screentwriters didnt come up with a strong story in the first place so as with many other korean dramas, they make up some lazy plot twists in the middle of the show without giving you any clue whatsoever. I dont really like that cause it makes the show cheap. The story feels extremely slow, the main twist is very sudden without any deep reason and the last few episodes are just straight up slow torture cause at that point nothing makes sense. If the show had like 8 episodes 1 hour long, it would be much better.Neverthless the show was very well shot with strong soundtrack, great interiers, design and everything and thats probably the reason why so many people really like this show. Also i really enjoyed realationship build of main couple
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Almost paradise but not perfect!
19-year-old girl Eun Tak does her best to survive her monotonous life with her aunt and cousins. One day, she blows out her birthday candle and accidentally summons a goblin. Not just any goblin, but a world-weary 900-year-old immortal Goblin named Kim Shin, for whom she is fated to remove the magical sword from his chest and finally let him rest in peace, or else death will come to her instead. Kim Shin wanted to end his immortal life but in order to do that, he had to give up his only love and then he had to end his life to save her. Now, how can this end happily?At it’s core, Goblin is a high-stake romance with unsolved past conflicts that centers around death, reincarnation, grief, and forgiveness. Not only it's hilariously charming, it’s also painfully soul-crushing. Watching each scene feels truly magical and for me it is thanks to the God-tier OSTs that are played in the scenes so flawlessly, it amplifies all the emotional beats. Other aspects are also top-notch: acting, characterizations, camera work and cinematography. My favorite part is, of course, all the bromance moments between Kim Shin and Grim Reaper, their funnies and their long-lasting bond. They gave fresh comedies that I love to rewatch and laugh again.
That said, I'll always be a little bitter that they wrote Ji Eun Tak as a high-schooler who wears her school uniform with her freaking bowtie most of the time! I never understand and I feel really bad about it. Plus, Kim Shin is just a very immature rude jerk at first. I see Goblin and Eun Tak as friends more than lovers. This is why romance is not my main enjoyment watching this drama, and while the chemistry between Sunny and Grim Reaper is unmatched, they deserve more couple moments! It’s a bit waste of potential and frustrating to watch them meet and part ways repetitively just for exchanging biodata and unrevealing a tiny bit of mystery. Regardless, I recommend Goblin to anyone as plot is uncomplicated and you’ll be amazed by the beauty of it.
Dec 2023, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge
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Breathtaking Love Story About Letting Go of the Past
Ever since I began really getting into K-Dramas, the one series that has eluded me is this one. It wasn’t in the US region, and I’d heard so many things about it that I kept trying to figure out a way to watch it. Fortunately, moving to Taiwan put me in a different Netflix region, and I almost missed it again, because it’s under the title, “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God.”My expectations for this series were surpassed in every way. I was slightly worried that the reputation of the series would somehow come up short. It didn’t. This is one of the most charming and transcendent love stories I have ever seen. It’s light, beautiful, and full of laughter and tears. In short, it’s full of Life. And perhaps that is why it has touched the hearts of so many.
The four leads of this series are all captivating and you scarcely want to blink for fear of missing something whenever any of them are on screen. Gong Yoo (Kim Shin) has the smoothest, most soft-spoken, and calming voice I think I have ever heard. He reminded me of Cary Grant, one of history's most romantic and effortless actors. He has such charm that he doesn’t have to do much to be in awe of his performance.
I haven’t seen Kim Go Eun in many things, but this is easily the most vivacious and endearing role that I have seen her in. She plays Ji Eun Tak to perfection. She has such a lovely smile and bubbly personality that you can easily see why Kim Shin is so taken with her. Despite her hardships, she simply oozes Life itself.
Lee Dong Wook, the grim reaper with a past, plays the very heartbroken and wounded soul who somehow senses that he’s done something terrible in his past. I’ve seen this talented actor in several series now. As good as Gong Yoo is at acting with his eyes, Lee Dong Wook shows us every ounce of pain that his character is going through. We feel it. We eventually know of the horrendous things he’s done, but in the end, all we want is for him to let go of the pain.
Finally, we have Yoo In Na, an actress I have only seen one other time in “Touch Your Heart.” She is such a charmer with that incredible smile of hers and her very youthful expressions. Only Yoo In Na can take a somewhat conceited character and make her likable and pleasing. She did the same in “Touch Your Heart” and it’s obviously something she’s a master at doing. In many ways, she’s a character who’s torn between the Goblin and the Reaper, and we somehow sense that she knows this. Perhaps that it also why, despite the pain of the past, she’s the strongest of the three because she’s actually able to let go.
While this is an absolutely endearing love story, the series’ power is its message of forgiveness. Everyone carries baggage around, holding on to the painful experiences of the past with the weights of guilt and shame for the things we’ve done. For the Goblin, this is represented by the sword. For Sunny, it’s the ring. And for the Grim Reaper, it’s his hat. And the glue that binds them, with the wisdom of living a free and carefree life, is Ji Eun Tak.
How long must people continue to suffer before we let ourselves and others off the hook? Punishment does not come from anyone or anything except for ourselves. So, how long will you continue to carry the burden? Release lies in the wisdom and power of forgiveness, which is the process of letting go. Leave all of your burdens behind.
The music of this series mirrors the series itself with light piano pieces and soft songs that always seem to mirror the story, the characters, and even the environment. I loved how part of the series was filmed in Quebec, obviously during the fall season when the scenery is at its most captivating.
The series doesn’t miss a beat with some outrageously hilarious moments. One of my favorites was when the Goblin and the Reaper are trying to figure out how to use a cell phone and the camera that goes with it. Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook had me laughing so hard during that scene! It was priceless.
Korean performers are masters of emotion. The tears that were shed were so powerful and convincing by all four actors, that it had you really feeling those moments of sadness and pain. That is what separates Korean actors from so many others: they make you FEEL it! When Ji Eun Tak loses the Goblin, and she begins to wail uncontrollably on the rooftop, you can’t help but feel her pain and despair. The same happens for the Goblin in the last episode. But alas, all is not lost. No one goes away forever, and that is another aspect of the story that is truly beautiful and what made that final scene so epic.
Goblin is easily one of the best series I’ve ever seen, and at some point, I will certainly wish to sit down and watch it again. Goblin is like sitting at home under a warm blanket, drinking a cup of hot coffee in front of a fireplace while the autumn leaves fall outside in the crisp air with the reminder to enjoy Life and each moment.
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