The Timeless Love and Tragic Fate of Goblin: A Captivating Journey Between Life and Death
Goblin, also known as Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, is one of South Korea's most beloved and critically acclaimed dramas. The show is a magical mix of fantasy, romance, and deep introspection, crafted with brilliant direction by Lee Eung-bok and writing by Kim Eun-sook. With stunning cinematography, captivating performances, and a gripping storyline, it certainly deserves its massive following. But, despite all the praise, there are a few aspects of the series that leave room for improvement.At the heart of Goblin is the immortal goblin Kim Shin (Gong Yoo), whose tragic past haunts him as he waits for his "bride," Ji Eun-tak (Kim Go-eun), to appear and end his curse. The premise alone is intriguing—mixing elements of fantasy with real-world struggles like love, loss, and redemption. The blend of romance, humor, and deep melancholy makes Goblin a rollercoaster of emotions that often hits hard. In particular, the love story between Kim Shin and Ji Eun-tak is tender and sweet, with the chemistry between Gong Yoo and Kim Go-eun being palpable and natural. The emotional depth of their connection is one of the key strengths of the show, drawing viewers into their world of fate, longing, and painful goodbyes.
However, as much as Goblin is praised for its character development and romantic tension, the series does falter in a few areas. The pacing, for instance, feels uneven at times. While the first half of the drama is tight, with a steady build-up of character dynamics and plot development, the latter episodes begin to drag. Some subplots, particularly those involving the grim reaper (Lee Dong-wook) and Sunny (Yoo In-na), though charming, seem to meander and distract from the main narrative, which at times feels more like filler than essential storytelling. The fact that some of the key emotional moments feel overly drawn-out can make the series feel like it’s treading water toward the end.
Another aspect that can be a bit off-putting is the treatment of the secondary characters. While the grim reaper and Sunny’s subplot is enjoyable and offers comic relief, it also feels a bit forced at times. Their romance, while sweet, doesn’t have the same emotional depth or development as the main love story, and it occasionally pulls attention away from the central, more poignant themes of the drama.
Visually, Goblin is stunning. The cinematography is beautiful, and the production values are top-notch. Each scene is meticulously crafted, capturing the grandeur and sorrow of Kim Shin’s immortal life. The use of color, lighting, and camera work are all designed to enhance the mood of the show, and it does so effectively. The show’s soundtrack, including the hauntingly beautiful "Stay With Me" by Chanyeol and Punch, adds a layer of emotion to each scene, making it all the more impactful.
While Goblin undoubtedly shines in its themes of fate, love, and sacrifice, it sometimes leans too heavily on its fantastical elements, to the detriment of a tighter, more grounded narrative. The philosophical musings about life and death are thought-provoking but occasionally come off as overly sentimental or preachy, especially as the show gets deeper into the mystical aspects of its plot.
Overall, Goblin is a beautiful, emotionally-charged drama that is undoubtedly worth watching. The chemistry between the leads, the breathtaking visuals, and the poignant exploration of life, love, and death make it stand out. However, the pacing issues and occasionally forced subplots prevent it from being a flawless masterpiece. The emotional payoff is significant, but the journey to get there may feel long and at times overly meandering.
If you're a fan of romantic fantasy dramas with rich character development and thought-provoking themes, Goblin will likely resonate with you. However, be prepared for some moments that feel overly drawn-out or unnecessary, especially if you're more into fast-paced, plot-driven storytelling. Despite its flaws, Goblin still manages to capture the hearts of its viewers, making it a memorable and visually stunning series.
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i love this kdrama smm if you havent watched it you should its soo goodddd
i love goblin so much but i didn't quite like that in the end the goblin and the grim reaper didn't become good friends and that the grim reaper didn't see eun tak again that was sad but its ok i also didn't qute like that it ended so fast and the ending left me in mystery like what did they do after they reunited? they started living toghether again? they went to the afterlife toghether? i still have many questions but the kdrama is fantastic i love it.Was this review helpful to you?
The story is ambitious, let me tell you. The fantasy genre is not for the weak. Many try, but there are few survivors. They tend to fall short, leave the audience wondering, and the plot becomes shaky. Goblin, though marched right up to the top (easily) and stuck it's flag in, claiming its rightful place as the best fantasy drama made so far. It tells a story that spans 900 years, relying heavily on drawing parallels between past and present, but coherently weaves all the little details into place. Everything makes sense, and leaves the audience in suspense through the entire show with it's twists and turns. The fantasy aspect is absolutely amazing as it's used both comically and as important elements for the plot. It's never used just to show off the effects they can do. The show forms such an amazing atmosphere as if you were in another world, and as an artist, I can assure you that this is the most aesthetically appealing show I have ever seen.
The acting was of course, top notch, with this star studded cast. By star studded, I don't mean idols; These are talented and renowned actors that have proven their excellent acting abilities with their previous work. Fun fact, Lee Dong Wook, who normally has lead roles, begged and begged the writer to cast him as the SECOND lead. That's how good this script was, and you bet he worked his butt off for this drama. Gong Yoo, I'm sure you've seen in plenty of other movies, namely Train to Busan, never overacts, but conveys so much emotion and is just perfect for his role. There have been people talking badly about the lead actress, saying she isn't pretty enough, but I think she's absolutely gorgeous and has such a pure smile. She fits her role so well and you can't help but love her.
Since the drama does everything else so well, I guess you can't expect its OST to be perfect as well right? But it is. Many of the tracks have gotten millions of views on Youtube and I have the entire OST replaying on my phone. All of the music is just so atmospheric and fitting for the show. I mean it when I say I love every single song, and that's pretty rare. I mean when's the last time you loved every song on an album?
Alright well, I guess I'm done singing praises for this drama. I can't find a single thing to criticize, not because I'm biased, but because it's just THAT good. By now you may have guessed, but I wholeheartedly urge you to try this. You'll find yourself rolling around with laughter, pain, and feels so if you don't try it I may have to personally go over there, sit you down, and force you to watch it. Now I'm off to cure this post Goblin hangover and maybe cry in a corner. Shoot me a PM if you need me (especially for fangirling or crying purposes I'm here for you)!
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I never thought that there would be another drama that could compare to The Healer or Heal Me, Kill Mebut oh my GOD here it is..The Goblin is freaking awesome..If you have not watch it yet I would suggest that you do asap.
The cast was flipping amazing. So much chemistry..
The story line was amazing..I love it from the beginning to the end..I laugh when they did. I cried when they did.
I want to say so much more but it would be consider spoilers..
The sound tracked was amazing..
Would I watch it again. Yes, several times over..
Story 10+
Acting/Cast 10+
Music 10+
Rewatch Value 10+
Overall 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10.....
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This review may contain spoilers
"Goblin" is a romance drama between a girl named Eun Tak and a lonely goblin named Kim Shin.Ji Eun Tak lost her mother at a young age and has had the ability to see and hear the dead since she was little. This ended up leaving her isolated from others, since she could not identify with anyone and did not have a single person by her side. This all changes when she meets Kim Shin, a goblin, and discovers that she is destined to be his bride. Eun Tak uses this opportunity to run away from her aunt's house and as they spend more time together, the two end up falling madly in love.
The problem is that Kim Shin lied about the bride's purpose, that in fact her mission was to finally let him die. Eun Tak runs away furious at having been deceived, but it is at this moment that the two become a real couple, with Kim Shin going after Eun Tak, confessing his true feelings and teeling her that now he has no interest in dying!
The romance between Eun Tak and Kim Shin is simply epic, the best couple I've seen in over 16 years of watching kdramas. Their chemistry on screen is wonderful, they manage to be cute and fun, but also intense and full of passion for each other. Kim Shin's death scene is extremely painful, it hurts so much to see him die like that, but the scene itself is spectacular, indescribably beautiful.
The whole process of Eun Tak remembering Kim Shin when he manages to come back to life is great, because from that moment on the couple's rhythm changes completely, because Eun Tak is no longer a student and the two can move on to the next step in their relationship, but when everything seemed perfect, fate could not be kind to this couple and Eun Tak ends up sacrificing her life to save others. If I had already cried with Kim Shin's death, Eun Tak's death manages to be even worse, because she wasn't sad about leaving, but rather about leaving him alone. The last scene is so good that it warms your heart, with them meeting again, with the new incarnation of Eun Tak who kept her promise to go after him first.
In addition to the romance, the drama is full of humor, I lost count of how many times I laughed at the bromance between Kim Shin and the Grim Reaper, these two formed a wonderful second couple. If I didn't love Eun Tak so much with him, I would root for Kim Shin to end up with the Grim Reaper. HAHAHA'
The drama is perfect in every human way possible: the story, the couple, there are funny, sad, romantic and intense moments and a soundtrack that embraces everything together. It's a story that leaves it's mark on you and you can never forget it.
"Mass is not proportional to volume. A girl as small as a violet. A girl who moves like a flower petal is pulling me toward her with more force than her mass. Just then, like Newton's apple, I rolled toward her without stopping until I fell on her. With a thump, with a thump. My heart keeps bouncing between the sky and the ground. It was my first love" <3
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the bromance
People either hate this show or love it. I’ve had people tell me they couldn’t get over the fact that he was too old for her (considering her character is a high schooler and he is thousands years old) but for some reason I was able to look past that. TIL this day, this is still my number one kdrama.The chemistry between the entire cast was what made this show. It’s not often you get to see that in a show but when you do, it makes you feel like you’re part of the journey with them.
The good - the music. the visuals. the comedic moments.
the not so great - the ending (wasn’t a big fan of the ending). With that being said, it wasn’t horrible but it definitely fell short.
the bad - I can’t think of anything
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The story is interesting and keeps you wondering about what's gonna happen next.
I will probably watch another drama of GY but I do not think that I'll watch one of KGE dramas. I have watched Train to Busan and he is very talented.
while watching there is one thing might irritate you that is the great age difference betw Goblin & ET.
That love things in the edge of being a pedapholie
Goblin is a man who is over 900 yrs old but looks like a man who is in his late 30's early 40's while ET is only 19 yrs old and a high schooler. She is inlove with a man who is at the age of her dad / can be easily have / had kids at her age.
And if we think of the era he comes from he possibly might have concubines, wives and a couple of kids.
They are good match physically but in this drama, it was over the border. I do ship them but not on this drama, they can easily be bf / gf as KGE likes elderly guys and GY likes younger girls.
I was more interested in Sunny and Grim Reaper couple. they were a fantastic couple.
There were a lot of product placements, from stuff toys, to TBS White Musk Perfume, which I end up buying and now using a room spray as the perfume is that much crap, the watches he wore, canon camera which is worth over £2000 this is with only a small lens.
I only find the Canon placement irritating I thought it was related with the upcoming scenes as they have openly showed us, like poking someone's eye. it was that obvious.
I really enjoyed the Canada scenes, and a couple of Korea Seoul scenes but that's it.
I want to see Yoo In Na, LDW, Yook Sung Jae, & Lee El in one drama. I will not go back & rewatch this drama. It was one shot for me, I will forget about it within few months.
If it was not KGE as a leading lady, and if there were less flashbacks, less repetitions it would be an excellent drama
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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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It seemed like I would especially enjoy it because of the historical/fantasy aspects, which are genres I love, but these are only very small parts of the drama. Although I did expect these to be only small parts, I didn't enjoy the rest of the drama anyway. I found myself wanting to skip lots or sometimes felt like I was falling asleep. The plot skips ahead often and feels a bit all over the place, as if the writers didn't really know what they were doing. I constantly found myself frustrated and bored with the story.
In saying that I loved the parts involving the Grim Reaper, and his relationship with the Goblin and Sunny, and when the fantasy/historical elements did appear I enjoyed them. The acting was also very good. However, overall I did not enjoy this drama and would not recommend it unless you like watching generic, boring romances with poor writing (or watch it and skip all of the main romance- lmao).
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PERFECTION!!!!
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The photography of this drama is the best I've seen in my whole life. Either in other KDramas, Chinese dramas, American dramas, American movies, French movies... Each frame of this drama is beautifully captured. My congratulation to the team behind this drama. They did a wonderful and beautiful job!
Story (10): Just to start... Gong Yoo. His my oppa! I really love him and his acting skills are amazing. However, his last dramas weren't my favorite, not because of his acting, but 'cause I thought they were too previsible. But this one, guys... I never got bored! The plot is phenomenal and each character has his own part of the story.
The story's about a goblin and his bride, a girl who sees ghosts; a grim reaper and a very strong woman and their journey to be together. Their past mixes with their future. The romance is cute and funny, not lame. It has it all: romance, mystery, fantasy and a lot of bromance and funny moments!
Acting/Cast (10): Gong Yoo... The words speak for themselves. He's the main character, plays the goblin. His bride is Kim Go Eun, also amazing but, between the main characters, the one I disliked more. Even so, 9/10! The Grim Reaper is my favorite character and is played by Lee Dong Wook. I didn't know him but I fell in love right from the 1st episode. He did an amazing job. Yoo In Na plays Sunny, that strong women, who the Grim Reaper falls for. The Grim Reaper and Sunny are my OTP! They have an incredible chemistry on set.
I won't be talking about the other members of the cast or else I won't finish this review today!
Music (9.5): I'm completely hooked on "Beautiful" from Crush. Also, on "You're so beautiful", from Eddy Kim; "Stay with me", from Punch feat Chanyeol; "I miss you", from Soyou, etc, etc.... I gave it 9.5 'cause it's not the best OST that I have ever listened to, however, it's completely made for the drama and addictive. And that's what matters!
Rewatch Value (10): I never rewatch a drama! The only thing that I do repeat is films. I sometimes also repeat my favorite scenes from the dramas I've seen. However, I never rewatch the whole drama.
Should I correct myself? I've never rewatched a whole drama but I'll definitely rewatch this one. Not now, I'm too sad that it has ended however in the near future I'll rewatch it and watch it with new eyes and fall in love with it all over again...
PS: There's a kiss between the Grim Reaper and Sunny that's very similar to a "statue kiss" (for some reason this type of kiss is a must in every KDrama). It's not a really "statue kiss" (thank the gods!) but it's similar. I just expected a little more at that point as they share great chemistry. But, cheer up! That was the only bad thing in this drama! 11/10!!
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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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