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THE GOOD
I loved the plot line- and the unique synopsis of an immortal goblin needing to find his wife to finally end his life after years of suffering as he teams up with the Grim Reaper to unravel lost secrets. Of course- romance, mystery and suspense all ties up together with this- and it was beautifully played out. The plot was a bit easy to predict yet it was still full of suspense and plot twists that may throw you in a loop, but it was obvious what will happen in the end as in all of the writer's previous dramas.
Even so, there were quite a few plot twists that will make you on the edge of your seat as usually major developments happen within the last few minutes of each episode that just makes me want to tear out of hair!
The music was plain amazing. It fit so well with the drama as every-time a certain melody came up, I was tearing up already so it deserves a perfect 10 for me.
Setting aside the obvious love story between the goblin and his wife, I looked so forward to the bromance between the grim reaper and goblin and how they slowly begrudgingly became friends as their antics and scenes were hilarious. The second romance between the reaper and Sunny was heart-wrenching yet I was invested in their relationship from the start to finish. The actors and actresses were amazing- and I loved everyone's acting- although I did find Goblin's bi-polar personality a bit confusing and slightly annoying due to his character switching up all the time.
There were some comments on Eun Tak's character and how many were annoyed that her character was so young, and I am no exception to these slight feelings of confusion- however that disappeared as Eun Tak was perfect; depicting a naive yet bright optimistic 19 year old who struggled throughout her life, yet still manages to see the bright side of things. To add- everyone probably heard about how Lee Dong Wook had pestered/frequently visited the writer in order to get his role- and he was deserving of that. He played the grim reaper beautifully as he really knew how to show angst and pain through one look.
THE BAD
There's not much to say about the bad things- other than the weird 'out of character' moments at times. I do find the drama a bit slow near the middle as everything happened quickly within the first few episodes (which is pretty common).
The amount of product placements within this drama is overwhelming- to the point where it was getting a bit more irritating, but I guess it's fine as dramas do need sponsorships and needs to show their gratitude
I was also disappointed that the secondary characters (Secretary Kim, Chairman Yu, the mysterious grandma and especially Deok Hwa) didn't have much screentime nearing the mid-way point as I enjoyed their characters.
AND SO?
Despite the small annoyances you may find- you should really watch Goblin as it's a unique drama that is truly deserving of the high ratings as not only the OSTs are outstandingly beautiful- everything about this drama will temporary satisfy every drama-lover's insatiable hunger!!
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Story: The story is just amazing, it is totally something new and dramatic in a good way. The suspense and excitement is maintained even till the last. You totally fall in love with romance, comic scenes, action and all of those elements. Its a throughout entertainment and the story doesn't drops low anywhere, each episode and scene is worth watching.
Acting/Cast: Such big actors wih their flawless acting will make you love each and every character they play. Gong Yoo being a serious goblin and happy soul both are interesting, Kim Go Eun is so cute and adorable in this drama, Lee Dong Wook alert! you might have a SLS problem here, Yoo Na In is damn good also adding glam to the drama and Yook Sung Jae adds up to the comic portion, even the minor characters act great.
Music: OST is great and totally suits the on going situation in the drama.
Re-watch value: Yes you can actually watch it again and I definitely will.
So I can totally conclude that this drama should be watched, it will make you laugh, cry, feel relaxed and totally thrilled. It can make you feel all of that so go for it without thinking once.
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This review may contain spoilers
I think this drama just stole the first place in my favorites list! I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob! Go watch this amazing drama now! Stop reading! Honestly, this is the highest quality drama I have ever seen. Not just the best, but the cinematography, the sets, the costumes, yes EVEN the Visual Effects were magnificently amazing. I didn't have to cringe my way through a scene that looked fake! No, instead I would be thinking "Wow, what amazing camerawork, what an ingenious way to show that, look at that scenery!..." etc, etc, etc. Story (10.0):
I have yet to give a 10 across the board, and rating the story a 10 is almost as rare. This story is literally gobsmackingly amazing! If you need some context, it reminded me of a mix of some of my other favorite dramas: Healer just for the vibe of secrets and connections to be found; Queen In Hyun's Man for the previous lifetime, man from another time sort of story with an impossible love; Legend of the Blue Sea with similar feels of previous lifetimes and fated character connections, touches of supernatural. But honestly, it was also completely its own thing. It reminded me of elements from those other dramas, but took those and transcended them!
Goblin was the perfect mix of romance and bromance, comedy and tragedy, love and heartbreak, life and death... This drama had way more than I asked of it and didn't ever once go off the rails. I won't spoil the ending or anything, but at the end of the drama I had SO MUCH FEELS I felt like I'd just watched a 50 episode Saeguk instead of a measly 16 episode package of awesomeness!
I've heard some complaints about the lead female roles characters, but honestly what really made me love this story and made it stick out from all the other dramas I've seen was the characters and the interaction between the characters, the ways they try to express their feelings and learn from those around them, the witty banter and dialogue! I can't say how many times I laughed in this drama! I think episode 10 was my favorite just from this one hilarious bromance scene... AHHH! I want to write more about this story because it was pure GENIUS, but I can't say much more without giving some spoilers. Read the plot if you--never mind just go watch this.
Acting/Cast (10.0):
Perfection. I can't say I've finished anything Gong Yoo has been in and I honestly couldn't deal with Cheese in the Trap; nor have I watched much with Lee Dong Wook... BUT THEY WERE AMAZING. All those main three... I seriously can't deal with it. The story and dialogue was my favorite part between these three and they delivered the heck out of this. The bromance between Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook was just the best. And I'm not forgetting the just as brilliant performances of Yoo In Na and Yook Sung Jae, on the contrary, I've seen these two in other dramas, most notably Queen In Hyun's Man and School 2015, and I loved them both there! How could I not like them here! I was always so sad to see Yoo In Na in the "evil" roles like in Secret Garden and You Who Came From the Stars, so it's a pleasure again to be rooting for her.
I mentioned I couldn't get through Cheese in the Trap, but it was nothing to do with Kim Go Eun. Seriously, she was perfect for this role and acted it out splendidly. At first I was wary of the romance between her and Gong Yoo, and while they aren't my favorite couple out there, they really did a great job together! It was just great.
As far as secondary actors go, I don't remember one bad actor... If I remember right, there may have been some of that classic KDrama cheesy English, but no biggie for everything else we get out of this show! Oh, props for Kim So Hyun! One of my favorite Actresses, I was so overjoyed to see her in this and she looks great in a historical setting! I'm so enjoying seeing her in Ruler: Master of the Mask after her role here in Goblin.
Music (9.5):
I really wanted to give this 10 all the way across the board and honestly this soundtrack is really good! I even listen to it on its own which I don't do unless I really enjoy a soundtrack. But it wasn't perfect for me as some of the songs didn't really fit with me. But I still gave it the highest possible rating I could without hitting that ten mark!
Rewatch Value (10.0):
Yes, a 10. Usually my rewatch values match pretty closely to the story value, and this is no exception. The story is just amazing especially the first time through when you don't know what's going to happen, but the interactions of the characters is just such a joy to watch that I've already started rewatching this! To be honest with you all, I watched the first half of this drama when it was first coming out; I loved it, but stuff happened and I never actually finished the drama... gasp! So when I was coming back to it, I was like whatever let's watch the first part again, and my rewatching hasn't stopped from there. This drama... I don't think I'll ever stop rewatching it. And I rarely rewatch anything, so yeah, it's good. Go watch it so you can rewatch it.
Overall (10.0):
How could I not give this drama a ten? The story was astounding, the acting was incredible, the music was amazing, everything was practically perfect in every way! I feel like I've said everything up above but that I still have so much more to say! I'm having trouble expressing how much I enjoyed this without posting spoilers... I'll probably be coming back to post new stuff in this review because I know I have more to say about this but it's all fled my mind to be replaced with the desire to go watch this again. Annyeong!!! Salanghae!!! P.S. Not my longest review, only coming in at a little over 1.1k words, but it's still a great effort. Hope this convinced you to go watch this drama.
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Surprisingly boring...
If you are suffering from sleep issues, this is the best medication that you can get in this world, you are going to sleep deep and soundly as a baby. Believe me.It's so boring. This series is really overhyped and overrated as hell. The premise is interesting, but the execution and development sucks. It's unnecessarily lengthy and painfully uneventful. The absurd scene repetitions are infuriating and the repetitive "jokes" that lacks any fun are frustrating 😤
If you sleep well enough, you can skip this without any regret and you will surely get a better way to waste your time.
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oh grim reaper. oh my love At first gong yoo seemed to be the lead role, but it wasn't all. As I said, the characters were thought through to every fine detail and conveyed to us by the actors in the most accurate way. comedy and tragedy were very well done. It was a drama that I both cried and laughed a lot.
absolutely everyone should watch ... !!!!!!
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I didn't watch any trailer before I started this drama and I wasn't prepared for the emotional roller coaster that it put me in. A salad of fantasy, romance, drama, and comedy, Goblin was able to make me laugh, smile, and cry all in one episode. There was no boring episode although I must admit that the last three dragged on a bit.
Though sometimes a bit forced and repetitive, the romance in this drama was good. The actors definitely knew what they were doing in that area. Now the bromance, a favorite of most Goblin fans, was just AMAZING. (All caps, people!). Having Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook acting adorably awkward and goofy in the same screen is now my second favorite thing next to chocolate fudge cake. More importantly, this drama is more than just about love that transcends time and death or about "destiny outside of man's boundary." Beyond the witty exchanges and the most poetic lines I've heard - or read (hurrah, subtitles!) in a drama, Goblin tackles deeper themes about friendship, life choices, and regrets.
Not to mislead you though, this drama is not perfect. There are a lot of underlying storylines that are undeveloped and could have made the story more awesome than it already was. By the time you realized it though, you've fallen in love with the drama and its characters that you won't have a choice but to overlook and forgive these plot holes.
The best part that I like about this drama (except for Goblin's and the Grim Reaper's bromance) is the music. Simply put - PERFECT. I don't understand Korean but the melody and how the songs were laid in each scene was so effective I would rate it 11 if possible. There were also some important scenes when I expected a background music but instead I was given raw acting and raw dialogue making the scenes more effective.
Last but definitely not the least, I was in awe of the cinematography of this drama. If not for Gong Yoo's face in the first episode, I wouldn't have been sure if I was watching a k-drama or some Hollywood/Chinese fantasy movie. They definitely spared no expense in making this drama. Then again, they probably also earned tons from all the advertisement they had.
All in all, Goblin is a strange and beautiful drama that is definitely one of the best k-dramas I've seen.
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What really makes this Drama special is the amount of quality it has. The Cinematography is really great. The music is also great. The best part is of course the characters, the surprising chemistry and the relationships.
The story sounded generic when I first read it, and it might be just a little bit. However, this drama is one step above in all aspects. You have to also pay a bit of attention to the background and other images you see on screen. It's actually very well written.
Just a fair warning though, lots of crying, especially near the end of the series. But then again, what's "drama" without some crying (there's a LOT though).
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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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This review may contain spoilers
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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The actors did a great job. After seeing the bts footage I am even more impressed by them. They did a lot of improvisation and I think this shows how good their skills are and how good their chemistry is.
The writers did the best job out of everyone. Without them the drama wouldn't have been that good. The plot was so well written with everything just perfectly matching. The writers have found the right balance of wit and seriousness. I can't say more without spoiling everyone. You just have to watch for yourself. It is by far the best drama I have ever seen.
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