Guardian: The Lonely and Great God

쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 - 도깨비 ‧ Drama ‧ 2016 - 2017
Completed
nature456
3 people found this review helpful
Jan 24, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 10
This first time I'm ever writing a review on here for a drama, that's how amazing this drama was! Wish I could give it more than a 10/10! The cinematography was amazing, the plot was consistent, and their love story beautiful and heart wrenching at the same time. I loved all the characters and their character development and importance towards to the plot as a whole. This drama as officially stolen the number one spot for me!
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Completed
Assina Rana
3 people found this review helpful
Mar 1, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
Now i had decided to watch this drama just because of the cast at first because when i first heard it was coming out i had no idea what it was going to be about. i mean even the trailers were very vague and i actually didn't try to find out what the storyline was going to be like lol

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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Completed
Christelou
3 people found this review helpful
Jan 31, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
Love this Drama!
Every things were perfects, characters, actings skill, feelings, music. I'm just sad that it has already finished, i just want to watch it again. The romance is like a smooth poetry.
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Completed
keona
4 people found this review helpful
Jan 22, 2017
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This drama is now my number 1 favourite out of all I have watched. I've got to say, it's going to be pretty hard to top this one. I finished watching the last wo episodes on Viki and I LOVED it. The characters, the music (my favourite is I Miss You and Round and Round) and the the plot was PHENOMENAL! I had a hard time not crying when the sad parts were on (not going to spoil) and had a hard time not smiling when they were happy. The ending was good, some people think it could've been better but I think it was sweet and everything was perfect!! My favourite was Kill Me Heal Me and Angry Mom but Goblin takes the lead!!

I will definitely rewatch this because I miss the characters so much, even after 15 minutes from seeing them lol. I recommend this to ANYONE who likes dramas as is is funny, romantic and have some action! It also teachers a lot of lessons and puts other people's lives into perspective. Thank you so much to the writers as this is my favourite and now I have high expectations XD

10/10

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Ongoing 16/16
Khushiii_
4 people found this review helpful
Aug 1, 2024
16 of 16 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 6.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

Overrated ...it was just too boring to watch ..

i was not able to met any kond of expectations that i had with the hype of this kseries..I can't deny that cast is perfect .Story line is just nice but it could have been less boring if the portray was improved..ppl hyping over this drama got me excited to give it a try but i was disappointed in the very first episode although i forced myself to ep 4 but it was totally not worth it .Honestly this was boring .lg this kind of drama is not for me .All are loving this but i can't help myself to hate this thing .. its just my opinion , idk the reason why ppl love this but if you feel this drama is for you just go ahead and watch this hyped drama who knows you will end up liking it...

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Completed
Renee Fong
4 people found this review helpful
Jul 1, 2018
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 2.0
Story 5.5
Acting/Cast 4.5
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 1.5
This drama is so boring and many scenes kept repeating like the historical event KIM SUN got killed. Its like the flashback repeated many many times. The only interesting i wanna see and anticipate is the scene between WANG YEO AND KIM SUN . Its quite refreshing and interesting. The chemistry betweeen them both is gr8.
Kim shin looks like lack of emotion and in many scene he chose to keep quiet and lack of reaction. The joke scenes are like being forced. Appreciate writer cares about the working on the final episode.
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Completed
Anastasialovesdrama
1 people found this review helpful
May 8, 2021
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

this drama destroyed me....

Goblin is a fantasy romance about a modern day goblin (Gong Yoo) who seeks to end his cursed immortal life and needs a human bride (Kim Go Eun) to do so.  His life then becomes intertwined with a grim reaper (Lee Dong Wook) who is unable to remember his past. But when the goblin finally finds his bride, he suddenly realizes he wants to live and be with her.
Goblin is an epic tale with a story that spans centuries. It was quite an interesting ride filled with some amazing characters, talented actors, and a fresh and unique story woven beautifully throughout each episode. I really love seeing a kdrama with such a heavy fantasy concept. It creates a full mythology surrounding the characters and how certain things work. That makes discovering this world and its secrets very interesting. There are some very impressive shots in the opening episode featuring an intense battle during the historical portion and a huge ship caught in raging waters. The historical portion as a whole had a very cinematic quality to it that was also very gripping right from the start.
Gong Yoo plays our cursed Goblin, Kim Shin. There are many different sides to Shin’s character, and Gong Yoo played them all perfectly. He’s a brave and fierce warrior in the historical portion where he finds himself at odds with the king.
We then have our Goblin bride, Ji Eun Tak, played by Kim Go Eun. Kim Go Eun was very endearing as Eun Tak. She was bright, adorable, and full of life. Her youthful exuberance is like a ray of sunshine that warms up Shin’s heart. It’s easy to see why our Goblin falls hard for her.
Lee Dong Wook is our Grim Reaper. I have a soft spot for Lee Dong Wook, and I absolutely loved his character. He has such a commanding presence that instills power and fear, yet he easily transitions to a sort of awkward and bumbling character.
Yoo In Na was lovely as Sunny. She seems a bit bored with life, but things really liven up for her when the Grim Reaper shows up doing all of these things she finds strange and fascinating.
Yook Sung Jae did well as Yoo Duk Hwa. His family has served the Goblin for 900 years. He’s immature and a bit spoiled, but he has a good heart. He was a nice addition to our Goblin family.
The story is very rich, and I loved delving deep into it. The drama sets up the story very well with high stakes and plenty of questions. While it does take a while to get answers, once we continue deeper into the story, the drama just gets better and better. The drama does include a lot of humor which is something I greatly appreciate, but it was also sort of a mixed bag for me. On one hand, I thought they spent a little too much time on basic character interactions without a whole lot of forward plot development in the first half of the drama. Ideally, I would have liked more of the meat of the story to be better dispersed throughout the drama.
In the beginning, Shin and the Grim Reaper are mostly the deadpan style. Initially, that made it more difficult for me to warm up to them. But the more I saw of their interactions, the more comfortable I became and the more hilarious I found them to be. As the drama progresses and they grow more comfortable with each other, their humor also became more of the fun and goofy style that I like. And that produces some truly hilarious scenes!
Gong Yoo and Kim Go Eun were a really sweet and fun couple. Their relationship has such a strong importance right from the beginning. Eun Tak was able to warm up the lonely Shin’s heart, and he was able to provide her a family.

Goblin is a unique drama in the kdrama landscape. Its rich fantasy story that intertwined everyone’s fates was done very eloquently. Each character is memorable and engaging and completely brought to life by all of the talented actors portraying them.
It’s an epic story of love, friendship, and forgiveness that tugs at the heart. It’s a poignant and moving drama that definitely left a lasting impression.

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Completed
MichaKu
1 people found this review helpful
Feb 5, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.0

Iconic drama in every way

Sorry for being late, just caught up on that now...if you would have to recommend a kdrama to a newbie, this is definitely one to choose. Starting from the acting, story, romance drama and mesmerizing soundtrack...none a failure, all over the top. Okay, if you can't deal with a guy alive for more than 900 years, you're not into fairytales anyway ;-)

The FL is may be one of the most lovable, cute and pretty of all times. I guess the director must have smiled along with her acting. I guess Kim Go Eun surpassed any expectations. Sometimes you'll just watch her talking without reading the subtitles and begin to smile for yourself. The ML fits well also. Beyond that the SML and SFL story and acting is perfect, too and of course the interaction between the SML and the ML is anything from positively weird to hilarious.

Besides all the fun you really wonder if the script writer knew for how many litres of tears and pain she would be responsible :-) How can you do this to us !?

The soundtrack will stick in your ears for days after you complete the drama and even the ending was on the good side compared to others.

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Completed
SareenRene
1 people found this review helpful
Jul 4, 2025
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 2.0

Watched for the cast and the Kdrama legacy

This show is so popular on My Drama List and it was on my watchlist for a long time and I love Kim Go-Eun (especially in Yumi's Cells series) so finally did a watch through after starting the show several months ago.

Things I appreciated:
The. cast! the friendship between Reaper, Goblin, and Ji Eun-Tak was so fun to watch - their banter was great. Enjoyed Sunny's character and really all the side characters.
The side stories Reaper had with his job, and Eun-Tak had with the ghosts - the whole show could have been those and I would have loved it.
The production - it was good quality

Things I did not enjoy:
The overarching story of Goblin
So much crying
The age-gap for no real solid reason - she could have been any age, why start the main character in her senior year of high school, like who thought that ick would be a good idea. The actors did so great and played immature, and mature really well and kept it very appropriate but just ick
The over-use of flashbacks
^for these last two reasons it would be cool to see a remake that is 10 episodes, with a main character starting in college or early twenties if they must be younger than Goblin, and intentional use of flashbacks.

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Completed
GloriousInMelody
1 people found this review helpful
Nov 4, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 10
Rewatch Value 7.5

fascinating!

best OST hands down. found the last few episodes illogical and dragged out, but phenomenal acting by all the actors. it's a fascinating show to watch nevertheless all its faults. the age gap was weird. bromance between reaper and goblin were the best part of the show. really liked sunny's character too.


also what happens to the goblin eventually? he is still immortal. all his loved ones left or are leaving. eun tak has just 3 lives left including the one shown in the end. what happens to him after this? his punishment goes on forever? i mean, I accepted him choosing to not move on even after the sword was pulled and being called back to this world by eun tak. but he shouldn't even have been an immortal in that case. there are many illogical and very convenient plot points in the drama such as this.

although last episode confused me a bit. why did sunny leave? is it as goblin said 'she didn't wanna see him this life, that's the greatest punishment she could give him?' also how did eun tak remember everything, but not sunny and Wang yeo in their new lives? they didn't drink the tea either.
also, who was the car mechanic goblin send the president's way after that Sandwich scene? what's the point there? was dweok ha the one in the car?

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Completed
madiiii
1 people found this review helpful
Nov 28, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 8.5

great characters

I remember watching this series a few years ago and it was soooo amazing, that I still recommend watching it, the story line is good + romance & bromance are pretty well done, and developed, for me chemistry was on point💛
The beautiful sceneries in this drama are key since they add more to the story.
You must know that this characters are awesome, very unique if u ask me and also I love that when watching this series I could feel warm, so if it is cold, this is a must watch!
already is a classic
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Completed
indahtrims
1 people found this review helpful
Jan 20, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 9.0
This review may contain spoilers

A Once in a Lifetime Drama

As a fan of K-Drama, especially Kim Go Eun. I totally recommend you to watch it.
I did watching while the drama was still on going, plus without any subtitle cause I can't bear to wait even a day for another episode. And tbh I've watched it over and over again.

Why I gave the story 9.5/10 is because I can't say that this kind of reincarnation is kinda happy ending or what, logically (I know I shouldn't talk about logic or something cause it's a fantasy but I have to) the Goblin (Gong Yoo) is ended up being an immortal and Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun) keep reincarnating and she only have 2 chances left in the last episode. It's painful to imagine that in the end the Goblin must live his life all alone if she has no chances left.

Anyway, I'm still LOVING this drama. It's in my favorite drama list. The casts is BOOM (I love the bromance between Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook, awwww they're so cute), the osts are freaking good (I know all of the song, and even remember some exact scene where the song appeared in), the cinematography, the setting, the vibe, the staffs, I love them.

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Guardian: The Lonely and Great God poster

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  • Score: 8.8 (scored by 159,883 users)
  • Ranked: #169
  • Popularity: #1
  • Watchers: 302,522

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