Anyway, I always love a fantasy-themed drama, and Goblin also combined two narratives from the Goryeo period and the modern period and turned it into a beautiful love story. That was enough to make the story interesting and I really love how the writing flows beautifully to flawlessly integrate the three elements into a great story. That aside, I love how well the characters were written to be so endearing and well-loved. I especially love the secondary love story between the Grim Reaper and Sunny as well as the complicated relationship between Grim Reaper and the Goblin. Which made one can't help but keep tuning in to see how the three characters, whose relationships extended past several lifetimes could reconcile with each other once they realize each other's identities.
That aside, it was really endearing to see a shy and timid goblin being paired with an awkward and adorable drama-loving grim reaper as they try to figure out their places in the world and find out the purpose of their existence while paving their own 'happy endings'.
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Was it good?
Okay so Goblin has been sitting on my to watch list for a long time. I just, I dunno. It never grabbed me.I finally took the plunge to watch it. I loved the acting and humor they had in the series.
But to me, this wasn't the best KDrama I've seen. Story was good, but the first half was kinda boring minus all the funny bits of the Goblin, Reaper and "Nephew".
I would recommend to watch, but I doubt it will be a KDrama I'll ever watch again.
Good cast, great songs and good story line. But yet like i said, the first half was boring. I dunno why, but it was.
Comment on this if you watch it from my review :)
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First of all, the storyline is very unique and sweet. From the very first episode it pushes you to the edge of your seat and makes you feel with the characters. Although the episodes run up to 90 minutes, I never felt like they were trying to protract the story.
In addition, the actors’ excellent performance make a major contribution to this circumstance. It is inevitable to not feel any emotional attachment to the characters. I can’t even count how often they made me laugh out loud or shed litres of tears.
The chemistry of the two couples is so intense, sweet and tragic that it even made my heart flutter. The Goblin and Eun Tak as well as Sunny and The Grim Reaper are just so sweet together. You can’t get enough of them. Besides that, the bromance of the Grim Reaper and the Goblin is just spectacularly hilarious. In my opinion, it is definitely one of the best parts of this Drama. I replayed their scenes just way too often.
All in all, Goblin is definitely a must see drama. If you haven’t watch it yet… what are you waiting for? You won’t regret it and I’m sure you will love it as much as I do. I can’t even express the emptiness I felt in my heart after finishing this show.
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This review may contain spoilers
Great but not worth the hype
Are you looking for something that will stick you to the TV screen? Well, you found it! In my opinion scores 10/10 are totally inadequate because the series, although it is really good, does not deserve more than 7. The story is interesting and departs from typical dramas where love and an attempt to save the other person at all costs preside over them. Unfortunately, the execution did not go as well as the producers would like. Why? THE FEMALE LEAD. When it comes to the males - they ware amazing. The chemistry between them was flawless and this part I will never deny nor forget. but Ji Eun Tak played by Kim Go Eun was driving me nuts. Her character was annoying and I don't understand how Goblin would fell in love with her. She was a traumatised child who decided to something fun as help a goblin die.That's in short here but I speak more about this drama on my blog :) feel free and welcomed to check it out ^^ https://my-asian-dramas.blogspot.com/2021/05/goblin.html
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Not worth watching
I'll admit that I watched it recently, 5 years after it aired and I may have enjoyed it more had I watched it then, the beautiful scenery and production would've blinded me. But since it's not the case and kdrama since then have a better production so it's not the only high budget drama anymore, I'll say it really wasn't worth watching.The story didn't move at all, they spent so many episodes going back and forth, and they would go as much as 5 episodes without nothing substantial happening. The story could be condensed in a 1h30 movie, I'm not sure there was even a story worth telling to begin with.
The second leads helped me get through the show, their storyline was a little more interesting, but the second part of their story was a little boring to.
The bromance was on point though.
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I had my reservations on watching this drama at first but, oh boy am I glad that I resisted. I was hooked since the first episode and never did it fail to surprise me as the story progresses.
This is one drama that doesn't have love triangle storyline, no forced or guilty feeling romance (which is rare for korean dramas not to have, and that's what I like about this drama). What you will see are just sweet and even funny romance scenes.
The cinematography and music are simply perfect. And the chemistry among all the cast is also great.
For those who have not seen this drama, what are you waiting for?
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1) Cinderella complex - the female lead was frustratingly dependent on the male lead. Didn’t see any good character development in her.
2) Awkward chemistry - no build up to the romance. Portrayal of the gap in itself was really awkward.
3) Extremely slow - gave up watching in the middle of the show with how little the progress was on the story.
The music and cinematography were good but those factors weren’t even enough to save this show.
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It's not an issue of plot, it's more an issue with the main female protagonist for me. She comes across as an immature, whiny girl. I found her character completely annoying and entirely unrealistic when it comes to pairing her with a 700+ year old war general. It wasn't an issue of AGE for me, but rather, how her character was written. For example, in Cinderella and the Four Knights (a lovely watch, by the way), the main female protagonist is sweet, innocent, and overall, happy and good-natured. Even though both female characters in Cinderella and the Four Knights and Goblin had similar "Cinderella" circumstances, the writers executed their characterization very differently. Ultimately, while I recognize that the writer for Goblin was trying to get a happy, innocent girl despite her unfortunate circumstances, in comparison, I think Cinderella and the Four Knights female MC was so much better. She was someone I could respect, root-for, and empathize with - I just couldn't feel any of those things for the MC of Goblin.
I really couldn't move past the female MC in Goblin because of her characteristics that I mentioned above. And it really sucks because I really liked the other aspects of this drama. The Goblin has such an interesting story and history. The Grim Reaper was entertaining to watch. The interactions between the Goblin and the Grim Reaper were HILARIOUS. I also really enjoy Gong Yoo's acting and he's extremely attractive, which is a plus! But I just couldn't get over the insta-love and unrealistic romance between the girl and the Goblin.
Again, I'm really bummed and I really really REALLY had hoped that I would like this drama on the second try, but I guess it just wasn't in the cards.
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Scenes will have you laughing and crying uncontrollably, leaving you with a melancholic feeling once the show ends. I would definitely recommend this show, not only for the amazing cinematography but also for the well-sequenced soundtrack. A fairy-tale never to be forgotten. ??
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This review may contain spoilers
a lot of good ingredients but the predatory romance ruins everything
God what an aggravating experience. But let's start w the positives bc the positives are really really strong. There are a lot of really poignant moments relating to death — the entire sequence of 9 year old Euntak arriving at home and slowly realizing she's talking w her mom's ghost and then immediately running into Reaper... goosebumps! Reaper as a character is just so well-crafted and intricately written and Lee Dong Wook's performance is breathtaking. I love the lore/worldbuilding for Goblin and the Reapers. Goblin's backstory is fascinating and the way it is entangled with the present is so so so cool — I cannot count how many times the editing had me gasping w the way it showed the past paralleling the present. Reaper/Sunny was so beautiful and heartbreaking and I love their dynamic so much.There are some really, *really* excellent impactful scenes... but it's so hard to enjoy this show for more than 5 minutes at a time before remembering the revolting predatory romance that is at the center of this whole thing. And I think I get what the writers were going for bc in order for Goblin to reevaluate his life and want to continue living, Euntak had to be Goblin's complete opposite — bright personality/optimist, in need of a protector, naive due to her lack of experience and youth. But, like… she can be these things and an adult. Yet the writers chose to have her be a 19 year old — a girl who is still in high school! — while he's 900+ years old. Why the hell is he falling for her? We can't use the excuse that she's mature and he(/the narrative) forgets that she's only 19 bc she truly acts like a teenager — the inciting incident of the whole show (Goblin and Euntak meeting) happens because she makes a birthday wish for a job, to get away from her abusive family, and to get her first boyfriend. When he helps grant those first two wishes, she becomes fixated on him granting the third. She becomes infatuated with Goblin within moments of meeting him — when she follows him through his magic door and finds herself in Canada she's telling him she loves him and asking him to marry her????? GRIL WHAT????????? YOU'VE KNOWN HIM FOR 10 MINUTES!!!! Later she reunites with a childhood friend — who I guess she had a crush on when they were growing up? — and then starts obsessing over him because she feels rejected by Goblin. She constantly makes stupid, impulsive decisions with no thought to her safety. Practically everything about her behavior screams teenager. So, again, why the f*ck is Goblin falling for her??????? At 900+ years old, he's falling in love with a girl who has no solid sense of who she is (because she has barely had the chance to live her life!) and the show is trying to gaslight me into finding this cute???????? And for the first half of the show he honestly treats Euntak like shit bc he's trying to keep emotional distance since he wants the Goblin bride to pull the sword out and if he lets himself get attached to her, then he will want to live and hesitate. Like he is so petty and immature, it's insane to me that this man has been around 900 years and still acts like this. As I already mentioned, Euntak reunites with a childhood friend and Goblin straight up threatens this teenager to stay away from her. When he's upset with Euntak, he will do passive aggressive bullshit — there's one sequence where he forces her to do all of the household chores (under the implied threat that she will become homeless if she doesn't) and it's just like..... Wow, you're really telling me that this man is treating her exactly like her abusive aunt but now I'm supposed to find it funny and cute bc he's jealous and wants her attention? These writers can go to hell.
And honestly the show is confused about their dynamic too! Goblin and Reaper regularly refer to Euntak as a child. Like Goblin will quite literally be referring to her as a child and then the next scene he's talking about his romantic feelings for her or he's smiling and blushing about her expressing her feelings for him or they're kissing. Also as someone who LOVESSSSSS a pairing w a size difference, I have gotta say that this is the first time size difference has made me want to vomit from discomfort. Bc he truly acts like a paternal figure half the time. There's a scene where it's her birthday (so she just turned 20) and she wants to celebrate so she pleads for Goblin to buy her alcohol and this somehow leads to their first mutual kiss 😵💫😵💫 There's another scene where she graduates from high school and everyone's parents come to celebrate their kids and I was sitting here like "please don't blur the line anymore, please don't have him show up." But then he does 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢 He thankfully doesn't claim to be a parental figure but still... It's just so f*cking weird and awful and I can't believe how many people are either seemingly shipping this or are unbothered by it.
And the romance is just so enraging bc there are two really simple ways this could be fixed!
1. Just make Euntak an adult! Her characterization would have to be majorly tweaked but literally nothing else would have to change
2. Make Goblin/Reaper the romance! This would require a lot more alterations (removing the Reaper/Sunny romance for one) but I honestly think this would have been stronger narratively bc the angst of falling for the person who betrayed you and doomed you to this horrible existence in his past life and then choosing to forgive and still loving that person just..... whew! It would hit so hard!!!
And lastly... let's talk about the ending, bc IMO the ending should've been ep13 with the time jump showing that Euntak and Sunny are okay and happy. To get more into this let me talk spoilers. Typically I do not do talk spoilers for the last ~third of a show in my reviews, but the finale pissed me the f*ck off and made me rage cry for 30 minutes, so... yeah. Do not read beyond this if you don't want the entire show spoiled lol.
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Okay, so I get it. I get that a major theme of the show is that certain things are fated to happen and cannot be stopped. I GET IT!!!! Euntak was never supposed to be born, she was supposed to die when her mother was in the hit and run while pregnant, so it narratively makes sense that she would die at the end of this since she only exists bc Goblin meddled in human affairs. BUT! The entire premise of the first 13 episodes is that Euntak is the only person who can pull Goblin's sword out so he can finally die and be at peace and yet the writers found a way to work around that ending and bring him back after his "death." So why the f*ck does the 900+ year old predator get to live and mourn her, while Euntak — she's only 29 at this point btw — is forced to sacrifice herself??????? And then in an attempt to soothe the viewers with the final scene, we see a reincarnated Euntak — WHO IS A TEENAGER AGAIN!!!!!! Goblin is told that students are on a trip before he leaves his residence and then we see Euntak wearing a school uniform while Goblin is now nearing 1000 years old! Oh my god I'm going to hurl!!!! — stumble upon Goblin and they recognize each other. Just.... what the hell is wrong with these writers GOOD GOD.
Anyway where's my Goblin x Reaper remake I want it so bad 😭😭
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The plot is so creative
The songs are to love even to put in itunes!
The actors are amazing!!! ;-; grim reaper is so handsome
The quality of the serie is very good!
Gotta love it gotta rewatch over and over again!!!
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