Even though the story could have been improved at the beginning a lot as I was very close about giving up on Goblin, I am happy I managed to get through the first few episodes as this series improved a lot when it was nearing the end. Acting of the cast was up to standards, however I found the age difference between Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) and Ji Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun) bothersome and somehow found the secondary love couple more interesting; Grim Reaper (Lee Dong Wook) and Sunny (Yoo In Na). Goblin's Music was top notch. Enjoyed it very much with these beautiful songs out there.
Now you can disregard my rewatch value ranking as I am absolutely not fan of rewatching series, cause the story is spoiled once you know most of it already.
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High re-watch value
I think this is my all-time favorite Kdrama. First off, the story is phenomenal. I always give dramas 10 minutes to see if it'll hook me. If it doesn't, for the most part, I'll have a hard time finishing it for some reason. Within minutes, I already knew I would love this Kdrama.The casting is spot-on. I can't think of another person who could play the Grim Reaper as well as Lee Dong Wook or Gong Yoo as the Goblin. The dry humor and bromance between the two are what I enjoyed the most. None of the characters "bugged" me. Not a one. In almost every drama, one character will rub me the wrong way. Instead, in this drama, every character became important to me.
The two separate love stories complemented each other so well. You rooted for both and there was no jealousy or games that you usually see in other dramas. The emotional feelings aren't forced like in a lot of other dramas, where you feel like they set it up just to make you cry. In this drama, there are heartbreaks, but many feel-good moments. A great balance.
The music was great and I felt the choice of the songs was spot-on. Great production as well. It doesn't matter who I recommend this show to, whether it is male or female, old or young, they have all enjoyed it. I highly recommend this if you've never seen it. I wish I saw this sooner.
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i love the chemistry between the main leads sooooooo much i hope they make another drama with same cast
specially dong wook & in na
all about the story was amazing the romance parts was brilliant i love it except
the religious part about god & angels i felt it was really disgracing my mind
and the END as usual
*if the writer was controlling destiny and God's behavior y he didn't make the goblin's bride immortal as him
*y he didn't make his friend & his sister remembered him
*y he insists till the end to torture & punish him for something wasn't his fault
ommo that's really bothered me alot
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Goblin. Goblin. Goblin. Everyones known drama Goblin. Bet there is no person who has not heard that title. Grew my curiosity as well, began it, and couldnt really see what people would brag about this drama so much. So i thought to myself its just me. The romance was a bit weird to me at first the age gap would make me kinda uncomfortable since Ji Eun Tak would act a bit childish even tho she was a 19 year old woman. She was so demanding and clingy and the way she would talk annoyed me a lot. And as a person who doesnt enjoy comedy dramas the first episodes were i guess i should say, boring. I found myself skipping scenes a lot . Yet i didnt drop it. Thankfully. Even tho i thought about it a lot. When the story began getting explained and when things finally got more serious i realised why people love this drama. Its way more deep than it seems in the first approximentally 8-9 episodes. And it turned out that even the funny awkward moments this couple went through, had a very huge impact on them once seperated. The music is obviously the best and it only makes things more emotional just how it should. The ending was kinda sad to me because Goblin doesnt age and hes still immortal which means hes gonna witness Eun Taks death again and again and if she actually has 4 lives there will be a moment where she wont be able to be born again and that is one hella sad thought i just had. I am happy i didnt drop it even tho I'll definitely never watch it again. It was a nice story considering I love historical dramas. If there weren't that many unnecessary scenes I would have had a better opinion on this drama. Was this review helpful to you?
Personally, I was expecting to fall in love with this drama but that sadly didn't happen.
The production, score, and acting were SO well done and the backstory in the first episode made me very excited to watch this drama. But, I could not get behind the main couple. Firstly, the age gap b/w the ML + FL was so vast that it made it hard to believe their relationship would ever work. I felt like the FL lacked most appealing qualities - since she was young for most of the drama, she came off as very whiny + immature which was a weird contrast w/ the ML who is much older than her (not to say he was incredibly mature, but there's def a difference in how the FL + ML handle situations). I found the chemistry lacking and honestly just didn't care about their story line once I reached episode 8 (as far as the relationship goes; however, the background of the life of the ML and the lore was interesting). The secondary couple was MUCH more interesting and I really focused on their parts - the chemistry was there and it was much more believable that they would be together. I must say, the relationship between the two male leads was SO good - well acted + the friendship was incredible. Don't recommend beyond watching it for than the production.Was this review helpful to you?
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This was my first introduction to Gong Yoo and I can easily understand why he's so loved. He's gorgeous, emotive, and captivating in his scenes. This series easily had one of the strongest openings I've ever watched. The first few episodes hooked me in with its OST, masterful cinematography, special effects, and script. I loved the backstory and how it explained the Goblin's origin in a way that made me think of old bedtime stories, or even a Guillermo del Toro opener. I was curious and enamored by Goblin right away.
The show isn't perfect. I wouldn't say it's "over-hyped" like some of the other reviews say, but I do feel like the show had some issues that even made me skip through a bit with the last couple of episodes.
The pacing was a huge issue. It became very obvious by episode 7 or 8 that the show lacked its main antagonist. That could have easily been remedied by introducing the evil spirit a lot sooner (and with less Halloween-y makeup) and less meandering with the "will she or won't she" pull the sword out. I also had an issue with the age gap. I had the same issue in My Roommate is a Gumiho. Why must the writers use a minor to captivate the heart of our 900+year-old protagonist? Ick, guys. Even making her college-age at their intro would have been a whole lot better (maybe mid-20s?). Her maturity level and the school uniform constantly gave me the creeps whenever he looked at her in a romantic way (although, I'll give the series credit that they waited until she was technically legal until he made any physical move on her...but still, ick! 900 vs just-legal. What is this, a Pornhub storyline?)
I was able to suspend disbelief a little bit ONLY because I knew the RL actress was actually 26 (to Gong's 38 - which is still a bit much, but still totally acceptable and not 19yr old vs 900+).
Kim Byung Chul bothered me a lot. His character, Park Joong Hun, was ultra campy in both appearance and behavior as an evil spirit. I assumed it was due to poor writing (which came as a surprise because the writing was excellent up until then). He was a lot more sinister in his introduction as he whispers into the king's ear. He seemed formidable and insidious.
I loved the bromance and the humor that the show inserted to give moments levity. I didn't really like the Cinderella syndrome our FL had with her constant need to summon Goblin to solve her problems instead of fight back and out of her own dilemmas (even though it was always fun watching him come to her rescue or show up disoriented and caught off guard).
The ending was bittersweet for me with respect to Goblin's fate, but knowing he's no longer existing purely because of his punishment tells me he'll leave with her once she's lived through her 4th life, so in that respect it was beautifully written.
Despite its issues, I was sad to finish the show. I'm having a hard time finding something else to watch that matches even close.
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Once in a very long while, the stars align to create truly transcendent art on screen. "Goblin" is an example of this, as the maturation of talented writer Kim Eun-Sook blends with nuanced directing, breathtaking cinematography and the formidable acting skills of Gong Yoo and the rest of the stellar cast.
This is great art and great television, regardless of the country of origin. That is not to minimize the South Korean expertise that created it, but simply to avoid the sometimes- backhanded compliment of "great...for a KDrama." It's just great TV, full stop.
I've watched KDramas for about a decade, and this one is the best I've seen. Highly recommended, not just for drama fans, but for all fans of quality cinematic art around the world.
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I was in their corner...until the end.
The first 15 episodes were amazing. The love interests were so good and the actors had fantastic chemistry, the plot was a bit of a rollercoaster, but this is what you sign up for in a lot of dramas--- loved it. And then we get the final episode and that's when I had enough of the rollercoaster ? It was too much back-and-forth between "they're dead!" and "no they're alive!" Or "they live happily ever after!" and "no they don't!" My emotions were being jerked around so hard that when it was over, I felt like I had whiplash. And not in a good way, because some shows can totally pull it off!!I loved the story, the content, the actors, and even some of the rollercoasters. But the end sort of made me regret watching all the other 15 episodes. ?
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If this were 100% less pedo it would be a 10.
This drama gets MASSIVELY great reviews and for good reason, it's incredibly well done with a compelling story and great acting. It is, however, at its core a story about a super old dude in love with a minor at various stages of her life. In some of those stages she's for sure an adult...but in most of them she's a minor. I'm gonna be honest, I found it super hard to enjoy the really fun story this show depicts because I was so completely cringed out by the pedo aspects in probably 10/16 of the episodes. If you can get past that part, it's a really great watch.I wouldn't be able to rewatch this ever, because the pedo thing is super icky and I think I can only make myself overlook it the one time.
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Surrealism at its best!
If this drama worth for something it's for its surrealism.The plot was weak, the characters inconsistent, the FL had a completely childish behavior, the Goblin's character is weak and immature and the end was horrible as the Goblin didn't manage to get what he wished for.
The clever trick of this drama is that we watch the story from the Goblin's point of view though the actual protagonist and the character that leads the plot is the Reaper.
Anyway...
The plot is inconsistent and boring but interaction between the actors who were improvising and had fun while they were filming ( probably due to the lack of a solid script!! lol ) along with the cinematography and the music make an unbeatable combination.
It is the kind of series that you would expect to see if Pedro Almodovar , Guillermo Del Toro and Tim Burton joined their powers to make a festive ( Christmas or similar ) series.
9,5 out of 10 from me for the surrealism and fun factor.
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The last episode
This Kdrama is good, sorta, I just feel like some parts were unnecessary. For a quick example, why did the main character have to die just to be reborn looking exactly the same? it did not really change the story, in my opinion. I feel like they just had an extra 30 min for the last episode, and did not know what to add, so they just threw that idea. Also, the reaper and sunny relationship was lowkey annoying to watch. it felt endless to me.This k drama did make me shed a tear when Eun Tak pulled out the sword from Kim Shin if I have to be honest, and the cinematography was very visually pleasing
The song slaps though, I still listen to it,
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Honestly... I went back and forth about whether or not I should actually watch this drama but I kept seeing it's name mentioned in articles related to Asian dramas or list of dramas to watch or something near to that, so I thought... let's give it a shot and see what happens.
Let me tell you, this show had me on the edge of my seat for the two days I took to watch it, Now I'm sorry I didn't watch it months ago when I first saw it. The plot, the actors, the settings, the music... everything was on point. I started crying and laughing from as early as episode one. That right there is a good indication of whether or not a drama will be good. If it can have you in tears within the first hour that more than says something.
I see and hear people complaining about the age gap between the male and female leads and I really don't see anything wrong with it. Maybe it's because I live in the west where most persons are considered to be adults by age 18. At the start of the series the female lead is 19 and in my country I had friends who were married at that age. In the drama nothing serious happened until the female lead was 20, which is the age of an adult in South Korea and the kisses didn't get steamy and heavy until she was a lot older.
All in all this drama is a must watch. You won't regret it.
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