Pro's: beautiful sceneries, beautiful house, first episodes were interesting
Con's: romance was borderline pedophilia (19 years old high school girl with a 900 year old 40s looking man! Whoever ships this... think again ;)), extended running time for each episode made every episode drag on and on, lost steam after the first 3/4 episodes
I'd say a 6.5 maybe 7 (perhaps if I ever watch that last episode :D)
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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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A standard Romcom
This drama was one on my watchlist for a long period of time, exactly 3 years. If I wasn't a fan of Gong Yoo , I wouldn't even watch this. TBH, it is a pretty satisfying Romcom if you compare with the others in Kdrama world. Being a fan of Kdrama romcoms means you have signed an agreement to comply with the lovey-dovey cringy cliche romance . If you can compromise that , this would be a fun watch. If you want to watch a drama on a serious note, still watch this, cause there aren't many realistic dramas out here.Was this review helpful to you?
The antagonist that started to be introduced near the middle of the drama was something that REALLY intrigued me, especially given the parallel storylines — but it felt like the character and tension was never really explored fully. It was solved quickly and seemed to be used more as a plot device for separating the main couple.
Speaking of the main couple — I don't think I was ever fully on board with them. The relationship always felt more familial, and age gap aside, I just didn't feel any chemistry between them. I also didn't like the secondary ship as much because the relationship just seemed to lack any content and connection aside from them being fated. Overall the arcs for both ships felt repetitive.
There are a few things that I appreciate about the ending. but other things that I don't like. I'm also a time-skip-hater, but for some reason, I didn't dislike it as much in Goblin, but I'm not sure if it has to do with me not being emotionally invested at all or if it felt more in line with the way the plot was going.
(Full disclosure: I've got some basic philosophical differences with the themes of this show, so that might have to do with me not clicking with it — more specifically, it's the idea of romantic destiny that I kind of scoff at.)
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This review may contain spoilers
Reaper x Sunny and the bromance overshadowed the actual plot of this story.
Full disclosure: I watched this drama because I needed to see more of Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na in leading roles after watching (and loving!) Touch Your Heart. I was always hesitant to watch Goblin because I've heard just how heartbreaking it was. I came in fully prepared knowing that I would cry my eyes out.And I did... but not for the main couple. I cried for the bromance of Goblin and Reaper. I cried for the romance between Reaper and Sunny. I even cried for the souls that Reaper led to the afterlife! But, I did not cry for Goblin and his bride and even skipped some of their scenes. The main reason for that was because I could NOT relate at all with the female lead. She acted like such a child for most of the drama... which is understandable since her character was a nineteen-year-old high-schooler!!
My biggest gripe was that there was such a big difference in station between the male lead Kim Shin and the female lead Eun Tak. The ML was a powerful figure even in present-day; he literally can use magic, owns a mansion, has many people doing his bidding, and is incredibly rich. He also looks like he's in his mid-30s (no shade against Gong Yoo, just stating facts). Meanwhile, the FL was a poor, penniless high-schooler. She's 19 for most of the drama. There was SUCH an imbalance of power - in their experiences, because he's so much older than she, and in their social statuses as well. It was very disconcerting to see a romantic relationship develop between them.
On the flip side, the bromance between Goblin and Reaper was great. Their interactions with each other were one of my favourites to see. The reveal later on in the drama broke my heart.
What outshined everything was Reaper and Sunny's relationship. You knew from the moment they met that they were doomed in this lifetime. But the WHY was hidden until later and the reveal, again, was heartbreaking. But they pushed through, they accepted their fates... and they had their happy ending.
So, to summarize:
Story: It was ok. I did not care for the female lead and even the main plot of Goblin needing his bride to pull the sword from his chest was overshadowed later on by Reaper's past.
Acting/Cast: Everyone played their parts well. As much as I disliked the female lead, Go Eun did a great job playing a high schooler in my opinion. My favourite was Dong Wook. He had me laughing with his hilarious outbursts and made me cry for his conversations with the souls and his expressive eyes.
Music: They didn't have a lot of variety. The same music was played over and over again for the dramatic scenes. It wasn't my taste either.
Rewatch Value: I wouldn't watch this drama in full. Can I just get a cut of the Reaper/Sunny moments and the bromances? Lol.
Overall: An OK drama. If they had aged up the female lead, or aged down the male lead, then this drama wouldn't feel so... icky in some parts. Watch it for Reaper/Sunny, and then watch Touch Your Heart afterwards!
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This review may contain spoilers
Overrated...
Seeing how Goblin is considered to be one of the most popular K-dramas of all time, being the most popular drama on MDL, I had to watch it. I wonder why it's so popular since though it is good, it isn't that good. There's plenty of K-dramas that are much better than Goblin with mainstream appeal like Crash Landing On You. I think its popularity can be attributed to the age and social class difference between its ML and FL. A wealthy older man with a poor, young student. Since its a bit taboo, the drama gets controversy which gets eyeballs to this drama. It also helps serve as wish fulfillment for older men who lust after young women and young women who dream of an older man taking care of them, akin to Lolita.Anyhow, I thought that this Kdrama was addicting and engaging though I wouldn't say that it grabbed me like Crash Landing On You. The story didn't make much sense at times and there are moments that made me scratch my head, but it's an interesting melodrama that kept my attention nevertheless. That is until the last several episodes, which were melodramatic, nonsensical and boring unfortunately.
I didn't care for the main couple (Goblin and Ji Eun Tak) to be honest. Not because of the age/class difference but rather because their story was quite boring. I prefer the relationship of the second leads (Reaper and Sunny), which was charming. Whenever there are scenes with the first leads, I would get restless and anxious for them to be over so that I could get Goblin and Grim Reaper scenes or Grim Reaper and Sunny scenes. I love the bromance between Grim Reaper and Goblin! To be honest, I ship them. I would have preferred that they got together instead. That would have made a better, far more interesting drama in my opinion.
On a side note, it's impressive that Gong Yoo starred in the one of the most popular K-drama, Goblin, and also one of the most popular Korean films, Train to Busan.
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Not for me..
I started to watch this k-drama because of the hype I saw everywere but I found it kinda boring, at some point I didn't feel interested in the whole story.It's true that the ost is really beautiful, but I thin this k-drama is just not for me, it's surprisingly beacuse it's something I would like, I don't know what happen.
Maybe sometime I could try again and watched but for now I don't think so, I dropped it in episode 5.
(I was watching it with a friend and we both fall asleep ?)
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The writing could have been so much better, it`s a story about grim reapers, ghosts, goblins, and gods who live unnoticed by normal humans. Many of the side stories were good, but it seemed like the writers put so little effort into the main story compared to the side stories and how much effort it was put into the cinematography. I think the romance between the main couple was good, it didn`t care about the age difference it`s just that it was boring to watch compared to the secondary couple.
Conclusion; I think this drama is overrated and could`ve been so much better it had great actors, cinematography, and music but the story just dragged the drama so much down. It`s not a terrible drama I have watched a lot worse but it`s not a great drama either.
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story:
plot was original and i like the whole concept of this goblin and grim reaper + cinematography was amazing ngl. However. the pacing was too slow for my liking. One scene of Eun Tak looking at the leaves can take about 3 minutes and the age gap between the leads was disturbing (idk abt the rest but def was disturbing to me). Halfway through the drama, i just skipped through the love line of the main leads because it was lengthy and boring and instead, was more interested in the second lead love line - which indeed was loved by many more and they even got their own drama afterwards. Overall, concept is good and unique, but pacing was too slow and there were many small problems in between.
cast: needless to say, cast was amazing in acting. I especially liked SungJae's and Dongwook's acting.
Music: gotta give credit to the music, very suited for the drama and vibes haha
Overall, something i wouldnt want to rewatch again because its too slow and boring for my liking.
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A Drama Which Certainly Doesn’t Disappear From Your Mind With The First Snow...
When skimming over reviews on this website for drama recommendations , I’m sure that most fellow drama watchers can agree that you should take what “ critics” sometimes say with a pinch of salt, especially when a drama gets 10/10 on all categories. Of course, it’s human nature that our tastes differ from one another. I’m sure most drama watchers have been in my shoes, where someone will blatantly say to you that “ this drama, is the best one in the world” , and when you come to watch it via their recommendations, you can’t get even get through the first ten minutes of it without internally screaming at the screen.Goblin is no exception . I remember the first time watching Goblin and as one of my first few Korean dramas , I was undeniably a biased fan. I denied a lot of evident faults which has arisen to my attention in the drama, because I had been enchanted from episode one by the show’s cinematography. ( As a fan of Ghibli Movies, the drama reminded me a lot of the detail behind characters and setting put into some of my personal favourites ) . For a long time, I remember maintaining this biased opinion upon Goblin , until, I gained a new perspective from a friend who had never watched Goblin ( though she had seen a lot of Korean dramas before) , and out of curiosity, I asked her to give her own honest feedback after watching it.
Her own thoughts on the drama ? She hated it with the passion. It surprised me a lot when she gave me her honest feedback on the show. We’d nearly always seen eye to eye on movies, shows and books, so, it was surprising that her opinion differed so greatly from my own. Out of curiosity, I asked her to elaborate on what annoyed her about it. Her list was certainly endless, but, it did help to bring to mind even at the time, the classic
Marmite slogan ; you either love it, or you hate it, and, Goblin is truly one of the two for drama fans .
I’ll be honest in saying that my thoughts on the show didn’t magically change overnight, however, my friend’s criticisms did make me rethink a lot about my biased views on the drama. As a consequence, I decided to rewatch it, and it was only through watching again without rose-tinted glasses, that I began to understand my original thoughts that I had buried down in place of my love for the drama, after watching the show again .
First off, I will agree with nearly all of the reviews, that Goblin is a fairly original drama . The blockbuster hit across Korea and overseas, does present a fascinating combination of Korean mythology in a modern day setting with intriguing characters, an unforgettable OST and of course beautiful backdrop settings as well. So, where can we find any faults, with it then?
First off, the episode lengths between 70-80 minutes. Of course, in comparison to some dramas, Goblin is about average for a Korean TV programme. It did come to my attention , however, that in a lot of drama reviews, few critics have actually bothered to mention simply slow- paced some episodes became when a “ short” storyline was paced for nearly three hours, rather than finished in one completed episode in order to progress the storyline . Arguably, the drama did use some of this time to establish some key techniques , not least introducing our protagonists and foreshadowing later events as well. On the other hand, it still remains prominent exactly how key writer Eun Sook and of course the cast, were able to truly establish our characters in this seemingly endless amount of hours as well.
Gong Yoo’s performance as Kim Shin, was fairly impressive. I’ll be honest in saying, Gong Yoo was not notably memorable in comparison to other performances that I’ve seen by actors, however, he still portrayed his role with a level of emotional appeal for viewers. Portraying a former general trapped in a cursed immortal body, I’m sure you can imagine the amount of raw appeal and questions of philosophy which were arisen by thoughts of immortality and morality within the show. On the other hand, it did come to my obvious attention watching the drama again ( and a shared criticism by my friend) , that Eun Sook had left out a lot of realistic qualities and characterisation techniques for Kim Shin. This is because Eun Sook had written not suggested any truly profound psychological or pondering qualities towards a man who has lived for nearly a millennium with “ no love interests”. Whilst I appreciate the romantic element of ‘ first love’ in the drama and of course concepts of chastity in Korean culture, it was beyond ridiculous for Eun Sook to even mildly hint that an adult man who had lived for centuries , had never had a one night stand nor interests in any woman before Eun Tak.
By far, Eun Sook did give Ji Eun Tak some story writing justice . This was explored brilliantly by Kim Go Eun taking upon a younger, yet arguably a more complex portrayal of an adolescent at the time and Eun Sook making
Eun Tak a more relatable and empathic character to audiences than Kim Shin . Sadly, this didn’t entirely mean that she was a more ‘ fleshed - out’ protagonist either. Whilst it was certainly a lot more believable upon Eun Tak’s passing fancies for Kim Shin and her old classmate, Eun Sook seemed to be focused a little too much upon Eun Tak as a ‘ younger schoolgirl ‘ for a major proportion of the drama, highlighting an unrealistic correlation between her naivety against her age, intelligence and circumstances shown within the show.
As a consequence, this does raise a lot of issues with the age difference between an emotionally vulnerable high schooler and an adult man as well. Am I being biased and arguing it would have been different if Kim Shin had been given to a “ young and fresher” actor like Sung Jae instead? No. The age gap is not actually the main problem, it seems. Whilst the issue of gaps certainly raised an eyebrow for me early on within the show, I can’t deny that the setup between the two characters does explore a maturation of different love forms between the two leads from friends to near family to a romantic setting in a somewhat gradual development for audiences. Where my criticism lies is certainly within the factor that neither leads are truly explored because of this age gap, as being realistic love interests for one another. There were no explorations of emotional trials, similar tastes or expanding their feelings realistically to one another at all within the show, even in the apparent emotional conclusion of the final episode.
Then of course aside from our main leads, there’s also the portrayals of the Grim Reaper (Dong Wook) , Sunny (Yoo In-Na ) and spoilt Chaebol heir Yoo Deok Hwa (Yook Sung Jae). With regards to his role as the Reaper , Dong Wook interestingly said in an interview once, his embarrassment at not living down his role in the show and it’s easy to see why . Dong Wook’s portrayal from the seemingly callous and sardonic figure to a soft-hearted soul, added to some more touching and humorous moments in a show centralised upon romance. Aside from his comically heart -driven romance with Sunny, the Reaper’s relationship with the Goblin was portrayed in brilliant fraternal-style for audiences which will easily make you laugh and your heart breaking within later scenes in the show. Although there was some out -of -place lines and cheesy acting moments, Eun Sook did undeniably do Dong Wook justice in this role, however, in a similar manner to Shin and Eun Tak, there was a lot of left out realism within the Reaper, especially psychologically.
It’s undeniable that Sunny and the Reaper’s relationship had a level of comical chemistry between essentially a naive man with lacking social interactions , and a social butterfly each seeking their own comfort within one another’s company. Yoo In-Na did give a genuine sense of authenticity within her portrayal as a healthy sister figure for Eun Tak as a character, something which thankfully didn’t drive downwards into the typical cliche of female animosity, however, in a slightly more honest manner, Yoo In-Na nor Eun Sook, truly add anything
jovially new to the cliche female flirt role of Sunny. Whilst she did play her role intriguingly later on within the show, for a high percentage of the drama, she was a perfect example of a ‘ stock female lead’; flirtatious , comical and a perfect plot device, but certainly not a sincere human being with with any exposure in flashbacks , relationships prior to any of the other protagonists or expressions of any sincere emotions.
In a similar manner whilst Yook Sung Jae doesn’t shine out as much as Go Eun or Dong Wook, his performance was still surprisingly well retained as the stereotypical “ spoilt heir” who shows a deeper side to his personality during the course of the show. My biggest complaint with Eun Sook’s characterisation of Deok Hwa was that there was a lot of brimmed potential with Sung Jae ‘s portrayal. Rather than giving Sung Jae any justice in a similar manner to In-Na, Sung Jae is left as the sort of stock ‘ clown character ‘ of the drama. What makes this even more ironic is that Eun Sook suggested later in the show a more complex and intriguing quality to Deok Hwa, which was unsurprisingly disregarded later that episode and once he had been of use to this particular storyline, Deok Hwa was nearly entirely disregarded as a character by the ending of episode 16.
In addition to this portrayal of characters and questionable storyline , there’s the other slightly more trivial complaint of excessive product placement. Whilst this doesn’t entirely take away from the originality of the plot, seeing a Subway or a placement for Paul’s Boutique in the middle of a scene which could have been used for original character progression and storyline considering Eun Sook’s missed links, did irk me a bit personally. Critically, I think it’s fair to say that I can only give you my personal thoughts on the drama. Goblin is one of those shows which you you sort of have to watch yourself to work out whether you love it or hate it. There will be some people who have entirely disagreed with everything that I’ve said in this review, and arguably some who have felt the same as well, and that, is perfectly entitled either way . Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, Goblin has strengths and faults for everyone, but it’s certainly a show you shouldn’t miss out upon as well.
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