This review may contain spoilers
If you liked “Faith (the Doctor),” then you will really enjoy this drama.
From the very start, I noticed many similarities between the two.The female leads (FL) in both dramas have a similar acting style, but I found this FL more credible and less annoying. Yes, they pull their hair in both, but it only happens once in this drama. They share the same facial expressions and exhibit a childish, clueless demeanor. However, since she portrays a 19-year-old and then a 29-year-old here, it feels more acceptable to see her naive and innocent attitude. In contrast, in "Faith," she was around 30 but acted like a teenager throughout, which felt ridiculous.
The male lead (ML) in this drama is 12 years older than the FL in real life, whereas in "Faith," the FL was older than the ML by 10 years. I did not mind. Both ML are really great actors.
There are no kisses and barely any hugs in this drama, just like "Faith."
Both endings are similar, but this drama took the time to explain the FL's reappearance. But same “few minutes” to close the dramas. There's the same endless staring at each other and a lack of hugs. I thought this ending was a tiny bit better because we truly see the characters cry. It wasn’t just a single tear from the FL and misty eyes from the ML; this time, the emotions felt genuine.
"Faith" aired in 2012, while "Guardian" came out in 2016.
I wonder if both actresses, who were of similar ages, went to the same school or had the same teachers, which might explain their similar acting styles. In "Guardian," the FL has more credibility, possibly because she physically appears to be 19.
That said, I enjoyed the drama up to episode 8. After that, it started to feel a bit redundant. Both leads fall in love but are reluctant to admit it. I actually found the other couple more intriguing and interesting somehow.
I appreciate K-dramas for their openness to supernatural themes. However, I’m not pleased with the lack of physical affection like hugs and kisses; it feels too teenage-like to me.
I did find many humorous scenes that I enjoyed, and I loved the bromance, which I believe is the highlight of this drama.
It’s not a high-budget production. Interestingly, I was in the same city when they filmed the Quebec City scenes. You will not find CGI special effects. In fact they filmed in 5 places: a field (battle), outside a palace (slaughter), inside a castle (old bricks walls), s-korean street and Quebec city (the crew enjoyed the city a lit as I saw many different places lol). All in all it was well done.
In conclusion, it’s a nice romantic supernatural drama with a somewhat happy ending for all, although it’s not the usual conclusion one might expect.
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This review may contain spoilers
It's necessary viewing for a well-rounded K Drama lover
I waited a long time to watch Goblin, for all the reasons people take issue with it. But I finally decided I just needed to jump in and find out what makes it so beloved, despite obvious foibles. I'll mainly address the age gap and why it eventually didn't bother me. As the story unfolded, the way it was reinforced that she wouldn't even have been born if it weren't for him, and that she was born expressly for him actually started to make it feel like she was less of a human and more mythical too. Hence, the age difference ceased to be a problem for me, especially as the series progresses. I'm sure I wouldn't have experienced that phenomenon if it hadn't been a fantasy series, but that's just what happened. Anyway, I was able to overlook things that would normally annoy me and because the cast was so good, I didn't mind the draggy pace. It also felt so novel and unique at times and like it was it's own thing, not trying to copy anything else. I know there were some tropes, but it's hard to explain why it just felt magically original; It was probably the cast and the writing.Was this review helpful to you?
It gets there eventually
The good:There are many good moments littered throughout the series. Humour, sadness, interesting events.
It was nice to see Quebec City, a place I’ve been to many times, be featured so prominently. The old town is really a magical place in all seasons.
The casting was good. It did take me a little time to warm up to the ML but he won me over in the end.
Visual effects were definitely good enough. No real complaints. Some of the more practical effects were good - not everything has to be CGI.
The bad:
The real let down for me is the soundtrack. I am not usually so conscious of the soundtrack in a show. I’m sure it’s having its intended effect but it’s felt rather than noticed. However some of the songs repeated throughout the show were grating.
It was hard getting past how much of an unpleasant person our ML was for the whole first half of the show. You have to be messed up after that life but that’s a long time to have matured but seemingly not do it. It somewhat saves the age difference issue since ML and FL both acted like children together.
The pacing in the middle section was pretty slow for me.
Overall I did enjoy it and would recommend it to others who like supernatural stories.
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Really Good But Not The Best
Certainly deserved my watch as it hits a LOT of the major tropes that I love-- supernatural, folklore, romance, grim reapers, destiny, etc+That being said, compared to others in the same genre, I don't think it comes out on top as much as some others seem to think.
I know this is in a lot of peoples all time favs, I had a few issues with it. Still great though. Watchable alone for the relationship between the ML and Grim Reaper. They were fantastic acting along side each other. Would watch again only for them. Would watch a whole spin off of only them.
FL is a little too good at playing a bratty teenager to the point she becomes unlikable for a large portion of the show. The age difference (of the characters) as well reads a little strangely no matter how you look at it.
Acting strength was bang on for this show though. Everyone was great. And I give it major credit where credit is due that the last minute plot twist took me hard off guard.
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Painfully beautiful. I still hear “Stay With Me” in my head.
I don’t think any drama will ever top Goblin in terms of impact. It’s been years and people are still referencing it—ads, parodies, new dramas, literally everyone’s trying to recreate that vibe. The rain, the red scarf, the walk in slow motion… iconic. Every single scene felt cinematic without even trying. The chemistry, the humor, the pain, the quiet moments that just sit with you—it all just worked.There’s something about Goblin that makes it more than a fantasy romance. It feels like a memory, something you lived through rather than watched. It’s emotional, weirdly comforting, and somehow gets sadder the older you get. I swear, no matter how many new dramas come out, nothing has that same magic. 2016 K-drama era was unbeatable—and Goblin is still the standard.
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This review may contain spoilers
Bromance! Romance-meh
I watched this after seeing other newer dramas with the male leads in it, so that influenced my feelings a bit. I do want to mention though, that smart phones aside, this did not feel "dated", considering it was 7 or so years old.Review:
Firstly; the bromance is WAY more interesting than the romance & the male lead (s) interaction with each other are the most interesting parts. I found the female lead's character annoying & yeah, like everyone has mentioned; her being in high school at the start & also at the end puts a damper on how you feel about the main couple. They really tried hard not to cross inappropriate lines, but still, it is very uncomfortable .
This fun overlooked fact gets an honorable mention for being annoying :
it was ALWAYS fall in Canada- like, could the Goblin control that ???
The frequent Product placement was pretty obvious.
***Heavy Spoilers are necessary to explain my low rating.
1) I hated how the grim reaper's storyline went. OK he gets a happy ending, but it was too little too late for me.
2) I Loathe time skips and this drama has a 9 year one near the end. I get why they put it in, but I hated it & wished it had happened around Ep. 4
3) I never really connected /understood how the female lead was a part of the Goblin's past & his attraction to her was inexplicable to me.
4) we get a happy ending once the Goblin came back from the in-between (or whatever that was), But WHY is he still a Goblin ???? He's still immortal, his lover is not! What is his purpose ?
5) They overused Crush's lovely song
6) they give us a happy ending, but spoil it by throwing in the proverbial "monkey wrench" of putting the lead couples through yet more, MORE pain AND separation before they finally let us have the final, final happy ending. It's like pouring gravy on icecream [make up your mind, one, but not both!!] So these things, added to the other misc. annoying bits , just soured the ending feeling.
rewatch; no- and it kinda breaks my heart to say it
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This review may contain spoilers
An Epic Premise, a Forgettable Romance
The concept of Goblin is undeniably fun. You have a goblin who has lived for over 900 years and cannot die, a grim reaper burdened with eternal punishment for his past sins, and a "goblin's bride" who can see ghosts and seems to have outlived the fate originally written for her. On paper, it's a fascinating setup filled with mystery, fantasy, and emotional potential. The show deserves credit for creating such unique characters and an intriguing world.Unfortunately, after the first few episodes, the story started to lose its momentum for me.
The female lead accidentally summons the goblin and gets pulled into his life. She keeps summoning him, discovers his powers, and that's where I expected the story to really take off. Instead, it slows down considerably. A lot of the plot revolves around her living with the male lead, which raised a bigger question for me: why does everyone act like that's completely normal?
What disappointed me most was the lack of a strong central conflict. It often felt like nothing particularly important was happening. Episode after episode was filled with everyday interactions, and while some viewers may enjoy this approach, I found myself getting increasingly bored.
The goblin himself felt like a missed opportunity. Here's a man who has lived for almost a thousand years, possesses immense power, and has witnessed centuries of history. Yet the story rarely explores any of that in a meaningful way. Instead, his character seems to revolve almost entirely around falling in love with a teenager. For someone with such an epic backstory, it felt like an incredible waste of a potentially fascinating character.
As for the romance, I simply couldn't buy the chemistry between the goblin and his bride. I tried, but the age gap was far too visible for me to see them as a convincing romantic pair. Every romantic scene reminded me of the imbalance rather than making me root for them. Ironically, the second lead couple ended up carrying the romance aspect of the show for me. Their story had much stronger chemistry, and the longing, heartbreak, and connection from their shared past felt far more emotionally compelling than the main romance.
That's ultimately how I felt while watching the drama. I didn't go into it intending to be critical, and I can absolutely see why so many people love it. The cinematography, soundtrack, and fantasy elements are all impressive. But these issues stood out too much for me to ignore. Considering how popular *Goblin* is, I kept waiting for it to click with me and it never quite did.
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2. The plot could be OK if she (FL) would not be so pushy toward the Goblin. God girl, you have to be "hard to get"!!!
3. She just all of the sudden declare herself as a Goblin bride. Self-respect is missing.
4. The good thing about this is Sunny and Grim reaper relationship and probably just because of the actors who work together perfectly.
The conclusion is OVERRATED.
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Have you ever cried because of a movie/drama? Well I promise you that after watching this drama you will have many mixed emotions through just one episode.
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This review may contain spoilers
like other drama.
nothing special.oh there is, in other ddrama the villain end up in jail, in here they live a happy life more happy than the goblin withhout worry and the goblin will help if they meet trouble.
the only good thing about this is the actor/actress, the places and music...as for the story pretty much the same like other k-drama with the villain actually always near ml, the villain forgiven, the villain not regret what they have done, a dark human nature unnfulfilled without resentment just because from all the bad thing there is a little goood thing. the 1st couple cannot have a normal relationship even after all the trouble but the 2nd couple can have relationship with better enviroment and clear mind like they have not done a thing wrong just like that.
at the end this show is like watching top moment in social media, they are addicting because cute/the music good/the dances good/what the person doing interesting but there is no story in it, if there is! it is just a story to make the moment connectng in natural way.
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1st Episode
I feel so confused right now, I just finished the first episode and I really enjoyed the plot and the characters of Ripper and Goblin a lot. Even the visual effects too, BUT and here comes the big but, I didn’t like the almost 20 years age gap between the main couple, it’s so cringe. During the whole episode I was waiting for a time skip or something where we would have an older female lead actress, don’t get me wrong, I really like all the actors, but Kim Go Eun is too young for Goong Yoo (who I'm really fond of), they should have had more of a father-daughter relationship, not a romantic one (very uncomfortable to watch) in my point of view. I still don’t know if I'll continue watching it, I thought it was important to bring this up beforehand, so you can decide, otherwise you would feel as frustrated as I do.Was this review helpful to you?
