Overrated
I feel compelled to write a review for Goblin because I'm finding all the perfect 10s to be misleading and, if I can be honest, completely confounding. Let me first say the best thing about Goblin is the acting. The cast is fantastic. The worst is the age gap. I know most people talk about the age of the actors; however, the issue to those of us that have a problem with the age isn't the actors, it's the characters. The lead female character is a 19 year old girl. The lead male (taking out the fantasy of his living 938 years) is a grown man who appears almost 40. Personally, I find that the Korean's have been dancing too close to the line in the young girls with adult men in dramas for at least a year now and I'm not a fan. They're more daddy issue characters.There are many times when the relationship between the 2 leads are most like Father & daughter. She speaks to him like a father figure. And he speaks to her as a child. It's off putting when it becomes clear that he has fallen for this high school girl. Part of me believes the part of Kim Shin (the Goblin) was written for a younger man. Considering the life expectancy of the period and his postion, in his late 30s he should have had a wife (and concubines I would guess) and children. I think the character should have been at least 10 years younger (again the 900 years undead aside). The romance of the leads just did not work for me on any level. Conversely, the romance between the supports is a completely different story. It was endearing and very moving. I rooted for them.
The writing was inconsistent. It was great in some parts and just passable in others. Toward the end it almost turned into melodramatic schlock. Goblin works best as a bromance. The scenes between Goblin, Reaper(s), and the male humans were precious golden nuggets to hold onto until the next time 2 or 3 of them were in a scene together. Had the writers held on to that chemistry and nourished it, Goblin would have been much better.
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Loved how by every episode started differently from the previous one and kind of tells you lit a bit more of the story. The story it self is surprisingly good, there are no heroes, everyone has their fouls. I guess every one make mistakes and is human... I think that is why I liked it
Won Bin is so good playing a good hearten jerk love it, he really is good and I had the feeling that no one else could have played the main character. Suzy acting improved but still sucks for me... sorry. I just can't believe in a word she says, it's like the main worry is making her pretty from every angle. All of the people and and side stories were fun to watch, the older actor were great. Side note Haru, Ji Tae and the Killer were kind of annoying.
Soundtrack was great it has that KBS feeling a good mix between OST and foreigner music that suited the drama very well, thank you for that. Suzy should really stick to singing, just saying....
Over all it was a good drama, maybe a little too long for the the kind of story they were trying to tell but still wasn't a a waist of time so I recommend even if you have seen more dramas then you can count.
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This drama now holds a special place in my heart! It may even be my new #1 fav drama, especially since it's in the supernatural/fantasy/romance genre, which is my fav! The drama gave me great feelings, especially from the characters (and I must say that this drama has the BEST freaking bromance ever!!!). I'd watch BTS of Goblin with Lee Dong Wook and Gong Yoo and they were just an amazing pair. Adding Sung Jae to the mix made it even better. Hahahaha xD The 3 were a riot! ???
I laughed and I was happy. I cried and I felt pain. There was never a dull moment watching this drama, each episode better than the previous. I never skipped an episode, nor did I fast forward anything. Everything about this drama was absolutely stunning. ? The plot (which was somewhat heartbreaking yet beautiful), the characters and their personalities, to the amazing cinematography(which look like it took you to a whole new world), even down the the music (OST). ?
I loved the main characters so much. My ships ??~ It's funny cos at one point, I shipped the Goblin and the Reaper! Hahahaha xD Those two kill me!
Kim Go Eun as Ji Eun Tak was so adorable and smart. I loved how enthusiastic her character was. She's been thru so much and she was still able to smile and be optimistically cheerful and always helped people even when she's going thru stuff. She has such a kind soul. Yoo In Na as Sunny was awesome. She was sassy, beautiful and radiant, like the Sun! ^^ Yook Sung Jae as Yoo Deok Hwa made the whole bromance better. Hahahaha xD I love how they'd tease him sometimes and he'd get mad and frustrated. Hahahaha xD His character was a blessing to the drama, not gonna lie.
I loved how all their lives were intertwined with each other and the twist that came with it all.
There were certain things that would happen that you would not expect and you're just like, @#$%! Lol
I loved the beautiful, breathtaking, heartwarming, heartbreaking, sizzling hot chemistry between the couples. Most complain about the age difference. Who gives AF? They're all adults so it doesn't matter. I didn't think about that when I was watching the drama. The chemistry was there and it was just perfect! ???? I was enjoying it too much to care. lol~
The soundtrack is just wonderful to listen to and very catchy. I don't know how they do it but it's just amazing. OMG! Some of the songs gave me feels and not just because of the scenes they'd play it with, but if you actually listen to some of the songs, it resonated something within you. ???
I waited for this drama patiently and with high hopes and I was not disappointed one bit. My expectations were exceeded. ?????
Were there any flaws? Cos if there were I can't think of a single thing At least to me there wasn't any. A perfect 10/10! I commend the writers for doing such an excellent job with this drama!
The rewatch value is EXTREMELY high for me, because best believe I will download every single episode and rewatch it again and I will definitely download the entire soundtrack and listen to it on repeat. Goblin is a must watch~ You will not regret it! :') ? If you do decide to give this drama a shot, I truly hope you enjoy watching! ^^
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This review may contain spoilers
Finally it was the finale! I have been waiting for the finale just for me to see what will really happen although at the back of my mind I knew it already! I would say I have a mixed impressions on the finale and the total drama itself. One thing for sure this drama has captured the hearts of many kdrama viewers. It has the perfect production value, cinematography, writing and character development! The acting of everybody are just excellent! I salute especially Kim Go Eun as Ji-Eun Tak the bride of the Goblin. Her acting is fantastic, controlled and natural. She has matured dramatically from the last time I watched her in Cheese in the Trap. And she is just young and yet she can act incredibly good! Gong Yoo, Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In-ha also did a remarkable acting performance. Let us go to the story. It has one of the most uniquely written story! Every plot made sense! The writer successfully made an attempt to inject many light hearted scenes to balance off the very serious theme of the drama. And this is what that mixed impressions that I am saying. This is very sad story, bittersweet and depressing! Even tough we get a happy ending ( opps possible spoiler here) it is still not a happy ending at all! Because we know that Goblin is an immortal being and after the life of the bride, Goblin stays behind and still feel sad and lonely! He will still be a wanderer alone and it hurts me to think that until when will he be living? But the central theme is the selling point of this drama, that love will see you through beyond the borders of eternity! I just want to say this, and perhaps I belong to the minorities, I cant really see the connections between the lead! I dont see any romance maybe because i see them as siblings perhaps or just an uncle-niece relationship! Blame the age gap of the leads! I just cant seem to connect with them as well.
The music is incredibly amazing! I love how they were put in the drama! It gives the fantasy feel! I like most of them.
Because of its depressing tone I will only do selective rewatching like the bromance scenes of the 2 lead actors!
Overall, this is highly recommended drama. Good acting, story and script! Worth my 16 hours of viewing.
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It was all smooth at the beginning, i really enjoyed it. I thought i would fall for the main leads' relationship, but nope. I fell for the bromance of the Goblin, grim reaper, and deok hwa bromance instead. They're absolutely entertaining and amazing together! Idk maybe it's just me, i don't feel satisfied with the ending. The ending is too contrived and too hasting for me. I was like .... "Wait, what?" "What?" "Uhm okay". But overall, i still like this anyway. Well, not as much as i love Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo since the story is more relatable, rational, and perfectly ended.
The soundtracks are amazing! Altough not all of them are my favourites, but i can say that the soundtracks sound very different with another Korean Dramas. It's, cool, creepy, gloomy, sad, and sometimes a little bit warm. Altough i love most of them, i couldn't say that the lyrics of them are easily to be remembered. I'm so proud of Sungjae's acting! He shows his acting skill just get better and better! And also, i feel so proud of Lee Dong Wook! Thanks to God he's shining brighter with this drama. Since, in my opinion, he had so many dramas before, but i guess not all of them are enjoyable for some kdrama lovers. Altough, i fall for him since his perfomance in "Hotel King". He was so hot in there, bruh! His wing tattoo on his back was my fav part of him to look at! LMAO. And his chemistry with Lee Da Hee felt so real! Since, Hotel King is the second time he played as the main leads together with Lee Da Hee.
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I particularly love Ma Tianyu and his character. He was able to portray it very well.
Awesome OST.
The costumes were excellent as well as the locations.
I am looking forward for the sequel.
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Unfortunately, there were a lot of inconsistencies and unexplained phenomena in the story line, especially toward the end. I was disappointed with the last few episodes; they felt rushed and slapped together last minute. In fact, I think that's what really happened, considering the delays in production. The creators had opportunities to tie together the themes they touched upon and get creative with it, but they completely missed those chances. And talk about overdoing it with the product placement!
All that being said, I still loved it, if not mostly for the awesome and unbearably cute bromance between Gong Yoo and Lee Dong Wook. They had great chemistry together and their dynamic was way more interesting than the actual boy-girl romance, in my opinion. They are two of my favorite actors, so there you go, I'm totally biased! With this bias in mind, I give it a generous 8 out of 10.
I'm secretly kind of glad it was a letdown at the end, because otherwise I'd be feeling those post-drama blues!
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What makes Goblin good is it's featuring. It stars longing looks, teary-eyed longing looks, bromance, ignoring that he is 800 years old, trying to pretend you are not watching this because of the bromance and good looking leads and KES's obligatory three good episodes towards the end that makes you think this is so good. It also stars a very good performance by Lee Dong Wook. I'd like to say the rest of the cast were just as good, but I'd be lying. Gong Yoo is someone, I watch because he is in good movies (The Crucible/Silenced, etc) but not because he gives an actual good performance. He's like a Brad Pitt type in that regard. I was quite surprised by LDW as I find him heavily attractive and have for a long time but I've admitted he's a terrible actor. Suddenly he is Matthew McConaughaying me. The female lead is literally a copy paste of all rom-coms. Especially from this writer.
The intro of this drama is unique and creates what has the potential to be a very good plot, but ultimately this is a meandering slow stream of a journey that I heavily recommend you skip some episodes. Yes, skip from ep 5 to 13 and you'll miss very little. The juicy parts of the plot are thrown aside for a slew of teary-eyed longing looks and cliché romantic scenes that at ep 4, I started to wonder when they were actually going to focus on the juicy premise.
Character wise, the bromance sells this stale plot as personally, the romance between the male and female lead just looks awkward. I should be gushing at romantic scenes but they look as uncomfortable as I do and when Gong Yoo pats her head, he at times feels like her father. The drama has a lot of potential but the writer didn't seem to know what to do with it and I feel like a traitor who deserves to be hanged for saying this, but as a huge lover of bromance, dare I say it, I actually got bored of the bromance. I started tuning in to cast longing looks at Lee Dong Wook. My obsession made me run out into the street and jump in front of a car, but I heavily recommend you don't do that as the Grim Reaper never appeared and now I'm writing this in the afterlife.
The writer here also inserts her I suckered you into thinking this was good by having her obligatory three good episodes that make me think, Oh this has potential. It's always towards the end too. Melancholic episodes with good editing that make me wonder where was this for the previous ten episodes? I feel the drama is a seven at best as in, I would be very generous to give it a 7. It has its good melancholic and humorous scenes but it ultimately never quite gets its pacing right and never seems to know what to focus on making this really not as good as it could be.
PS. I also urge you to cast aside any logical questions you might have especially towards the end. They will not be answered.
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The cast are beyond amazing, the plot keeps you on your toes and makes you cry, laugh, cringe and smile like crazy. The story is beautiful and mysterious and it is the most unique storyline.
I am beyond heartbroken that the show is over.
EVERYONE watch Goblin!
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I definitely rate this drama high because it's perfect in all aspects. The story is original, though this is not the first drama about sports but highlighting Weightlifting as a sport was refreshing to watch. The pacing of the story was superb, it was not rushed. We know in a way that it's going to be a romantic drama but we do not see the romance between the leads in the first 9 episodes. The characters was well developed.
Lee Sung Kyung as Kim Bok Joo was just perfect, she is such a versatile actress. Give her a role and she'll definitely pull it off. There couldn't be a fitting actress for the role but her. After watching her as Baek In Ha in Cheese In The Trap, I could tell that she is a very talented actress. Nam Joo Hyuk as Jung Joon Yung is perfect as well, it seems like he's not acting at all, it was so natural. And the chemistry between the two was superb that it was not awkward or painful to watch them together doing those silly and funny antics. The supporting cast, ahhh I couldn't say anything bad because they were all perfect. From Bok Joo's bestfriends Nan He and Sung Ok who gave colors to the story and the ever persistent of a best friend of Joon Yung Tae Kwon. Who can forget Bok Joo's father and uncle, Joon Yung's ex Si Ho. And Bok Joo's first love interest Jae Yi.
The characters surrounding the leads was perfectly put in place. From their families, to teammates. The balance was just impeccable. I just love how the story progressed. I admire this story so much because it anyone can relate to it, themes like friendship being tested were shown, the annoying ex, the quirky parents and uncles, the nice brother, respect, hard-work, perseverance, rivalries and peer pressure. Though comedic in most parts, it did not fail to tackle the emotions of all the characters, it was played well, especially their vulnerabilities and how they handle it.
So "Do you like Messi?"
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So if you want something light, fuzzy, hilarious, adorable and mildly steamy, then this is the drama for you. ;)
Also! I recommend you to watch the drama series first, then the movie, since the movie takes place after the drama.
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