Goblin (2016)

Now i had decided to watch this drama just because of the cast at first because when i first heard it was coming out i had no idea what it was going to be about. i mean even the trailers were very vague and i actually didn't try to find out what the storyline was going to be like lol

So as soon as i started watching this i got sucked into it the world because the cinematography is amazing in this just like most korean dramas but the execution was amazing for this. as i got to the end of the first episode i just fell in love with every character in the drama. the way the cast portrait the characters is just amazing and i highly doubt any other actors would have been able to do any better than this!

the story gets confusing a bit at times i mean they don't get in depth on some subjects but still it doesn't ruin it for you although it would have been a nice touch if they had elaborated. they are hilarious moments, extremely sad and some freaky moments. they just know how to make you feel a mix range of emotions and that's what made me love this drama even more. the bromance was amazing! i mean one of the best i have seen so far, and the actual romance was sweet and i'll be honest i usually don't like it when the main leads have such a huge age gap but it actually didn't seem weird in this drama, and i'm actually not being biased lol

the soundtrack. one word...AMAZING. I usually like a lot of ost but this one was so good i had to download them and listened to them on repeat for a good 2 weeks after i finished the whole drama!

all in all this is a drama you will not regret watching honestly. the best drama of the year so far and i'll be honest i don't think anything will top this for a while for me personally!

Leggi di Più

I want to first preface this review by a few points: 1) I haven't watched the complete drama and am basing this review on the first 6 episodes only 2) This is the first review I've been compelled to write about a TV show (in any language).

I've been looking forward to watching Goblin for a good while now because of all the rave reviews I've been seeing online. The drama appears to be heralded as one of (if not 'The') best Korea has to offer, which I'm quite surprised about. Six episodes into the show, I expected the pace to have quickened and the story to have developed further. To me it appears as though the writer created a promising premise, and an interesting universe, but did not think deeply about the main conflict of the story and how that will pan out over 16 episodes. A story needs to have enough substance to be able to fill each episode effectively. 'The Goblin is cursed with immortality and only his bride can emancipate him from this anguish - but will she?' seems to be as far as the writer got. The painstaking process of waiting for her to make a decision is simply boring and holds no tension beyond 1 or 2 episodes. To me, the show appears to be all style, and no substance.

I understand that not every drama needs to be fast-paced, or each episode does not need to end on a cliff-hanger for a drama to be good. Sometimes, the emotions between two people in love, or the lingering tension created by the threat of something tearing them apart, is enough to sustain interest from an audience. But this only works if the two main leads have undeniable chemistry. Unfortunately, the age difference between the leads kills all the chemistry, and makes it unsavory to watch. The female lead behaves even younger than she is while the Goblin appears too mature and stoic. I feel like I'm watching an Uncle supervise his niece as she frolics about like a child. Even Gong Yoo's superior good-looks is not enough the light the spark here. And I don't blame the actors either - they've done a good job with what they've been given.

Of course, when we have an immortal being like the Goblin, his age difference should be irrelevant because eventually there will come a time when the girl will catch up to his age and surpass it. The writer could have used this idea to showcase a love-story that blossom over her lifetime. But alas, I don't think that's where the show is heading.

I'll keep going for another episode but sadly, this one might be going into my Dropped pile.

Leggi di Più

one of a kind, romantic and melancholic

Script is a wonderful fusion. Extremely funny, romantic and melancholic. Canada never looked so lovely. Did I say extremely funny? You havent lived until you weep from laughing at a gorgeous Grim Reaper and blindingly handsome Goblin warrior struggle with learning to use cell phones.

Kim Go Eun is astounding -- watch this drama for her acting skills.
Her facial control and timing is incredible. You can see that she is a great film actress.
She doesnt overpower the charm of the others, but she rules the room in charisma.
She is absolutely enchanting as a 18 year old (k-reckoning 19) darting here and there -- very comical, unleashed innocence and knowledge all at once.
She is heartbreaking as a grown woman, as brilliant and shining as her Goblin often says she is.

Great physical attitude-visuals from the dashing duo of Lee Dong Wook and Gong Yoo. Yoo In Ah is in beautiful form here. Excellent and consistently funny supporting cast. A good year for fashion, the leads are very chic.

One of those great kdrama soundtracks that tells you with charming dominance what you must feel at every turn of the plot: squeezing out your tears, filling you with melancholy, calming your fears as only kdrama must, so that you will worry, watch so closely that you will drop snacks all over the couch and sigh with satisfaction and relief as lovely resolutions of the plot appear....

Guardian can be watched again and again without any loss of magic. And it is being watched right now, this very minute, by hundreds of viewers around the globe. So join their company and watch well!

Leggi di Più

Probably one of the best K-Dramas I will ever see.

My Letterboxd review:

"i will love this forever for introducing me to beloved gong yoo

as many problems as one could find with this series, my god do i love it so much. <3"

I want to add on by saying this: this drama is incredible at evoking emotion and it does so in a way that feels wholly natural and fulfilling. It's genuinely beautiful. One moment I'd be in stitches laughing, and the next I'd be tearing up and crying as I felt for one of the characters. It's really amazing and I feel that this characteristic of the show is what really made it for me.

As a side note: yes, the whole thing with Eun-tak being in high school is weird and I agree. But aside from that, I feel the show handles its subject matter with finesse and I don't think there was any harm intended in that choice.

In any case...

The cast is amazing, obviously. They have such great chemistry together regardless of the relationship between the characters. Of course, Yoo Gong and Go-Eun Kim were my favorite - not only are they both excellent performers, but they worked so well together! - but I also deeply appreciated the rest of the cast. All of them gave their performances their all, and because of that, they enhanced the story deeply and significantly contributed to bringing it to life.

Naturally, I adored the characters as well.

The story as a whole is really beautiful and led me to do a lot of thinking outside of the time I spent watching the show. I can safely credit this drama with solidifying my current perception of the afterlife (reincarnation is what I believe it could be) and honestly I thought that the way it discussed life and death was delicate and profound. I keep wanting to say the word "beautiful" as I describe this, but that's because it's true - all of it was beautiful to me. One of my favorite parts was how Dong-wook Lee's role as the Grim Reaper was explained and visualized. Simply marvelous.

The music gets an easy and solid 10. I still listen to it every now and then and find it as timeless as it ever was.

As a whole this drama is fantastic. It's definitely a bit of a time commitment but I found it to be VERY worth it. Do give it a chance because it certainly deserves it.

Leggi di Più

One of the most wholesome shows ever made

The show gives you everything and makes you feel many emotions from laughing to crying, happiness to sadness, adoring to hating.......

Both the lead couples nailed it with their chemistry and story arcs. Till the last moment everyone prayed and hopes that none of them end up separated as they have already gone through so much and the ending surely didn't disappoint.

For me Kim Go Eun as Eun Tak was the soul of the show, she nailed being a teenager and the grown up stage. No wonder she is by far one of the best actresses in the South Korea. Gong Yoo as always needs no introduction on how good he is and has been in every genre.

Lee Dong Wook's and Yoo Inna's suited so well with each other. Him being a cold grim reaper and her being a extroverted and fiesty chick nailed it. LDW's character growth and his newborn friendship with Euntak was too wholesome.

Leggi di Più

Because goblin story came from grimreaper sunny.... who is his bride what is her role...etc was noting according story.... goblin story started just becaz of grimreaper and sunny love story .then how could we didn't get proper romance of sunny grim reapper..nor in humanic life atlast last 2 epi wanted only about them.
Goblin got heart touch story for grimreaper fault in his life and his life time separation from his love.
His love sunny was innocent but bread between brother and husband. Her life got spoil but still love grim reapper that was the reason I fall for this show. And Lee dong wook and yooinna stole my heart by their natural chemistry and ofcaz goblin and grimreaper ( brother in law and goblin) bro romance the best part of show ....
I hate how they story developee. They could kill the main violent by grim reapper because he actually killed the king both life ...noting lose of goblin. Because he was born to be general of country. In any war he would die and called hero .he had no love affection. It was ok but after that what could with the connection of goblin bride why ....he and grimreaper could hold the sword ..that goblin bride part was most illogical unnecessary part and yes their romance like old man romancing with his students their had noting good word for goblin and his bride romance was seriously valueless where story begin from grimreaper sunny goblin and ender too with this 3 Charecter clear up the mristry. The most annoying part was goblin and bride romance ????????
And most touchy part was grimreaper sunny true love story and best chemistry was Lee dong wook and yooinna togather are best always

Leggi di Più

Absolutely worth watching.

While there are other masterpieces that may be a cut above, this show is a masterpiece in itself. The story is beautiful, moving and intense, with a superlative screenplay that continuously and well blends moments of hilarity with sad moments, as is customary in K-dramas. My partner and I were glued to the screen from the first to the last second, crying and laughing and living with the leads. Leads who are over the top: theirs is certainly among the most beautiful love stories told in k-dramas. And both Gong Yoo and Kim Go Eun are more than up to the task and incredibly adorable and comfortable, despite the obvious age difference between them. Well described and defined supporting roles: The Grim Reaper and Sunny are for me one of the most beautiful and touching supporting couples seen so far (154 k-dramas completed). The rest of the cast is well assorted and the soundtrack is definitely up to par. It's a show that has seen a huge investment commercially, but well spent, truly well spent. Absolutely worth watching.

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Bromance takes it all

I wholeheartedly understand why people love this drama so much. It has many flaws, but it's still a ton of fun. In particular, the music of the main theme stays with you forever and adds a special element to the show that I haven't noticed in any show since.

Everyone has written about the unstoppable bromance between Gong Yoo's Kim Shin, the tormented god, and Lee Dong Wook's Grim Reaper. And if you watch any behind the scenes footage of the show, you can see why. They were just having the time of their lives working together.

Unfortunately, there are a couple big flaws that prevent this show from being close to perfect. For one thing, we learn very little about our brave heroine Eun Tak, which diminishes our stake in her story. We don't get to see much of her past or her thoughts about the state of her life or the relationships she has with friends or family. And now that I think about it, I can't name any character that we get to truly know in depth. A few well placed monologues would have been useful to this end. I wanted to know about each character's history and past struggles, and how they feel now. Second, the main villain in the show is pretty absent until the very end. There was so much potential around exploring the heart of the issues faced by Eun Tak and Kim Shin and how they are trying to protect each other and deal with their own issues, but it wasn't harnessed.

One last thing I enjoyed was the filming in Quebec. I'm a Canadian and that was quite a surprising treat to behold!

Leggi di Più

My favorite of all time

I watched it in 2016 wherein its still ongoing kdramas, I re-watch it many times I even watched its tagalog dubbed and its still same reaction I still laughed and cry in this drama. I super loved Gong Yoo he is one of the reasons why I watched this drama its because of him. It has a great casting, each character has its moments to shine thats why I loved every character in this drama. The cuteness and funny moments in this drama are very on point. You will definitely fall in love in this drama there are no dull moments in this drama. I'm sure you will loved it the same thing as I do.

Leggi di Più

An Absolute Classic!

Nowadays, when you talk about Kdramas, a humongous classic is always thrown into the conversation. Gobli, Guardian, whatever it may be called, this show has remained rent-free on so many people's heads for such a long amount o time that it makes you wonder. What is it really about?

At a core level, Goblin is no better than your generic, corny, over-the-top Korean romance with all the blows and whistles, but with a few twists that really drive off an ever-lasting mystery.

The mystery doesn't really stick up at the forefront, but it's ever-present and slowly, but surely, gets revealed as you also get more and more attached to the characters and start paying more attention to the non-romance plot line, which in my opinion is a very underrated aspect in this series that's not talked about enough.

It also helps that the show is such a binge-able series, especially in portions, or as you may view as mini "arcs". Let alone, the rewatchability.

I won't say more for spoilers-sake, but give it a watch!

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