Usually I would feel tired and stressed, and seriously this has kept me up and about!
I always looked forward to the next episode. It entails all kinds of emotions.
Comedic, really uplifted my day. Heart wrenching as well, every moment was well connected.
I really loved it, and I thought that they made a good match despite the age difference!
Don't hesitate guys, just watch it! I didn't even watch the trailer, nor know anything about it,
I just went on and watched it! and I really loved it! Kuddos to the writer, which has the same one as "Descendants of the sun" and "The Heirs". It's really nice
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Allow me to expand on some of the specifics of why Goblin was life changing. If you know me you know that I am obsessed with character and character development. This drama is chock-full of amazingly written characters and all go through massive transformations. The stagnation in the Goblin and Grim Reaper's lives disappears when they meet their soul mates. As a plot device this use of love and lovers is refreshing as it is definitely the men who change for their love (instead of the usual over-accommodating woman who plagues dramaland). Aside from character there is the aesthetic. Goblin had a massive budget and it is clearly seen in every facet of the drama. The cinematography deserves unending praise, the acting is of the highest quality, the plotline is refreshingly unique. Their sets, wardrobes, worlds are immersive in the utmost. The atmosphere these minor details create lends itself perfectly to the story and makes the mood created by the actors and writers to be all the more real. Goblin's melancholy, something that so many dramas try and fail to achieve, was breathtaking. As I have said before I love sad dramas. This drama made me cry every episode, and not because it was ridiculously melodramatic. Most of the time it was the side stories I cried over (the Grim Reaper's side plots). These stories, so superfluous to the main plot, show the exacting attention to detail that was used in this drama. They were moving, beautiful, heartbreaking stories and they left you feeling both empty and full. Full of life and a love for humanity. Goblin's greatest achievement, in my opinion, is empathy. Every character (or at least every character we don't necessarily hate) can be empathized with. Every episode you can change who you most identify with and yet never feel disconnected from any other character. This is a feat so difficult to accomplish that I have only ever encountered it in Anna Karenina before.
I know this review wasn't the most informative but I feel that the emotional response to Goblin that I and so many others felt is the best possible recommendation and review I can give.
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But anyway, I think this drama definitely deserves all of the attention it's been garnering. With a storyline as unique as this one, it's no wonder people find it so refreshing. Plus, the cinematography is just beyond amazing, making me especially envious of the fact that I don't get to live in their so-called reality. The villain, however, was introduced a little too late in my opinion. I would've loved to see him earlier on in the series.
On the other hand, the chemistry on this set was absolutely incredible. I'm super thankful because it was for this reason that these actors were able to grace us with so many fantastic ad-libs to look back on in the first place. All of the actors/actresses had their fair share of memorable moments but ultimately, I don't think anything will ever compare to the bromance between the Goblin and the Grim Reaper.
Even though the original soundtracks did a fine job at capturing its overall theme, there are only a few that I could actually see myself listening to outside of this drama. That isn't to say that the music was bad. It just didn't fall under my preferences. The soft ballads, however, felt like whispers of the heart: soft yet powerful. And for those, I loved every second of it.
Overall, I had an interesting time being taken on this emotional rollercoaster. Unfortunately, I wasn't nearly as satisfied with the ending as I was with the rest of this drama. At first, it seemed like a happy ending but the more I seemed to think about it, the sadder it truly was. It's sort of like the feeling you get when you receive a delicious-looking cookie, but the taste just doesn't turn out as good as it looks. As far as recommendations go, I would still encourage people to give this drama a try. And although I wish I was given a better ending, it's not bad enough to the point where I wouldn't rewatch it.
With that said,
Llama out.
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When watching K dramas without knowing their year of release, you can often sense if a drama comes before/after Goblin. This masterpiece ushered in new standards of storytelling scope, production values and cinematography to Korean dramas and everyone else scrambled to keep up. From the first frame to last it feels like you're watching a top-drawer movie with every scene perfectly composed, framed and lit. The Goblin's house itself (a character all in it's own right) is a masterpiece of endlessly interesting set-design and dressing, but the exteriors also, whether they be the many fantasy/historical sequences or more mundane Seoul streets are all realised with loving care and attention to detail. And don't get me started on the Canadian scenes...
The casting too is utterly perfect; Kim Go Eun is the ultimate girl-next-door type (옆집 소녀 ha!), Gong Yoo with his masterful ability to go from hard-as-nails-hero to tender suitor, right down to Yook Sung Jae's fragile naivety. And that's before we get to Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na's perfect "second couple" - so successful they spawned a spin-off industry that's been going ever since.
The OSTs are easily a match for the high standard of the visuals. I own the double-CD pack of this and still play it nearly every day 2 years after first watching. Everyone has their favourite OST song from Goblin, but the Ailee classic remains one of the absolute high water marks of Korean drama OSTs.
Goblin remains an utter game changer in K-drama and the first few seconds of this video (Kim Go Eun's crying scene) are part of the reason why. I stumbled upon this video in a bored moment and the emotions instantly came flooding back and I welled up with tears, not just from the raw moment shown here (a Kim Go Eun acting masterclass), but from the lifelong memories given to me by this wonderful wonderful drama.
I know it will sound ridiculously over the top, but for me at least, television was never the same again.
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Let me say the good things first:
1. I love their acting on the sad scenes, I mean, they made me moved and cry.
2. The music is PERFECT because it really fits in specific scenes. The background music adds that tension, depressed and happy feelings. If the scenes made me cry, the added background music made me cry more.
3. I think the plot is good :) The bromance is good too.
Now the not-so-good things:
1. There are some parts that I don't feel the romantic connection between the Goblin and the High School Girl. I don't know why, but I just don't feel it (I even love the connection between the Grim Reaper and the Chicken Restaurant Owner than the 2 leads), but during the middle till the end (especially when the lead girl character is 29 y/o), I am feeling their connection and I liked it.
2. I don't like the thing where they add something (like a recap) on some episodes that makes it damn long, I even have to skip it, sorry but I'm an impatient person.
3. I love the sad scenes more than some scenes, because in some scenes, I got bored a little bit (I used my phone during the boring scenes, which means that I really got bored). I was not interested (a bit) on the flashbacks (idk why, sorry D: )
My rewatch value is 7 because I could watch it again, but I'm that type of person who doesn't want to watch depressing scenes again because I don't want to cry a lot.
Overall, I think the drama is great! I cannot count how many times I cried in just this drama.. Probably 30 or 40 LOL. Because most of the scenes really made me cry.
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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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Every episode in some way or another brought me to tears (maybe I am just an overly emotional person though). The music, acting/cast, cinematography and writing was so on point and beautifully portrayed. This has now become one of my all time favourite dramas. I look forward to rewatching this with my mum as I know she will love it.
I liked everything about this drama. The cast really fit and blended well together and the emotional scenes were so believable . I've not seen any of their previous work and I am now excited to watch their other dramas.
I would recommend this to anyone who (like me) enjoys a mix of romance, fantasy & supernatural elements. I apologise if this review is all over the place. It's my first time writing one on here and I didn't quite know what to say other than this drama was simply beautiful!
Enjoy!
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