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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There has been a long time since a drama moved me in such a way like this one. It is a touching and sincere love story and have the one thing I love the most about romance, it being drama, movie or book. Goblin has “great love”. For the ones who doesn’t know, “great love” is that genuine love that the person is capable of sacrificing everything for the other one, without selfishness or jealousy or greed. It is just pure love and it is great. Many love stories try this line but few achieve it, Goblin does.
If you are reading this, you probable already read de description on the top of the page, it is terrible so let me tell you. This drama is the story of a goblin, a darned creature, who was crushed to walk on earth forever and see all his loved ones die. The only person capable of ending this curse, so he can go to ashes, is his bride. So he goes on waiting for the bride to appear. That’s all you need to know.
It is beautifully made, the tempo of all drama is well done, none of it gets boring, in the end of each episode you will die wanting more. For the drama veterans, it don’t have almost any clichés of Korean dramas, no second league guy, no annoying girl, no mother in low or and to me it fells new and refreshing. It has one thing that is cliché but this one is to you to find out.
And the acting, I can say that Goblin revived a lot of carriers and impulse new ones, for sure. Gong Yoo as Kim Shin was a gift to me, it had been such a long time I watched and loved a drama with him. I love Coffee Prince, and I love him on Coffee Prince. So to me watch him doing so good as the Goblin makes me really pound. Kim Go Eum was a nice surprise, I watched some episodes of Cheese in a Trap, but I didn’t finished it so I couldn’t tell mush of her background, in Goblin she is refreshing and funny and a strong female lead, you can relate to her and both of them together is explosive .
In the beginning I thought the age difference between the characters would make it a little weird, not because the Goblin has more than 900 years, but Gong Yoo is in this late 30’s and Ji Eum Tak is in high school. She even calls him “ajushi”, but you buy it and you buy their love, by the way, she is over eighteen.
For the second roles, Lee Dong Wook as the Grim Reaper was other acting as was really happy to see revived, he was not long gone like Gong Yoo but the last few years I was happier watching him in Roommate than in a drama, and it is sad. But he did so well in Goblin that I hope the next drama he does are the same incredible. Yoo In Na, Sunny, did also an amazing job, I don’t know if I’m being mean but seems like In Na has a face of a mean lead but do so much well as second one, not saying she is not talented but she did so well in this character that I want to see her do it again.
One very important point I have to talk about is the Grim Reaper and Sunny story line. Technically is the second story line but it is so well treated here that it feels like main one. The two story lines need each other to be excellent and neither of them feels less because of it. It is something really hard to do in story telling. So applause to the Globin team for archiving it.
About the sound track, “Never far Away” is my favorite music high now. I listen to it 5 or 6 times a day. So it is enough to say I love it and if someone say it is not good, they are crazy. The rest of the songs too, are amazing.
And about the end, it is something very important to me in a drama. It can break or make the drama for me. There was so many drama that went down on ranking to me because of bad ending, I was afraid this one would too. It didn’t. The end is not fairytale, it is not necessary happy… it is beater sweet I would say, but it is as much of beautifully made as the rest of the drama. And now if I think about it, for the entire drama there was clues of the end, you just don’t realize it.
So, you may be wondering why my score was 9,5 and not a 10 if I liked it so much. Well, even if it was an amazing drama, there were some questions and inexplicable aspects that this drama didn’t answer. Things that I found out in the internet but it was the drama that had to give me it, but how it was nothing major I just took 0,5 a point.
Overall Goblin is a jewel, worth of watching at least one time or three or four. I’m for sure coming back and watching it again.
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This review may contain spoilers
What's the hype?
Another one that didn't enchant me.I've been stalling on this for ages, finally after getting back into kdrama gave this a watch and I am not in love. Yet? I dont know....10 eps in, probably not.
Gong Yoo isnt enough to keep me going, the Reaper I find more annoying than interesting, the "bromance" as some reviewers call it is not something I see at all, mainly because the reaper seems particularly lifeless to me. Didn't like the actors looks in this either, sinister in his suit, too boyband-like without. (Might be my hatred of korean forehead hiding mushroom haircut tho, dunno)
I don't mind the age gap between the leads but I have to second another reviewer's view that they seem more like father/daughter than a romantic prospect. Can't really get into it.
Later when they kiss I felt really weirded out tbh, almost like watching siblings kiss. The whole thing is just so rushed, like, she meets him, declares her love and just like that, bc she is the bride of the goblin suddenly he loves her and she loves him, this dude she barely knows, just met and has not a single thing in common with? What?
She's a pretty girl, that actress, but smiling and waving at her "lover" like a 7yo kid is just way too nope for me.
The music was engaging so far, I especially like the score/instrumental parts.
The plot itself could've given way to so much more than we got delivered. It was all very inconsistent to me, there are parts throughout almost every episode so far that bored me into playing with my phone instead of watching while others held my interest like a thriller. This might have benefited from not trying to be funny and comedic all the time but instead focusing on the dramatic/sad parts of eternal life and everyday death. The scenes whenever Reaper picked up souls were all really heartbreaking, how average people are ripped out of life, just like that...or how a fallen cyclist can cause that much damage....ouch! Instead the drama seems to focus on establishing and selling a romance that is anaemic and forced at best.
And for me, that's really all there is to this. I found myself most attentive during the parts that played in the past (the manipulative magistrate, the sister and the mislead king, all these were more interesting to me than Reaper and Sunny), and I will stop watching after ep 10 because I am bored. So bored.
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Everything about Goblin is set so right that you can never regret watching and rewatching and rewatching it again.
Story- one of the best fantasy stories you will ever come across. It is not only beautifully set, but moves forward with a wonderful pace, blending both past and present stories together. The story of Goblin is such that you want never want it to end. The funny moments will have you in splits and the sad one will rip your heart into pieces.
Acting- tremendous. Every actor is on spot with their acting but Kim Go Eun is particularly brilliant. Her playing a teenager and a mature character is so well put that you will actual believe there's a time gap.
Music- OH MY GOD. I have each track of Goblin and I listen to it almost always. The music adds more value to the show.
Rewatch value--I've already seen it over 7 times. No matter what show I watch, I always end up going back to this one.
Overall- without even thinking about it, go watch it and you won't ever regret.
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Uncomfortable at first but a truly emotional resonant drama
I give it a begrudging overall 9/10 .I just want to start of by saying that Goblin is a really sad drama . I just want to put that out there because all the top comments and reviews out there on the World Wide Web rave on in a fan girl manner that you would think it’s Boys Over Flowers . I was misled and the sadness genuinely caught me off guard. It’s SAD.
Now that’s out of the way - let me address why I give it a begrudging 9/10.
Goblin did not convince me at all that it is a perfect show. It’s age gap and high school lead was really uncomfortable for me to fathom .Why did they have to make her into a high school kid though ? And though Gong Yoo is hot and all ; he really looked considerably older than his female lead and that was just uncomfortable. But that’s an internal personal bias and has nothing to do with the plot unraveling . Creep factor aside - this was a really original story with an interesting and dare I say new premise. I admired how the writers stayed true to their intentions and you could tell they never fell off but kept focused . It had great quotes too and I loved the deity aspect of the show - it gave it a divine elegance.
However - This is a tricky review to write because as a romantic drama - it ticks all the right boxes . Great sweeping love declaration scenes ? Yes . In fact they are touching. Angst ? Yes - sure to cry like a baby . Great supporting leads with equally engaging angsty story lines ? Yes , yes and yes. Great romantic kissing scenes ? Yes.But nooo. It’s not a 10 . The plot was not tight enough . It was repetitive using the same set ups over and over again that it actually wasted time in setting up other important relationships such as the supporting leads relationship progression and the reincarnated relationships that were discovered along the line. Kudos though to the plot twists which were very much appreciated. Sure to keep a viewer tuning in.
It also had time in its 16 episodes with rich story to insert a villain which I thought was deft. I also liked the way they handled the past informing the present and the notion of reincarnation and it’s supporting motifs. The romances were also lovely. Emotional resonance was very strong too. I cried like a baby in Ep 13 which is one of the best moments in tv history . The last episode was so poignantly sad too. Comedy was also very well done .
The acting and cast were unblemished . Gong Yoo was so funny and melancholy at the same time . The Grim Reaper was gorgeous and grim at the same time and the female leads were assertive , spunky yet passionate in the same this show
The soundtrack is quite possibly one of the best of the best and does much to bolster the ratings . I loved every song and my standouts were Beautiful Life , Hush ( Goblin lullaby, the second leads song I miss You , I Will Go To You Like the First Snow, oh my word - I’m listing the whole sound track ! That’s how good it is !
The fashion was off the charts! Deok Hwa’s coats and suits , Grim Reaper’s cozy oversized sweaters and Goblin’s coats were amazing! Sunny’s outfits are worthy of a Pinterest board alone.
Rewatch value is quite strong once I get over the creep factor . Souls are apparently immortal and ageless right ? So we will stick with that and suck it up ...
As for the OVERALL - don’t waste anymore time and go ahead and watch it ! If there’s anything this show convinced me of other than a sad love of a lonely and great god Is that it’s definitely one of those shows you need to have under your belt for posterity reasons . Also ,If you loved My Love From the Star , you will surely find this pleasant too. If you like some supernatural and super sadness then this one is for you .
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This is a Masterpiece!
Can't even put in words how much this series has affected me. It is a Masterpiece. The Ost, the editing, the storyline, the chemistry, the acting every single thing is just awesome!! Every character had it own story and the actors did a marvelous job to inact it.The continuous bashful comments by the Goblin and the Grim reaper are savage. It never misses an opportunity to make you laugh till the very end and I was laughing my ass off throughout. Not only comedy, it is full of romance and drama. The lines are beautiful and everything connects so well ( things said in past connects later to a thing happening in present) Just WOW❤️
A moment i felt goosebumps and in another I was crying (literally a lot) and in next i was laughing like anything, its that level.
I recommend this to everyone who loves Kdrama ( even if you don't you'll after watching this🔥)
A Classic of all time❤️
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This review may contain spoilers
Great Atmosphere, But the Main Leads Had Me Scratching My Head
I’ll start with the positives—the production quality and music are top-tier. The opening episodes sucked me in with the incredible atmosphere and pacing, and the chemistry between the second leads was chef’s kiss. But I have some serious gripes with the story and the main characters that made me feel like I was on a rollercoaster with a broken seatbelt.The Main Leads: Confusing at Best, Cringe at Worst
The Male Lead is… Old, but Also a Child?
I mean, come on. He’s ancient—very, VERY old. Like, we’re talking multiple centuries of experience here. But somehow, he acts like a confused teenager. When he was a soldier, the guy was calm, calculating, and cool. But fast forward to his immortal life, and he turns into this soft, awkward mess. What happened? Did immortality give him eternal wisdom or just eternal awkwardness?
The Female Lead is Just… Odd.
Okay, she’s totally cool with some random guy popping out of nowhere with magical powers? If I saw a dude with a sword sticking out of his chest, I’d run so fast Usain Bolt would take notes. But nope—she just rolls with it like it’s the most normal thing in the world. I get suspension of disbelief, but come on.
Nitpicks & The Stuff I Loved
The music? Amazing. It fits the tone so perfectly that I’m still humming it at random moments.
Honestly, I would’ve preferred a show focused on the Grim Reapers. That storyline had much more potential than what we got. The second leads? Gold. I wanted more episodes just to dive deeper into their characters and give them the impact they deserved.
When the Wheels Fell Off
The first 10 episodes? I was hooked—completely in. But then came the moment when the female lead tries to run away from the male lead, and wow. That scene was so cringe I almost threw my remote. I get that they were going for emotional conflict, but it just came off as forced and awkward.
Final Thoughts
This show had everything going for it—fantastic production, music, and promising side characters. But the confusing behavior of the main leads and some awkward story moments derailed it for me. If it had focused more on the second leads or the Grim Reapers, I think this could’ve been legendary. Still, it’s worth a watch, just don’t be surprised if you find yourself cringing here and there.
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Story
This has been one of the most beautiful series I have watched. I fell in love with gong yoo. There was just something about him. I was mesmerised by him. Lee dong wook was amazing also and I have followed all his series and films but dong yoo was someone I hadn't seen before but I will look to see what he has starred in. KimGo Eun just fitted this part so well and jelled with the two male leads. All who took part in this series were brill.
Plenty of eye candy. The story was beautiful from start to finish and to the director and scriptwriter this deserved all the praise it received in 2016..I will watch it again.
Sending love from the UK.. ❤️ X
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OHHHHHHH My HEARRRRRRT!!!
This drama is easily one of my Top Favorites, no matter how many times I watch it, I always fall in love all over again and get shattered in the process. This is such a good drama. It packs one hell of a punch! The cast couldn't have been better, they did a phenomenal job with their rolls. The soundtrack was great! This story is a tragic one, it will have you on the edge of your seat so consumed by the lives of each character and trying to unravel the past and find the connections to the present. Some would call this is an age gap romance. Our male lead is guardian god (a Goblin) has been living since with an immortal curse for the past 939 years, the only one who can release him from his life of immortality is the Goblin's Bride. Knowing that you should be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster! Our little bride is a 20 year old girl who has lived a very hard, exhausting, sad life. When our two cross paths it's a hilariously beautiful and bittersweet thing. I was so unprepared. I fell so hard for the Grim Reaper, who is just simply existing, neither alive nor dead, carrying out his duties a punishmentWas this review helpful to you?
1Story
I didn’t have a problem with the age difference. The ML is 939 years old. Anyone under 800 wouldn’t have anything in common with him. But seriously, the ML and FL have been touched and in their eyes cursed by the supernatural, so these are not two ordinary people. Most importantly, she is the Goblin’s bride, not wife. She has one job and I won’t spoil it here but it is not to warm his bed. He never comes across as some old geezer trying to seduce her. Even by Kdrama standards, this one is chaste.
The Goblin knows what her job is, anticipates and accepts it. But the moment she brings hope and light into his life the conflict within him and the story explodes. As he watches her and feels his heart begin to beat again the poetry that springs forth from him was so beautiful it gave my brain a little orgasm.
The conflicts in this story are mostly internal but the stakes are high.
I usually skim the secondary characters’ stories because too often they seem like filler and distract from the main storyline. Not this time. The Reaper’s and Sunny’s stories were seamlessly interwoven and integral to the main story.
The bromance between the Goblin and Reaper is legendary so I won’t go into it.
I watched every minute of this drama, savoring each one. Forgiveness plays a big role in this story. Our characters find it is not easily earned or given, whether it be for the self, others, or The Powers That Be.
Acting
This was my first time for all these actors and I wouldn’t make a single casting change.
Gong Yoo did an amazing job as ruthless warrior, tragic guardian angel and Oscar to the Reaper’s Felix.
Kim Go Eun did a good job as the girl both afflicted and blessed by her special case.
The secondary characters were all spot on and Lee Dong Wook has to be one of the most beautiful criers in the business.
OST
I don’t normally pay attention to the music unless I love it or despise it. The music in Goblin enhanced the story without distracting from it, a difficult task. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The cinematography was stunning. I had to shush my photographer husband who kept commenting on it. Which brings me to the rewatch value.
Rewatch Value
My husband who has only watched a few scattered episodes of Asian dramas sat down and watched this with me on my second go around. We laughed and cried together (damn allergies!). I will watch it again. And again.
This story of love, family, friendship, redemption, and forgiveness is definitely worth a try.
***November 2024 rewatch thoughts:
Still
I continue to love this drama, even after 5 years. The bromance was still excellent. The iconic scenes still moved me, even though numerous dramas have since tried to copycat them. Sunny and The Reaper were still heartbreaking. Lee Dong Wook is still the most beautiful crier I've seen. The OST is still one of my favorites and gives me goosebumps when I hear it. The umbrella scene that spawned a jillion others is still the best. Gong Yoo in Goryeo costume and wig is still a ferocious beast.
The humor was still cringey and the age gap when veering into the romantic could be as well. Kim Shin acting like a 939-year-old skittish virgin still boggles the mind. Overall, it kept me emotionally engaged, something few Kdramas have been able to do in recent years. Oh, and Gong Yoo still has it, aging like a fine wine.
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