Goblin (2016)

A hugh miss from the story to the execution

Since the drama received so much love from the people watching it, maybe I went into with too high an expactation. Nevertheless, I'll try to be as objective as possible, despite the fact that this is still a subjective opinion of a person.
Personally, I find the romanticism of most scenes too cheesy and long. It's not because I dislike the type in general as I'm a regular consumer of kdrama and I quite like the time the show gives for the audience to process the emotions. However, the age gap lead to a large portion of the scene being unused because they can't physically do anything to lovey dovey as it's not appropriate. In the end, I didn't find myself emotionally attached and invested into the character.

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We are Korean Gobolin

Gobolin could have been shortened to a 8 episode story. There was a lot of fluff and misunderstandings which end up extending the runtime a lot.
The best part of the show was the ghosts stories. Some of the characters/world building was pretty inconsistent but the show doesnt really take itself too seriously anyway so its fine. Its mostly a fun watch with some emotional highs and lows. The forshadowing and symbolism throughout the show is pretty well done. Dalkom coffee and subway making their return in this show as well.

Sometimes the way the scenes were cut were a bit disorienting wtih them having several cuts in a row for a pretty simple conversation. The music and ost in the show is pretty solid. Really enjoyed the music especially with dramatic scenes.
The slice of life story contains other elements like mystery, romance and manage to blend them well into the show. The only complaint is that there was a lot of unecessary things that happen due to lack of communication.
Some characters actions are also very convenient for the story and are essentially just to advance the plot. The lore of the story is also somewhat inconsistent/doesnt really make sense. Characters being inconsistent to their lore was probably for irony purposes, but was kinda silly.
The acting was very good overall, carrying a lot of the emotional scenes. Especially when the show itself is mostly humour. +1
If the show ended at episode 14, it would have been peak. -1
Because of the scene where they threw out a plate of food because someone put too much spice on it. -1
Ghost stories epic. +1
Dramatic scenes were dramatic, sad scenes were sad, funny scenes were funny.
Good stuff. Very enjoyable.
Overall, Gobolin.

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Watch it for the Bromance!

Top notch cast - check
Great music - check
Dramatic (and very well made) background story - check
Bromance - check
Secondary couple - :)
Chemistry between main leads - :(


Started watching for Gong Yoo, who is daebak as always but

*SPOILER AHEAD*

halfway through the series the plot becomes an endless loop of 'when will the sword be taken out'
i was hoping this will be resolved soon but no, it seems to become the main couple's only obstacle and issue

as the main couple circles endlessly around the sword - the second couple gains steam with the ring! the meeting on the bridge! the grim reaper trying enter dating scene!
honestly i continued watching for the second couple instead since the main couple seems to lack spark.
as the series continued, the plot thickens around the second couple and i became so invested in them that i started to skip all the scenes containing the main couple

tried rewatching and found that even the bromance between the goblin and the grim reaper is still more entertaining than the goblin and the bride :(

conclusion: watch it for the second couple beautifully tragic story and the super fun bromance!

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This is a good show overall!

I watched this after a really long time, because I tend to ignore shows that are more hyped!

The concept is fantastic, nothing original, but good. The whole romance story was weird as hell in the first half. I mean, the girl is 18 and the Goblin is 900+ but even if we don't care about that because this is a fantasy, his real age is around 30+ or something. The chemistry between Gong Yoo and Kim Go Eun in the first was more like a dad and daughter, and when the romance started for real it was even more weird, because she always called him "Ahjussi". After the 9 years time skip, it was much, it was like two adults. I feel they should've start with Eun Tak as an adult already.

Also, like with many other Kdrama, especially with fantasy, the plot was all over the place. I hate when characters don't speak up and say what they want to say.

Some of the problems they had to face were solved pretty easily. When he finally dies, I thought he might get a second chance to live a normal life, but no. He came back as a Goblin again. Why? Makes zero sense. If they bring him back as a Goblin, at least let them live together till she dies in old age.

She spent 9 years "waiting" for him, she even wrote a note for herself, yet in all these years she never mentioned it or moved on? Come on now. Only 2 people remembered him, so she should've moved on. Especially, because Sunny never said a single thing. She watched her friend suffering, even had to take pills for her heart, yet she didn't do anything. This whole amnesia plot was messed up. The way they brought him back is even worse! In 9 years, she never blew out a candle? Who believes that? It's not like she lived alone. No one ever bought her a cake in 9 years?

The most frustrating part of the story is probably the fact that they killed her in the finale, so they can have like a 2 minute long scene at the end as a child again. What the heck?

At least the story with Sunny and the Reaper was better.

The bromance was funny as hell, and there were so many good things on the show, it's just frustrating, because with a little more focus on the writing, this show could've been perfect.

Even with all the problems, I think I will rewatch it once or twice.

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Sometimes it's slow-paced and uneventful, sometime it's so good it's the best Kdrama ever

It's hard to wrap it up in a few words. But i would say this is probably the longest buildup i have ever seen.
It has 16 episodes, and the actions and dramatic parts start at around ep.11 12. Before that it was about character building and bonding (those memories will be used effectively against us later).


The fantasy romance story is intriguing. It has good plot twists and back story. Although the pacing is sometimes a bit slow, overall it sends meaningful messages of love, hate, afterlife, regret, loneliness and forgiveness. It can break your heart and also make you smile

The acting is good, nothing to complain about. The chemistry between the second lead couple is so good at all time. At the beginning the main couple feels a bit lacking, near the end it gets a lot better. But the best chemistry has to be the bromance between Goblin and Grim Reaper!
The characters are well built and developed, relatable and make reasonable decisions. But mostly they are madly driven by love.

The music is so beautiful and sad, wished they had kept the ending song till the end though. The special effects feel natural (the glowing sword and the power of grim reaper), but the flying moments were a bit off.

The atmosphere changes so fast. One moment it's fluff and romantic (with a little too many staring-straight-at-each-other-for-a-century), and a second later it's heart wrenching and full of dramas and actions. It's was well-balanced, i just wished it was more consistent.

Overall, i would recommend this series if you are looking for a romance story sets in the present, with wholesome bromance, fantasy elements and a tragic backstory from a past life, which would now affect the choices and emotions of the characters.

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L'éternité c'est long... surtout vers la fin...

Donc, j’ai fini Gobelin (oui je l’écris à la française ^^)et j’ai vraiment bien aimé.
Alors, j’avoue que sans l’aura magique de Gong Yoo, sa grâce, son élégance, sa voix vibrante, son talent riche et varié,  je ne sais pas si j’aurais tenu jusqu’au bout, le début était vraiment broussailleux et labyrinthique et il a bien fallu tout le drama pour finir par comprendre les tenants aboutissants de tout ce petit monde magique !
Bref, une fois franchis ces buissons épineux la suite m’a vraiment plu ! Toute une bonne partie du drama est tressée de tragique et de comique, avec la relation excellente et tordante du Gobelin et de l’Ange de la Mort jusqu’au moment où les réincarnations se révèlent et où la tragédie prend le pas sur la comédie, sans pour autant qu’elle disparaisse complètement : (les adieux de Wang Yeo, si bouleversants, qui se terminent sur le conseil de ne pas oublier d’étendre la lessive...)
L’histoire de l’Âme perdue, épouse du Gobelin m’a vraiment touchée, de sa naissance à sa mort, sa capacité à assumer un destin implacable, sa force et sa clarté d’âme, j’ai trouvé que c’était un très beau personnage et une belle idée scénaristique.
Mais l’actrice m’a souvent tapé sur les nerfs par son ton pleurnichard ou « petite fille », parlant toujours comme si elle était enrhumée… enfin, je suis très difficile avec les actrices coréennes, je l’avoue !
L’idée de la punition divine changeant les pêcheurs (graves, hein, pas les voleurs de poule ! )en Ange de la Mort, qui doit exister dans la mythologie coréenne parce que déjà vue, jumelée avec la problématique de la réincarnation, ça m’a aussi énormément plu ! Un bon point pour Lee Dong Wokqui est beaucoup remonté dans mon estime, surtout après l’avoir vu dans Life !
Il faut dire que je baigne dans la mythologie japonaise, et que chez eux aussi les yokaï  et autres monstres peuplent le quotidien et les fantômes ne sont jamais loin ! Donc ça aide !
Je n’ai donc pas eu de mal à suivre tout ça et particulièrement le tout dernier épisode, où, je pense qu’il s’est passé bien plus de trente ans quand reviennent Sunny et Wang Yeo, enfin réunis grâce aux nombreuses lanternes magiques envoyées par Kim Shin ! On sent bien que le temps passe, dure, s’éternise pour Kim Shin, qui erre et traine sa solitude douloureuse, puis apaisée.
Et bien sûr que la nouvelle Eun Tak le reconnaît ! N’a-t-elle pas refusé le thé de l’oubli ? Ne le cherche-t-elle pas ? ça c’est une idée qui me plaît, et qui est bien consolante ! (cependant ça ne durera qu’une vie, ou même 3, et ensuite, la solitude éternelle pour Kim Shin… ça c’est moins drôle, mais peut-être remplira-t-il son éternité de bonnes actions ! ) 
J’aime beaucoup le personnage de Sunny,bien dans la ligne de Kim Sun, qui refuse l’oubli salvateur, mais qui maintient la punition de Wang Yeo jusqu’au bout, bien que Kim Shin ait fini par lui pardonner.
Toujours dans les compliments, la musique, vraiment belle, les chansons très supportables et même belles pour certaines, la beauté des images, l’élégance des effets spéciaux, … et la magnifique garde-robe de Gong Yoo, d’une classe et d’une élégance peu courante dans les dramas (d’ailleurs il doit avoir un costumier attitré, depuis longtemps, je m’étais fait la même remarque déjà pour Coffee Prince !)

Bon, les défauts :  la longueur des épisodes, avec des review longs et inutiles, des pauses-regards, des ralentis excessifs (surtout dans les deux premiers épisodes), l’usage du bruit sonore des pas trop répété, une prise de son qui ne laisse rien passer des bruits secondaires (papier froissé par exemple) mais tout ça n’est pas grand chose, et surtout une fin un peu décevante après la magnifique, flamboyante et déchirante fin de l’épisode 13 !
Il fallait pourtant régler des questions, mais là il y avait un choix à faire :
retour ou pas pour Kim Shin ? moi, je suis radicale,ma fin :
il ne revient pas, la vie continue pour les autres, qui ont tout oublié (sauf L’Ange) le dernier départ de l’Ange aurait été celui de Eun Tak très longtemps après…. pour terminer sur la rencontre d’une autre Eun Tak, d’un autre Kim Shin, qui bien que ne se connaissant pas et n’ayant aucun souvenir l’un de l’autre, ne peuvent s’empêcher de tomber amoureux au premier regard…ce qui évite au malheureux Gong Yoo une éternité de solitude inéluctable, ce qui est long, surtout vers la fin, comme chacun sait !


La fin, je lai trouvée mollassonne jusqu’au départ de l’Ange et de Sunny, très réussi et touchant, alors que  celui de Eun Tak ne m’a pas convaincue, trop long et surtout l’air de ravie de la crèche permanent de l’actrice me gênait, malgré le talent de Gong Yoo dont le chagrin était déchirant et  profond.
Pourquoi fallait-il la faire mourir à ce moment-là ? je n’en vois pas trop la raison ! ça leur fait perdre 50 ans sans raison !

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Complicated

I liked this show. I came to care most for its characters because the actors made them lovable, unlike the story itself, which is sloppy and muddled in its lore.

This is a fantasy romance, which are usually up my alley. However, this one could have been better had the story stuck to its own rules. What ensues are quite a lot of plot holes and overly dramatic performances. I suppose the writers are hoping you will overlook its many flaws and focus on the romance between our MCs. That is fine for some. I like my dramas to be a little better thought out and organized.

A lot is going on here. We have a young, high school aged girl who is lonely and looking to belong. We have a god/guardian who has been living in immortality since a tragedy caused him to be what he is. He is searching for his bride as she will have the power to end his long existence and give him peace. Enter grim reapers with complicated backstories and gods playing with human lives, and the story becomes a complicated mess because it doesn't stick to its own rules. Some things are never really explained and it leaves you with a lot of questions. Above all this, it's still highly entertaining and I am a sucker for a good romance, even though the first episodes exasperated me to no end. Our goblin likes to play games with the girl and their silly banter runs the gamut from idiocy to deep tenderness, once the nonsense between them is cleared away and Mr. Goblin realizes he is in love,

What makes this drama watchable despite its flaws are the beautiful actors that make up this ensemble. They are wholly believable, in the moment and completely invested in their characters. No one does this better than Gong Yoo, our handsome goblin. His expressive eyes make you feel every emotion emanating from within. His despair is our despair, his joy makes us feel warm. (Because of this ability to give himself completely to his role, Gong Yoo has won the top spot in my list of best actors in South Korea. He is also, in my opinion, the most breathtakingly beautiful man I have ever set eyes on.) There are some downright hilarious moments and clear messages of friendship, compassion, loyalty and forgiveness. The soundtrack is amazing. The songs range from typical pop pieces to some very different sounds which fit the drama perfectly. I would watch this again just to relive the dreamy spark of Gong Yoo's eyes.

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I expected a lot....

I expected a lot of this drama.. In fact, the FL is one of my favorite actresses, discovered her in the movie Tune in for love and Kdrama The king eternal monarch.
She was still pretty good in Goblin, but it was so boring.... a lot of flashbacks, a plot twist kind of dull...I do not understand the hype AT ALL.
The story didn't make any sense for me.. how is a "God" acting like a child and in love with a woman that is 20 years younger than him...
I was so blocked by the age gap.. for me it was huge and physically he looked very old, right? Bref. I had issues finishing it, it was very difficult for me. I hoped that next episode will be better, but I ended up skipping it..
I finally dropped it and I feel so at ease now.
You can try if you want but for me, it is a NO.

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who hasnt heard of goblin? if u r here, then chances r u have already heard of all the hype and the positive stuff about it, time for the other side of the coin review,

goblin starts out with a fantasy story that is really damn good, first episodes takes a while so u scroll down to find goblin's episodes r actually 90 minutes long, okay so thats a fancy sneaky way to advertise a 24 episode show being 16 longish episodes,


acting is great , nearly every actor/actress feels perfect for the role except for the little important main lead actress Kim Go-Eun, she feels so wrong casted on so many levels, something just feels off from first time u see her on the screen, 12 years difference between her and gong yoo just adds oil to the chemistry on fire already.., every other single relationship between the characters is perfect, the chemistry is just amazing inbetween the rest of the cast


execution: this drama was amazingly executed but it suffers horribly from the most common trend korea does, IT DRAGS THE HECK OUT, if u thought 90 minutes can be tolerable at first 5 episodes w8 till u reach some filler episodes around 12~ holly molly how can there be literally Many filler scenes in such a drama?

overall: this drama is well written, it drags Alot,if u can get over that and Kim Go-Eun, its enjoyable

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Hard to Ignore Age Gap

I have to be honest, I couldn't get very far into this drama with the age gap. Of course the Goblin is a nearly 1000 year old supernatural being, however there is a difference between this and other supernatural romances with age gaps that make it less acceptable. Firstly, the female lead starts out as *underage*. The actual actors have a 12 year gap and the man looks like he could be her father which makes it much more awkward in the show seeing the male lead essentially watch the female lead as she grows up. I felt so uncomfortable in every scene where she's a highschooler, a literal child, with a grown man the show is hinting at romance with. Regardless if they don't doing anything before she is older, it's strange to wait until it's legal and to even hint at feelings when she is so obviously a child. Unfortunately the interesting main storyline couldn't distract me enough to ignore and enjoy this drama. Yikes.

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As a Gong Yoo fan, I was gobsmacked.

Okay. Let me tell you this, I am a big Gong Yoo fan. I'm part of the older generation where I get to watch kdramas VCD days. And I've watched all Gong Yoo movies and dramas and knew that he will always be that movie and TV star A-lister.

So I watched this while it was still airing and I am already utterly disappointed within a couple of episodes. I already knew what's gonna happen. The pain they're trying to go through for the Tokkaebi to find someone who will actually and finally can kill him. His bride. Nice premise, but you won't get surprised where it took you because it was set up right at the beginning. Even with the characters. The moment Kim Min Jae's character went into the screen, I knew who he is in the present. Because who else would it be? Everything was just so obvious.

What really made me held on was of course, Gong Yoo, and the adorbs KGE, although I'm not really in love with the ajusshi thingy.

So yes, to give it a chance before going here for ratings, I watched it again, and feelings remained the same, if not even lower. I am so sorry.

The cinematography was top-notch.

The music was also so so so so good. The scoring. The OST. Main OST was an earworm,

But that didn't actually save the drama for me.

Will I watch it again?

Maybe not.

I guess I was really not a fan of writer. Maybe the last drama that I liked from her was Secret Garden, which actually took me three years to finish. I dropped it two times in two years, until I picked it up.

But this, I'm not sure why I held on and was disappointed still.

This is my opinion.

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