Drama Review: Goblin (2016-2017)

Marissa

6 years ago

Goblin (2016-2017) is a Korean fantasy romance drama. It started at the end of 2016 and finished in 2017. It took me over a year to finish it. First, Dramafever only had the first few episode available. Then when I got a paid account, I’d only watch a few episodes at a time (they are really long episodes). So my review will be quite foggy.

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Drama
Episodes: 17 (very long episodes)

Summary

General Kim Shin fought in war for the king. After the war, the king had him killed and thrown into a field with sword still in him. Because the sword was in him at death, he became a goblin. Only the goblin’s bride can pull out the sword where he’ll be able to finally die. So the goblin searches for his bride. Whew! I think I just told you the first half of the 1st episode.

Review

There is a lot that goes on in this story, as you can see in my attempt to may a quick summary. This drama was probably my second fantasy drama that I have watched (the first being Secret Garden–which is written by the same writer). I did end up finishing other Korean fantasy dramas before this one. And I discovered something. I like Korea dramas more when romance isn’t the only thing in the story. My main problem with this drama is that the episodes are so long. But I understand why. There is a lot that needs to be covered and developed. But there are things we could do without.

Characters

Kim Shin (Gong Yoo): A general in his past life. Owner of hotels in his current life. Suffering eternal life until he finds his bride and she pulls his sword. He’s serious and lonely.
Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun): A girl who has dodged death on many occasions. She can see ghosts and talk to them. She’s lonely, talkative and energetic.
Grim (Lee Dong Wok): Death who comes for Eun Tak at various times. Eventually we get to see how his story unfolds and it is just as good as (if not better than) goblin’s story.
Sunny (Yoo In-Na): Eun Tak’s boss. She becomes an interest to grim, but she gets frustrated by his lack of knowledge with the ladies.
Duk Hwa (Yook Sun Jae): The grandson of goblin’s caretaker and eventually becomes his caretaker. He runs everything for goblin. He’s immature and disrespectful.

Story

The writer of Goblin is Kim Eun-Sook. She has also written Secret Garden (2010), Heirs (2013), and Descendants of the Sun (2016). I’ve seen all of them , so you the story is going to be good if not better. In my eyes, I think she has grown as a writer. The story of Goblin is engaging and constantly moving forward…sometimes it moves forward slower (and that annoys me, but I’ll blame the director for that). The last episode is a very good ending. I live for good endings in Kdramas–it doesn’t happen often. I think the episode ties up everything very nicely. It doesn’t drag on and it has purpose, which I think it’s easier to have purpose in a fantasy drama.

Production

I think this drama does a really great job at capturing some amazing shots. Here are a few that I liked, but there are plenty more ( I think that’s part of the reason the episodes are so long).

Music

I love the music in this drama. It’s extremely slow for my usually taste. But I like it. It for like a somber romance type of mood. Maybe something to listen to on a rainy day when you contemplate your life up to that point. These songs are very emotional.

Heize – “Round and round” (Feat. Han Soo Ji). This song is into of the drama.

This is my favorite: “Stay With Me” by Chanyeol and Punch. It’s also the song at the end of the drama.

“Beautiful” by Crush is also one that I like. The very beginning even include the poem, The Physics of Love.

Here’s the whole soundtrack if you want to listen to it. I’m actually listening to it now as I write it.

Best Scenes

I wouldn’t say that there weren’t any scenes that weren’t the best. I just think the drama as a whole was really good. Since I took forever to actually finish the drama, it’s difficult for me to choose scenes. So the one I’ll post is one from the beginning that showcases the bromance between Goblin and Grim.

Quotes

The same as scenes. It was difficult for me to pinpoint any particular quotes that I liked. I managed to save a few so here they are. They can also qualify as scenes too.

I like how clever this one. May also borderline narcissistic.

Questions

Maybe I missed it, but what was the purpose of the ring? I really thought the ring would play a bigger part in the story.

After thoughts

I think it would be really cool to walk through a door and be in a completely different place.
An eastern goblin is so different from a western goblin.
One more thing, I think Gong Yoo is a good kisser. He always has been though. He was a good kisser in Coffee Prince and he still is in this drama.

Recommendations:

Gong Yoo: Coffee Prince (2007), Big (2012) and his movies Silenced (2017), The Age of Shadows (2016), and Train to Busan (2016). The last two can be found on Netflix.
Fantasy: Secret Garden (2010), Oh My Ghostess (2015), Strong Woman Bong Soon (2017)