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[fangindiegirl63]

Review: Goblin (KDrama)

This drama was everywhere! From mentions of its funny scenes to the popularity of its OST. Stay With Me and Beautiful were on my repeat playlists for like a month. I waited for all the episodes to come out so I could enjoy them all at once and it was really worth the wait. 

Cast: Gong Yoo (He just reminds me of a funny uncle), Kim Go Eun (queen of putting characters in their place), Lee Dong Wook (his reaction faces are so funny), Yoo In Na (she’s so pretty and charming), and Yook Sung Jae (my favorite little furball).

My Thoughts: For a fantasy drama it was really well thought out and put together. As a non-korean person I think the producers wonderfully set up the plotline so that it could be understood by anyone. None of the characters made me uncomfortable unless that was their purpose. I was just frustrated when Gong Yoo wouldn’t stop being mean to Kim Go Eun. She was just trying to find her purpose and place in the world. There was no need to be rude to her. The relationships in the drama were all balanced and intertwined beautifully. Even the youthful Sung Jae cared for the 300 year old goblin. 

The premise of the plot stretched over a very long period of time, so I’m going to try to do this chronologically. So Gong Yoo starts off as a commanding general in one of the Korean kingdoms. His sister is madly in love with a cute prince. I loved Kim So Hyun and Kim in Jae as the couple. However, something goes completely awry and the sister dies and the prince goes mad. From time to time the drama felt a bit like a historical drama instead of a fantasy one. In which no one has a happy ending. Gong Yoo is stabbed and cursed to live forever with a painful (and very large) sword stuck in himself. Does a bunch of good deeds and saves a girl that will eventually kill him and take out the sword.

Whew. My fingers hurt. The drama had a lot of exposition that it had to stretch out through the episodes. At least the plot was linear though. They didn’t throw any weird curveballs or anything new out of the blue. I like dramas that don’t dislodge themselves from the main plot by the end of the drama. Though this one had the lovely trope of “HE’S DEAD, PSYCH”. That was still not enjoyable. No matter how many times I’ve been fed it. 

Lee Dong Wook and Gong Yoo’s bromance was so good! They were like a more cognitive and less violent version of Tom and Jerry. I still don’t understand why Dong Wook would really want to live in the same house as the Goblin, but misery does love company. They had their literal power fights. Together they worked through the challenges of the 21st Century and relationships. It was so cute to see them bond and truly see how they were fated to meet each other. Their dynamic really worked because they were so drastically different. Gong Yoo was more mischevious and annoying, while Dong Wook was more dreary and content. Their hatefulness was more playful than anything. They both really teamed up when it counted.

There were times that I didn’t understand Gong Yoo’s feelings towards Go Eun. I don’t know if he was just terrified of her or something, but I felt bad for her a lot. It was nice to see him pretend to be like her boyfriend and everything, but still, things were off until halfway through. Sung Jae was so awesome in this drama and had a lot of character development from a playboy to philanthropist. In-Na’s relationship with Dong Wook was so cute as well. She always knew what he wanted and what he was nervous about. By the end, I was really heartbroken by what was revealed about their past selves. I wanted more of their happy ending to have been shown in the drama. However, it just didn’t end up that way. 

This drama was really about how much you should care about others and the people in your life. When Gong Yoo was going to die, he said goodbye in the most caring way. Even though he returned, it was still touching. Dong Wook learned the mistakes of his past life and how much he should have cared for In Na. It really sucked the Gong Yoo was reborn and still had to live forever. I mean why couldn’t we just have him die? Also, I was really intrigued by the whole grim reaper system. It was much more fleshed out than in High School Love On.

Skip Rate: There were only like two

My Rating: 87%

[lilcinnamonrollmama]

Urbaninktober Day Eleven: The Goblin Lord Dokkaebi! Keith No lie guys I think I'm gonna make this a sticker