Ah, Goblin. The drama with the most insane summary I'd read up to that point. Amnesiac Grim Reaper? Goblin with an invisible sword through his chest? Goblin's bride who is... a high school student, which is kinda creepy when you think about it? Ghosts? Deities? Reincarnation?
Yeap, all there. But damn, this was better than I ever could've expected. "Every moment shined." In deed. Ok, so maybe not *every* moment, but 89% of them for sure. I cried. I laughed. I wanted to group-hug the Goblin and the Grim Reaper and have a beer with them. They were friendship goals, level: immortals. Sometimes I actually wished there'd been more short arks with those two alone, because their interactions were both hilarious and heartwarming. The smartphone scene kills me every time, as does the one where they coolly go out of the tunnel with leeks and grocery bags. Bromance for the ages. Gong Yoo and Lee Dong-wook had the best chemistry out of all male actors I've seen so far. A+.
About the love stories.. though it was pretty hard for me to get with the program and support the Goblin and Eun-tak relationship at first because it was, frankly, wrong, to my great surprise (and maybe, a bit of disdain as well), I did like how they were written by the end and how their interactions were dealt with. I don't want to be hypocritical, I've enjoyed many a vampire romance in which the differences in terms of age were probably greater, but Gong Yoo was just so obviously older and the way they dressed him (op.ed. wonderfully) made him seem super serious. On the other hand, Eun-tak was.. a girl - this characterization is something I struggle with the most, because it both prevented me from rooting for them from the start, but was also a pretty realistic portrayal of the character, which I appreciated. By the time we got through the age gap though, I was totally on board. Well, a bit before that as well, just in time to bawl my eyes out to the rooftop scene. Her character really struck a chord with me in the end and I wish they'd done the jump a bit sooner and shuffled the stuff a bit so we could see more of older-Eun-tak's moments with Shin.
The story between the Reaper and Sunny was hilarious, I loved them together and I'm super happy that they got the ending they did, both of them. Eye-bawling moment #2. I especially loved Sunny's confidence which maybe made her come over as shallow at the start, but when you later realize how much she cares about him, and the history they share, it breaks your heart. The Grim Reaper was definitely my favorite character and that didn't change throughout the series. The deadpan comedic delivery, the whining, his brotherly love for Eun-tak and his "clients"... some of the short scenes in the tea-room were my favorite parts of certain episodes, especially the one with the soldier and his sweetheart who was waiting for him for 70+ years.
Overall, the series was wonderfully imaginative, poetic, with beautiful photography and lovable characters. It did seem to drag at certain times, but never enough to even consider dropping it or putting it on hold. The fantasy world created in the show was rich and magical. Love, love, LOVE. A must-see.
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