Kdrama Thoughts - Blog Posts

You know you're watching a wonderful, relatable and many times a thought- provoking k-drama when you want to take a screenshot everytime a character in it says something. And yes, including Chang hee. I know and understand that he gets on people's nerves but tbh I just love how self aware he is. Is it because Lee Min Ki is playing him? YES! (I love LMK) but honestly the things chang hee say are usually very intriguing like, I relate to everything Mi-jeong says but if someone manages to make me see things from a different perspective then it's chang hee. I love how the writer made each character so multi- layered which makes it difficult to hate anyone because you understand where they're coming from. (except for mi jeong's pathetic ass boss. I want to stab him to death!! ).

This episode was so good. I'm so happy for everyone. 😭💘💘

Every week when they focus on a patient's backstory it always breaks my heart. This episode was no different. The little girl who was abused and ignored by her parents broke my heart. The hug that Gang Tae gave her was just so Warm and needed 🤧😭😭

Through ‘Goblin’ I Learnt Life Is Beautiful In Both, Colors Of Light & Dark

Ah, where do I start with this show? The 'Goblin' was my first 2021 drama pick. I had heard SO much about it -- one of the highest drama ratings ever scored, the love story of Eun-Tak and Kim Shin and of course, the hardcore shipping of Wang Yeo and Kim Sun. 

My YT recs were spammed with "Goblin: funny moments" featuring the Gob and Deok-hwa. And then, I happened to read a Google Review by someone who was raving about how the world built is so vast, so intricate and so fascinating. My mind instantly packed in high expectations for the show.

I get why Gong Yoo is so popular but can I say I love him more when he's doing off-screen interviews? (Have you seen his recent one with IU on Palette? *adorbs*)

The show has everything for a fantasy lover like me --- Korean mythology, magic, fantastical characters and badass Gods. 

What I didn't enjoy very much, contrary to popular opinion, was Eun-Tak's character. I found her obsessive and more of a crybaby than anything else. No offense to the actress, who I'm convinced is massively talented.

The story revolves around Kim Shin, a cursed 900-year-old Goblin who was a general-of-war in his last life and is seeking his wife in the mortal world. The latter is the only one who can help him end the treacherous curse and send him peacefully to afterlife.

Eun-tak, an orphan since she was 9, can see ghosts and converses with them. She's also very aware of her destiny as the Goblin's wife. A high-schooler, she meets her destined husband (Gong Yoo) and  soon enough, the tale gets complicated as the two battle fear of death, their growing love for a each other and the wretched curse.

There is Wang Yeo, a scaredy-cat of a king who is similarly cursed to be a Grim Reaper for repenting his past-life sins. I must say, the GR (Grim Reaper) is hot.🔥 He's also one of the most fascinating characters in the show for me -- shy, reserved, melancholy, with a soft lover's heart. 

Personally, I liked his bromance with the Goblin more than the latter's love story with Eun-Tak. (** insert: the MIB'ish slow-mo scene where the two of them walk towards Eun-Tak to save her. Also, the beaut BGM**)

But I am also heartily biased towards 'Sunny' aka Kim Sun, Wang Yeo's queen and Kim Shin's sister in her previous birth. Sunny is everything that Yeo is not -- bold, courageous, unafraid of chasing the man she dotes on and a strong woman with an even stronger pool of self-love.

The story is slow-paced, highlighting how transitory life is and how beautiful it is to be alive. We see the gradual progression of days as the Goblin and Eun-Tak fall in love and how the latter shows our hero what it means to live fully. Just following this up with some of my favorite learnings from the drama now:

1. You cannot change the past but you can learn from it. Something Wang Yeo does so beautifully when he regains his memories as a GR and repents for his past acts of cruelty and injustice.

2. Choose yourself, over and over again. Ah, I learned so much from Sunny, especially about how sometimes, forgiveness is not the answer and you cannot force yourself to offer it.

3. Through pain and discomfort, we grow. I could see this with Kim Shin's character --- first a deft goblin with a cocky attitude, we see his heart open up to the vulnerability of being human, of loving someone even when there isn't a guarantee of a happy ending and letting pain help him rise to be a better man, to himself and those he loves.

While Goblin is a fascinating drama, I wouldn't call it a favorite nor something I'd like to re-watch. Maybe because the expectations I set for it were too high and the show felt a little too long and intense. Another lesson learned: never read Google reviews of a drama before you happen to watch it yourself.

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GIF Credits: | 2 - Yahoo News Singapore | 5 - Wattapad | 6 & 17 - Giphy | 11 - Pinterest | 

~ On Seong Wu’s photography skills are 💯💯💯. Here are a few of the photos he snapped from their first day in Buenos Aires. Kang Ha Neul was a complete fairy when he offered to take Seong Wu’s photos so that the latter would have enough memories of himself from the trip. What cuties.❤ ~

From: Traveler (S2), Episode 1