The Lonely, Shining Goblin, 쓸쓸하고 찬란하神-도깨비

GENRE

Drama, romance, fantasy

EPISODES

16

RELEASE DATE

December 2nd, 2016

MAIN CAST

          Gong Yoo                    Kim Go Eun                   Lee Dong Wook                  Yoo In Na

SHORT SYNOPSIS

It is a story about four beings whose fates are linked by the tragic events of the past. Kim Shin (Gong Yoo) is a cursed immortal protector of souls, a goblin. He happens to come across the Grim Reaper (Lee Dong Wook) responsible for taking deceased souls.

On the contrary, Ji Eun Tak (Kim Go Eum) is a high school student, a missing soul, that possesses a special ability allowing her to see ghosts. It soon turns out that she is the only one who can take off Kim Shin's curse. A goblin's bride.

MY REFLECTIONS

Okay, so the story with me watching this drama is a bit complicated. After I have seen the first episode I thought the story line was pretty interesting and unique, so I kept watching it. I managed to watch 4 full episodes, but when I was on episode five I got really bored with it. At that time the story seemed really slow and, to be honest, just simply dull. For me, this drama has been just average. I was actually thinking about dropping it for good, so I moved to another drama airing that time (I think it was "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo"). I didn't really get what was all the hype around this drama about.

So after some time has passed, I decided to give this drama a second chance. And that is when something really weird happened because my whole view on this drama has changed dramatically. Suddenly I appreciated acting of the main characters, I understood deep and wise dialogues among them and fantastically written story line. Each week I found myself waiting impatiently for the next episode to come out. It was, in fact, a slow paced drama, but in the positive sense of the word.

I think my first bad impression could have been caused by the fact I did not expect much from this drama, to begin with. I don't know. Maybe I have become too accustomed to all of those cliche stories, so when something different has finally appeared, I turned on some kind of defense mechanism saying "Wait, what? That's weird, that's different. Let's stop now, let's not watch it." Or maybe I just wrongly assumed that if something is advertised so much, and if there is so much hype going around it, then, for sure, it must be overrated. Up to this day, I have absolutely no idea what I was actually thinking back then.

So, after I have finished watching it, I gave it some more thought and I can honestly say it is an absolute masterpiece. I think it is one of the best dramas (if not the best) that aired in recent years. Well done tvN - again.

Spoilers alert below!

Main characters

As I wrote in the synopsis, Kim Shin is a goblin. He was granted an eternal life because of some things that he has done in the past. However, his immortality is by no means a gift. It is rather more like a curse because he has to live forever, not being able to forget his painful past.

At first, this character is portrayed very lonesome, but everything changes when he meets Ji Eun Tak. Suddenly you can see a lot of very different sides of him. From happy, ecstatic, through jealous and childish, to really hurt and pained and even depressed. Despite his a little bit too self-centered personality, he is, in his own way, a very caring person that shows his affection by being mean to the other person.

As I have a thing for crying men (I know it's weird, no need to tell me), I was really satisfied with Gong Yoo's acting during some of those heartbreaking scenes. 

I think Ji Eun Tak is my favorite character in this drama. Despite she is only a high school student, at times, she seems more mature than older a few hundreds of years Kim Shin. Even though her life is pretty miserable, she stays bubbly, really energetic and positive. Her acting is also very convincing.

The Grim Reaper is another interesting character in this drama. He has no memory whatsoever of his past life. As the punishment for the commitment of the greatest and the heaviest sin in his previous life, he is appointed to see off the deceased souls from this world. Because of the Goblin's indocile nephew, he happens to live together with the Goblin. It was really fun to watch those two acting together and to see how both characters were slowly getting along and becoming friends. And, oh, man... He is so damn good-looking.

Ji Eun Tak: Hey, don’t you think he’s handsome for no use? Is it because people tend to follow a handsome grim reaper? Maybe they only hire handsome ones. Are all grim reapers handsome?

Kim Shin: Do you call that handsome?

Ji Eun Tak: Yes. He’s handsome.

Kim Shin: What about me?

Ji Eun Tak: You’re… just looking.

Sunny is also an important character. She is a chicken restaurant owner, where Ji Eun Tak works at. She seems frivolous, bright and caring. One day she meets the Grim Reaper and falls in love with him at the first sight. She is confused and intrigued by the Grim Reaper's weird behavior. The relationship between those two is sooooo complicated and... weird. The scenes of their romance are ridiculously funny.

So what exactly did I like about this drama?

First of all, I liked how the important parts of the show (like the first meeting of characters or their emotions during particular scenes) were emphasized by the slow motion effects and emotional music, accompanied by beautiful pictures that go through the viewer.

Secondly, despite the whole story was quite heavy and sad, there was a really good amount of hilarious scenes portraying fights between characters, their jealousy, relationships and the problems they have been facing, especially when it came to love problems.

I think for me the best part of this drama was the relationship between two main characters - Ji Eun Tak and Kim Shin. From the very beginning when they saw each other for the first time, until the very end of the drama. Those warm gestures, their caring gazes. There were also quite a lot moving as well as funny dialogues between the two. 

"Every moment I spent with you shined. Because the weather was good, because the weather was bad, and because the weather was good enough… I loved every moment of it."

What else is worth mentioning? The soundtrack. I am not a great fan of k-pop, at all, but I think the music was harmonious and well matched with particular scenes, additionally making them more emotional and hypnotizing.

There were, of course, a few scenes that didn't exactly work for me, but nothing much worth mentioning. Overall, it was a really good drama.