My pre-teenage niece & sister highly recommended this TV drama.
Guardian: The Lonely and Great God - Goblin.
쓸쓸하고 찬란하神 – 도깨비
(Sseulsseulhago Chanlanhasin – Dokkaebi)
(the word chanlan means splendid/bright/shining)
WHAT?
A fantasy romance of 16 episodes.
It scored one of the highest rated drama in Korean cable television history.
Leading man:
金信/金侁 Kim Shin, the goblin.
A very good general 900 years ago in Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) was ordered to be killed by a young emperor manipulated by a cunning eunuch.
His own sword which was used to kill him, was stuck in his body forever but is invisible.
He become a goblin free to help people and he has supernatural power. He lives through the time carrying all the memories.
The only way to end such eternity & die properly is to find the human goblin's bride to remove the sword.
Living that many centuries and have ability to go to other countries via doors, he is a cultured man. His loyal follower/lieutenant 900 years ago and their reincarnations/offsprings, whom he helped, become super rich throughout the generations and their corporations provide credit card for him.
Leading lady:
池恩倬/池听晫 Ji Eun-tak. Most of the story happened when she was 19.
Her mother and her was saved by the goblin at her birth. She can see ghosts.
Destined to be Goblin's bride who can see him and can remove the sword for him after they fell in love. She was supposed to die at birth. So she is counted as a runaway or left-behind from the record of death.
2nd leading man:
One of the death-angel/grim reaper agents
who has no memory of their sinful life before and no name.
He was the emperor and the husband of the goblin's younger sister (the 2nd leading lady) 900 years ago.
He still loves the 2nd leading lady.
NOTE: Those grim reaper staff / death's angels
help to remove memories from souls and guides them to their reincarnations or afterlives.
They are invisible when they put on their black hats.
They can get the memory of people by touching them.
They can remove people's memory.
They can give back people's memory of previous life by kissing them.
2nd leading lady:
Sunny, the employer of the leading lady when she was doing part-time work as a student.
She was also the younger sister of the goblin over 900 years ago, the name was 金善 Kim Shin. She spot the antique jade ring at the same time as the grim reaper agent. She was confused by the grim reaper's social awkwardness but nevertheless fell in love with him again.
OTHER:
The story is an intricate one with lots of supporting characters.
Leading man's servants & offsprings,
especially the young one: 柳德華 Yoo Deok-hwa.
Sometimes God's messenger took over him to arrange the events, like, putting the two leading men to live in the same house.
The bad guy:
The evil ghost of the manipulative eunuch also wander around to try harming them.
(warning --- Spoiler below)
The Goblin had to get his bride to pull out his sword from his body
and use that sword to kill the evil ghost of the eunuch.
Everyone's memory about him or the events are erased.
He disappeared from this world and in a mysterious white wilderness.
10 years later,
his girlfriend grew up and become a radio programme editor/director.
By-chance she summoned the Goblin again.
He reappear but in his original appearance in ancient clothing and hairstyle.
She had no memory of who he is.
Eventually, after much efforts, the memory come back.
But soon after marriage,
she was killed in a car accident as she wanted to save people.
After some sad time, the Goblin moved to Canada...
Unexpectedly and eventually, his love reincarnated and as a 19 year old student visiting Canada.
As for the emperor and her queen (the Goblin's sister), she left them all to avoid the emotional pain, grew old and died at age 68 or so. The emperor/grim reaper was about to be released from the punishing job as grim reaper. They both exit the current life.
They reincarnated and become lovers -
a policeman and a TV star who started arguing on the filming site.
~ ~ ~
To me,
modern Korean TV dramas are like dessert, if not drugs.
Sweet/delicious but full of sugar and fat.
Additive.
To enjoy life, a little bit of dessert is permitted, right?
YET....
the matter of heart :
❤ LOVE, separation/death.
IMHO, there is no female who can watched such modern South Korean TV dramas (soap operas)
without crying / sobbing / weeping.
My niece, my sister,
et moi aussi.
Does any male audience have tears when they watch it?
Modern South Korean TV stories have the successful formula putting together
things/elements
which ordinary audience dream of:
the leading characters have
★ youthful handsome/beautiful look,
★luxurious lifestyle,
★stylish high-end clohtings & bags,
even ★superpower,
and the best of all,
❤exclusive dedicated loyal love
+
❤body-guard-like protection.
They have absorbed / combined / used elements from successful Japanese TV & Japanese animations.
Like...
~ going to place via doors.
~ the death-angels-agents arrange a room to let the soul remove memory and go on next life/reincarnation.
~ the black suit black hate death-angels/agents.
Actually, after the 21 episodes "My Love From The Star"
별에서 온 그대 ( Byeoreseo On Geudae )
which was a huge success and also a fantasy romance,
few drama can won me over in the same genre these few years.
This one is still interesting.
The story spans across thousands of years.
The main couple didn't make it in this life time,
but he waited and they met in next life...
The second couple, didn't make it in their first two life time,
but they started dating each other on the third life time.
EXTRA info
Part of the filming was done in Canada.
The story was written by Kim Eun-sook金銀淑.
Created by Studio Dragon & aired on cable network tvN.
Originally it's a Friday & Saturday evening TV drama in South Korea.
(2016-2017)
It has been broadcast in Southeast Asia countries like Japan, Hong Kong , Singapore , Taiwan, Brunei, Philippines, to Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Maldives.
Ancient Korea and ancient Koreans use traditional Chinese writing.
