Korean Drama - Guardian: The Lonely & Great God

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안녕하세요 

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは 

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

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Guardian: The Lonely and Great God is a South Korean TV drama series and is known internationally as Goblin and known as Dokkaebi in South Korea.
The show is written by Kim Eun-Sook and Directed by Lee Eung-Bak, Kwon Hyuk-Chan and Yoon Jong-Ho.
Goblin aired on cable network tvN every Friday and Saturday at 8pm from the 2nd of December 2016 until the 21st of January 2017, running for a total of 16 episodes.

The series stars:

Gong Yoo as Kim Shin aka Goblin

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Kim Go Eun as Ji Eun-Tak

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Lee Dong-Wook as Grim Reaper

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Yoo In-Na as Sunny

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Yook Sungjae as Yoo Deok-Hwa

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The first script reading was held at Nuri Dream Square in Sangam-dong, Seoul in South Korea on the 30th of August 2016, the Goryeo-era flashbacks were filmed on Gimje, North Jeolla Province on the 22nd September 2016 for the battle scenes, with the palace scenes being filmed at Naju Image Theme Park.
Goblin and Grim Reapers external house shots were filmed at Unhyeongung's western house while overseas filming mainly took place in Quebec City in Canada during October 2016, featuring locations such as the Chateau Frontenac, Parc du Bastion-de-la-reine, Petit Champlain and the Fontaine de Tourny.

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Goblin was a hit and consistently topped the cable television viewership ratings in it's time-slot, with it's final episode recording an 18.680% nationwide audience share, making the episode the 2nd highest rated in Korean cable television history. Goblin became the first cable drama to surpass 20% ratings.
The drama also sparked various fashion trends, with items and accessories worn by the cast members, such as the Lavin coat worn by Gong Yoo, the Lancome lipstick used by Go Eun and the fedora worn by Lee Dong-Wook seeing an increase in sales.

Soundtracks featured in the series topped local digital music chart, check out some of my favourites now.

OST PT.1

Stay With Me - Chanyeol and Punch

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OST PT.3

Hush - Lasse Lindh

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OST PT.4

Beautiful - Crush

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OST PT.6

Who Are You - Sam Kim

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OST PT.7

I Miss You - Soyou

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OST PT.11

And I'm Here - Kim Kyung Hee

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OST PT.11

Stuck In Love - Kim Kyung Hee

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OST PT.14

Round and Round - Heize and Han Soo-Ji

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Since 2017, it has surpassed Descendants of the Sun in video-on-demand sales, it's success was attributed to the creative plot, the Korea Times stated "the depth of perspective looking at life of the goblin that bears a bloody sword in his chest and has been given eternal life as punishment, immerses the audience into the fantasy story. The twist and complexity of life and death make the story more interesting.

Despite it's success, Goblin was criticized for it's several consumer product placements, which drew an estimated 2.4 billion KRW from revenue, TV and cultural critics also criticized various aspects of the drama, such as it's strong Cinderella complex and the huge age gap of the lead characters, which might lead to a decline in females social status, it was also criticized for it's over-dramatic plot.

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Kim Shin is a goblin and protector of souls, he is the landlord of the Grim Reaper who is in charge of taking deceased souls. Shin doesn't want immortality anymore but needs a human goblin's bride in order to end his long life. Meanwhile, Ji Eun-Tak is a high school student who despite her painful reality, remains optimistic. She summons the goblin by chance and through various encounters, ends up falling in love with him. Sunny is an owner of a chicken wing shop, a woman who is loved by all men and is also a reincarnation of Kim Shin's sister. These 4 peoples lives change when they encounter and their lives become entangled.

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So what can I say about this drama? I'm still to watch anything else that effects me the way Goblin did, it took me months to be able to get into another Korean drama. From start to finish this drama was pure aesthetic, the colours, the sets, the styling were all breath-taking. The casting and acting was amazing, I already liked Gong Yoo's acting in Train To Busan but his acting for Goblin was on another level, they all did so well. I don't think there was an episode that didn't have me crying or laughing for that matter, the bromance between Goblin and Grim Reaper was my favourite coupling of the drama as it was for most of the audience. Waking up the next morning of watching the final episode my eyes were seriously puffy from all the crying I did, I'm surprised Skye didn't come into me to see why I was crying because I wasn't doing it quietly, I was literally bawling my eyes out, I think I dehydrated myself from all the crying. I've watched more Korean dramas since but personally for me none have been on par with Goblin, I've enjoyed the dramas I've watched but none of their soundtracks still bring me to tears months after watching.

I seriously do recommend watching Goblin if you haven't yet, whether you watch Korean dramas or not, I really recommend this drama, it's the best drama I've ever watched and my favourite drama of all time.

Have you watched Goblin?

Were you a fan?

Who was your favourite couple?

Do you have a favourite track from the OST?

Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Train To Busan

Hello

Annyeong

Konnichiwa

Ni Hao

Train To Busan is a South Korean Zombie Apocalypse action thriller movie, which is written by Park Joo-Suk, produced by Lee Dong-Ha and Directed by Yeon Sang-Ho.

It stars:
Gong Yoo as Seok-Woo

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Ahn Su-An as Soo-An

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Jung Yu-Mi as Seong-Kyeong

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Ma Dong-Seok as Sang-Hwa

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Choi Woo-Shik as Yongguk

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Ahn So-Hee as Jin-Hee

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The film takes place on a train to Busan, as a zombie apocalypse suddenly breaks out in the country and compromises the safety of the passengers.

Train To Busan premiered in the midnight screening section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on the 13th of May, on the 7th of August 2016, the film set a record as the first Korean film of 2016 to break the audience record of over 10 million theatregoers. The film grossed $87.5 million worldwide, and became the highest grossing Korean film in Malaysia ($4.4 million), Hong Kong ($8.52 million) and Singapore ($3.1 million). American distributor Well Go USA released both DVD and Blu-ray versions of Train To Busan on January 17th 2017, FNC Add Culture released the Korean DVD and Blu-ray versions on February 22nd. In December 2016, Variety said that Gaumont would remake Train To Busan in English.

Sok-Woo, a father with not much time for his daughter, Soo-An, are boarding the KTX, a fast train that shall bring them from Seoul to Busan, But during the journey, the zombie apocalypse begins, and most of the earths population become flesh craving zombies. While the KTX is shooting towards Busan, the passengers fight for their families and lives against the zombies - and each other.

Train To Busan Trailer #1
Train To Busan Trailer #2
I love shows like The Walking Dead as well as other zombie films and seeing the trailer once for this film I wanted to check it out, I saw that it was getting a lot of praise and that made me want to see it even more. I went into this film expecting the usual zombie apocalypse scenario and thought the film would end with a work crazy father realising that his daughter is more important than his work, something his own mother tries to tell him, well that did happen just not in the way I thought it was going to happen. I went into Train To Busan expecting the usual Zombie horror and gore and came away emotionally drained, 4 moments in the film I was brought to tears, not something that's ever happened when watching anything zombie or horror related. On several occasions I found that at gripping scenes I was sat holding my breath waiting for the danger to to pass. Overall I thought Train To Busan was an amazing and incredible film, I felt I connected with all the characters and even found myself wanting the zombies to get one of the characters as he was so manipulative and was only looking out for himself. I highly recommend this film to any zombie fan whether you're a fan or subtitles or not it's a must watch movie, the acting, directing and script is all on point, I'm not surprised that Gong Yoo is a popular actor in South Korea, until watching Train To Busan, I didn't realise he was the lead actor in a drama I've been wanting to watch and have the series in my saved list to buy. If you don't grow to love certain characters then I'll be surprised and if you don't finish the film heartbroken and that you've been though an emotional roller coaster then you yourself must be among the zombie population :). I personally think this is the best zombie movie I've watched and is on par with The Walking Dead series, even though some scenes with the zombies gathering together is a bit laughable it's a must see.

I feel I can't go into too much detail about the film as I don't want to give away any spoilers but all I can say is watch it and make your own mind up about how much of an amazing film it is, why are you still here go and watch it!

See you soon!

Annyeong
Sayonara
Zai Jian
Bye