Although each episode of Kiss Goblin is only about 12 minutes in length, this supernatural kdrama romance packs a suprising amount of story into every scene. It's also charming and funny, and I thought just about perfect for a sweet romance.
A 160-year-old forest goblin, Ban Sook (Bae In Hyuk) wants to become human. To do that, the Goblin Queen (Lee Jung Min) tells him he must kiss ten humans and absorb and learn an emotion from each of them, something no goblin has ever been able to do. It's also dangerous, as there are exorcists in our world who hunt goblins to protect humanity from them.
Because he doesn't want to be alone forever Ban Sook takes on the impossible task anyway, and comes into the human world to get started. While kissing his first two targets he's seen by jaded college student Oh Yeon Ah (Jae Hye Won), who goes after him for being a two-timer and discovers he's not human. After stopping an exorcist from killing the goblin she then decides to help protect him while he's on his mission.
Thanks to a two-timing ex and a job as a busy restaurant server Yeon Ah hates people in general, so she's not interested in the handsome goblin romantically. Instead she has him move in with her, do her housework, pay her rent and cook for her in exchange for her protection. Yet she's drawn to Ban Sook, who is a gentleman, and gradually their alliance becomes a friendship that evolves into a quiet romance.
Every human Ban Sook kisses teaches him an emotion he's never before felt, which develops his character beautifully through the series. There are always consequences of him acquiring emotions, too, which are often funny but sometimes quite touching as well. It's like watching a teenager grow up in a few weeks.
The targets forget the goblin immediately after the kissing, and there's no harm done to them, so he's hardly menacing. He enjoys living with Yeon Ah and becomes quite protective of her when her ex causes trouble. Yet the exorcist pursues Ban Sook relentlessly. The reincarnation of another exorcist who once fell in love with the goblin queen, he wants him dead before he can become human.
Finally Ban Sook learns that his tenth and final target is Yeon Ah, and she must teach him love. The Goblin Queen then informs him that moment he kisses her, she'll lose all memory of him, and he'll also forget her as he becomes a human being. At first Ban Sook decides to give up his quest and leave the human world forever rather than forget Yeon Ah, but once she learns about the consequences she convinces him to kiss her. If they're meant to be, they should leave it up to Fate to bring them together again.
While abbreviated on the world-building and short on details (such as why exactly goblins are considered by the exorcists as such a threat to humans) Kiss Goblin does a nice job in delivering a fun story in basically two and a half hours. I think seeing heartthrob actor Bae In Hyuk kiss ten girls was probably the whole point of it, but they did a decent job creating a story where he could. The ending was predictable (I saw it coming by Episode 2) but still very satisfying. The final scene of the series even offers some hope for the exorcist and the Goblin Queen, too. Available to watch free (with lots of commercials) on Viki.com.
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