The Scholar Who Walks the Night (2015)

I am a fan of fantasy and supernatural stories so I'm inclined to like these type dramas. I gave all three vampire k-dramas (Blood and Orange Marmalade) a go in 2015, and Scholar is the best one. However, that might not be saying much.

Based on a much loved manwha (sorry if I spelled that incorrectly), there were a lot of expectations for this drama. I found the first 6 episodes to be quite good, and I was happy enough with the story. Unfortunately at around episode 7 through approximately 11ish, the story just floundered. Even after that it was uneven here and there. Since I was watching this as it aired, I did see that the production had to bring in a second writer by episode 10 so they knew they had a problem with the adaptation. This is the reality of the live shoot system. It is my understanding the source material was very complex with lots of stories and threads, and I believe they really tried to do too much and it got away from them. Most of the issues I personally had with the drama have to do with how it was adapted specifically the story choices made regarding defeating Gwi.

Also, the last episode in regard to the timing of events and the culmination of the drama was all over the place. Definitely a victim of a rushed live shoot or a writer drinking too much soju. As far as the ending, of course, no spoiler. I was fine with it but it wasn't totally satisfying. I'm kind of over watching dramas of manga/manwha etc when the source material is still being written because I feel it ties down the drama story.

Music: Like 90% of k-dramas, the OST is overused. I liked all but one song and, much to my surprise, that one grew on me over time. Apparently many took a dislike to what I'll call the "quirky" song but this just isn't a big deal to me personally. I'm in it for the story.

Cast: Changmin: I thought he pulled off charming quite well, dramatic less so.

Lee Soo Hyuk: People took a liking to Gwi, who is pretty much total evil, because LSH is hot. I mean if I had a dollar for every time I've read that. I thought he was a little cardboard, but someone who read the source material said that this is how Gwi pretty much was so I'll take their word for it. I've since seen him in Lucky Romance and a few episodes of Neighborhood Hero, and I thought he was good.

Lee Yubi: Okay, this gal gets so much grief, and I definitely noticed that people who saw her in a lot of other dramas seemed more critical. I don't judge an actress on what the writers have her do in a drama. I mean c'mon that's not right. I can't speak to the "wide eyed look" that seemed to irk others. I was actually fine with her and found her more believable dressed as a boy than a lot of other k-drama actresses I've seen. I thought she and LJG had a sweet chemistry....not off the charts but given the age difference and historical genre, pretty much what I expect.

Lee Joon Gi: He was great and the reason many people stuck with the drama. I personally thought the vampire scenes should have been toned down but that's the way the production decided to go so okay. LJG has grown as an actor, and I love him but he can go OTT if not careful. I do have to say that they play up how pretty he is in this drama so to see him go play Wang So with half his face covered and the weight loss making his features more angular is just kind of fun.

I thought this was beautifully filmed and the costumes were gorgeous.

Final Analysis: As far as some type of coherent vampire supernatural drama, nope it just isn't going to work. However, the romance really worked for me so if you want to give it a go for that you might have to do some fast forwarding. If you can't buy into the two leads together, best to move on.

One last thought....I do want to give credit to all the actors I mention as well as others in the production because this drama got trounced by the end of Mask and then Yong Pal. (Though it did beat the 3rd drama...maybe Assembly...it's been a while.) This production was obviously having difficulties behind the scenes, and the actors stuck with it and gave it their all. Since the leads take the heat when these things happen, I bow to Yubi (regardless of what people think of her performance) and LJG because that couldn't have been fun, especially after both being injured in some kind of accident during filming. If at any time I felt that they weren't invested, I would have bailed and they gave it their all imo 'til the end.

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Story: At first it had an excellent beginning, but when I arrived at the episodes 10-14 it became a bit boring, I have to say that I stopped watching it (I was on holidays and when I came back I felt like I didn't want to continue watching it), since a friend of mine told me that since episode 14 until 17 doesn't happen so much, I just skipped them and continued it since episode 18, at last I found it interesting again. The 3 last episodes were good. The end was preety, but I expected a little different end so I just acquiesced to it.

Acting/Cast: It was my first time seeing JoonGi and SooHyuk acting, and wow I specially liked the character of SooHyuk, he suited a lot his character of devil vampire, I think he was the most interesting of the story, specially I found so sad his story... JoonGi and YuBi were a cute couple, but sometimes I got desperate because they weren't moving forward. About ChangMin, I don't have something to tell about him, I had already saw him in 'Paradise Ranch' and I liked his acting. I saw YuBi in 'Pinnochio' and since there I liked her, of course her character somehow sometimes was a bit passive so I will just look the other way. SoEun's character was a bit hateful but I also appreciated her when lots of episodes proceeded.The best one was HeeJin, even if she had a supporting role, I found her acting very impressive, ****[SPOILER SPOILER: at beginning I thought she could be evil, but she was so lovely END SPOILER]****

Music: I really loved the music, I even donwloaded all of the tracks. All of the songs suited each scenes.

Rewatch Value: I would think about seeing it again, because of the episodes which turned a boring, but I won't say I won't see it again someday, it could happen.

Overall: It's a 6.5/10 because it was quite good, except the episodes I skiped, if they just made the drama shorter it could have a better mark.

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I don't understand why the rating is 7.9, the drama was great - from the very beginning to the very end.

Lee Joon-gi was outstanding as usual and I expected nothing less. He played his character the way I wanted him to - at its finest and doing his best during every minute of the episodes.

This drama served as great entertainment with its magical effect and mystical plot twist. The music was great and made me feel the atmosphere better, it really contributed to the emotions you get while watching. G.NA did quite well!

The one actor that also gave me chills with his extreme handsomeness and skills when it came to acting was Lee Soo-hyuk. I will check another drama or movie of him for sure! His facial expressions, his professional gait of a real model, his height and his voice are something worth watching. Did I mention his acting talent?! I was convinced after the first few minutes that this casting decision was a good one, as Soo-hyuk portrayed the dark Gwi role brilliantly.

Fortunately, I haven't felt the drama drawn-out, but the acting of the main female role was from time to time, to explain it nicer, annoying or to be more accurate - I felt like Yu-bi was quite annoyed and upset, especially during the kissing scenes. If there are true Joon-gi fans here, they all know that the way he kisses in dramas can make you feel that he's in love with the person he's kissing. But the girls... There's no chemistry here like everywhere else he's playing with some exceptions. On the other hand, you can find chemistry between other characters but I don't want to spoil, the idea's to catch your attention after all.

In addition to everything I wrote, the timeline was exclusively clear! It wasn't hard to tell whether it had been days or months or years that had passed since the last time a given character had been on screen. And I think this is very important when it comes to series.

To sum up, Scholar Who Walks The Night is exciting, creative, dark and at the same time beautiful, magical and unique. It's well worth those 20 hours of your time!

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First of all, Lee Joongi is one of my favourite Actors (along Song Joongki), but I am not a fan of all of his dramas. One Drama I dropped because in my opinion the role in 'Hero' didn't suit him.
I planned to see SWWTN even before he was confirmed as the male lead. But when I read that he would play the role of Kim Sungyeol I was happy because I missed him in a drama.

The Story sounds interesting (I didn't read the manhwa) so I was excited for the beginning of July when the drama started. Normally I don't like dramas with Vampires but I thought that it would be different, if it is set in the Joseon period. So I started the drama from beginning when it was aired. The Beginning of the drama was very interesting, but some scenes was a bit...not boring for me, but not so, that I would give it a 10.

The Cast was very good. Lee Joonki plays his role as a Vampire scholar very autenthic and even though I wasn't a fan of him after this drama I would be one. Before this drama I thought already that he is the best when it comes to historical dramas, even though I would love to see him in a drama like 'Two Weeks' again. When I heart that Lee Yoobi would play the female Lead I was sceptical. I watched Pinocchio and there I found her very annoying. But I think she did very well and the Chemistry was very good. Kim Soeun is a very talented actress, but her role was a little bit confusing. Changmin surprised me with his role as the crown Prince. He acted very well compared to his drama 'Paradise Ranch'. Jang Heejin and Choi Taehwan did their rifht thing and were well, too.

But what I like the most of this drama is the Music. I love the OST. All of them. In my opinion it is the best OST in a drama this year.

All in all I would recommend the drama and I will watch it again, if my 'plan to watch'-List is smaller^^.

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A lot of people seem to complain about this drama and I can see why. The acting is pretty average, not awful at all but not that great either: just good enough to get across the general emotions. (Though this changes for each actor! In particular I loved Sung ChangMin's acting. When he cried he literally cried: red swollen eyes and all! The main villain is pretty badass too). While the story is...more interesting than usual, but more in the way of a rollercoaster: some bits were very predictable, while other bits had me sat on the edge of my seat in anticipation.

I think with some tweaks here and there I would've given this drama a 9/10 instead of a 7.5/10. The general story has great potential, and though I personally wasn't pleased with the 'end of the ending' (for reasons I can't say due to spoilers!) a lot of people were.

So...don't treat it too harshly and you'll be in for a good watch.

I have no regrets at all about starting this drama. In fact, it was this drama which broke my vampire-drama-ickiness! (I don't know why, but I usually find them really...'cringey'.) It isn't the best drama out there but it is certainly worth your time! I know I've definitely got a special place for it in my memory.

Thank you, 'Scholar Who Walks the Night', for breaking my vampire drama prejudice!

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It was also so close to be called as masterpiece, I agree that it was a great drama but I also I agree that it isnt either. I dont know, Lee Soo Hyuk took his hotness to the other level that it made me think that he was the reason why I continued to watch this drama. So close to be called exciting, Cliffhangers is a must on dramas sometimes but in this case, they always come to solve all the problems/issues before the episode ends and it feels it have left something for me to be desired. However, I liked that too because it made me not to think hard and everything went so easy.
The acting was 7/10 and the cinematography is 8/10. It was close but I wont deny that I liked the plot. Overall, it was 8/10.

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Vampire behind the Throne

For me, I must admit that Lee Joon Gi is the reason I watch this and have to bear watching till the end. I am his fan.

The opening is interesting, after Ep. 4 things got too boring. I skipped the boring scene all the time. Many people said the bad storyline put down this show but I do not agree. The story itself got some good points but the scriptwriter messes many scenes to the stupid boring of the female heroine. Her role always shows her innocent and mistakes. I should be ok if it is only one or two times, but this was like too many stupid loops running. Girl, I am so sorry, you are annoying.

Things get better after Ep 12 to14 and yet I still have to skip. It became my routine for this show.
Acting:
I tell you Gwi (Lee Soo Hyuk) has his vampire aura and I don't skip is his scenes. I gave him 9.5/10.

I saw some reviews that said Lee Joon Gi and the female heroine got good chemistry. I am like "what, really" what is he saw in her to make him love her.

LJG acting for this show I score 8/10, he did a much better job in the other shows.

For the second female lead, Kim So Eun, I like her role much more. Mostly because her role is complicated, sad, deep and she makes no stupid mistake. The development of this character is well done. She and Gwi hit the top point for the talking after killing.

I think the whole drama should be made for 10 episodes long and cut the stupid scenes.

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Amazing Villain Who Stole The Show

This is already my second review titled "Amazing Villain Who Stole The Show" and it's even more true in this case. I was not a fan of this show, I'll be upfront about it. Let's break down some pros and cons, shall we?

PRO
- Gwi was an amazing villain and Lee Soo Hyuk stole the f*cking show with him. His scenes are so consistently beautiful to look at and his arc is so good that I was wondering sometimes if the whole show was written around him.
- I love the idea of a vampire story set in Joseon. I love vampires, I'm onboard with everything having to do with vampires.
- Quite enjoyable side characters. And there's a lot of them. And they all give decent performances. Special shout out to my girl Soo Hyang (played by Jang Hee Jin), and Lee Yoon (played by Changmin, who did a surprisingly solid job).
- I liked how this show looked overall. Great costumes, lots of night time scenes (which I like) and, again, Gwi looks great in every scene he's in. I know I'm repeating myself but I cannot overstate to you how sexy Lee Soo Hyuk is in this drama. There's a scene where he's splattered in blood, staring sadly into the middle distance, if you need anymore convincing to do what I did and skip through everything else and just watch his parts.

CON
- If it hadn't been for Gwi I would not have been able to finish this show. I couldn't have done this without him. And for that I'll be forever grateful to my president, vampire overlord Gwi.
- Everyone spoke incredibly slow and the shots lingered a little too long in almost every scene. To fill screentime I presume?? It was weird and awkward.
- The main couple was completely miscast, had no chemistry and were outshone by about every side character. I don't think Lee Yoo Bi was very good in this, I felt like she was phoning it in, but I've never seen her in anything else, so I don't know whether she's a more competent actor usually. Lee Joon Ki was better, but not by much. But at least he gave a decent performance. You could tell he was trying but no trying in the world would lead to these two people having any kind of chemistry and I was left wondering what the casting director was thinking putting these two together. It didn't help that Lee Joon Ki looks like he's 40 and Lee Yoo Bi looks like she could 15 and that he was constantly scolding her and ordering her around like your mom's new boyfriend drunk on power.
- The romance was terrible. I hated seeing the two leads together. And yes, this point is different from the last because this time I'm talking about the writing. By the end Lee Yoo Bi's character had barely any relevance and up until that point all they had been in together were incredibly clichéd romance scenes which you've seen a hundred times in other dramas.
- By the end it was so convoluted and I was wondering whether the screenwriters had any idea where they were going anymore. They seemed to have about four post-it notes with vague scene ideas in front of them that they kept cycling through several times per episode: "Someone gets hurt and has to be nursed back to health in a romantic way", "Gwi looking sexy and menacing (let's put effort into this guys!!)", "someone's scheming inside the palace", "the peasants are dissatisfied" and "side characters explaining what's going on and how everybody feels about that." It got very boring very quickly.

Conclusion: Watch this if you're into the vampire master brand of evil sexiness and skip everything else.

But that's just my two cents.

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I was really looking forward to watching this drama. I really enjoyed Lee Joon Gi in what I've seen of Time Between Dog and Wolf. I didn't know any of the other actors except Lee Soo Hyuk.

The story was OK. I think it could have been shorter and there really wasn't enough going on to sustain the length of the show. If you like a vampire story it's solid, but it had so much potential. There are plenty of slow episodes that could have been done away with and we could have more information about Kim Sung Yeol at the end.

Lee Soo Hyuk was excellent. I've only seen him in HSK and I hated him, but this role really suits him and he revels in it. If you're a fan of his, definitely watch this drama, you'll love the scope he's given and what he does with it, he's absolutely mesmerising to watch and plays his character perfectly.

I've never seen Shim Chang Min in anything before. He played his character believably and put in good work, he was likable when he should be likeable and horrible when he should be horrible. I cared about him too.

Kim So Eun. I'm adding her to the list of women capable of playing good strong accomplished characters. She was exceptional and so was Jang Hee Jin who i really didn't like in the beginning but by the end I really wanted her to be happy and I was proud of her and her hard work.

Lee Yu Bi is solid as Jo Yang Seon. There's nothing too special about her. At first I thought she was a bit too much like Park Shin Hye in You're Beautiful, but then she settled into her character and I really cared about her by the end.

Now, Lee Joon Gi. Sigh. He's either over-acting (screaming, crying and writhing) or not acting at all (staring). The only reason I cared about him at all is because I wanted Jo Yang Seon to be happy. I'm pretty sure the king says as much at some point. I'm SO GLAD HE WENT TO THE MILITARY INSTEAD OF PLAYING CHOI YOUNG IN FAITH. I felt like he was trying to mimic that character and the way Lee Min Ho played it instead of making Kim Sung Yeol his own, and it's sad, because we all know he can act.

Overall, there was so much potential here and one of the best bad guys ever and it's such a shame that it wasn't enough to make this drama good enough. As for the ending...sigh - without giving anything away, there's just no excuses for that kind of mediocrity. no excuses at all. Cut the guff from the middle and use that time to make a proper end.

The music was all over the place. Too loud, too mediocre, used inappropriately. I found it annoying when it should have been contributing to my feelings towards characters and plot points.

While I don't regret watching this drama, I won't ever re-watch it.

I'll recommend this drama for people who are fans of any of the actors except Lee Joon Gi. Otherwise, just skip it and spend your time on something better.

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Vampire Diaries

The poorly written prologue wasn't a good sign going into this drama. The leads didn't develop their relationship naturally, most of what we got to signify their romance was long dreamy stares. That's pure lazy writing. This what their romance was based off which made it hard to care about their romance, let alone their unmatched chemistry. If we were to ignore the romance, then we are left with the vampires which were equally lacking. The pacing of the storyline seemed uneven, resulting in moments of sluggishness followed by rushed progress. The bad guy barely showed up in the first half. Although I didn't expect much but the ending was just too boring.

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