Painter of the Night

A Dark and Passionate Tale of Forbidden Love

*I have invested 5 years of my life to read this manhwa while it was airing, from start to finish. So my review will be comparative in nature without spoiling the important bits*

This was one of those manhwas that made me go from "what the hell did I get myself into?!" to "Well, that was HELL of an infuriating ride... but DAMN, that was a satisfying ending! I kinda like it :p". By the record, this was my first ever red flag manhwa that shaped me into this 'toxic love" addicted creature. It was an anxious read, problematic and dubious af, which was obviously not at all comforting to read but, oh, I live for those angsty crumbs. 

Now about the drama; honestly and first of all, I was quite doubtful about this adaptation because of its problematic nature, and how they're supposed to showcase such things in the media. But after watching I can say they toned it down A LOT! And I think it's for the better to make it watchable on screen. Omitting the gruesome portrayal of abuse and sufferings was needed because it's not for this type of format. Some things are better if they stay hidden in the closed folds of paper. The content is HUGE and so summing them up within 2 hrs is pretty much commendable. There are no boring moments. So you're are presented a angsty romance with lots of twists and turns!

My only problem is the vertical format. This format doesn't really allow the storylines to delve deeper. But I'm quite happy and satisfied with this adaptation and I must admit that. 
Character wise, in the manhwa and drama, Nakyum is still lovely, lively and full of warmth, but it's Seungho who had a great character change in terms of its source material. Here Seung Ho is more humane than he is shown in the manhwa. Those sharp brush strokes, cold, cynical blazing gaze says that his character is basically emotionless, crazy and tyrant. But in the live adaptation, just because it's a real person acting, his character felt way more humane, soft and loveable than he was there, which I quite liked. 

The actors did a wonderful job! Each and every character was promising, and they gave their best. The direction was also well done, as it literally made me see those still panels coming back to life as if I was reliving the manhwa in front of my eyes. It's one of those manhwas that I'd be uncomfortable/ embarassed to read in public and honestly, I didn't and don't expect to see those level of smutty illustrations in this short vertical format. Kisses were so-so, could have been better, intimate scenes were quite bland, but in this short time not everything could be done as per our taste. Also, there were quite a few changes in this, but not that evident enough to see if one doesn't know what's in the manhwa. 

Overall, I liked it inspite of my initial concerns as the adaptation followed the manhwa very, very well!

P.S: Here linking my feeds post in the comments for those who wants to see the pictorial similarities in the manhwa and the drama.

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Deeper Than Expected

I saw the trailer. We all probably did. It’s probably what brought you here. And yes, this drama does start off in that vein: toxic, deeply unhealthy, and raunchy as hell. That’s just to hook you though. It might start with smutty melodrama, but it turns into a pretty classic star-crossed love story. It’s very romantic, the cast manages to be pretty solid, and the quality of production is way better than you’d expect of a mini-drama in the vertical format.

If you want the absolutely outrageous implausibility we normally get from the verticals this might not work for you, but if you want an on-the-go vertical that brings a bit more classic K-drama style to your BL table, this will definitely suit.

Please note I’ve rated this with the general standard of vertical dramas in mind, so, yes, it’s an eight-plus by those standards, but it’s not an eight in the full length, landscape format sense.

The casting is well done, the costumes are obviously made of modern materials, but are well-made. The budget always shows when there’s a gat in the offing. There’s not a single horse hair in one of them, and I doubt there’s any bamboo either. Nylon and wire all the way.

Anyway, that’s smart use of budget. They used the money where it was needed, and it ensures a polished product. It’s the best vertical I’ve seen, once they get past the bait (sexy bits), and move into the actual story. The sexy bits definitely feel like choreographed and rehearsed shenanigans, rather than practised erotica. it’s far too techical to be organic or improvised by gay men who know the drill, pun intended. I doubt many MLM hookups go down the way these guys go at it. It just doesn’t look that fun. it’s very elegant though, and carefully conceals the undoubted presence of underwear 😏

Anyway, you can watch this in the Lezhin Snack app. It cost me around $NZ12 (USD7), and I don’t feel ripped off, so that shows how extraordinary it is for a vertical. Enjoy, or don’t. It’s up to you.

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This Manhwa should never got Live Action

I will talk about this drama as an avid followers of the manhwa from season 1 until the end and the Live action as expected will be watered down their 18++ contents. Personally i am okay with Nagyum cast but for Seungho it was letdown for me and his acting was not convinced as wild Seungho. The chemistry between the leads was almost non-exist and obviously industrial saccharin. they still using camera trick for kissing scene even their pecking was not convinced me. The plot was quite disjointed since they crammed all the season into one drama and it was obivously on-budget drama. As someone who follows the manhwa, this is quite disaster and sometimes few BL manhwa should stays as manhwa.

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A watered down version of the manhwa

I believe we all kinda expected that, it's not as smutty nor explicit as the manhwa (for a good reason) it only focuses on the dramatic side of the story and completely ignores the other parts, specially the parts the manhwa is famous for xD

Somehow it's not worse nor better, I believe it's more adaptable like that, i don't like that they dropped big chunks of the manhwa and even changed some parts but it's a short vertical drama so that's just the way the cookie crumbles.

I think acting is ok-ish, they still relies on camera angles and lips touching - in a smutty manhwa adaptation, mind you - which got me scratching my head while watching, i know it's tuned down but at least have some decent kisses lol.

Judging as a drama only, I wouldn't really recommend it, I've seen much better vertically filmed shows and this simply doesn't have the spark! But judging as an adaptation, if you like the OG and want to see a glimpse of the story as a live action, go for it, it's more "family friendly" and less traumatizing show!!

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drama filled historical vertical series

Overall: note that my content warnings and the series itself have some pretty heavy scenes. I haven't read the original manhwa of the same name and reviewed this live action series on its own. Aired on the Lezhin Snack app (total run time about 2 hours). Later aired on GagaOOLala https://www.gagaoolala.com/en/verticals/8843/painter-of-the-night-2026 and Shortime.

Content Warnings: past (murders, blood spatter shown, homophobia, coercion); current (murders, gang rape? (not sure if it already happened and was happening again or it hadn't happened the first time), dub/non con sex, non con kissing, punches, beginning sexual assault, drugging, kidnapping, blood)

What I Liked
- historical setting
- the ending in the past (see spoiler comment)
- the caring moments that were shown

Room For Improvement
- didn't always feel the chemistry, the one lead felt like a kicked puppy
- needed more time to develop their relationship

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Shouldn’t Have Adapted This Story…

First of all, why is it even vertical? Second, why even bother to make an adaptation of this story? Idk it's just off.

I already knew it was going to be nothing like the manhwa (which understandably so) and that's again why I wonder who even suggested adapting this.

I think Painter of the Night is just one of those stories that should not be tampered with. It's a manhwa and should remain so.

There's just no live adaptation that could do justice to the story.

I would rate this a five for the effort and nothing else. It was not an enjoyable watch for me (not the biggest fan of the storyline and everything either) so there's that too.

Anyways, just read the manhwa if you feel like it. It tells the story better.

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Good enough I'm watching it a third time

I did not read the manhwa for this and stumbled upon it originally on a vigloo ad, then moved over to watch it on iQIYI.

This was far better than I expected. The characters and storyline are solid. The lowborn ML is perfectly cast and delivers the angst and longing you would expect. The ML playing the Young Master is superb.

It's bogged down by the typical short/vertical drama limited time frame, and could use a little more exposition but for what constraints they were given, this is up at the top of my listings for short dramas now. I hope someone out there recognizes it for what it's worth and gives it a longer form drama outlet in the near future.

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Mild adaptation of manhwa, passable chemistry

So, as someone who read the manhwa this will be a very biased review.
I think we all kinda anticipated this outcome when they first announced that they were going to make an adaptation. I had also kinda hoped that it would get like a 10 episode run of 20-30 min instead of this. But now that this is what we got I do actually think they do a good job with what they can and are allowed to show.

In comparison to manhwa:
It's definitely not as risqué or explicit as the original manhwa, and that’s understandable. Its a VERY explicit manhwa so it does show a milder very watered down version of some of the scenes but its also more hinting at the actions rather than showing them. So it does mainly it sticks primarily to the dramatic elements and leaves out many of the aspects that the manhwa is known for, which is a bit disappointing. I would have loved to see another country pick it up though. Although, they would have to change the whole sageuk part and make the historical aspects fit there. But for what we got im actually okay with it. Its by far my favourite and it really doesnt feel the best but yeah its good for what we got of an adaptation.

Acting and he characters:
The acting is passable, its not convincing enough for me but it can go, but I noticed they rely a lot on camera angles for certain things in the show to make it seem more high mighty (not so mighty in a way) and slave/painter. They didnt have the best chemistry together but they do feel cute at the same time. They had some scenes where you can feel some intensity in the way they look at each other and their glances. It left me a bit puzzled since, while it's toned down, I wish they had at least included some more convincing kisses, more glances and more of those vibes from the manhwa. Its a dark manhwa but he does fall in love. In his own twisted way.

overall, If I’m looking at it just as a drama, I wouldn’t really recommend it; I’ve seen much better series out there that have a lot more energy in not that many hours more than what it takes to get through this one. However, if you loved the original and are curious to see a live-action version of the story, it’s worth a shot, just know that it definitely more family-friendly and less intense! A milder version of the manhwa. If you are into short dramas it might also be a good watch since it does have some good interesting plots

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