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supernovaesthetic · 7 years ago

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Book vs Show: Scholar Who Walks the Night

Scholar Who Walks the Night just might be the worst drama I have ever seen. After three episodes, I’m dusting my hands of it.

Warning: Book Spoilers.

While the camerawork and editing is marginally better than Scarlet Heart: Ryeo, the soundtrack is.... something to behold. Sageuks tend to fare better using traditional instruments (i.e. haegeum, gayageum, piri, etc.) for the scores, but SWWN has decided that it wants to incorporate orchestral waltzes into a period drama taking place in Korea- which is fine, except that the soundtrack makes it inopportune entrance into the drama at the worst possible moments, taking away the importance of the moment with a Shostakovitch-type knockoff piece.

But the soundtrack should not be what the drama is bad for.

While the books were the amazing (and the main reason I decided to give the drama a go), the drama reaches is a whole new level of idiocy. Not only do they not follow most of the storyline, at least 3 integral characters have been cut and most of the other characters are so out of character that they may as well be OCs.

The politics from the book series has been watered and dumbed down, creating a dragging storyline so far was about the search for a secret way to kill Gwi (a sadistic vampire played by Lee Soo Hyuk). Said secret is hidden within the works of a lost prince, whose vampire novel is the key. Strong characters from the books with ages of development like Moon Chi Sang and Hong Jae have been combined with weaker characters like Do Yeol to form the drama’s pitifully organized artist/scholar/prince who also happens to be the female lead’s long lost (boy?)friend... or something along those convoluted lines.

Sado and Gwi’s relationship (from what I can tell) has been erased and replaced with Gwi’s lack of emotion except for anything but hate. After watching the way Gwi tried to help Sado, it was clear that- unlike the books- Gwi was working for his own benefit and felt no emotion towards Sado (who he had raised as a brother and a son in the books) in any way.

The main female lead, Yang Sun (played by Lee Yoo Bee), is near-ruined Lee Yoo Bee’s voice that completely collapses any character development because it is impossible to ever believe that Yang Sun is supposed to be a man. Yes, Yang Sun is a happy-go-lucky book peddler, but Lee Yoo Bee’s portrayal shows Yang Sun as a giggly, Cinderella-type damsel in distress who sells porn novels (something Yang Sun in the books was against for a greater part of the story).

Literally even Lee Joon Gi (who plays the main male lead: Kim Seong Yeol) can’t save the drama because he overacts while also underacting. While I do commend LJG for his interpretation of a painful transformation from human to vampire, I don’t commend his interpretation of the character. Kim Seong Yeol is no longer the tormented soul that has slowly lost his emotions over the course of a hundred years, but is now a peeping tom whose sole goal in life is to slay Gwi. (Oh, and he also spends 120 years pining over the death of his old girlfriend...???) The show has turned a character that hunts down rogue vampires and lives just barely connected to the world of mankind into some sort of Robin Hood type figure who saves slaves.

Both show! and book! Seong Yeol served the crown prince, but while show!prince is a porn writing, thrill seeking man who has found a mysterious way to kill the world’s most powerful vampire, book!prince is more subdued and understands the magnitude of his status, never taking his role as prince lightly.

The drama’s portrayal of Su Hyang seems moderately alright thus far, but in usual Korean drama sense, they have turned an insightful character with strong motivations (and strong reasons for jealousy) into a scheming witch (not literally) that loves romance novels.

The drama’s only saving grace is Lee Soo Hyuk. His portrayal of Gwi is spot on with the books and while Lee Joon Gi’s Kim Sung Yeol looks almost exactly like the character in the books, Gwi is the opposite. While the drama’s Gwi does not sport floor length white hair and is more dressed than the half-naked book!Gwi is, Lee Soo Hyunk’s interpretation of the sadistic character is spot on (plus the drama’s way of portraying Gwi as a vengeant devil is near perfect). His storyline may not be accurate, but because of the lack of relationship between Sado and book!Gwi, show!Gwi does not need to be tormented in his own way. However, while Gwi in the books is tied to the royal family as their servant and hidden monster, Gwi in the show is the puppeteer that controls the royal family. That obvious flip definitely shows how the show has parted from the books, erasing book!Gwi’s yearning for revenge as well as his torment for having to kill his ‘son,’ Sado.

In sum, Lee Soo Hyuk and Lee Joon Gi were both impeccably cast as the beautiful, ethereal vampires while Lee Yoo Bee and Jang Hee Jin would have been suited to other roles that were not in SWWN. The casting is bad, the story twisted into something unrecognizable. Characters that each had their own backstories and strong development have been reduced to shallow mimicries of their actual selves, resulting in the dumbing down of the entire series.

My conclusion: read the books and skip the show; it’s not worth it.

#rant #scholar who walks the night #I'm salty af today #show review #review

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unit-umbra · 8 years ago

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Wanted Reincarnations at U.M.B.R.A.

Choi Ji-mong - Kim Sung-kyun

Park Soo-kyung - Sung Dong-il

Park Young-Gyu - Choi Byung-mo

Kyeonghwa - Jang Seo-hee

Wang Wook - Kang Ha-neul

Wang Jung - Kim Ji-soo

Woo Hee - Seohyun

Taejo - Jo Min-ki

Dowager Yoo - Park Ji-young

Empress Hwangbo - Jung Kyung-soon

Wang Mu - Kim San-ho

Wang Won - Yoon Sun-woo

Chae-Ryung - Jin Ki-Joo

Lady Oh Soo-yeon - Woo Hee-jin

When a string of unusual murders leaves the police baffled, it’s up to U.M.B.R.A. to track down the killer. However, what they uncover leads them in the heart of a sinister plot that unveils an ancient secret leaving the team questioning who they truly are.

With history and the future at stake, where will your allegiance lie?

U.M.B.R.A. Is an 18+ story and plot focused literate Sci-Fi/Crime RP based on the Discord platform. We are Canon, AU, OC, and Crossover friendly.

This RP is inspired by Torchwood, TVN Criminal Minds and loosely inspired by Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo.

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