Scholar Who Walks the Night 밤을 걷는 선비 Review

Scholar Who Walks the Night 밤을 걷는 선비

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The 2015 Korean drama, starring Lee Joon-Ki as Kim Sung-Yeol, Lee Yoo-Bi as Jo Yang-Sun, Shim Chang-Min as Crown Prince Lee Yoon, and Lee Soo-Hyuk as Gwi.

Brief summary: The scholar Kim Sung-Yeol became entangled in the world of vampires in order to help save his best friend, the crown prince Jung-Hyun, from the evil Gwi, the vampire secretly ruling Joseon. Unfortunately, their plans failed resulting in Kim Sung-Yeol becoming a vampire himself, losing everybody he loves, and Jung-Hyun's death. For the next 120 years, Kim Sung-Yeol dedicates himself to finding the key to destroying Gwi in Jung-Hyun's missing journal. For those 120 years he makes little progress, but then he meets a young book merchant who seems to be a catalyst for connecting the pieces of this mystery...

This one is a personal favorite! Within my top five, even! Lee Joon-Ki is one of my favorite oppas to watch, and Lee Yoo-Bi is truly talented!

The drama is not for those with weak stomachs. Think about it. This is a story about vampires. The blood and gore is almost requisite for that genre. However, I would only describe it as only a medium amount of that kind of graphics, especially when compared with other American dramas of similar genre, such as Vampire Diaries, the Walking Dead, and Supernatural. It didn't keep me from watching and enjoying "Scholar Who Walks the Night," but I realize that some audiences may be a little sensitive. :)

Compared to those of other action/thriller dramas, I was very impressed with this female lead. Her character was strong enough that the drama became about both Sung-Yeol and Yang-Sun, rather than just about Sung-Yeol's quest. She was cute and spunky! I don't think I would have given the drama five stars without the element that she provided. 

So I loved this female lead, but I also loved the villain! Gwi was fantastically cool and creepy. His deep voice, attractive physique, and flashy style made him quite the antagonist! His character also became progressively deeper as the drama went on, a skilled plot arrangement in my opinion. Gwi will continue to be one of my favorite characters, right next to Ho-Jin!

One of the things I loved most about this drama was the promotion of literacy. I have said before that the best dramas out there explore a moral or social issue, and this one explores the value of literature and the written word. It plays an important part of the plot because Yang-Sun and Sung-Yeol meet and keep meeting over a book. Their common love for literature proves to be something of a catalyst for their relationship. More than that, however, events of the plot try to show how the written word and literacy can influence the public mind. Since this social issue is one that is personal to me, I respected the drama so much more for drawing attention to the value of reading!

Strong characters, organized plot, a harmonious combination of sageuk, action, thriller, romance, and a dash of humor! I couldn't ask for better!