O Erudito que Caminha pela Noite (2015)

good, but

I went to watch it because I like the genre, fantasy/historic. the beginning gave me a bit of confusion, it didn't seem clear, but the next few episodes held me back to have interest. but it didn't last long. the protagonist, I'm not much of a fan of him, despite being the second drama I've seen him, it made me emphasize this feeling in this one, maybe it's something personal.
his romantic partner, the second protagonist, is very cute, nothing to say from her. but the plot of the story did not seem to favor her, leaving it somewhat useless. the plot made her all the time make rash decisions in which the protagonist missed her all the time, and that made the whole story roll up slow.
I think the drama could easily unfold into 10 episodes, and even with its 20, the last capitols, I found it very rushed, without much explanation (actually the whole drama doesn't have many explanations for many things). the villain, I liked it a lot, but for me, it lacked motivation. at last, the only character that caught my charisma, nor was he one of the protagonists, but the servant (he) of the vamp protagonist. Anyway, I can't say I don't have fun, but it's a forgettable drama.

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I loved so much about this drama. God, after the 5 first episodes I was falling hard and so happy I was watching it. My reasons: the acting, the costumes, the budding romance between Sung Yeol and Yang Sun (that chemistry!) and just Lee Joon Gi's acting in and of itself (and the fact that he's insanely beautiful here. Those eyes!) Sometimes something is just really your thing, and I really felt it (and still feel it to some extent) here.

But it got a bit chaotic. The story went places I was skeptical about. So much noble sacrifice. So much angst that didn't really feel worth it and I longed for the tone in the beginning of the show again. (I'm not against angst, but you want it in proper meaningful doses not just as a go-to-tool to make you care more about characters you already care about). Also character voice-overs that sometimes added to a scene, but just stated the obvious in others. But I trusted it would be better, or at least a bit more happy (I loved the characters and wanted them to feel good), so I persisted.
A lot of people have complaints about the story and worldbuilding and I understand them. I'm usually pretty accepting when it comes to plotholes, inconcistensies etc, but there were quite a few here and I think they added to the less engaged feeling I had in the middle of the series. I also hear they changed the writer in the middle of the series, so that might have to do something with it.

I would say that the interactions between Lee Joon Gi's and Lee Yoo Bi's characters are what make this drama worth watching till the end, despite there being some tropes and effort to romantizise certain scenes (thanks to the music) that aren't really romantic (which is a pity, since there were plenty of beautifully romantic ones). But Lee Joon Gi and Lee Yoo Bi are so good that I just believed it all, and the supporting actors and their stories were really good too. There were also several scenes and dialogues that were really profound and touching.

And the fight and action scenes were really neat. Not to mention the costumes! Gorgeous.

I've seen a lot of people not liking the soundtrack. Granted, there were some weird music choices in some scenes and I think they could have used A LOT LESS love songs the second a romantic scene started (sometimes you should just let a scene speak for itself!). But, there was also some really epic soundtrack, I'm thinking of the instrumental tracks. (especially in action/epic scenes). The feeling of those tracks made me think of Peter Greenaway's music and a certain track by The Mutato Mu used in The Royal Tenenbaums (if anyone knows what I'm talking about). There were scenes where those tracks just enhanced them beautifully, so much that I went back and rewatched a couple of them just for the joy of it. (Too bad those tracks aren't included in the OST).

I would recommend this drama if you like Lee Joon Gi, great acting and touching romance and some epic scenes. If you demand a tight plot, consistent story and a great deal of thought between what's happening you might want to pass. (But then again, if you're a fan of Lee Joon Gi or Lee Yoo Bi, you might not ;) ).

I haven't watched a great deal of dramas (yet), so I'm new to k-drama-land and maybe that's also why I'm willing to overlook some tropes and inconsistensies. But for me, Lee Joon Gi and the other actors along with visuals and some of the music here is unmissable and what makes me willing to rewatch this again sometimes.

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