Painter of the Night

This is not a love story... Or if it is one, it's a very twisted love story. It's extremely angsty and smutty. Not a light read.
However, the writing and art are both excellently done. While the pacing is slow, it never bored me. It's not a perfect read, the ML (?should i even call him that?) is not as well developed as he should be. Almost seems like a sangwoo knock off lol. The MC, while weak, comes off as realistic.

Overall I would recommend this if you want to read beautifully drawn smut with violent themes.

It's a shame the story is so poor and there's no character development at all, no developemnt of the relationship too. The dark mystery behind Seungho's behaviour is lame too. Simply put - this manhwa is more about art and hentai (yaoi). I prefer plot and characters. Sorry, dropped

This manhwa is really good but also really unsettling.

First, a BL in ancient Korea is quite novel. From what it looks, the story is set during the 17th century and many aspects, clothings, housing, food, etc are impeccably fitting the era.

The art is different, largely above average. Colour tones and strokes mimic ancient paintings. Expressions, perspective and angles are perfectly drawn. To be honest, I wouldn't necessarily call it "beautiful art", but it's a matter of taste and the artist is obviously very talented.

When it comes to the plot, it's a tragical, psychological story with many cruel scenes. It includes rape, psychological manipulation, imprisonment and a large variety of abuses.
The topic of immutable place in society is highly prevalent in Korean arts, broadly speaking, and here as well the lack of control on the protagonist's destiny, regardless of their place in hierarchy, regardless of how much they put a fight against it, is unnerving. The analysis of hierarchy structure in 17th century Korea and the level of impunity of idle nobility who just drink and have sex (decadent Rome, anyone?) while 'baekseong' i.e. the third estate, toils endlessly and risks their lives over the foul mood of their masters.

Anyone looking for fluff isn't in the right place. I wouldn't even classify this as 'Romance' given how little chance it has to end with a happy end. What they have isn't love either.

I've stopped reading this story several times and re-read it all over, the pacing is a little slow but faster would be too much, I guess. Psychological tragedies are not my usual taste, but the art and the settings in ancient Korea lured me in, and in fine the level of cruelty depicted is within what I can read. I'm still hooked 90 chapters in, but I tend to read by batch of 10 chapters rather than one after the other.

[Edit after the end] I'm glad I kept reading. The pacing goes faster from chapters 90+ as the story sails towards the end. The author's depiction of love, as well of lust is on point. I absolutely love the last chapter even if it's curt and abruptly ended by usual romance standards. I still stand that it's not a romance story, and the ending is already rosy flowery enough.

[Edit2]1month after its end, I'm still having withdrawal symptoms.

Alright, I tried to get back into this again just to see if any progress was being made in their relationship, but after 90 chapters of minimal progress I feel like I've got the gist of it. I still like the art style a lot. The color palette really suits the traditional Korean setting (although I personally prefer a more vibrant style), and the facial expressions are done really well. The art is pretty much the only reason why I continued reading this for so long because the story and characters are kind of trash. 90 chapters in and they're just now starting to get into Seungho's childhood trauma. Nothing has been resolved between Nakyum/Seungho or any of the other characters for that matter, and I've lost the patience to continue reading this for another 50+ chapters. Another reviewer mentioned the issue with how the rich treat the poor, and yea unfortunately thats how servants/the poor were actually treated in those times. This webtoon kind of took it to an extreme which I'm sure was to make the story more entertaining/dramatic.. Anyone trying to decide whether to read this or not: if you're just looking for something hot then this is perfect, and if you actually care about the characters/plot then turn right back around lol

Its such a shame because if I was just rating the art.. its a 9/10. There are so many good BL webtoons and web novels that just don't have this kind of quality art or would benefit from it.. Hopefully they partner up with a good writer in their next work instead of trying to do it all.

I've finished reading two seasons of Painter of the Night and I still wouldn't classify it as a "romance" story. First off though, I urge you to watch James Somerton's video essay about this manhwa: Sadism of Class. Don't forget to read the comment section too, it's full of interesting points.

Here's a quote from the video:

Eventually, SH does promise not to physically hurt NK anymore. Though this is immediately after threatening to kill him and/or close sister figure. So even though SH does seem like the safest option to NK at that point, alternative options have been systematically blocked, removed, or forbidden. And so when NK turns to SH for protection or comfort, it's because there has been such a dependency fostered that there's simply no other way for him to receive the human needs that he has been starved for.

If you want to read PotN, I ask you to please not be guided by your crotch. Instead, focus on other subtexts e.g. the class dynamics: how rich people continuously exploit the poor with no remorse whatsoever. The poor is just a tool, to be used and discarded whenever the wealthy pleases. I know there's lots of overly graphic sex scenes in this story, but there's hell of a lot more pain and trauma too—especially on NK's part.

[color=red](Spoilers ahead)[/color]

Here's a quick summary of PotN so far: SH (son of a wealthy family) likes NK's erotic drawings and asks NK (who's at the bottom of the social ladder) to paint for him. NK refuses. SH proceeds to kidnap him and repeatedly sexually assaults him later. SH also takes NK's virginity while the poor guy is drunk outta his mind, even though SH hears him say that he's been preserving his virginity for the man he likes. Fast forward SH apparently starts to "favor" NK and we see how this asshat tries to treat him juuuust a little 🤏 bit better than before. Still r*pes and abuses him, though. And completely isolates him from the outside world. Then, when something bad happens, he seeks help and comfort from SH—the very person who caused all of his sufferings to begin with.

Also, remember what SH does to NK after he's taken back to SH's place (because the place where you're constantly abused at should not be called home)? I get headaches whenever I try to remember it.

Don't get me wrong, I totally understand that the story is set in the past and the concept of consent did not exist in that era yet. I also don't mind extremely dark topics or morally flawed characters (take Lemon from The Pale Horse, for example). What I do have a problem with, is when authors try to swipe all kinds of abuse under the rug and frame their story as "romantic love."

How could you possibly think of PotN as a love story instead of a tragedy that it actually is? I've said this before and I'll say it again: [color=red]abusing someone mentally and physically is not love, and it never fucking will be.[/color]

The story is set in the past, but us readers live in modern times. We should know that these two characters shouldn't be in a relationship—not because of their class difference, but because of the horrible things that's been done to NK by SH. When you see those r*pe scenes, the first thing that comes to your mind should be anything but, "They have to end up together. I ship them."

Later, after SH's redemption arc is done, then maybe, maaaaaaybe there's a possibility of the two of them ending up together. But as of right now? No, this isn't romance. SH does not deserve NK. He ought to stay away from NK and get his shit together. Simply saying, "I promise not to frighten you any longer" isn't enough, chief. He's been a total asshole for years, and that attitude isn't gonna go away with a single promise—which inevitably means NK will have to suffer more in the future when (not if) SH's temper gets the best of him.

As a final note, I saw someone in the comment section of James Somerton's video write,

It's a torture porn—a porn I feel tortured by.

And that's exactly how I felt reading the sex scenes between SH and NK. S3 is already out, but I honestly don't know when/if I'm gonna read it. Perhaps my review will change after reading it, but who knows.

To begin with - I don't read Yaois a whole lot. Last one I read was Crimson Spell which was a very good read. Yoais have a typical pattern of Dominant/Submissive characters - and this one is no exception.
The art is phenomenal - very proportionate and the facial expressions are on point. In terms of character development - you see it more in the Seme than the Uke. The thing I like about this webtoon is that the author took her time to get them together and the wait was worth it. Two seasons in - there's subplots brewing that'll make season 3 fun and I look forward to continuing reading in the future.

The drawing is excellent and so is the setting, as for the story I could say that it was a bit difficult to read for me since I found it very cruel however I liked it a lot and I'm looking forward to the third season!

This manhwa was one of the best I read,as most of the korean yaoi are either boringly silly or you would just be satisfied with one season as the rest would be blah blah and daily life with cliche events and dialogues
This one was new story ,and have good storyline and dialogues that wasn't fluffy or cliche,that as I reached s3 as the writer stopped I still hocked up to the remaining story
It's only flow ,was the long sex scenes...as you wait from week to week ,you'll be disappointed as the whole chapter about their sex....
The seme wasn't cruel to the degree of hating him, specially as you would have anticipated why is he doing this, and the sex wasn't cruel although it was tense, but wasn't to the degree to deeply hurt the uke,and the uke was enjoying it but felt embarrassed
Loved very much Seungho he is my man!!! My main reason for reading this manga

I actually read or more like skim 60+ chapters and then dropped it. Dunno if I should take the time to read the remaining chapters. The art's good tho. I skipped whenever there are sx scenes because I can't stand how cruel the seme is. Definitely not the type of BL I wanted to read. I like a variety of BL with intriguing storylines, fluff or not. However, the main reason why I drop this was because of countless rae. I don't know.I just can't stand it. Again, art is good but definitely not the type of BL that piques my interest. Cliché,too much drama and too much s*x scenes.

you know jealousy is one of the signs. I have been rereading every time I want an update but there’s none and because of this past week’s Korean holiday I reread again and every time I do there’s just bits and pieces that just keeps on getting clearer and more significant. SH was quite taken by NK very early on, and I just missed it like I would say SH has a thing for NK since they met when NK denied being the painter SH has been loco searching for and SH is not a patient man. I can understand coming from a traumatic experience makes one impatient line hello I can not have you dilly dallying on my precious time. I’m shocked why I didn’t notice some of the most obvious ones and let me tell you Byeonduck is a genius, that’s the most important thing to note. I can’t wait for the time SH cannot let go of NK.

i remember when i first began reading the first thing i thought of seungho was: woah he reminds me of SANGWOO from killing stalking since i read that before reading this. but now its changed, compared to the two seungho is definitely better lol. another thing i picked up on was the art style cause god damn the art is amazing the author really puts so much detail on them down to every small change of their expressions, absolutely love it. the characters are also growing on me too, especially nakyum, i'd say hes best boy at this point. his and seunghos relationship is hella unhealthy though

but nakyum seems to be doing something to him as seunghos starting to get more vulnerable around him like remember when his brother came to visit? I was thriving during that scene and everything that happened in the following chapters

I can see how earlier reviews might see a lack of plot but I have been SO intrigued by this webtoon recently. The sex is nice, of course, but it’s also just interesting.