A Painter of the Night, live-action news, and an English physical release are on the way! One of the first webtoons I read on Lezhin when I started using the Korean webtoon platform was Painter of the Night.
One of the most iconic BL manhwas out there, the gorgeous painterly art style, its traumatic story of love, imprisonment, and understanding power, created an all-time beloved story. Created, written, and illustrated by Byeonduck, Painter of the Night is primed for a resurgence with two big announcements.
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Painter of the Night comes to English-language readers with a physical release
Seven Seas Entertainment has your back for English-language readers who didn’t buy the specialty editions from Korean booksellers (like I did) or those who would like to read their physical editions because they don’t read Korean.
The first Painter of the Night announcements come from Seven Seas Entertainment’s growing library of mature BL Lezhin titles. With Our Sunny Days, and the omegaverse title Low Tide In Twilight, also announced, Lezhin readers will be able to have physical manhwa of their favorites.
Painter of the Night live-action is on the way
The micro-drama series is directed by Choi Bokyung (known for Stock Struck and The Divorce Insurance) and is co-produced by Kidari Studio, Lezhin Entertainment, Doodoong, and Mongjakso. The series will release on Lezhin Snack, a short-form drama app from the popular Korean webtoon service, which also holds the English localization and distribution rights for Painter of the Night (as well as other languages and the original Korean).
Because of the mobile platform’s exclusive distribution rights, the micro-drama will be released in vertical format. While they may only be two-minute episodes, this announcement is exciting for those looking for more mature BL stories that push the boundaries of genre, drama, and expectations.
The one catch to this live-action announcement is that the new drama will be produced in a short-form format, with each episode running approximately two minutes. While many K-Dramas thrive on adapting popular Webtoons like Business Proposal, Nevertheless, Sweet Home, Itaewon Classroom, and so many more, BL stories haven’t received the same kind of attention from studios, often being turned into feature films or short-form adaptations.
Still, that’s starting to change as manhwa’s rising success on the international stage. With beloved titles Cherry Blossoms After The Winter and Semantic Error leading the charge. However, the more mature titles that are Lezhin staples remain mostly untouched.
Painter of the Night Live-Action Cast
- Kim Kang-jae
- Ji Min-seo
What is Painter of the Night?
In Painter of the Night, Na-kyum is a young painter with an exceptional talent as an artist. Only his most profitable venture is selling erotic images he’s painted. Though he has published a few collections under a pseudonym, he decides to quit painting.
Then Seungho, a young nobleman known for his brutality, barges into his life. A hell-raiser notorious for his insatiable lust, Seungho forces Na-kyum to become his private painter. However, the nights that await Na-kyum are beyond anything he could have imagined. The series has 129 episodes and one side-story and ran from 2019 to 2025.
The English physical edition of Painter of the Night will be published and localized by Seven Seas Entertainment, and the live-action adaptation is now available on Lezhin Snack.
