Hwarang (2016)

Han Sung you will always be famous !! cries

first k drama i ever watched, originally watched for Taehyung, however the cast actually ended up holding a piece of my heart.

this may not be Park Hyungsik's best acting role (his character wasn't interesting enough tho so it's understandable), but it's still so refreshing to see him on screen. for a debut role, V did so well and I hope one day we'll get to see him as a male lead. the hwarang boys were all endearing and the queen and the princess were so !!! (i love them cold). I wish Aro had actual character development instead of being in constant need of saving all the time. no I won't mention Park Seojoon, we talk about him enough <3

tbh this drama is not really meant to be that serious so if you're looking for outstanding performances you may want to pick something else, this is more of a comfort show (and by that I mean that it will make you laugh then cry then laugh etc)
the ost is so memorable! i will never forget it, it's so good and catchy!

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I wouldn’t call this drama flawless — there are a lot of serious weaknesses, but I would say that it’s pretty good — in some aspects.
I’ll begin with the drawbacks. First of all, there are a lot of moments that look staged and unnatural, remembering you that you’re just watching a film and making it difficult to be completely absorbed. This also includes over- and under acting of actors in some scenes. Besides, the drama, being a comedy, has a plenty of moments which are intended to be funny, but in reality are rather cringy and don’t fit in the situations.
Now let’s move to the plus points. Although the beginning of Hwarang seems a little boring to me, it gets more and more intriguing and grasping as the story unfolds. The plot can be considered one of the greatest merits of the drama, because it’s very dynamic and not lengthy at all. It has a few lines which are very entertaining to follow: the King’s one, Sun Woo’s one, Ban Ryu’s one, Han Sung and his brother’s one. All these thought-provoking plot lines explore different problems like what makes a real king, the ability to sacrifice, the justice in a ranked society, what is more important — friendship and family or social status. Another advantage is that the characters, having the chemistry between them, look real and make you empathise them. They change and develop a lot during the story. There are also some ambiguous characters which can behave indecently and then do some good deeds, and you just don’t know what attitude to have towards them. Such characters are always interesting to watch, as you can’t exactly predict what they can do in the future and if they turn out to be “good” or “bad”.
Finally, I need to mention beautiful soundtracks which made watching more enjoyable.

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I personally feel that 2016 was one of the best years to watch Korean dramas. Why? Firstly, because most of the popular Korean actors (Gong Yoo, Lee Min Ho, Lee Jun Ki, Jang Keun Suk, Ji Chang Wook, Song Joong Ki, Lee Jong Suk, Kim Woo Bin) had at least one drama or web series in that year. And secondly, the dramas released in 2016 were mostly AMAZING. There was a time I’d spend three hours a day catching up on all the latest drama. One such cool drama released by the end of 2016 was Hwarang. I was excited about it from the moment I saw its first poster.
Hwarang started on a good note and went on well, till the story writers decided to ruin it all towards the end. I guess it’s a jinx that dramas that start well and have my attention and love, suddenly change the route and have a crash landing. But, even with a boring ending, this drama was fun with all the bromance and camaraderie between the lead characters.

Let’s weigh Hwarang on our show beam balance and see if this multi-starrer drama earns any stars for itself or no.

Good Weights
Bromance: The show has 6 guys around whom the story revolves which means there is a lot of bromance on this show. Of all the male bonding happening on the show, my favourite pair was that of archenemies Su Ho (Choi Min Ho) and Ban Ryu (Do Ji Han).  From hating the sight of each other to helping each other in times of serious trouble, the two of them come a long way in the show. I loved their bonding as much as I loved their conflicts. Being secondary characters, their story did not get much screen time but the two actors did a good job with whatever little story they had. Sadly, the moment the bromance drops, the show becomes uninteresting and borderline boring which is a disadvantage for a pre-produced drama as it cannot alter the story on viewer’s demand. Had this show not been pre-produced I guess the director would have added some more male bonding scenes on the show which would have helped it garner more TRP’s.

Cast: The story may have failed the cast but the cast did not fail the story. The six boys suited their respective roles and played their part convincingly. I especially like Han Sung (Tae Hyung) and Ban Ryu’s characters a lot. Han Sung because he isn’t like any of the other boys. He is naive and childlike and a very happy character. I don’t think singer-actor Tae Hyung (BTS’s V) needed much of a homework to play the role of Han Sung because he is just as playful and cute as the character in real life. I also loved Ban Ryu’s character a lot because there was some serious character development in his case. There is a difference in his character before and after joining Hwarang which makes him the only guy to have benefitted from the Hwarang setup.

Direction: In a special episode of Hwarang, the cast had complained of the Director being a perfectionist who made them do scenes in the most realistic way possible. For instance, an actor would be slapped for real only to make the scene look realistic on screen. The director’s quest for perfection is what made the show look so striking. Some scenes on the show look spectacular and only a director with a vision could come up with such amazingly shot scenes.



Bad Weights
Story Loopholes: The show had an amazing director but sadly the story was lacking in so many ways that even good direction and cast couldn’t keep it from falling flat. The drama had a lot of mysterious storylines but sadly not everything was explained in the show. For instance, Sun Woo (Park Seo Joon) had some serious problem of fainting in the most crucial moments. He fainted in the first episode during a fight and some random episodes after that. I thought maybe he has some serious illness or maybe he suffered something in his childhood or maybe it is some hereditary ailment that makes him faint when he feels cornered but this problem of his was neither dealt with nor explained on the show. In fact, my first reaction after the last episode was, “Wait! What about the dizzy spells? Why would he faint in the most crucial moments? What the hell!!!” I observe shows very closely as a viewer and when certain points of a show are left unexplained it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It is frustrating when writers add characteristics to generate curiosity and then never bother to address them. Similarly, there are characters that come and go without any purpose. Yeo Wool (Jo Yoon Woo) is one character that was a big waste because I still don’t know how he contributed to the story. What’s worse is that they didn’t even show what happens to him in the end. He is one of the six main Hwarangs but still such a poorly written character. His introduction made him look mysterious but later on, he was just used as a filler. Then there was Han Sung’s elder brother who joins as an assistant Hwarang but then suddenly becomes a Hwarang after he murders a character on the show. What? Though accidentally, he did kill someone in the story right? Then why was he not punished? Why was he promoted to Hwarang?


The show is interesting but often falls flat and leads you nowhere. However, I really enjoyed watching the first half of the show which concentrated mainly on the boys bonding with each other. Even though the show has several romantic angles, none of it had my attention as my interest lay in how the warriors would discover the truth and how they would help each other in testing times. If you plan to watch this show then, do it only for some decent bromance.

Originally posted on www.alphagirl.in

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I had started off this drama eagerly seeing as the concept "Flower Boys" was plastered over the drama. However, that captivating concept only lasted so long before it wasn't enough to satisfy, especially during the last half of the drama. Hwarang is built upon a seemingly promising cast that I watched for -- Choi Minho, Park Hyungsik and Taehyung -- they were eye candy, (especially Hyungsik) but they could not salvage what mediocre plot the drama had to offer.

After finishing the drama, I can't really recall exactly what was the plot, which was my biggest issue with Hwarang. I found the beginning to be quite promising, but as the story progressed, it became dull, lacking, and grudgingly slow. While there are some subplots and I suppose one larger plot of discovering and accepting identity between the two male leads, none of them seemed rather relevant or worth binging for. It was repetitive and pointless, and the redundant and repetitive parallel ideas of a "Silla where the king is in agony, and the people propser, unifying Silla, becoming powerful" between Ji Dwi and Sun Woo were repeated with such grandure that it seemed almost comical, as though directed towards a middle school children audience. Despite that situation, there wasn't much political drama that occured worth mentioning, which was what I expected to see within historical dramas. All the questions and tension were dragged on until the very last episodes which was resolved extremely quickly through a few shared words between actors.

Another problem that bothered me was the overemphasis of the Hwarang, the group of flowering knights who were to be Silla's army. They appeared to be a trophy to showcase at one point and I wished that they could have been given more challenges after the second half of the story to further character development within the Hwarang and encourage bromance, or used for some purpose to further plot development as to how they changed Silla. I suppose it is because the drama started to shift its focus from the Hwarang to drama between the two main leads and the romance that unfortunately, was also mediocre at best. There was no chemistry between the leads, and for once in my drama career, I did not care particularily for the love triangle, even though I rooted for one of them slightly over the other. Ah Ro isn't very memorable of a character either, simply because she isn't given opportunites to play a significant role in the plot. I have no idea why she's at the Hwarang house, she provides nothing but to toy with the two lead's emotions. I didn't really like her as the lead either, perhaps it seemd as though it wasn't her type of drama. Something about it didn't seem to click with her and watching her scenes became a chore because she cried so often over her little boy dramas.

I also wished they could have given side characters more screentime, because I was very interested in Ban Ryu's story and his struggle with romance, family and status. I found Soo Hee and Ban Ryu to be very enjoyable, much more than the main romance. However, there were a lot of plot holes and questions that were never answered, and the Bone Rank system that created a lot of conflict was never explained in great detail. A lot of Hwarang's backstories were not explained and flushed out in great detail either, when the potential lied not in the main leads but the Hwarang, hence the title of the drama itself.

The OSTs were alright but nothing special, just like the drama. Overall, the drama was lacking. It is an easy watcher, for middle schoolers to enjoy, but nothing worth serious investment and bingewatching that I would normally do. Unfortunately it was quite dissapointing after the last half when the beginning had a different atmosphere to it and some potential that was never flushed out.

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I loved it!

Before I start: let me just say that this is more of an idol drama so that's to be noted before you watch this. I have found that idol dramas tend to not be quite as good, but some really do pull through like with this one.

This is a great drama in my opinion. It does lean a bit heavy on historical drama cliches but it's got a couple of twists. I wouldn't say it's anything new or refreshing to the drama world. However, that being said, the story is still great and holds its own. The characters are decently fleshed out for a short drama, even including side characters. They could have added more episodes and fleshed them out even more but it's satisfying enough.

The acting is absolutely amazing. You got some really awesome, big-name actors in this drama. Even the ones that aren't, and even the idols in it hold their own.

The costumes are decent and the OST is pretty dang good as well. Although, I have a bit of a bias since Yoseob sings one of the songs haha.
I definitely recommend this drama, especially if you are looking for something serious but not too serious. It's a drama but it has a lot of nice funny moments thrown in as well. It never feels too heavy to watch.

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What Sooho (Minho) did toward the end :') This show is EVERYTHING. Thought provoking, emotional, addictive, and with casting that will blow your mind. I loved all the Hwarang, but I really fell hard for Ban Ryu (Do Ji Han). Even his romance with Soohos sister it was hilarious, considering all the times poor Minho got knocked out I still can't get over it but it was also extremely passionate. Especially because of all the emotional change Ban Ryu goes through and how she never resents him for it. Go Ara was great as the main lead, and both Seo joon and Hyungsik fall for her. But the thing that made me laugh, cry, and get more addicted was the bromance. Whether it was V (Taehung), or Minho, or Do Ji Han or Jo Yoon Woo, they left you wanting more. Everyone had their own struggles. The story of the two brothers (V, Kim Hyun Joon) was especially heartbreaking. These two had a cruel fate the part where V goes on a diatribe about liking stars in the sky, it gave me goosebumps. He just wanted to be a kid but his grandfather made it impossible. I mean what can I say about V he fit the role so well, I think he gave us all something to think about. Everyone loved him, to the point where he constantly hung out with Minhos group instead of the one he actually belonged to Minho... SHINee for life but honestly I've been so enamored with this guy's acting, and this show is proof that he's not just a pretty face. He is amazing in everything he does. I really enjoyed his bromance with Ban Ryu and his playboy nature but also how he got completely enchanted by the Queen. From the way this show made me laugh, to the message "Don't just follow orders think for yourself, stand up for the weak " to the way it also broke my heart in the worst possible way, and I was a total wreck. But the finale came strangely with a6 ray of sunlight and more heartbreak in some cases, but I never for a second regretted my time spent on this show. Another thing that I loved, was you get the same quality content from the first episode to the last. Most dramas are epic for about three episodes and then it's like you're watching a watered down version but with Hwarang that never happened. From the action, to the writing, to the way it was shot so beautifully you get that in every episode. Seriously, never going to get over this one.

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As I am very fond of Historical dramas, I thought I may give Hwarang a shot. Even though it was not that bad, the series did not meet my expectations, while having so much potential. The series had some decent side stories, which were pleasant to watch. However failed to meet any expectation of mine with their main story, which was very lacking, basic and weak. No clue why this series actually got twenty episodes as I am sure it would have fitted in just sixteen episodes. The actors were not doing a bad job and must say that they were up to standards, however I don't think Go Ah Ro (I like her as an actress though) should be used for a character like this.

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