Hwarang (2016)

Pass that pretty boy a sword

Hwarang was great! It was exactly what it said it was, perhaps a tad bit more, but no less. In the beginning I called Hwarang "Pretty Boys Fighting." I didn't want anything too heavy or melo and I was sure Hwarang was it. I was right. It did what it intended which was entertain. It was never boring or slow. It's also more than just PBF, too. It has a fairly solid and interesting story about a faceless king trying to come into his own and a nameless peasant basically doing the same without realizing it. Each episode was well written and often times gave me a smile or laugh.

The major cast did a damn fine job, especially considering 3 or 4 are idols. The supports, many of whom were veteran actors, were excellent as per usual, but somehow allowed their younger counterparts to shine. I admit I adored the scenes between Sung Dong-Il and Kim Kwang-Kyu. They were my secret faves. Well, I guess non-secret now. I've loved Park Seo Joon since Kill Me, Heal Me. He did a fantastic job in Hwarang. His scenes with Lee Gwang Soo and Park Hyng Sik were great. I'd love to see him with one or both of them again. Overall, the male cast had great chemistry, even those you love to hate. There were a bunch of bromances going on. The only sore thumb was perhaps, Seo Ye-Ji, who joined the cast in later episodes. She was stiff and very hard to like or even dislike. She was like a weed in your yard. You know you want to pluck it, but you don't feel like bending over.

The music was good, especially the incidental aka background music. It really set the tone and helped move things along. I liked the lead song well enough. The love song was a bit annoying and is played a little too often.

Overall, Hwarang is thoroughly enjoyable. It made me laugh. It frustrated me. It gave me characters to hate. It gave me characters to love. It made me jealous. And at one point it almost made me cry (also rare). Will Hwarang go down in the annals of time as one of the best dramas ever? No. Will it win a bunch of awards? Doubtful. However, I'd watch it again in a heartbeat. Actually, I just may while at work. Nothing like Pretty Boys Fighting to get you through the day. :D

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Sooo...i hate saying this, because i was really looking forward to this drama, but this drama was disappointment deluxe. It sounded so promising with the casting they had for this drama.
Park Seo-joon is one of my favourite actors, and Hyung-shik is a great actor, Minho is pretty good to (i'm not gonna deny the fact that i'm a Shinee fan) and Taehyung debuting as an actor made me really excited too ( I'm not gonna deny the fact that i'm a BTS fan either), and i don't have much to say about Go Ah ra's acting, because this is the first drama i've seen with her in it. I heard from others that she was a good actress though, so i'm sure she is.
So basically...I was really excited about this drama.

Hwarang was pretty hyped up too.
I heard people talking about Hwarang as early as February/March and hyping it up like nothing else.

Originally Hwarang was supposed to air in the middle of 2016, but they kept pushing the airing date behind and my initial thoughts were that it really must be great then, if the reason they were delaying the drama was that they were being precise with the filming and editing of this drama.
(Because it is a beautiful drama, the colours and the lighting and the feel this drama gives of with just looking at it is really nice, and the people in this drama too, are really beautiful.)
But ever since this drama started airing i've just been wondering what took them so long. If their going to delay a drama and hype it up this much, it better be good. But honestly, what even is this drama's storyline?
I don't feel like there is much happening in this drama, at least nothing that makes sense to me. I've tried liking this drama, i really have. I've seen 11 episodes of it although i didn't really think it was interesting and that was to be honest just to support Taehyung and Seo-joon.
Everytime i've tried watching this drama i've been so bored that i've even fallen asleep. It's so sad to see this happening. An amazing cast, gone to waste.

If i'm going to say something nice about this drama, i can say that i thought the acting was really good (as expected from these actors.) The problem with this drama is purely the storyline. The casting and the music is great, it's just that the storyline (if there even is one) is so boring.
I've seen some people saying that it gets better from episode 10,11,12 or something like that, but honestly...if it takes 12 episodes for a drama to become interesting...It's not worth watching, unless you're watching it to support the actors of course.

(I feel like i've said the word casting and actors a lot in this review)

Overall, just disappointing. Right now it's on my "on-hold" list, but i'm pretty sure i won't be finishing this drama.

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Still waiting for my epic and mystical hwarang drama full of mountain gods and bodhisattvas

This is one of those fusion sageuks that has very intentionally made the past contemporary. That's somewhat disappointing to me, since one of the main things I like about pre-Joseon sageuks is that they tend to be more epic. You don’t just get court politics, you get wars and diplomacy. This drama really isn't something that can be taken seriously, even though it occasionally tries. However, considering that hwarang literally means "flower boys," and they were young noble men, often noted for their beauty, who studied the arts (including music and dance), presenting the hwarang as 6th century idols is actually rather clever. Though this drama failed on many counts, I think this is one of the more successful updates of a historical setting, and I actually enjoyed some of the very contemporary-sounding pop soundtrack, which is not something I would usually like paired with a historical drama. The whole “let’s change Silla so it appeals to modern egalitarian sensibilities,” not to mention some blatant contradictions of historical facts, was rather irritating to me, but this is hardly the only drama guilty of that.

Unlike most people, I didn't watch this for the cast and actually didn't know any of the actors before this drama. The supporting cast of flower boys is better than you might expect. All their performances are reasonably solid, though definitely more in the wheelhouse of youth drama, rather than sageuk (which is fine for the tone of this drama). On the flip side, I felt like Go Ara was just constantly pulling faces, usually grumpy ones. Either that or crying. I think Park Seo Joon is more suited to romantic comedies than to sageuk. To be fair, his character doesn't give him much to work with, but Park Hyung Sik is really the only one among the young cast who really shines as a sageuk actor. Though not quite on par with top tier sageuk performances, his commanding presence is a definite standout in an otherwise very fluffy, contemporary-seeming cast. I'd like to see him in another, more serious historical drama at some point. I probably would have dropped this show if Park Hyung Sik hadn't made me so invested in his character.

The biggest miss of this drama (aside from everything related to Go Ara’s character, that definitely ranks higher) may have been going for a boring political plot, rather than mysterious meetings with old men on mountain tops and incarnations of the Maitreya Buddha. Where are my monks!? There’s a lot of legendary material about the hwarang they could have pulled from to make a very unique drama, but instead they went with a watered down version of the typical sageuk power struggle. I’m all for the political intrigue if it’s done well, but the writing in this drama is just so bad. Plot holes aside, some of the storylines are just laughable. Like I really could go on a rant about all the ridiculous things in this show, but I don't want to include spoilers. Moreover, this drama often didn't seem to know what is was going for. Coming-of-age story about brotherhood? Serious political sageuk? Romantic comedy? Angsty love triangle? Fluffy flower boy drama? As a result it didn't quite succeed with any of them, except for maybe the flower boy fluff. Given the ineptitude of the writing, it's actually probably better that they stayed away from the mystical hwarang legends, so someone else can make that drama at a later date. It has so much potential as a subject matter.

On to Go Ara's character ... this drama would probably be improved by cutting Ah Ro out entirely, or at least relegating her to a minor role. There's really no reason a drama about a group of young men needs a female lead, and it's not as if she had any real importance the story. I get that they wanted to add in a romance, but the main couple was just SO bland. The paring with Ji Dwi/Sammaekjong/Jinheung was marginally better, but only because Park Hyung Sik really sold his character. I actually kinda wish they had just gone for the incestuous pairing between him and his half-sister. Though her character wasn't really much better than Ah Ro, I think Park Hyung Sik and Seo Ye Ji had potential for a lot of chemistry, because the few scenes they had together were some of the show's highlights.

As for the bromance between the two male leads ... so much potential, but ultimately disappointing. I think they were supposed to be friends and rivals, while also acting as character foils of each other that represented different forms of leadership. But the love triangle is so bland that you just don't care, and it's hard to buy into their political rivalry, especially since there's no real ideological opposition between them. I’m also pretty sure Sammaekjong should have been the lead. Not that every story focusing on a ruler’s rise to power has to make him the protagonist (I never complained in Faith), but not doing so is a risk. Sun Woo has little substance or development as a character and just isn’t interesting enough to overshadow the king, who had far more compelling character conflicts. Moreover, because the writer goes through so much effort to make Sun Woo the lead, despite the story actually being about Sammaekjong, there are multiple points where the natural progression of Sammaekjong's character seems to be halted or sent backwards just so that Sun Woo could play the central role. Thus, despite being the best character in the show, his arc doesn't quite live up to it's potential either.

The most successful aspect of this drama were the minor characters' side stories and relationships. Unlike many dramas where the supporting cast feels like filler, it definitely would have been worth giving them more focus and development. If all the time spent on the boring love triangle was redirected to the other hwarang characters, this would have been a better drama.

The OST songs are fun and catchy, though not terribly unique or memorable. They really might be more of a 7.0, but I decided to bump the music score up to an 8.0 on account of some of the instrumental music, particularly Sammaekjong's epic background music (very similar to The Royal Gambler soundtrack, but Oh Joon Sung did both).

Overall, I did actually enjoy this drama (though I went in not expecting more than fun and flower boys, which it does deliver). That being said, I spent most of the time I was watching this thinking of all the ways it could have been better. Every once in a while, there was something, either in the minor characters or Sammaekjong glowering down at his mother from his throne, that made me think, “wow this actually could have been good, if only …”

It can be enjoyable if you take it for what it is, don’t hope for too much depth, and just go along with the fun. Then every once and a while you’ll be thrilled when you get a hint of something pretty cool, rather than disappointed by all the missed opportunities and ridiculous plotting. If you’re looking for a serious historical drama, definitely give this one a pass.

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Honestly, I waited for this ever since I saw the first trailer. It was incredibly hyped up what with the preview show and all. As far as the story goes, it was quite predictable to a degree. The character development was there but it seemed incomplete. There were side stories that might have been enjoyable had they been developed in the whole and not left to flounder and die.

Of course, the cast was perfect and all of them did make their characters their own. I'd suggest watching this drama at least once to watch the way they completely turn into their stories. Most of the characters are also very solid and hint at so much more. However, be warned that this is a drama you'd be better off watching for the bromance because as far as chemistry between the main leads go, there is none

On the whole, watch it once if you're in between dramas and don't really mind a plot that isn't all that great.

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Go Ara tends to get roles that absolutely infuriate me, every single time I swear.

This wasn't a drama made for plot, it was basically "K-fandom wet dreams: The historical version". I mean, the story was lackluster and the script was lazy. The entire budget went into getting a cast that would make every fangirl go through at least a week's worth of underwear.

But not to say it had it's moments. If the annoying Go Ara character didn't exist, this might've actually turned out pretty well or at least half decent.

The two male leads had great synergy throughout the movie, and a lot of moral tension although it entirely revolved around an infuriating, "NEVER SAY WHAT'S IMPORTANT!!" trope.

Anyhow, good cinematography, fight scenes could've used better choreography though.

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Amazing historical drama with amazing plot/story

So let's start by the best thing in this drama: the story, the cast and the Bromance.

i can confirm that i got quite bored at some times esp in the first half of the drama and ended up putting the drama on hold looking for motivation to finish it.. however, when i gave it another chance, i really loved the progression of events and i was kinda waiting for the identity of the King to be close to getting revealed bc i knew it was gonna get down lol which really happened. i still feel like the drama could have had less episodes

For the Bromance, i really admired the overall chemistry between the male characters and was not a big fan of the romance however. Just gotta love the dev of their relationship even in hardships. I kinda rewinded the majority of the Bromance moments if not all and have no regrets!

My fav characters are: Taehyung, Seo Ye Ji, Do Ji Han, Jo Yoon Woo, and Sung Dong Il. i mean i understand but WHY DID THEY HAVE TO MAKE ME CRY LIKE THAT WITH THE WAY TAEHYUNG DIES WAE WAE WAEEEE

Also the music was just PERFECT, like other historical dramas (even tho i havent watched that many) it leaves u with a bittersweet feeling after each ep i guess

this drama really is an emotional rollecoaster that i surprisingly enjoyed after going through so much to fully complete it

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Honestly, I'm writing this review after having rewatched the drama, since the first time I saw it was about three years ago. At the time I would have probably rated this drama as a 10, but now I have definitely changed my opinion. For me, Hwarang holds some sentimental value, being that it was the second drama I ever watched, but honestly, it's not that great.

Let's start by mentioning the positives. The main cast is amazing, full of great actors that have great chemistry on-screen and off-screen, making all of the bromance and coming-of-age story super cute and interesting, with a special mention to the performances of Do Ji Han as the cold and aloof Ban Ryu, as well Park Hyunsik as Ji Dwi the disguised King of Silla in the Hwarang. Both these characters had a clear character development throughout the story, but that's about it as far as character development goes. Shinee's Minho, BTS' V, and Jo Yoon Woo were also quite good at portraying their characters: the womanizing Kim Su ho, the cute Suk Han Song, and the beautiful Kim Yeo Wool. On another note, I understood that the drama was only inspired by the Hwarangs and the kingdom os Silla to the point where they weren't particularly worried about being 100% historically accurate. Had they claimed to be based on real facts, that would have been another story. I also thought the fight scenes were very nice to watch, they felt more organic and less practiced than a few others I'd seen. (I only wished we had more of them T-T).

Now, the negatives... The main plot was just very bland. I often found myself wanting to skip scenes and not caring for the main characters. Considering it was a historical drama with a focus on a group of warriors the plot should have been more intricate, more action-packed, and less focused on the uninteresting love triangle. Did I mention that the supporting characters were my favorites? I really wanted to have seen more scenes with Ban Ryu, Soo Yeon, Suho, Han Song, and Yeo Wool. I had a HUGE issue with the female lead who was boring and as she was, quite unnecessary to the stories' development. Her existence was simply to create friction between the male leads and add a romance aspect to the story. As the physician of the Hwarangs and the only female amongst the guys, Ah Ro had the potential to be a strong, and interesting lead that we all rooted for but she wasn't. More often than not she was quite powerless and annoying. I think the casting of Go Ah Ra also wasn't right for the role. Park Seo Joon is another great actor but his character Seo Woo also wasn't well written and developed, other characters like the Queen, the Princess, and even the villain felt quite weak.

Well, overall, I 'd say give it a go if you like good looking characters (like me), simple plots where you won't have to think too much and a few interesting characters. But not worth rewatching the whole thing. Ban Ryu and Soo Yeon are at the top of my OTP list (I swear they look so good together and are sooooo cute, I CAN`T! They were -truly- some of the only actors who genuinely made me think they were in love and the kissing doesn't disappoint ;D) I went back and rewatched each and every one of their scenes like 10 times. Thanks y'all and enjoy!

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Disappointing - finding it hard to stick with

I never thought I'd consider abandoning anything with Park Seo Joon in it but this is dragging badly. I really should start dropping things I don't enjoy rather than hanging on to the bitter end - it's not a happy-making habit.
So my problems with it are mainly to do with the casting:
The female lead (Go Ah Ra) is doing my head in and I just can't warm to her in any way.
I also CANNOT STAND the actor Choi Won Young who plays her dad (oh my god oh my god oh my god I can't stand him). Maybe he hates the role and is trying to ham it up - who knows - but he's just cheesy and bad. I think the Queen is a great actress and he ruins her scenes.
Continuing the negativity (:-P) I have a strong dislike for Seo Yea Ji (princess). I have only seen her in this and "Save Me" but feel I have spent enough hours watching that same expression to last a lifetime.

Good bits:
Park Seo Joon - goes without saying - and Mak Moon (Lee Kwang Soo)'s bro-vibes were my favorite part of the whole thing.
First few episodes are ace
Love the soundtrack
Park Hyung Sik who I hadn't come across before and I thought his acting was great
Choi Min Ho who I hadn't come across before either. I thought he was a decent actor, has gorgeous eyes and his styling was awesome - very mortal combat
Queen (Kim Jee Soo) is great
V = cutie
V's older brother (Kim Hyun Joon) - also a cutie. I liked his scenes with the King's bodyguard pretending to be in his 20's

I think I will finish it eventually - I'll just try and skip over the scenes with the people who agitate me :-)

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Well that was just a masterpiece in my opinion. This is my first historical drama so there really might be better out there but I think it will always hold a special place in my heart. I gotta admit that I started watching it because of Taehyung but it turned out to be much more than that to me. I got too invested in everything from the events to the characters and the romance which all three were great. It was really fun and cute at times yet made sure to keep me on edge with each episode. I loved it even more near the end cause it picked up real quick and every single scene was great nothing felt dragged or repetitive like some parts at first. The ending was just everything though! I was crying from how beautiful and satisfactory it is. And don't even get me started on the OST cause that was a work of art! Some songs might have been played at wrong scenes but the songs themselves are just epic. I just loved this way more than I thought I would and I don't regret a single second of it that I'm gonna re-watch as soon as I can

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This was it for me: exciting plot/idea which ended upping dragged on in a slow paced 20 eps. Then it became frustrating at some point because it would only offer good plot twists at the end. However it did offer good charismatic and likable characters which served as comic relief. I am an easy cryer but for me this didn´t affect me as much as the writers wanted to. I think the show somehow tried to imitate certain aspects from scarlet heart, trying to play with the idea of the girl who is loved by two and used as bate, the side characters that are interesting (some of them die), wanting the throne, etc. I also think certain situations needed more development or more justification. Overall, it was good but, being completely honest, it was disappointing because it turned out being really different from what i expected.

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