Hwarang (2016)

Third rewatch - perceptions change.

Well, I've been holding this back for a while.
The first time I watched this I was early in my Kdrama immersion and I loved it. Lots of eye candy and many quite engaging characters, some of whom I hated, some of whom I whole-heartedly rooted for. I found the acting for the most part excellent and enjoyed the simple but at times sad plot lines as well as the horrid and toxic manipulations of the powerful. Even that first viewing made me feel that most of the problem I had with this drama was centred in the tragic miscasting of the female lead. More later.
The second viewing was less satisfying but still engaging. This time the FL was even more misplaced, but I thought that the writing of her part and possibly the way she was directed sadly affected how she portrayed her character. One-dimensional, pathetic and gurny.
In this, my third viewing I find that Go Ara's role rendered it all almost unwatchable.
Please don't misconstrue this - GAR has been excellent in other roles I have seen her in, so I don't altogether blame her. She is a very skilled actress - when properly cast and directed
However I always felt that in this drama her acting was lamentably one-dimensional: she is always to some extent angry or scared or worried. Her method for conveying all these different states is centred on what I called "grumpy chin". It's almost laughable - even when she is experiencing the first stirrings of confused romantic love, she is Miss Grumpy Chin. Sometimes her chin calms down and is almost normal, but if so then her forehead becomes loomy.
Now, I think there is good reason for her character to be worried, vulnerable, scared, given her station in life, but even in the early stages of the drama when she plays a young woman about town making an unexpected success and good money by telling romantic stories for small crowds, she conveys every excitement of those romantic tales with her grumpy chin or sour forehead. When she drinks the wages that she is owed, she conveys her "relaxation" by means of her grumpy chin. Even in those warmer lighter moments with her best pal, she is Miss Grumpy Chin. She is a gifted if partially trained doctor having learned by watching her father, but invariably her interactions with every patient is dominated by Grumpy Chin and perhaps Loomy Eyebrows as well.
The character she plays - a young unmarried daughter of a one-time aristocrat - should have been married off by the age of perhaps even 13, certainly by 16, but most of her styling convinces me she is in her late 20s or even mid 30s. In fact all the young male characters should be in their late teens or early 20s and they also look much older - late 20s/ or 30s. Sadly GAR looks about twice the age she should be, and that's how she behaves too. In addition, the acting has none of the charm the character should have and mostly none of the spirit.
She spends elaborate amounts of time dawdling around being grumpy, or actively whining and weeping - she is transformed from a girl with agency and creativity to a wet rag. These more attractive characteristics do emerge later but only ever very briefly. Most of the time they are invisible, dominated by a passivity and that ever-present grump.
For me, one result is that, with the best will in the world, I fail to find any chemistry between her and the ML or 2ML. I find that deeply annoying, and a huge wasted opportunity : two of the most beautiful males on the planet, both doing a damn fine job of being sexy with a sword or a horse, and demonstrably trying to fall for her, but nearly every interaction is ...limp. Even in the context of conservative Korean standards, this is pathetic.
This is a drama sadly let down by poor directing and the pathetic miscasting of the monochrome and miserable role of A-Ro.
There are other flaws, of course, other reviewers have responded to those, and up to a point I agree at least with some of those. However, all of those weaknesses have been bearable. None has made the drama as nearly unwatchable as has poor old (and old is the right word for it) A-Ro, as caricatured by Go Ara.
My Stars/Scores are awarded mostly for every other actor or aspect of this drama - if I focussed only on the real issue here, I'd only find 2 stars at most.
Clearly she was doing what the writer/director wanted from the role. They should be shot by one of the used arrows that they wasted on Dog Bird,

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Camaraderie, Growth, and Fun!

I can't believe I waited so long to watch this! This is such a light and fun drama to watch with lots of camaraderie amongst boys turning into men. The journey was light but with impact. It didn't skimp on showing that while these men were roughened, they also had fun in the process and learned to build camaraderie. I truly didn't expect to be so immersed into something with politics involved. But a story written rightly can really change a persons mind and perspective. So kudos to the writers!

I also appreciated that the romance wasn't the central point of the show. Yes, it did serve it's purpose, but it wasn't the main point of the show. It focused on the transformation of elite boys to toughened men, and of them learning to care, protect, and love their people and country. Of them coming out of their protective shells and being true men. It's also growth of almost all characters that was rightly done that made the story even more amazing!

Honestly, this is such a great drama to watch, a true gem!

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I was kind of thrown off by the first episode, but after sitting through it and giving the drama another chance I really started loving Hwarang! It was my first historical kdrama and with its comedy on the one side and drama on the other side it gave me a really good introduction to this genre.

Obviously the cast is great and while the romance in this drama wasn‘t necessarily the most interesting to me (honestly not a huge fan of Goo Ara in this one), I really enjoyed the chemistry, dynamics and bromances between the Hwarang guys.

To me Hwarang was an enjoyable drama that was easy to watch and made me laugh. Would recommend it to anyone who wants to enjoy the performance of this great cast and just have a good time.

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It's been quite some time since this drama has released. but I'll throw my unqualified opinion out there for every one to judge. I watched this show as it was airing and I rewatched it a year later.

Before anything else, I want to mention my OTP Kim Soo Yeon and Park Ban Ryu. Throughout the entire thing, I had secondary couple syndrome and I love it.

Story:
The story for this drama is overall... not the best. I found it difficult to figure out what the plot even was. There were many small conflicts that does not really have anything to do with the main story. It also led up to an anticlimactic ending too. In the first half of the drama (like episode 1-7) I was really curious to get to know the characters and how they would react, but after that, their actions and what happens next becomes kind of predictable. There were also too many plot holes and questions left unanswered. Normally, some unanswered questions for me is okay, but this drama leaves out too many things that fans would love to know. The character development wasn't that great either. The character development was really little for all of the characters except two, Ji Dwi and Ban Ryu.

Acting/Cast:
The acting was pretty good, except for some scenes with the main couple. I didn't really see the chemistry, even though I'll gladly ship Ah Ro with either of the two leads. I'm not sure if the acting was the main problem for the scenes with the main couple, I have seen dramas with Go Ara and Park Seojoon before and they were able to it pull off pretty well. I would have given this category an 8.5, but it's acting and cast. I fell in love the cast members, making me search up all their names to find out more of their real personalities, except Kim Taehyung, Choi Minho, and Park Hyungsik since I already knew them.

Music:
The music in this drama didn't always with what was going on in the scene. The songs get awkwardly cut off at the end to play a different song. But despite all this I love listening to the OST. I find myself singing along and singing it randomly. Also I didn't know Park Seojoon could sing so well.

I watched this drama expecting to see a bunch of pretty boys wearing fabulous clothes and that's exactly what I got. I don't think you should watch this drama if you to see a drama with an amazing plot and chemistry, but you should watch it when you're feeling bored and you want to binge on something. I feel like this drama is so you can laugh along with characters (or scream when they something stupid) and sing along to the OST in the background. And if you don't like something you can always skip ahead or drop the show completely.

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It's good

I started watching it for Taehyung and fell in love with all the male leads lol.
I loved it. The visuals, the acting everything was perfect. The hate love bromance between Banryu and Suho was really fun to watch. Taehyung being himself in the whole series was also a mood. The chemistry among the male actors was so genuine. No foubt they're great friends irl.
The only thing I didn’t like about the series was the female lead. Yes, Ah-ro. She cried her eyes out literally in every effing episond and the brother -sister romance storyline was kinda weird too.
Ban Ryu and Soo Yeon were my perfectly cute Ship. They carried the whole romance part of the series. Loved them alot.
The tracks were great. I loved everyone of them. But my favourite was "Even if I die it’s you" by V and Jin.
Just watch it guys.
The visuals are enough to carry the whole show.

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Решила тесное знакомство с Силлой я начать с этакой недавней безделушки. Я ее смотрела онгоингом, поэтому пересмотр прошел быстро и, как вы поняли, с изрядной долей перемотки. Но однако вот сейчас, все-таки при всей развлекательности картинки, все же видны те правильные исторические факты, которые присутствуют в сериале. Во первых, конечно, это вечная корейская игра - противостояние клик, однако пока еще есть возможность просто заменять короля, потому что так уж складывалось и в Силле - власть не одной семьи, а у многих семей-основателей (как и в Когуре и Пэкче). Но тут изюминкой есть еще идея "святой кости", по сути закрытой кастовой системы, чего не наблюдалось в двух вышеназванных государствах. И эта система довольно плотно завязана на религии и мистицизме, что тоже отличает это государство от остальных. Поэтому появление такого оригинального явления как хвараны могло произойти только в этой стране. В «Самгук юса» («Достопамятные события Трех государств») также сказано, что, после того как в правление государя Чинхын-еака упразднили вонхва, все же поняли, что стране не обойтись без «Пути ветров и луны» (выражение, символизирующее красоту природы). Поэтому из семей уважаемых людей начали отбирать красивых молодых людей достойного поведения, которых называли хваран, а их руководителей — солъволлан («изначальный цветок полыни»)— стали почитать за «государственных святых». Реальную цель этой организации многие историки называют разной: от военной дружины, до поддержания общественного тонуса в стране. Однако одно ясно точно - сделав эту организацию престижной и статусной, правитель хитро ограничивал власть своего окружения, держа их детей при себе.
По роду деятельности организация хваранов была не военной, а, скорее, воспитательно-тренировочной с элементами военной подготовки. Выделяют три основных вида деятельности хваранов: 1) закалка души и тела через изучение морали и постижение Пути; 2) изучение песен, музыки, сочинение стихов; 3) путешествие по стране в поисках красивых гор и речных потоков. Интересно отметить, что у хваранов было принято разрисовывать лицо. Нанесение грима объясняют либо желанием быть больше похожим на женщину, чтобы привлечь к себе внимание и помощь различных духов, либо непосредственным влиянием шаманизма: раскрашивание лица и есть акт становления шаманом. Вот видите -война тут не главное и влияние на профессиональные войска хвараны вряд ли имели, но Статусность, в таком шаманско-обрядовом ярком государстве была не менее важным делом, чем реальная власть. Пусть играются.
История в сериале как раз о начале хваранов, все просто и незатейливо, камера любуется актерами, мы тоже. Кстати, Пак Хён Сика я разглядела именно в этой дораме. Старший каст - сплошняком "монстры". Ким Чжи Су как королева была хороша, внезапно разглядела Ли Кю Хёна, который так прекрасно "выстрелил" в Secret Forest. Пак Со Джун справился, бонусом мелькнули Кван Су и Ви.
А институт хваранов просуществовал со времени правления короля Чинхын-вана (540-575) до царствования королевы Чинсон-нёван (887-896), когда Силлы не стало. 350 лет довольно большой срок.

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I watched this because of Park Seo Joon. The plot was easy to follow and made me curious enough to keep watching. There beautiful men definitely kept me interested too. It got a bit draggy in the middle, but the last episodes provided a neat ending. Although it tied up most of the story lines I didn't love how it ended. The actress Go Ara - her character started out likeable but by the end I was was wanting her to have some sort of accident. To make her stop. All that dang crying was too much for me. I loved the music, definitely many songs worthy of downloading.

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A great story with great acting, music, and teaches important life lessons.

The only bad thing i can say about this drama is that Kim Taehyung's character was killed towards the end. This drama left me being tormented when Han Sung was accidenally killed when he saved Sun Woo. Most of the characters are so lovelable (Queen and Park Young Sil are just evil, although the queen somehow reddems herself at the end) and have great personalities and they are portrayed by great actors. By the end of this i was crying happy tears because the main cast overcame so much to create a new and better Silla. What a great story of how a hidden king gains loyal friends along the way to form a better kingdom, and take his place as king with the support of the Hwarang. Although I was very much is support of the main couple, I did feel sorry for the king. He's such a good king. Definitely worth the 20 episodes.

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Writer appreciation review! Might contain (big) spoilers

I'm giving ten on ten for casting and direction and editing too. The music however, is sometimes very irritating. BUT I'm here to actually APPRECIATE the writer of Hwarang.It happens very rarely in costume drama that all characters get equal justification. Ji Dwi, who has lived all his life in sufferings and hardships and unable to justify his people, finally finds his power. Even after being in so much confusion and pressure, he kept his heart pure and got what he deserved. Ghae-sae didn't get washed away by desires and did the right thing. Ban Ryu... I don't have enough words to tell how i feel for him. Soo Ho did his duty well both as a son and as a Hwarang..but there were instances where i wanted to smack the shit out of his head. Nvm. And Han Seong..the kind little kid like man, his death was the most painful. His Hyung turned out to be a good person as well.
Pressed by the power driven elders of the society, it was not easy for anyone to pave the way and change their nation according to their merry dreams. But they did it. They proved to be the Hwarang they were meant to be.
Love, Power, desires , greed and honesty.. every single thing has been touched perfectly and winners were chosen and justified extremely well.

Author-nim, You did well :)

Also, i wanted to REALLY know if Ban Ryu got to marry Seon Woo or not.
They've made me cry river of tears afterall.

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I've been stuck waiting for dramas to finish because I cannot watch a drama while it is airing so I usually rewatch my favorites (Strong Girl, Suspicious Partner, Vincenzo, Itaewon Class, etc) but I literally just rewatched those recently so I figured I'd go through my list and rewatch dramas that I couldn't really remember. All of the stars in this drama are for the Hwarang boys!!! I honestly was hooked due to the character growth of each of the boys. I loved watching them grow and become self aware adults and also their relationships with each other. I also loved all the ajusshis in this drama, all my favorites in one place.

On to romance - I feel like this should be a category since whenever I read reviews I want to know about the romance in each drama. I honestly love romance but the romance in this drama was just not for me. This is not a dig at Go Ah Ra, I adore her in everything she does, she always plays her characters really well and she has phenomenal comedic timing. But when it comes to playing off of a romantic lead it just always feels.. I honestly don't know the word. Usually when I'm watching moments even small ones with the two leads, I have to pause everything I'm doing to pay full attention and I'll even rewatch the same scene because I'm so invested but when it came to Ah Ro and Moo Myung it didn't even phase me. I didn't feel the connection to their relationship so I wasn't invested in it.

Would I rewatch this drama again? I mean I already did, no regrets it was a nice and easy watch. Would I watch it again for the third time? Probably not.

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