Hwarang (2016)

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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Imperfect but I still loved it!

I heard mixed things about this and hadn’t planned on watching it, but I’m so glad I gave it a chance. It’s not perfect but I feel most its criticisms are too harsh; and besides, for me, lackluster execution of a show/movie/etc can be forgiven if there are compelling characters, relationships, and dynamics - and this has all that in spades. Usually with a large cast there are characters you don’t care about, but not here; there are many different personalities and relationships and I was invested in them all. I’m often indifferent to the second lead but I loved him, as his own character with a wonderful arc, without getting second lead syndrome - which is a difficult balance to achieve. I smiled, I cried, I raised a brow at some of the creative missteps but quickly forgot about them in my excitement to see what happened next. I found the ending very satisfying.

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I wanted to write a review for Hwarang since a very long time since I have some comments on it..

no introductions i'll move on with my review

Story: I love historical dramas in general and this drama as a matter of fact surprised me because most of the historical dramas have a dark vibe to them but this one is different it was pretty cheerful and even the dark moments weren't as dark as they should be despite them existing though. I also liked the plot even the ending was charming I didn't feel bored at all even though that sometimes there were some unnecessary events but can't complain because I didn't really mind that .
personally I don't think I have a problem at all with the story except that it was kinda long

acting: okay I'm going to need to talk about this for a bit..
going for the positive thoughts first , it was my first time watching Park Seojoon and despite the character being too overrated I liked his acting he did a very good job portraying it .. as for Hyungsik he was the best one so far he totally gained a new fan of him in this drama he did a very very good job with his character and his facial expressions were amazing it totally showed what is the character thinking without even him talking .. Minho wasn't bad his acting was average but he has a cute vibe that I didn't mind at all .. I liked Jihan protraying Panryo but for some reason I think he could've done better with his facial expressions..As for Taehyung for a first time appearance as an actor he did great but Hansung had pretty short screen time which made the character really underrated despite it being important in the protagonist's character development
now leaving all this aside i'd like to talk about Go Ahra because her acting in Hwarang was disastrous that I don't even know where should I begin
starting the very first scenes of her in the drama I was like oh boy.. Her acting especially in the funny scenes was so overrated that I can see that she is actually acting In serious moments it was even worse she was overrating her acting to the point that I really thought that this woman really doesn't belong here I really did a huge effort to stop myself from skipping her scenes .. but near the end somehow she started to get better not really great but at least bearable
I watched you are all surrounded and Go Ahra wasn't really that bad which made me wonder is it the character's fault that She's not funny and acceptable at all or Go Ahra should just stay away from these kind of roles?

Music: If I die.. this song is the only thing I'm going to put here because it's one of my greatest favs

rewatch value: not into rewatching in general but I would love to replay some of hyungsik's scenes

overall: the drama is very light and entertaining and will give you a good laugh and also the story is really nice and the cast is very good so I don't regret watching it at all

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skip the romance and stay for the bromance

I came to watch Hwarang for the star studded cast and only really stayed 'til the end to watch the bromance chemistry between the Hwarang boys.

STORY:
Hwarang started off well with its promising storyline. Episode 1 was pretty good and got me interested straight away. The chemistry between Sun Woo (Park Seo Joon) and Mak Moon (Kwang Soo) was amazing and the episode instantly got me emotional. The next few episodes were fairly good as well as we find out the main reason for the Hwarang. The introduction of the rest of the cast as the Hwarang boys did make the first few episodes interesting enough. Unfortunately as the drama progressed, the less interesting it got since most of the plot actually revolved around the romance side of the story. In the end it became tedious to watch because of this.

The romance side of the story kept going back and forth between Ah Ro and Sun Woo. When she's not getting mad at Sun Woo then it's Sun Woo trying to avoid her. And the worst parts were when Ah Ro somehow always needed rescuing by either Sun Woo or Ji Dwi. The romantic scenes became very monotonous to watch.

On the other hand, Sun Woo and Ji Dwi's background storylines and bromance were interesting enough to warrant watching through the terrible romantic scenes. The side stories of the Hwarang boys (Ban Ryu, Soo Ho and Han Sung) did also help to keep me watching to the very end. Ban Ryu's love story/romantic scenes were actually more interesting than the main leads which says a lot about how substandard the main leads love story really was.

I did think the last few episodes also dragged on and it would've been better if the director made it a 16 episode drama instead of 20. Since the extra 4 episodes were filled with problem after problem and it got a bit tiring and boring to watch towards the end.

CHARACTERS:
Ah Ro was a damsel in deep distress since she seems to be always crying like seriously 80% of the time she's crying. If she's not crying, then she had a grumpy face on. She became annoying to watch most of the time. That's not to say the actress (Go Ah Ra) who plays her is a bad actress, it just so happens the character she played was not the best.

Ji Dwi had the greatest story arc overall in terms of how he was in the 1st episode; being cowardly, scared and still child-like needing protection from his mum. In the end becoming what he was really born and destined to be: The King. Park Hyung-sik exuded the aura of being a secret king really well. You will feel sorry for his character but also get annoyed at his coward-ness but then still root for him to be the king in the end. He played this character really well.

Sun Woo (Park Seo Joon) was also great in this drama. From the very first episode to the last, he played a great pauper with that classic 'for-the-people' attitude. He exuded great leadership skills and towards the last episode he really did make me so anxious as to what decision he was going to make. The overall chemistry between the Hwarang boys was excellent too especially Sun Woo and Ji Dwi. It's really what got me through this drama.

The supporting casts were also good, especially Kwang Soo even though he was only on a couple of episodes. Kim Jee So as the Queen Mother Ji So did a fantastic job, I disliked her the more episodes I watched which just goes to show how well she played her character.

OST:
I loved the OST of this drama. I especially appreciate Park Hyung-sik and Park Seo Joon taking part in the OST as well. And of course, V of BTS with the main OST 'It's Definitely You' along with Jin from BTS. I had this song saved on my playlist before even watching the drama as it's just so good.

OVERALL:
The drama had a decent storyline that if the romance side of the story was done better or there was less of it and more of the Hwarang then I probably would've given it a higher rating. The chemistry of the Hwarang boys especially Ji Dwi's and Sun Woo's along with their own background stories are the main reasons to stay for this drama. You may want to skip the romantic scenes between Ah Ro and Sun Woo, I sure did, but it's worth sticking until the end to see Ji Dwi finally sit on the throne as he should.

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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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