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.
Was this review helpful to you?
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
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
BUT the historical story was so great and so captivating!!!
I have loved watching Park Hyung Sik in this drama. He is actng very well. He is quite sexy in Hwarang clothes. Supporting roles are very refreshing.
I recommand this drama if you are looking for historical drama with sexy guys.
Was this review helpful to you?
The story is the main reason I like it because it's interesting and keeps you wanting to watch more and unveil more of it. It's worth it on itself really.
Another reason is the romance, the leads' romance is a very sweet, heartwarming love story and you will feel it.
Lastly the osts, the osts in this drama are really memorable and you may even want listen to them outside of the drama by adding them to a playlist of yours.
Many people disliked Ah ro because she cried a lot or because she didn't return a certain character's feelings but I liked her, she was funny, cute and kind. She stood her ground saying it was wrong when someone wanted to impose himself on her and even kissed her without her consent. She also turned stronger as the series went on.
There were lots of bromance scenes you may like if that's your thing.
Park seo joon looks really good with long hair and if you liked him in other shows you may like him even more here, his character in this drama is really cool.
Now the things I disliked. There were some scenes such as: picture a scene where a certain number of people are sitting, brooding at the same time, and then it would show each of them and a flashback of what was bothering them one at a time, scenes like this felt unrealistic to me. There were also lots of repeated flashbacks in general.
Also there were other situations where the characters would say what they had said before in a different scene or a character would ignore another when that had happened before too.
Another thing that I found unnecessary was the love triangle, the story could have been much better had it not existed. The two guys could have been great friends the entirety of the show and more scenes of their friendship could have been added.
Lastly I disliked how the writer repeatedly put Ah ro in situations that caused trouble thus contributing to people disliking her, those scenes got annoying.
Despite those things, I overall 100% rec this drama, it's sure to be a good entertaining time to anyone.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
To be honest I don't know why I have decided to write a review on this drama. It was by no means my favourite, yet I felt compelled to write it.Non Spoiler stuff...
Reasons I ended up watching this drama:
1. It's a historical K drama. I've recently been watching historical K dramas, (Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Tale of Nokdu, Rookie Historian)
2. Park Seo Joon - I watched him in 'What's wrong with Secretary Kim?' and heard good things about his general acting and wanted to see him in a different role.
3. Seo Ye Ji - I watched her in 'It's okay to not be okay' and she quickly rose to be one of my favourite actresses.
4. It's a good looking cast...
Reason you should watch:
1. Bromance and Friendships
2. Popular cast
3. It has good message of 'actions speak louder than words'
I gave Hwarang an 7.5 (more like a 7.3) , I probably would have given it something different, if I hadn't an idea of what a good historical drama should look like.
Spoilery (ish) stuff
Story
The story was the weakest part of the drama.
The pacing of the story at the end was rushed and wasn't completely satisfactory. The purpose of the Hwarang was to act as guards and to support King Jinheung. But in the end we barely got a glance of how the Hwarang would be put into play with the faceless King now on the throne. Nor did we see how Sam Maek Jong would do as King. Throughout the drama he talks of wanting to make a difference in Silla but that could have merely been words as we never got to see the better Silla.
Cast/ Acting
There is no denying that this drama has a star cast.
Most people that came to watch this show will have come for BTS V/ Taehyung (Hanseong) seeing as the comments are filled with him despite not being in the scene.
The best actors in the drama I would say were Park Hyung Shik (The King, Sam Maek-Jong, Second lead), Do Ji Han (Ban Ryu) and I guess, Park Seo Joon (Moo Myung , Male lead). Hyung Shik and Ji Han presented raw pain and emotions extremely well and Seo Joon demonstrated a good contrast between the awkwardness and innocence in terms of love compared to his anger and sadness.
Go Ara did alright. She wasn't the best actor in the drama, it may be due to my growing disinterest in her character that I didn't seem to click with her acting.
Romance/ Chemistry
The romance was a bigger aspect of the story than I thought it was going to be. Before going into the drama, I wasn't even aware that there would be a female lead. The romance was fine at the beginning because it built tension and brought the characters together, but after the reveal to Ah Ro that Moo Myung was not her brother I was put off by the romance. It might be that I am salty about the ending couple. But I am probably not the only one who thought that Ah Ro should have ended up with Sam Maek-Jong (Jidwi). In my personal opinion they had better romantic chemistry than the main couple. I felt that Ah Ro and Moo Myung would have been better with a sibling relationship.
The romance that was done perfectly was between Ban Ryu and Soo Yeon (Soo Ho's sister). The romance was sweet and opened doors into Ban Ryu's true character.
The bromance between the Hwarang was what gave the whole drama a boost in rating for me. I could tell that they all cared about each other. When Hanseong died, I started crying despite not having a huge attachment to the character, just because of all of their reactions.
Overall I would say that I'd rewatch this drama, but not all of it. I'd probably skim through the episodes or rewatch a specific episode for a scene that I enjoyed.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
17/01/2023
This is more or less about a faceless King in hiding and a peasant that wants vengeance for the death of his best friend.
All inside the kingdom of Silla that has no place for the poor.
Both, it seems, want the same thing as in a unified Silla with fair treatment and no rank system or anyone starving or resorting to theft. However, the Queen and one other have other plans and the King in hiding turns out to be the peasant's target of revenge.
Under the Queen, Hwarang is formed in order to train elite fighters from high class families of Silla to support the Royal family, only among those training are the peasant and the King so their story and all involved unfolds from there...
The peasant is not just an ordinary peasant and his real story comes to light eventually as well.
I actually enjoyed this drama and watched it in two days.
In some places I read that there were a lot of plot holes and unanswered questions, but I liked it for what it was which was light, likeable and well paced with a decent cast.
The bromance in this was quite good to watch and the humour was funny throughout most of it. Not all, but most.
The female lead's character, A- Ro, was a bit irritating after some time with all the crying and emotional outbursts, but all the males whether mains or support were solid.
Park Hyung-sik was a good fit for the King as was Park Seo Joon as the peasant, Moo Myung.
I will say that some of the fight scenes in this were not as good as some of the ones I have seen in Chinese Dramas - no where as good!!! Like the angles were not caught right, the speed was wrong and they weren't captured in a way that it was a wow factor for me. They weren't as spectacular like the ones, for example, in The Long Ballad or Ever Night S1 and S2.
Overall, this is a fairly decent drama and is something I'd watch again once a year no problem.
Was this review helpful to you?
The beauty and peril of being a young and privileged man.
Hwarang is a blast of youth. It is inspired by a real-life event. However, limited knowledge about history won’t affect your experience watching this drama . Even if it happened more than a thousand year ago, the theme is relevant to the current situation. It is about being part of the privileged group, about the desire to make a change to a corrupted and unjust society, about power struggle among those who have been in power for too long. Don’t worry, this is not a heavy k-drama. This is a light drama, basically to showcase all these beautiful young men living together and a battle of high level testosterone on a daily basis.The story is not the strongest point of Hwarang. The production got a low score for me. But I don’t watch Sageuk so I don’t have any comparison. It looks like being filmed on a tight and low budget production. I didn’t check. Except for the beautiful dresses, the visuals are pretty lame.
Still, I will watch this drama over and over again. Just like eating junk food, it’s not good but it’s delicious. I am craving for more.
This drama has a long cast of talented actors/ actresses, I suspect the cost of production went to the casts. The casts save this drama. An example, I see how Kim Chan Wan as Park Yeong Shil put his signature in the character he plays so that the antagonist has more depth. So do other actors/ actresses. They bring their own interpretation to their character. At least, this is the case for the more experienced casts.
Wooga squad came out of this drama. It’s an indicator on how good the chemistry and relationship among the young casts is. Park Seo Joon together with Park Hyung Shik and Go Ah Ra, they make a good team. The rest of the young cast are similarly okay but, for me, Seo Joon stands out compared to others. Taehyung is my bias so I won’t comment much on his acting. It’s too similar to how Taehyung is being portrayed in real life on the many bangtan reality shows. I enjoy it but I am not sure if he is acting or he is simply being himself. There were moments when he was good, but it's like hit and miss. I don’t know if the character is made to accommodate him or he was given that character because it is similar to his. I suspect he could show better acting if he was given a different character, one that is not too close to his public personality and push him to go beyond his comfort zone.
Oh and, I know this is from a past time in a patriarchal culture but I read somewhere that Hwarang was created to counter the strong women squad. The women protagonist and antagonist are strong but I really wish there were more women in it.
I like some of their music, its catchy. But again, I have my own bias towards a certain bands. Ehm, what can I say? :)
This is a good drama if you need something light, want to be entertained. Hwarang has a bit of action, a splash of mellowness and a chuckle every now and then. Forget logic and be forgiving about holes in its story.
Was this review helpful to you?
