Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth (2016)

The more I wait, the stronger you get. A child cannot walk from the start. A child must fall and practice one step at a time for his legs to grow stronger and for him to be able to walk well. I must practice walking in order to take the path of a king. I will become stronger in Hwarang. – Kim Ji Dwi

Hwarang Synopsis : The names of just a few Hwarangs are recorded in history. Not many people these days truly know about Hwarangs. How did they start? How did beautiful looking young men become at the center of unifying old Korea’s Three Kingdoms? To these countless questions, we look forward to finding the answers. Let’s imagine how life must have been for young people of Silla back in the 6th century. Let us tell you a story about their friendships and love. (Source: KBS World)

MAIN CAST

• Park Seo-joon as Moo-myung / Kim Sun-woo / Kim Isabu / Dog-Bird
• Go Ara as Kim Ah-ro
• Park Hyung-sik as Sammaekjong / Kim Ji-dwi / King Jinheung

FANGIRL NOTES

• Genre : Historical / Coming-of-age / Romance
• The series aired on KBS2, from December 19, 2016 to February 21, 2017.
• No. of episodes : 20
• Despite being fully produced before its premiere with an ensemble cast, the series was a commercial failure and averaged single-digit audience rating of 8.4% in its run.
• It was criticized for its distracted storytelling, inappropriate use of background music and unnatural acting of lead actors.

K-DRAMA FEELS

• It is a historical drama mixed with modern elements, comedy, and romance; action, silliness and suspense included.
• The plot was partly interesting (birth and development of hwarang unit), partly out of place and boring (romance part).
• I did not feel any chemistry of the main couple. Sorry, but I don’t like Go Ara’s acting.
• The OSTs are really good. My personal favorites are Dream by Bolbbalgan4 , I’ll Be Here by Park Hyung Sik and Our Tears by Park Seo Joon.
• My favorite scene is where everyone literally backed and stood behind Ji Dwi. (The chanting of the Hwarang’s and Jinheung being totally ready to take his throne and put people back in their places! This scene literally summed up the literal power of bromance.)
• One of the main reasons why I was interested in watching this drama is because of Park Hyung-sik. He nailed his character as Sammaekjong / Kim Ji-dwi / King Jinheung. He acted like he was the lead and that was the reason why he shined, even though he was the second lead character. His acting, his expressions, his posture everything he did made his character stronger and he really shined in this drama.
• All in all, I enjoyed this drama especially the bromance.

My Overall Rating – 8.0/10 (I do recommend it, but without big expectations!)

INSPIRING K-DRAMA QUOTES FROM HWARANG

• It’s only those who possess a lot who fear. If you don’t have anything, you don’t fear anything.
• If you’re scared you must be careful.
• Being young and weak is not a sin.
• Even if no one else in the world is on your side, you should be on your own side. Even if you’re pathetic and weak, you should trust yourself.
• If you don’t create some kind of trouble, this world won’t change.

Have you watched Hwarang? Share your feels!

FANGIRL RECOMMENDS : 

• Historical / Coming-of-age – Love in the Moonlight (2016)
• Park Hyung Sik’s Drama – Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (2017)

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