Hwarang

Hwarang

8.5/10

Hwarang

Genre:                                 Episodes: 20                          Year: 2017

Historical

Romance

Synopsis:

Queen Jisoo has ruled the Kingdom of Silla since the death of her husband. She keeps her son hidden from the people under the guise of wanting to protect him while she remains in power. Men from noble families plot against the Queen and the unseen young King, desiring to take the throne for their own families. In order to force the nobles to be loyal, the Queen creates Hwarang- an army of young men whose sole purpose is to protect the unknown King, and is made up of the sons of the noble families. Amongst the Hwarang is Ji Dwi, the young King himself, and Sun Woo, a nameless peasant posing as a nobleman’s son.

Cast:

Park Seo Joon (Moo Myung/Sun Woo)

Go Ara (Ah Ro)

Park Hyung Shik (Ji Dwi)

Choi Minho (Soo Ho)

Do Ji Han (Ban Ryu)

Seo Ye Ji (Princess Sookmyung)

Jo Yoon Woo (Yeo Wool)

V (Han Sung)

Kim Hyun Joon (Dan Se)

Kim Ji Soo (Queen Jiso)

Sung Dong Il (Wi Hwa Gong)

Lee Da In (Soo Yeon)

Lee Kwang Soo (Mak Moon)

General Thoughts:

Okay, I’ll admit- this show was definitely not without flaws. In fact, there were many, many flaws. So why did I rate it so highly? Because despite some of it’s plot-holes and dropped story-lines, it was still highly entertaining.

Yes...highly entertaining.

Though I do believe that those who disliked the drama were far louder than those who liked it, I can agree that it is by no means flawless and understand how some people were disappointed with it. But I liked it a lot. It was just the thing I was wanting at the time- a lighthearted youth drama set in a historical period.

Cute youth romance. Plus swords. And death.

I really like historical dramas, but I always find myself getting bored by the wordy political goings on in the second halves when there are swords and poison and you can kill people and make things interesting, but they tend to…not. The lightheartedness of ‘Hwarang’ meant that I could enjoy the things I like about historical dramas (the clothes, the rules, the dangers) without having to sit through looooong stretches of our hero and our villain exchanging hard-to-follow (particularly if some of it isn’t translated as well as it could be) banter about how they will bring each other down, while in actuality nothing much happens. It’s one of the great reasons I like this drama- things happened. While one conflict came to a close, one or two more were already jumping up to take centre stage. So yes, the writing may not have been as smooth or as flawless as we would have liked, but I could be happily distracted by other aspects of the drama. The greenness of the writer (this is her first drama) became quite apparent at the end of the series when things didn’t tie-up quite as nicely as they could have. While I adored Han Sung and thought his death was brilliant (both the way it occurred and the acting behind it from V and Kim Hyun Joon), it didn’t actually add anything to the story, and ended up being quite a meaningless death when it could have been so much more.

What do you mean you have to finish telling the story after he's dead?

Sun Woo wasn’t really impacted by the death of his friend, and it didn’t motivate him to any action. He was sad for a scene or two, then got over it. Similarly, it didn’t seem to have any great impact on Dan Se- he was sad, tried to kill himself, then nothing. Then suddenly he’s a Hwarang- how did that happen? The story of the brothers was deeply enjoyable, but sadly lost its way at the end and fizzled out. On the other hand, Ban Ryu’s side-story was just brilliant. It had the perfect amount of comedy to balance out the more serious parts of the drama, and the story arc had a nice complete feeling.

100% best Hwarang boy side-story

The smaller love-line wasn’t without its bumps, but those issues were never blown out of proportion, and it was a cute little deviation away from the main plot-line. I was never disappointed to have screen time given to Ban Ryu and Soo Yeon. Also, on an unrelated side-note, I think the reason I enjoyed this drama more than other viewers is that I watched the episodes back-to-back rather than waiting a week in between.

Funny, when you watch 8 episodes a day the plot just seems to move quicker

This meant that the small pieces of new information came relatively quickly- I didn’t have to wait weeks for one new development. I can understand how some people became frustrated with the slow pacing and spaced out reveals. This is definitely a drama to marathon rather than waiting. I guess another reason people were so vocal about their dislike for this series is that fallen expectation is a bitter pill to swallow (as I discovered myself in ‘Legend of the Blue Sea'). A lot of people were hoping for a lot of different things from this series, so expectations were pretty high. The key to enjoying this drama- expect nothing and thus avoid disappointment. Anyway, moving on. I didn’t quite see the necessity for the Princess at all, except that there really should be more than one female character. But the Princess didn’t do all that much, and her motivations were extremely unclear. It didn’t help that I’m not a fan of Seo Ye Ji. It’s not that I think she’s a bad actress, I just find something a little lacking and it puts me off both her and her characters.

Go away Princess. You're awkward and weird and not in a funny way.

It’s almost as if she can bring all the right emotions on her face, but there’s something hard and almost robotic underneath that prevents her characters from having any likability (for me).

It's like he's making up for all that lack of emotion in 'She Was Pretty'

Which doesn’t work so well when the character is also a giant hard-ass who supposedly learns to soften up a bit (I saw no softening).The rest of the acting was pretty fabulous. Park Seo Joon was amazing as our leading man. I love him when he gets to emote. He brought a lot of emotion to the story, and starting out with him and his friend in so much danger really stuck us right into his mindset- screw the nobles and the King who think they’re so much better than everyone else. Park Seo Joon held Sun Woo’s anger well, even as he started to grow friendly with the Hwarang boys. Even though he was starting to love these kids, he was still horrifically scarred by what had happened to his only friend and wanted some sort of revenge. Park Hyun Shik also acted well, and managed to hold his own next to Park Seo Joon. While I don’t think they’re on the same level, Ji Dwi had far less emotional scenes than Sun Woo did, which made it easier for Park Hyung Shik. I found his confliction between wanting to hide and wanting to step forward as King believable and though I didn’t appreciate his insanely pushy and assertive attitude towards our heroine, I did believe his affection for her.

Maybe I'd like you more if you weren't such an entitled weenie. Who knows.

Go Ara was okay as our leading lady. She was fantastic in parts of the story that let her character have any sort of personality, but was reduced to a typical heroine that needed saving for most of the show’s run. I’m pretty accustomed to female characters in historical dramas being pretty darn useless, so the inactivity of the heroine didn’t really bother me that much.

Please save me...again.

I do find it funny that so many people were out to criticise Go Ara and the character she played when she was no more useless than the heroine in ‘Moonlight Drawn by Clouds’ which everyone loved and raved over. Park Bo Gum effect, I guess. While I wouldn’t say the romance here was one of the greatest romances I’ve ever seen, it was cute and enjoyable and I loved the hero enough that I was happy for him to be in a relationship with the girl he liked, even if she was constantly being used to control him. The drama was very pretty to look at- the costumes, actors, and sets were all phenomenal and wonderful to look at. The music was a nice blend of traditional and modern. The modern twist on the series added a sense of youthfulness to it, and made it feel much more lighthearted than your typical sageuk. I’m not sure if it happened in the whole series and I only noticed in the last three episodes, or if it only occurred in the last three episodes, but sometimes I did find that the drama was relying a little too heavily on its soundtrack, and I started to notice the absence of other sounds (such as footsteps or doors closing) as the only sound that was being played was the music. All in all, I found ‘Hwarang’ to be an extremely enjoyable watch despite its shortcomings. I found the story very addictive, even if it wasn’t perfect, and look forward to this writer developing her skills and coming out with new dramas.

Did these boys ever actually learn how to fight? This is the most poorly trained militia ever.

What Was Great:

Cameo:

Lee Kwang Soo was magic at the beginning of this series. I was pretty disappointed when I saw he wasn’t in the main cast meaning his appearance was but a cameo. But what a cameo it was.

You total star- I hope you get more serious roles soon ★

Lee Kwang Soo’s character basically sets the stage for everything to happen. Mak Moon is the one who brings Sun Woo into the city, and it’s Mak Moon’s death that sparks Sun Woo’s desire for revenge. The story could have totally fallen apart if the character of Mak Moon hadn’t been strong enough, but Lee Kwang Soo delivered an absolutely stunning performance. He was delightful in his happy scenes, and the chemistry between him and Sun Woo was so sweet and so engaging. And then Mak Moon’s death was just carried out perfectly. Lee Kwang Soo acted the scene with the perfect amount of fear and love and his death really ripped your heart apart. His performance was so strong and so memorable that the character remained a constant presence throughout the whole drama. It was clear that Mak Moon was often the driving force behind Sun Woo’s actions, and where his love for Ah Ro started. It was brilliant that the drama didn’t shy away from being bloody. While Mak Moon’s death was pretty gory (by K-Drama romance standards), it did ensure that we as the audience felt horrified and offended by the murder just as Sun Woo did. It never felt like Sun Woo was overacting in his revenge because the scene was so vivid and so heartbreaking. Lee Kwang Soo really owned the character and gave a spectacular (albeit short) performance.

Where Lee Kwang Soo died and everyone cried

Tightening Tension:

One of the better aspects of the writing for this drama was that they knew how to build tension. There was never any point in the story where nothing was happening- there was always some sort of conflict for our hero and his boys to face. And as the story progressed, these conflicts gradually intensified.

Fight, fight, fight

While there’s nothing boring in any of the conflicts our hero faced, it could have been a bit of a let down and led to a slow in momentum if some of the bigger situations happened before other smaller ones. However, all the conflicts seemed to happen in the right order at the right time, so it really felt like our characters were growing as people and learning how to step up and face bigger, more complicated tasks. My favourite piece of tension was definitely our foray into foreign territory with Sun Woo stepping up and claiming to be King to save the lives of civilians. It was a fantastic climatic point in the story, and served as a successful tool to switch the focus from external forces trying to damage Hwarang to the internal struggle between the two kings. I do think the writing was pretty good overall, the writer just needs to learn how to neaten up and tighten a few aspects of the story.

What Wasn’t:

What’s With the Queen?:

The Queen made no sense. None whatsoever. I spent most of this series thinking she was a villain only to find out that she…wasn’t? Was? I don’t know, I’m still confused. We were never told what the Queen’s motivations were for keeping Ji Dwi off the throne, and that just made her character too confusing.

So much screen-time, so little sense

Sure, there can be grey characters who aren’t just good or just bad, but it wasn’t like that for the Queen- she just had no idea what she wanted to be. It never felt like she was trying to protect her son from assassination attempts, but it also never quite felt like she was trying to steal the throne from him.

Oh wait, this was a thing? Let's just ignore it and hope the audience forgets...

It was quite awkward. The backstory between the Queen and Sun Woo’s father (the fake one, not the real one) was dropped pretty early and didn’t really get picked up again, which just left a bigger question mark over the Queen. Who is this lady? What does she want? Why’s she being such a b*tch to everyone? Alas, some questions have no answers. It also didn’t help that I didn’t think the actress was doing such a great job (which is understandable, the character was difficult). She never felt all that threatening, but she also never felt all that loving. The weird love-line (crush-line?) with Soo Ho was also confusing as hell and super weird. She’s old enough to be your mother. She is the mother of one of your mates. Yeah, could have done without that one.

Where’s the Promised Bromance?:

Yes, we’ve arrived. The biggest issue with this drama and the main reason for the malcontentment of the masses. There was no bromance. Well, there was some- but very little.

There was a bit- but not nearly enough

It is very much a story that focuses on the main love-line and the love-triangle. Not so much the young men growing into independent shapers of the future. Which, I guess, it kinda did promise to be. Whoops. Friendships always make a story meatier, and this drama would have been much more compelling if relationships between the boys had been given more screen-time and development. The boys were all introduced in such rapid concession that I had some trouble figuring out who’s who (I wasn’t a religious follower of the casting news, which kinda seemed necessary during the character introduction phase).

This isn't bromantic at all

Then the side boys didn’t get a lot of screen time so it took that much longer to mark down all the characters, who they were, and what roles they’d likely be playing in the story. While I didn’t mind the romance, I did find myself wanting more about Hwarang as a whole, rather than just the King and the Fake King who just so happened to be in Hwarang. There was also very little friendship between the King and the Fake King. Ji Dwi was a total toss-bucket at the start of the show, and was really quite rude to Sun Woo- especially when you consider that Ji Dwi believed Sun Woo was the biological older brother of the girl he was interested in. The friendship between the two boys was really pretty shallow and pretty short. Unfortunately this meant that the drama’s final conflict lacked a lot of substance. 1- I never truly believed Sun Woo wanted to be King as it was so out of character for him. 2- there was no ‘oh no I might have to kill my best mate for the good of the nation’ because, well, they weren’t really best mates. The final conflict could have been so much more compelling if the drama had spent a little more time focusing on the friendship of these two boys, rather than only on their rivalry.

Imagine how intense this would be if I thought you guys actually cared about each other at all

Re-watch?

Maaaaybeee. It’s one I’d probably like to watch again, but as I’m discovering on an occurring basis- there are so many dramas and so little time. If I won the lotto and never had to work again and suddenly had more time than I knew what to do with- yes, I would revisit ‘Hwarang’.

It would have been pretty cool if the guys had done something as a team too

Plus Nine Boys

Plus Nine Boys

7.5/10

Plus Nine Boys

Genre:                     Episodes: 14                           Year: 2014

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

A superstitious mother is sent into a panic when a fortune-teller informs her that the men in her family are about to enter into a cursed year- the year of nines. The men are Gu Kwang Soo (the woman’s younger brother), and her three sons: Kang Jin Gu, Kang Min Gu, and Kang Dong Gu. The boys are 39, 29, 19 and 9. Kwang Soo is in a dilemma after encountering his last girlfriend after 10 years, who disappeared without warning. Jin Gu is struggling with his feelings for a coworker that his best friend is currently chasing. Min Gu fights to get accepted into university for Judo while being distracted by a girl he believes is his ‘destiny’. Child star Dong Gu faces his first disappointment when he begins losing his acting roles to another child. 

Cast:

Kim Young Kwang (Kang Jin Gu)

Oh Jung Se (Gu Kwang Soo)

Yook Sung Jae (Kang Min Gu)

Choi Ro Woon (Kang Dong Gu)

Kyung Soo Jin (Ma Se Young)

Yoo Da In (Joo Da In)

Park Cho Rong (Han Soo Ah)

Lee Chae Mi (Jang Baek Ji)

Kim Hyun Joon (Park Jae Bum)

General Thoughts:

It’s a delightful, underrated little gem. By having four separate stories going at once, the writers can take their time telling each boys’ narrative with precision and care. The stories are never dragged out or made overly complicated in order to increase tension or interest, because there’s always something going on in one of the boys’ stories.

That casting is a solid 10/10

I appreciate that the whole idea of a ‘curse’ kind of fell away. It allowed the drama to break away from being a gimmicky rom-com and move towards being a simple, heartfelt story of love, loss and maturing. Which it totally was. Each boy highlights the rewards and challenges of different generations, and what complications arise when you are on the brink of entering a new decade. Dong Gu is our youngest, and such gets the least amount of screen time as his problems are…well…they’re super simple- but a big deal to him, which is adorable.

OMG Sungjae- let me love you forever

Our 9 year-old faces the issue of dealing with disappointment for the first time and eventually learns to feel and express his emotions. Sweet, simple, and mostly comedic relief- but his ending delivered the emotional impact it aimed for well. Next up is Min Gu. Who’s played by Sungjae. So, you know, SWOON. I really loved Min Gu’s arc- it captured the innocence and passion of teenagers so completely. Before the world ruins that innocence and passion with the harsh sting of reality. Min Gu was so confident with both his Judo and with Soo Ah, and his story was really all about how he had to learn to separate his dreams from reality. Soo Ah was nothing like the perfect angel he imagined her to be (thank God, because it was hilariously entertaining that she wasn’t). Pairing Min Gu with a Noona was a stroke of genius because it only further showed the differences between the maturity levels of a teenager and someone in their 20s. 19 and 21 may not seem like the biggest age gap in the world, but Min Gu and Soo Ah were worlds apart in their maturity. Soo Ah has already learned that the world is a harsher place than what you’re led to believe as a child, and that failure and disappointment are around every corner. Alternatively, Min Gu thinks he has the world in his hands- strong, confident and ready to take on any challenges. It was beautiful to see how Soo Ah’s final words to Min Gu gave him the determination to head towards his true goal again with all his effort, while in turn Min Gu’s love for Soo Ah gave her the confidence to try what she really wanted in life.

She's basically the best actress ever for not losing it laughing at all Sungjae's cheesy lines 

Ahhhh, this is really the first time that I’ve felt so completely satisfied at such an open ending in a drama, but it was wonderful. I loved that the two weren’t given tied up happy endings- because your life doesn’t finish at 19 or 21. The two had a brief encounter that changed them slightly before parting ways to grow into adults. Solid conclusion show. The oldest of the boys was Kwang Soo, and his was the story I least resonated least with. While I enjoyed watching story play out, and it was definitely entertaining- I couldn't really connect with Kwang Soo. I’m not sure if this is because his partner in the series was so annoying and incomprehensible, or because his story wasn’t a typical story that could happen to anyone that age (like the rest of the boys’ stories), or simply because I’m not even close to being on the brink of 40 and my poor brain can’t quite connect with his 39 year-old problems.

All alone again

Still, it was enjoyable to watch Kwang Soo struggle, fail, and finally succeed and start to enjoy his life- both at work and at home. And lastly- Jin Gu. He was the star of the show, and as such he got the most amount of screen-time and story development. I’ve never really loved Kim Young Kwang before- I’ve enjoyed his performances, but not gone crazy for him. But he absolutely slays it as Jin Gu.

100% pure adorableness

The real heart of the whole series basically came from his sad puppy-eyes at Se Young, or his stupidly happy puppy-eyes at Se Young when she wasn’t looking. As a viewer you’re with him 100% of the way- and really can’t help but root for his love with Se Young. They’re just so bloody adorable. It’s wonderful to see how smooth the playboy is with all other girls, but with Se Young he always seems to shove his foot in his mouth- never saying what he means, and her never believing him when he does. Their whole relationship is just so simple and real- most of their problems coming from themselves and how they perceive a situation rather than actual external forces (though Jae Bum probably counts as an external force), and they had just enough magic that it made for an addictive story. What the show managed to do so extremely well was express its feelings and heart through seemingly insignificant moments. There were no great declarations of love (except for maybe Min Gu, but that was sooooo cheesy. And also didn’t work.). Se Young wasn’t that moved when Jae Bum planned a huge event at a restaurant for her birthday, but she turned into a puddle when Jin Gu looked around all day for seaweed soup that tasted like her Mum’s. It was the simple, everyday things that expressed the sincerity of our men. Kwang Soo playing with Da In’s daughter, Jin Gu taking the bus with Se Young every day, Min Gu finally calling Soo Ah ‘Noona’.

Just look at that big ol' goofy grin

It gave the drama a real sense of authenticity and made the girls (and us viewers) completely fall for these boys. Also, the soundtrack was killer. Nothing adds to the mood of a series quite like a collection of beautiful songs that sound like they came right off the mix-tape from your first relationship. 

What Was Great:

All (well Most) of the Characters:

If you’ve watched the series you’ll know what I mean by most. If not, fear not- you’ll find out soon. Moving on. All the boys were delightful. You can’t not love them. Despite their faults and insecurities, they did their best to be sincere- and that’s really what won the hearts of the viewers. Despite struggling and failing, the boys kept going and learned from their mistakes. Similarly, the girls were presented as fully formed characters with their own hopes and fears, and really grew alongside the boys.

These two rocked it in more ways than you'll ever know

I love that the drama didn’t focus too heavily on the boys side of things, but was delightfully unbiased in the way it presented issues, letting us see the perspective of the women too. This meant that although the drama had conflict, and much of that came from disagreements and misunderstandings between the characters, it was hard to dislike them. You could dislike their actions or their choices- but you could never dislike the character themselves because it was so clear what led to them to act in that way. Not one character was unbelievably perfect. Everyone had a history, moments of immaturity and selfishness, and made poor decisions. But that’s also what made the characters so loveable- because they felt like real, flawed people who were making the best of their situations.

Okay, that's one of the cutest things ever

Use of the Kid:

I really enjoyed how the series utilised Da In’s daughter. She wasn’t just used as a plot device to throw conflict into the story (because OMG dating a single mum, how awful). It was nice to see how one of the reasons Da In wanted to stay with Kwang Soo was because of how much he loved and cared for her daughter. I found it especially adorable how when Da In chose to make her return it was the daughter Kwang Soo saw first, and Kwang Soo thought he was seeing things. Aw. 

The End:

Everyone’s stories may not have been tied up with a pretty bow, but they are all deeply satisfying. Dong Gu learns about emotions that help him with his acting, even if he doesn’t end up grabbing the lead role and leaving that other kid in his dust. Min Gu doesn’t get into uni and he doesn’t get the girl, but he does learn what he wants in his life and decides to go for it with full commitment- and the same could be said for Soo Ah. Jin Gu and Se Young fight and talk and communicate and make-up and totally earn the happy ending the show gives them. Which is just as well, because if they hadn’t got a happy ending there would be mobs of unhappy viewers and this would be the worst drama ever. But wisely it’s the happy ending the writers opt for.

There would have been hell to pay if Jin Gu didn't get his girl

Kwang Soo and Da In’s happy ending is less defined than Min Gu’s, but happy all the same. Kwang Soo’s Noona doesn’t magically come around to the idea of them dating, but she seems to recognise her brother’s happiness. Da In doesn’t magically want to head into commitment and marriage, but she also hasn’t vanished off into oblivion- so that’s a bonus.

What Wasn’t:

Da Inie:

Da In is the exception to everything I said in the above section about the characters. She made no sense. Her actions and choices were stupid and annoying, and us viewers didn’t even have enough understanding of her to let it slide.

Because you are. And not for the reasons you think. Idiot.

So in the end, she just ended up unlikeable. Maybe, maybe you can give her past disappearance an okay just because she was young, scared and unhappy. Maybe. But the second one? No chance. Da In choosing to go AWOL the second time around was the pinnacle of selfishness. Not only because she'd seen how much it destroyed Kwang Soo the first time around, but now she has her daughter involved. The show didn’t really touch on Da In’s daughter’s feelings all that much, but when Da In took off all I could think was ‘wow, not the best move for your daughter’. If it had been because she no longer cared for Kwang Soo, or Kwang Soo did something awful- fine. But Da In is just Noble Idiot-ing all over the place and effing with so many peoples’ lives. So she’s been dating this guy who her young daughter loves and spends a lot of time with, then suddenly vanishes with no explanation to her kid. Nope. You’re on the list. The list of worst characters ever.

Where’s the Bromance?:

For a drama with all these bros there is very little bromance. I’m not upset that the drama chose to focus on the lives of the boys individually, but sometimes it was easy to forget that the boys were related at all.

C'mon boys, where's all the love?

Honestly, a couple of cute scenes between the boys wouldn’t have hurt. Though I guess it is pretty true to life that the boys all seem to know what’s going on with each other without saying anything, while Mum/Noona who is always nagging and trying to get information has no clue.

Re-watch?

Very possibly. This drama is so sweet and endearing, and at 14 episodes it’s also not too long. This whole series is basically just a giant win.

Win, win, win, win, win