Hwarang 화랑
★★★★★
The 2016-2017 KBS Korean drama, starring Park Seo-Joon as Kim Seo-Nu/Dog-Bird, Park Hyung-Sik as Ji-Dwi/Jin-Heung, and Go Ara as Kim Aro.
I loved this drama so much! Every time I finish a really good one like this it hurts a little just because I know it's over. The story may have had its ending, but we're just not through with our relationship yet :)
Brief summary: Dog-Bird doesn't know his own name, nor does he believe he ever had one, so he is known by the nickname "Dog-Bird." After his best friend meets an untimely death, Dog-Bird assumes his friend's identity to find out why he was killed. At the same time, the faceless king Jin-Heung grows anxious after living in hiding so many years while his mother, Queen Ji-So, sits on the throne. When Dog-Bird and Jin-Heung cross paths, they find themselves entangled in a twisted fate and the Queen's new noble warrior group called "Hwarang."
It may be easily said that Seo-Nu, Jin-Heung, and Aro are the primary characters of the story, but I disagree. I didn't see any significant differences between the primary and secondary characters, so they were nearly all main characters to me. All were important! I particularly grew close with the main group of Hwarang, made up of Ji-Dwi, Seo-Nu, Ban-Ryu, Su-Ho, Yeol, and occasionally Han-Seong. There was something to love about each of them!
I was also grateful for the love line between Ban-Ryu and Su-Hyun. The triangle between Seo-Nu, Jin-Heung, and Aro can certainly make us emotional, but watching a character like Ban-Ryu developing a love interest was unique and really adorable. It definitely boosted the show (and our opinion of Ban-Ryu)! I could say I enjoyed watching his character development the most.
There's not much to say about Aro, the main female lead of the drama. Her character is pretty strong, but there wasn't very much character development in her. It almost seemed that all of the young men of Hwarang grew up and left her behind. However, this does not mean that she was lacking. She was fun and fairly optimistic although she didn't do anything really unexpected. I think she was meant to play a part in the drama's moral backbone because her message is frequently one of hope. I think her character occupation is reflective of her role towards Seo-Nu and Jin-Heung as well- she is a physician by trade and acts as healing influence on both of them.
"Hwarang" will make you laugh out loud! There's plenty of humor. The drama also exhibits a slight contemporary influence, so even though it's considered a historical drama, the characters may do and say things out-of-time-period. I don't think that this influence weakened the drama. It was still strong, but I don't know that I would really think of it as a historical drama. It's a fictional take on historical events, but it goes a little beyond "based on a true story." If you're looking for a drama to help you along while you study Korean history, don't pick "Hwarang" for that ☺
The historical context was another thing I found pretty interesting. The drama takes place in Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms that made up what we now know as North and South Korea. Silla existed from about 58 B.C. to 935 A.D., and the story takes place at about 540 A.D. In my experience of historical dramas, I had only been introduced to Goryeo and Joseon, so I definitely learned something (not a lot, but something) about Silla from watching the drama and my own personal research.
One of the biggest influences that leads me to doubt classifying "Hwarang" as a historical drama is the OST. It contains both soundtrack music (your typical instrumentals used to help the mood and scene) and k-pop, which doesn't tend to be very subtle. I still enjoyed it, but sometimes the k-pop made the historical value feel less significant. However, the k-pop was a creative idea because "Hwarang" was a debut drama for Kim Tae-Hyung, also known as V in the k-pop boy group BTS. He may have played a secondary character, but by episode 18 he was definitely in our hearts.
In conclusion, "Hwarang" was unique and I loved it! "Hwarang" brings a new element to the historical genre, exploring what makes a good monarch and more. The characters were fantastic, the story was intriguing, and the OST was awesome. It's found its way into my heart and my top ten!
★★★★★
The 2016-2017 KBS Korean drama, starring Park Seo-Joon as Kim Seo-Nu/Dog-Bird, Park Hyung-Sik as Ji-Dwi/Jin-Heung, and Go Ara as Kim Aro.
I loved this drama so much! Every time I finish a really good one like this it hurts a little just because I know it's over. The story may have had its ending, but we're just not through with our relationship yet :)
Brief summary: Dog-Bird doesn't know his own name, nor does he believe he ever had one, so he is known by the nickname "Dog-Bird." After his best friend meets an untimely death, Dog-Bird assumes his friend's identity to find out why he was killed. At the same time, the faceless king Jin-Heung grows anxious after living in hiding so many years while his mother, Queen Ji-So, sits on the throne. When Dog-Bird and Jin-Heung cross paths, they find themselves entangled in a twisted fate and the Queen's new noble warrior group called "Hwarang."
It may be easily said that Seo-Nu, Jin-Heung, and Aro are the primary characters of the story, but I disagree. I didn't see any significant differences between the primary and secondary characters, so they were nearly all main characters to me. All were important! I particularly grew close with the main group of Hwarang, made up of Ji-Dwi, Seo-Nu, Ban-Ryu, Su-Ho, Yeol, and occasionally Han-Seong. There was something to love about each of them!
I was also grateful for the love line between Ban-Ryu and Su-Hyun. The triangle between Seo-Nu, Jin-Heung, and Aro can certainly make us emotional, but watching a character like Ban-Ryu developing a love interest was unique and really adorable. It definitely boosted the show (and our opinion of Ban-Ryu)! I could say I enjoyed watching his character development the most.
There's not much to say about Aro, the main female lead of the drama. Her character is pretty strong, but there wasn't very much character development in her. It almost seemed that all of the young men of Hwarang grew up and left her behind. However, this does not mean that she was lacking. She was fun and fairly optimistic although she didn't do anything really unexpected. I think she was meant to play a part in the drama's moral backbone because her message is frequently one of hope. I think her character occupation is reflective of her role towards Seo-Nu and Jin-Heung as well- she is a physician by trade and acts as healing influence on both of them.
"Hwarang" will make you laugh out loud! There's plenty of humor. The drama also exhibits a slight contemporary influence, so even though it's considered a historical drama, the characters may do and say things out-of-time-period. I don't think that this influence weakened the drama. It was still strong, but I don't know that I would really think of it as a historical drama. It's a fictional take on historical events, but it goes a little beyond "based on a true story." If you're looking for a drama to help you along while you study Korean history, don't pick "Hwarang" for that ☺
The historical context was another thing I found pretty interesting. The drama takes place in Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms that made up what we now know as North and South Korea. Silla existed from about 58 B.C. to 935 A.D., and the story takes place at about 540 A.D. In my experience of historical dramas, I had only been introduced to Goryeo and Joseon, so I definitely learned something (not a lot, but something) about Silla from watching the drama and my own personal research.
One of the biggest influences that leads me to doubt classifying "Hwarang" as a historical drama is the OST. It contains both soundtrack music (your typical instrumentals used to help the mood and scene) and k-pop, which doesn't tend to be very subtle. I still enjoyed it, but sometimes the k-pop made the historical value feel less significant. However, the k-pop was a creative idea because "Hwarang" was a debut drama for Kim Tae-Hyung, also known as V in the k-pop boy group BTS. He may have played a secondary character, but by episode 18 he was definitely in our hearts.
In conclusion, "Hwarang" was unique and I loved it! "Hwarang" brings a new element to the historical genre, exploring what makes a good monarch and more. The characters were fantastic, the story was intriguing, and the OST was awesome. It's found its way into my heart and my top ten!
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