Hwarang

KOREAN TITLE: 화랑

YEAR OF RELEASE: 2016

GENRE: Sageuk (Historical), Romance, Coming of Age

STARRING: Park Seo-Joon, Park Hyung-Sik, Go Ara, Choi Min-Ho, V (Kim Tae-Hyung)

# OF EPISODES: 20 + 4 specials

PLATFORMS TO WATCH ON: Viki (currently has restricted access)

SYNOPSIS: 

Ji-So has ruled the Kingdom of Silla as regent since King Beopheung died, keeping her young son
Sammaekjong (Park Hyung-Sik) hidden outside of the capital Seorabeol and safe from enemies and
assassins. As Sammaekjong comes of age, nobles, citizens, officials and Sammaekjong himself have
all grown impatient for her to cede power. However the powerful nobles that tried to usurp power in
the Kingdom continue to eye the throne and Ji-So fears the consequences of her ceding it.

In order to break the power of the nobles, who have grown accustomed to their privileges under the
bone rank system, Ji-So plans to create a new elite, the Hwarang, that will cut across the existing
power factions, and to bind them to Sammaekjong and the throne. As this new elite of male youths
bond and grow, they are unaware that within their number is their future king, Sammaekjong, and
Kim Sun-Woo (Park Seo-Joon), a commoner with a secret even he is not aware of.

REACTION: 

Okay before I get into it I have to say it. KIM TAEHYUNG aka V FROM BTS IS IN THIS DRAMA. And

not only is he in it but this is his first drama! His character was perfect for him, he was able to gain my

heart after seeing him on the screen for 5 minutes. At one of his scenes you won’t be able to stop

crying (If you know, you know). I also have to mention that MINHO from the K-Group SHINee IS ALSO

IN THIS DRAMA! And his character was hilarious.

Okay I am back to the rest of the show. THIS SHOW IS HILARIOUS! Yes, at first I wanted to watch this

show because V was in it but I couldn’t watch it right away because I have never been a fan of history,

even as TV shows. I was also scared that I wasn’t going to fully grasp the content because it was a

different country's history. What really made me watch it was the fact that Park Seo-Joon and Park

Hyung-Sik were in it. Considering that they are 2 of my favorite actors I knew I had to watch it. 

Thankfully, I was smart enough to watch it when I did because literally a week after I watched it it

became unavailable in North America lol. But besides that fact, I am actually really happy that I

watched this drama because it was actually really good!

It was fun, exciting, funny and dramatic. The way they were able to portray an historical group like the

Hwarang in that way was great. While watching this drama I just wanted to take all the Hwarang cuties

home. They were that cute. Also the love triangle between Park Seo-Joon, Park Hyung-Sik and Go

Ara’s characters was hilarious. 

If you hate history I hope you can get past that and actually watch this drama! Also there are actually a

lot of great historical dramas out there that I think everyone should try.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND TO: 

• Anyone who loves BTS and/or SHINee
• Anyone who likes romance
• Anyone who likes to laugh at funny antics

FAVORITE SONG FROM OST: 

This OST was actually very good but my favorite song has to go to my love V. The best part about this
song is that it doesn’t feature one BTS member but 2!

“It’s Definitely You” by V and Jin is such a bop that it is on my drive, workout and relax playlist on
Spotify. If you are a BTS fan you might recognize this song from BTS videos such as Bon Voyage
and Bangtan Bombs. You definitely won’t be able to sit still and not sing along when you hear this song.
Also, I absolutely love V’s low voice and Jin’s high notes (in general). Just to hear it through my
earphones makes me smile. 

Honorable Mention: “Our Tears” by Hyolyn, “The Divine Move” by Yang Yoseob

OVERALL REACTION WITH GIF: 

*Me losing all sense of the world due to the amount of cute guys in this drama*