Hwarang started airing on 19th December. The series is the newest K-drama to be rolled out and is alternately called Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth and Hwarang Beginning. The series brings in some of the most famous Korean stars, Park SeoJoon, Go Ara, Choi Min-ho from the boyband SHINee, Park Hyung and Kim Tae-Hyung.
KBS went all out to promote Hwarang. The show was expected to be as successful as Moonlight Drawn By The Clouds. However, things went downhill from the second episode. This is still acceptable since many viewers check out the first episode only to get an idea of the new series.
The Korea Times reported that even though Hwarang started off with bad ratings, it is just the beginning of the series and the ratings do not matter right now. Time will only show if the series shines and reaches the height of Moonlight Drawn By The Clouds.
The drama series involves the life of Hwarang, the Flowering Knights, who were a group of male youth warriors in the Kingdom of Silla. Queen Jiso ruled the Kingdom of Silla after the murder of her husband. She is scared for her son and keeps him safe from the enemies and assassins by hiding him inside the city of Seorabeol.
Once her son, Sammaekjong comes of age he wants his mother to cede the throne in his favor, but Jiso knows that the enemies of the throne are waiting for her to move from the throne to take control of it.
In an attempt to keep the kingdom safe and help her son rule peacefully, she creates a group of elite fighters called Hwarang who will cut across the existing power factions. They will be forever loyal to the new king Sammaekjong and the Kingdom of Silla.
Hwarang looks into the life of these elite warriors. While they learned the art of fighting and bond with each other, they are unaware that the future kind Sammaekjong is also in their midst. Another character who is set to have a crucial role in the plot is KImSum-woo a common man who is in possession of a secret even he isn’t aware of.
KMusic reported that while the second and third episode didn’t fare very well, things improved from the fifth episode. The viewers got to enjoy action-packed episodes which also introduced two new characters apart from taken them deeper into the plot.
The viewers saw the hwarang reach the sacred city where after the initial ceremonies they were allotted their rooms. The hwarang ended up drunk, and the scene was a hilarious one.
The relationship between Sooho and Banryu is developed. The two fight a lot initially, but then Sooho comes steps in to stop a fight between Banryu and Myeong.
Hwarang shows The King played by Park HyungSik chastising Queen Ji So (Kim Ji Soo) about Princess Sook Myung’s (Seo Ye Ji) in the Hwarang House. The King was asked to marry the princess against his wish. The Queen made it clear that he didn’t have a choice but to go ahead with the Queen’s request.
The latest episode of Hwarang depicts the rumor surrounding about King of Silla. The conclusion is that it is the Dog-Bird and even the Queen decides to agree with it since that would save her son from the rivals.
I really dont understand why they dont get a good rating, the story and the cast was funny, pleasant n super nice to see from d get go. All d casts did such a good acting skills. Everything about this drama ‘hwarang’ is wonderful n superb…love this drama so much…