Frankly speaking, Hwarang is kinda special to me in a way, because this was the first show I saw him in and this was the time when I first heard about Park Hyungsik…. I heard of the KOREAN BOYGROUP ZE:A but I never bothered to look into them….I think I was into Exo and Vixx and barely getting my feet wet with BTS….at the time.

When it came to ZE:A…the only thing that really came to mind was Gwanghee….because that dude was everywhere with all the variety shows I was watching at the time. And later Im Shiwan cus he seemed to be such a promising actor but unfortunately, Park Hyungsik went over my head, quite literally.

Initially, I watched Hwarang because someone I knew was a big BTS fan and her bias was V, aka Kim Tae Hyung…so that’s how heard about this show and I think Viki was heavily promoting as well if I can remember correctly. Also, Park Seojoons’s career was taking off so I was hearing his name being thrown around a lot. Choi Minho from Shinee and I liked Shinee and I liked Go Ara cus of the few shows I watched with her in it, including Reply 1994….So technically, out of all the main characters from Hwarang, Park Hyungsik was the only one I wasn’t so familiar with.

Anyways, I bit the bullet and started watching the show. The three main characters are Moomyung played by Park Seojoon, Kim Aro played by Go Ara and Sam Meakjong/Kim Jin Dwi/Emperor Jinheung of Shilla Dynasty played by Park Hyungsik…..I just couldn’t get into him at the time…Not only he went over my head but I was also annoyed by him so I did not pay attention to him nor his character.

Honestly, when I watched Hwarang back in 2016 initially, I kinda did not pay attention to the story that much but fast forward to year 2023, in the month of March, Park Hyungsik swept me off my feet unexpectedly, so I decided to rewatch the show and give it another try.

I could kinda understand why I couldn’t get into it initially…..I think it’s cus the show seemed a little too scattered so it’s hard for even the actors and actoresses to save the show. But rewatching it again I want to say that the actors did save the show…especially Park Hyungsik and Park Seojoon…The two Parks really did save the show……I was able to keep going and complete the twenty episode show cus of Park Hyungsik, maybe I’m biased now cus Im his super fangirl……

Initially back in 2016, I liked watching Go ara in Hwarang but I changed my mind after rewatching it. Go Ara’s character Kim Aro was kinda annoying…..I thought Lee Jiyi from High Society is annoying but it seems like this girl is even worse.

First of all the chemistry between Park Hyungsik and Go Ara just wasn’t there and I can say this because I watched all of his major projects/dramas/movies that Park Hyungsik has done up to this point and man….she’s so bland….but even then it was still watchable because Park Hyungsik is known to be the chemistry maker so at least he was able to bring it out of her to some degree where she was watchable……

Maybe Go Ara isn’t too blame…maybe it’s just her character and the way she’s written by the writers….My thoughts about the show and the characters changed when I watched it in 2016 and 2023!

Hwarang is a thing from the Shilla Dynasty (54BC to 935 AD) and it’s basically a group of pretty young men fighting for the country. They do sword fighting, they go into battles if necessary, martial arts, learn about philosophy, and learn about the arts too. This show portrayed that very well…my only problem that I had was the fact that this show was so darn scattered brained…It’s almost as if the writers did not know what to do almost…It’s such a waste cus they could’ve made this into an awesome Historical drama, like Great Queen Seondok that came out in 2009…..

The thing I liked the most about this show is Park Hyungsik and Park Seojoon, their chemistry is SOOOOOO GOOOOOD….They are supposed to be rivals but they were able to bounce off of each other really well. Fans know this but Park Hyungsik and Park Seojoon are super good friends…No wonder they went on a trip together last year! I think these two met through this show and became good friends ever since.

Also it was nice to see V/Kim Taehyung starting out his acting career, although he didn’t do a whole lot of acting unfortunately but despite being a newbie in the acting world he was still cute and did good. Kim Tae Hyung is also super good friends with Park Hyungsik and Park Seojoon. Taehyung is known to be the PARK COLLECTOR cus most of his best friends in his circle have the last name Park.

Shinee’s Choi Minho’s acting was kinda awakward…..I didn’t see this back in 2016 but in 2023, I was able to see this…..

Go Ara’s character Kim Aro kept on pushing Sam Maekjong away. Sam Meakjong had a thing for her but Kim Aro didn’t, she liked Moomyung.

Moomyung is like from a lower class that worked his way up by working hard in Hwarang, Kim Aro is considered to be either middle class or upper middle class and Sam Maekjong was one of the royals. He was actually the king/emperor but a lot of people didn’t know that, even Kim Aro didn’t know that. Despite the class differences Sam Maekjong was attracted to Kim Aro. They seemed like they had a chance but once Kim Aro finds out about Sam Maekjong’s true identity, she completely gives up on him and encourages him to focus on being on the throne.

Oh and all the boys in Hwarang are so pretty…you gotta remember Hwarang literally means, Flower youth, or Flowery Young men……

This show is a little distracting too because of the pretty boys…..but I think they could have made it better by not being so scattered brained so much and focus to the viewers feel centered and grounded while watching it.

I recommend it if you like either Park Hyungsik, Park Seojoon or V/Kim Taehyung…