BananaAnna
Its definitely worth the watch
Hwarang was the first Korean drama I ever finished and I always recommend it to people as a first watch. It is a mixture of all the good stuff, comedy, historical fiction, romance and action. I originally wanted to watch the drama due to the actor, Kim Taehyung in it as I am a fan of his band, BTS, however, I have rewatched the show three times now since 2020 and as much as I love Tae's scenes, the drama is so much more than that.This drama made me fall in love with the historical drama genre. The costumes, set, storyline and history just completely captivated me! I fell so in love with the time period and plot that after the first time I finished the show I researched more into the time period and "Hwarang". I love that they decided to take a piece of Korean history and adapt it into a drama!
The next best thing for me about Hwarang is the plot and characters. I find that in Korean dramas the plot is quite predictable. This isn't the case in Hwarang! Each episode felt too short even though they were definitely not! I cried and laughed along with the show. My second time watching I introduced my mum to K-dramas. She really loved it! This drama is great for a large range of people as the plot is so unique and diverse!
Something else that is definitely worth mentioning is the soundtrack, I ove, love, loved it! I am huge fan of all things music and the soundtrack is amazing!
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Genuinely the best drama I have watched this year so far!
When I first came across the drama I read the synopsis and was immediately hooked on the "typical" twins switching places, as I hadn't watched an Asian drama with that kind of plot. However, the second I watched the first episode I knew that this is a one-of-a-kind drama and that I would never find one again like this. I started watching the drama when it had already been aired up to the 4th episode and I could not stop until I finished them all. At the time I didn't know it was still airing so you can imagine my disappointment when I couldn't find the 5th episode! Since then each Sunday I have patiently stayed up (as it releases late at night for me) just to watch it! The drama has everything, romance, action, politics (but not in a boring way, in the "we are going to challenge this social injustice" way), friendship and self-discovery.The biggest thing that has made this drama stand out for me was the challenge against Thailand's governmental and social system. Most people know that Thailand is known for its lgbtq+ dramas but I personally find that, as much as I love them, they are all very stereotypical and place the lqbtq+ community within certain categories and assumptions. This drama completely challenged that. The way the community is represented in this drama just makes me so unbelievably happy. Not because it is accepted by everyone in the drama (I don't remember if it is lmao, but it's not as artificially normalised as it is in most Thai dramas), but because it represents the community so well. Not only that, but the whole drama is pretty much based on confronting the higher social class of Thailand and exposing the injustice and privilege that is so prevalent.
Next best thing? The plot. As I said, the thing that originally drew me in was the whole twin swap and the way it wasn't so stereotypical. I'm not going to say more about the plot, but it is genuinely so well written and planned!
The cast is also amazing and was perfectly chosen for each role. I could not imagine any other people playing any other role, it's like the characters were written for each actor/actress (maybe they were?).
Anyways, this is really just a summary but I would 100% recommend it, I genuinely believe that it is the best drama released recently!
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