Decent. Acting was great, story ok, pacing had some issues, enjoyable.

The main couple had good romance up until they got official. Afterwards their relationship became stale until the conclusion. Side romances were amazing, alternate ships was tantalising. So overall the romance isn't bad. The drama was marketed as bromance, but there wasn't as much interaction between the Hwarangs as there could've been. What bromance there was though, was really good.

The story is 60% political drama. The power struggle between the different factions was compelling and easy to follow. The tension really ramps up towards the end, the ending was delightfully unpredictable. The changing loyalities of the characters is definitely one of the best parts of the drama. The middle part of the drama is the weakest, since it's a slow buildup and interesting scenes are scarce.

If a scene feels like it's irrelevant, it probably is, skip it.

The casting was spot on. Park Hyung Shik was amazing as the King. Go Ah Ra as Ah Ro the female lead had great comedy scenes. Park Seo Joon (male lead) was a bit stale/predictable with his cheesy romance lines, but fit his character to a T.

But the TRUE shows stealers are the supporting cast - boy are they amazing. Do Jin Han (Ban Ryu) and Choi Min Ho (Soo Ho) were particularly outstanding. Ban Ryu and Soo Yeon were the true OTP. Soo Ho is a character I never got tired of watching. Don't even get me started on Kim Tae Hyung (Hang Sung) or Sung Dong Il (Chief instructor) or Kim Chang Wan (main villain).

Long story short: THIS IS WORTH WATCHING JUST FOR THE SUPPORTING CAST AND THE SUBPLOTS.

The OST was pretty good. The editing and mixing wasn't the best, but I would totally download a couple of the songs. The camera work was best during tense scenes, but pretty average at other times.

I approve of the ending. It felt too short and there were too many unanswered questions. But it got the job done.

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