Park Seo-Joon starrer 'Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth' a flop? KBS drama fails to get good ratings

Many viewers were upset when KBS 2TV's "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" did not meet their expectations. The historical drama stars Park Seo Joon, Go Ara and ZE:A's Park Hyung-Sik.

"Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" has been getting attention for its star-studded cast that includes SHINee's Choi Min-Ho, Do Ji-Han, Cho Yoon-Woo and BTS member V. The hype was prominent to the point that it took over "Descendants of the Sun" spot as the most expensive Korean drama sold to China.

Despite that, poor ratings marked the historical drama since it debuted on Dec. 19. The first episode posted viewership ratings of 6.9 percent, while its second episode edged up to 7.2 percent. Still, it was not able to rank in the top 20 daily programs of the Monday-Tuesday timeslot.

Not long after the series premiered, many viewers took to the drama's bulletin board, as cited by The Korea Times, to express their disappointment over the stars unnatural acting. It is said that the first two episodes was not all that impressive, as the drama seems to carry no weight.

Some even noted that the KBS 2TV drama gave them a flashback of SBS' "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo" with the distractive storytelling and unnatural acting of the lead stars. It is said that the former in some ways looks similar to the SBS historical drama.

However, compared with Lee Joon-Gi and IU's drama, "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth's" overall tone is splendid and cheerful. At the same time, it has a serious side that deals with the real history of Silla's King Jinheung and other Hwarang members.

"Although it's clearly a historical drama, we aimed to create a historical drama that is also a fusion (of genres), talks about youth and has a modern feel," Yonhap News Agency quoted producing-director Yoon Sung-Sik as saying during a promotional press conference held in southern Seoul. Check out KBS 2TV's "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" here: