Hwarang is more of a 9.75 and it only falls short by .25 of a star for me because I didn't really feel that the romance between Ah Ro and Moo Myung was perfection. It was so close to being my favorite couple, but by the end, I didn't find myself caring about their romance. Also, I'm really peeved about them killing off the younger brother, Han Sung. They always kill off the brothers to teach a big-idea lesson and UGHHH it makes me so mad! I just feel that they could have gotten the older brother to see reason without the death of the younger brother. *sigh* Hwarang isn't the only story that does that- please refer to Big Hero 6 and Brother Bear.
BUT on an overall scale, the Hwarang (literally, the soldiers/guards) were SOOOOOO AMAZING that I was enthralled in their antics from the very beginning. I found myself laughing alllllll the time at their silliness and spiteful acts toward each other. I loved the prince's character and I reallllly loved watching the change in relationship between Soo Ho Rang and Ban Ryu Rang (plus, Ban Ryu Rang's romance :} tee-hee). ALSO, OST was really good!