Alchemy of Souls: Part 2 (2022)

Shadow of Part 1

I believe this drama ranks high because of the magic of Part 1. The main fantasy romantic plot worked out perfectly just like the Hong sisters usually deliver. Alchemy of souls has a very intriguing concept of magic and mages, also great cinematography and soundtrack. I loved the concept of 4 seasons, representing the respectable mage families. Season 1 is dense with intricate plot and amazing characterisation. Jang Uk, Seo Yul, Jang Gang’s trio was so uplifting and when combined with crown prince and Mu Deok, the group was my absolute favourite. They shared such pleasant bonding and chemistry. Jang UK’s character development as a mage and his sweet relationship with Mu deok really is heartwarming to watch. They fit together just right and I loved the master/pupil twist to their relationship. Whilst sometimes Mu Deok seemed crazy to me, I respected her bold/nonchalant way of loving Jang Uk.

The above could be labelled as a review for Part 1, I guess. Flash forward to the outburst of events by the end of S1 and bearing with the brunt of it in S2, it went haywire. The plot started making lesser sense. I still don’t understand how they can justify Mu Deok’s face changing, despite having the same body. She starts living as Jin Byo Yun and whilst I liked that, I don’t think the actress fit well into the real naksu’s characterisation. Sure, she forgets all her memories and awakes a completely diff person, but Naksu’s feistiness and determination is shoved under the rug this season. It’s like a completely different person. I don’t think it’s necessarily Youn Jung’s fault, but the writers and director who completely forget Mu Deok/Naksu from S1. It’s like a re imagination of the main lead.

The romance is stronger this season and whilst I enjoyed that, I still missed Jung Somin’s character. The revelation of Naksu was so underwhelming. They build it up so much, dragging it all the way to the ninth episode and yet it felt so… oh, alright, ok lol. The dangers Jin Mu wanted to ensue onto the world seemed petty and annoying. The way they dragged Naksu’s reveal was already frustrating enough for viewers and so distasteful. Jang UK longed for his lover so much, only to find out she’s been alive and well.

How could they have just revealed it in such a chaotic, strange way? What about the conversations they were supposed to have after the big reveal? All gone wrong because they had to give jin mu’s plan screen time.

Season 2 was chaotic. Merely a shadow of Part 1. I still rated it high because season 1 is special and jae wook was absolutely brilliant.

Leia Mais

Daeho's Legendary Couple

Continuing from Season 1, this drama took on a rather darker vibe, dimmer lighting, a more somber ambiance, and a less exaggerated acting. Every characters in Season 1 is living under a shadow on what is happening three years ago. In the middle of all this brooding, we have our FL.

Bright-eyed, innocent, bubbly, harmless, and amnesiac, FL barreled her way into Jang Uk's life and turned it upside down with her randomness and out of the blue-actions. While her beauty is unmatched, FL is quite literally a bit dumb, indeed. But it was endearing to me, because in most scenes, her dumbness came in handy when facing a difficult situation. This is GYJ's first lead project, I believe, and she nailed all her characters and give each one of them a different characterization and a whole different aura. She's very good. Her chemistry with Jang Uk was my favorite, quite literally the sunshine and sunshine protector. It's very refreshing to see their moments on screen.
Jang Uk, three years later, is no longer an innocent puppy. He's older, wiser, with heavy burden on his shoulders and he's mainly just very sad, albeit powerful. LJW nailed the acting and give us a more mature vibe, even when he laughs or smiles, it's softer in the edge, like it's more microexpressions now. But there were times when he lost control of his emotions and threw a tantrum, and I went, "there he is, our puppy." It felt nice.

As with the previous seasons, the characters are very well fleshed out, everyone matured and became wiser, story arcs are expanding and getting closer to entangling with each other. In here, more worldbuilding are happening, more backstories are unfolding as it's necessary to solve some of the drama's mysteries. The plot is quite fast paced, as it only has 10 episodes.

Most of the story arcs are wrapped up nicely, plot holes are covered and solved, and everyone get the endings they deserve. I am very satisfied and content with this season and I don't know whether there will be a third season but even if it is, it's going to be good as well, I think.

Overall, I recommend this for those who like historical fantasy, or industrial grade angst with one sided, mutual pining.

Leia Mais

UKYEONG COUPLE!!

I was so sad about jung somin not being the main lead this season, I thought the chemistry was not as great but I was wrong! Their chemistry is immaculate. I didn't expect those steamy kissing scene🫢. This gives me Xianxia drama vibes. I really like this cause i like fantasy dramas. The story was so good and the acting was nice, every episode was so worth watching there's no boring part. The editing skill is so sick, I like the visual effects.
What i dislike about this is the ending it could have been better , it was rushed like wth. I know jang uk was super strong but it was the fire bird his fighting!, the fighting scene could've been so epic.
Also the episodes should've been more, they should've shown what jang uk and cho yeong's story after all those events, like how they start they're new life.
STILL this drama was 10 out of 10 💯

Leia Mais

Pretty good but not as good as 1st part

First of all, it was an extremely beautiful show, and the cgi were crafted masterfully, Change of the female lead was a bit shocking at first but after watching this I have no complaint at all, The new girl did an amazing job, and the chemistry between both the of the main leads was pretty amazing, a tad bit different than the first season cz they had this master student thing going on between them and I liked that more, Kinda makes it a guilty pleasure I guess but still they had pretty good chemistry between them,
Now the reason I said it's not as good as the first part of bcz this season had less story telling and more padding the run time, I am not a fan of amnesia trope cz it makes no sense to me in any scenario, also UK became so OP that nobody could beat him so that became a bit bothersome, I mean by a technical stand point I do understand it's a bit difficult to make mages fight each other without making it boring, usually it seems like they're just throwing colorful wind at each other with their hands but at least they should've given the main hero a worthy memorable last fight, even that last dragon didn't posed much of a threat to him so all those things became pretty convinient and dull,
Last thing that makes it lesser than season 1 was it's predictable ending, I knew that bu Yeon would sacrifice and give her body to naksu from the very moment they mentioned this plot point so there goes any tension that might've built up,
I see people complaining about misogyny or weak female or all that woke bullshit, they are just blinded by their own complexes and absence of knowledge of storytelling and skills, Anybody who wants to have good time and watch a fantasy drama rather than some political or social agenda should watch this show, it's highly recommended for fun lovers

Leia Mais

A Revolving Door of Souls in One Body

This sequel promised to bring more intrigue between the opposing factions of mages with Uk now being possessed by the Ice Stone and perhaps a swoon worthy love story with Go Youn Jong replacing Jung So-Min as Naksu. The latter was certainly true being that Go Youn Jong and Lee Jae Wook’s chemistry smoldered unlike his interactions with the previous actress in the role of MuDeok/Naksu.

However, disappointingly, the intrigue with the mage factions came to a screeching halt. With most episodes consisting of Uk falling for Buyeon/Naksu again while killing the monster of the week. Mu continued his nefarious agenda of trying to do….I’m not sure as his agenda got lost in his weekly schemes that never panned out, allies who were sometimes apart of the schemes but their roles weren’t made clear and just the lack of clarity as to why the royal family kept him as an advisor considering the actions he’d precipitated against the monarch in the previous season.

Of course it is learned in the 11th hour of the series that the monarch had been in league with him all along, along with the Unanimous Assembly. Learning this did add some logic to the earlier decisions these characters had made, but still failed to make sense of their end game. Their greed for power was understood. First via the ice stone, then the firebird. The former agenda made more sense than the latter. For the firebird would be difficult to control and would leave the world in shambles. How would this help those greedy for power? It was never made clear.

Moreover, out of all the mages on the Unanimous Assembly only one (too late I might add) realized their plan was a bad idea. It was hard to believe that many seasoned mages who’d seen a lot of good and bad in their lifetime thought Mu’s firebird plan would end with the result they desired. They all came off like a bunch of novice idiots with stars in their eyes over a half-baked plan to grab a smidgen of power, rather than intelligent beings who knew from their ages of experience that this plan would do more harm than good not just for others but themselves. Speaking of Mu his villainy was played out from the first episode. He should’ve been killed in the previous season with another adversary taking on Uk and his family/friends of mages. Mu became unbearable to watch. So much so he nearly ruined the series for me.

Another story thread that became tiresome was Buyeon/Naksu’s soul drama. It didn’t help that every episode changed the story behind what was going on with her soul. First her soul was Naksu, but her blood was that of Buyeon. Hence she could open the ancestral vault of Jinyoun. Then Naksu and Buyeon’s souls were coexisting in the body, with Naksu’s soul soon to disappear. Then it was Cheon which was the name she was born with or perhaps a reincarnation of Seol. By the time the series was over I didn’t know who the heck she was supposed to be.

Despite the confusion surrounding Buyeon/Naksu’s ever changing identity and why it was changing, the love story between she and Uk was well done. The closeness that grew between them was a natural progression and thus believable. And though Buyeon’s connection to Uk and their budding romance was supposed to be due to her soul being that of Naksu, I didn’t feel that she was Naksu. It felt like she was a completely different person, a new person, melting Uk’s heart. Their love story was sweet and their chemistry was amazing. However, I feel the writers took the audience up the mountain but failed to reach its peak. These two had some amazing hugs and kisses. We did get the wedding, but then after that no more smoldering romantic interactions. They may as well been good friends rather than starcrossed lovers who finally beat the odds to be together. Disappointing.

Similar to the first series, the writers missed some opportunities for epic moments within the series. For example, Mu’s death, it should’ve been more painful and dramatic. Uk discovering that Buyeon was really Naksu. He didn’t even blink upon learning this truth, which was odd. Yul being cured of the blood parasite should’ve been more challenging as should’ve been Uk dealing with the firebird. There had been several episodes discussing the dangers of the firebird being awaken and the difficulty in dealing with it only for Uk to wave his sword a couple of times, easily destroying it. Again disappointing. Uk taking on the firebird should’ve been a real battle as I got the impression that on its own it was just as powerful as the ice stone within him.

Though this season had its disappointments, it was still very good and worth watching. Will I watch again? Probably not. There was nothing about this season that was extraordinary enough for me to want to experience it again.

That said, I would absolutely watch a show with the adventures of Uk/Naksu/Buyeon/Cheon/Seol finding the relics that escaped Jinyoun. Provided Naksu/Buyeon/Cheon/Seol doesn’t add another identity/soul to her repertoire. Lol. I think a show about her and Uk’s adventures would be a fun .

Leia Mais

GIVE IT A CHANCE

If u don't like the new actress, I cant blame u. But just give it a chance. I was gonna watch it anyway, but i got really found of her . We were already familiar to her and we already knew she is the real Naksu. We also have so many paralels in part 2 so it is easy to see her as Naksu.
I was a little afraid in the begining because i really liked part 1 so I thought that if i dont enjoy part 2 i would feel like a traitor :))). But I am in lovee with the first two eps. There were a lot of unanswered questions in the first ep, the the second ep answered a lot of my curiosities. I can't wait for the next week for new episodes, i am already hooked. As always I hate JinMu , but I hope he won't turn our crown prince into a bad guy. On the other hand I believe Jin Mu will try something bad, but that will end up making Naksu remembering the past .
I am constantly watching edits and replaying my favourite parts.

Leia Mais

Two Souls Forever Drawn Together

This part was highly anticipated and that could make this part be very bad if it weren’t to be good. But the writing for this show sells the drama so well, that every doubt I have is fading away

I thought with a new actress for Naksu that would be jarring and her character wouldn’t feel the same. But her development is there with the last part and she is the same person. The writing for her is fluent and tied with the last part so well even if it has been three years for all the characters. They all are the same people but they have drastically matured by the situations and hardships they’ve been through.

This drama is a top notch one. The setting is stunning and the costumes are just as stunning. It’s got everything and more importantly the script backing this drama up is done very well. With a time skip it could’ve been doing too much or having us assuming, but they leave just enough to assume and enough for us to guess.

I love how well Naksu and Jang Uk play off each other, with it being reminiscent of what it was before. I hope the ending isn’t again a tragedy, but so far this drama is anything but. It’s so amazing really and everything is engaging. Impressive for me and I love this show so much. I’ll write a more in depth review once it all comes out.

Leia Mais