Alchemy of Souls (2022)

Superb But Could Have Been Tighter

This series has moments of magical charm along with lead actors to love who know how to create characters the audience will enjoy and care deeply about, and also has a fine director. I like the series very much, and it's on my favorites list. The Hong Sisters are among the best writers, it's a great story line, and the cast is outstanding—often heartbreaking and often hilarious. I will definitely be front and center for the sequel. But I do think it is overly long: 20 eps that are really more like 24 since they are extended. I found that tiring and thought many of the secondary plots and scenes could have been cut. But it's a great series and worth the time spent. That ending is amazing, and I didn't see it coming.

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Oh my goodness, this was so good.

I really enjoyed watching this drama. I mean wow... The storyline is perfect. I will be wondering sometimes if soul switching is real, we a lot of people act strange in public. Lee Jae Wook (Jang Uk), and Jung So Min (Mu Deok) played the two main leads and both were awesome. I loved their characters. Hwang Min Hyun (Seo Yul), the main actor played his heart out and I loved his way of portraying his character. Shin Seung Ho (Go Won), Yoo Joon Sang (Park Jin), and Oh Na Ra (Kim Do Ju) are the three main leads who played some powerful characters who had to lead this that, and the other characters. All the other supporting actors/actresses did just as well. I loved the story, the storyline was crazy and interesting. The costumes, the visuals, the fantasy, all of it was perfect. Thank you!

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Fantasy Joseon Wuxia Hogwarts

AoS is a fantasy Kdrama which brings together elements from my most beloved fantasy genres. I saw influences from the world of Harry Potter, WuXia and Korean mythology. All these elements have been amalgamated into a delicious new flavour, which was an absolute delight to watch. At the same time, the show truly retains all the characteristics we love about kdramas.

AoS brought together a stellar cast with talents of all ages. Lee Jae Wook has been a wonderful actor ever since his first project, but he truly shines as Jang Uk. Jang Uk is impossible not to love, and you root for him all the way through the show. Jeon Seo Min has done well in her role of Mu Deok, and her experience did help the show. The other young actors have also created absolutely lovable people to watch on screen. The surprise for most of us was the character of the Crown Prince who became a crowd favourite very quickly. Hwang Min Hyun’s action scenes as Seo Yul were a delight to watch. As much as I talk about the young actors as they’ve led the main roles, the older, more experienced actors add density to the show with their performance.

The CGI and fantasy elements are handled well. Although the action sequences were not many, whatever they did add was done beautifully. The music works to amplify the emotions in the show. The costumes are nice, although I did have a problem with the FL’s costumes. They seemed to be made for comedic effect but it started getting annoying after a few episodes. But everyone else looks regal.

The only thing to complain about would be the pace, which is slowed down because of the 30 episode format with two seasons. In my opinion, making it a 24 episode show in one season would have helped the pacing. There are also controversies around the FL changing in S2 which is difficult to judge right now since we’re so used to JSM playing Mu Deok. We will have to wait and see if the show manages the transition well.

In a nutshell, watch the show, it's a beautiful representation of the fantasy kdrama genre.

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Though Fantasy , Human emotions are the same !!

This series has all the important genres: Romance , Action, Comedy, and Mystery.

Well made series and writers have given through thought to each character.
Acting is amazing by all the characters and supporting characters as well !!

Though it has fantasy elements, human emotions are the same at the end and everything was perfect till 19.

However Ep20 is not that well thought, all powerful ones who controlled icestones get manipulated easily and importantly there was no clue about it in first 30 hrs or so. Last 20 min is done in a hurried manner.

Overall satisfying series in 2022, could have made with better ending !!

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Parade of stupidity and wasted potential

For a drama that is ranked so highly, I expected greatness. What I got was boredom and disappointment. Unfortunately, this is another sad victim of genre confusion where the writers couldn't figure out whether they were creating a drama or a comedy.

The story had a promising start. Jang Uk spent his entire life in mediocrity because of the circumstances surrounding his birth. He was forced to live quietly without an opportunity to practice magic. This could've been a coming of age fantasy drama with a side of romance telling a story of a man regaining power and finding his identity. What we got was cliche slap-stick comedy devoid of any dramatic themes that were promised at the beginning. Instead of working towards self-improvement, Jang Uk was a whiny, unmotivated, blabbering idiot who gave up every time he faced a challenge. Barely any screen time was given to his training so he could achieve the tremendous power he was destined to have. The writers just decided to give him a free level-up by placing him in situations where he didn't even do anything while Mu Deok stood around and clapped "You are so luuuucckkkyy!"

The romance was mostly boring because Jung So Min only had two facial expressions. When Mu Deok did not patronize the crown prince with exaggerated groveling, she had a resting b*tch face most of the time. Whenever they had romantic scenes, only Lee Jae Wook made any effort to show emotion while Mu Deok just looked bored. The characterization wasn't particularly convincing either. Jung So Min as Naksu/ Mu Deok looked more like a pouty teenager forced to do chores rather than a super-powered assassin. The original actress before the soul switch delivered a much better performance.

The overall pacing was very slow because the plot focused too much on side characters and pointless love rectangles. Everyone and their mother had to fall in love with Mu Deok. Instead of showing a blossoming romance between the main couple, the writers forced Mu Deok to spend more time than necessary with rejected lovers. I am not sure why they thought it was entertaining to watch long and incredibly boring scenes of Seo Yul staring longingly at My Deok.

A slew of filler arcs added nothing to the plot. I couldn't care less about side characters' romance, lost family members, and other pointless crap that didn't move the story forward but made each episode incredibly long. The drama would've been a lot more entertaining if it had less episodes and better editing. At the end, my watching experience was reduced to pressing on the fast-forward button to get to the end of this mess.

Overall, this drama was just a giant time sink with very little entertainment value. The plot was messy with too much filler and the characters were not interesting enough to emotionally invest in.

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A MUST WATCH!!

This is a MUST-WATCH Kdrama!! Every episode gets more and more interesting and gripping (I’ve binge-watched until Epi 18! ><.. update: now completed!)

I’m not one who fancies Korean fantasy dramas, I don’t really care for goblins/ magic etc.. I didn’t finish Goblin, Tale of the Nine Tailed, Korean Odyssey... but this one has captured my undivided attention!!! :):):)

The storyline is riveting, each episode gets better and better, and the character development is so good! It probably reminds me of The Lord of the Rings (there’s one scene where all the mages were arguing about the Ice stone, it’s like when they were arguing what to do with the One Ring).

The only small dissatisfaction I have is the FL Jung So Min. As Mudeok she is fine (which is her primary role) but as the Shadow Assassin she doesn’t quite pull it off. Even with her serious trying-to-be-ruthless expressions, mehhh, it didn’t quite cut it for me. However, she pulled it off quite well for the final episode. Every other cast member was fantastic!! I especially love the love triangles!! ?❤️

A definite on your watchlist!!

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How can anyone not like this show ?

I dont care what anyone says, this is the best kdrama of 2022, and maybe even 2020 to now. Every episode had me on edge, the different characters, their development, depth and pacing of the story was just brilliant. Of course this show propelled Jung So Min to new found fame, and rightly so. Her performance in this should win whatever lead awards of the korean tv industry. Im planning to rewatch this before the sequel comes out on 10th december. A great series which has been quite innovative in the overused storylines and tropes of kdramas. I give this a 10/10, special effects, CGI, acting, OST music are all on point!

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I think my opinion is an unpopular one, but I really cannot understand all the fuss about this drama (and the 2nd season). I am not saying it is bad because it is not. It is a good drama in general. I really enjoyed the fantasy element. Also, I love how this isn't a historical accurate drama and it contains elements of different eras.

The most annoying thing is the passing. For example, you have 1 scene in which the story is progressing and the rest of the episode is just a filler. Up until ep 12, I was a bit bored. It could work with half the episodes. Also, I didn't like the many pairs. Some was completely unnecessary. And the love triangle didn't make sense. With everything happening, does anyone care who love who? I surely don't. All in all, I believe this drama contains a lot of things and it isn't clear if they are necessary. It is a bit confusing.

It is a promising drama. If it had a bit tighter plot, less elements and less comedy, it would be better. And I think two seasons is too much. If had better passing, they could fit everything in the 20 episodes of 1+ hour.

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Even a kdrama hater will love this show!

To be honest, I’m not very big on watching kdramas, especially when they are over 16 episodes. Most of the time I never even finish the full 16 and just stop watching altogether. However, this show was not the case!
I remember starting to watch this a while back and even though I did enjoy it, I only managed to watch up until episode 14 before forgetting that I was watching it. I later went to watch other dramas and didn’t bother coming back to watch it for a long time.
It was then that I managed to convince my sister (who has never seen a k drama in her life and refuses to watch them) to watch this entire series from start to finish.
I must say, it was definitely worth finishing! This is probably one of the best written k dramas I’ve watched, not to mention the amount of effort put into the sets must have been crazy. For both me (a person who doesn’t usually finish kdramas) and my sister (a kdrama hater) to completely binge watch a show, I would consider it to be nothing short of a masterpiece!

I honestly cannot recommend this enough! I can’t wait to rewatch this show over and over again :D

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2022's Ace

I initially knew about AOS since long time, but it never interests me because the actors and actresses were mainly rookies except for JSM, but then the second season came out and then I was like, "If there is a second season then that means the first season is good right?" so I gave it a go. IT WAS VERY GOOD.

I am a character driven type of a person more than plot driven ones, and this drama served it to me in gold platter. Naksu opened the character with her intense battle and mysterious aura, paving the way into the drama's center plot. We are curious about this person. Mudeok is another interesting character, because it's supposed to be a 'fake' character. JSM played Mudeok very well, her expressions are so funny! It's just sometimes I see her playful kiss character flashing in Mudeok (?) so it kinda bothers me in a way, but I think it's not that prominent so it's fine.
LJW's Jang Uk is literally perfect. Jang Uk is the driving force in this drama, I think. His characterization is fleshed out perfectly and consistently throughout the season. Spoiled, repressed, lonely, innocent and deeply loving, it's hard not to empathize with him.
The supporting characters are all so good and very strongly fleshed out, no one is a stone faced NPC, everyone took part in the big picture of the drama.

Cinematography, CGI, coloring, wardrobe, soundtracks, the drama lines are all exceptional. You may find plot holes, but some will be solved in Season 2. Overall, it was very fun and entertaining and emotionally rollercoastered me into the finale, and built a strong foundation for a next season.

I would highly recommend this if you like a historical fantasy genre, or if you like angst with comedy, in general.

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Excellent

Can't go wrong with a good action period drama and The Alchemy of Souls is no exception. Everything about this series is binge worthy to the point I didn't want it to end so I hesitated until I found out there's a S2 in the works! That alone should prove it's an all around thrilling experience. From the visuals to the action, it all hits hard and every character brings their own spice. You'll find some classic actors, some K-Pop idols and some fresh new faces to bring it all together.
Highly recommend to anyone looking for good plot twists, bad guys you love to hate and cute quirky comedy romance.
Enjoy!

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YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED SOMETHING AS WORTHY AS THIS BEFORE.

Well as the headline says, you probably haven't watched a drama so worthy of your time, energy and resources as this one. I had rated a 9.5/10 before I watched season 2 because I feared the Hong sisters would disappoint me in the next season. But today, after watching the finale of season 2 yesterday 08 Jan 2023, I came to correct my rating and award it a 10/10.

I'll start with the story, and there's no story so perfect and unique as the one in the Alchemy of Souls. What a transition, and a quick one, from Jang UK a powerless reject that could not practice magic to a man that was fastest to reach Tansu and later the highest level of Hwansu. And the parallel transition of a high reputation Naksu to a feeble Mu Deok and the love story between the master and student. I won't spoil a lot you need to watch if you haven't. And the suspense at the end of each episode is worth a mention. You'll die to see what happens next. Very unpredictable making it a top notch.

Acting/casting. Whoever chose the cast should probably cast all dramas we would like to watch. So perfect that actors actually become the characters to an extent you won't imagine anyone better for the role. Such casting I've only seen in western series like The Game of Thrones, The House of the Dragon, and in Asian dramas like Who Rules the World, Zhao Yao the Legends 2019, Ju Mong, and some more of others. Lee Jae Wook as the male lead Jang UK is the most beautiful thing you're going to see onscreen, very tender no matter the situation. And Jung So Min as Mudeok is the prettiest woman you'll ever see staring at you. OMG I love the way she stares. Makes me wanna be Jang UK. Some moments of the show will haunt you forever like Uk's surprise, Mudeok's stare, Jin Mu's smile, Maidservant Kim's voice and tenderness, Jin But Yeon's smile and stare as well, Park Jin's seriousness, the fight scenes, the dialogues.

Up next is Music. You'll fall in love with the OST and the SFX. And guess who sings the ending theme song? The answer is Lia and I swear that song was for the show and vice versa. You'll love, cry, blush, your heart will race at the scenes the song is used. For the OST it's the best that could be made for the drama. Pure instrumental, no vocals. The SFX at the battle scenes and intense scenes will make anyone go crazy clutching tightly on whatever is near and at the edge of your seat. The same applies for calm and tender scene, the SFX will make you wish for a few additional seconds. Such perfect musical scores I've only seen in a few dramas like Royal Nirvana, Nirvana in Fire, and the western Game of Thrones music by Ramin Djawadi and other composers like Hans Zimmer.

Rewatch Value. Now this is something am not supposed to explain. As I've done with the above aspects, it's clear that this is a show you will want to rewatch infinite times. You'll never get of redoing this show and it gets addictive even though you know what's coming. Like right before I started this review I was on episode 4 of season one. This I think is the 9th time am redoing season 1. I don't want to believe am leaving this cast and story and world.

To wind up. A question of if you've ever wanted to write something onscreen or if a show has ever made you wish you could. AOS has made wish I could write a story onscreen. I am gonna miss this show and I don't wanna get sentimental. So I'll stop here wishing you all the best moments and I envy those that haven't watched it yet because you still have an unfolded world right in your grasp. For those that we've finished let's hope to see our cast once again in a traditional drama. See you soon and remember to get a Jin Mu smile for yourself.

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