The Hong Sisters have produced wide scope of dramas over the years with respectfully mixed results . Enter ‘Alchemy Of Souls’: The Hong Sisters’ latest fantasy creation and arguably one of their most ambitious works yet.

In the series, main heroine Naksu (Go Yoon-jung-‘ Sweet Home’, ‘ Law School’ and ‘ Moving’) is a fearless and sword-wielding assassin. She lives in Daeho; a magical land where sorcerers have extraordinary abilities and powers. Yet despite the beauty of different types of magic, there is still one major taboo in Daeho: soul transfiguration. ( The act of displacing one soul into another body.) Caught between a rock and a hard place, the ruthless and instinct-driven female lead is forced to partake in this soul shifting process in order to save her own skin. She finds herself in the body of peasant girl Mu-Deok (Jung So-min- Playful Kiss’, ‘ Because This Is My First Life’ and ‘ Monthly Magazine’).

Meanwhile unbeknownst to the female lead , her destiny is about to change even more when she winds up striking an unconventional alliance with Jang Uk ( Lee Jae Wok- ‘ Search: WWW’, ‘ Extraordinary You’ and ‘ Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol’), the notorious son of the prestigious and magical Jang family. Jang Uk has his own personal reasons for striking an unusual contract with Naksu. However, thanks to their new relations, they will soon discover that their bond will greatly alter their own destinies for better or for worse.

As mentioned previously, ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ is arguably one of the Hong Sisters’ most ambitious works yet. While the series has admittedly received mixed-reception by some for its format, it is filled to the brim with the duo’s creative and imaginative world-building in a manner that will likely remind some of their previous hit-drama ‘ Hotel Del Luna’. However while ‘ Hotel Del Luna’ seemed to heavily lean into the genres of dark fantasy and melodrama, ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ is predominantly focused on its action fight scenes and the conflicts surrounding its setting and the lives of its characters. The series certainly does lean into heavier scenes ( especially with regards to the magical lore of Daeho ) but a lot of these more “morbid” or “disturbing” moments often came through the ambivalent moral choices and decisions of the drama’s characters. ( At the end of the day, the jarring decisions made by humans.)

However on a slightly lighter note, it is fair to say that ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ is fuelled on pure fantasy. The world-building of the series is detailed at times and filled with a lot of fascinating beauty also. On the other hand despite the creativity evidently present in the Hong Sisters’ drama, ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ does admittedly hit a few ruts when it came to execution.

Some of the forms of magic tackled in the Hong Sisters’ drama are certainly impressive. However while the presence of magic in ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ was often detailed, there were moments in the narrative where viewers were expected to “ just know” things without a lot of further clarification or information provided. In addition to this, there is also the prominent issue with the patchy lore of ‘ Alchemy of Souls’ in different parts of the narrative. ( Such as the hierarchies of magical families, the out-rankings of certain magical abilities and exactly why certain noble families are able to get away with literal murder while others accused of killing individuals are subjected to literal witch hunts.)

The Hong Sisters’ drama is what many would probably define as an eclectic mixing pot of genres. There are noticeable elements of action-fantasy but surprisingly romance and comedy at times also. This variety of genres will likely offer viewers with a wide range of different moods and tones in different episodes. However despite the continuous strain of creativity in ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’, it is hard to not bring up one of the drama’s more tiresome issues; the tropes. Of course, the induction of cliches into K-dramas isn’t always a bad thing per say.

However, it did seem slightly surprising that even for well-established writers such as the Hong Sisters, there wasn’t a lot of originality or creativity put into these tropes. Instead enforced cliches such as the love triangle, the strong and cold heroine, the snarky male lead, a troubled past lover and some questionable comic relief wormed its way noticeably into ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ with some varying and mixed results.

Lore and genres aside, there is also the crucial discussion surrounding the characters of ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’. The Hong Sisters seemed to have attempted a ‘Game of Thrones’-style approach with introducing a consortium of different characters (often with dubious morality) in a short space of time. This approach is not always terrible from a writing perspective and certainly did allow viewers to be introduced to some intriguing players in the narrative such as Yoo Jun Sang ( Park Jin), head of the mysterious group Songnim, Go Won ( Shin Seung Ho), the crown prince and potential future king of Daeho and Jin Cho Yeon ( Arin) , the youngest daughter of the Jin Family. However while some of these characters were well-tackled and intriguing in their own right, the lack of opportunities to flesh-out some of these characters did become noticeable as the season progressed.

Main heroine Naksu ( alternatively known as Mu-Deok in the body of the peasant girl) is played by two different actresses; Go Yoon Jung and Jung So-Min. Both actresses delivered fairly consistent dual performances as the main female lead. Admittedly main actress Jung So Min could feel a little flat with her line deliverances at times but this wasn’t entirely the fault of the actress per say.

As a written character, Naksu is a bit of a tough nut for viewers to crack. The Hong Sisters establish early on to viewers that she is a strong, fearless and powerful female assassin. Even in her newfound predicament in the weakened body of Mu-Deok, she takes advantage of her situation by allowing others to underestimate her abilities and seek revenge on those who have wronged her. ( For reasons which are roughly outlined in later episodes.)However in terms of being a likeable heroine who viewers can actually root for, Naksu will likely either be loved or hated by viewers of equal measure .

Of course, the Hong Sisters have attempted to offer sympathy for Naksu to viewers. As the season progresses into later episodes, the writing duo present the fact that Naksu is motivated for particular reasons and motives as well as her unconventional relationship with Jang-Uk.However, writing a strong character(especially a heroine) can often lead to writers falling into the trap of making their characters feel somewhat overly “invincible” or “overpowered” rather than human with actual flaws and issues. Of course, the Hong Sisters have arguably attempted to show this by certain vulnerabilities for Naksu but often this was approached in a way of a “ challenge” for the female lead in order to overcome. Rarely was this shown as an actual problem or flaw that truly allowed her to flourish and grow as a main character.

Costarring alongside the main female leads, there is also the actor of main male lead Jang Uk, Lee Jae Wook. Jae Wook is likely familiar for most viewers for his stoic potential love interest roles in romance dramas. Similarly in ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’, the actor is typecast somewhat again in the series as Jang Uk ; a brooding and deadpan character that viewers will ( similar to Naksu) either love or hate. Of course it is wrong to make out that Jang Uk is a purely despicable character. Similar to the show’s heroine, Naksu, the male lead has his own motives, his own complex backstory and is shown to be an intellectual than allowed him to be fairly interesting in his own right.

In addition to this , there were certainly moments regarding the main male lead’s backstory that were given a dedicated amount of coverage by the drama’s writers also. However, it could sometimes feel as though that Jang Uk’s dominating traits of arrogance and haughtiness were often mistakingly justified by the Hong Sisters as a “result of his situation” rather than simply being explained and used as a stage of further character development. (Often this resulted in some of Jang Uk’s actions feeling frustratingly repetitive or justified even when there was a necessity for them to be called out otherwise.)

Naturally, it is hard not to discuss the main leads without bringing up their oddball relationship over the course of the season. The Hong Sisters play upon the old trope of the cohabitation drama with the “ master and servant” roles being unconventionally swapped throughout between Jang Uk and Naksu ( in the body of Mu-Deok). This unusual relationship dynamic was certainly compelling for viewers and did allow for the slow-burn romance to satisfyingly thrive in this written relationship setup.

Although often entertaining and certainly generating a few laughs with their comical antics, it could grow a little repetitive at times to see their relationship going from one or two extremes without a lot of middle ground between either being serious or overly jokey . This became especially noticeable when it was placed against the somewhat convoluted induction of the “ love triangle”; a trope that while not overly dominant in the major storyline events of ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’, did play a role beyond its necessary requirements.

As for the narrative structure, ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ is approached in different layers by the Hong Sisters. In early episodes of the series, the writing duo used their time wisely to establish some of the main narrative events, while later episodes heavily dived into further execution and progression. On the other hand while this is certainly not an unusual writing decision in K-dramas, it did often make the series feel somewhat somewhat slow-paced in parts. As a result of this writing decision, ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ often felt as though parts of the events surrounding subplot and even some moments of the major storyline weren’t as well-rounded as they should’ve been. However, the Hong Sisters did deliver a thrilling season finale that will likely surprise and intrigue viewers with its ending note .

The stylistic approach of ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ is admittedly where things become a little more rocky. Under director Park Joon Hwa ( ‘ Bring It On, Ghost’, ‘ What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim?’ and ‘ Touch Your Heart’), the series did present a gorgeous array of sleek and gorgeous scenes and palette schemes. However, it is likely that the opinions of viewers will remain somewhat divided by the heavy reliance on CGI over the course of the series. ( Especially with regards to the quality of green screen scenes not always matching up with the desired intentions of the Hong Sisters’ vision.)

In addition to this, there is also the slight nuanced issue surrounding the more stark modern presentations of certain characters with dyed hair and modern-takes on historical outfit designs. Although this is a fictional work and can maybe be excused on some grounds with an artistic licence, it was sometimes hard as a viewer to really immerse yourself in a historical fantasy world when certain actors had their hair dyed in an obviously modern manner.

Nevertheless despite some liberties being taken with the outfit designs, they were certainly impressive outfit decisions taken by the costume department onscreen. The shades of silk and materials used were often vividly bright in the show’s lighting ; often seeming ethereal on the frames of the actors as they were adorned in bright shades of peacock blue, marigold and deep vermillion and certainly helping to embody the magical element of the show.

Aside from the stylistic approach of ‘ Alchemy of Souls’, the OST was mainly composed of schmaltzy ballads. Certainly some of these songs were more memorable than others such as “ Scars Leave Beautiful Trace” ( 상처는 아름다운 흔적이 되어) by Car, the Garden and "Breath" (숨결) by Kim Na Young.

‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ is an ambitious fantasy epic by the Hong Sisters. It is imaginative and filled with some intriguing world-building, characters and a fairly enthralling plot objective that will keep viewers intrigued. In addition to the writing of the show, Director Hwa’s varied palette schemes and lighting choices help to truly bring the series to life in a magical manner. On the other hand, the writing duo’s project is not flawless. The CGI is varied from scene to scene while the characters of the series and the events of the narrative felt somewhat overly niche and rushed at times. Nevertheless with a potential sequel in the works and a certain possibility to fix some of these weaker writing moments, season one of ‘ Alchemy Of Souls’ is certainly a satisfying appetiser for any fantasy lover.