Alchemy of Souls

I loved the drama

I just randomly picked this drama to start and it was actually the top second drama i choose in 2022.
The story is written so beautifully.
The actors are doing literally justice with their characters.
The song , videography everything is perfect till now.
I'm on epi 12 & the bond btw jang uk & mu-deok is so beautifully written & my gut feeling is saying that they will also make us cry the most in this drama.
The trio they made while helping mu-deok in the competition was so amazingly done.
Crown prince & jang uk relationship with each other will make huge change in drama and ig it will the most awaited scenes for me.
Plus i really want jang uk and mu-deok to get together as couple , they are so strong and powerful strong plus i love their bonding with eachother.

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Good FX, Overshadowed by Plot and Production Issues

LIKES:
Settings where they were out in nature, like the gardens. Such beautiful flowers and land scape. Vibrant colours!
Cinematography and location settings were all well chosen.
The casting was spot on for both the actors and actresses!
A strong female lead, that never was made into a simpering fool due to falling in love.
Some of the special effects were really well done too, without over using CGI or green screens. Editing was well done and seamless for the most part.
The “magic” effects and makeup for the stone potion of the soul shifters that go wild, all exceptionally well done.
The chemistry between the actors and the actresses all flowed well.
The comedy parts were okay.
Writing was consistent for the most part and well thought out, considering they were creating a whole new world.
Acting mostly was well done too (just not for all of the cast), at least for the main characters.
The music was chosen well, never overpowered the dialogues and even added to the atmosphere in the scenes!

DISLIKES:
Shaky camera moments, it is 2022 you should know how to use a film stabilizer by now! If not for that, then production would’ve been perfect.
Too many love lines, which means some of them will either be killed off or left not concluded, but we will see what happens in the second season.
Even though the females were mostly strong, they eventually turned into supporting characters, even the female lead. That contradicted the beginning episodes and how they were survivors of their circumstances.
Not sure if it’s the director’s fault or the writer’s, but there were too many filler scenes that didn’t add to the story, but gave certain characters more screen time. This might have also contributed to the pacing problems.

OVERALL:
I did enjoy the drama and will watch the second season (while hoping they fix the other problems). For a fantasy drama it is decent. I would recommend it for others to watch, but not sure I will re-watch it, even while waiting for the second season.

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BEST EVER

this is really really recommended to watch it is really unforgettable and enjoyable and it is so entertaining I really love it so much it has so much good production and story lining and really love that the characters has put too much effort on the road it is really and my Rebel it was really my one of the favourite series 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 💖💖💖💖💖 JUNG UK 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 MU DEOKI 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

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fantastic treat

The ending… please have mercy on me. This was such a fun and delightful treat. I was so looking forward to this ever since my tiktok was flooded with beautiful edits of this show and i waited for it to be fully released because I knew deep down I would love it (that sounds very dramatic, but it's true!!) Although the plot only moves quite slowly, the characters and their interactions carry the show and make it special. I have to admit that I have been watching a lot of other shows that have shorter episodes so maybe that is why I felt like the episodes were dragging a little, but I always had a fantastic time watching this show.... The settings, cinematography, music, the magic, … just everything was such a great watch. Deserves all its hype. The only character I couldn’t warm up to was Choyeon… she put Mudeok in trouble (several times), always whining or pouting and bratty… I don’t know, she just wasn’t my favorite. But overall: great watch. I am excited and scared for part 2.

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The Best thing i have ever watched in my entire life.

I won’t write a full review since I just finished it. The emotions haven’t sunk in yet, so I’ll share my instant thoughts about Alchemy of Souls.

I just finished both parts, and I’m losing my mind. This is the best, the best, the bestest thing I have ever watched in my entire life! I’m feeling two emotions—one is absolute satisfaction, thinking, Wow, what a series I just watched! An absolute gem! The other is a deep fear: Will I ever watch anything like this or better? And my mind keeps saying, You won’t. My goodness, is there anything better than this? Can anyone please help me? Please, please! I’ve never pleaded for anything before, but today, I am—please recommend something like this.

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This drama is doing many things right, the leads have good chemistry with each other & their endless bickering is plenty amusing. Some annoying saeguk things are absent (awful hats for example) & in many ways this is closer to a Chinese xianhuan show than a saeguk. Instead of clans like the fox clan, fairy clan etc we have mage clans, but their interactions with each other are pretty similar to what we see in those Chinese shows. Overall it's a really well produced drama with a decently interesting premise & world building.

So then why is my rating so low? To summarize I just don't like the plot, there is so much I don't like about it really. Sure the final 2-3 episodes were incredibly bad, quite possibly due to the team scrambling to deal with their actress switching shenanigans, but it's more than that. I don't like the plot device that is the "alchemy of souls", I don't like how the FL does not much else for 19 episodes other than being a maid doing chores and I don't like the love triangle, though admittedly I've seen far worse triangles. I already implied that the lead actors were great fit for their roles, however their romance is flowing rather strangely. Live filming is not great when it comes to consistency & the writers were really not on top of their game here, despite a couple rather epic scenes in the show, the buildup often failed in my eyes. Almost forgot the main point I wanted to make, excuse my ramblings! What I think is the worst here is that this is supposed to be power fantasy. A master who lost their powers meets a disciple who is unable to cultivate powers & then at the very least one of them is supposed to grow strong, right? Despite all the time spent on training, not in this show, no! Our hero born under the king's star remains a weakling throughout the entire time and then the crappy final episodes come ruining everything even more.

Could have given a lower score, but decided not to, since at least the comedy is pretty good most of the time..

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