Alchemy of Souls

Hit me like white wine

This was a lovely surprise. The world building was fantastic along with the a interesting story line. I would easily recommend this to anyone, in or outside the drama community.

Story
I love a strong female and Naksu/Mu Deok was not playing around. I enjoyed watching how everyone dealt with her constant scheming and involvement. I found myself slightly annoyed that Jang Uk was always on the edge of being a badass but didn't get his full moment (see season 2.) I also loved that there was more that one villain. As in life, there is usually more than one person willing to stomp on others to get what they want. Someone commented on how they felt sorry for the Prince and I totally agree. That continued into S2 for me. The ending on this caught me completely off guard. My jaw was on the floor. I was not well. I don't think I ever rushed to start another episode faster that Season 2, Episode 1.

Acting/Cast
High rankings here as well. I found myself really into the the B stories and characters. So Min nailed the sassy spirit of Naksu stuck in the body of MuDeok. You could feel her frustration with not being able to do what she was use to. This drama also gave me a while new appreciation for Jae Wook's range. I'll be doing a deep dive on his filmography for sure. I also had so much sympathy for Seo Yul. Probably the only second ML that I almost wish would have gotten the girl. Special shout out to Seung Ho who surprised me as the Prince/Go Won. Just enough arrogance to be royalty but human enough to fall for MuDeok's mischief.

Music
The music did help push the tense moments along. The funny affects added to the comical moments were also well timed. I also recall enjoying the outro music, strangely.

Rewatch Value
This definitely has rewatch potential. As a spoiler to my review on season 2, I'd say season 2 is the one I would actually prefer to rewatch vs season 1.

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flaming garbage

i watched this series and rushed to make an account to say how ridiculous and trashy this show is. The misogyny goes crazy in this one. Plus why should anyone root for an assassin who loses a battle in her introduction scene and goes around manipulating the situations through mediocre blabbering? Why should anyone root for an irredeemable POS male lead like that?

No words can describe how garbage the actresses playing the FL are. I physically cringed every time they were on the screen. The plot was so-so. The Hong Sisters tried too hard as always and produced a below average storyline where every woman except the FL get bashed.

This show is like a basic romance novel where the author fantasized a few trope centric scenes and made up an illogical world to join them together. I'd give it a negative score if this website permitted it.

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Crying bleeding loosing SLAY and left no crumbles, be sure to watch this drama cause it’s like something beyond this universe🫕🥘🍛🍲🍜ㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄲㄱ

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Wizards and Great Nonsense!

This show is so much fun, I'm a stickler for styling so the gratuitous K-pop hair made for a really entertaining watch in a Korean, and I use this word loosely, "historical" setting. Discovering tons of wacky terminology, following these decently fleshed out characters, and the queen that is Naksu... it's a great time!

Hell, it even reminds me vaguely (maybe more than vaguely) of Mo Dao.

Highly recommend to anyone curious, I looked forward to every week when they aired an episode and I am excited for the next season starting Dec.10th!

I'll keep it spoiler free, but I think my one issue is the joke they kept making about the prince and the main lead. It was kinda hurtful at times that they kept making fun of their interactions and how they could be perceived by others.

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VERY GOOD, could be perfect.

This show has a lot to offer and you will probably find something that pleases you- I'm not a big fan of fantasy or action shows, but these themes was worked very tastefully, having also time for the romance and mystery portions of the plot to flourish. The visuals are outstanding and really set a new mark for korean dramas, the overall plot keeps you guessing and looking for the next episode, leaving and ending on a strong moment to lead to the next season (also it didn't leave the first season weak or unresolved to the point of it lessening the enjoyment).
With that said, I found the romance and characters to be a bit annoying, especially in terms of romance. There's almost no chemistry between the two main leads, even if the spend a lot of time together. FL shows more affection to literally any other male character than the ML. There's the classic love triangle, for both the ML and FL but when the FL is constantly showing way more affection and reason to believe she likes the second love interest, to this the ML appears sometimes sad but doesn't act jealous or anything, and the ML's love triangle is almost non existent. It's not enough of a reason to drop the show or ruin it, but I find myself annoyed with their relationship.
The music is pretty good too, I wouldn't say it's enough of a reason to watch( there's other dramas with way more unique or interesting music) but I never felt like it wasn't the right music for the scene.
The acting is amazing obviously when you have some of the most recognizable actors and actresses here. Tho, I don't thing the show has a lot of jaw dropping scenes where you feel emotional with the acting, it just very consistent and believable. Also the FL is very fun to watch, probably one of her best roles yet.

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An Original -Good Outweighs the modest flaws

I'm not a big fan of fantasy so despite the high ratings I put this off. First time I stopped at the beginning of the second episode. However, after several months I gave it another try and this time ended up binging both seasons. Despite some obvious borrowings from other fantasy sources this story comes across as very original and fresh.

The first season was well thought out so despite a few questions about the rules of this fantasy world the story, acting, and execution kept me engaged through to the end. The plot points follow believably more often than not.

Jung So Min's performance stands out. Her charisma dominates every scene in which she appears.

In this first season the writers weren't timid about consequences i.e. characters do die.

There was no question about jumping into the second season as the first one ends with a major cliff hanger.

However, the second season was not up to the first. The maturity level was deliberately lowered. There are a few mutilations of characters to achieve some sort of comedic effect and I often felt the plot getting bogged down by contrived situations, and several occasions in which an odd solution was injected to resolve scenes. These didn't stop me from enjoying the story journey, but I suspect the writers either did not have enough time to plot things out more carefully or more likely the suits put pressure on them to inject new elements to broaden the audience.

The first season Naksu character had a fierce introduction early on and ended up trapped within a weaker body without magical powers, and that challenge she faced - to achieve her goals without her usual powers - was entertaining. She had some interesting conflicting feelings emerge as her original desire for revenge ran into new facts that didn't reconcile with what she had been led to believe about the fate of her family.

In the second season that old fierce Naksu personality and that conflict were submerged behind an amnesia leaving a meek mild young girl with minimal magic and little agency, and the whole dilemma that season 1 was so focused on just disappeared. There were new dilemmas but these were not handled as well as the plot at times lurched forward.

Finally, I like a happy ending, but sometimes need one on the dark side because the story and characters demand it. The first season delivered. The second season really fudged on any consequences and we get a just so ending. Characters and story are set up to force hard choices, suffer the consequences, but then get bailed out. And when we see via the spirit of young Jin Bu Yeon that there is a major Devine entity at work this telegraphs a just so ending is coming for the lead couple.

Despite these flaws I found the whole very enjoyable and will rewatch again.

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A Most Watch

When this show was airing I started watching it then went to watch something else then came back and started watching it again after watching the first ep I became hooked. That is why this show, this K-drama is a must-watch.

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

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A treat for fantasy lovers (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)

PLOT: In a historical and magical universe, four families of mages rule the kingdom. Each has different superpowers, but a Great Villain practices soul alchemy. The ML (Jang Uk), son of the Jang family, has limited powers. The soul of Naksu, an elite assassin, finds itself trapped in the body of Mu Deok, a servant of the Jang family. Jang Yu and Mudeok join forces to become stronger.

+++ I'm a fan of the two leads of this series, [Lee Jae Wook & Jung So Min] who are simply magnificent, magical, and brilliant.
+++ Directed by Park Joon Hwa (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
+++ Storyline by the Hong sisters (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
+++ Perfect cast, each actor brings their character to life with talent.
+++Top notch effects and CGI
+++ Great OSTs

=> Almost perfect (ღ˘⌣˘ღ) (ღ˘⌣˘ღ) MASTERPIECE!
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A treat for fantasy lovers

PLOT: ds 1 univers historique et magique, 4 familles de mages règnent sur le royaume. Chacune dispose de différents super pouvoirs, mais un Great Villain pratique l'alchimie des âmes. Le ML (Jang Uk), fils de la famille Jang, a des pouvoirs bridés. L'âme de Naksu, une assassin d'élite, se retrouve piégée dans le corps de Mu Deok, servante de la famille Jang. Jang Yu et Mudeok s'allient pour devenir plus forts.
+++ je suis fan des 2 leads de cette série, [Lee Jae Wook & Jung So Min] justes magnifiques, magiques, géniaux.
+++Réalis° de Park Joon Hwa
+++ Storyline des Hong sisters
+++ Cast parfait, chaque acteur fait vivre son personnage avec talent.
+++ Excellents effets et CGI
+++ Super OSTs

=> Quasi parfait ... MASTERPIECE !

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Alchemy of Souls (2022) - finished this after waiting every week for a new episode. This drama is good overall for me and the build up of the storyline with the revelations in between is also good. There are quite a large number of characters but its fine with me since I can still identify them. One thing that made me disappointed with the drama is the last parts. I think they drag the story to have a season 2. I can’t help but compare the ending of the drama to attorney woo as they are the ones I am watching together as they aired at almost the same time, and I prefer the ending of attorney woo than this one. I’m still gonna watch the season 2 since there are a lot of revelations and secrets that needs to be uncovered, but the excitement is not the same.

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