Alchemy of Souls

Beautiful and light-hearted

Overall, this is a very beautiful and well made series.

The story isn’t perfect but it has its own charm. Although it’s mostly light-hearted with little twists, it has a fair share of funny moments, friendship, fantasy, romance and heartache. It would make a good heartwarming stress reliever.

The acting is good enough, nothing to complain about. The characters act pretty reasonable, relatable and in-characters, except for some funny comic relief moments.

The music is so beautiful and emotional, especially the ending song.
The special effects (water magic, glowing swords,..) look astonishing and realistic.

I do strongly recommend it if you’re looking for a fantasy romance drama that set in the ancient time, with a not so heavy story but exciting and interesting enough to make you keep wanting for more.

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YOU WILL NOT FIND ANYTHING LIKE THIS

NO SPOILER: Come on...
The story is full of twists and turns, with multiple plots all the time, which is incredible! A negative point for this work of art (Because not everyone likes Mona Lisa) is that let's be honest: They steal too much for the protagonist, but we clean up. The scenery, graphic effects and music are very engaging and fit with the plot, we dive right into the magic of the series.

The protagonists form an inseparable duo, the way they are loyal to each other is beautiful, their complicity and the way they are willing to die for each other moves us, and little by little this loyalty turns into a believable and indestructible love story. It's a real love, that's clear to viewers. It is not something that came out of nowhere, but something that was cultivated little by little, episode after episode. At various times this duo moves us with their acts of loyalty.

There is a lot of comic relief. The secondary characters sometimes steal the show, which means that the protagonists don't take the series on their shoulders, we actually root for the others because of the true friendships that form throughout the drama: The prince and Naksu have a very fun friendship to have. See, Dan-gu and Cho-Yeon are really cute, and even the villains we love to hate. I loved the details with which they inserted So-yi into the context of the story, it was perfect, so much so that I would believe the invented story and not the true one, congratulations to the screenwriters.

There is a change of main actress between the 1st and 2nd seasons. This exchange WAS ALREADY WRITTEN BEFORE THE SERIES WAS RELEASED, but it is felt by fans as it divided many opinions. There are fans of the 1st Naksu who refuse to watch the 2nd season, fans of the 2nd season who despise the 1st Naksu, and there are fans (Like me) who understand the poetry behind the actress swap. Who even prefer one of the seasons (I prefer the 1st) but who understand the importance of the other.

I confess that the only criticism in this regard of changing actresses is that they didn't maintain the mannerisms of the first actress who was always making faces, making jokes and was extremely expressive with her body, the 2nd actress didn't bring that to the series, and I really missed that. because if they are the same "person", no matter how many times they change bodies, their way of expressing themselves will be the same. There is an explanation for this drastic change in personality, but it still ended up disappointing many fans, so watch it now with that in mind as it will help you a lot:

"REMEMBER: If the soul is Naksu's, nothing else matters. The two "Naksu" (Jung So Min and Go Youn Jung) are part of a set, without one there is NO other. One COMPLEMENTS the other. Value both ."

Why 9.00? There were some loose ends, questions that weren't answered, but nothing very substantial, nothing that would make anyone say you shouldn't watch it. At the moment it's my number 1 drama, and I know I'll watch it again, because I'm in a very serious post-drama hangover. If you have an Alquimia das Almas fanfic to recommend to me, I would greatly appreciate it.

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My darling let me tell you,

(me writing this review while listening to “Scars leave beautiful traces” – Car, the garden)

Listen I loved it. No words, it was a lovely drama. If you came for the magical fantasy THIS is the drama for you, the SFX are gorgeous, the music is AMAZING, the cast is perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so if you are looking for a sign to watch this show. This is your sign.

It was a good show guys and if you actually made it to the review section, you don’t need to be reading anymore reviews, just go watch the show.

(THOSE WHO HAVEN’T WATCHED THE DRAMA DON’T READ AHEAD CUZ SPOILERS)


I’m sure you’re all very used to hearing praise of Alchemy of Souls, especially the first season, let’s now talk about the cons in this drama.

I just feel personally that if you are going to take the time an effort to make a drama (that too a fantasy-magic drama) 20 episodes long you should make sure the plot is well explained and spread out evenly and properly done.
AoS’s ONLY problem was that they dragged out a minor plot for TOO long and then started introducing major plot line only around the 15-16th episodes, thereby reducing the time to explain said plot lines. I was a little disappointed by how they dealt with the Jang Gang storyline because they had the potential to do so so so much better with it. They had sooo much time to introduce Jang Uk to his father but what? They give us one interaction where they talk about nothing except Jang Gang trash-talking himself for like 10 mins and then bro erupted into ashes in the next episode (he-who-must-not-be-named style), I really wish they had given Jang Uk more time with his father because they spent so much time EMPHASIZING that Jang Gang wasn’t Jang Uk’s father that they should have atleast allowed him to hear that FROM his father.

Another thing I didn’t like very much was that they waited too long to introduce So-I and the Jin Bu-yeon storyline, they kept holding it back until the last 5-6 episodes and therefore it was a little shabbily written, I mean I’m pretty sure we had all inferred long back that Mu-Deok was infact Jin Bu-yeon so the suspense was unnecessary, I wish they had spent a little more time explaining the mother-daughter relationship between Jin Ho-Gyeong (the leader of Jinyowon) and her second daughter Cho-Yeon, who I feel was a pushed aside not only by her mother but by the writers themselves. She would show up as a love-sick girl for Jang Uk in the first half and then just as a romantic relation for Dang-gu in the second half so if they had spent a little more time on her character development they probably wouldn’t have had to drag out the plot so much.


Call it second male lead syndrome, I LOVED Seo Yul, he was my favourite character throughout the drama and I waited for the scenes where he would show up on screen, his fight scenes were epic and he is so pretty pretty he looks like a doll, even his personality was so cute I just fell in love with him. I just wish, if they were going to make it so important that these four (Jang Uk, Park Dang-gu, Seo Yul, Jin Cho-yeon) were the children of the four most influential and powerful families in Daeho they had a responsibility to explain the families and their roles in the Great Chaos (the war from 200 years ago) and they should have explained the history of the families a little more.

If they had 20 episodes they should have made better use of it is what I felt. I think they always knew they were going to make a second season so they must have felt like there was no NEED to wrap the story up properly in the first season, hence the suspense of Jang Uk coming back from the dead yet no explanation of what the King's star is or what it enables Jang Uk to do, or what powers the King's star grants him

Two more thing before I wrap up the review:
1) This is just MY two cents on the show that I watched and really enjoyed I did not mean to offend anybody or anything by it
2) I have not watched S2 yet so I don’t know what has (or hasn’t) been explained in it


And that brings me to the end of my review. Hope you all could relate to my review ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

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Good world building

The world created by drama remain consistent on rules and possibilities they themselve set on. Story was good , actors character were immersive and behave the same way a normal human being behave under given circumstances. Characters were alive and behaviour were logical and responce were within bound to the characters.
World building - 10/10
Characters chemistry - 10/10
Immersiveness in story 10/10
Overall. -. good

Personal opinion:-

What I find repulsive - love triangle thing .
The female character interaction with second male lead. ( I find annoying)

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Disappointing

So I finished Part 1 of this show...and I don't think I have any desire to see part 2. There was a lot of potential here, with an interesting premise and attempts at cool fight scenes, humor, and romance. But it just did not gel, at least for me. The characters and relationships were underdeveloped, and there were SO MANY missed opportunities for really exciting revelations and for the main characters to get to do cool things. For instance, the scene were Naksu/Mu Deok is being killed so that they can demonstrate the power of the ice stone to resurrect people--this even results in her getting her power back as Naksu, at least temporarily, so it should have been incredibly dramatic, but it really wasn't at all. Then, when she is taken over by Jin Mu this is when the mysterious power of Jin Bu Yeon should have come into play. Instead, she is just taken over, murders a bunch of people, and is forced to jump into the ocean and petrify. Basically, our main character has little to no agency. She has no main character energy! There is the sense that the Jin Bu Yeon connection should be important, but that never materializes. Such a pity, because this really could have been an amazing drama. I wish I could say I have hope for Part 2 to bring everything together...but I just don't.

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WATCH IT NOW!

THIS IS JUST AAAAAAAAGHH! Such a good kdrama. It'll give you hope for a happy ending, but sorry to tell you, you'll need tissues. I didn't expect this to happen, i mean, at all. I really wished they had a happy ending and they will be happy together. I HATE JIN MU. I hope he isn't in season 2. I was really confused with the start, but I got it fast. This is so worth it. GO WATCH IT! I already now a spoiler and didn't expect to cry, but I did, AND SO MUCH!!!!!! As much as I know, season 2 will also have a sad ending(crying internally). I was so in love with their love and they were so cuteee. Especially the scene where Mu-Deok was drank and kissed Jung-uk and told him she likes him a lot!!!!!!! All I need to say is that this story will give u a heartbreak, but the watch IS NEEDED!!!

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Alchemy of Souls

I cried really hard watching the ending scene of Jang Uk and Mudeok, even more so knowing that Jung So Min won't be back for season 2. I really cannot accept lead changes because it ruins the emotional attachment you build after watching the character.

This is the first romance kdrama that I completed after a long long time. It isn't a perfect story by all means, but it is a very special drama to me. The connection felt between Jang Uk and Mudeok is utterly beautiful. The acting by the leads was exceptional. I love the growth both characters have shown throughout this 20 episodes.
Lee Jaewook has become an all-time favourite actor of mine. This is his best performance to date, and Jang Uk has become one of my favourite Male Leads of all time. I've always adored Jung So Min's acting and it's gratifying to see the praise she got after this show.

I had a great time watching this drama, reading the theories, the many amazing parallels this drama had. All the actors did a great job. Jang Uk, Mudeok (Naksu), Crown Prince, Seo Yul, the Queen (aka Shaman Choi), Jin Mu and all the other casts. Really great piece of work with brilliant fight scenes!

I wish the best for the casts in Season 2.

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How much pouty petulant can you take?

This is the first time for me to watch a quasi-historical Korean fantasy and to be honest I was totally underwhelmed. Which is a pity because there are probably some really good ones out there. There is a simplistic naivety about this one that perfectly defines the phrase, dumbed down. It starts with a script that has zero sophistication, explains even the most self evident motivation in words and never passes over an opportunity to state the obvious. It offers bland, predictable, two dimensional characters and a direction so wooden that any dynamism the actors might have produced is squashed by a requirement to stand still and spout. And just to round it out nicely the editing in the early stages is unbelievably bad, hacking off chunks of story and throwing them roughly together. But to be fair it does have a plus side in the production values—great costumes, beautiful sets/locations and credible CGI.

The rigid division between good and evil does not help. In order to create interesting tension there needs to be ambiguity and the central character, Naksu, simply doesn’t have enough real-world edge to her. Assassin? Pouty, petulant tweenager more like. And that’s the irony of it. In a story all about power, the power has been sucked out of everything: her, the story and all the characters.

It’s all far too nice with the result that nothing is too far from that bland (and to be honest, boring) middle ground. Very little light and shade, zero depth and no emotional impact. Safe, safe, safe. A let’s pretend world that has about as much tension as a teddy bears picnic.

Okay, it’s not Game of Thrones and is aimed at a totally different and much less emotionally resilient audience, but does it really have to be quite so impotent? So concerned to keep the viewer safe inside a bubble watching on from the sidelines. So scared of itself that it pulls back from every opportunity to have some balls and make an impact? Everywhere it pulls punches, particularly by not following through on the consequences of actions, either emotionally or physically.

I like Jung So Min as an actress, I thought she was very good in “Because this is my first life”, but I think she was miscast here. She lacked the necessary edge to make her character believable. The actress who plays the original form of Naksu (Go Yoon Jung), did a better job of delivering credibility to the part. Even if Naksu lost her magical power she would not have lost her attitude or her edge and this could have been an opportunity for great character development and depth. But Jung So Min’s scripted lines did nothing towards this, often being subservient when they should have been authoritative, victim when they should have been master and bland when they should have been vulnerable.

It also puzzled me why, in a world which is quasi-historical fantasy and not reality, there should be so few women occupying decision making roles. In the main it utilised boringly predictable stereotypes and missed a huge opportunity to be creative. The relationship between the M and F lead was not master/pupil but something out of a fluffy romcom with a dominant, emotionally stunted male and a petulant, subservient female. There’s nothing ostensibly wrong with writing fluffy romcom relationship dynamics, but why pretend to set it up as master/pupil and then make it unbelievable?

Ok enough, I got half way through and then had to wait for the next episode. It will be an eternal wait...

What my rating means: 5+ Meh! Don't bother, it's full of platitudes and clichés with boring characters and plots.

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I loved Hwang Min Hyun but this wasn't for me.

I debated when this ended on saying a little of what I thought about it and it took me a while to come back and write this much. I had watched this to the end but by the time it was over I wanted to roll my eyes.
The female and male lead annoyed me and when it came down to it their acting sucked.
I only stuck this out because of Hwang Min Hyun. This drama started out great but I liked nothing
it seemed by the third ep.
The supposed love and their so called love story between the leads wasn't there for me was falling flat as a dry pancake as the eps went on.
I know others felt/feel differently and liked/loved this but I just didn't/don't and could see no romantic chemistry between the two leads and them supposedly supposing to have feelings for each other just wasn't coming through for me and it was just awful to have to watch. When the second half of the show had started I managed to get through the first ep of the and wasn't going to waste my time watching more. It only served to piss me off more because I had wasted my time watching the first half and hated it.

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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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