K-Drama 
Truly a Shadow of Part 1
To preface, I gave part one 9 stars — I absolutely adored it. Part 2 lacked compelling characterization, had a plot that made zero sense, and just overall felt directionless. That best part about it was staying with endearing characters like Lord Park and the Crown Prince for just a little bit longer. The female characters were completely diminished and there was no real weight to any of the "danger."Also, while I appreciate GYJ, there was a huge hole in part 2, and that was the gap left behind by the absolutely show-stopping Miss Jung Somin. Her performance carried audiences through the endless laughter and excruciating tears of Part 1. Part 1 had it all: novel world-building, suspenseful plotting, and intense chemistry. This season, while adequate, had none of that, and Jung Somin and her character of Mu Deok tied so much of that together. It's not just that I miss the actress — I miss the CHARACTER. Her persona, the way she was written, and the way she loves. GYJ as Bu Yeon was fine, but her character and performance weren't magic like JSM's Mu Deok was.
BUT ten stars to Lia's OST — I loved that.
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Season 1 was way much BETTERR!!
Comparing to season 1 it was nothing like i was expecting something good but it didn't turn out what i was expecting and i think almost every viewer have the same opinion. Whatever let's review it.ACTING/CASTING: The acting of every crew member was very good even though the storyline was not good but the acting was , can't deny the fact. The casting was also very good that bringing back Lee jae wook as Jang uk obviously because in the last ep of season 1 he was alive. Naksu is also back but...leave it i will tell you in the end(i think some readers understood).
OST: I don't much notice the OSTs but i bet that this season's OSTs was much better than the previous season.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
STORYLINE: Jang uk is alive again and this season is showing about their village after 2 yrs.
As lady jin was finding her oldest daughter jin byeon and jin mu promised her that he will find her. He did and for three years she is been in prison under her mother's control.
Do you remember Dangu? Yes so he was back from his practice and all so he didn't see jin cha yeon for three years. Now finally he was back in songrim and gone to see jin cha yeon while he was talking to jin cha yeon jang uk went in jineyeon(i don't know their palace name) there was a soul shifter he killed him plus he free jin byeon from the prison.
Then jin byeon was naksu so she wanted to recover her memories and there was only one person who can help her do that that is seo yul. So she was searching for Seo yul but god has other plan one day songrim people and jineyeon(don't the name)people fixes jin byeon marriage with Jang uk without asking them but then they got married. Jin byeon loves him but he doesn't but then how he fell for mu-deok earlier he fell for jin byeon this time. After this you just have to watch the drama.
FINAL REVIEW: I was expecting that mu-deok will be back and i want her back because i literally cried day and night. The chemistry Jang uk and mu-deok have jang uk and jin byeon doesn't from my POV. The biggest thing is jang uk is a biggest red flag (i know it seems like it is modern dating or something but i am just sharing my opinion in my style) yeah so i was saying that jang uk is the biggest red flag because how can you move on from someone that easily like broo are u serious?! But what can we do.
From my side it's up to you that you want to watch the s2 or not i am not saying anything.
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This is not a continuation
In my opinion this drama had more bad things than good things....It's hard to be able to connect S1 to S2 because they seem like separate worlds and it doesn't look like a continuation of the S1.
Naksu's personality was COMPLETELY different from what she had in S1...
The sisters could have done a better job and given Naksu in S2 personality traits of Mudeok.
I couldn't like the storyline of S2.... Couldn't connect with the romance, Jang Uk just seemed fickle to me.
S2 was completely disappointing....
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Disappointed to tears
Very disappointing compared to part 1.- I couldn’t feel the connection between the main leads. I didn’t feel the love. I couldn’t root for them because I loved mu deok with jang uk. It felt like betrayal to naksu/mu deok. How and when did they even fell in love? Jang uk fell in love with mu deok because she was so strong. How did he fall in love with a weak bird like bu yeon that always needed saving. I must have missed it. I couldn’t feel excited for them. They both became love-sick puppies.
- Where is my strong FL? I didn’t ask for a weak FL who is only pretty. Pining, whining, crying. I hate that still kept hiding behind the ML even at the end. Why do FL must be saved my ML.
Where are any strong female characters?
- The amnesia plot was prolonged for so long. I’m not sure anymore who the ML loved even though technically the FL was de same soul. I kept waiting for him to realise dat FL was naksu. The reveal was very anticlimactic as well.
- Plot what plot? Plot was ridiculous as hell.
- I waited a long time to watch part 2 and now I regret having watched it. I kept waiting for it to get better but it didn’t. I’m mad and sad!
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Great Start, Missed Opportunity: Naksu's Revenge Arc Left Unexplored
I was really looking forward to Season 2 after loving Season 1, but then I heard the news that Jung Somin, who played Naksu/Mudeok, wouldn't be back as the main female lead. Honestly, I was pretty upset about it—change is tough, especially after getting attached to a character over 20 episodes. I almost forgot that Go Yoon Jung was the original Naksu. Still, I decided to give it a shot, especially with that crazy cliffhanger at the end of Season 1 that had us all wondering what would happen next.But Season 2 felt really slow compared to the first one. The story was there, but it just felt all over the place, and it wasn’t just because of the cast changes. I think it mostly came down to the writing. Go Yoon Jung did a great job as Naksu in Season 1, and we were all hoping to see that same strong assassin in Season 2. Instead, the Naksu we got felt completely different after losing her memories, and even when she got them back, she never fully returned to who she used to be. I think this was because of the way the story was written.
They really missed a chance to dive into Naksu's backstory, especially since she's the main character. We were all waiting for her to get her revenge and uncover the truth about her family’s massacre and Jinmu’s manipulation, but it felt rushed and not really explored. The real Naksu would have had a huge reaction after getting her memories back, but the way the plot went just seemed too quick and didn’t fit someone who’s been messed with all her life. Where’s the justice for her? It feels like we got cheated. Season 1 focused a lot on JangUk, and I really wish they’d spent more time on Naksu's origins.
That said, the series still looks great, and the cast does a solid job, especially Go Yoon Jung, who played three characters even though she’s still new to this. But there’s this lingering disappointment because we really wanted the badass assassin we loved from Season 1 back, especially since Yoon Jung is the original Naksu.
Overall, Season 2 is still good, but it falls short in some ways, leaving us feeling both satisfied and disappointed at the same time.
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The dreaded rushed ending *tada*
Dang that ending was bad.Could have definitely avoided a few episodes in season 2 to make a proper ending and not rush everything in the last episode.
The last episode in itself is 2 episodes but noooooo let's use flashbacks to end a well built story and put everything to trash in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
I should have stayed on my first impression at the beginning of season 2, when we were explained what happened with Mudeok's body, that should have a been the ending of season 1, not some random flashback in season 2, again a major part of the story rushed and badly used
Such a shame and a waste of time season 2 has been
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I'm going to pretend this season never happened.
I finished the drama and I am disappointed.Jang Uk falling in love with a woman, without knowing first that she was Naksu, was pure character assassination.
I'm going to pretend this season never happened.
Now I understand why there are so many mixed reviews....
This season has only come to destroy everything that was built in S1. I was so excited to watch season 2 and now I regret watching it. Most disappointing drama ever for me.
I will not watch anything written by the Hongs sisters anymore.
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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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What is this??
I can handle storyline but when watching a series, I want to be convinced and I wasn’t. Naksu’s personality was not the same in Season 2, felt more like the leading lady had face of Naksu, body of Buyeon and personality of Buyeon. Where was the Naksu who was gutsy, clever, mischievous, a bit more reserved about her love for main lead? Naksu in season 2 was just sad, foolish, cared only for her looks, too emotional and open about her love – even if was she Buyeon at first, when Naksu remembered everything, shouldn’t she be more like Naksu in season 1? Felt like she wasn’t Naksu. Naksu would never cry or run away. She got hit in the head once and laughed whilst bleeding! Where did that Naksu go?Was this review helpful to you?
Disappointing story development. Pretty/handsome but underwhelming lead actress and actor.
Disappointing story development. Not too sure what's the point of having season 2 with only 10 episodes.8 episodes are wasted to get Naksu to remember her past.
Felt like season 2 is just a major advertisement to promote Go Yoon Jung and how pretty she is.
Without a strong female lead like So min, Jae Wook's acting for season 2 is just boring and underwhelming compared to Min Hyun (Seo Yul) and Seung Ho (Go Won).
Let's not compare So min with Yoon Jung. So min is on another level. Yoon Jung's acting range has alot to catch up with Arin (Cho Yeon) and Hye Won (So Yi). Hye Won is just outstanding! For Yoon Jung, acting cute is not part of acting. But too bad, pretty faces are always pushed for leads irregardless of acting skills.
To sum up, the supporting casts were the ones who carried the show. Not forgetting the CG effects. Too bad, most viewers are carried away by the kissing scenes, Yoon Jung acting cute and boring story development. High ratings does not mean the story is good. I hope they will just give couple awards to Yoon Jung and Jae wook but please don't win any Best actress or Best actor please....it will not be convincing. Hope the supporting casts will win some awards.
Will forever remember how Alchemy of Soul's director capitalise on loyal fans from Season 1 to watch the underwhelming season 2.
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Shouldn't have existed
I initially dropped it b/c I thought the problem was the switch of actresses, but after death's game and moving I grew to love the actress. So I started it again,turns out the problem wasn't the actress nor the chemistry, the writing was just unbearably soap-level bad:
- They dragged out the amnesia until the last 2 episodes, and they had no reaction to it, b/c he was already in love with the new Naksu and didn't care about the old one that much apparently.
- Naksu had a personnality transplant and lost all brain, they turned our smart lead into a damsel, she never got her powers back.
- The secondary characters were just there,
- there was no solid plot just milking a soapy story
- I couldn't follow the characters logic in anything...
Anyway a total waste of my time, fortunately the FL did other projects and won't be remembered for this flop
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All season you wait for Naksu, and when she’s there, she isn’t!
I was a HUGE fan of AOS part 1. Huge fan of Naksu. I disagree with other reviews that say that the actress in season 2 is not good. Re watch episode 1, She is a brilliant warrior, great actress. However, I think the Hong sisters were sleeping when they wrote her character for season 2. Yes, I understand she is Bu Yeon, until episode 9. And what does Bu Yeon, a mighty powerful priestess do? She follows Uk, in semi trance, like a stupid teenage schoolgirl. Literally. That’s all she does. However in episode 9, Naksu is back, her memories, her powers…where is Naksu? Do you think it’s plausible for this mighty mage and warrior to STUMBLE TWICE, when she is followed by a wraith? You know, the same Naksu who performed the alchemy of souls and fought single handedly an army of mages. What happened to your brains Hong sisters? Also Bu Yeon’s mother character….she used to be so strong, and now her brother told her, you are old, you have white hair, hand over the plaque, and she does?Incongruent, horrible, totally destroyed the series for me. Horrible!
So I and Yul merit mentioning, loved their story, also the turtle is fab.
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