Alchemy of Souls Season 2: Light and Shadow

Not what I expected :(

Seeing a lot of mixed and extreme reviews on this S2 Sigh… not what I expected at all. Yes- we all wanted the badass assassin, probably not fully back to her old self but definitely not this priestess with divine powers but can’t even cross the river without help! Sorry to say.. I did like the idea of JBY and Naksu sharing the body, but I really really wanted more from Naksu.

The storyline and pace was a little draggy. It focused too much on Naksu and Jang Uk finding each other and falling in love all over again. Probably not the best main plot for a season 2. I wanted to see more conspiracy theories, more slashing of swords and fighting, more mages using and abusing their powers… but 80% of the time was lovey dovey and humorous scenes. Don’t get me wrong- I loved the relationship between the Crown Prince and his turtle! ;);)

Anyhow, S1 was better for me, but I preferred Go Youn Jung as the FL. :)

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It had the potential to be better.

I don’t write drama reviews often, and this is solely just my opinion, no hate.

I originally wanted to give this drama a 7, but when I went to write this review, I realised that a 6.5/10 is the true and fair rating.

I’m going to keep this short even though I have a lot to say. I absolutely loved season one, but I understood the direction the writers were taking with season 2, it was just the delivery of it.

Season 2 wasn’t bad, it just lacked what season 1 had.

The whole season just felt rushed.

I found myself bored for about 50% of the drama.

Would I watch season 2 again, most probably not.

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A shorter oddly more draggy sequel, that traded epicness for romance

A deeply flawed yet highly entertaining ride this drama has been.
☆DISCLAIMER☆
This review is only to those who have watched season 1 and season 2.
I will be discussing each aspect of my rating separately.

Story and writing:
The story, in terms of the fantasy and lore, unfortunately suffered a lot this season.
Season 2 hits off with a flash forward 3 years after the end of S1, we are shown quite a lot of clumsily put-together flashbacks to explain to, or rather mystify, the viewer as to what exactly took place after the death of the FL in S1's finale, and even after we manage to satisfy ourselves with the explanation given to us, we are still dealt some comically mystifying and convenienty mashed up rules to the magic involved in order to satisfy the needs of the plot and make it move forward.
To elaborate further;
Much of the rules, if they were ever properly explained didn't make much sense and left one *rolling eyes* mumbling okeeeeey!. We also come accross a couple of contradicting aspects and sudden power shifts like healing powers etc, that in hindsight leaves one wondering why they were never utilized prior. Also seeminly highly wise and powerful characters would constantly be changing their explanation of how the magic behind soul shifting works, and even worse things just ultimately transpire in a totally different manner. other times powerful side characters (park jin, seo yul, master lee) would mysteriously vanish at the most critical moments only to suddenly reappear after sh*t had already hit the fan to stand around and discuss it. A lot of these minor frustrations add up to make one feel like the writers were giving themselves enough viable cards and options to wriggle their way out of any tight spots that come up, all thanks to the highly sophisticated and complicated world that they themselves created in the first place.

Among the other smaller gripes that I had with the story writing, was how everything was built in a way that ensured our main leads were brought together, and despite that being a common trope of many a rom-com plot in K-dramaland, it still felt forced and too convenient, I guess one just has to accept the "they are destined to be together" card and simply roll with it.
But what I hated above all was creating emotional dying scenes and even holding a funeral, just for it all to turn out to be fake, only for the sake of creating a cheap cliffhanger. It made me just wish they were actually dead. I don't mind the suspense with a grievously wounded lead like Seo Yul, but to fake deaths, that was such a sick move by the writers. Also in my humble opinion, you can create an epic saga about good fighting evil with the good prevailing, while still showing sacrifices and deaths on the good side, not every single character has to survive physically to be considered a happy ending. Just saying.

The pacing was not one of the best apsects about S1, but still overall it was highly enjoyable. But season2 easily outdid its predecessor in bumpy pacing, with 2/3 of the drama wasted running in circles of ( missed hints>confusions>angst>break up>making up>and back to more missed hints ). Although watching the two re-fall in love from scratch honestly felt fun to watch, the romance plot line just took comparatively too much run time for its own good, it reached a point where it felt clichéd and dragging I just wanted the big reveal to happen already (and when it finally did oh boy was it lackluster), and it also took away much needed time from the core issues at hand that needed to be addressed to insure a proper closure, those issues were only given less than a third of the running time, leaving us with 2 last episodes that are too rushed, one almost feels like gasping for air watching them, and with sudden shifts between scenes feeling like whiplashes. We are promised a grand and epic battle, only for it to end in mere minutes with every one watching at the sides in a safe environment and Jang Uk doing all the work. Honestly, nothing made much sense with that fire bird plot, evil plotting wise or how it was handled (if it is destined to hatch then let us hatch it earlier duh!)

the characters:
Our all so mighty ML who is supposedly feared by even the greatest of mages thanks to the power of the ice stone, was somehow rendered into a middle schooler both in emotions and inconsistency. Still his journey climbing up from the dark pit he had thrown himself into at the beginning, and how the FL helped warm and light up his world was endearing and heartfelt.
The bigger problem though was our FL, who was, even by her own words, foolish and weak especially during the first half of the drama. She had the face of Naksu (for reasons that made not much sense to begin with) so I would assume that most viewers were like me in hoping that she would regain her powers and we would finally be graced with more scenes of our bad-ass FL for a change , a prospect that was dangled in front of our eyes since the character was introduced S1ep01, but alas, we only ever witness a shrivel of Naksu in character, and even Jin Bu Yeon's powers are only ever displayed briefly. There were a couple of instances where I thought there had been an ample opportunity for the writers to choose to show her stand up and defend herself, to be deserving of the powerful souls that lies within her, like when after regaining her memories she decided to face Jin Mu, the man behind her madness and death in S1, and chose to dive into a treacherous place for the sake of beating him. I thought surely then she will somehow survive and come out on her own (after all we know that among the remaining powers left within her is the ability to cast away evil writhes and spirits), but God forbid no! they still chose to create an unbelievable sequence (involving coming up with the idea that she is the reincarnation of an old powerful mage) just in order to make the ML be the hero of the day and save the damsel in distress. Even in the final scenes of the finale, they totally had the chance to show that Naksu, whose soul had been spared the owner of the body, was working on regaining her long lost prowess. But no! The exact opposite, She adamantly expresses her absolute wish NOT to train, and to stay completely dependent on the ML. That was just disappointing tbh.

As for much of the side characters, they were mostly just that, side kicks stored on a shelf only picked up and utilized for conveniency's sake or to provide some elements of humor and immediately shelved back thereafter.
while I really liked how the crown prince was portrayed here and was somewhat satisfied that his character was thankfully one of the ones that witnessed a redemption, I can not still get over the fact that he left Jin Mu to become gwanju after all his evil deeds in S1.
Seo yul, felt bland as ever for the most part, but on a positive note his brooding sad expression here perfectly matched his lone wolf life in this season more than the previous one. The only instance were I felt emotionally connected to him was in the plot concering So I , which I honestly was moved and brought to tears by.
Jin Mu this season was too comical of a villain, he was powerless and totally dependent on his minions and other higher ups to realize his evil master plan (which was utterly stupid to begin with)

The acting
Superb on the most part.
A lot of people were turned off and disappointed by the FL casting. story-wise aside, I have to say I found her acting to be very good, especially in the second half when she had started to regain parts of her memory as Naksu. I also strangely felt more romantic chemistry in this season than season 1 (which made me feel kind of torn up), maybe owing to more physical intimacy and kiss scenes, dunno.
Seo yul was a nice cool dude but I have to admit I found the actor's portrayal to be a bit lacking, and how the character was written this season didn't help either.

I can't say I didn't enjoy this drama both seasons, but to be honest, I am of the belief that if there had been less filler plots in both seasons, both could have then been made to fit nicely into a 20 episodes format drama. Then I think with such high-end CGI and great casting, this could have easily been one of a kind classic.

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A letdown

Alchemy of Souls Season 2 suffers massively from bad, contrived writing and a ridiculously pathetic FL that was done dirty. Strangely enough, I don't think the actress switch is the main reason for this. Rather, it's the writing behind her character.

Naksu/Mu-deok/Bu-yeon is the most shamelessly shafted character I've ever seen. We are told—and I forget how many dozens of times we are told this—just how powerful her divine powers are and she does… pretty much nothing of significance! I can understand why Naksu doesn't want to become a warrior again, Jin Mu made her this way, so she rejects that part of herself and it's understandable. But the problem here is that it's actually Naksu's fierce nature that has been lost. Plus, all her powers, her agency, AND her personality have been taken away from her, leaving only a weak, empty shell behind. You don't need to fight with a sword to be a badass, but you certainly need to do… something! This new Naksu character is expressionless and featureless and is the complete opposite of the original Naksu, which makes zero sense as they're supposed to be the same person, amnesia or not. Mu-deok's playful and contentious character is also nowhere to be seen for some reason. In short, Naksu goes from hero… to zero.

The Queen was just baffling too: you can't make me believe that after 10 years of torture and torment she conveniently 'forgot' who was behind her misery, I just can't. Horrible writing. In fact, all the female characters in this show, and especially so this season, are horrendously written and exist only to either be subservient to the male characters, look pretty and be rescued, or just mope around and wait to be impregnated because… they're women I guess? Only men can accomplish anything in this fictional world it would seem, and women cower behind them at every opportunity, which is doubly ironic considering Alchemy of Souls was written by women. I know kdramas aren't exactly a bastion of gender equality, and I can generally tolerate it, but in 2023 this is just frankly embarrassing. Not even a single moment of any single one of those women standing up for themselves. Pathetic. Feels like this was written decades ago.

The male lead was quite nice though, I liked him. It's not his fault that this show is misogynistic crap, he really tried his hardest. He even attempted to propel his co-star to the forefront whenever the opportunity presented itself, to no avail due to the subpar writing. I liked how powerful he was and yet he remained relatable and fun to watch at all times, because he had depth to him. Definitely one redeeming quality of this show was the male lead, and he shines again here in the second season.

Also, the action was, again, well filmed and interesting. I liked the OST too.

There is an incredibly compelling and moving story about power, greed, all-conquering love, and taking control of your life beneath all this bloated nonsense, which is what is so frustrating to me. I wanted this to be good so much.

I'm actually hoping for a remake one day. It certainly would deserve one. This time around… let's not do Naksu dirty, shall we?

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Could have been better

It seems like they stretched the story a little more which wasn't needed at all this could have been a very peaceful story but the made it was by adding so many twist.
And US many people are saying that The Ml loved the New FL so he is kind of a playboy or something but I personally think that as the new female lead wanted to protect him that's why he is diff forwarded into their relationship some things where really useless and logic less in their relationship obviously but the story could have been more better
And about the other characters their life story also would have been more better.

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I couldn't get myself to adjust to this storyline

I had such a love/hate relationship with this show... Season 1 was a dream come true in the sense that it had fantasy, magic, action, romance and comedy - pretty much everything that I like in a story. All the characters were well-developed, the plot was engaging and the overall vibe was so surreal. I loved it. Felt like I was there going through the journey Jang Uk had.

And then season 2 aired. Although I loved JSM as Mudeoki in season 1, I wasn't too distraught over the change of actress. But then I started season 2 and I felt my excitement and interest wane episode by episode. Almost every other scene made me wonder about its relevance to the story - the plot was murky and didn't hold up to the standard season 1 had set. I was expecting l would only have to adjust to a new actress but imagine my surprise at finding out that they had changed the character, the love story and the very thing I liked about the romance.

I will just highlight the issues I found in the romance in s2:

Amnesia: Adding this overused trope in a fantasy show that had previously established itself as a unique show, was such a disappointment. There are so many ways they could've shown the soul connection without having either of the characters go through memory loss. Ugh. This felt very fanfic level writing to me.

Jang Uk: I love this guy. He was such a fun character in s1 and to see him turn into a serious/darker version of himself was sad but also very much needed for the show. But why make him fall for Bu-Yeon so quickly? It just felt like insta-love to me. One of the best things about Jang Uk/Mudeoki in s1 was how they ended up having feelings for eachother because of going through trials and problems together. That's how their bond formed. To see all that erased in the new season, and them falling in love over proximity, marriage and shared kisses and a disservice to their own story. It was a little unbelieving for me how Jang Uk was heartbroken for three years and it only took him a few days to fall in love again with another person. Kissing her etc also felt like a an infidelity, I don't know, it felt a little weird, because he thought she was someone else and didn't care if it was Naksu or not and to think that he had already forgotten about Naksu and I didn't like that feeling so I felt uncomfortable about watching.

Soul connection: Again, this felt like a cop-out from the writers. You can show soulmates in a story without it being so surface level. I would have loved it if they had actually gotten to know eachother better, and then fallen in love. Anything that would be more believable because gosh I SO wanted to ship these two.

Their visuals were so good but because of the reasons above, I just couldn't adjust to this storyline and hence.

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Alchemy of jokes

I am still processing how the drama with such critical theme like alchemy of souls turned into a silly childish romance!! This season was pure mockery of the shadow assassin girl that we fell in love with in season 1.
It was better if naksu had died than coming back in such a miserable way. The new FL should’ve been buyeon herself not naksu with amnesia. Trying to turn her into naksu where she easily could’ve had her own identity and be a completely different character is what went wrong in this season. Two souls in one body was total nonsense.
Another big fallback is the plot, ML just let jin mu be that easily !!! Very well knowing that he used naksu as a puppet. He should’ve avenged naksu but instead his actions made no sense and had no purpose. How killing soul shifters served any purpose to him or naksu !!!
And he fell for the new FL without knowing that she was naksu, he got over her and moved on just like that. 😭 Meanwhile, yul was living in soo much pain and guilt because he couldn’t help her and do anything. Yul emerged as a true lover here. He was planning to die along with her meanwhile our ML was busy getting lovey dovey with new FL.

This season is not just average it’s bad in every way possible compared to season 1. I wish I can go back choose to not watch it and had made peace with naksu’s death in season 1.

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Disappointed with everything

I loved the first season and couldn't get myself to like the second. And I will explain the main reason.

In my personal opinion, I think that Jang Uk didn't need to fall in love with someone again, because he already "loved" Mudeok at least until the beginning of the second season. In ep 1 Uk was near the stone tower "pining" for her to come back. And she came back but without memories. One of the big problems is they dragged on amnesia for a long time..
The sisters could have made the connection between soul mates in a completely different and more convincing way for everyone. And than to see Uk simply move on from Mudeok......

Moved on from Mudeok in ep 4 and falling in love with "another woman" (because he didn't know it was her until ep 9), that was the true and great love Jang Uk had for Mudeok???

I read reviews around here and realized why this happened. Anyway....

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✒⭐Soul Survivors - AoS Concludes⭐

AoS-2 is a seamless continuation of S1. It picks up about 3 years after the dramatic events of S1's close.

As the show opens it appears that they've spent a lot of money on the special effects. It's quite beautiful. The music is top tier also. Blue Flower by LIA is Shazamable. Aching, by Kassy, is too, as is I′m Sorry. by Ailee, and Raindrops, by Gummy.

They switch up the FL and she's got a very different personality than our S1 FL. She's also suffering from memory loss which explains part of the change. She has no memories and he doesn't recognize her, so they need to fall in love all over again. It should have been awesome, but their delivery is barely above average. Is it big-buget disease? Too often, a bigger budget bankrupts the humanity.

AoS doesn't take itself seriously. In S2 I was hoping they would go loftier, but they opted to go lower - they get more nonsensical than I would prefer. It's still a fantastic watch.

If I wasn't already familiar with Chinese fantasy, I may not have had those thoughts. Chinese fantasy, despite its often clunky special effects, is arguably the best in the world, and AoS has Chinese influence written all over it. If you like it, alchemize your watch list to include these amazing Cdramas:
Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!,
Eternal Love-8.3,
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome Siblings 8.7;
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
The Sleepless Princess 9.1;
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Love Between Fairy and Devil 8.9,
Love and Redemption-10

AoS-2 drops off slightly from S1, but it is a solid conclusion to the popular show. I wrote more about it in my S1 review.

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