A high quality drama
One of the best dramas I've ever watched.The photography of the film is splendid: the colors, the saturation, the environment.
The script is good despite the fact that sometimes there are illogical elements. However, as a whole, you will be surprised by the twists!
I think the biggest strength of this drama is the acting. But what good actors and actresses! Two in particular caught my attention: Shin Seung Ho and Yoo Joon Sang are excellent. Obviously the others are all equally good.
I had found a weak point in this drama but it was removed very quickly: At first glance, the main character Mu Deok is sorely lacking in humanity. So the viewers have a hard time to share empathy for her but this is solved by the third episode.
Honestly, I don't understand how we can't enjoy this drama?
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This review may contain spoilers
Strong from start to finish!
Overall one of the best action fantasy k-drama. The story was about land of Daeho & its mages, fictional world which not existed in history & maps. Jang Gang, one of the best mage was tricked by the king to perform soul shifting. Once done, the dying king impregnated Jang's wife. Years later, Jang Uk, the son had grown up. Jang placed a barrier into his "illegitimate" son so he couldn't be a mage. Jang Uk desperately trying to find a master who could undo the barrier, until he met with Mu Deok, a blind girl which was actually Naksu, an assassin who just soul shifted to avoid death. Strange thing happened to Naksu because she lost all of her powers but regained her sight as Mu Deok. Together, the two made a mutual relationship, to help each other to gain their powers back.The acting was what you could expect from a k-drama. The soundtracks were good. The fx was also not disappointed. The action scenes were exciting. If i had a complain, i noticed that Go Youn Jung performed fighting better than Jung So Min. When I saw JSM's fight, it gave me the c-drama wuxia vibe : lots of close-ups.
I'll give a solid 9/10. It's an amazing show. Recommended.
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An epic Masterpiece in all proportions
An amazing drama that I'll never forget! Everything about this was amazing. The chemistry between Soo Ming and Lee Bae Wok, the characters, the character arcs and development, the worldbuilding and the acting. I got to say that both Jang Uk and Naksu/Mae-Duk are two of my most favorite characters ever in drama. And that has a lot to down to how both Soomin and LBW potrayed these characters with so much nuance and realism. They lived these characters and so did I thru them.Uk and Naksu's character development was also a delight to watch. Nothing forced at all their changes they experience realistically, as they grow and change and grow as the story moves along.
Now onto the story, I'm a big fantasy lover and I was super excited when I found out AoS was a Korean fantasy drama. It had all the aspects that I love: magic, worldbuilding, the characters, the friendships, and of course the romance. I also loved the touch of comedy sprinkled throughout especially when the episodes were dark. It offered a nice balance.
Loved all the emotions AoS made me feel, I regret not watching this when it was airing I feel like watching live would have left me on an emotional rollercoaster every week! phew.
Got to say that Alchemy of Souls is one of the best dramas I've seen and one of my top ones too. Can't wait to get on and watch part 2. After that ending I need it lol.
10/10 for everything.
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High Ratings, But Just Average for Me
Let me start by saying that Alchemy of Souls wasn’t exactly what I expected. It’s not a bad series, but I found it a bit too long for my liking. At first, it was enjoyable, but then it started to drag, and I felt like the middle episodes were stretched out unnecessarily. The last few episodes were better and more engaging, but overall, the pacing could have been tighter.I can understand why there's so much hype around the show, but personally, it didn’t captivate me as much as I had hoped. One of the main drawbacks for me was the relationship between the two main characters. I didn’t feel the chemistry between them at all. It didn’t really feel like I was watching a romance, and for a series that leans into that, it was disappointing.
Another downside was the lack of training scenes. I expected Mu Deok to have a more substantial role in teaching Jang Uk and for us to see more of his growth. Unfortunately, his development fell short of my expectations. Maybe he’ll evolve more in the second season, but in this one, his progress was underwhelming.
Mu Deok’s character, while bearable, could be quite irritating at times. The subplots also dragged unnecessarily, which made parts of the series feel slow.
On the positive side, I think the overall concept of the story was strong, and the last few episodes, when everything started coming together, were definitely the most interesting. That’s when the show really started to pull me in. However, I didn’t feel attached to any of the characters, which was a shame. I was hoping for more depth and emotion.
In summary, Alchemy of Souls could have been better with more focus on training, battles, and a stronger romantic element. Not once did I feel emotionally moved during the entire series, which is rare for me. I’m glad I finished it, but with the second season ahead, I’m hesitant to start it. Maybe it’ll improve, but right now, I’m not feeling very motivated to continue.
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This is the best Korean drama I have ever seen
I have watched a lot of Korean dramas because they are my favorite thing to watch, and I have fallen in love with a lot of them. I mostly like suspense dramas or psychological thrillers, but I saw the trailer for this drama and I loved it so I decided to give it a chance. It was the best deduction ever. Since the begging, it caught me, all the characters are so good, even the evil ones, they carry out their roles so good, the acting is amazing, the actors make you feel what the character is going through and the love story is one of the most heartbreaking yet precious one I have ever seen. It doesn’t have any plot holes and it has a really good ending, pace and the OST is also amazing. I absolutely recommend this, it became my favorite Kdrama and I hope many more people watch it.Was this review helpful to you?
Meraviglioso drama fantasy
Un drama fantasy ambientato in un passato lontano lontano fatto da re e regine,regni e tutto ciò che comporta con magia,tanta magia.Maghi e sacerdotesse bravi e belli con costumi meravigliosi e magia nei movimenti, nei combattimenti,il tutto reso magnifico dai effetti speciali pazzeschi.
La storia narra di una potente maga trasformata in una crudele assassina che però con l'alchimia delle anime viene intrappolata nel corpo di una domestica bella e imbranata che però saprà fare di tutto per far diventare il suo signiorino e poi amato in un grande e potentissimo mago.
La loro storia nasce piano piano ed è molto bella a tratti buffa.
Contornata da altre storie d'amore e tanti intrighi che rendono questo drama accattivante e interessante mai noioso.
La prima parte non ha proprio il happy ending aspettato.
Una bella e piacevole visione che consiglio.
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This review may contain spoilers
this broke my heart and I'll never recover from it
theres two things i must say before i proceed with my review.1) promises are made to be kept, and in this drama all promises were kept, at least the one that jang uk made with mu deok.
2)liars and soul-shifters will never have a happy ending. no matter what happens they'll always end up suffering. lies will come up to their surface and soul shifters will somehow go wild and die.
now for the review :
for the first 15 episodes, i would've given this drama 9/10. the reason is clear : it was hard for me to watch this. i sped through parts and i kept taking breaks.
but what was the reason i changed it to 10/10? the story. the characters. the plot twists. the sadness. the sorrow. the cries. the beautiful yet heart wrenching romance. everything was portrayed in such a well manner that it's quite difficult to not fall in love with it all. after ep 15 , things started getting better and better. especially episode 19 was my favorite episode and the kiss mudeok and janguk shared in that episode was probably one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in my whole life. as a certified hopeless romantic i can say that jang uk is the standard.
that boy would die for mudeok. he protected her, he saved her life countless times, he risked it all for her. he didn't even seem to mind that he was killed by her but instead embraced her tightly. it was their promise after all.
the side characters, oh my god. i fell in love with every single one of them. they were so well written. no flaws. the humor, the romance, the sad parts everything was amazing. i enjoyed it all.
and i also adored how everything made sense. everything was connected. the plot twists, the sad parts all made sense. they weren't made up or completely different from the main story line no no. every one of them completed the other and trust me, details are everything. if you have an eye for the details, you'll notice them as the story progresses.
nobody can say alchemy of souls doesn't have an amazing storyline and that the characters aren't top notch. what can i say? i fell in love with all of them.
i cried, i laughed, i got mad, insanely mad. that ending. that ending made me cry so hard EVEN THOUGH I KNEW IT WOULD HAPPEN. i spoiled it for myself yet it still hit me so hard i sobbed. it screams loudly that the acting was impeccable. the anger i felt was unexplainable and while at the time i saw the ending i thought to myself that i hated it, now that i come to think about it, it was beautiful. and it made so much sense. it was ought to happen. mudeok was a soulshifter.
all in all, i had a blast watching this even if i sped up some parts, some moments will be unforgettable for me and I'll never forget them.
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If I were a movie maker, this is what I would dream to make
I thought that it would be some boring scary Goryeo drama, but it was the total opposite.The characters, btw, are perfect, altho I came to support Seo Yul, I kept looking forward to Naksu x Jang Uk interaction. I looooooooove the script. The elements in the story are everything I ever wanted. But, the script itself is extremely neat, have a perfect timing, constantly giving me such a pleasant experience, all I ever expected but never expected.
^ These sentences are so messy, but my feelings towards this drama is really messy.
I usually dislike KDrama for having too much episodes which was also the reason why I hesitated to watch this drama since it has tons of episodes, but I wish there were more episodes, bring season 2 NOW.
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FYI: There are two seasons to this show!
I have lots of mixed feelings about this show after just watching the finale. I don’t typically watch period dramas but decided to check this out after one of my favourite authors mentioned it on their blog and was hooked! This isn't your typical period drama, and takes place in a fictional land named Daeho where there are mages. The trailer definitely doesn’t explain much and the premise is quite confusing, so you have to pay attention to all the details. I think it's one of those shows where you just have to go along with the flow and figure things out as you go.Sometimes the plot is really ridiculous and dramatic, and Naksu had some pretty extreme training methods. In Jang Uk's place I don't think I would like her very much, but I think the romance progressed well and was believable. The advantage of the first season being 20 episodes is that it didn't feel like instalove and you could see their relationship grow as they go through experiences together.
The plot is quite complicated and does get heavy, but the comedy really helps to break it up. The show has a star studded cast, and they are all very good at comedic timing and breaking up the tension so that despite the sometimes heavy plot, it's still entertaining and easy to watch. Some things were a bit predictable/obvious like finding out who Naksu's body belongs to, while others came out of left field for me.
I didn't realize that there were going to be two seasons, so I was expecting a happy ending in the last episode and was super unprepared for what actually happened. I get why they are going in this direction but at the same time, I really liked Jung So Min as Mu Deok and I don’t know how season two is going to work. I feel like it’s not going to be the same.
They did a good job of wrapping up some of the plotlines in season one, like the backstory behind the Choi siblings, but at the same time there were some things that happened that didn't make sense to me. For example, how was So-i able to just dig out the worm just like that when it was supposed to be a threat to keep her under Jin Mu's control? And why would everyone die if Naksu used the ice stone? I also found Jang Gang's ending to be quite abrupt and not very satisfying. I feel like there could have been more closure for Jang Uk.
Season two airs in December, so the good thing is we only have to wait a few months to see what happens next! Hoping that season two will be as good, although I'm really going to miss Jung So Min and I wonder how the chemistry will be between Go Yoon Jung and Lee Jae Wook.
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The best drama i've ever watched
I write this review while still crying my eyes out.I watch dramas since i was a child but after a few years all of them stopped giving me a certain feeling i always missed. After more than 7 years i got back that feeling while watching this. Since the first episode i knew that this was going to be one of my favorite dramas. Everything is just so special and unique, the plot is fantastic and they chose the best actors to tell the story. Every little detail behind their actions, the chemistry, the ost, this drama is just beautiful. Everything about it is perfect and so well done.
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Love it!
This was such a good drama!!! The chemistry of every couple was soooo freaking amazing!!! The plot and the cinematography were so good. Also the ending was perfectly timed to make the watcher excited for season 2!!! The side characters were also so good and the villians had such good storys! Overall just everything was so well coming togehter! And also all of the actors were doing their job soooo incredible that you can’t really describe it with words. For me this is a 10/10!!!!!! I also had so much fun while watching it and enjoyed the romance mixed with fantasy and action :) This was one of my favourite 2022 dramas!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Excellent...until the end.
It can be difficult to hold the audience's attention for 20 episodes, and this show definitely did that for most of those 20 episodes. The story was interesting, not boring, a little funny and flirty but also serious and sad, there was action, there was romance, et al. Essentially, everything we love about k-dramas.UNTIL the end/beginning of the next season...so idk if this is even the right place for this review?The writers did such a beautiful job building the relationship between the ML and FL, and even though I knew that it wasn't going to be a typical "happy ending" for the two, I still feel like the ending was gimmicky asl. The path of resolution that we were on felt so right and like a really good setup for a season 2 story, and then we took a couple paths that really felt like a "but wait...there's MORE" moment that left me exhausted and definitely not motivated to watch season 2.
And, full disclosure, this could 100% be a me issue....but I HATE time gaps and also actor/actress changes. And once I found out season 2 occurs like 3 YEARS later and that my favorite character has a new/old face that we spent so long trying to forget about, the show immediately lost my attention. Am I so offended that I'm not going to watch season 2? No, I'm definitely a little sadistic like that ?But I also hope that I'm not still left thinking about how great season 1 *could* have been.
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