Alchemy of Souls (2022)

2022’s Most Highly Memorable

Upon finishing Alchemy of Soul season one last week in just three days I must say this drama had me in ropes. This drama had all my favourite genres: the fantasy, romance, with a tad bit of historical fiction. Genres I really enjoy primarily in Chinese dramas so I would say there was a bit of hesitation in terms of watching this drama because I was worried that this would not be executed properly. But I must say this drama exceeded my expectations and even topped some of my favourite cdramas.
The storyline of Alchemy of Soul centers around the young notorious assassin Naksu who soul shifted into the body of Jin Bu Yeon, a blind girl who possesses the powers of a great priestess. In the body of Bu Yeon she meets Jang Uk, a young lad who had his torrent of energy sealed at birth. Together they pioneer on a relationship to gain access to their powers and through that end up brewing romance in the mist. Sounds pretty linear right? Well that’s where things get tricky. Through a series of twists and turns, we begin to see the plot unfold in ways unexpected; finding out the back story behind Naksu, Jin Bu Yeon, and Jang Uk. How their childhoods were all interconnected and stemmed from a singular event. The Hong Sisters through pulling out many wild cards in the story we’re able to simultaneously pull on the heart strings of the audience every single episode.
In this season the character of Naksu in Jin Bu Yeon is played by Jung So min who exceeded my expectations. The way she was able to portray her emotions through a variety of facial expressions made me so involved in the storyline. The same can be said about Lee Jae Wook aswell. Allthough, I would say their chemistry could have been a bit better, but this was mended in season two with Go Yoon Jung taking on the role of Naksu.
Overall, this drama is a must watch. Thanks to the Hong Sisters, I was able to let go of my prejudice and found a really great drama that I enjoyed.

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Refreshing Fantasy

Excuse my POSITIVE RANT but - I'm whipped..........by Lee Jae Wook. He has been on my radar since Extraordinary You. He was absolutely phenomenal here. Can't get over him as Jang Uk.

Now a short review of the show:

Finally, a fantasy drama that isn't an inspired copy of Goblin. A full-fledged Historical Fantasy, by Hong Sisters, and I'm really impressed by the world-building. Very refreshing after their last show Hotel Del Luna which I felt was inspired by their own show Master's Sun. Here I found the show to be extremely plot heavy yet never boring. The cast and the plot kept me engaged throughout even though there were many repetitions. All the characters except the villain were really endearing. The characters had distinct personalities. I did have a bit of confusion with the birth secret plotline because it never made sense to me how they define parentage. Apart from that things were kinda consistent. I adored all the secondary characters, Crown Prince and his chemistry with Jang Uk was fabulous. Usually, I skip many secondary stories, but I was really attached to other characters as well. Crown Prince, Kim Du Ja, Yul, and Dang Gu were some of my favorites.

I felt Hong Sisters really played well with their own tropes. They are known to use the concept of the "Trinkets from the ML gifted to FL" trope. Here they have not only used that trope, but they also added a comedy scene using that and then used it as a plot device in the next episode. It was pretty brilliant, to be honest, to subvert their own tropes like that. The visual effects were also so much better than Hwayugi (another Hong Sister drama) which was also an amazing show but only missed out on some poor VFX. I really felt Hong Sisters brought their A-game to the show.

I just can't get enough of Jang Uk. I believe he is the selling point of the drama for me. Jung So-Min probably had her career-best here (apart from Because This is My First Life because that's better). I have seen part-2, so I'm giving a standard rating across. For me both were great, part-1 slightly better due to pacing, but still amazing overall, as it brought me out of the Kdrama slump. That's it, that's my review

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Excellent, creative story

Very creative plot and world building. Visually beautiful too with the spells, action scenes and set. What holds this show back a little is the pacing, especially in the second half. There are a few too many unnecessary scenes-romance subplots of side characters I don’t care so much about, scenes that seem to reveal things we already know etc. that can be skipped. But the overall structure of the story is good. Ends on a big cliffhanger but the second season will be out soon.

Acting was honestly wasn’t a strength in this show. The main female lead is decent but most of the rest of the cast is not great (I do like the crown prince though). The main male lead is kind of insufferable in the beginning but he gets a lot better over time. The dialogue gets the point across but otherwise isn’t concise enough or particularly eloquent. Still, the show is worth watching for its fantastic action scenes and very compelling overarching plot.

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Disappointed

Disappointed with the news about season 2.

I just dropped half way through season 1 after reading the news that they will change the FL actress in season 2... I don't like when they do that so i am not investing my time and energy in this show.

I get really attached to the actors playing the main roles and i will never understand the need to change them mid story. Such a shame ??

I just don't understand how can the ML continue to be in love with FL who suddenly has a completely new face and a new personality. I just don't understand why they did that...

Such a shame ??...

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Breath of Fresh Air!!!

To start of I didn't really expected anything from this because it was a Sageuk (I don't know if it is one, because of the fantasy setting) but when I saw the trailer, I was like wow this is something new and started watching this. Five minutes in & I could already tell this drama will be my obsession for months.

I don't really write reviews but, i could not stop thinking about this one so i just started writing about it.

It really has everything a good fantasy drama should have like - Excellent VFX, Great Cast, Outstanding World Building, Chemistry between the Leads, Comedy, Bromance, Action, i can go all day about this but lets stop there.

The Cast really exceeded my expectation I was already a fan of Jung So Min, Hwang Min Hyun & Shin Seung Ho but Lee Jae Wook really took me by surprise there, like really great performance by him I'm fan now. Arin & Yoo In Soo are cherry on top , Arin's Visual & Yoo In Soo's Humor are on point.

This is your sign to start this drama early, so we obsess over this drama for coming months and not be ruined by spoilers.

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There's nothing wrong with this series, it's just not for me

Let me start by saying that I know this is one of everyone's favorite fantasy series, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Everything is good: the story, the cast, the acting, the locations, the costumes… The chemistry between the main couple is also undeniable.

So, why did a dropped it? I just think it wasn't for me, and it didn't keep my interest beyond chapter 8.

I guess my problem is more that I'm not interested in historical series, which surprised me because I thought I would love to learn a little about a culture so different from my own.

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How CGI Shines Spotlight on Alchemy of Souls

Alchemy of Souls will be the first Korean fantastical movie that I will be watching after a long while. Thing is, their poor CGI and Video effects tire me. However, the brilliant use of CGI in Alchemy of Souls stood out for me. From the first episode to the latest steaming on Netflix, there has been no boring time.

I like that the cinematography is clean. Much more so, how they are able to make the stunts and sorceries in the movie so believable. Like, the conjuring and the effects that come with it teleport me to a world of wonder which arrests my disbelief completely.

There are may scenes that highlight how they leverage technology to make the audience have a good cinematic experience that they always crave when it comes to spell-binding movies like this.

Like Naijabanquet analysis [in https://naijabanquet.com/alchemy-of-souls-review-how-cgi-shines-spotlight-on-the-kdrama-series/], The opening fight by the Lake side hints us about what is about to happen. Call it the tip of the iceberg. Much so, the computer generated images and 3D effects that we see during the soul shifting by Jang Gang and Mudeok arrests our attention.

I can go on and on to relate how CGI has kept me glued to this Kdrama series... I just hope that the script doesn't get watery along the way!

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