Alchemy of Souls Season 2: Light and Shadow (2022)

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.

Read More

Lacks impact and lore

If you’re in it for the world building, you will find this sequel to be entirely unimpressive. Light and Shadow is filled with parallel scenes from the first season, and while the interactions and appearances of our favourite characters are fun, the lack of fantasy elements which the first part had is missing in this one. A lot of the story revolves around the amnesia plot which gets too dragged after a point. The whole soul switching but single body element with Master Lee making episode wise appearances to give us cryptic comments was frustrating. The main antagonist remains from the first season, but he’s really not that smart or amazing to be taken as a real foe for our leads. The story could have been much shorter because by the time we get to the actual lord part, it’s just a rushed closure.

Overall it doesn’t quite live up to its initial promise, but is a decent watch if you decide to give up on consistency. The best parts about this drama was the acting and the interactions, could have been amazing but falls short of it.

Read More

IF YOU'RE NOT WATCHING THIS? WHY????

Seriously,
Been a fan of Korean dramas since 2008 and I am such a trash for Fantasy genres and this just SLAYS everything.

ALCHEMY OF SOULS, thank you for gracing my year, 2022 and a week in 2023 with such an amazing story, amazing cast, and tear-jerking osts. This has been one of the best series for me and will continue to be. ❤️

I will forever be grateful to have known this series and become a fully-pledge GO YOUNJUNG & JUNG SO MIN fan.

ALCHEMY OF SOULS,
UNTIL THE END...

??


(Rating this not just for PART 2 but also PART 1.. You have to watch from season 1 to season 2)

Read More

I highly awaited the second season , the cast ,the soundtrack were so good in the previous part ,so i had high expectations for this one. The last half of the last episode of season 1 was like a dream , i kept waiting them to wake-up and change the final , i cried a lot but i was also hopeful . For a better understanding, i recommend to watch the first part ,to see the growth of the characters, couse each and every single one of them has his particularly and unique story even if they are connected.
The plot is catchy, you don't know what's gonna happen even if you think u have the idea . The final looked a bit rushed and i didn't had the time to process the events but at least it had the well awaited happy ending .The designs ,the clothing line is full of life (other than Jung Uk's ,his were all black) . I have no words for ost ,you can feel everything listening to it . With this project you can see the acting improvement of Lee Jae Wook , Go Yoon Jung and the others. I highly recommend to watch whenever you have the time .

Read More

chemistry was good...

Not up to the level of part 1 but surely a finest quality maintained part 2. Hats off to hong sisters for an amazing fantasy story. Yet again they proved that no one can beat them when it comes to this genre. Amazingly written beautiful screenplay.

Part 2 was so rushed that I felt. Also Naksu couldn't beat the bold mudeok's performance and charisma she created in Part1. It's about the actor not about the character. Just because she is super good looking doesn't mean she can climb up to the level of mudeok. Of course she did her part decently but mudeok always comes first.

The story is the main important part which i really enjoyed apart from anything. Every episode was a different experience from one another. So many characters also have very complicated situations, tensions, and even more beautiful fantasy elements. For example jinyoon relics, the four seasons, the magic of mages, Soul ejector, the kings star,ice stone, Fire bird and more... Also there are some beautiful romantic scenes with some nice osts..

Lee jae wook and his strong comeback after the disaster Do do sol sol la la sol was ? also others. Everyone was superb. I don't know how you will feel when you binge all at once. But it was a wonderful ongoing experience for me.

Overall Alchemy of Soul is brilliant. Maybe you guys have different opinions about the Ending, As i said earlier compared to part 1 am not completely satisfied with part 2 but it was decent. Maybe they rushed things or lost the flow in the finale Episodes... Anyway.. definitely give it a try...

#N45Views

Read More

Not without Flaws but I loved it more than Part 1: Epic and Legendary

I may be in the minority, but I got to say that I loved Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow more than I did part one. Yes, maybe the writing wasn't as good as part one as it lacked some of the action and mystery that part one provided us with and concentrated on Uk and Naksu's love story more but since I'm a sucker for romance I was very satisfied with how the story was told. Sure, I had some frustrations as some of the audience at times but hey I'm a sucker for angst and tension between the couple and I feel like the writing here gave me what I needed & wanted. Not to mention the amazing, amazing chemistry between Lee Jae-Wook and Go Yo-Joung. Their intensity is what kept me coming back episode after episode. I also feel like the buildup to when the action finally hits was executed well. I also feel like the writers closed off all the loose ends of season 1 satisfactory. I guess they left it open enough for more but as much as I'd like a S3 I feel like the story is pretty much over and I'm happy with how it ended. My babies got the end that they deserved and for that I'm very thankful considering how part 1 ended haha. Actually, all the characters got the ending that they deserved. Two gripes tho: I feel like the villain deserved a more awful end than he got and Naksu deserved more action in the end than what she got but oh well.

Now let's talk about the acting:
Go-YoJoung- I loved her! I'd say for this being her first lead role she handled it extremely well. I loved how she played Naksu's spunkiness, independence and comedic timing so well. Her portrayal of Naksu's innocent was very well done too. Also her switch to darkness when she remembers who she is? CLAP. This young woman is gonna go far! She's truly talented. I also adored her chemistry with Lee Jae Wook. As mentioned, they really made me feel the love of their characters.

Lee Jae Wook- This young man is exceptional. He really was the standout in this series for me. The way he changes his portrayal of light Jang Uk to dark and broody Jang Uk was amazing. He really made me feel like he was two different characters and not surprising with all Uk had to go thru since the past 3 years. Losing his life and the love of his life is not an easy task. LJW did an incredible job at showing all of Uk's emotions: sadness, confusion, coldness, love and rage. If he won an award for this role he certainly deserved, it. I hope what he did in AoS gets him more leading roles because he deserves them.

As for the rest of the cast they were all good. Made me love all the characters and hate the ones I needed to.

The OST is beautiful, I'm in love with "I'm Sorry" from Ailee, in fact I already listened to it more times than I should lol.

Overall 10/10. And I will be watching this over and over again especially since I don't know what to do with my life now that I finished it. Rewatch coming soon. I highly recommend this series for anyone who loves fantasy, romance, action and mystery. This is definitely one of the best Kdrama's i've watch and is going in my top favorites.

Read More

A disappointing sequel of Great Story

Season 1
Story was great, The author builded very appealing, likable , interesting , and engaging story,
The story had ' soul '
The world was explorable.
Characters were alive, there interactions look rights from their perspective. They had their belief, even antagonist had their own rationale and personalities.
MC chemistry was great , it felt personal

SEASON 2
I just want to say " you tried your best " on the grave ? of second season , The crew collectively murdered the story.( I like to press murder charges against production crew for successfully murdering a beautiful story, if that is possible)


* I May be little biased towards season 2 because they replaced the female lead

Read More

A little bit disappointing compared to season 1

On one hand, I feel like the final episode is a little bit rushed. On the other hand, I feel that it's good enough. The series is already long enough to end it. To be honest, I think this season is created to attract the audience. And the ending is also not as great as I have expected, after how they ended the season 1.

Also, Heo Yun-ok turns into someone completely different from how she was in season 1. But I understand they do that to let Naksu remember who she really is.

The other thing I don't like about this season 2 is that my favorite actress Jung So-min never appears for at least one single scene!! They can just let her play the soul of Jin Bu-yeon like how they did in season 1 but no, they use the young actress instead, and that makes me so disappointed. I like Go Youn Jung, and she's good, but Jung So-min is really the star of the show in season 1. I feel a bit unfair that the series keeps her out of season 2.

And maybe because Naksu is now performed by a different actress, so her aura and her charisma seems to disappear in this season.

Anyway, it's still a good watch to me, though. I like the lovebird Park Jin and Kim Yeon, the Crowned Prince and his turtle, the character development of Seo Yul, and a few cool moments of Jang Uk.

Read More

Great if you are a fan of the lead couple. So so if not.

1/ WHAT I LIKED:

- Naksu / Cho Yeong / Jin Bu Yeon : We left Naksu as a petrified soul shifter at the end of part 1. We find her here as Bu Yeon with a new face and new powers. She will slowly regain her memories as Naksu forcing a struggle of souls which will determine the fate of our heroine. I thought the transitions were well made despite some conflicting theories. I enjoyed the character’s journey in this part 2. I did not want her to go back to her sword days. I was content of her evolution.
- Jang Uk: Dark Uk is pretty badass as a bounty hunter of soul shifters. Scheming Uk was quite ok when he counter schemed the bad guys' plans. His role became a bit messy in the middle part but he makes de last and decisive moves.
- Uk Yeong : I found Uk's relationship with Yeong sizzling at first, then rather fun and cute because of many magic moments they threw in the drama just for the sake of the two characters. I enjoyed these moments. The relationship has some back and forth a little bit annoying especially from Uk’s side, but then Naksu starts to find her memories back. It was a little underwhelming how they finally recognized each other but I liked that they did not make a huge thing of it. Instead, they made choices to address the challenges and issues they were in and accepted their fated encounter. I liked that quiet responsible approach.
- Jin Bu Yeon / Ji Seol Ran: The truth about the character explained and resolved the situation.
- Closure: The drama gave a proper ending to most of the characters.

2/ WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:

- The plot was thin and I felt it lacked consistency and smart writing. Jin Mu looked a weak villain and his demise was not even impressing. Rather funny. There are some twists about the royals and the mages and one character which were decent but a little too "easy" to be called "twists".
- Master Lee : Man became annoying suckling theories out of his thumb.
- Love triangle. Funny in part 1. Annoying in part 2. CP used to hit on Mudeok but it looked acceptable as a race for an unmarried woman. Here he hits on her new version knowing she is “married”. The confusing status of Bu Yeon and the sense of no propriety of the CP just for the sake of love triangle was upsetting for me. Yul 's trajectory was terrible. He made rash, out of character decisions that made him unlikeable at some point.
- Dang Gu was useless other than giving hints until the final fight.
- I wished they toned down Park Jin's funny new hobby but ok it has some good purpose at times.

3/ CHARACTERS - ACTORS:

- Need to praise the acting of Go Yoon Jung. I was skeptical. She bluffed me. I loved her in this drama. Great job composing a complex character who inherited different names and pasts.
- Lee Jae Wook was good. He created a very cold, powerful Uk with a sensitive touch in this part 2.
- Shin Seung Ho made the CP quite fun and likeable despite his flaws.
- Good acting from the rest of the main cast except for Yoo In Soo that I found a bit extreme in his expressions.

4/ OST: Very good. Loved it.

5/ REWATCHABLE VALUE: Yes for the cute leads and their fun emotional scenes and the action scenes.

6/ OVERALL: A proper part 2 for the ones who love Uk and Yeon and want to know their fate from being born to being master pupil then dead and revived to recognizing each other again… There are some draggy parts, some contradicting and confusing revelations and a lacking plot but overall, the story of these two is nice and entertaining. I enjoyed watching this drama week in week out and comment it with the fellow Alchemists. 8/10.

Read More

The drama in general is good but main leads totally carried this part 2

Alchemy of Souls is definitely one of the best dramas this year but I have to point out that this part 2 couldn't live the expectations to me. It's not bad but the main leads totally carried with their good acting and chemistry. Of course, the cinematography continued to be amazing and the effects as well. We can't say bad things about the acting too, at least for me it was good. The chemistry between all actors (especially the main leads) continued to be good too. So what exactly didn't go that well?

Ok, first, main leads were the big event to me and they completely stole the show. I was afraid of Jaewook not having a good chemistry with the new actress but gosh he had. Second, I felt like most of the negative points is in the way that the writers decided to develop the story. I felt that 10 episodes were too short for the things the writer wanted to do and everything felt a little too fast. The writer wanted to build up again the relationship between the characters and Naksu (now being in her own body) and I understand that but I felt that doing that all over again made the drama repetitive and also made me feel like everything between main leads were happening way too fast. On the one hand I liked it because I'm not a big fan of slowburns, and thanks to that I felt that this season had more romantic moments between the main leads. But on the other hand, thinking about the story itself, I felt that it was a little rushed. Also I felt that the secondary characters lost a bit of charisma they had in the first season and a lot of scenes felt draggy. And the biggest disappointment to me: not being able to see that badass Naksu from season 1. I understand that things are different now and she was practically a "villain" in the first episodes because she was being controlled. But I felt that we all liked Naksu because besides liking her personality as Mudeok, she was a badass before. I think I can say for everybody that we were all expecting to see the badass Naksu again and unfortunately we didn't. And what disappointed me the most is that I felt that this part 2 were totally focused on Jang Uk being the badass character (don't get me wrong I loved it, especially because we can see his grow), and seemed that Naksu were summed up only as Jang Uk's love interest.

So yeah to me it seems that the Hong sisters did not know how to develop the 2nd part as well as the first one, which caused a feeling of disappointment in many people, including me. Luckily, the cast, the plot in general and other things still made the drama overall memorable for me, despite the flaws in this part 2.

Read More

Disappointing

I liked the first fighting scenes with Naksu in Part 1, she looked impressive so when she got burned and Mudeok became FL, it was jarring but I soon fell in love with Mudeok as Naksu. Then found out Mudeok won’t be Naksu in Part 2 -again that was jarring.

Really wanted to give new FL a chance because of the fighting scenes in Part 1. Happy with new Naksu with no memory acting more like Buyeon. But when Naksu’s memory came back, waited for Naksu to appear but she didn’t, just felt like she was always Buyeon still. Was it bad acting? Don’t think so because Naksu in those fight scenes was bad ass. Bad directing? Did directors sleep through those scenes? Even a scene where she dresses herself like assassin Naksu, trying to regain her physical strength (like when she was Mudeok) to get revenge for her death and soon-to-be death and Yul sees her and warns her to not do this in case people recognises her as Naksu, and she’d be hunted, then she decides to continue to dress as Buyeon. But even dressed as Buyeon, Naksu can’t hide her personality.

So Naksu didn’t act like Naksu so the interactions with ML didn’t feel right. The whole romance with ML didn’t feel right. It was unclear who he actually snogged, that long kiss between them was when he thought she was Buyeon - the confusion to the audience or maybe just me,made him not very likeable as a ML, like he was cheating on Mudeok/Naksu so made the kissing scenes very uncomfortable to watch. And if Naksu was Naksu, she would have been furious that he made out with Buyeon. That would have been a good scene to show Naksu was back, her throwing a few knives at his face!

It would have been better to end AOS at Part 1 and Part 2 was a totally different story altogether, that way I could have enjoyed the romance in Part 2 without the characters acting out of character bothering me so much.

Read More