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

MUHAUAHAUHAUAH !

(reposting this from my feed, because my dumbass forgot to do that five months ago.)

rewatched this show from start to finish again after about eight months after my first encounter with it…i knew it would take a lot of mental strength to get through the first season, considering how big of an impact season two had on me.
— apart from the fact that it is indeed *a bit* long, i resonated so much with go yoon-jung’s interpretation of such a complex, unpredictable & yet strangely loveable persona. jung so-min did amazingly, but it takes so much skill to approach a character that’s already been perceived as one, & turn it into something completely refreshing, & melancholic at the same time.
— reviewing season one as someone who knows the climax of these intertwined fates, was genuinely so much fun. the first part of this story isn’t focused as much on romance as it is on the root of the plot & the explanation of the world we found ourselves to be part of. seeing songrim, jeongjingak, the palace & so many more in a certain warm setting during the first twenty epsodes, & then meeting these spaces all over again—it truly felt like seeing them from a pair of different eyes. bu-yeon’s eyes…yeong’s? mud-eok’s? naksu’s?

— nonetheless, as much as the twisty drama held my attention—i quite literally yearned for the gift we get in the second part of the series. the world was abruptly paused for three years that followed a horrible, heart-wrenching outcome…and we were greeted back inside with naksu’s deer-like, childish & warm gaze.
— yes, she feels different than mud-eok, but i never perceived that as a bad thing. the man born under the king’s star needed a master, a pillar to lean on to as he grew & molded with his potential. but jang uk with the ice stone in his chest needed a partner, a lover, & a safe haven.

— the most important thing in this whole monologue is that her love for him remained the same throughout all numerous identities she shared. every name she had loved him the same. it never wavered, it was one thing never subject to change. if he never cared what her heart looked like on the outside, *why* do you?

anyhow, i loved this whole thing with my whole heart. from the ost, the cast, the chemistry, the visual appeal of it all, to the richness of the storyline & the most gut-wrenching romance known to man—this series made me happy. i’ll forever wish to get a better glimpse at who they came to be outside the ten episodes of the second season. yul? dan-gu & choyeon? maidservant kim’s pregnancy? the future of uk & naksu? i wanted more. i still want more.

— thanks for coming to my ted talk. ( i probably didn’t say half of what i wanted to…)

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Season 3 and 4? Why?

Season 2 was absolutely necessary as season 1 left the audience completely heartbroken for this pair of soul-mates. Leaving Uk behind to live out an eternity alone would have just been too cruel, especially considering he would be forever haunted by the wraiths, the residual spirits of the evil souls who greedily took part in soul shifting. As the evil Jin Mu, who never deserved to carry the revered family name, had not been served his just deserts, ha had to be eliminated.

So, season 2 wrapped up all the loose ends left by the tragic ending of season 1. Season 3 and 4 would superfluous. What is left for Uk and Yeong/Bu Yong to do? Chase after the escaped relics? Anyway, two thumbs way up for wrapping things up with season 2. Even Maidservant Kim and Lord Park had their happily ever after, with a suggested bundle of joy of their own on the way.

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STOP THE HATE! STOP THE HATE RIGHT NOW! ITS BEAUTIFUL IT WAS AMAZING AND WE WANT MORE!!!

As expected, they are taking a darker turn with this season.
You can tell from the angle of the shot and saturation of the screen of how they are trying to build up a moody air around it, and even the makeup is done to suit the darker theme of this season. Where the first season was a far warmer shade, dealing with Jang Uk’s entry into the world of magic and his growth as a mage learning the ways of ryusu, tansu and chisu. This one deals with how much he has suffered due to the aftereffects of S1 and the ice stone currently in him

I like the premise of it, the long-lost daughter of the Jin family being locked up in her tower by her obsessive-possessive mother (Rapunzel style) finds the dark and mysterious Jang Uk with his own dark past and unknown future who can help her escape her trapped and confined life, very nice very nice, not very original but I liked the SFX so I’m willing to give it the benefit of doubt.

(THOSE WHO HAVEN’T WATCHED THE SHOW DON’T READ AHEAD CUZ SPOILERS)

One thing I want to say to everyone who was disappointed with JSM not being in this season and GYJ taking the main lead’s role I don’t think you understood the premise of the season very well, for whatever reason JSM couldn’t play Naksu/Buyeon GYJ’s character gelled perfectly with the plot and her character was the most properly developed character in the entire story.

But damn that first episode fight scene was epic. I’m impressed by this small detail they added, in the first season Jang Uk’s fighting was flashy and showy, it was impulsive and depended on hard, fast and quick movements, this shows power but lack of experience. In this fight scene Jang Uk’s movements are slow, calculated, his facial expressions do not change, they show mastery and technique and quick foot work it is a contrast between the Uk of the first season and Uk now to show us how much he has matured in the three year time-skip

I love Yul so much!!! It pains me to see my beloved forest-prince Yul suffer with second male lead role so much because baby is literally perfect 🤣 he’s smart, funny, handsome and he loses all sense of direction when he’s flustered 🫠🫠 it doesn’t get better than that. I would very seriously PAY to watch a 20 episode spin of series of JUST SEO YUL MY DARLING as the male lead because he deserves so much betterrrrr<3333

The content was so good and the last episode LEFT SO MUCH SCOPE for a season 3 if they have the proper writers for it. I feel like Alchemy 1 and Alchemy 2 both had the same problems; they both had AMAZING plot and AMAZING VFX but their writers didn’t know how to handle it, they kept dragging out minor plots for 5-6 episodes on end and then squished the main plot into the last 30 mins of the last episode.

Listen, I love happy endings as much as the next person BUT- when there was such a good opportunity to pull in an apocalyptic vibe after they brought in the fire bird!! Then Jang Uk and Go Won (who is no longer the crown prince) can team up with Jin Seol Ran/ Bu Yeon to deal with the post-apocalypse world and that would have given us more depth into the King’s Star storyline that they spent SOOO MUCH TIME since like season 1 emphasizing and we would have gotten more content, the ending just felt really rushed and the SFX of the fight scene of Jang Uk and the fire bird was underwhelming at best. Considering all the amazing fight scenes they gave us (ref; Seo Yul’s fight scene when he went to protect So-I, Park Jin’s fight scene in ep 10) they could have made the Jang Uk-fire bird fight scene a little longer and flashier and could have showed off Lee Jae Wook’s skill eitht he sword a little more is what I felt.


And I just want to say before I wrap up, how passionately all the actors played out their roles to perfection the characters all were well-written, had depth and understanding and made y’all feel something, On that note there was the scene where Park Jin has to lock up Kim Doju (Kim Yeon) inside jinyowon and you reference back to that scene in S1 where she had asked “if I was in a very dangerous room and you had to choose between saving me and closing the door what would you do?” it makes you wonder if the whole thing had been planned from the start. I got literal goosebumps watching that scene because it was so emotional I actually started tearing up because Kin Doju and Park Jin’s relationship was my very favourite throughout the show, my poor clueless little Jin (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

Have I mentioned every character I liked— oh wait I forgot!! Our best friend Eunuch Go and his best friend the tortoise. The highlight of watching this show was watching the prince and his turtle. The prince himself was such a vibe throughout the whole two seasons of the show and I know he will make a veryy good king.

And that brings us to the end of the review.
As always, my review is just my personal opinion a d not meant to offend anyone.
I loved the show, it’s a very good show, definitely go watch it don’t listen to anyone else (especially the hate. Its not worth it.)

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My heart is heavy but the show was fantastic

I finished this beautiful, stunning gem today and ... cried at like 10 in the morning because the last episode was so epic! I am so sad that I finished this show omg… This was such an excellent, beautiful treat. I cried, laughed, got mad, cheered, just felt all the emotions!! The show was fun and stunning to watch despite my favorite characters being in so much pain. The OST for this part was just as pretty as in the first, and the story was just *mindblown* (I am surprised I actually understood it all lmao). I just loved how intricate and complex it was, my god. I will miss these characters and their interactions, and I will miss Daeho Fortress because she was a true stunner…. What a show*insert a turtle emoji*.

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uk isn't the one, wake up

9/10 just for making naksu look weak and dependant on a man. she had so much potential and for WHAT. powerful naksu my beloved. like a get she shifted her soul into jin buyeon's body and all and the jin seolran was like "well hello there" and she's like all powerful and stuff, but i wanted to see more the real naksu, the real cho yeong.
no but seriously we never really got to see her in a real fight, her being herself. i was really hoping for a heart-wrenching ending with some more drama. don't get me wrong, the fire bird was awesome, but i needed something more. like a dramatic naksu killing off uk for real this time. but i guess it's too much to ask for.

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a little sad but interesting too !

the second season is a little sad then 1st, NaXu died ( as we all tho) and it is not known whether she survived or not, but when it becomes clear that she seems to be alive but is in the body of another girl, then you will worry the whole series, whether her soul will remain in the body of Bo Young or not and for how long .. very surprised and I was glad that the end was happy and she survived, even though in the body of Jin Bo Young .. (according to the plot, the end does not seemed happy, often many cool dramas that, according to the idea, should have a happy ending turn out to be sad, but here everything is according to plan ahhha everything ended fine )
it was very cute to watch how the maid Kim rushes around with Park Jin) I kept thinking she would choose teacher Lee but no, ahah she fell for the magician Park Jin) cute their relationship was ahha, of course he is dumb but what can she do lol
also liked that Seo Yul did not realize his nightmare with the NaXu .. let her live and even helped, probably because she saved him in the body of Bo Young , I guess ..
The topic of exchanging bodies and souls with Solram, Bo Young and Naxu is very confused .. I didn’t always understand who is who at the moment and in which body and whose soul finds lol
How did this magician Jimin pissed me off! and the fact that everyone in the palace obeyed him and the king and queen turned out to be corrupt and so wanted, on the one hand, a donut with shifters, and on the other, a new young body .. only one prince and his servants were adequate from that family ..
surprised that in the palace, many clans were obsessed with greed and wanted to take possession of the ice stone, while betraying other clans and even the prince! even the father went against his son and it was terrible! Of course, that scene was shown not so seriously, without any special spiritual experiences of the prince, but I think this is due to his character as a character ahhha
also thinking if Jimin's plan had succeeded he would not have helped the king with a new body but would have been a king himself
I was very surprised by the reaction of ChanUk when he was informed that the NaXu was probably no more, I thought it would break him according to the script, but he seemed to be ready and just doing his duty, although in his heart he must have been very hurt but he held on ..
I am glad that everyone has a happy ending..
NaXu and ChanUk are alive and together )) and even Maid Kim and Park Jin are expecting a baby ahha
great drama but I expected much episodes oops lol 20 or more ))

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MY FAV 2022 KDRAMA

So, the list of my favorite kdramas is longer now. I know it is 2023 now and I just finished watched all the episodes.

I just love all the aspects in this drama. Actors, story, production, OSTs, and others. I just love how all the actors have a great chemistry. I love how the story flow and even though the female lead changed, it doesn't make the story weird. I still can continue watching and enjoy all the episodes. I love how Go younjung can adapt acting as naksu after played by Jung somin.

All of the actors are gorgeous and act really well. I don't know what to say again.

THIS IS MY FAVORITE DRAMA. Of course, it is rewatchable.

p.s. I fell in love with jaewook harder now and of course, my beauty queen, go younjung 💓

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Give it a chance!

Look... I know many of you think it's really bad the way they changed the female lead, we all loved Mudeok and it's kinda disappointing at first knowing that we won't see her again as the protagonist, we have a new female lead in this season and I swear I was disappointed too at first. I stopped watching it after 3 episodes and didn't continue it for almost 2 years.
I decided to continue watching this year and I was so wrong! It's really good, give it an opportunity!
The new female lead is really good and she's getting hate for no reason, I'm telling you because I've been there, I also hated the idea of having a new female lead instead of Mudeok, but it's totally worth it.
Yes, it will feel different from season 1, things have changed. 2 years ago, I was mad at how different it was too. But I continued watching and I can confirm it's so well written and so good!

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What a Beautiful, Crazy and Wonderful Ride

Regardless of its flaws this will still go down as one of my favourite kdrama of all time.

The chemistry between the leads really made up for the frustration we all felt about the story during the ending and whilst I do wish some of the plot had moved on quicker and made sense.

There were times I did wish I could see the old Naksu but I feel like this is a view if what Cho Yeong’s personality without all the child hood heartbreak. Not to mention Ukie went from cute in PT 1 to sexy Jang Uk in PT 2. Not to mention those kisses.

Pt1 had the best story but Pt 2 had the best chemistry I’ve seen on screen in a very long time and atleast a “happy” ending.

The BTS and Instagram posts all the edits and this comment interaction made the whole journey worth it. We were all going crazy for 6 weeks and let’s not even pretend we all screamed on New Years Eve and New Years Day.

I hope it keeps the extra 0.1% because just on the above it deserves it!

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you’ll keep rewatching it over and over again

Alchemy Of Souls is one of the few kdramas that mostly lead to perfection. The first season is just sensational, story and fantasy wise. It'll intrigue you, move you, make you laugh and cry. It'll tickle all your emotions.
And the second season is quintessentially perfection and we absolutely needed it. The two main leads and their chemistry and emotions are the main focus of the story and you’ll fall in love with them over and over again. I cried so much but at the same time I had such a good time watching it.
It has become my fav kdrama of all time, taking the first spot from "Goblin" after 5 years.
I truly recommend it: you'll fall in love with every character and you'll embrace all their flaws and imperfections and shadows and lights.
Watch it!!

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AMAZING

Three years have passed after the tragic events at the end of season 1 when the tale picks up. Mu-deok (who is being controlled by Naksu) has vanished after being rescued from certain death by unidentified forces. Jang-uk is back and even more fierce than before. He is almost unstoppable and a soul-shifter hunter. He reminds me a lot of Neo from The Matrix Reloaded, and it's amazing how closely their characters' stories intersect.When Jang-uk comes across Bu-yeon, the long-forgotten princess of Jinyowon that’s been imprisoned by her mother, what ensues is an unlikely romance wrapped around a larger plot for saving the Kingdom. Only, it turns out Bu-yeon is actually Naksu and Mu-deok in disguise, although she doesn’t remember any of it.

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