Drama like Alchemy of Souls

Feb 3, 2023 09:05 am

The Drama Notes:
I'm surprised no one has recommended Faith - it's a 2012 time slip fantasy drama with magic based in late Goryeo starring Lee Min-ho and Kim Hee-sun. One of my top favourites from that period.

Cool, thanks for the recommendation :>

MajesticConfidence36

Aug 6, 2023 10:18 pm

+1 Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (2016)

ElBee

Aug 7, 2023 12:05 am

gimligorn:
Hello, I am watching 2nd season, 4 eps in atm and I love it.
Could someone advice me some series similar to it?
감사합니다 !

You said dramas “like it”/“similar series” which is a bit too vague for me to understand what you are looking for. The search feature of this site is actually really useful in that sense-you can browse fantasy genre, historical, supernatural, etc and narrow it down by year, number of eps, country, ratings, tags (but warning: they aren’t complete and aren’t even that old a feature on here so many shows have far fewer tags than they should) etc. are you looking for historical dramas specifically, for romances, for sword fighting kinds of scenes, for magic, for writing similar to it, for young cast members dominating the show?

Off the top of my head, though,

The Legend Oldie for most from 2007 (you may not find an amazing quality version of it, as a result, since anything online has probably been compressed pretty badly given when it came out and would’ve been uploaded, probably from DVD), but it is the closest I can think of with the blend of supernatural fantasy, fighting both fist and sword, epic heroism, etc. The end is really unusual but unforgettable, a love or hate kind of ending… it took them 3 years to film it all because it was done in all seasons and a wide variety of places… ah, and they also had breaks because some bones were broken (The ML even, to finish the series, rode on horseback with one of his legs in a cast, devotion^10. You’ll see much younger versions of people you have probably seen not so long ago. :)

Gu Family Book This is still a favorite for Choi Jin Hyuk’s role… I really wanted, still want, even, a side story of his love story fully fleshed out. It is a beautiful start to a drama I quite liked even though the young leads weren’t nearly so skilled then and I had to overlook some lackluster acting (which happens in most shows with young cast members, to be fair).

Hotel del Luna primarily in the present day but a lot of flashbacks to past eras, particularly the FL’s past… she is in a sort of not human, not ghost state because of her past actions… love story within it, ghosts the primary non-human element

Tale of the Nine-Tailed and its sequel Tale of the Nine-Tailed 1938 (while a separate story, you do need S1 to understand the context fully since it doesn’t recap and you won’t get the same emotional investment if you just watch S2)

Mystic Pop-Up Bar modern era fantasy but the lead is also, for wholly different reasons, carrying out a very long “punishment” where she runs a pop up drinking tent as a way to find people with problems (because they often drink due to the problems) then enters their dreams to resolve them… more complicated with more supernatural elements but that is the basis-also an eras-long story of love and grief of the FL

Live Up to Your Name Dr. Heo Time slip both past era coming to the future and present era going to the past, eastern and western medicine doctors for the leads, some heroism, warmth and humor mixed

Mirror of the Witch (dark magic, sorcery… the low rating is mostly because some had a fit, even without watching, because of the age gap between the leads even though there is no physical romance/kiss between them at any point-some of the writing did have them going around in circles, but so does Chinese drama Reset, so I didn’t have an issue with that even though some got tired of it. I love the story and set of it).

Goblin (a bigger age gap but people don’t mind this one for whatever reason even though it is a 900 year old who IRL is middle aged, lol-just know going in? To me, actors are acting, nothing more or less.)

Island (split reviews on it, definitely not the best production wise or transition wise, really interesting mythos, though)

Lovers of the Red Sky Historical fantasy love story… mixed reviews, love or hate it, but it is visually stunning and I personally still liked it even though it has a lot of writing flaws-massive suspension of disbelief and logic required, but I don’t regret watching it. The young leads are also beautiful, the ML turning into a goth complete with red eyes at one point (kind of hilarious even though it wasn’t trying to be, indont think?) so that doesn’t hurt! Not AOS or Arthdal level but also on a budget that would be around 1/4 as much as either of those…

Non romance, modern era, really different kind of heroism but full fantasy drama with a LOT of warmth but also pain since they are reaper sorts who are saving all sorts of people from committing suicide: Tomorrow

This one’s writing is quite amazing once you are fluent enough to grasp the nuances of the language that the subtitles often leave out (much of the critique can honestly point back to bad subs, the more “native”/normal critique of it being the slower sort of pace it uses to get the story’s tone and dialogue delivered… plenty hate slow burn feeling stories and it is much more relflective, melancholy even): Doom at Your Service

random extra rec if you want artistically gorgeous sword fighting between a man and woman in a historical setting, a film that is like a painting frame by frame and uses silence and very quiet moments to create impact (also not everyone’s kind of story but a shorter investment than dramas): https://mydramalist.com/1310-duelist