This review may contain spoilers
Isekai meets extraordinary you
It is like, a short sweet unexpected not properly explained mess of two of our favourite characters, I think even the writers were not ready to let go of these characters so they wanted to give us (and themselves more content) that's why they made this.Overall I just felt like Lee Sang Yi, though a wonderful and talented actor, was not meant for an 18+ character's role. I'm sorry during those flash scenes where he is Kang Hajun I could not take him seriously because he's so cute and always just makes me laugh.
Lee Yoo jin on the other hand was a perfect catch for that type of a role (god help me) his scenes as Kang Hajun were a little too perfect, more than i would like to admit, but damn the whole things was hot, it was very nice though a little underdone but we forgive because the cast was wonderful and the end OST of Lee Sang Yi was so beautiful ❤️❤️
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This review may contain spoilers
My darling let me tell you,
(me writing this review while listening to “Scars leave beautiful traces” – Car, the garden)Listen I loved it. No words, it was a lovely drama. If you came for the magical fantasy THIS is the drama for you, the SFX are gorgeous, the music is AMAZING, the cast is perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so if you are looking for a sign to watch this show. This is your sign.
It was a good show guys and if you actually made it to the review section, you don’t need to be reading anymore reviews, just go watch the show.
(THOSE WHO HAVEN’T WATCHED THE DRAMA DON’T READ AHEAD CUZ SPOILERS)
I’m sure you’re all very used to hearing praise of Alchemy of Souls, especially the first season, let’s now talk about the cons in this drama.
I just feel personally that if you are going to take the time an effort to make a drama (that too a fantasy-magic drama) 20 episodes long you should make sure the plot is well explained and spread out evenly and properly done.
AoS’s ONLY problem was that they dragged out a minor plot for TOO long and then started introducing major plot line only around the 15-16th episodes, thereby reducing the time to explain said plot lines. I was a little disappointed by how they dealt with the Jang Gang storyline because they had the potential to do so so so much better with it. They had sooo much time to introduce Jang Uk to his father but what? They give us one interaction where they talk about nothing except Jang Gang trash-talking himself for like 10 mins and then bro erupted into ashes in the next episode (he-who-must-not-be-named style), I really wish they had given Jang Uk more time with his father because they spent so much time EMPHASIZING that Jang Gang wasn’t Jang Uk’s father that they should have atleast allowed him to hear that FROM his father.
Another thing I didn’t like very much was that they waited too long to introduce So-I and the Jin Bu-yeon storyline, they kept holding it back until the last 5-6 episodes and therefore it was a little shabbily written, I mean I’m pretty sure we had all inferred long back that Mu-Deok was infact Jin Bu-yeon so the suspense was unnecessary, I wish they had spent a little more time explaining the mother-daughter relationship between Jin Ho-Gyeong (the leader of Jinyowon) and her second daughter Cho-Yeon, who I feel was a pushed aside not only by her mother but by the writers themselves. She would show up as a love-sick girl for Jang Uk in the first half and then just as a romantic relation for Dang-gu in the second half so if they had spent a little more time on her character development they probably wouldn’t have had to drag out the plot so much.
Call it second male lead syndrome, I LOVED Seo Yul, he was my favourite character throughout the drama and I waited for the scenes where he would show up on screen, his fight scenes were epic and he is so pretty pretty he looks like a doll, even his personality was so cute I just fell in love with him. I just wish, if they were going to make it so important that these four (Jang Uk, Park Dang-gu, Seo Yul, Jin Cho-yeon) were the children of the four most influential and powerful families in Daeho they had a responsibility to explain the families and their roles in the Great Chaos (the war from 200 years ago) and they should have explained the history of the families a little more.
If they had 20 episodes they should have made better use of it is what I felt. I think they always knew they were going to make a second season so they must have felt like there was no NEED to wrap the story up properly in the first season, hence the suspense of Jang Uk coming back from the dead yet no explanation of what the King's star is or what it enables Jang Uk to do, or what powers the King's star grants him
Two more thing before I wrap up the review:
1) This is just MY two cents on the show that I watched and really enjoyed I did not mean to offend anybody or anything by it
2) I have not watched S2 yet so I don’t know what has (or hasn’t) been explained in it
And that brings me to the end of my review. Hope you all could relate to my review ✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧
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This review may contain spoilers
one word for those of you who HAVEN'T watched it: PAIN.when i tell you this drama is NOT for the faint of heart I MEAN IT. This drama will LITERALLY WRENCH YOUR HEART INTO PIECES, gently sew it back together just a little, ONLY TO WRENCH IT INTO PIECES AGAIN! you have been warned, watch at your own discretion if you are up for it. The OST's are gorgeous tho so i definitely recommend checking them out.
now to my friends who HAVE watched the drama: ..why?
i'm sorry i'm still crying i can't take it, this was just (╥﹏╥) (*bawling*)
i mean the character development was so unreal (as is to be expected froma political drama i suppose). like they would evolve, devolve, evolve again devolve again and the cycle went on and on, to no end.
i could never do that again. im sorry. never again. the emotions would probably kill me if i did that agin. in the beginning their brotherhood and closeness to each other and then the way they killed each other and died in the end, i could never look at it the same way ever again.
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We are lovers in the good times and burden to each other in the bad times
2521 is one of the most beautiful dramas I have ever watchedI am fully convinced it is incomplete
I’ll tell you why
I admit wholeheartedly that it was a wonderful, amazing show that made me feel a lot of thing I didn't know I could feel, love, hate, annoyance and a sense of longing..? if that is the right word? all the actors were amazing and obviously I had a big crush on Nam Joo Hyuk when I started the show so I have no complaints there
the only problem I had was with the plot, it was a well written plot, complex and well thought out [kudos to the writer-nim because phew!] and so complex, all the characters going through so many complex emotions at the same time and the portrayal of that was great, You get the sense of the emotion of freedom and also fear that all of them were going through in their early 20's in the first few episodes, not ready to grow up but forced to make do with where they are, and that's what i'm saying. the writing was so good until the 13th episode, everything was going wonderfully. then for some reason everything changed in the 14th episode
all the emotions started changing, from freedom and uncertainty it went to differences in personalities and causing the characters to not understand each other anymore, and the ending did not make sense at all because; why would they spend so much time telling us that Na Hee Do's DAUGHTER was reading her diary if they weren't going to give us a "fix-it" scene in the ending?
The ending seems too abrupt, like we see the ending where they just split way and then Baek Yijin just goes of to New York—
then what? then nothing? I feel like the writer was trying to bring about a feeling like, "they split ways here and then many years later Na Hee Do's daughter starts finding out about her mother's past and starts searching for her mother's old boyfriend and then she brings them together" and I feel like before that last episode we should gotten a scene with older Na Hee Do and Baek Yijin where they come together as mature adults, and spend some time talking to each other, give each other another chance and work through their conflicting emotions before giving it another shot, that would have made more sense since Min Chae’s father (Na Hee Do’s husband) seems to be a really out-of-the-picture person
That would have been a more fulfilling ending
In my opinion.
I'm not usually like this when I watch dramas I assure you [....god i wrote a lot...] [I actually wrote this as a message to my cousin 😅]
it's just 2521 was such an interesting drama and I loved it a lot, it deserved more from it's finale considering how good it was
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This review may contain spoilers
I have to say this
As a person who starts shows for it's cast. I started this show because Lee Min Ho, Park Shin Hye, Kim Woo Bin and Kim Jiwon were acting, i had been watching Dr. Slump at the time and thought it would be interesting to see her in a younger role.i have to say, it wasn't fully convinced, i mean in the very beginning it was okay, i liked how they worked with Lee Min ho and Park Shin Hye in america and then Jiwon's entry and the starting was great the high school drama was also tolerable and funny to an extent.
until it all went downhill. i mean i can't say it like that, but yeah, there were some really interesting characters, like my personal favourite, Lee Hyo Shin seonbae, who could have been really well developed but had little to no screen time at all, he was a really underdeveloped character but ultimately an all time favourite, another character i wish they had developed more was Kim Won, Kim Tan's brother, i mean while they were using the "i hate my younger sibling because he might steal my throne in the company" trope they could have atleast tried to give us some flashbacks of Tan and Won's relationship before Tan went to America.
like i said it had it's fun and heart-fluttering moments, but in the end i felt like they used that up to cover up the bad stroywriting, i mean the plot really had no closure to the point that during the 17, 18, 19 episodes i was wondering how they were going to wrap the story up. i mean if they are going to make 20 episodes of something there should be more tiem to make a well defined plot, but no, they use that time to keep going back and forth between Tan and Eun Sang.
that's another thing that was kinda annoying, the show could have been better if they hadn't spent sooooo much time doing nothing with Tan and Eun Sang, like they didn't make any move at all until like the 15-16 episode and the wait wasn't really worth it because in the end they both just end up going to school like any other day, ther problems were not resolved and they were just. there.
the high-school theme was nice enough, there were the rich kids and they were looking down on the non-rich kids, there were the cliches the friend circles, your classic high school. i personally liked their friend group actually. Eun Sang's best friend Chan Young was really just that supportive best friends that everyone needs and there was really just that playful banter you come to really enjoy. Chan Young's girlfriend Lee Bo Na, starts off as Eun Sang;s enemy because she thinks she may be her rival, but they end up being really good friends and you just end up absolutely loving how adorable she is (one of the things that i really loved was the way Kim Tan kept "act" flirting with Bo Na because that wa really funny to watch, [we all fall for Min Ho's boyish smile admit it] it was like a breath of fresh air when i felt like the episodes were dragging for to long)
the only character they took the time to develop was Choi Young Do. and again, AGAIN WHY DO THEY KEEP MISUSING THIS TROPE? this og "bad guy" who falls for the girl, he's reckless and agitated an dhas scars that just won't heal, give him a motorbike and a biker jacket (and some daddy issues how could I forget?) and BAM! you have your classic second male lead. and obviously he tries to become the better person thanks to our fl and the rest is history.
i'm not saying it's not worth the watch because yeah, the actors somehow managed to salvage this run-of-the-mill plot, they managed to give life to these 2D characters and i have to say i was really impressed by their acting in some scenes, i just wish it had been better written, if you want to watch it i say go for it, it's good enough for a one time watch
p.s :
gosh that kiss at Lee Bo Na's party was literally the only thing i stayed for should have given us more of that
p.p.s :
i'm giving the OST 8.5 because god i couldn't get "LOOOOVVEEE ISSS THEEE MOOOMMMENNNNTTT" out of my head for almost a week
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do you.. believe... IN ✨MAGIC✨ ?
it is the most beautiful coming-of-age show I have ever watched and I feel like it portrays that feeling of having to fit into societal norms out of fear of becoming a failure really well and oh god it was the most beautiful thibg ever i enjoyed every single part of it and the eye candy is amazing too Ji Chang Wook looking absolutely gorgeous and everything about this show is just truly amazing and really brings out the little bit of magic left in this worldread this review in parts, read it as you watch each episode because I will be probably screaming the exact same things y'all are so let's be happy together.
episode 1:
I just finished the first episode and I can safely say I fell in love with Ji Chang Wook all over again. how does this man do it?! i would never in my life believe this man was 35 when he shot this show because he is the most beautiful, adorkable person I have ever seen on television.
that said, the first episode was the most beautiful pilot episode I have seen in- possibly ever. i fell in love with the show just by that one episode. i swear it's been a very long time since I felt this interested in a show.
i started this show, obviously, because Ji Chang Wook and Hwang In Yeop eop were acting in it and I was so far not disappointed at all they are both there, they both look ✨ gorgeous ✨ and I am so wonderfully wonderfully impressed by the whole thing, the whole aesthetic of the show just leaves so much room for magic and wonder and- ohmygod look I'm rambling about just watching one episode, I'll update y'all on how it goes but I'm telling you now it looks amazing and you should definitely watch it without a doubt
episode 2:
can someone explain to me wtf just happened??? i mean i- Hwang In Yeop!! i was honestly really happy that Hwang In Yeop was in the cast, like when I first heard of the show i didn't know it was him but then when I started the show i found out it was MY DEARLY BELOVED SEOJUN who was acting in it I was really really happy. BUT I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT CLIFFHANGER IN THE END WTF WAS THAT BRUAH!!!!! NOO WHY YOU DO THAT!!! I LIKED YOU!!! YOU STOOD UP FOR HER! WHY WOULD YOU-
episode 3:
okay so I said this in the first episode and I say it again, Ji Chang Wook is the best person ever to play this character, I mean he is able to do this so well, on moment he is this adorkable person and the next he has that wicked gleam in his eyes that is a 100% necessity with these type of ringmaster/magician type of roles and like, Hwang In Yeop is the cutest little, itty-bitty thing and we love him to bits, he is a little shi, but we can fix him, he's golden at heart so we keep hope in him, I love them all so so so much.
episode 4:
umm... wow. like, one moment he's the cutest most wonderful thing we have ever seen and then one second he's raving mad and possibly a murderer, but like the music is to die for, the music is absolutely splediferous and I can't get enough of it so shout out to the composer because the music is ✨ amazing ✨ and I love how wonderfully Hwang in Yeop is able to portray the conflict he feels between the dream his parents have for him and his own dream that he wants to follow. I have to say, that scene where Ah-yi goes to see her past self really made me tear up, it was just so wonderfully written I don't want to believe the magician is a bad guy
Episode 5:
Uhm. What- i mean- why-. Okay let's try to start from the top, Ji Chang Wook is starting to turn into a creep, ummm.... The magic that we all really seriously believed is all starting to turn into a lie, i- I have to say I was honestly honestly heartbroken, like i could feel my heart crumbling when I saw the vanishing trick revealed and- uhmm... I am actually really really proud of il deung for trying to break out of the asphalt road paved by his parents and trying to break out of the norms set by society so yeah, I'm seriously rooting for him but like- my heart cannot take this magic disappearing little by little.
Episode 6:
thankshin... masureul.... misimika? HAHAHAHASHRGHDGGRB I LOVED IT SO MUCHHHHH!!!! I CAN'T USE WORDS TO EXPLAIN HOW MUCH I LOVED IT 💕 IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LAST EPISODE EVER !!! I can't believe how easily i believed in him, I was like Ah Yi, so quick to believe there was even a little bit of real magic left in this world, it was like reading Peter Pan all over again. i am so so so so happy I started this show and to everyone who sees this review please please please go watch it, the magic 🪄 ✨ the magic is everything!!!!
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Alchemy of Souls Season 2: Light and Shadow
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This review may contain spoilers
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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