*The title is not a spoiler. The tragedy came from the journey the characters took, not necessarily the conclusion we as viewers received. To see the conclusion, you need to watch for yourself.

Visually stunning with mediocre main characters, a villain that stole the show and side characters that saved the production. That’s how I would sum up the whole experience.

Honestly speaking, the plot was truly interesting and investing. Every character was connected to the story and had an impact on it. There were many different motivations, expectations and goals the characters wanted to achieve. The lore was surprisingly rich and well explained, compared to other Korean fantasy romance dramas. And yet, Hwal and Sang Un were so boring and poorly written, they drained all the energy out of me, no matter how exciting the events themselves might have been.

On paper, it was a gripping revenge story, showing the dark and twisted sides of fate. How far can you go to avenge the death of people you love? What if the past you thought you knew was just a shred of the whole story? Sadly, thinking and discussing these topics was more interesting than watching it on screen, because the main characters just did not deliver the emotional impact the story carries. (On that note though, I want to thank Poia for the chats that made me appreciate that aspect of the plot more).

Dan Hwal started as an interesting gray character. Nothing outstanding, not too much depth, but I could easily see him lead the story and make it believable. Sadly, each “plot twist” and explanation of past events slowly stripped away all interesting aspects of his existence. Lee Jin Wook did what he could, but the character was just a walking stone with no emotional depth, so there was not much acting needed in the first place. The complexity we saw in the past storylines was completely lost in the present one.

Sang Un was simply a saint with Stockholm Syndrome. How to describe this character? Nice, good, protective, impossibly dumb? There is “being a good person” and there is “completely disregarding your own safety, because you see the good in a person who hunts you, kidnaps you and wants to kill you”. There was nothing novel about her. She was there to be good and pure. Her priorities were often misguided - while they were supposed to present her as a kind and empathetic person, often they revealed her total lack of comprehension of any given situation. Kwon Na Ra did well acting wise, but not even an Oscar worthy performance could have saved that character.

For the romance, there was close to no chemistry between the leads. The love story we’ve got just made no sense. Why did they like each other? I can rationalize it from Hwal’s perspective. He was desperately clinging to his humanity, so Sang Un being kind to him, not treating him as the monster he was, made him care for her. What did Sang Un like about him though? The girl has some massive issues, rock bottom standards for men, or both. While the love story might not be THE focus of the show, it was a leading story between the female and male lead, and for me, it was a waste of time. It was not enough for people who want an epic romance fantasy, and too much for people who wished to watch a revenge tale.

Then we get to Ok Eul Tae, who was the most vibrant and interesting character from the whole show. The only one whose motivations made sense from the beginning till the end. I want to congratulate the writers for writing such a compelling villain, I ended up actually rooting for him and not the main duo. Lee Joon was born to take this role. The emotional rage he showed was just amazing. Whenever it was confidence, anger, fear, disappointment, desperation or hesitation - I bought it and believed it all.

The whole cast did such a good job with portraying all the supporting characters. The duality they had to present between the past and present reincarnations was not an easy job. The reincarnations had to be different enough to incorporate the external circumstances that shaped them, but also similar to each other for viewers to believe these are in fact reincarnations of the same people.

The chemistry between the cast (with the exception of the romantic aspects between the main leads) made me truly invested in the found family trope this drama presents. Watching them slowly learn how to trust each other was truly the heart of the show. I’m a sucker for the found family trope, so this was a delight to witness.

The writing was sadly not daring enough for me. The show opened with an amazing conflict for the main couple and novel perspective for the villain, but with each new revelation, new flashbacks and plot twist, they removed every refreshing element of the story, making it into the tale we already heard many times in a similar fashion. Luckily, some revelations in the last episode saved the script for me at least a little bit.

While the conclusion was disappointing, the journey itself was quite enjoyable. The writers used the trope of reincarnation to the fullest potential, giving the story many layers that were slowly discovered and explored in the episodes. They were revealing enough information for the audience to build up their own theories, without exposing the whole plot from the start. It made me as a viewer engaged, trying to puzzle the background of the character together myself.

It’s not a show that serves all the answers on the plate. They don’t give you narration with heavy expositions and explanations. The characters don’t always say out loud why they do what they do, what motivated them to behave in such a manner. The storytelling is not linear. They show glimpses of what happened in different timelines, and we need to put the whole story together ourselves. For some it will be one of the strengths of the show, for some it will cause confusion and frustration.

That said, I wish we got to see more flashbacks of the past time lines and reincarnations. Cutting down the screen time of the different monsters and using it to explore the past a little bit more would not only make the plot more digestible, but also allowed me as a viewer to understand and empathize with the characters more. It would also enhance the emotional impact the story had.

There were a few plot lines that for me became either plot holes or dead ends, but that was the result of me usually overanalyzing the plots and dramas I watch. I’m confident in saying most viewers won’t be bothered by them, maybe won’t even notice them. While they caused me a little bit of frustration, overall, they don’t take away much from the quality of the show.

Bulgasal: Immortal Souls served me a visual feast. I have to admit, the first two episodes were a little bit too much though. Most scenes had this painting quality to them, but at the same time felt visually empty and too staged - often they lacked dynamics. They became beautiful screenshots, but they were less appealing in motion. The more modern approach in later episodes fits my taste better.

While the soundtrack was not memorable, all the songs did match the scenes they were played in, elevating the mood and creating the fitting atmosphere. 4MEN’ “Leave” became my favorite song from the show, thanks to the amazing vocals.

Overall, it’s a high quality production with decent writing and good acting. It could have been an amazing tale with truly interesting and tragic conflicts, but fell into the clichés and safe storytelling in the 2nd half, trying to bring all the novelty in the last episode. It’s a show that improves from discussions and chats with other viewers, as it introduces many interesting topics that are worth taking a deeper dive into.