Alchemy of Souls : Partie 2 (2022)

GIVE IT A CHANCE

If u don't like the new actress, I cant blame u. But just give it a chance. I was gonna watch it anyway, but i got really found of her . We were already familiar to her and we already knew she is the real Naksu. We also have so many paralels in part 2 so it is easy to see her as Naksu.
I was a little afraid in the begining because i really liked part 1 so I thought that if i dont enjoy part 2 i would feel like a traitor :))). But I am in lovee with the first two eps. There were a lot of unanswered questions in the first ep, the the second ep answered a lot of my curiosities. I can't wait for the next week for new episodes, i am already hooked. As always I hate JinMu , but I hope he won't turn our crown prince into a bad guy. On the other hand I believe Jin Mu will try something bad, but that will end up making Naksu remembering the past .
I am constantly watching edits and replaying my favourite parts.

Lire davantage

What a sequel!!!

Top notch season following up on a top notch season 1. I'm not a fan of sequels in Asian dramas. But, in this case, I couldn't be more excited and happy that there were 10 more episodes to this amazing story.

They rounded off all the story arcs & life did come full circle here. Leads just ate, I was wondering if changing female lead would impact any visual aspect of the show, it didn't. The story really flew well, the change made sense and I loved their chemistry. The ML was so charismatic & their constant banter kept me hooked. Sometimes, I even would rewind just to see them saying those lines again.

Really loved the way story came to its conclusion. Loved this show so much! Definitely on my re-watch list!

Lire davantage

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.)

Lire davantage

Two Souls Forever Drawn Together

This part was highly anticipated and that could make this part be very bad if it weren’t to be good. But the writing for this show sells the drama so well, that every doubt I have is fading away

I thought with a new actress for Naksu that would be jarring and her character wouldn’t feel the same. But her development is there with the last part and she is the same person. The writing for her is fluent and tied with the last part so well even if it has been three years for all the characters. They all are the same people but they have drastically matured by the situations and hardships they’ve been through.

This drama is a top notch one. The setting is stunning and the costumes are just as stunning. It’s got everything and more importantly the script backing this drama up is done very well. With a time skip it could’ve been doing too much or having us assuming, but they leave just enough to assume and enough for us to guess.

I love how well Naksu and Jang Uk play off each other, with it being reminiscent of what it was before. I hope the ending isn’t again a tragedy, but so far this drama is anything but. It’s so amazing really and everything is engaging. Impressive for me and I love this show so much. I’ll write a more in depth review once it all comes out.

Lire davantage

ONE OF THE BEST HISTORICAL KDRAMAS I'VE EVER WATCHED

For those who keep giving this film negative reviews, sorry to say but you are biased and bitter. Because this drama is so far one of the best kdramas I've watched, this is coming from someone who has watched over 200 kdramas. You're a fan of the actress from the first season and not the storyline if you hate this drama.
I've rewatched this drama over 30 times and what amazes me it's I've never gotten bored of it. Every time I rewatch it feels like a new drama. I don't know why anyone who claim the plot is bad when it's literally just a continuation of the story which was split into two parts. Without part 2 I would never had understood the storyline. I also love the message the writers were conveying "LOVE SOMEONE BASED ON THEIR SOUL NOT APPEARANCE".
In conclusion Awesome and Amazing. Well written and amazing chemistry and cinematography

Lire davantage

Great but missing our cold blooded assassin Naksu.

When I first started watching season 2 I tried super hard to make myself like it since I was a big fan of Mu Deok. I find it difficult to adapt to Naksu's new character + the new actress. Naksu was a completely different person at the start of s2. One thing is for sure, they dragged the amnesia plot for far too long and they filled it up with wattpad level romance. So you ask why my rating is still so high. I liked s1 so much, and I just wanted everything to be wrapped up well in s2, and it was wrapped up well. I also have a lot of love for all the characters like Park Jin, Kim Do Ju, Master Lee, Dang Gu, Crown prince and Cho Yeon too. So I got my well wrapped happy ending.
It is however disappointing that there are no more Naksu fight scenes or even her being 'cool'.

Lire davantage

O que mais me vidrou nesse dorama é que ele consegue tá prender rapidamente na história.

Um dorama muito bom e muito bem feito em todos os sentidos, te faz sofrer juntos com os personagens e no final seu coração fica quentinho, recomendo esse dorama.
Você pensa que vai dar tudo errado e dá e depois não dá mais fica tudo bem, o que mais me prendeu era saber o que ia acontecer com o Jang Uk com a pedra de gelo, o que o Jin Mu ia fazer pra ficar no poder e quando iam descobrir a patifaria que ele tava fazendo, e se a Bu-yeon ia expulsar a Naksu do corpo dela.
Você não sabe quem é o vilão e quem não é, a história tem um plot muito bom e o Jin Mu parece imortal, não posso falar mais se não vou contar toda a história.

Lire davantage

Espetacular

Uk e Yeong. Luz e sombra. Ele é uma luz brilhante que proteje o mundo e ela é uma sombra que o proteje abraçando a escuridão que o cerca.
A segunda temporada veio pra completar e finalizar essa obra prima, a história muito bem desenvolvida, e ainda conseguiram fazer um final feliz, que me surpreendeu, pois achei que metade dos personagens acabariam morrendo. As cenas de luta como sempre extraordinárias, vai ser difícil superar.
Foi lindo demais ver o romance dos protagonistas superou tudo. Jang Uk realmente conheceu todas as versões dela: ele se tornou aluno de Naksu, se apaixonou por Mudeok, tornou-se noiva de Buyeon e agora se casou com Yeong e ele amou cada versão dela repetidamente.
E não poderia deixar de mencionar o príncipe herdeiro Go Won que é um dos meus personagens favoritos, seu humor, sua inocência, sagacidade! Ele realmente mereceu o trono!
Sentirei muita falta dessa grande família!

Lire davantage

CONTIENE SPOILERS!!! Review del drama completo, primera temporada y segunda.

Para ser sincera, comencé este drama al ver que la protagonista sería Somin y si no hubiera sido por ella probablemente no me hubiera interesado, luego al ver a Younjung en el primer capítulo me entusiasmé por su participación en el drama y me decepcioné cuando solo ví su cara al menos 20 minutos e inmediatamente ya se dió su muerte (aclaro que todavía no sabía que iba a haber una segunda temporada), pero en cuanto seguía viendo los capítulos más me quedaba atrapada por la historia.
Cada sábado se me hizo ameno gracias a los capítulos de Alquimia de Almas, la fantasía que envolvía al drama, la producción detras de todo, y aun que no soy muy fan de los efectos especiales en este tipo de género, alquimia de almas se destacó notoramiento con sus efectos, tal vez al ver a las personas volar se notaba un poco raro y me recordaba la ficción en esto pero los efectos de la magia fueron increíbles al punto que parecía que los actores realmente podían hacer magia; por otro lado las escenas de mayor tensión/dramatismo fueron las mejores logradas en la primera temporada, acompañadas por impecables performance de los actores y una música que iba a sintonia con las emociones del personaje, permitiendome vivir ese momento con aún más dramatismo.

Temporada 1: 7/10
La primera temporada siento que tal vez tuvo capítulos de más, hasta ya no me acuerdo qué pasa en los primeros 10 capítulos porque se dedicaron a relatar sucesos de manera rápida, dándoles un inicio y fin en tan solo un capítulo; mientras que, en los capítulos restantes se dedicaron más a la acción y revelación de los hechos, a mi parecer, más importantes de la trama, quién era mudeok y cuál era su pasado realmente, el plan de jinmu, la historia de jang gang, el nacimiento de jang uk, jin buyeon y cómo todo eso se conectaba entre sí, pero me llegó a desesperar la manera en que de repente todo iba muy lento y había demasiado suspenso para aclarar las cosas. Lógicamente esta temporada es esencial, ya que es el inicio de todo, pero como dije al principio, siento que pudo haber sido más corta, al menos tres o cuatro capítulos menos, concentrarse un poco más en la trama de la alquimia de almas y los secretos del pasado que envolvían a la gran mayoría de personajes y dejar para después la comedia y el romance.
Destaco a Jaewook en esta temporada, sabemos que Somin es una actriz a la altura del papel que se le dió y por eso estoy satisfecha y no la menciono, pero Jaewook me sorprendió especialmente en las escenas de mayor drama, como cuando Mudeok envenena a Uk, pierde la placa de Songrim y tiene que ser castigado por eso, las peleas con Mudeok, y muchas otras escenas en las que se lució y demostró ser un actor de grandes habilidades para trasnmitir las emociones que está sintiendo.

Temporada 2: 9/10
En esta temporada lograron muchas cosas en las que tal vez habían fallado con la primera, le dan su tiempo a la comedia y al amor, también a sidestorys que no tenian una gran relevancia pero en ningún momento pierden el enfoque en la trama principal, la cual es la alquimia de almas. Hubo menos dramatismo (excepto por los tres últimos capítulos) pero hubo tensión, tristeza, confusión, acción y más que nada FANTASÍA, en la primera temporada muy probablemente al tener dos protagonistas incapaces de tener un gran manejo de la magia, no pudieron mostrar mucho de eso pero en esta temporada le sacaron todo el provecho, hasta el punto de convertir a una pequeña tortuga en un dios místico, personalmente eso hizo que ganara varios puntos de ventaja. Por otro lado, la producción en vez de bajar la calidad, se superó y eso es muy destacable en este tipo de géneros porque ví otras series o sagas en las que bajaban la calidad de producción conforme pasaba la historia.
En cuanto a la actuación, Younjung destacó increiblemente y estoy segura que este papel le abrirá muchisimas puertas en futuros proyectos, lo cual me pone muy feliz siendo que la conozco desde Sweet Home y siempre quise verla en papeles mayores como el que tomó en este drama; interpretó a tres identidades distintas en toda la trama, tenía que demostrar hostilidad e indiferencia cuando se trató de Naksu y lo hizo, después se presentó al público como alguien inocente pero segura y perspicaz para nada débil a pesar de sus condiciones físicas, tomando el papel de Jin Buyeon (en realidad era Yeong), y como última performance nos mostró a la verdadera Jin Buyeon, que aunque no tuvo mucho tiempo interpretandola, fue suficiente para mostrarnos a ese personaje y que no quedara duda que en ese cuerpo no estaba el alma de Yeong sino Buyeon; en otras palabras, Younjung ate slayed devored carried etc.
La última temporada logró todo un matiz de colores a medida que iba pasando los capítulos, al principio una trama melancólica, luego se volvió divertida y avanzó a una historia completamente oscura desenmascarando a muchos personajes. No tengo ninguna queja para el final, ¿Tenía que terminar mal? Según como iban las cosas entonces eso era lo que se esperaba, pero ¿Está bien el final que se le dió? Sí, queríamos un final feliz para todos nuestros personajes favoritos y eso obtuvimos; así que, no considero que debería cambiarse o agregarse algo, fue un final perfecto.

Extras:
Hay algunas cosas que me dejaron con el nudo en la garganta o la decepción en mano, como por ejemplo cuando Mudeok mata a Jang Uk, no hay demasiado tiempo para procesar los hechos y rápidamente vuelven a la persecución de asesinar; después en el capítulo final de la segunda temporada, me dejaron con las lágrimas en los ojos y los mocos cayendo cuando se mostró que Park Jin, Kim Doju y Lady Jin seguían vivos, obviamente no quería que se mueran (no Park Jin y Kim Doju por lo menos) pero la escena de revelación fue tan out of context, Jang Uk simplemente llegó al funeral confundido y se le formaron lágrimas en los ojos al ver como todos lloraban por los líderes de songrim y jinyowon, y más lágrimas cuando vió el ataúd de Kim Doju (lo cual eso me da a entender que él llora por aquellas muertes también), pero a los segunos él está rígido hablando de su visión sobre el pájaro de fuego y prácticamente les dice a los presente "Ah sí no están tiesos, están tomando unos mates en mi cabaña 👍🏻". Mi última queja acá es el no haber vuelto a ver a Naksu o por lo menos a Yeong recuperando sus poderes y peleando con su espada, pero esto se entiende completamente que no haya pasado porque Naksu es una identidad de Yeong que fue forzada brutalmente a llevar, era alguien ignorante a la verdad y su único propósito era la venganza, propósitos con los que Yeong ya no vivía y dejar de lado todo eso fue dejar atrás un pasado en el que había sido condenada, siendo ella inocente.
Por otra parte, lo más lindo de todo el drama fue el guión, no solo la parte de la fantasía sino también el romance que estaba envuelto en la trama, en la primera temporada seguramente las escenas de amor entre Uk y Mudeok fueron especiales y me convencieron de que sí se amaban gracias a los guiones detrás de todo, pero la segunda temporada inevitablemente se lleva todos los puntos respecto a este tema, las promesas de Yeong a Uk, las palabras de Uk hacia ella, el corazón roto de Yul, el arrepentimiento del príncipe, la necedad de Lady Jin, los acertijos del maestro Lee y sobre todo, la metáfora de la luz y la sombra con respecto a Uk y Yeong, es todo literaria y poeticamente hermoso.

Un drama con el que inicié sin ninguna expectiva, con algo de reselo y críticas, pero que terminé amando y disfrutando más de lo que esperaba, es sin dudas, una recomendación para todas las personas que quieren iniciar en esto de ver k-dramas. Definitivamente 10.

Lire davantage

Wow. No wonder they needed two seasons to get through everything.

The beginning of season two starts three years after the end of the first season and a lot has changed. As everything unfolds, you learn about how the aftermath of what happened three years ago affected all the main characters. Park Dang Gu is now the leader of Songrim, and his engagement with Jin Cho Yeon was broken off. Seo Yul is suffering from the aftereffects of the blood parasite entering his body, and Jang Uk has completely changed. He's now in possession of the ice stone and hunts soul shifters and is surrounded by wraiths. It's a pretty gloomy start to the season, where it's obvious everyone is suffering although I love that Jang Uk is a total badass now who doesn't care what other people think.

I feel like I should have rewatched the last episode of season one before watching the second season, because I definitely forgot some very key details - like Jang Uk having the ice stone. *face palm* I had a lot of questions and things that I was wondering about in the first few episodes of the show, but maybe that's their intention because as the story progresses you do learn more about what happened and why. I was curious about how they would explain Naksu having her original appearance when her body got burned up in season one, but it does get explained in a way that I (sort of) understand. It does get pretty complicated though. I'm glad they go into the details of the blood parasite in depth in this season, because it was definitely one of the things I had questions about from the last season.

If the beginning of the show is dark and gloomy, then the middle is more romance oriented, with Jang Uk and Naksu getting to know each other, with the usual kdrama shenanigans where they misunderstand each other and start falling in love. Things are extra complicated because Jang Uk is still traumatized/waiting for Naksu meanwhile Bu Yeon (who is actually Naksu) is getting her memory back in bits and pieces as flashbacks but she thinks its actually someone else's memory.

The last third of the season (from episode 7 onwards) is where the plot starts to really pick up and it gets good. There's epic fights and showdowns, dramatic rescues, double crossing, and not one but TWO absolutely crazy plot twists / reveals that I did not see coming.

In the midst of all the excitement, it's nice that there is still some comedy to break up the tension. I love the interactions between Jang Uk and the crown prince. The whole season I was just rooting for them to be friends again. And the crown prince's turtle! I love how the writers of the show made the turtle so pivotal to the plot when I thought that it was just a cute thing that brought the crown prince and Bu Yeon together. 🐢🐢🐢

”He got rid of my turtle” - a truly iconic quote

Overall I really enjoyed the show, but there were still a few things that didn't quite make sense to me. In the beginning it seems like Park Dang Gu and Jin Cho Yeon's relationship is broken and that she resents him for not saving her father three years ago, but then a few episodes later it seems like they are back to being in love. I wish that the show had given the couple more screentime and shown how they were able to get past that.

I also thought that Jang Uk wasn't aware that Naksu's soul was going to disappear, but then it seemed like he did know when he went to go find her and they got married. And did the crown prince actually turn his back on Jang Uk at the end of season one? Maybe I just need to rewatch the show to catch more details but because of how long it is and how complicated the plot gets I do think things slip through the cracks.

I hate it when you get super invested in a show and then it's a sad ending so I'm happy to say that this is not one of those cases.
Yay for happy endings!

I can't end this review with a special mention to Lee Jae Wook for his phenomenal acting with how much his character did a 180 compared to the last season. It was so rewarding seeing his new persona and what a badass he is now. I had also seen Go Youn Joon previously in Law School but she gave off such different vibes in Alchemy of Souls that it made me completely forget about her past character. I was hesitant about how this season would turn out because of a change in the female lead, but the two of them had good chemistry together and made it work! I also have a soft spot for So-i. She wasn't a main character but I still think she shone in this show. Her character was really well-written and although she made a lot of mistakes, I think she really did her best in her own way and Seo Hye Won did such a good job portraying her.

Lire davantage

MUST WATCH! JUST WOW!

I enjoyed the first season. But this second season with 10 episodes, just WOW!
ML (Lee Jae Wook) & FL (Go Youn Jung) BRAVO!
The supporting cast, OST, production... This is how you finish off a series with a bang! The funniest part to me was that they kept the villain from the 1st season all through the 2nd season. I'm sure that it was to drive the fans crazy. I found myself yelling at the screen for someone to 'take him out'. I love verbal and nonverbal acting. The ML gave it to us in spades! The ML was so impressive in showing strength, torment and even growing love which draws you in. The chemistry between the leads YES!!! The way so many things were weaved together to come to the ending, I must say that the writers got it right. Beautifully done.

Lire davantage