Despite shortcomings, still an enjoyable watch

STORY 8.0/10
Season 2 falls short of the narrative strength seen in season 1, with both old and new storylines feeling drawn out. I wish the overall series had a shorter episode count in order to enhance pacing and storytelling. Introducing a new villain with different motives could have injected fresh energy into season 2, because I got tired of the same politicking and drama that carried over from season 1.

Romance took a bit more screen time this season, but it still felt somewhat rushed. It still falls victim to some tropes as well as cheesy and contrived moments. Despite these shortcomings, however, the chemistry between the leads kept me watching.

After the incidents of season 1, I welcomed the change in the male lead's character. I loved his tortured angst compared to his hot-headed naivete in season 1. He also became so bad-ass after the 3 year time jump.

Some viewers griped about the female lead's shift in personality, but I think the writers did it intentionally by reversing the dynamic between the male lead and female lead. It's showcasing their complementary yin-yang natures between seasons. In season 1, the female lead was more calculating and clever while the male lead was more naive and carefree. In season 2, the male lead became the clever one while the female lead became more playful and carefree. The female lead also took initiative in pursuing the male lead romantically in season 2, while he was the one who pursued her in season 1. Although the female lead lost her mage powers, she gained divine powers instead which complemented the male lead's powers. Ultimately, I think the changes to the female lead worked out fine and they support the duality theme of the show.

ACTING/CAST 9/10
The supporting cast is notably neglected. This was a shame, because they were so enjoyable to watch in season 1.

The romantic chemistry between the leads significantly improved and I enjoyed every moment they were on-screen together. I believe Go Youn Jung is just more compatible with Lee Jae Wook on-screen.

MUSIC 10/10
Great soundtrack and I liked the pop ballads in this season more than in season 1.

REWATCH VALUE 8.5/10
While the overarching storyline is not as engaging as season 1 and a lot of side characters were neglected, I absolutely loved seeing the two leads together in this season. I would rewatch this season just to see them together again.

OVERALL 9/10
Issues from season 1 are still present in season 2, such as pacing and storytelling issues as well as contrived tropes. Conclusions to some plot lines and the final confrontation at the end of the series also felt underwhelming despite all the build up over 2 seasons. But overall, the series was still an enjoyable watch. I especially enjoyed watching the two leads together on-screen. I would love to see Lee Jae Wook and Go Youn Jung leading another series together because they looked amazing together and their chemistry was phenomenal. I binge watched both seasons consecutively and will dearly miss the world of Daeho and this cast.

Lire davantage

A unique monster story set in Japan-occupied Korea

STORY 9.5/10
I found the concept of a monster thriller set in the world of Japan-occupied Korea incredibly intriguing. The combination of the monster and period genres reminded me of Kingdom, which was another drama I loved. By combining the genres together, Gyeongseong Creature created an interesting dynamic that made the story more unique.

The shorter episode count gave way to good pacing throughout the entire series. However, one of my gripes with the story is that the show tended to give the answers away TOO quickly. Mysteries would sometimes be introduced and then revealed within the same episode. Delaying the reveals would've heightened the suspense a bit more.

I also disliked how the relationship between the male lead and female lead was handled. The hate-to-love trope was too exaggerated and the romance was rushed. It would've been more realistic to have the leads develop a relationship of mutual trust and understanding after the events of season 1 and then maybe have that develop into a romance in season 2.

ACTING/CAST 10/10
I absolutely LOVED the ensemble cast. I enjoyed seeing Park Seo Joon's anti-hero evolve throughout the series, but each of the characters had their moments to shine, even the minor supporting characters.

I was impressed that a lot of Japanese was spoken in this series by the all-Korean cast. I haven't watched any other dramas set in Japan-occupied Korea, but the fact that about half of this series was delivered in Japanese, and pretty adequately at that, further immersed me in the story.

MUSIC 10/10
The soundtrack to this series was phenomenal, elevating the thrilling action scenes to the more emotional ones. This series had an epic soundtrack and I wish there was a more comprehensive soundtrack released so I could listen to it again.

REWATCH VALUE 9/10
While most of the mystery is already revealed by the end of the series, I think the pure entertainment factor of the story is enough to make me want to rewatch this again. Also, the shorter episode count makes rewatching this series a lot more manageable than a 20+ episode drama.

OVERALL 10/10
Gyeongseong Creature impressively combines the monster and period genres, showcasing excellent execution by the production crew and cast. If you're looking for a drama with suspense, mystery, action, drama, and a dash of romance, then I highly recommend this drama.

Lire davantage

An unexpectedly deep story about processing trauma and learning to love yourself

STORY
On the surface, Love Game in Eastern Fantasy seemed like another transmigration-based fantasy romance that I've read and watched many times. I came into this with certain expectations on how the story would go, but it subverted and exceeded those expectations from the very first episode. What I thought would be a fun and relatively light-hearted fantasy romance turned out to be an unexpectedly deep story about processing trauma and learning to love yourself. I was hooked from the get-go and could not stop watching.

Whoever wrote the script took great care in developing our lead characters on an individual level as well as their romance. The plot was engaging and paced well with each narrative arc having an intentional purpose in the overall story. The romance was super endearing to watch and felt very organic. Sure, it had its cliches, but somehow it worked and didn't feel overdone in this drama.

The team did an extraordinary job of balancing the heavier topics with light-hearted moments. Then we get to the last episode and ending, which made this drama stand out from its peers and clinched the high rating from me. There were definitely some things they could've executed better in the story, but those issues weren't enough to detract from the bigger picture for me, and I enjoyed this drama from start to finish.

ACTING/CAST
Our main leads' chemistry was definitely the star of the show. Ryan Ding is a superb actor and he was so magnetic on-screen. He has amazing control over his facial expressions and body language. My eyes couldn't help but be drawn to him whenever he was on-screen. He played the gray, anti-hero character exceedingly well and I sincerely hope he gets more roles like this in the future.

I've watched Esther Yu in a couple of other dramas, and I believe she performed significantly better in this drama than those other ones. Her cutesy character and acting didn't feel as unnatural here and she pulled off the character well. Her cheery disposition was a nice counter to the male lead's brooding.

All the supporting characters shone in this drama as well and surprisingly had a significant part to play in the overall story. If I had to gripe about the cast, the second leads felt underdeveloped compared to everyone else and their roles didn't leave much room for them to showcase their acting skills. The second leads both had the stereotypical stoic and upright character personalities and honestly, they were boring to watch. I suppose we had to assume certain things given their roles and the showrunners wanted to keep the focus on our leading characters.

MUSIC
The music was great! I loved the theme song and all the different soundtracks for different moods were appropriate.

REWATCH VALUE
I've already started rewatching this, and I've picked up on some Easter eggs/hints that I didn't pick up during my first watch-through. There were also many emotionally impactful moments for me that I love to rewatch, whether they were sad or happy or funny moments. Since the story was paced well and it was just simply super entertaining, I think this drama has high rewatch value. The cinematography was also outstanding and the CG was relatively good.

OVERALL
This drama has many elements I love: fantasy, adventure, mystery, action, comedy, and romance. It has easily made its way into my top 5 favorite dramas of all time now. I applaud the showrunners for the direction they took this drama in and I'm genuinely happy for its success in China because it could encourage more showrunners to break the mold a bit more. I'm convinced that those who didn't enjoy the second half and/or ending of this drama were not able to appreciate the bigger picture of what the showrunners wanted to convey through this drama, but to each his/her own. I highly recommend you give this drama a try and form your own opinion.

Lire davantage

As long as you don't take it seriously, it's an entertaining watch

STORY
The drama did well when it was funny but failed when it tried to be serious, especially in the latter half when the conflicts and love triangle became melodramatic and tiresome. First half was definitely more entertaining than second half for me, which dragged out some storylines way too long.

One of the issues I had with the story was the constant misunderstandings between the leads. It served the humor initially, but it eventually led to some significant conflicts between the leads later on that were frustrating to watch. There was just a bit too much push-and-pull from the female lead in the second half of the drama just when we thought we could finally have them happy together. I also wish the romance between the leads was fleshed out more in the beginning to make the male lead's love and devotion more convincing.

Another thing that bothered me was the second male lead. His desperation and clinginess were exasperating to watch, especially after the female lead had already turned him down repeatedly. He could've been a more interesting character by having his character focus on embodying gender empowerment in the story, but his gender empowerment came too easy and his romance storyline made him look really pathetic. I disliked his character the most and found him unpleasant to watch onscreen.

ACTING/CAST
Zhao Lusi was super entertaining in this drama and her dynamic with Ding Yuxi was funny. Ding Yuxi doesn't shine as much in this drama compared to his recent works (he has improved so much in the past four years), but I appreciate that he was able to hold his own alongside Zhao Lusi.

The rest of the cast kind of just had the stereotypical period drama acting, but shoutout to the two guys who played the servants Zi Rui and Bai Ji. They were hilarious!

MUSIC
The OST doesn't really stand out. I recall there were some songs played that I felt didn't match the tone or theme of the story.

REWATCH VALUE
The story isn't something that would compel me to watch it entirely again, but I wouldn't mind re-watching the first half for the funny antics between Ding Yuxi and Zhao Lusi.

OVERALL
If you don’t take the story too seriously, this drama is an entertaining watch. Keep your expectations light, and you'll probably enjoy it.

Lire davantage

Suffering from withdrawal after binge watching both seasons

STORY 9.5/10
Alchemy of Souls takes place in the fictional world of Daeho and it blends fantasy, action, drama, political intrigue, comedy, and romance, achieving an amazing balance. The central plot focuses on the male lead's journey in the mage world and as well as how the female lead and male lead become entangled in the political intrigue of Daeho. The male lead's underdog narrative was so compelling to watch and I was rooting for him and the female lead's success the entire way. There were other interesting subplots that intertwined with the central plot well. I loved that romance wasn't the focus, but I also thought it was the weakest aspect of this season. With all the other things going on in the story, the romance felt relatively underdeveloped and I didn't feel any romantic chemistry between the leads.

Pacing was slow at some parts of the story with heavy dialogue, melodrama, and not much story progression. I remedied that by watching at increased speed. Some details felt unexplained or missed. I believe the 20 episode count could've been reduced for better pacing and tighter storytelling.

ACTING/CAST 9/10
While I enjoyed the male and female leads' fun and chaotic dynamic as servant/master and master/pupil, I had a hard time seeing them as potential lovers in this season. I enjoyed Jung So Min playing Mu-deok, but because of how she portrayed her character with her snark and constant annoyance at the male lead as well as her character's attempts to distance herself from him emotionally, it hindered any perceived romantic connection between them. I just didn't feel any romantic chemistry between the lead actors.

I was impressed with the male lead actor, Lee Jae Wook, in this series. Among his cast of young peers, he stood out with his versatile acting, deftly switching between humor and seriousness. He held his ground next to his more veteran peers, including his lead actress, Jung So Min. Lee Jae Wook's performance elevated the series and converted me into his fan.

The leads have a great supporting cast. I especially loved the relationships the male lead had with his father figure, Park Jin, and mother figure, Maidservant Kim. Master Lee Cheol, the deceptively young but sage mage, unexpectedly became my favorite side character.

MUSIC 10/10
The soundtrack complements the series well, offering appropriate and enjoyable music.

REWATCH VALUE 8.5/10
Given the 20 episode count and some pacing and storytelling issues, the rewatch value is slightly lower for me. However, with engaging plots, an entertaining cast, and great production, it could still be a fun rewatch.

OVERALL 9.5/10
This series had great production quality with a stellar cast amid gorgeous sets and landscapes. While it succumbed to some typical tropes and pacing issues, they remain tolerable due to compelling storylines and an entertaining ensemble cast. I binge watched both seasons consecutively and will dearly miss the world of Daeho and this cast.

Lire davantage