Alchimia Sufletelor (2022)

"each episode is getting better and cooler"

I love the proportions of this drama, all genres including comedy, action, romance, a bit of horror and some mystery all rolled into one. The author made a very interesting storyline, I hope to see a good ending :) . For the first and second episodes it might be a little boring but the development of each episode is getting better and cooler. Every week I look forward to the latest episode and get lost in fantasy. Each actor and actress also has a very interesting character. I saw some of their interviews about this drama and they seem very happy and close. Good Job!

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Superb fantasy, thrills and feels!

I absolutely love this drama, from a fabulous cast, where not one was a weak link (including all the great supporting/small parts cast), to great writing and direction.
Jung So-min is wonderful as the strong soul (Nakdu) in a weak body (Mu Deok), with a great dialect to boot. Lee Jae-wook partners her perfectly and keeps his character just the right side of entitled, a little resentful and rebellious; without being irritating at all.
Go Yun-jung was also gripping as the actual Naksu and a character I really liked as her story unfolded. Mistreated, lied to and manipulated to become a deadly assassin.
Arin, as Jin Cho-yeon, was suitably spoilt and brattish, but her character matured a fair bit as the drama played out. I was very pleased with one aspect of her character's life, as I liked the character concerned.
I loved Hwang Min Hyun as Seo Yul, too ~ I was really torn about his character... if/when you watch, you might see why.
Some of my favourite interactions were actually between Naksu (as Mu Deok) and the Prince, Go Won (Shin Seung-Ho). She knew exactly how to handle him, but it was most enjoyable when she pushed her luck! He definitely has a (large) soft spot for her.
The pace of this drama is exactly how I like it; there are action scenes, light hearted banter and amusing moments, sadness and intrigue. Whilst main characters talk, ponder and reflect, it never felt slow or drawn out to me. In more complex plots, knowing where a character's actions are coming from and what motivates them, all add to understanding the story.
There are flashbacks, but well timed and enhancing the plot, rather than confusing it, which can sometimes happen.
The music fits well too, without overpowering scenes or being mismatched. I absolutely love Car, The Garden's song, 'Scars Leave Beautiful Trace'.
I love fantasy, romance and action, with humour to balance. Whilst the romance side is relatively low key, it is there and, for me, the level fits perfectly within the story.
A lot of people have complained and written unpleasant things about Jung So-min not being the lead in S2.... I find this both annoying and weird.
I am a very big fan of JSM ~ but she has not been replaced, or written out, so why the backlash?
Her actual character was never Naksu, but Mu Deok, whose body Naksu inhabited for S1.
If Jang Uk fell in love with Naksu for her personality and drive, then he does not love the body, but the soul.
If the actresses switching again is necessary for the story to continue and to be plausible, then so be it.
The actresses returning to their original characters, was always going to be a possibility.
I admit I shall miss JSM in the LFM role, but, I am excited for the story's conclusion and hope it is a huge success for the entire cast and crew.

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Unpopular opinion, but I couldn't get into this drama. I thought it was mediocre at best. Maybe it's because I'm generally not into fantasy, which (obviously) this is. But even aside from the fantasy elements, there was something about it that kept me from caring about the characters and feeling anything for them. I didn't feel truly drawn into the story and I couldn't quite pinpoint why.
A big part of it might have been the FL. I'm not a fan, she always does the same dead fish look with a blank expression and her mouth hanging open in almost every scene. Her character here has good backstory and she showed a bit more acting skill for sure, but the personality she had her character portray was godawful. Cold, flat, boring, almost masculine and I didn't feel any chemistry from her when it came to her interactions with the ML. I dropped it at episode 7.
I thought the ML was a different story; he was the one character who kept me watching. He's a good actor and his character actually had dimension and personality. But the romance was very elusive and a mess. He likes her, but does she like him, or the crown prince, or her childhood sweetheart....? Does she even have feelings for anyone at all, since she never shows any emotion?? Idk the whole drama was enough to keep me kind of interested and keep hoping it got better, but overall bored me. I kept having to fast forward long palace conversations. Something would occasionally happen to make the plot seem like it was going somewhere exciting, but then they'd cut to scenes of one of other several side characters and the little exciting twist wouldn't amount to much.

If you're in the target age group for kdrama fantasy and enjoy the genre though, you'll probably like it.

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fed up about the characters' stupidity!

I started watching this because of its high score on MDL's community. but soon the problems began... all the characters are incredibly stupid! this just makes me feel frustrated and angry.
example: the female lead changes body and decides to run away from a boat. but her new body is so weak that she couldn't. you would think that she understood the situation, but no! she will try again and again to fight back in many situations, as if she was her old strong self, and every time she will be beaten up! she could have think about training her new body, exercising, something! but no! she just run into situations head first then is beaten up.
and the same goes for all the other characters: they go into fights and problems without planning any way out, are beaten up, and feel like crap!
I am sure at one point they will be strong enough to fight back, but if this is all about muscles and empty heads I don't need this show.

when watch this? I don't know... never?

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EXCELLENT

This is a high fantasy drama, and typically I tend to stray away from fantasy k dramas simply because it is usually not executed well. But I am glad I decided to give this a chance, the chemistry between the actors is magnificent. I hadn't watched too much of the main leads' dramas before so I was a little hesitant however the interactions between each of the characters are so interesting to watch and I am enjoying each storyline within the show. During the pandemic, I hadn't enjoyed a k-drama in quite a while, but with this drama, I've rewatched each episode that has come out multiple times because the imagery is beautiful and the acting is really captivating. Definitely give this drama a try, if you're on the fence!

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Epic Addiction

I thought I will be facing a period of hollowness after FROM NOW ON SHOWTIME. Who knows I am hooked immediately to another amazing drama. I usually don't like historical drama, but because of JSM, I gave it a try. Goodness, it is no turning back.

From the casts, OST, storyline, cinematography, CGI ... absolutely 5 stars and more. I am addicted. While waiting for another week's next episodes I rewatched the previous episodes again and again. This is how crazy I get. Perhaps hypnotised by the crazy master and student :)

The couple is so beautiful, matching and funny. I pray for a happy ending.

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Okay

This is my first time giving a review, so it could be quite messy and unnecessarily lengthy. I'm halfway in, but I believe my thoughts are likely to stay the same until the show ends. I'll elaborate my rating for each category as below:

Story: 7.5/10
You probably read the synopsis in advance. Now back to my review.
The plot has a fine setup and the mystery factor tie into. Definitely not a simple one, but you can go along with it. You don't have to squeeze until the very last drop of your brain to connect the dots. The clues are quite in your face so you can guess some secrets right beforehand, even if it's a few seconds to an actual reveal on screen. But still, there are rooms to speculate and sometimes things turned out completely different from what some had theorized. Overall, it is unexpected and complex, but it's not crazy whatsoever.
About the romance factor, the relationships among the characters play out well, you can see the dynamics work. The love lines are still in the developing process as of ep. 10, but the love triangles do be a bit exhausting at times (yes, there are more than one.)
The script itself sometimes makes the execution fall flat for many details in the show. I can't specifically say which, but there are occasions when I felt some ideas can be explored further or given with a better explanation. Some scenes such as Park Jin and Miss Kim's bickering were extended longer than I preferred.

Acting: 9/10
To be frank, the acting is quite solid and convincing. Many of the cast are experienced and it's believable for them to pull off a good act. Even the so-called "idol actors" such as Minhyun and Arin both have the potentials and are capable to go further if they continue to improve themselves. The chemistry between the two leads, Jaewook and Somin is very over the place, which makes the dynamics of their relationship more real, hence why I ship their characters hard. Everyone has the visual and is talented as well. Perfect cast.

Music: 7.5/10
There is nothing much to say here, the tracks are played here and there, they definitely push the emotions, but they are not outstanding and leave no impressions to me. I personally would not look them up and listen to them.

Rewatch value: 5/10
Maybe I just rate this in a 50/50 way because I'm neutral about this. I'm not someone who rewatch shows, so I think I can't speak for the rest.

So that wraps up my overall thoughts about the series. You should give it a watch if you are interested in the fantasy genre and want to have a show as an escapism. It's a weekly show as well, so you can take breaks between the episodes to let it sink in. Hope you'll have a good watch!

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CULTURAL APPROPRIATION IS A CRIME

This drama has only 1 thing: plagiarising of Chinese culture. Because of cultural appropriation, it's currently called in court to be sentenced. Taoism never reached Korea, so how?
But Koreans keep stealking since 2004, no wonder why.
A useless series, not worth watching, in my opinion. Actors are not good, even adult actors. They seems like children, and the whole drama is like a middle school recital. They can't act and they are not handsome at all.
Setting, pottery, dresses... everything is plagiarised, and the few little Korean elements are totally useless.
Nor original at all, only a cheap plagiarised copy with low budget.
The second part of the story is totally nonsense.
I won't recommend this drama, but of course, go ahead if you want to watch it and give it a try.
The series is accused, that's why it's a flop in Korea. The second part listed in December was already listed before the flop, it's not a season 2. They couldn't keep the whole cheap story in less episodes.
It's torturing yourself watching this drama, 1h long episodes are too much.

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Give it a try!

This was a big budget drama that borrowed a lot from Wuxia dramas and it's super obvious when you start watching. Personally I loved the effect and was immediately pulled into the story. The costumes, sets, effects and music were all on point and amazing. The amount of care and effort is so visible in every frame. This drama has a very typical underdog story that is also propped up by an underlying mystery which takes 30 episodes to fully unravel. I feel that the first season was fine for the most part and had a lot of satisfying “anime-like” moments that pulled you deeper and deeper into the world. The problems start becoming more apparent when you consider the romantic aspects of this show and it falls a little flat. The acting in this show is phenomenal from everyone involved when you set aside the romantic parts. In the first season I couldn’t help feel a distinct lack of chemistry from the leads… The secondary couples are not not even worth mentioning at all. The chemistry between the main couple does manage to improve in the second part due a major change in the depiction of the characters. Despite the fact that the romance manages to improve in the second part, the characters all get REALLY dumb. They also start saying and doing the dumbest stuff to move the plot along and some of the retcons (pertaining to reincarnation) were too much to be acceptable. All in all its a pretty good show but it wasn’t tied up well enough to be truly great, memorable or rewatchable.

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