Alchemy of Souls: Part 2 (2022)

Not without Flaws but I loved it more than Part 1: Epic and Legendary

I may be in the minority, but I got to say that I loved Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow more than I did part one. Yes, maybe the writing wasn't as good as part one as it lacked some of the action and mystery that part one provided us with and concentrated on Uk and Naksu's love story more but since I'm a sucker for romance I was very satisfied with how the story was told. Sure, I had some frustrations as some of the audience at times but hey I'm a sucker for angst and tension between the couple and I feel like the writing here gave me what I needed & wanted. Not to mention the amazing, amazing chemistry between Lee Jae-Wook and Go Yo-Joung. Their intensity is what kept me coming back episode after episode. I also feel like the buildup to when the action finally hits was executed well. I also feel like the writers closed off all the loose ends of season 1 satisfactory. I guess they left it open enough for more but as much as I'd like a S3 I feel like the story is pretty much over and I'm happy with how it ended. My babies got the end that they deserved and for that I'm very thankful considering how part 1 ended haha. Actually, all the characters got the ending that they deserved. Two gripes tho: I feel like the villain deserved a more awful end than he got and Naksu deserved more action in the end than what she got but oh well.

Now let's talk about the acting:
Go-YoJoung- I loved her! I'd say for this being her first lead role she handled it extremely well. I loved how she played Naksu's spunkiness, independence and comedic timing so well. Her portrayal of Naksu's innocent was very well done too. Also her switch to darkness when she remembers who she is? CLAP. This young woman is gonna go far! She's truly talented. I also adored her chemistry with Lee Jae Wook. As mentioned, they really made me feel the love of their characters.

Lee Jae Wook- This young man is exceptional. He really was the standout in this series for me. The way he changes his portrayal of light Jang Uk to dark and broody Jang Uk was amazing. He really made me feel like he was two different characters and not surprising with all Uk had to go thru since the past 3 years. Losing his life and the love of his life is not an easy task. LJW did an incredible job at showing all of Uk's emotions: sadness, confusion, coldness, love and rage. If he won an award for this role he certainly deserved, it. I hope what he did in AoS gets him more leading roles because he deserves them.

As for the rest of the cast they were all good. Made me love all the characters and hate the ones I needed to.

The OST is beautiful, I'm in love with "I'm Sorry" from Ailee, in fact I already listened to it more times than I should lol.

Overall 10/10. And I will be watching this over and over again especially since I don't know what to do with my life now that I finished it. Rewatch coming soon. I highly recommend this series for anyone who loves fantasy, romance, action and mystery. This is definitely one of the best Kdrama's i've watch and is going in my top favorites.

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Butchered

Season 1 was not perfect. I skipped parts and rolled my eyes more than I care to admit. However, the actors, scenographers and CGI department did a good job, even the montage was adequate. But why, by god, did the writers and the director need to butcher the series as they did in the second season?

Having an amnesiac as a main character in the last third of the series (30 episodes in total) is never a good idea. It drastically halted the progression of the story and, in general, Bu-Yeon (who was supposed to be the fearsome Naksu) did nothing of her own volition to propel the plot forward. She was always a maiden in distress.

As a series written by two women, it sadly also had only two human-like and relatable female characters: Ju-Wol and Mu-Deok. All the other women were over the top jealous, over-subserviant, conniving or borderline crazy.

It would have been more satisfying if, at the end of the first season, everyone died and Jin-Mu took the body of a king. Sad, utterly tragic, but what a story it would have been.

If, in the first season, the writers would sometimes forget some of the character traits and made them act against their nature, then in the second season they decided to butcher almost all the characters, which was most evident in Mu-Deok / Bu-Yeon / Naksu. Pardon my French, but frikin Naksu / Mu-Deok could not have been contained for three years in that captivity.

Perhaps, it was too great to expect to see an interesting sword battle between Naksu and Jang Uk in the second season, but to once again be mainly subjected to the drawn-out "love triangle" and to witness the "back and forth" between main lovebirds (as well as the side lovebirds) was extremely, extremely dull.

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A disappointing sequel of Great Story

Season 1
Story was great, The author builded very appealing, likable , interesting , and engaging story,
The story had ' soul '
The world was explorable.
Characters were alive, there interactions look rights from their perspective. They had their belief, even antagonist had their own rationale and personalities.
MC chemistry was great , it felt personal

SEASON 2
I just want to say " you tried your best " on the grave 🪦 of second season , The crew collectively murdered the story.( I like to press murder charges against production crew for successfully murdering a beautiful story, if that is possible)


* I May be little biased towards season 2 because they replaced the female lead

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Não chame de Mudeok, Jin Bu-yeon ou Naksu: ela escolheu ser Cho Yeong.

Antes de tudo, muitas pessoas precisam redefinir em seu conceito o que é ser uma personagem feminina forte, de personalidade forte. Alguém de personalidade forte não é alguém desnecessariamente rude, egoísta e mau-humorado. A personagem feminina não precisa lutar fisicamente com uma espada para ser forte. A personagem feminina pode ser gentil, razoável, delicada e sensível, e ainda ser forte porque a força está ligado a nossa vontade e a como nos portamos mediante as adversidades da vida. Temos mania de desprezar tudo o que é predominantemente feminino.
Não vou ficar de papo torto sobre a "troca" de atrizes. Não houve trocas. Go Younjung foi creditada em todos os episódios da parte 1, ela narrava os pensamentos e monólogos internos da Mudeok/Naksu. Ela era a Naksu em seu verdadeiro corpo. Na parte 2, ela é a protagonista em alma e em corpo, enquanto na Parte 1, era só a protagonista em alma. Aceite você isso ou não, o papel era dela, e é claro que ela voltaria para ele porque a série chama Alquimia das Almas.
De cara, temos um time skip de três anos. Tudo mudou, afinal, foram três anos, não três dias ou três meses. O roteiro escolhe assumir de vez os tons sombrios que começou a assumir a partir do episódio 17 da primeira temporada. E foi uma escolha ousada e interessante porque quem gostava do humor pastelão da primeira temporada, fica chocado com a mudança de tom da parte 2. Não é ruim. Mas dessa vez, temos nossa tela mais escura, um Jang Uk com depressivo, traumatizado e com ambições suicidas, e uma Naksu/Cho Yeong livre de seu ódio assassino e livre para ser quem ela realmente é.
O que temos nesse começo, é uma jovem mulher por volta de seus 28 anos, trancada em um anexo em Jinyowon por três anos. Ela não tem memórias, ela não vê o mundo desde que acordou de uma doença misteriosa. É uma jovem mulher curiosa, ousada e direta, mas também delicada e gentil. A abordagem usada para a protagonista dessa segunda parte, é interessante.
As pessoas costumam desprezar o enredo de amnésia, mas aqui, eu defendo com unhas e dentes a existência desse plot. Aquela Naksu rancorosa e detestável que temos na Parte 1, seria um atrapalho de vida para um Jang Uk ambicionando morrer. A personalidade de twitteira cronicamente online que não conseguia demonstrar afeto sem se sentir estranha e mandava Uk morrer por 20 episódios, não seria bem vinda. Ao invés disso, As irmãs Hong fazem a escolha de trazer Cho Yeong. Não posso dizer que ela fica melhor na inteligência comparada a parte 1, nem que ela fica menos maluca ou que ela tem menos ideias que podem acabar sendo perigosas, mas, pelo menos, Cho Yeong se torna uma mulher que sabe equilibrar o egoísmo enraizado em seu ser, com uma gentileza intrínseca. Essa gentileza só é possível existir porque ela tem amnésia e não está ocupada remoendo o fato de que se apaixonou pelo filho de uma das famílias que destruiu a vida dela juntamente com o vilão Jin Mu. Jang Uk precisava de Cho Yeong. Ele não precisava da teatral Mudeok ou da assassina magistral, Naksu. Ele precisava da insistente, gentil e um pouco arrogante Cho Yeong, que não teria vergonha de consolar, lutar por ele ou afugentar os fantasmas da Pedra de Gelo. O roteiro faz uma escolha arriscada e que desagradou uma parte do público, mas que também já estava definida como a verdadeira personalidade de Naksu desde meados do episódio 15 da parte 1. Sim, vocês acreditam que essa personalidade da parte 2, já estava presente na parte 1? Eu não mudaria o enredo de amnésia, lamento por quem tem repulsa por esse tipo de enredo, aqui, com o protagonista querendo morrer, foi necessário.
A parte 2 se chama "Alquimia das Almas: Luz & Sombras", e aqui, temos o foco no romance, uma química explosiva, absurda e rara entre Lee Jaewook e Go Younjung. As irmãs Hong decide nos levar para um lado que não nos foi exatamente preparado para ver na parte 1, e é por isso que tiro pontos em enredo da Parte 1, mas não tiro da parte 2. Infelizmente, os problemas da Parte 2, são gerados pela Parte 1 e não pelo enredo em si da Parte 2. Enquanto a S1 precisava de ter menos episódios, ser mais compacta e focar mais em background da Naksu, Jin Seolran e do Pássaro de Fogo para ser mais fluída, a S2 tem problemas causados por ter poucos episódios. O ideal era que fosse um formato 15/15 para as duas temporadas e tudo seria resolvido.
Por ser poucos episódios, o enredo é o desenvolvimento do romance entre um Jang Uk tentando superar seu luto e uma Cho Yeong sem memórias, mas que faz uso de sua memória muscular para voltar a amar exatamente quem amava antes. O Pássaro de Fogo e Jin Seolran que deveriam ser desenvolvidos na Parte 1, para podermos focar no romance bonito se desenvolvendo, aparece do nada e a batalha final é sem graça (ainda bem que o foco da parte 2 é romance, afinal ou seria decepcionante lol). Jin Mu como vilão também deixa de impressionar e se torna realmente detestável. Temos pouco tempo com a batalha final e Cho Yeong com suas memórias.
O romance entre Uk e Cho Yeong é agridoce. Jang Uk tenta lutar contra o surgimento de sentimentos por uma mulher que ele não sabe que é Naksu, mas não consegue e acaba descontando isso sendo um tremendo imbecil. Ao mesmo tempo, ele não consegue deixar para lá. Ele afasta e puxa Yeong de volta porque não consegue ficar longe e impedir de querer protegê-la a qualquer custo enquanto se convence de que ainda quer morrer. Não foi um caminho fácil, mas devido as circunstâncias, aceitável. Eu entendo as escolhas das Irmãs Hong sobre esse romance.
Se o enredo de amnésia não existisse aqui, então a sensação de inevitabilidade de amar sua alma gêmea, também não iria existir. O roteiro é delicado. Ele nos lembra que Jang Uk e Naksu são destinados, são Luz e Sombra. (E Cho Yeong não é a Luz, ela é a Sombra e sempre será).
Um ponto elogiável, é o fato das irmãs Hong terem elevado o patamar das declarações amorosas de kdramas. Nenhum bate, todas as declarações da parte 2 são tocantes e de fazer um ser de coração gelado, lacrimejar. Jane Austen provavelmente gostaria de escrever a declaração sobre o braseiro no Verão.
Go Younjung e Lee Jaewook não só nos entrega química rara, também entregam atuação de qualidade e impecável. Go Younjung vive em uma linha tênue entre ser a delicada Cho Yeong, mas mudar completamente a expressão do rosto, dos olhos e a postura quando a protagonista lembra da verdadeira identidade (e consequentemente, ela fica depressiva, chora por três episódios seguidos e se culpa por ter assassinado o amor da vida dela, mas ainda tem gente que acharia uma boa ideia ela voltar a lutar fisicamente e ser uma assassina por capricho). Lee Jaewook entrega a mudança do personagem com louvor. O ator do Seo Yul é o que faz descer a nota de atuação porque ele ainda continua tão ruim em sua atuação quanto na parte 1, enquanto todo mundo se mantém em uma linha estável de qualidade.
Os figurinos, fotografia e cenografia estão mais bonitos na parte 2. A trilha sonora, finalmente compõe o ambiente, não só nos faz perceber que é uma cena romântica como na parte 1.
Eu gosto mais da parte 2, de uma forma geral. A condução do romance, da química, da direção é extravagante, combina com o roteiro e nos ofereceu uma das cenas mais bonitas de kdramas (a dos vagalumes e o casamento, eu digo).
A parte 2 é incompreendida e injustiçada por uma parcela de pessoas que não entendem que a troca de atrizes nunca existiu.

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SO SO GOOD. I can't get over it.

This is my first time writing a review, and I know I'm kinda late, but I just had to write one. Before watching S2, I saw a lot of people comment about how much they disliked it. I also thought S2 would be bad because I found out the actress of the FL changed. Obviously I was biased about S1 at the time but I decided to watch S2 just out of loyalty for AOS.

I gotta say I had little to no expectations for S2 but watching it completely changed my mind. Maybe it's because I'm a romance girlie at heart but in my opinion I like it way better than S1. In S1, it introduced the world of AOS focusing on more of the character development and world building, but this season tied everything together, focusing more on the romance between Jang Uk and Cho Yeong/Naksu.I know people were not happy about the change of the FL, but it makes sense as in the start of S1, GYJ originally acted as Naksu. I've also seen others complain about how they didn't like this season as Naksu's personality completely changed due to the amnesia element. But in my opinion, what we saw was the true side of Cho Yeong, the girl she would've been if she weren't trained to be Naksu. We have to keep in mind that she was only guarded like that because she was trained to be. I like how this was 10 episodes (although it would've been nice if it was longer) because it was more fast paced and I also like how we got to see a different side of Jang Uk. All the heartbreak just made it better. Or maybe it's just because I love angst.

This drama was DEFINITELY worth watching, and it's so good that I'm rewatching it. If you're hesitant about watching it, you guys have to give it a go.

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A little bit disappointing compared to season 1

On one hand, I feel like the final episode is a little bit rushed. On the other hand, I feel that it's good enough. The series is already long enough to end it. To be honest, I think this season is created to attract the audience. And the ending is also not as great as I have expected, after how they ended the season 1.

Also, Heo Yun-ok turns into someone completely different from how she was in season 1. But I understand they do that to let Naksu remember who she really is.

The other thing I don't like about this season 2 is that my favorite actress Jung So-min never appears for at least one single scene!! They can just let her play the soul of Jin Bu-yeon like how they did in season 1 but no, they use the young actress instead, and that makes me so disappointed. I like Go Youn Jung, and I think she did okay in her role, but Jung So-min is really the star of the show in season 1, and she was the reason why I decided to watch the series in the first place, and I believe that was the case for many others too. I feel really unfair that the production crew keeps her out of season 2.

And maybe because Naksu is now performed by a different actress, so her aura and her charisma seems to disappear in this season.

Anyway, it's still an okay watch to me, though. I like the lovebird Park Jin and Kim Yeon, the Crowned Prince and his turtle, the character development of Seo Yul, and a few cool moments of Jang Uk.

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Great if you are a fan of the lead couple. So so if not.

1/ WHAT I LIKED:

- Naksu / Cho Yeong / Jin Bu Yeon : We left Naksu as a petrified soul shifter at the end of part 1. We find her here as Bu Yeon with a new face and new powers. She will slowly regain her memories as Naksu forcing a struggle of souls which will determine the fate of our heroine. I thought the transitions were well made despite some conflicting theories. I enjoyed the character’s journey in this part 2. I did not want her to go back to her sword days. I was content of her evolution.
- Jang Uk: Dark Uk is pretty badass as a bounty hunter of soul shifters. Scheming Uk was quite ok when he counter schemed the bad guys' plans. His role became a bit messy in the middle part but he makes de last and decisive moves.
- Uk Yeong : I found Uk's relationship with Yeong sizzling at first, then rather fun and cute because of many magic moments they threw in the drama just for the sake of the two characters. I enjoyed these moments. The relationship has some back and forth a little bit annoying especially from Uk’s side, but then Naksu starts to find her memories back. It was a little underwhelming how they finally recognized each other but I liked that they did not make a huge thing of it. Instead, they made choices to address the challenges and issues they were in and accepted their fated encounter. I liked that quiet responsible approach.
- Jin Bu Yeon / Ji Seol Ran: The truth about the character explained and resolved the situation.
- Closure: The drama gave a proper ending to most of the characters.

2/ WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:

- The plot was thin and I felt it lacked consistency and smart writing. Jin Mu looked a weak villain and his demise was not even impressing. Rather funny. There are some twists about the royals and the mages and one character which were decent but a little too "easy" to be called "twists".
- Master Lee : Man became annoying suckling theories out of his thumb.
- Love triangle. Funny in part 1. Annoying in part 2. CP used to hit on Mudeok but it looked acceptable as a race for an unmarried woman. Here he hits on her new version knowing she is “married”. The confusing status of Bu Yeon and the sense of no propriety of the CP just for the sake of love triangle was upsetting for me. Yul 's trajectory was terrible. He made rash, out of character decisions that made him unlikeable at some point.
- Dang Gu was useless other than giving hints until the final fight.
- I wished they toned down Park Jin's funny new hobby but ok it has some good purpose at times.

3/ CHARACTERS - ACTORS:

- Need to praise the acting of Go Yoon Jung. I was skeptical. She bluffed me. I loved her in this drama. Great job composing a complex character who inherited different names and pasts.
- Lee Jae Wook was good. He created a very cold, powerful Uk with a sensitive touch in this part 2.
- Shin Seung Ho made the CP quite fun and likeable despite his flaws.
- Good acting from the rest of the main cast except for Yoo In Soo that I found a bit extreme in his expressions.

4/ OST: Very good. Loved it.

5/ REWATCHABLE VALUE: Yes for the cute leads and their fun emotional scenes and the action scenes.

6/ OVERALL: A proper part 2 for the ones who love Uk and Yeon and want to know their fate from being born to being master pupil then dead and revived to recognizing each other again… There are some draggy parts, some contradicting and confusing revelations and a lacking plot but overall, the story of these two is nice and entertaining. I enjoyed watching this drama week in week out and comment it with the fellow Alchemists. 8/10.

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The drama in general is good but main leads totally carried this part 2

Alchemy of Souls is definitely one of the best dramas this year but I have to point out that this part 2 couldn't live the expectations to me. It's not bad but the main leads totally carried with their good acting and chemistry. Of course, the cinematography continued to be amazing and the effects as well. We can't say bad things about the acting too, at least for me it was good. The chemistry between all actors (especially the main leads) continued to be good too. So what exactly didn't go that well?

Ok, first, main leads were the big event to me and they completely stole the show. I was afraid of Jaewook not having a good chemistry with the new actress but gosh he had. Second, I felt like most of the negative points is in the way that the writers decided to develop the story. I felt that 10 episodes were too short for the things the writer wanted to do and everything felt a little too fast. The writer wanted to build up again the relationship between the characters and Naksu (now being in her own body) and I understand that but I felt that doing that all over again made the drama repetitive and also made me feel like everything between main leads were happening way too fast. On the one hand I liked it because I'm not a big fan of slowburns, and thanks to that I felt that this season had more romantic moments between the main leads. But on the other hand, thinking about the story itself, I felt that it was a little rushed. Also I felt that the secondary characters lost a bit of charisma they had in the first season and a lot of scenes felt draggy. And the biggest disappointment to me: not being able to see that badass Naksu from season 1. I understand that things are different now and she was practically a "villain" in the first episodes because she was being controlled. But I felt that we all liked Naksu because besides liking her personality as Mudeok, she was a badass before. I think I can say for everybody that we were all expecting to see the badass Naksu again and unfortunately we didn't. And what disappointed me the most is that I felt that this part 2 were totally focused on Jang Uk being the badass character (don't get me wrong I loved it, especially because we can see his grow), and seemed that Naksu were summed up only as Jang Uk's love interest.

So yeah to me it seems that the Hong sisters did not know how to develop the 2nd part as well as the first one, which caused a feeling of disappointment in many people, including me. Luckily, the cast, the plot in general and other things still made the drama overall memorable for me, despite the flaws in this part 2.

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Disappointing

I liked the first fighting scenes with Naksu in Part 1, she looked impressive so when she got burned and Mudeok became FL, it was jarring but I soon fell in love with Mudeok as Naksu. Then found out Mudeok won’t be Naksu in Part 2 -again that was jarring.

Really wanted to give new FL a chance because of the fighting scenes in Part 1. Happy with new Naksu with no memory acting more like Buyeon. But when Naksu’s memory came back, waited for Naksu to appear but she didn’t, just felt like she was always Buyeon still. Was it bad acting? Don’t think so because Naksu in those fight scenes was bad ass. Bad directing? Did directors sleep through those scenes? Even a scene where she dresses herself like assassin Naksu, trying to regain her physical strength (like when she was Mudeok) to get revenge for her death and soon-to-be death and Yul sees her and warns her to not do this in case people recognises her as Naksu, and she’d be hunted, then she decides to continue to dress as Buyeon. But even dressed as Buyeon, Naksu can’t hide her personality.

So Naksu didn’t act like Naksu so the interactions with ML didn’t feel right. The whole romance with ML didn’t feel right. It was unclear who he actually snogged, that long kiss between them was when he thought she was Buyeon - the confusion to the audience or maybe just me,made him not very likeable as a ML, like he was cheating on Mudeok/Naksu so made the kissing scenes very uncomfortable to watch. And if Naksu was Naksu, she would have been furious that he made out with Buyeon. That would have been a good scene to show Naksu was back, her throwing a few knives at his face!

It would have been better to end AOS at Part 1 and Part 2 was a totally different story altogether, that way I could have enjoyed the romance in Part 2 without the characters acting out of character bothering me so much.

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Phenomenal

Such a great drama. I've been watching kdramas for 10 years and it has been a long time since I have been hooked on a drama! But this is the one! Alchemy of souls! Having seen part 1 and nearly all of part 2, I can safely say both actresses in season 1 and 2 give the show its magic. Some people compare them but they really shouldn't!

This drama has brilliant special effects, a beautiful OST, talented actors and a really good storyline. If I had it my way I'd ask for a lifetime of episodes. Can't wait to see how part 2 ends! Hoping for a happy ending and/or cliffhanger preparing for a third season hehe!

If you are looking for a great historical fantasy series, then I have found the one for you!

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