Alquimia das Almas 2: Luz e Sombra (2022)

BEST DRAMA OF 2022.

AOS S1&2 were phenomenal and it was one of those dramas that I would like to re-watch in the future. It was a pack of everything, best of cast, visually and skills as well, best osts, interesting and fun plot and dialogues.
While watching this drama I laughed, cried and again laughed. I am not a fan of historical themed dramas. But this one was different, while keeping the historical essence, it was funny and modern. I loved the costumes and how their looks and costumes changes after the leap.
S1 was great, no doubt. So min gave it a kick start and set a mark of excellence for the drama. She was excellent in action, funny as hell and cried sm because of her.
However, I will say GYJ did an amazing job in S2 because her job was harder. She had to act while also keeping the essence of mudeok and somin while playing her role. People had high expectations from her and many were waiting to throw shade at her. However, she proved those haters wrong with her acting and was like a fluff cotton ball while acting as Buyeon, however her sassiness returned when she got naksu's memories.
This drama gave the most exposure to Jae Wook. He was still a rising star until a while ago, he got some main lead roles but I guess the scripts weren't as good as this. He got to show his high quality performance and was praised by everyone. I hope he will be casted in more.dramas and cannot wait for his next project.

Leia Mais

Magnificent, Excellent, Perfect and all synonyms as well.

Alchemy of Souls left us back in August 2022 promising it would come back with another season half the size of the original one in December 2022. Were there any high expectations? Of course! Were they met? I realise now that certainly my expectations were low compared to what the second part provided us with.

Part 1 did its thing. Introduced the story and characters to us, made us feel a lot of feelings we did not know we could feel, and left us with a cliffhanger (literally involving a cliff...) that lasted a couple months. The hype for Part 2 was gradually increasing as people started to watch Part 1 right before Part 2 dropped. Everyone, myself included, just wanted to see what happened after that finale.

Story-wise?
Yours truly fully enjoyed it. If I ever complained about it I can't remember anymore what that was about. Of course, sometimes it was a headache trying to understand what was happening, forming theories to keep ourselves busy till the next episode dropped. I am not going to lie and say I wasn't confused sometimes, but there's nothing that was left unexplained (in my opinion).

Character-wise?
I am a huge Jung Somin fan. I was kinda sad she wasn't going to appear in Part 2 but that didn't affect my expectations for the series. Go Younjung absolutely devoured her role. I wanted to see more of her Naksu in Part 1 and I'm so glad we got to see her even for a short 10 episodes. Her Jin Buyeon and her Naksu/Cho Yeong were two entirely different people with the same face, and she managed to convince me that I wasn't looking at the same person.

As for Jaewook, what can I say and where do I even start? He was fantastic. I just couldn't believe Part 2 Jang Uk was the same guy we met during Part 1. Jaewook's acting was just incredible and it played a pivotal role in me liking this part as much as its predecessor.

...

Alchemy of Souls is brilliant. If you haven't watched it, I really am judging you.

[I will continue to write this review later because I pulled an all nighter to watch the finale, definitely not a win for those in the west. But I would gladly do it again.]

Leia Mais

Great Start, Missed Opportunity: Naksu's Revenge Arc Left Unexplored

I was really looking forward to Season 2 after loving Season 1, but then I heard the news that Jung Somin, who played Naksu/Mudeok, wouldn't be back as the main female lead. Honestly, I was pretty upset about it—change is tough, especially after getting attached to a character over 20 episodes. I almost forgot that Go Yoon Jung was the original Naksu. Still, I decided to give it a shot, especially with that crazy cliffhanger at the end of Season 1 that had us all wondering what would happen next.

But Season 2 felt really slow compared to the first one. The story was there, but it just felt all over the place, and it wasn’t just because of the cast changes. I think it mostly came down to the writing. Go Yoon Jung did a great job as Naksu in Season 1, and we were all hoping to see that same strong assassin in Season 2. Instead, the Naksu we got felt completely different after losing her memories, and even when she got them back, she never fully returned to who she used to be. I think this was because of the way the story was written.

They really missed a chance to dive into Naksu's backstory, especially since she's the main character. We were all waiting for her to get her revenge and uncover the truth about her family’s massacre and Jinmu’s manipulation, but it felt rushed and not really explored. The real Naksu would have had a huge reaction after getting her memories back, but the way the plot went just seemed too quick and didn’t fit someone who’s been messed with all her life. Where’s the justice for her? It feels like we got cheated. Season 1 focused a lot on JangUk, and I really wish they’d spent more time on Naksu's origins.

That said, the series still looks great, and the cast does a solid job, especially Go Yoon Jung, who played three characters even though she’s still new to this. But there’s this lingering disappointment because we really wanted the badass assassin we loved from Season 1 back, especially since Yoon Jung is the original Naksu.

Overall, Season 2 is still good, but it falls short in some ways, leaving us feeling both satisfied and disappointed at the same time.

Leia Mais

The good things turned bad and the bad things turned worse

[SPOILER-FREE PART]
I enjoyed watching the first part of the series (I wouldn't call it a masterpiece and it's not even a favorite, but definitely fun!) and I was hoping to see a somewhat worthy conclusion for this story in the second part.
Unfortunately, it looks like everything about the first part that I liked so much was nowhere to be found in the second part. On top of that, the writers somehow managed to worsen the aspects of the drama that were already bad to begin with. At some points while watching I started feeling like they were just making a fool of me.
For these simple reasons, this time around I don't have a list of things that I liked about the drama: the list of the things that I don't like just got horribly long.
[END OF SPOILER-FREE PART]

Starting with the things that were already bad that got even worse:
- The worldbuilding wasn't solid from the get-go, but I was at least hoping that things would stay relatively tame in that regard. Well, I was wrong! This Part 2 managed to produce a new magical artifact and create new magical powers at every turn, all while making the characters completely unable to use their magical means for no reason, all based on what the plot needed from them. The number of times I thought "wait, did that exist all along?!" and "why are you not using your powers/artifact?" might not be infinite, but it's still embarrassingly high.
- While P1 was not rich with fighting scenes, their number was still reasonably high. In P2 there's even less fighting. Also, while the FL used her sword in a couple of instances in P1, here in P2 she barely touches the sheath once and never again. I was looking forward to the rebirth of Naksu and hoping for some badass fights involving her, but I got nothing in the end.
- Introspection doesn't exist, which is amazing considering the amount of time that the characters spend talking about nothing in P2. Most dialogues are just a bunch of poetic lines thrown there for dramatic effect, which only made me feel more alienated. Even Naksu/Bu Yeon wasn't explored at all, which says a lot about how her potential was wasted entirely in the end. Overall, there was a lot of material that the writers could have used from P1, so I can't understand why they chose such a terrible plot for P2.
- I was hoping for the female characters to get better at the very least, but they didn't change for the most part; if they changed it was for the worse. Naksu/Bu Yeon turned from being mature, witty and a little grumpy to being the cardboard cutout of a sheltered princess who whines and pouts whenever things don't go her way: it was painful to watch because her character was actually the most interesting part of the entire series and P2 just ruined it completely. Jin Cho Yeon had the chance to grow from being a plain aspiring wife, but she didn't develop in the least. Heo Yoon Ok turned from being useless to just being annoying. So Yi also had the chance to be more interesting as a character, but her motives revolved entirely around Seo Yul and it got boring very quickly. There's no meaningful bond between women unless it's between a mother and her daughters or just pure hate, which was just sad.
- The love triangles made even less sense in P2. Seriously, WHY?!
- The writers seem not to have learned anything from the ending of P1, because the ending of P2 felt just as rushed and unsatisfying, other than being excessively over the top. I felt like I was watching an Alchemy of Souls parody of some kind.

I wish this was over, but no. The following are the good parts of P1 that were ruined in P2:
- Theme? What theme? This time around the plot is entirely about pointless romance and magic stuff being thrown here and there. If someone could put some fantasy and romance tropes in a blender to make a random plot, this would be the result.
- The dynamic between Bu Yeon and Jang Uk was terrible. Since their master/disciple relationship was nowhere to be found, it really felt like they stayed together all those episodes for the sake of the plot. Her moments with Jang Uk didn't catch my attention at all.
- Bu Yeon/Naksu's personality is nowhere to be found in P2. The fact that she's like that because she lost her memory made sense, but she felt like an entirely different character (a very frustrating and boring one!). The wit and the charm of her character are completely lost here, as well as her mature attitude that made a good contrast with Jang Uk. She turned into a spoiled lady who is obsessed with the idea of eloping for romance and it made me wish she just disappeared from the series for good multiple times.
- Jang Uk's training and rise to the top during P1 made his few fights and adventures very interesting, but in P2 he just became too OP and his fights became very boring. Even the final episodes weren't interesting, because I already knew he would win easily and save the world. The only result was that all the times he conveniently forgot about his powers for the sake of the plot were even more annoying.
- For some reason the props and the special effects looked worse this time around. I also hate how they decided to give Park Jin short hair out of nowhere.

In conclusion, I can't say that I was heartbroken over this (again, Alchemy of Souls isn't even a favorite), but I was definitely disappointed. I can't even recommend watching the series for fun at this point, because this Part 2 just ruined it all.

Leia Mais

WATCH THIS MASTERPIECE

people are saying "this is misogyny!! we wanted naksu back!!" did we watched the same show? cho yeong is very much a badass as she is right now and doesn't need to change. naksu was her trauma, her pain and her suffering and y'all want her back? cho yeong never wanted to become an assassin,she just wanted to be happy and a normal kid but jin mu (glad he's dead) took that away from her. she loses her memory for three years and she is so bright and happy and no has worries. her past memories came back but she knew that she could be that happy (like she was before) if she chose to let naksu (her trauma, pain, angry, sadness, loneliness) go. cho yeong made that decision for her own good, for the little her that wanted that since the day 1. so I'm not gonna sit here and watch y'all ruining this drama just because of this reason. I don't mind for your other reason (like the plot was dragging, the amnesia plot was too long, for the rush ending or anything you didn't like). cho yeong is a badass right now (did y'all see her make up in the last few minutes???) with her divine powers and finding those relics!!

Now that my point was made, I wanna say this one is my favourite kdrama. The plot, the humour, the acting, the script... everything was 🧑‍🍳💋

i really enjoyed their story, their relationship (uk and cho yeong), the bromance, the friendship between seo yol, dang ug (?), jang uk, kim do-joo and park jin (my parents), the chemistry between all of them. everything was perfect. of course it had it's problem but that doesn't stop you from enjoying.

Leia Mais

Middle school romance played by adults

After a few more episodes in, this show is rapidly turning into a major disappointment. Besides my initial concerns listed below, every characterization and plot decision has been childish and terrible. I am getting so tired of back and forth between Jang Uk and Jin Bu Yun. It’s like a middle school romance being played out by adults. So cringy. The infamous Hong sisters are famous for not knowing how to wrap up story threads and it was evident toward the end of the last season. They obviously gave themselves an out by doing a time skip without much explanations and we’re just supposed to go with whatever.

Every episode, I see either Jin Mu or Lady Jin, I’m reminded of their crimes and how everyone knows about it. But they treat these two like some annoying neighbors instead of treasonous criminals. All they can do is take shots at them and make sarcastic remarks. So stupid.

Initial concerns:

What bothers me is how Jin Mu and the Lady Jin are still around even after all they’ve done. Like they kidnapped the queen and swapped her body??? Maybe they’ll explain later but that’s a big plot hole to start the new season with. But what I’m thinking is that by keeping the same villains intact, they’ll recycle the same plots and schemes? I hope not. I initially thought Jang Uk and Jin Bu Yun will take a while to meet but they met right away and ended up “getting married” right away. Anticlimactic, it was.

I also wish they just picked up where they ended. We shall see how this goes.

Leia Mais

OMG, OMG, this was so good, I loved it and I will rewatch it very soon. The best fantasy I have viewed in a Korean Drama. Wow, I'm impressed! I didn't think I was going to like it because of the Season 1 Naksu but I do love the actress who is playing Naksu in Season 2. I have seen her in other dramas. Lee Jae Wook (Jang Uk), where did this actor come from, he is really awesome and I love his acting skills. I want to see more of him. Go Yoon Jung (Naksu) had 3 characters to play and of course, my favorite is Naksu. Hwang Min Hyun (Seo Yul), Shin Seung Ho (Go Won), Yoo Joon Sang (Park Jin), and Oh Na Ra (Kim Do Ju) who are part the main leads roles I mean they did their jobs so awesomely. Hwang Min Hyun was very believable in his character. Yoo In Soo (Park Dang Gu) and Im Chul Soo (Lee Cheol) were support actors who should have been part of the main lead team. That's how good they were. The costumes, the visuals, the animations, and the fantasy were undeniably awesome. I thank all the other supportive actors/actresses who had a part in this drama. The storyline of both Seasons 1&2 OMG, I never loved a Korean drama like this one.

Note: I was chewed out by a newcomer who said all I talk about is the actors and actresses and not the storyline. If I told you the storyline now would that be fair to those who watch it? That's like me telling you the ending. This drama is exceptionally good and for those who love fantasy dramas, this is for you.

Leia Mais

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I really enjoy this series.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Leia Mais

Disappointed in FL and the story. Loved the actress.

I am very disappointed in what they did with the FL. I liked the actress though. All actors did a great job, and I loved the sets. I was super excited about the actress change, but it's just sad what they did to Naksu.

The overall story had so much potential, but it nosedived. Uk became Neo from the Matrix. I haven't been this disappointed in a series since GoT.

...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Leia Mais