Alchemy of Souls Season 2: Light and Shadow (2022)

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.)

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NGL This is one of the best BEST EPIC K-DRAMA I have watched till now!!! ? From the story and the characters (initial to finish) was just a wonderful adventure for me. The story is just that great with the background settings and visual effects. The fighting scenes are epic ??? The dialogue and the characters are truly magical. The stunning leads and their love chemistry was just mouth watering ? The various obstacles they faced together from start to finish was the epic. Loved the bromance and the friendship between the characters and the love story of the side characters was also a delight to watch. Overall 10/10 for me. This K-Drama is an epic blockbuster. Loved it ❤️❤️❤️

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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.

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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.

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Alchemy of Souls: The ill-planned side story.

(Please note that there was no way that I could possibly review this season separately from season one as this drama is a continuation of it).

This season was a roller coaster, that’s for sure, and writing this review was certainly challenging for me. From forcing myself to get into the slow start of season 1 to absolutely adoring it and excitedly waiting for season 2, I must say that my expectations were high, yet realistic for this season. All in all, I found that season 2 was well rounded for the little time they had, and they managed to pack the season to the brim where up until the eighth episode, we were still guessing where things would go or how they could possibly resolve everything in time.

For starters, the Hong sisters did an exceptional job at building the Alchemy of Souls world and I was rather sad to see that they were only making 10 episodes for this season. They introduced so many aspects, possible spin offs and unique storylines that could have easily taken this season, to a follow up of a 20 episode season like its predecessor.

There was also a major shift in terms of the story from the first season, and was even pointed out by some, that the posters clearly indicated this by giving an illusion of being action packed in the first season to a more wispy romance for the second. However, as we are introduced to these new and different issues, and seeing the shift in focus from where the story ended in season one, I can’t help but feel they may have missed the mark on certain aspects.

As much as I love a good mushy romance and although we got a happy ending where EVERY character found some form of happiness, the transition into the new season felt messy and ill planned. From the amnesia trope lasting much longer than anyone would have hoped, to the representation of our ever confident and mentally strong FL being downgraded to a helpless damsel in distress. Let’s not forget the anticlimactic reveals of important plot points in the story and the over-dramatisation of the “three deaths” which felt wrongly placed and unnecessary considering it didn’t do much for the story, except shock the audience.

In saying that, I absolutely loved the chemistry between the cast members and thought everyone did a marvellous job at portraying their characters, and the emotions that came with them! Both Jo Jae Yoon and Go Yoon Jung did an outstanding job in terms of their ability to continue the performance of their characters from their original actors, Do Sang Woo and Jung So Min, as well as Oh Na Ra and Yoo Joon Sang making us swoon over their romance, heartbreak and reconciliation.

Another incredible performance to acknowledge and possibly the best character growth throughout this entire drama (season one and two), has to be the growth and development of Jang Uk played by Lee Jae Wook. His performance throughout was fantastic where, as the audience, we were able to feel each emotion felt throughout the story. It’s almost as if the Hong sisters wrote this character especially for him!

All that aside, I enjoyed watching this season with its highs and lows, despite the inconsistencies and questionable moments. The cast, along with the production crew, the CGI used and even the OST were done exceptionally well! One small wish I do have is that we will get to see Go Yoon Jung and Lee Jae Wook working alongside together in another project soon - their chemistry simply oozes out of your screen like warm honey!

x dramafoxx

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Perfect Part 1 ... fun but confusing Part 2

Part 1 of this drama was one of my favourite things I ever watched. The characters were well-defined, and the story flowed perfectly. Everything made sense and tied well (and very tragically) at the end.
While I still enjoyed part 2, and while I liked the direction of the story in part 2, most of it was really frustrating to watch. Here are some of my reasons:
[SPOILERS WARNING!]

1. Master Lee
His character was absolutely charming in part 1. I loved how he subtly helped Jang UK reach his destiny and always looked after both of them. But in part 2, his character only seemed to exist just to confuse us and throw us off, so when the real predictable plot happens, we'd be surprised.
In one episode, he says that Bu Yeon is dead, only to reveal two episodes later that, nope! she was actually alive all along...
And then he tells Yul about this big hard choice that UK will have to make between saving Naksu with Hwansu or doing the right thing, but we never saw UK make this choice or even consider it ever?!
Don't get me wrong, it would've hurt to see him make this choice and I'm glad he didn't, but why foreshadow something that was never relevant?

2. Jin seol ran
The whole "She was actually Jin seol ran all along" seemed irrelevant to the plot. She didn't help them like...at all?
Except at the end with the basin but that was after the bird was free and the world was already on fire?
But even then, if the writers went with her being Jin Bu Yeon it would've still made sense. It seemed like an unnecessary added layer of confusion.
If she foresaw all of this, then why didn't she give them a warning? why did she hide in Sari village all this time?

3. Naksu
The memory loss plot realllllyyy dragged. Jang UK seemed to be made slow this season just to stretch the plot. He was really smart in the first part, and I refuse to believe that it took him this long to connect the dots!
Part of why we fell in love with Mudeok was her ruthless, fearless character who had a warm side to her, but she found it hard to show. I didn't feel those characteristics in the second part. Regardless, I think Go Yoon Jung did a great job, and at times I felt like they really were the same person, but those times were rare.
Stretching the memory loss plot robbed us of seeing the Naksu we knew because everything that happened after her regaining her memories felt really rushed. It felt like Mudeok completely disappeared once part 1 ended.
The final scene when she was telling UK that she doesn't want to train anymore felt so detached and out of character from the Naksu we knew and loved...

4. The time jumps
I would have loved to see a little bit of the aftermath of what happened at the end of part 1. 3 years gap was a bit long.
And then again in the last episode, they had a 1 year jump out of nowhere.
One minute we were fighting the firebird the next, we were babysitting Dang-gu and Cho-yeon's babies. From a super intense scene to a super colourful scene. In fact, most episodes had this sharp transition between the scenes. Similar to how 3 main characters died in one scene and were brought back literally 30 seconds later. It felt like a lot of the plot this season was done and then undone over and over again.

Overall, I still loved and enjoyed this drama, and I will dearly miss it. My favourite thing about part 2 was the cute romance since we didn't get to see much of that in the first part. The actors/actresses were great, and the soundtrack was amazing. Weekends will truly feel empty now that this drama is over.

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Why should you watch it?

Because of the prince and the tortoise :')

But seriously:
If you haven't watched Part 1, then don't watch this. This doesn't stand alone.

If you loved the first part of the series and felt like there were unresolved matters and want to enjoy watching the main couple more, then watch Part 2. All the same characters are there.
I gave this overall score of 7.5/10. Because I felt that the plot is now completed (or well used) and this was an okay continuation to the 1st part. They could have changed the characters (/enemies)a bit. Now the plot felt repetitive.

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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!

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When/why to watch it?

When to watch it? of course when you finish season 1. When you want to watch fantasy, romance, revenge, beautiful costumes, comedy included in the best way. Also when you want to give up and you need that hand to continue.

Why to watch it? I know that there are some bad reviews, but I believe that it depends on the eyes you see the series. The ambience and the magic helps to make you feel that it was real at some point. And the storyline closes everything that end up open in the first season.

I hope this helps someone to watch it when your feelings or your live match the energy of Alchemy of Souls 2. And please tell me if it does!

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The best love story that ever existed!

First of all, I just can't believe that it ended already. Its been three weeks since it ended but I feel so empty inside. I keep on rewatching all the episodes. I just miss them so much. The excitement and frustration from waiting for new episodes. The theories that circled through my head. The way I betrayed Christmas and NewYear because I was more excited for AOS than them. It was such an unforgettable feeling. There's no other drama that made me feel like this before. I've become so obsessed and can't seem to let them go. I can't watch other dramas because AOS set the bars so high.

I'm telling you, this is the BEST KDRAMA. Everything about it speaks PERFECTION. But one of the best part was the LOVE STORY. Just like I said, its the best love story that ever existed. So if you're here for romance, don't hesitate and go watch it now!

?????- 10
Three years after the tragedy that led Mu-deok to run wild and kill innocent people, engineered by Jin Mu, Jang Uk, who returned from the dead as a result of the powerful Ice Stone inside his body, becomes a ruthless hunter of soul shifters and becomes increasingly isolated due to his heartbreak over the death of his love—Mu-deok. He then meets the mysterious heiress of Jinyowon, Jin Bu-yeon, who resembles Nak-su.

- This season focused more on romance. That's why they change the title to Alchemy Of Souls: Light and Shadow.
LIGHT represents Jang Uk and SHADOW represents Cho Yeong/Naksu. It shows how they fall in love all over again, even without recognizing each other. I like how the story unfolds, the parallels from the first season, and how each characters changed.

"?? ????????? ?? ???? ?????'? ????? ???? ?? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ????. ?? ???????? ??? ??????? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ???? ?????."
- I believed that this line is the perfect summary for the whole season. It shows the purpose on why they made this season. LOVE CONQUERS ALL!
They changed her appearance, removed her memories and locked her up but in the end Jang Uk ends up finding her. Why? Because light and shadow cannot be separated. They are INSEPARABLE.

Also, the other characters was given their own room to develop their stories. Everyone has their own closure, even those who lacked closure in S1. It was given to them perfectly here in S2. The story was well wrapped. Just prepare yourself for the biggest plotwist! I will not spoil it

There are also some annoying villains who carried the story. Jin Mu was the top of them. His greed lasted till the end.

?????? & ????- 10
I'll start with ??? ????, the one who lead the whole 30 episodes kdrama. He deserves the best actor award this year. His acting was insane. He perfectly showed how Jang Uk changed over the two seasons. I really can't imagine other actors doing that role, Lee Jae Wook was born for it. Actually this role is too much for a 24 year old actor but JaeWook did it. I respect him so much.

As for ?? ???? ????, she also did a great job. She succeded in making the viewers love her. For those who already watched S1, you'll know that they changed the actress. From Jung So Min to Go Youn Jung. But it's totally understandable in this drama. Its fantasy and involves soul shifting. And Go Youn Jung is not a stranger in the series, she's the one who potrayed the original Naksu in S1. Her role here in S2 is the complete opposite of her role in S1. She perfectly potrayed a woman without memories. The development of her character from the cruel assassin to a clueless priestess.

Its time to talk about Lee Jae Wook and Go Youn Jung's chemistry. The chemistry that I didn't expect at all. Its insanely offcharts. Be it onscreen or offscreen. Their chemistry leaded this season to a great success.

?????- 10
I just love all the OST in this drama. This season only has three OST but had its own meaning. I already downloaded it and bought the OST ALBUM. They are just simply a MASTERPIECE!..

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??????? ?? ?????: ????? ??? ?????? (A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED KDRAMA) ♡♡♡

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