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

ALCHEMY OF SOULS 2 WORTH EVERY MILISECOND!!

First I'll express my disappointed after the announcement of Jung So Min ousting the FL role and being replaced by Go Yoon Jung. But all the perception changes after getting to episode 2 of season 2 (the highest so far). She's an excellent actor and deserves the role and I can already expect a lot from her. Season 1 was a hit of its own and probably the best Korean traditional drama I've watched followed by the likes of Ju Mong.

Into it, the story to begin with, is an excellent continuation and everything is explained since the end of season 1. It's three years into the future. I can't wait to see how everything unfolds between Jang UK(who still uses Naksu's sword) and Bu Yeon/Naksu.

The Casting is as perfect as season 1 and am more interested in Songrim's new leader Dang Gu to see how he leads and another change is the ever serious Park Jin in his new life after stepping down.( a joker but a serious one when seriuoness is needed). The acting is top notch thanks to dedicated actors and directors. The stunts are done so well, emotions expressed in way there could be no better way. You can't get a flaw in the acting. And I swear Jang UK is a different pleasure this season. A taste like no other. You love every scene he is in and you can't wait for when he next appears. But Yeon or Naksu's story is a wonder you need to see.

For the music from the OST, SFX and background music in AOS have never disappointed. The emotions and tense in scenes are well expressed. Top Notch.

Rewatch Value. I've been rewatching season 1 since it's last episode was released and I don't get tired of it. Into the second episode of season 2 and dearest you'll keep going back to start from episode 1 everytime you have a pinch of free time.

Overally I reated season 1 as a 9.5/10 and 10/10 for season 2 so far. It is well deserved though. If you want to watch something worth your time this is the right show to watch starting from season 1. I really can't wait a week for episode 3, WHAT A SHOW!!!

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Boring plot, empty characters and barely any action

Alchemy of souls season 1 exceeded my expectations so my excitement was at peak for season 2. I couldn’t wait to see naksu back in her original body. Since the bar was set soo high i thought writers will take everything to the next level, more plot twists, more action, more magic and more alchemy of souls. But season 2 was nothing more than a story of marriage of convenience couple going back and forth with their feelings. Yes!! This season was made to bring naksu and Uk together thru the overused “Fate” and “amnesia”plot.

The main lead couple was going to end up together eventually but the story could’ve been soo much better than this . Writers incorporated rapunzel’s story in the show 😭 . I am not even joking as FL had amnesia and she was trapped in a room by her mother and awaited a prince. And then Jang uk walks in as expected. They tried to bring in the same chemistry that yul and crown prince had with mudok but failed. I won’t say that the main lead couple had zero chemistry, they definitely had chemistry but what he had with mudok was magical. The new FL could’ve had her own identity but she was forced to live under naksu’s shadow.

All characters lost their perspective roles, Park Jin become a comic character and had no role left in the story. Yul was left to suffer again with his one sided feelings and guilt. Dang gu,cho yeon and crown prince also had no part to play in the plot. There were all empty characters with no specific role.

I forced myself to finish season 2 just to find out if Yul will live or not. Otherwise I had lost all interest in episode 1.

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Huge letdown compared to season 1

With S1 of Alchemy of Souls, you had a legit really good drama. The story was so interesting and intense right from the first episode. Like it had everything Suspense, action, amazing music, amazing romance, and phenomenal cinematography. Even the ending was so incredible and satisfying.

S2 of Alchemy of Souls though, was nothing but disappointment. The feelings which we left from S1 were simply not there anymore, no excitement, no attachment nothing. The Female lead for S2 couldn't captivate. I mean she was all looks no acting. Jung So-min was sooo much better and she kept the show going. I couldn't find an ounce of Naksu in Go Yoon-Jung.

Now I don't think a season 2 was needed, because the screenwriter for Alchemy of Souls just extended the show with no intentions of giving it a superb ending. Nothing significant happened, and it felt like it was a good show with a bad ending, keeping it precise would've been better. I'm being super generous with my ratings because of how much I loved the first season, which I highly recommend. The second season not so much.

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Shouldn't have existed

I initially dropped it b/c I thought the problem was the switch of actresses, but after death's game and moving I grew to love the actress. So I started it again,
turns out the problem wasn't the actress nor the chemistry, the writing was just unbearably soap-level bad:
- They dragged out the amnesia until the last 2 episodes, and they had no reaction to it, b/c he was already in love with the new Naksu and didn't care about the old one that much apparently.
- Naksu had a personnality transplant and lost all brain, they turned our smart lead into a damsel, she never got her powers back.
- The secondary characters were just there,
- there was no solid plot just milking a soapy story
- I couldn't follow the characters logic in anything...

Anyway a total waste of my time, fortunately the FL did other projects and won't be remembered for this flop

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GOYOUNJUNG!

THE DRAMA IS SO GOOD, Y'ALL SHOULD WATCH THIS. the characters is all so loveable, i love how they portrayed yeong's cheerful and bubbly character. in season 1 yeong is the shadow and uk is the light but now uk is the shadow and Yeong is the light, there's so many parallel that hurts me. BUT OVERALL THIS IS GREAT! i love the main couple and the second couple, the way they are looking at each other got me laughing and giggling. she's so bold and confident she's pretty and she knows it! when he says that she's pretty, i remember the scene where he says she will always look pretty to him. it just shows that they are destined to be together, they are separated for three years, THREE YEARS. but in the end he still found her and will love her again. their love story will always break me but also made me believe that love do exist

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What a huge disappointment

Did they hire some new writers? Should the Hong sisters just retire now after this travesty? I for sure will not watch their dramas ever again. So many shows that start strong, but then they lose the plot. S1 was perfection. Loved it, especially because of the intelligent characters and interesting plot.

In s2, we have a paper-thin plot, that’s dragged out unnecessarily long. Several characters are just clueless now - unexpectedly. They were quick on the take in s1, in s2 they lost half their IQ. The lead actress only has one expression the whole time. They tried to compensate by putting in extra kissing scenes, but it all felt rushed and forced.

The women are all either weak and helpless or bitchy and conniving. (Apart from Kim do Ju, still the best character!). Did they regress back to peak misogyny? I mean they had an amnesia trope and damsel in distress tropes and all kinds of nonsense. What a let down Hong sisters!

And the climax? The most dull one ever. Do yourself a favor, read the fan theories for s2 which are 10000x more interesting than the slop served to us by the Hong sisters.

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Nothing good came out of this season

It’s already pretty obvious as the rating and popularity of both seasons are much different. And rightfully so, i am here to explain why..

The story has changed quite a bit, although it is a continuation of the same story but quite a poorly written one. Everything revolves around the Jin family and their firebird . Songrim is empty and all the mages are gone!! You wonder what happened to the alchemy of souls as it only exists in the background. The plot is boring and slow.

Uk becomes a hunter! He behaves like a heart broken bad boy whose actions doesn’t make much sense. He says one thing than does completely other( opposite).
The female lead has amnesia even so she feels nothing like her old character. She is clingy, frail and a pushover. Nothing like the witty, blunt and strong minded girl we were introduced to in the first season. The writers forced us to believe that new FL is naksu but failed to make her believable in any way. She was nothing more than a pretty face. We see no action from her considering she is a powerful priestess. They made a whole sentimental scene out of death of maid servant Kim and lady Jin only for them to be alive in the same episode. Like wtf !! Is this a comedy drama!, is this serious writing!!! Like what was that !

Assistant gwanjo freely moves the entire season as if he didn’t make soul shifters run wild. Uk should’ve been chasing him but instead he is killing soul shifters. Like caught the real person behind them bruhh. It did happen eventually but in a very subtle way.
Yul’s moments with the FL had me screaming soo bad like why writer giving steamy scenes to them and wasting time. Like we know nothing will happen between them !! Soi had more spine than any of the other characters. She earned massive respect from me in this season. The 4 seasons were more like flop seasons in this part because we see Uk and little bit Yul in action. Other two are MIA. and have no role in the story.
Anyhow, I skipped many scenes to get to the end. It was hard as the memories of season 1keot haunting me, I just wanted this season to be over.

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The dreaded rushed ending *tada*

Dang that ending was bad.
Could have definitely avoided a few episodes in season 2 to make a proper ending and not rush everything in the last episode.
The last episode in itself is 2 episodes but noooooo let's use flashbacks to end a well built story and put everything to trash in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
I should have stayed on my first impression at the beginning of season 2, when we were explained what happened with Mudeok's body, that should have a been the ending of season 1, not some random flashback in season 2, again a major part of the story rushed and badly used
Such a shame and a waste of time season 2 has been

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A Mediocre watch

Going from watching the masterpiece that Alchemy of souls Season 1 is to this is truly disappointing this season lacked the depth humour and charm season 1 embodied i know alpt of people trash on this drama because if the actresses change but that isn't even on my radar because i liked the new actress of course i preferred the other but for me they didn't really feel like the same person and we ciuld partially understand why but it wasn't only that that failed this season the plot going artificially nowhere to the bombastic anticlimactic ending i was really hoping since she had been dubbed the workds deadliest assassin to see even a little taste of the power but no not even an imaginary glimps all in all it still provided something to chew on hence the 7 but for me personally imaginary gonna stick with only season 1

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All season you wait for Naksu, and when she’s there, she isn’t!

I was a HUGE fan of AOS part 1. Huge fan of Naksu. I disagree with other reviews that say that the actress in season 2 is not good. Re watch episode 1, She is a brilliant warrior, great actress. However, I think the Hong sisters were sleeping when they wrote her character for season 2. Yes, I understand she is Bu Yeon, until episode 9. And what does Bu Yeon, a mighty powerful priestess do? She follows Uk, in semi trance, like a stupid teenage schoolgirl. Literally. That’s all she does. However in episode 9, Naksu is back, her memories, her powers…where is Naksu? Do you think it’s plausible for this mighty mage and warrior to STUMBLE TWICE, when she is followed by a wraith? You know, the same Naksu who performed the alchemy of souls and fought single handedly an army of mages. What happened to your brains Hong sisters? Also Bu Yeon’s mother character….she used to be so strong, and now her brother told her, you are old, you have white hair, hand over the plaque, and she does?
Incongruent, horrible, totally destroyed the series for me. Horrible!
So I and Yul merit mentioning, loved their story, also the turtle is fab.

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SPOILER!

Bro, I just finished the last episode today 😢 😭. I am proud of having waited 3 months for Alchemy of Souls to come out, when It was first announced. I watched it since Lee Jae Wook caught my attention in Extraordinary You,after I proceeded to watch DoDoDoSolSolLaLaSo. Gosh, I am so happy to have watched both seasons of this amazing drama. I was ready to expect a sad ending, but I'm relieved that Jang Uk got his good life back. Regarding Jin Bu Yeon, I didn't like her but seeing what she did, damn she is the best for that, I was a little confused with the Jin Seol Ran situation but I'm glad everyone got their happy ending. As a Lee Jae Wook supporter, I'm happy he got his role, because seeing how successful this drama has been, it's opened up many opportunities for our favourite Lee Jae Wook and all the actors. Seo Yul, Dang Gu, Naksu, Jang Uk, Park Jin, Kim Doju, Jin Heo Kyung, Lee Cheol and our second King, Go Won, they will always have a place in my drama heart. I'm just confused as to why Naksu is now called Jin Bu Yeon. Anyway, LEE JAE WOOK, I'M SO PROUD OF YOU😭 I definitely recommend this amazing dramas, it is a masterpiece 100/100 rating.

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An engaging sequel, but not a necessary one

Even though I’ve marked my review as a spoiler, I really don’t think I’ve given out anything you didn’t anyway expect. But still read at your own risk.

Let’s start with the good. But before that, a very special shout-out to whoever has styled Lee Jae Wook this season, my man is always charming but he looks drop dead gorgeous here. Moving on:
-This part is as engaging as its former; there are times when I’m mad annoyed, but I never skip seeing the episode on time. Even when an episode feels like a filler, I’m invested.
-Most of the cast is just great as we know, but I’m mentioning it again just for Go Yoon Jung who possessed the seamless ability to switch between Naksu and Bu Yeon (basically memory-less Naksu) perfectly.
-GYJ and LJW had electric chemistry, weirdly I felt it more in the parts where Naksu had lost her memory and Jang Uk thought of her as Bu Yeon. The push and pull and the tension was just WOW. They were so natural together, and the show really utilised their chemistry well with all those kissing scenes lol.
-The word building for part 2 was also great, a new world where the ice stone was exposed to all seemed colder, darker and more hopeless (the rules like in first part, were very convenient though, even more so here)
-The show as a whole never loses its humour; there are so many things I can complain about, but they always manage their tone of serious with good laughes in between.


The bad:
-The show has since season 1, been way too obvious about the bad guys. Jinmu’s evil smirks, the unanimous assembly and the King being dumb power-hungry idiots, Seo Yul’s cousin having hidden intentions, the queen only caring about soul-swapping for a more beautiful body - it’s all so panifully obvious about whose intentions are evil and we know above all somehow it is Jinmu heading them all.
-Some characters have just been around and not done much when needed. Seo Yul has a good amount of screen time but has never added anything substantial to the big moments. Jin Cho Yeon being the younger daughter of the Jin family could have brought chaos in her own ways, but she comes and goes when needed. Master Lee is ofcourse a must mention, he gives his speeches, does not reveal what he knows to the right people, and vanishes away as he pleases.
-One thing this show is consistent in, is keeping the love story at its core and centre (much at the expense of all the other plot lines). As much as I like seeing Naksu and Jang UK’s love story, it’s pointless to have these many dedicated one sided love lines. Crown Prince and Yul for Naksu, a very useless Lady Yun Ok for Jang Uk, Sol-i for Seo Yul (this at least made sense plot-wise so I’ll let it go). Like just get some of them together, what’s the harm? I was convinced in part 1 that towards the end Yun Ok and Seo Yul could have a romance but they somehow made her very annoying and mean for no reason in part 2. Dan Gu and Cho Yeon love story also came with very little build up, they were cute, but that’s it. There could have been a lot more to their love story, but I guess they had to save screen time for Jin Mu’s smirks. I’m very glad though that Kim Do Jo and Park Jin got their fair share of romance in this part.
-Naksu’s reveal, in episode 9 (very concerning and stupid by the way how Jang Uk did not realise it was Naksu inspite of NUMEROUS hints and a similar way of talking), was pretty underwhelming. I enjoyed their scenes before it too, but it felt like a different love story all together so at this point I expected passion, drama, something? They were like let us feign ignorance. I was like okay. That’s it? It felt a little too underwhelming. I was atleast expecting a typical moment compilation.
-I am not someone who complains about logic and stuff a lot in a kdrama, especially one of fantasy genre, but all in all there was a lot of stuff that could have been solved easily. Crown Prince could have just sided with Jang Uk earlier and the show could have wrapped up sooner. There were these filler romance episodes in between too, that were fun to see, but added nothing to the overall plot line. As usual again, we never saw Naksu in full form. This part has and will always annoy me. This show actually teases us since the beginning that this is a Naksu show, but part 1 ends up being more about Jang Uk’s journey. That is why I walked in part 2 with lower expectations.

All in all, what bothers me is when a show has all the right elements and can easily be one of the best ones out there, but screws itself up by underutilising some of the characters and messing up the storyline in the dumbest ways imaginable, I felt this was a problem in part 1 as well, but even more so here.

I assume if you’re reading all this you’ve obviously seen part 1 and are wondering if you want to see part 2 as well. In spite of all my complains, I won’t say I didn’t enjoy it, which is why the rating is still that high. This part is as I said, very engaging. I’m annoyed, but I’m somehow always entertained. And if you are someone whose main interest is the romantic aspect, this part precisely serves that, and very well until the first 8 episodes. The chemistry is great in both parts, but I felt it is even better in this part.

The show absolutely did not need the part 2, a lot of this could have been wrapped up in S1 if the show had lesser filler episodes, but since we are here, and we are invested, your core reasons to watch can be to follow all our beloved characters storylines and seeing most of the cast look even better in their new get-ups. It’s best to keep your expectations at rock bottom, storyline wise, and actually watch for the romance.

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