Aramintai

Yea, Hong sisters "fame" runs before them, lol. And they're gonna do it again here it seems.

I agree. At least to keep her on our minds more I think the show would have benefited from her presence at least when thinking about something or imagining something. But she probably had all of her scenes shot at the beginning so they didn't even show her as herself while talking to Bu-Yeon inside the ice stone - which really didn't make sense since they were there as souls.

It's not just Korean media, it's media in general - they'll do anything for clicks, spoilers be damned. I really hate when people do that - makes watching something less fun.
Dunno how people would have reacted here if the rumor wasn't leaked though. Maybe it would have been crazy here. But right now it's mostly just futile frustration because nothing can be changed anyway, or enthusiasm from GYJ's fans. But I've seen other places are raving crazy, like the twitter. Better not go there for your sanity, lol 😂

To be fair, JSM wasn't given action scenes to shine yet, just one move that doesn't tell much. So you can't really tell whether she'd be good or bad at them.

20 episodes of JSM’s stellar acting. But then we’ll have an actress swap for 10 “afterparty” episodes. Will it be just as good without her though?

Here's a question - what if there's no FL in part 2 at all?
I mean, questionable information sources aside, those tabloids only spoil everywhere that JSM won't be in part 2 for sure, they've not seen her on set, she initally didn't sign the contract for part 2, yada yada, etc., etc. But where do they get the information that GYJ will be in part 2? Afaik, nobody has seen her on set either and her contract for part 2 also is not confirmed yet. Are they just talking from their asses here? Because they just naturally assume if one actress is out it equals the og actress is in?

In any case, f*ck those tabloids big time for spoiling the plot 👿. And I hope Naksu will return in some form in part 2. If she won't be there at all I'm not watching it.

Read a below comment today from SK tabloid Naver. They are firm about this.

So what are your bets for Naksu's body:
1. Og body "on ice" stashed somewhere?
2. Og body recreated from scratch by the powers of the ice stone?
3. ???

Hey, you're not alone. I too find this plot twist weird to begin with, because it's not a book and showrunners shoud know that the audience gets attached to actors faces when they play their characters on screen.
For me it will diminish rewatchability of part 1 to a certain level, because I hate rewatching plots where a favorite character dies. Sure, you may say that Naksu as a character will live, but I've no attachement to og actress. I hope she'll do just as well as JSM, otherwise part 2 will be ruined for me as well.

I hope they won't move the schedule, December is pretty early. But would be great, I hate waiting for sequels.

I wonder how that tabloid confirmed it, when it's all under wraps and showrunners aren't spilling the beans. Where they stalking the set or smth?

But whatever, I was prepared for this already. My only hope the plot will justify it well and swapped actress will play Naksu on the same level of quality as JSM.

1. There actually is no Mu-Deok. Just Naksu in Bu-Yeon's body.
2. He likes Naksu, but she's already taken.
3. Marrying Bu-Yeon will not be allowed by the Jin clan, because he's a prince and has a kingdom to rule. They need somebody who'll stay within their clan.

No, it's gonna be a sequel.

Yea, second episode left a better impression than the first. I'm glad they didn't drag their misunderstadings and FL is already working with ML.

Yea, cliffhanger ending is a given. But I hope they'll clear up the rumor in part 1 without dragging it to part 2.

Yea, reporter and prosecutor don't have any regard for their lives it seems, I don't really like their part of the plot, they keep blindly running from one trap to another without any sort of coherent plan. Though I do like NIS guys - they're tough pros. And though reporter got herself in real trouble now, prosecutor still thinks he's invincible after barely surviving two bomb explosions. That's some thick plot armor on him.
And I agree about killer girl rookie actress being subpar to JSM, thank goodness AoS showrunners made that last minute swap for FL. Overall, they have a stellar cast there.

It's not exactly a season 2, it's called part 2. 10 more episodes that they're finishing filming right now. It will air in December the earliest.

I was rewatching some episodes and I think the first third of the show was way funnier than the rest, when it was pure "master & pupil against the world" plot. Episodes 5 and 6 were the best in this regard, some scenes were simply hilarious. I recall these early episodes' teasers what got me interested in watching AoS in the first place.
But then it got more serious and complicated, especially with that draggy "fake Bu-Yeon" plot we still see no end of, rarely any funny and lighthearted stuff happens now.

Whether they planned to swap actresses for part 2 or not is not known yet. And them actors being rookies or veterans has nothing to with what they planned for the plot or their plans for part 2. It could have been a cast full of veterans if they wanted to and still it would have made no difference for the plot or their plans for part 2.

Also, The Four Seasons are all rookies and nobody's switching them for part 2 - it' s something that's been confirmed already. And all of them are well loved in spite being rookies. Same goes for FL - the main lead. Whomever her actress would have been, swapping her for another actress would have still been a very controversial topic.

So you trying to shoehorn the rumor to initial FL actress being a rookie to be replaced by another rookie, just because they're both rookies that nobody will care about is pointless and some weird reach of logic. It's FL we're talking about here, not some minor side character - initial rookie's acting skills were subpar to what was required hence she was swapped for someone who's skillful and readily available, could have been some other talented rookie if they could have found it as fast. And that's it, there's nothing more to it and again, has nothing to do with what was planned for the plot of both parts.

Yea, I won't find it now. But it is mentioned in this article:
https://www.kdramastars.com/articles/125806/20220712/jung-so-min-not-reprise-role-alchemy-of-souls-part-2-why.htm

Quote:
"The actress appeased fans through her agency, Blossom Entertainment, and said "I'm not leaving. We are discussing appearing in Part 2.""

And in this one was another quote from her then agency:
https://zapzee.net/2022/07/12/go-youn-jung-is-leading-alchemy-of-souls-part-2-instead-of-jung-so-min/
Quote:
"Regarding this, Jung So Min’s agency Blossom Entertainment responded, “She’s not leaving the show. She originally signed the contract to only appear in part 1.”"
and quote:
"Soon after the news hit the wire, the Alchemy of Souls production team stated, “Any information regarding part 2 could act as a spoiler for part 1, which is still on air, so we can’t confirm or deny the report.”"

These are tabloids, so take anything they write with a big grain of salt. But that og JSM's reply was out there, I've seen it.

In any case, whatever it is they decided is still not known. She stays as FL/ stays as Bu-Yeon/ leaves - all up in the air until part 1 is finished.