Footnoted

I agree, she's pretty irritating to me. It's not innocence it's just dumb. If she's naksu/jin bu yeon - there's no flow from those characters in s1 and it's like a totally different character altogether, it's like the writers just think the audience is stupid and wont notice how weird it is. Yes it does seem like Yul would die and that a good number of the other characters wont have good endings. I hope not, but it seems to be going in that direction and hong sisters endings are usually not the super happy kinds. =X

Not only cant she act at all (has no emotions/same blank expressions), - her character just sucks - I didnt sign up to see naksu/jin buyeon as a silly damsel in distress. also they keep banging on abt her beauty and i dont see it, so it makes watching even more frustrating for me. she has no chemistry with the rest of the cast on and off screen, and you can tell from the promos/bts stuff. the fight scenes are lame, it was one of the highlights for me in S1 and it has been reduced to this now. whats even the point of this season, the main reason (alchemy) of the show is not even the focus.

forced romance is the word! @peachcrystal's comment about jsm - i find it interesting as well how much the production tries to scrub her existence from stuff. I mean sure shes not acting in this season, but I find it weird how the director didnt mention her as well when he received his award. weird cos they seem to get along and he has cast her in so many productions (including this one). oh yes the action scenes - which were one of the highlights for me in S1 have completely disappeared. now it's just boring asf dialogue with characters standing around brooding n looking constipated.

Pointless BS - yes! am just thinking now they have nothing to say for S2 but have to justify its existence, so they do whatever they are doing right now. n yes - FL acts like a fool/damsel in distress and im not interested. not continuing after ep4. 😑

Yup they have nothing worthy to say at this point but still have to justify the existence of S2 - so they made the entire thing about the romance. Yes! where is the alchemy? cos that was the whole reason why so many of us watched S1. It has been completely put aside and used as a vehicle to promote GYJ's "beauty" and the romance. Ppl saying they see shades of naksu in her - where?? naksu wouldnt act so foolish. She just goes ard acting like a damsel in distress, if they actually removed her from the story, it wouldnt even make a difference.

Omggg hi! 🤣 yesss im only attracted to the non-fawning comments/raters wahaha. Are u still following the drama?

Finally some objective comments! S1 was kinda boring in some places to me and the leads had no romantic chrmistry (to me) but had a solid supportive sort of chemistry. S2's plot has been really weird and this FL has no chemistry at all with LJW. All the chemistry is coming from him, and he's so intense whereas she's just like... there. Even the kiss scene had zero feeling. The bts/netflux promos as well, u just dont see much chemistry between her and the guys, probably cos they only filmed for a few mths, with jsm there was a respectful but very engaging rapport. They keep hyping on this FL's beauty as well which is so weird to me cos i dont find her pretty. She was much more compelling as the assassin. S2 has been super strange and i stopped watching from ep2, have only been reading recaps. Saves time!

Lol and here come the butt hurt defenders. Say it louder!! This FL isnt jsm for sure. Acting isnt great, like i can literally see her acting. No chemistry with the ML, the kiss scene had no feeling. And the production chose to focus so much on her beauty yet i dont find her pretty so it's bizzare. She was way better as assassin naksu. The story has gone to s*** as expected with hong sisters plots. The ppl watching this are mostly teens as u can tell from the shipping n quality of comments in the comment section, and cant discern a good show from a bad one (like this one) even if it hit them in the face.

Yes same here! Enjoyed our conversation 😀 let's see if they tie up the confusing bits from seasons 1 and 2 😅

Same! Was planning to read recaps only (which is probs what I will do from now on lol) but checked it out of morbid curiosity and...sigh. Lol @recycling box! 😂Yasss if it was essential then return the original naksu soul and let Jang Uk interact with that, instead of whatever abomination we are getting now. It's like they just randomly throw whatever in cos it's "fantasy". The world-building is so illogical it actually makes the second half of Memories of the Alhambra look good. The plot just seems to be about the usual characters taking revenge, the same ole villians continuing to plot whilst a new damsel in distress wanders ard. Like what's the conflict here? It's the same thing from S1 and why on earth does to have to be so long and drawn out. What's the resolution? That they fall in love and all is right with the world? Then why does the whole alchemy/soul swapping process have to be so ott and convulated? Just soo unnecessary and just more excuses to drag the plot longer.
Yeah I feel like she doesnt have leading lady charisma, and has no emotional connection to her character. In the bts vids, she receives quite abit of guidance as to her gestures etc and idk doesn't seem as engaged in her role. I dont want to say it too early, but some actors/actresses are better off in support roles with less onscreen time than leading roles where you have to carry the show. Im thinking now that she probably worked for me as Naksu cos those were short scenes, the sweet young girl thing just isnt convincing for me too. Sorry abt the long post!

Abit late but I totally agree. The Americanising of alot of cultures is what they are doing and in time, it will kill off interest in dramas from other cultures as everything will look Americanised. Yess the local industry loses market share which isn't good in the long run, Netflix is monopolising things, but interesting, internally they arent doing well. Asians (in particular Koreans actually), need to stop chasing American validation. Many of them/kdrama fans think that it's some high-status thing to have their dramas tied up with netflix - which usually doesnt even pay well.
"At the end of the day, Netflix like any other big company, only cares about money and delivering their own agenda and ideology to the mass public." - yasss. they are a corporate at the end of the day, with the aim of taking a majority of the streaming market share. But alot of kdrama fans dont understand this at all and never will. As long as more ppl watch stuff on their platform, Netflix will keep churning out their low-budget dramas whilst butchering others' cultures.

Yes it is badly written. It hasn't made sense since ep8 of S1. Yass, they seem to want to make it about the romance between Uk and Naksu (or whoever lol), and it comes across very forced. But like you said there are so many things hanging over from S1 and they've introduced more nonsense in S2 it seems. It does seem like a tonal shift in the story because of the cast change, and I still dont understand what is the point of this season? I rather they just tie up the revenge angle and whatever was leftover from S1. I also think GYJ doesn't quite fit romance roles. I'm actually quite surprised at how popular dramas like that are (this and Lovers of the Red Sky) - with the poor writing and cringey romances. But Ig it only appeals to a certain demog (young teenyboopers lol), as AOS doesnt seem to have general public appeal in SK.

Exactly! Thanks for your support :) like seriously? This is a forum. For discussion. I watched S1, liked it til ard 8 or 10, got frustrated at the writing and was hoping they could salvage things cos it had such huge promise. Now S2 and it's looking to be the same type of disappointment n writing holes. Again with a FL pigeonholed into an amnesia trope and her life centred around the ML. I also think the FL id again miscast. Also a sign that the drama only attracts a teeny bopper cult fanbase is when u can't criticise the story or the cast without ppl jumping on ur back. And sadly AOS has gone down this road.

My time isnt wasted at all. Wrote it when i was chilling out. Dont worry me or how i spend my time. Worry about yourself. At least i dont waste my time on lame dramas and replying to random ppls conversations that i wasnt involved in.

It doesnt matter to me. Whether shes naksu or buyeon, i have other bigger issues with the story and the premise. "If you paid attention" - plsss, just get off ur high horse.

agreed. shes more convincing in action, feel she isnt as natural in a puppy type role, can "see" her acting

oh look a butt-hurt fan. I watch/listen to everything in my life on 1.25x to 2x speed. no problems with comprehending at all :) And comprehension isn't the issue here it's the timejump and seeing lots of stuff that i dont want to see repeated from s1. I just dont waste my time watching disengaging stuff on 1.0x speed when i have better things to do in my life. This is just another drama at the end of the day, and im not even the cast/crew to be this invested in it like some of u here are.

Yes I have the same sentiments as you. I wished they had actually picked up where they ended cos the way the timelines have been fast-forwarded has thrown me off. Also yes!! they met almost right away and it was so anticlimatic. No buildup. I have the same feeling, that they will recycle the same plots/schemes with the villians but also with the leads (you already see the same lame love square/triangle thing happening). The cutesy schtick from buyeon is also not working for me. Everyone else is dark and angsty and she's like clueless. Will see how it goes but dont have a lot of faith cos it's Hong Sisters and they alw have good premises but nothing else. Also, the second season hasnt gripped me the way the first few eps of the first season did.

Ded lol. XD Idk I wasn't very engaged with the story like I was in S1 where I was fully in it til the writers started going nuts with the different threads and the pacing was so slow. Like theres zero continuation from S1 and it's throwing me off. Also not really feeling the chemistry like what alot of ppl on the page are gushing over. Find GYJ rather bland, she was way more scene-stealing in her naksu cameo in s1

yesss such a silly plot tbh. the writing is just too fantastical and idk how they gonna address the threads from S1? (I dont have faith in hong sister's writing). idk the vibe of the show overall just feels like it's aimed at teenagers.