Alchemy of Souls

Alchemy of Souls 2: Light and Shadow – Review

/ jeana84 / Leave a comment

Title: Alchemy of Souls 2: Light and Shadow

Language: Korean

Episodes: 10

Where to Watch: Netflix

Genres: Action, Historical, Romance Fantasy

Objectionable Content: Violence

Summary (from mydramalist): Jang Uk returns from death, and three years later, the story of the mages unfolds anew. Jang Uk becomes a hunter of the soul-shifters when a young woman, a prisoner in her own home, seeks his help to reclaim her freedom.

My Review of Alchemy of Souls 2: Light and Shadow

**note that this review will contact huge spoilers for the ending of the first season of Alchemy of Souls.**

So, I started watching this extremely eagerly after I finished the first season. In the final episode of Alchemy of Souls, Mu Deok was being controlled by Jin Mu and forced to kill several people. When the mages from Songrim confront her, Janu Uk protects her and she stabs him in the heart. She comes back to herself long enough to realize what she’s done she see him die. Jin Mu’s control takes over again and she goes to the Lake and jumps in.

Jangu Uk’s funeral pyre is held and the power of the ice stone brings him back to life. Two unknown people are seen pulling Mu Deok’s body from the Lake and the episode ends.

I was expecting (hoping) that season 2 would pick up from this point. Annoyingly, there’s a three year gap. Jang Uk has only been allowed to keep the ice stone if he uses his power to kill soul shifters and no other reason.

I have a suspicion that the writers of the show had different intentions from the beginning and that, perhaps, Netflix didn’t give them the green light right away so when they finally did get the go ahead for a second season, the lead actress, Jun So Min, was probably unavailable to reprise her role. Instead, they had to come up with another way to continue the story.

It’s extremely unfortunate that it worked out the way it did. Three amazing relationships were ruined by the ending of season one. This show could have ended with a beautiful happy ending, with all the characters in the relationships that were built up over 20 episodes. Instead, we got…this.

I don’t know if I enjoyed it as I was also annoyed with how it had that three year gap and so many things weren’t explained. The actors all did a great job with what they were given so I can’t fault them for that. Overall, there was this overwhelming sense of sadness through the whole thing. I kept watching because I wanted to know how it would all end and it was only ten episodes.

More or less, I feel more like I want to rant than give this show a proper review. I kind of want to pretend that the last half of the last episode of Alchemy of Souls didn’t happen and that everyone got to have their happy endings.

My rating for Alchemy of Souls 2: Shadow and Light is 3 out of 5 stars. I don’t know that I would necessarily recommend it though if you have season one you’ll probably want to know what happens after. Just try not to have high expectations like I did.

Have you seen Alchemy of Souls? Please let me know what you thought.

As always, thanks for reading!

Alchemy of Souls – KDrama Review

/ jeana84 / Leave a comment

Title: Alchemy of Souls

Language: Korean

Episodes: 20

Where to Watch: Netflix

Genres: Action, Historical, Romance Fantasy

Objectionable Content: Violence

Summary (from MyDramaList): In the fictional country of Daeho, young mages struggle to overcome twisted fates caused by the forbidden “alchemy of souls,” a spell that swaps souls between bodies. Naksu, an elite assassin, finds her soul trapped in the weak body of Mu Deok, a servant to the noble Jang Family. Jang Uk, the young master of the Jang Family, harbors a dark secret about his birth and seeks Naksu’s help to change his destiny.

My Review of Alchemy of Souls

Right of the bat, this drama has a little bit of everything: action, magic, romance, forbidden love, and even a little comedy. It’s one of those few shows that manages to capture all those little elements without losing the plot. The set designs are fabulous, the magic looks real and the costumes are fantastic.

Honestly, when I initially started watching Alchemy of Souls I wasn’t really into it. I watched a couple of episodes then stopped. I recently restarted it and must have been more in the mood for it, but I loved it. I devoured it and cursed every time I had to stop watching to do things like sleep.

One thing I really prefer about Asian dramas as opposed to American made shows, is the character and relationship development. I find that Asian dramas focus on that much more, even when the show is a romance. It’s very rare to see the main characters even kiss until like 10 episodes in. There are many relationships in this show, some new, some long established, that go through so much change and development. Between the leads in particular, their relationship starts out very rocky. They each have their reasons for needing one another. At first, their relationship is more of a business contract, but it develops into much more over time. The lengths these two will go to protect one another is extensive and heartwarming.

The other characters were also interesting. I don’t think there was anyone I didn’t like. They all had their roles and did them well. It never really felt like there was an outright villain, like all the things that happened were a domino affect from one well meaning decision. Everyone wants to protect someone, but keeping secrets leads to misunderstandings and unintended consequences.

The last episode is so heartbreaking. Everything comes to a head and so much shit happens. Naturally, it ended on a huge cliffhanger. I’m very glad that I waited to watch Alchemy of Souls so that part two is already available. I will absolutely be starting it asap.

My rating for Alchemy of Souls is 5 out of 5 stars and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a good fantasy drama with action and romance, or any combination there of.

Have you seen Alchemy of Souls? I’d love to know what you thought!