“Alchemy of Souls” Thrives on Fantasy, Romance, and Impressive Role Delivery– Review

Find out all you need to know about the ongoing k-drama tv series, Alchemy of Souls in this review.

Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

Here is all you need to know about Alchemy of Souls 2022 K-drama Series.

Alchemy of Souls Review

Alchemy of Souls is a multi-genre Korean drama series. It is a fictional movie that thrives on supernatural acts, historical fantasies, romance and impressive role delivery of the cast.

Synopsis

Alchemy of Souls has an interesting storyline that will keep you on the edge of your seats. It combines the elements of comedy, magic and action to make an impressive scenery.

The first few scenes of Alchemy is Souls walk us through the fantasy of the historical setting of the movie, Daeho, where two opposing forces are notorious for casting magic and spells.

This involves a party that consists of mainly four groups and families who consider themselves as righteous. They are the Jang (Cheonbugwan), the Park (Songrim), the Seo (Sejugwon), and the Jin (Jinyowon).

Download Alchemy of Souls Season 2 Subtitles Episode 1-10 here

The other party is led by a mysterious and powerful character called Danju. They are notorious for practicing forbidden magic like soul shifting (ones soul can take over another ones body). Perhaps this is why they are regarded evil by the other party.

As we get hooked to this discovery, we realise that Jang Uk the lead character is terribly haunted by his complicated past, though he is enormously rich.

His countrymen continues to make a gossip out of the circumstances of his birth but that does not take his restlessness away from him. Soon, providence brings him and Mu-Deok Yi together and his burden becomes lightened.

Though Mu Deok is trapped inside her weak body, she does not allow her condition to get the better part of her as an elite warrior. She teaches Jank Uk the art of war and helps him to regain his strength.

As we binge the chemistry between Jank Uk and Mu Deok, another chain of scenery leaves us with the beautiful appearance of Seo Yul, his intelligence and martial art skills.

We also learns of the ambitious move of Go Won, the crown prince of Daeho to become the king of the fictitious country.

Alchemy of Souls Acting/Role Delivery Review

To an extent, the cast of the Alchemy of Souls makes a case to prove their worth. It is all the series needed to create the vibe of an action-packed thriller movie.

The Hong writers did not go a miss in designing a stunning cast trope for Alchemy of Souls; it has an ensemble cast of star actors with impressive roles.

It piques our interest to see a female lead who demonstrates impressive acting skills. Jung So-min did a bang up job with her character as Mu-deok/Nak-su in Alchemy of Souls. She steals quality screentime by invoking laughter in the audience when things are tensed up.

Jang Uk too is a very likeable character in AOS. He shines through the training he receives from Mu deok. He is very realistic and mature. Uk particularly steals our heart with his relationship with Mu deok Yi.

Here is a complete list cast list of Alchemy of Souls.

List of Alchemy of Souls Cast

• Lee Jae-wook as Jang Wook
• Park Sang-hoon as young Jang Wook
• Jung So-min as Mu-deok/Nak-su
• Hwang Min-hyun as Seo Yool
• Moon Seong-hyun as young Seo Yool
• Oh Na-ra as Kim Do-joo
• Joo Sang-wook as Jang Gang
• Bae Gang-hee as Do-hwa
• Yoo Jun-sang as Park Jin
• Yoo In-soo as Park Dang-gu
• TBA as Sang-ho
• Lee Do-kyung as Heo Yeom
• Hong Seo-hee as Heo Yun-ok
• Jung Ji-an as Soon-yi
• TBA as Physician Seo
• Jo Jae-yoon as Jin Mu
• Choi Ji-ho as Gil-ju
• TBA as Yeom-su
• Park Eun-hye as Jin Ho-kyung
• TBA as Jin Woo-tak
• Arin as Jin Cho-yeon
• Shin Seung-ho as Go Won
• Choi Kwang-il as Go Soon
• Kang Kyung-heon as Seo Ha-sun
• Park Byung-eun as Go Seong
• Lee Ki-seop as Eunuch Oh
• TBA as Eunuch Kim
• Park So-jin as Joo-wol
• Lim Cheol-soo as Lee Cheol (Teacher Lee)
• Seo Hye-won as So-yi
• Woo Hyun as Monk Ho-yeon
• TBA as Cha-beom
• TBA as Goo-hyo
• TBA as Han-yeol
• Jeon Hye-won as Ae-hyang
• Yoon Seo-hyun as Jo Choong
• Go Yoon-jung as Nak-su
• Yeom Hye-ran as a mysterious middle-aged woman

Lead Characters Review in Alchemy of Souls

1. Jang Wook

Jang Wool is the male lead character in Alchemy of Souls. He is the son of Jan Kang, the head of the Jang family but his existence is riddled by circumstances of his birth.

Jang Gang is notorious for his soul shifting magics which he did against societal approval. Meanwhile, King Go Sung is terminally ill without an offspring. Struck by this reality, the king compells Jang Gang to perform a spell— alchemy of souls— in which he lends his soul to the king for seven days on royal order.

The plan is to make this king so he may produce an offspring before dying. Soon after switching into the body of Jang Kang, the king Go Sung then visits Jang Kangs wife Do-wha, to produce a progeny (Jang Wook). The death of Do-whoa at child birth would later cause the trauma that haunts Jang Uk in Alchemy of Souls as he is unable to unriddle his own origin. His father (now Jang Kang back in his own body) seals his internal power, forbids him to learn magic spells and shuns him after the passing of the King.

2. Mu-Deok Yi

Mu-Deok Yi’s appearance makes the cast list gender-balanced. In Alchemy of Souls, she is presented as an elite warrior trapped in a physically week body. Initially, Mu-Deok Yi plays the role of Nak Su in the series.

She is a powerfull assasin for the party which practices evil spells and forbidden magic. You can’t judge her by her appearance because she is that silent killer you don’t want to mess with.

We discovered that she her physical transformation is a corollary to the order of her leader, Danju who tells her to assasinate the leader of the Songrim who was also present during the slaughter of Nak Su’s family. But the assasination goes wrong and she is heavily wounded. Before dying she casts a soul shifting spell (alchemy of souls) to save her soul.

The spells takes a twist and Nak Su transforms into another girl’s body. Now Mu-Deok Yi, a seemingly weak, blind girl. The twist causes the blue mark which is proof of successfull soul switching is to stay in her eyes instead of her skin, next to the heart. Interestingly this condition causes blind Mu Deok Yi to regain her sight. Soon after, fate brings Mu-Deok and Jang Uk together while Nak Su’s heavily wounded body is then retrieved by Danju.

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Production & Cinematography

Throughout, we binged on the episodes because they gave us the cinematic experience we crave in an action-packed series.

The team leveraged technology to portray the setting as real as it could be. The stunts and effects are spot-on and top-notch that they add more meaning to the impressive acts of the Alchemy of Souls Cast.

Notably, the props and exterior are well executed by the team. It must be a lot of effort they put in to teleport the viewers to another world of fantasies.

Verdict

There are a minute shortfalls in Alchemy of Souls but they do not mar the fantastic storytelling skills of the Hong writers. The plot seems rather too slow or prolonged in the first few episodes but the character dynamics and excellent role delivery of the actors rescue the flaws of the Kdrama series.

So far, Alchemy of Souls episodes has garnered an alarming reception since its release on Netflix.

Review: How CGI Shines Spotlight on Alchemy of Souls Kdrama

For any fantastical movie to create the right cinematic experience that the audience always crave, it must utilise CGI to create such intriguing moment.

The ongoing Kdrama series— Alchemy of Souls do not render less, so far, it puts CGI to good use to create a unique and mesmerising experience for the viewers.

First, we let’s review Daeho, the surreal setting of Alchemy of Souls which piques our curiosity from the beginning of the series. Much more so, the impressive fight by the frozen lake plunges us directly into the midst of things.

Here, many mages have mastered the craft of the alchemy of souls— a kind of magic/spell casting that involves soul-shifting. Naturally, this process goes against the law of natural existence. However, by their power, they (the mages) could colonize innocent bodies.

Two of these occasions results in the existence of the main leads: Jang Uk and Mu Deok Yi. While Jang Uk is a product of soul shifting by royal command, Naksu now Mu Deok, casts her last spell to save her soul.

In most cases, however, the result seems disappointing. Naksu, the daredevil assassin who has mastered all the four creeds of soul shifting fails to land her soul in a physically fit body but rather in the frail body of Mu Deok.

Sometimes too, the notion, “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely” comes to play as some soul shifters grow wild and corrupt, feeding on souls and turning men into rocks.

But what strikes us more is the hypnotizing scenery that comes with the process, though terrifying. For instance, when Jang Gang casts his spell to shifts the soul of the King, we are teleported to an entirely new world of fantasy of water, fire and brimstone.

We must admit in this review of Alchemy of Souls that CGI scores impressive points with the resulting wonders that come with the mages’ conjuring.

Reeling from the scene where the monster is invoked to fish out the one who has Soul Shifting abilities in Songrim, one can not help but marvel at the impressive live-action scenario.

The resultant effect of Cho-yeon (OH MY GIRL’s Arin) magic by her ring and slight finger movement is also stunning.

Beautifully too, the composite imagery and video tricks the eyes to believe that the illusion presented in Alchemy of Souls is real.

Besides this, the efficient use of video effects translates the dramatic script by the Hong writers. Such thrilling scenes can only be found in a knowledge-based and high-profile production. Thanks to the director too for interpreting the script so well.

Additionally, the 3D elements deployed in series compliment the impressive role delivery of the actors in the Kdrama series. Talk about the stunts and general atmosphere in which their sorcery takes place.

The good use of these elements makes no room for boredom while watching the series. Personally, I am surprised that I binge-watched the Alchemy of Souls episodes released thus far.

And this points out to the fact that the production team efficiently leveraged technology to create spot-on computer-generated images and videos the actors could never do otherwise in the Kdrama series.

It is with this early experience that I will continue to watch the Alchemy of Souls episodes upon release. I just hope that the cinematic experience I’ve had had does not fall flat somewhere along the plot.

Download “Alchemy of Souls” Subtitles Episode 1-20

Frequently Asked Questions about Alchemy of Souls

1. Is Alchemy of Souls 2022 Kdrama Out?

Yes, Alchemy of Souls is out. The Kdrama series is currently available for streaming on Netflix.

2. Where Can I Watch/Download Alchemy of Souls?

Alchemy of Souls is currently streaming on Netflix. Click HERE to watch.

3. How Many Episodes Does Alchemy of Souls Part 1 Have?

Alchemy of Souls has 20 episodes. Each new episode forms picks from the moments where the previous ones ended and form a chronological sequence.

Alchemy of Souls episodes are released in batches on tvN at 21:10 KST on Saturdays and Sundays (June 18th – August 21st, 2022)

4. Does Alchemy of Souls have Part 2?

Alchemy of Souls has part 2 but it is being written by the Hong Writers. Currently, Part 1 episodes are streaming on Netflix.

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