Alchemy of Souls 환혼 [2022-2023]

[ktcjdrama]

The ending of Season 1 was awesome! I can't wait for Season 2 to start... Gosh it's gonna be a long wait till December, but okay, I should be glad it's at least not a year of waiting.

[gilaswan]

@ktcjdramaI also just finished watching the last episode. If only we didn't need another 3 months to wait for the 2nd instalment. It's quite intriguing. Jang Uk is like the phoenix that rises out of the ashes, but what will happen to Mudeok then? I know a lot of reports say Jung Somin isn't in the line-up for Part 2, but I cannot see how that could be. Clearly Lady Jin has asked her daughter to retrieve Mudeok's body - she is certainly the missing daughter Buyeon. And Naksu's body was already cremated, so how does this other actress come in? Flashbacks?

[ktcjdrama]

2 hours ago, gilaswan said:

Clearly Lady Jin has asked her daughter to retrieve Mudeok's body - she is certainly the missing daughter Buyeon.

For this, I think she might come back as cameo maybe? Really have no idea how the Hong sisters going to write go about this. We clearly see her body being rescued from the deep waters. Plastic surgery? 

 

2 hours ago, gilaswan said:

And Naksu's body was already cremated, so how does this other actress come in? Flashbacks?

This one is even more puzzling how the writers going to resolve it in. Even in flashbacks, her whole life has been just about killing people, definitely not the same vibes we're getting from the bit we see her in the S2 teasers. 

 

[Alice Wonderland]

I wasted my 20 hours even I already predicted it that the ending would be disappointing. I thought it would be just a little but it is so frustrating, absurd and weird ending. The drama logic also changes from A to Z. So it's kinda confusing unlike the first episodes that seemed pretty solid and clever. The rest halves somewhat slowly went downhill. Too many unecessary fillers like the triangle love of Master lee, KDJ and Songrim leader. I was thinking that 20 episodes should be enough if they put things correctly, omit the unecessary parts. Then what's the point of the second season. Lols. Seeing how writers drag all these things for nothing. For comparison, I like the classic Queen Seon Deok, even it has very long episodes but they story were still good and pretty logical to the end. 

 

I managed to fisnish this because I like the leads and the hope that it would have at least a proper ending for this season. But I was completely scammed. 🤣

[rocher22]

S2

I wonder if there will be a childhood trope between Cho Yeong and Uk...

 

I love the chemistry between Naksu (GYJ) and Uk in this scene... 

 

 

[gilaswan]

Everyone geared up for part 2?

[ktcjdrama]

2 hours ago, gilaswan said:

Everyone geared up for part 2?

Me!! Counting down to it, although I don’t really want the time/year to go by too fast.... 😅 

Cannot believe we’re at the end of the year 2022 already 😓

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by ktcjdrama

[Tofu]

Poster and stills.

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

 

[Tofu]

Trailers.

Spoiler

 

 

[wink_]

hello everyone. who will watch series 'Alchemy of Souls season 2'? anybody? oh Jang Uk is not the same man fans remember from the first season, as he has been reborn and deals with the grief of a broken heart instead of 'Reborn Rich.' first, I'll start watching 'Reborn Rich.'

 

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by twink_twink_

[ktcjdrama]

2 more days!! 
 

I prefer to see Naksu not in her long flowy hair, but in her fighting garbs. Hopefully that’s just the initial styling of her. I cannot imagine watching a “lady-like” Naksu the whole season 2 😅
 

Full highlight 

 

Edited December 8, 2022 by ktcjdrama

[gilaswan]

How is everyone responding to the first 2 episodes of Part 2? I feel like I need to rewind and rewatch the last episode of Part 1 to remember again what happened.

So she now looks like Naksu because mum opted to keep the physical body which runs the Jin blood, but the soul is Naksu's? So does that mean the actual soul of Bu-yeon is dead? Why was it that Naksu's soul became intertwined with with Bu-yeon's to begin with, and Bu-yeon's soul is suddenly no more? Sounds like a conveninent deus ex machina to me just so we can bring in a bit more confusion to the larger community who must not know who she is. Nice that just about no one can recognise her...

[ktcjdrama]

5 hours ago, gilaswan said:

 

How is everyone responding to the first 2 episodes of Part 2?

 

I love it!!

 

From what I understand, to revive the body of BY, they need to use Naksu’s power that is within, thus keeping Naksu’s soul, sacrificing BY’s soul. So yes, no more BY, although I won’t scratch the idea of their souls having been intertwined and inseparable somehow. Because the body of BY is already petrified, it can only slowly take the form of Naksu since it is using Naksu’s power to recover the body. I thought the explanation was brilliant. It made me stop wondering where did they get Naksu’s burned body. 
 

That Jin mother has no love for her daughters. Sure she pined for BY 10 long years, but her mother’s instinct cannot even recognize her own daughter (original version) and accepted another person so easily. I now believe what she misses was more the power attached to BY instead of BY herself. Look at what she did to the body just because it has no face of BY, pfftt, as if she recognizes the face in the first place. She trapped it inside that room, she sew the tracker thread onto her body. How cruel is she? BY is just a tool for her. She doesn’t even know what adult BY looks like, what’s wrong with accepting Naksu’s face? O right, she just want the corporal body....
 

[gilaswan]

@ktcjdramaDon't get me wrong. I loved it too - I love fantasy and most Korean shows don't do it well, but I'm totally enjoying this. It has a nice Harry Potter "Asian" edition vibe to it. I just wish they had a more elegant explanation for why Naksu's soul was the one that survived the petrification in that sense and not Bu-yeon's. Considering how powerful as a sorceress Bu-yeon was supposed to be, I find it very unsatisfactory that suddenly her soul is just gone. Afterall, if the potential for the return of Bu-yeon's memory is there, then the soul certainly must still be alive. But if the soul is still alive, why is dormant and Naksu's is the active one? The explanation just isn't satisfactory. Not at this point anyway. I hope it will be addressed as the episodes run.

I have to say, while I found it regrettable that Jung So-min is no more, the chemistry between Lee Jae-wook and Go Youn-jung is so much stronger and more attractive. Anyone else agree with me?

[ktcjdrama]

@gilaswan I am already rewatching certain scenes haha... Anyway, I still think we will somehow see BY emerging. If not, I am fine with it too because she is not the main character anyway. I don’t really need to know more about her. Maybe Naksu’s power is still stronger than BY. She has divine power, but Naksu’s soul is tougher than her? Or maybe it’s the doing of the bells by Jin Mu? 
 

1 hour ago, gilaswan said:

the chemistry between Lee Jae-wook and Go Youn-jung is so much stronger and more attractive. Anyone else agree with me?

I think so too. Maybe because of LJW’s brooding mood. The feels like more intense now haha....

 

[gilaswan]

@ktcjdramaHe broods well…

[Tofu]

16 hours ago, gilaswan said:

I have to say, while I found it regrettable that Jung So-min is no more, the chemistry between Lee Jae-wook and Go Youn-jung is so much stronger and more attractive. Anyone else agree with me?

I never watched S1(saw clips of it) and I only watched Lee Jae Wook's scenes in the two aired episodes. Just from watching his scenes, even I thought the chemistry between Lee Jae Wook and Go Youn Jung is stronger. 

 

I have no idea what's going on but I might continue to watch because Lee Jae Wook is so handsome. LOL! 😅

 

[mademoiselle]

@Tofu They are already kissy kissy too!

 

[ktcjdrama]

Main cast talk show. With Eng subs. The subtitle of “Light and Shadow” is explained by LJW. 
 

 

[mademoiselle]

Let me guess, Jang Wook is the shadow and Naksu is the light that will bring him out of his broodiness darkness

 

@Tofu what is the chances of you persuading stroppyse to pick up S2 for handsome Jae Wook?

[ktcjdrama]

27 minutes ago, mademoiselle said:

Let me guess, Jang Wook is the shadow and Naksu is the light that will bring him out of his broodiness darkness

It’s the other way round. Uk/Wook means light, whereas Yeong means shadow. 

[ktcjdrama]

 

 

[mademoiselle]

LOL, I feel sad that Jae Wook didn't get the hanwoo. He said it's for his mum but there's that part of me that hope he shares it with Seok Woo after he sees his friend salivates over the meat in House on Wheels 4 but have to restrain himself due to work schedules.

 

I didn't think Seung Ho is so funny in real life hahaha and boy he's super loud!

Edited December 17, 2022 by mademoiselle

[ktcjdrama]

1 hour ago, mademoiselle said:

 

I didn't think Seung Ho is so funny in real life hahaha and boy he's super loud!

Yeah, he made the whole thing more super fun 😄 Would love to see him in another drama after AOS. 

[gilaswan]

Loved last night's episode again! But I'm also realising maybe I should spend this afternoon rewatching some episodes of Part 1 too. 

 

I reckon I'm getting a better understanding of this issue with Naksu and Bu-yeon which is probably somewhat lost in Eng sub translation. The 2 souls are intertwined as @ktcjdramasuggested, though why it is that Naksu appears the stronger and more dominant is unclear. I hazard that it's because when you soul shift, you end up pushing out the "resident soul", except that in Bu-yeon's case, she being a powerful sorceress (I don't agree with the Netflix translation that refers to her as a priestess) in her own right made it impossible for her soul to be completely displaced. If you consider the saying that your "eyes are the windows to your soul", then that's why the blue mark of soul shifters can be seen in her eyes - she's still there. So Bu-yeon becomes potentially more powerful than her ancestor was because she is 2-in-1 - a powerful sorceress and mage. I think she's an embodiment of what noone imagined could happen with the alchemy of souls. The only question now is whether both souls continue to manifest as individual entities in the body through distinct memories, or whether they will eventually merge into a single being.