Alchemy of Souls (2022) Review: Swords, Spells and Swooning

Is Alchemy of Souls worth watching?

Yes. Alchemy of Souls is a lavish, funny and genuinely romantic fantasy epic, and its first part ranks among the most purely enjoyable K-dramas of the 2020s. The Hong sisters build a whole invented world of mages, sword schools and royal intrigue, then fill it with characters worth caring about. The reservations are length and the second part: 30 long episodes is a real commitment, and the shorter follow-up, with its major cast changes, has divided even devoted fans.

What is Alchemy of Souls about?

In the invented kingdom of Daeho, mages guard a forbidden spell that allows a soul to leave its own body and take another. Naksu, the most feared assassin in the land, is caught up in that magic and wakes inside the frail body of a blind servant girl. Now calling herself Mu-deok (Jung So-min plays her in this form), she ends up serving Jang Uk (Lee Jae-wook), a restless young nobleman from a powerful family who has been barred from ever learning magic. He wants a teacher; she needs to recover her strength without anyone discovering who she really is. Their secret lessons become the heart of the story.

Alchemy of Souls is written by Hong Jung-eun and Hong Mi-ran, the sister team behind a string of hit fantasy romances. It is a South Korean production in Korean. This review covers the complete show: two parts totalling 30 episodes, the second subtitled Light and Shadow, and the story has ended.

A world built with real confidence

The Hong sisters have always been good at premises; here they commit to world-building on a scale Korean television rarely attempts. Daeho has its own history, politics and rules of magic, its own rival mage families and a royal court with appetites of its own. The costumes and sets draw on the look of historical Korea without being tied to any period, which gives the show freedom to be playful as well as grand.

What keeps that world from becoming homework is the humour. The early episodes play the mismatched master-and-student pairing almost as screwball comedy, with Mu-deok’s contempt for her pupil’s clumsiness and Jang Uk’s cheerful arrogance bouncing off each other. The shift from bickering to longing is handled with patience, so when the romance arrives it feels earned.

Lee Jae-wook and Jung So-min make the magic work

Lee Jae-wook gives Jang Uk the swagger of a spoilt heir and the vulnerability of someone who has been denied, all his life, the one thing he wants. It is a charismatic, physical performance, and he handles the action scenes well. Jung So-min, playing a hardened killer in an unlikely body, is sharp and funny, and she lets Mu-deok’s buried grief show without softening her.

The supporting cast is strong. Hwang Min-hyun brings dignity to Jang Uk’s refined friend Seo Yul, and Shin Seung-ho is enjoyable as a crown prince with his own plans. Go Youn-jung has a small but significant presence early on and a much larger role later, which is where the show’s biggest debate begins.

Where the second part divides viewers

The first part closes on a major turning point, and the second has to rebuild momentum with different emphases and a different central pairing on screen. Some viewers embrace the change; others feel the chemistry that powered the first 20 episodes never fully returns. The mythology also becomes denser as the story goes on, and newcomers may find the rules of souls, lineages and sacred artefacts hard to track by the end. These are the costs of ambition, and the series pays them willingly.

Who should watch Alchemy of Souls?

It suits fantasy fans, viewers who enjoy historical K-dramas with a supernatural twist, and anyone who likes a romance that grows out of rivalry. The episodes are long, often well over an hour, so plan for several weeks rather than a weekend; the full series streams on Netflix. Expect sword-fighting and some bloody violence, though it is rarely graphic, and occasional dark themes around death and loss.

If it wins you over, three natural follow-ups:

• Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, for a historical fantasy romance with a much sadder heart.
• Goblin, the benchmark for fantasy K-drama that balances melancholy, comedy and swooning romance.
• Strong Woman Do Bong-soon, for another heroine whose hidden strength drives both the comedy and the love story.

The verdict

Alchemy of Souls is ambitious, generous entertainment: a fantasy with real world-building, sharp comedy and a love story that earns its big moments. The second part will not please everyone, and the mythology can overwhelm, but few K-dramas offer this much imagination and pleasure across their full run.

Rating: 4.5/5