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Alchemy Of Souls doesn’t waste time. Within a few minutes into the premiere, the show sweeps you into the heart of this bizarre, intricate fantastical world of mages and dubious soul switching. You have to keep up with the expository explanations on the side as you watch the frantic action sequences — you blink, and you miss crucial details. The story is set in the magical and visually stunning world of Daeho, a place that seems like Instagram filters gone wild. Years ago, the energy of the sky clashed with the earth and created the lake Gyeongcheondaeho, around which Daeho was built. We’re told that mages are the people who possess the power to wield the lake’s energy. It almost sounds like a fever dream, but we’re all in.
In the premiere, we meet the mage (Jo Sang-wook) who indulges in the art of soul-switching. It’s a deadly art and is also immoral as the soul can collide with its host’s body, leaving it without energy and attack other living beings. He gets tricked into getting his soul swapped with a weak and sickly king, who refuses to die without an heir. There is much sexual deception (this is the rather problematic part of the show) and we skip twenty years into the future and meet our deadly protagonist, Naksu (Go Yoon-jung), who is in the midst of battling Daeho mages. They want to kill her because well, she has been killing people for years (I’m sure we’ll find out why soon enough). But she obviously is one step ahead and as she explains in cold tones, that she is named after the sound of heads hitting the ground. She’s my favourite already.
It’s actually fun to watch a homicidal woman without qualms take the reins in a Korean show. Mu-deok is a joy to watch, as she gets ready to strike down people who come in her way. She gets injured during the fight and instantly switches souls with a woman she sees on the street, while her current host’s body is comatose. And that’s where the real story begins. Naksu, in the body of Mu-deok, gets entangled with Jang-wook, whose father placed a seal on his magical abilities when he was born. To break this, he needs Naksu. Tensions escalate by the second episode and the two leads realise that they might need each other in the middle of all the bloodlust, perhaps more than they’re willing to admit. There are already hints of an overwhelming fantastical romance to keep viewers waiting breathlessly for upcoming episodes. The show seems to have it all for now — fantasy, family drama, mystery, romance and action.
As the series progresses, small revelations are teased to the viewers. Jang Wook’s birth of course is linked to the sexual deception in the prologue and the story gets more bizarre, yet absorbing from here. Clearly, we aren’t done with the twists and turns — the show promises more to come. For starters, we know the real Mu-deok, who has currently been forgotten, will return at some point.
Alchemy Of Souls switches tones just like souls so abruptly that it is almost rather disconcerting at points. After intense and frenzied action sequences, it turns comic as Naksu struggles to come to terms with her new body and realises that she doesn’t have the same assassin powers that she used to. Yet, Jung So-min as Mu-deok doesn’t let you be confused for too long and sells it hard with her expressions. The comic timing is flawless, and one of the most hilarious scenes of the show is when she tries to kill Jang-wook with a crab leg, leaving him rather gobsmacked. We’ve already got tantalising hints of a solid chemistry between the two leads, and it remains to be seen if the show will waver and thrive on this alone later.
Nevertheless, Alchemy Of Souls is extremely entertaining to watch, even if it is rather flawed and silly at points. This world of intricate fantasy is so stunningly detailed that you have to give credit to the writers and directors here. It’s going to be interesting to watch the series and see what it brings.
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