A fictional world where illegal magic allows people to switch bodies. A powerful sorceress who was trained to be an assassin from an early age. A young man with untapped magical abilities who is kept from the truth of his great but dangerous destiny. Sounds like a good setup, right? It is. And it exists on Netflix in the form of Alchemy of Souls, a two-season Korean drama that ended its epic story in January. The fantasy romance was seen by millions around the world, but never got the attention it deserved in the United States…until now. You are cordially invited to introduce your new favorite show to you in advance.
In the modern media age, it’s rare to find a big-budget story that isn’t based on a pre-existing intellectual property. This is as true for the Korean TV industry as it is for American media, as it is for many wonderful K-Dramas based on popular webtoons. Don’t get me wrong – the adaptation process has brought me some of my favorite fantasy TV shows of all time (The Mages, Merlin, The Untamed) and some of the best K-Dramas of recent years (we are all dead, infernal, Yumi’s cells). But there is something to be said for a story that doesn’t follow any already established plot, setting and cast of characters. At the very least, the creative team – from the writers and directors to the cast and costume designers – have a full sense of ownership that allows them to make decisions outside the bounds of canon. And from the viewer’s perspective, anything could happen, adding an extra layer of suspense and excitement.
Alchemy of Souls comes from the minds of the Hong sisters who iconic sibling writing team known for hits like moon hotel (with estate agents‘she) And My girlfriend is a nine-tailed fox. The Netflix K-Drama follows the story of magicians living in the United States yeahSaeon-style fictional kingdom of Daeho, which – as the show notes in the opening minutes – “does not exist in the story or on maps” (yes, it does Merlin vibrations). The series follows Nak-su (Jung So-min, at least for most of the first season), a warrior sorceress who is forced to transform into a body that leaves her much weaker physically and without access to her magic. Nonetheless, Nak-su – henceforth called Mu-deok, the name of the body of the person she transformed into – has a deep, hard-earned knowledge of magic and swordplay. She is recruited by Jang Uk (Lee Jae-wook), a young man from a noble family whose magical growth has been deliberately suppressed since childhood. He guesses her true identity, persuades her to train him as her apprentice, and their story begins in earnest. Romance can be involved.
While Alchemy of Souls is not an adaptation, it borrows elements from both the xianxia and romance genres. If you have watched Chinese TV dramas like the above The Untamedthen you probably know some of the Xianxia tropes Alchemy of Souls occupied. Xianxia literally means “immortal heroes”. It shares some elements with its sister genre, Wuxia, which translates to “battle heroes,” but features characters with supernatural or magical abilities far removed from what is possible in the real world. For example during characters in the wuxia classic Crouching tiger, hidden dragon can defy gravity a bit by dancing through the canopy of a bamboo forest, characters in a xianxia like Alchemy of Souls can, you know, put their souls in other people’s bodies. As a white American growing up with limited access to international media in the 90’s, I enjoy watching K-Dramas and C-Dramas as an adult. While their tropes may be obvious to their native audiences, they exist outside of the Western story structures with which I’m most familiar.
Many East Asian story formats aren’t allergic to romance and emotional vulnerability—rather they often lead with it. Alchemy of Souls Isn’t it embarrassing, especially in Season 2, to devote entire scenes to the main characters staring longingly at one another while one of the series stars Epic love ballads plays in the background. Alchemy of Souls (and much of Korean television drama) brings expressions of character interiority to many Western viewers in new ways, offering a refreshing alternative to the traditionally “male” character interiority of ironic detachment, stoicism, and displays of physical dominance often found in big budgets is prioritized Western media. While anger, aggression and emotional stoicism are portrayed in Alchemy of Souls, these experiences are not contextualized as more or less heroic than gentleness, playfulness, or emotional openness. And the show is just as likely to show a character expressing emotional pain by throwing themselves on the floor and crying as it is expressing emotional pain by hitting someone with a sword.
While the love story between Mu-deok and Jang Uk is the show’s central narrative, it is heavily influenced by the drama they were born into. Because of the actions of their parents’ generation, the fates of Mu-deok and Jang Uk are inextricably intertwined – the complexities of which are slowly unraveled over the course of the series’ 30 episodes. Meanwhile, the dynamic between the two is refreshingly complex. In order to keep her true identity as assassin Nak-su a secret, Mu-deok pretends to be Jang Uk’s maid – and therefore somehow Is Jang Uk’s maid. (Major again Merlin Similarities.) However, she is also Jang Uk’s master in his magical training. When they meet, Jang basically has to beg Uk Mu-deok to take him on as her apprentice, and especially in the early episodes she’s often just one step away from actually murdering him. While others may see Mu-deok as Jang Uk’s servant, that is not the truth of their relationship, and Jang Uk is never threatened by the way Mu-deok holds power over him. In this way, the dynamic takes on a subversive quality, complicating some of the traditional power imbalances between men and women in romantic relationships, both real and fictional. In the first season, this is exacerbated by the age difference between the main cast as Jung So-min who plays Mu-deok is 10 years older than Lee Jae-wook who plays Jang Uk.
Outside the two lines, Alchemy of Souls invests a great deal of energy in developing the world’s magical society, a crucial element for any series operating at this scale. There are four major power families in Daeho, and each of them has a hot young heir to the throne. (Think that gossip Girl
Prior to the events of the series, Jang Uk was engaged to Jin Cho-yeon, who is believed to be the sole surviving daughter of the Jin family, responsible for protecting most of the realm’s most powerful magical instruments. The Jin family is matriarchal, and they have it the best, most consistent eyeliner game in all modern TV. While Jin Cho-yeon may have been engaged to Jang Uk, she is secretly being married to Park Dang-gu (Yoo In-soo, who is way more loveable than As cruel antagonist Yoon Gwi-nam enters we are all dead). Park Dang-gu will eventually inherit control of Songrim, the seat of magical instruction in Daeho. And finally, we have Seo Yul (K-Pop star Hwang Min-hyun from the group NU’EST) from the distant Seo family. Seo Yul is like the boyfriend who might inspire unhealthy resentment for how pretty and talented they are, except for being too seriously kind and good. He has a past connection with Nak-su and the show occasionally flirts with a love triangle but never fully commits. Rather, the “Four Seasons” – particularly Jang Uk, Dang-gu, and Yeo Sul – are portrayed as supporting beasts throughout.
This is just a taste of the rich cast and world Alchemy of Souls builds up and the unexpected journey the show takes its viewers on. I don’t want to go into too much detail about the plot of the second season, but let’s just say the first season ends on a big cliffhanger and when the story picks up again after a time skip, the characters are heavily changed.
If you’re a viewer looking for a meticulously outlined magical system or fantasy story that prioritizes plot over emotion, Alchemy of Souls it’s not for you But if you’re someone who misses the sentimental shenanigans of an adventure fantasy series like Merlin and are looking for another epic, emotion-driven fantasy that whips from silly to heartbreaking to devastatingly romantic in one episode, Alchemy of Souls can only be your destiny.