Kdrama: Alchemy Of Souls (2022)

praying for her cheeks

The story revolves around (Heo Im) a Joseon acupuncturist who was known for being the greatest doctor of his era and (Yeon Kyung) a modern day doctor who doesn't want to believe in oriental medicine. Heo Im was sent to present day Seoul and was stopped by Yeon Gyeong when he was about to treat an emergency patient using acupuncture.

In 2014, the National Hangeul Museum published a book out of a series of letters written in hangeul by Yi San, who later became King Jeongjo, the 22nd monarch of Joseon. The sixteen letters were written by the king both as a child and an adult who had already taken the throne.

This were the first three letters unveiled to the public:

Some knetizens have pointed out the incredible resemblance of the writing style used in the saeguk with the very own calligraphy of the real Yi San. Check it out yourself.

This are some screenshots I took myself while watching the most recent episode:

The production and direction teams are making an incredible good job. They are playing no games with such detailed cinematography.

THE CROWNED CLOWN (2019)

Lee Min-ho as Lee Gon Kim Go Eun as Jeong Tae-eul /  Luna Woo Do-Hwan as Jo Eun-seop / Jo Yeong Kim Kyung-nam as Kang Shin-Jae Jung Eun-Chae as Goo Se-ryeong Kim Yong-ji as Myeong Na-ri Lee Jung Jin as Lee Rim Kim Young-ok as Noh Ok-Nam Lee Hong-nae as Seok Ho-pil Kang Hong-seok as Jangmi

The King: Eternal Monarch is a story about a parallel world. Set in both Republic of Korea and Kingdom of Corea. Kingdom of Corea is like the alternative timeline where Korea is never successfully conquered by Japan and the country was never separated into two. The story starts on a flashback from the night of the treason in 1994. The traitor Lee Lim wants to obtain the magic flute named Manpasikjeok so he organized a coup. For him, the manpasikjeok and the throne was rightfully his. Him and his followers successfully killed the current king. Lee Lim gets to hold the flute but it was cut into two by the crowned prince Lee Gon. Lim was about to kill Lee Gon when he was stopped by a mysterious man dressed in black. The mysterious man successfully saved Lee Gon but he left an ID card. Lee Lim was declared dead in the Kingdom of Corea but he found a way to the Republic of Korea. He killed his other self and his other self's family. He hides on the other world while gaining his followers. Years later, they showed a playful but smart king in his thirties. Lee Gon grew up well with his uncle and court lady Noh on his side. Plus, he's well protected by his unbreakable sword aka Jo Yeong. Gon's motivation is Lt. Jeong Tae-eul id card. Court Lady Noh wants him to marry or find a girl already that's why she's setting up a talisman's card in his room. True enough he found a girl, on the other world. Thank God that Lee Gon is smart enough that he figured it out that he's in the other world but poor him because no one is believing him there.

This show is complex from start to end. I really like the idea of parallel universe and what ifs. They set the parallel world thinking what if their country is never conquered at all. But I must admit that this drama is not for everyone. The pacing is slow and some concepts are hard to comprehend. Nevertheless, I still love it. Tho, I didn't like the product placement. They are not subtle on showing it on the camera. Furtheremore, some cgi/green screen is not made well but it is  kinda understandable. For me, they build up the story quite right. The plot twist is properly showed on the right time plus I really like how they hang the ending in every episode. Then, they will show it on different shots on the next episode. I also love how they differentiate the two person with safe faces. They emphasize that even though you have the same face, you will never be the same person. They have their own personalities and not just a copy of their other self. They also showed the differences in lives of the characters between the two worlds. Like the other one is having a good family and the other one is none at all. Or like Lee Gon is rich and king and close to his father but his other self is not. Lee Ji Hun is close to his uncle and poor. But still, they will both have the similarities aside from their faces as they both ended up in the military. Like Jeong Tae-eul and Luna both ended up becoming a cop.

One of the highlight of this drama is Woo Do Hwan. He perfectly portrayed Jo Yeong and Jo Eunseup. Like he can differentiate both. Yeong is stoic but he you can see that he really cares then there's the comedic Eun Seup. I admit he have a chemistry with himself. Jo Yeong and Jo Eun seup is the example of the parallel characters that can be friends (somehow they even consider theirselves as brothers) and having no intention to kill one another. Woo Do Hwan nailed his acting in this drama.

Jo Yeong as Jo Eun Seup:

-There's an episode when Lee Gon wants to eat but instead they encountered a group of gangsters. Jo Yeong came to the rescue but Jo Eun Seup's seniors saw him. He immediately copied Eun Seup's accent but not to the extend of being Eun Seup. Like you can really tell that it is still Jo Yeong.  Plus, his chemistry with the twins. He grew fond of them.

Jo Eun Seup as Jo Yeong:

-Woo Do Hwan nailed Jo Yeong serious self (like he's fine af with that hair and suit). But when he was Jo Eun Seup acting as Jo Yeong, everything he did was comedic. Like when he tried to pull out his gun or when his saying "Yes, your majesty" acting serious but not to the point of being Yeong. Like he's being Eun Seup in Yeong's clothes.

Both of them become Lee Gon's unbreakble sword. Both loyal and both willing to sacrifice their lives.

VISUALS:

One of my fave scene is when he announced that Tae-eul will be the queen and they need to protect her!

The ending for me is perfect. The second lead man ended up (in terms of pairing) with the female lead's other self. I think they kinda hint it when Luna kissed Shin-Jae. Plus Luna is adopted by Goo Seryeong's mom and she did have her own name this time(Koo Seo-gyeong). Seryeong's in jail for all the bad deeds she did. Lee Ji Hun is alive and became part of the navy. The real Shin Jae grew up well and became a ceo(?) while Eun Seup marries Nari. Jeong Tae-Eul cannot be the queen because Luna is still existing in Kingdom of Corea. But I think she will still marry Gon and have that weekend trips with him. Gon will not worry about a successor because his cousin (the good one) will be the next in line. Also, eventhough only three of them knows what happened (Yeong, Gon and Tae-eul) it was still ok. It was actually a fine ending for me. I really enjoyed it but again, its not that type of drama that everyone will like. It really depends on the viewer and its fine if you didn't like it. And this show is not as bad as the others says. Because in 2020, I read a lot of bad reviews about this drama so I have zero hope when I started this out. But it turns out fine. Not the best but not THAT bad.

Some photos that I found: