[Mainland Chinese Drama 2019] Joy of Life 庆余年

[tothestars]

1 hour ago, dzareth said:

Haha... I haven't actually went through many of works because he actually had a few republican era projects which isn't my favourite genre. Though I find it interesting that he actually had a lot of costume projects when I assumed his exotic looks would probably fit better with contemporary genre. He has also appeared in variety shows as regular and guest, so that's why he is not a shy wallflower in interviews.

 

I do find Novoland Castle in the Sky a weird choice... He did a great job that was a strange character...

 

And then he played FX and I just can't think of anyone who would be able to do a better job.

 

Hahah yeah his first projects most of them are republican era genres, i think ZRY is a very nationalist person, he loves portraying soldier character.

 

Novoland Castle is a break through for him for being recognized as an c-stars or idol. After that he started to gain more recognizition as lead. Despite cheesy plot but he nailed the character, his aura prince charming is really something. Have you watched the revolution of our love? There he played another different character, really really talented. 

[skibbies]

16 hours ago, dzareth said:

Haha... I haven't actually went through many of works because he actually had a few republican era projects which isn't my favourite genre. Though I find it interesting that he actually had a lot of costume projects when I assumed his exotic looks would probably fit better with contemporary genre. He has also appeared in variety shows as regular and guest, so that's why he is not a shy wallflower in interviews.

 

I do find Novoland Castle in the Sky a weird choice... He did a great job that was a strange character...

 

And then he played FX and I just can't think of anyone who would be able to do a better job.

Oh he started out doing republican dramas cos his dad who's a businessman turned director was doing them, actors that star in them (and less idolesque/fluff dramas) do generally go a different trajectory, but there's fair few popular actors/actresses that might have similar resume. Before this, I saw him in Wuxin: the monster killer, where he played a handsome young man trapped in hopeless one side love towards the villainess, it was a lot of fun. I think he's also known for his role in Dr Qin but I haven't seen it. Novoland is indeed a weird choice, fantasy-esque, almost entirely original script based on an established world, questionable budget for a drama that need lots of investment, but he did pretty good job with it.

[dzareth]

Well, acting aside, a huge reason for JoL's success is the writing team and their ability to honour the original content material. Mao Ni's other work Evernight had to be butchered to pass censor, and ended being more like an idol drama in S2. I did enjoy S1 though, whatever misgivings it had. 

 

So i do hope they will continue with the tone establish in JoL S1 and focus on FX's journey. 

[skibbies]

On 10/31/2020 at 5:35 PM, dzareth said:

Well, acting aside, a huge reason for JoL's success is the writing team and their ability to honour the original content material. Mao Ni's other work Evernight had to be butchered to pass censor, and ended being more like an idol drama in S2. I did enjoy S1 though, whatever misgivings it had. 

 

So i do hope they will continue with the tone establish in JoL S1 and focus on FX's journey. 

Ever Night s2's issue isn't really being censored, it was just butchered by itself, from pacing to writing to characterisation, it's lackluster even as an idol fluff drama, because I barely cared about the otp. 

[nevva3]

So, I completely put my life on hold and spend 6 days binge-watching this amazing drama. I can't believe I just started on it now. I knew about this drama and heard of how great it was, but I wasn't interested in it because I thought it was going to be a more serious drama based on the trailer so I didn't watch it until now. Who knew, it would turn out to be so funny and yet so so good. No words can describe how excellent this drama is, definitely on my top 5 list so far! Hehe, sorry but get ready for my long rant xD

 

All the cast portray their characters amazingly. This drama was the first drama that I was able to remember all the characters and their role in the story, which shows how amazing everyone's acting was. I also love how wittily and smartly this drama was written. Huge props and applaud to the writer on this amazing story. The way the lines were all written and with all the jokes were so funny and brought upon an amazing drama. My favorite joke was the one with Consort Shu and her love for books and the "lao gong" (husband) joke in the palace. 

 

So, I have to admit I was quite confused on the storyline at first since we started out in the modern world with him telling the story to someone and then jumping right into the story. I don't know why but at one point, I thought he was in a video game xD with all the masters and their levels and how he had to suppress them and just how his journey was along the way in Danzhou and in the capital. Leaving this here, I was wondering if this has to do anything with the main story? Like, what was the significance in him sharing this story in the modern world? Was he just portraying the writer and sharing his work that he created to his coworker? 

 

Oh my goodness, I have too many favorite scenes in this drama. However, I think the most memorable one for me was Fan Xian's drunk poetry scene, the scene in the cave where Xiao'en revealed the whole truth about Fan Xian's biological father and obviously the ending, since I didn't expect the ending to play out like that (my jaw literally dropped and I was speechless for my life).

 

Some of the heart filled scenes that I liked were FX's goodbye to his grandmother before he left for the capital, FX's talk with Teng Zi Jing's wife and how she told him that it wasn't his fault for TZJ's death but she doesn't want to see FX in the future because that will remind her of the pain and how he understands her words, and FX's pledge to the Prime Minister on his love for Wan'er (that he wasn't marrying her for money and status, but because he truly loves her). 

 

My favorite lovely dovey moment has to be given to all the moments with Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er. Their love story is just so cute and I love how unique it was that it started with a drumstick and how all he had to remember her by for a while was the drumstick that he picked off the ground, which kinds of remind me of Cinderella. I love how faithful Fan Xian is towards Wan'er and how he continuously assures her that his love is real. Awwh, all the lines that he said was just speechlessly incredible. I don't really care for the coupling of Fan Xian and the Priestess (Haitang Duo Duo) or Si Lili. I think they're more fitting to be Fan Xian's companion and not lover, but that's just my thought. 

 

I have so many favorite characters to choose from. I really like Uncle Wu Zhu's monotonic performance of how he doesn't remember anything xD and his replys are always so funny, Teng Zi Jing and his loyality in their friendship, Fan Ruo Ruo's continuously sister support and Wan'er because she's Wan'er and also Li Qin (I'm kind of bias). 

 

On towards all the plotting. Just when you thought that was the person behind everything, turns out the real mastermind is someone else. 2nd Prince really got me at the end. I never expected him to work with the Princess Royal. Like woah, I knew he was sneaky, but I didn't know he was that good to the point where he had everyone fooled and even Fan Xian. 

 

Anyways, I will leave this post with some of my thoughts and questions for the 2nd season:

1) Since Fan Xian was given the "Qi" (I forgot the true name of the book) at birth from Uncle Wu Zhu. Since Fan Xian kind of already studied the skills, is it possible that Fan Xian can become one of the grandmasters? Since, we learned that Ku He only became one of the grandmasters due to the book that was given by Fan Xian's mother when Xiao'en and Ku He went to find the temple 

 

2) Who is Lord Shadow? He's so sneakily suspicious. Fei Jie was able to identify him and based on that, we know that he's someone that we've seen before and he wasn't surprised too. So, I don't know but my guess is either Xie Bi'an (2nd Prince's swordsmen) or maybe Prince Jing (the one that hosted the poetry session in the beginning episodes but he's of royal status so there's really no point for him to be working with Chen Ping Ping), or this is funny and also so highly unlikely but Fan Si Zhe (Fan Xian's younger brother haha)

 

3) Did Fan Xian tell Yan Bing Yun about YBY's true identity and are they working together? Because I'm very hoping they are working together or at least, Yan Bing Yun becomes one of Fan Xian's supporter. 

 

4) What is under the pond in the villa that Fan Xian's mother lived in? FX's mother warned him that it would be dangerous if he looks into it however, she didn't stop him from looking into it. So, I'm super stoked to see what lies behind the mechanism and why the Emperor guard the place so heavily. 

 

5) The whole background story with Fan Xian's mother and Uncle Wu Zhu still needs answers! For example, did Uncle Wu Zhu come to this place like how Fan Xian's mother did? Is that why Uncle Wu Zhu never age? How did Fan Xian's mother died? (I knew she was murdered, but how?) Also, are there other people like FX's mother who came to the place like how she did? Is Chen Ping Ping one of them since he is currently the mastermind that plotted everything out. 

 

6) Why is everyone so desperately looking for the temple that they had to imprison Xiao'en for this secret? What's in it? And, is Fan Xian going to also look for the magical temple?

 

Lastly, I hope Fan Xian gains more true confidants and supporters. I really love the bond and friendship that FX developed with Teng Zi Jing. TZJ was such a great and loyal friend and I think he really helped FX. After TZJ's death, I also disliked how other characters kept telling FX that TZJ was merely a guard and that FX shouldn't care too much about a guard's life. You can definitely see the annoyance and hurt that those words brought upon FX every time he hears people not caring and valuing the life of someone lower than them. Like everyone else, I hope all the actors and actresses returns for the second and third season. I will be patiently reading the English version of the novel while I wait in desperation. 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2020 by nevva3

[bluehibiscus]

4 hours ago, nevva3 said:

 

So, I have to admit I was quite confused on the storyline at first since we started out in the modern world with him telling the story to someone and then jumping right into the story. I don't know why but at one point, I thought he was in a video game xD with all the masters and their levels and how he had to suppress them and just how his journey was along the way in Danzhou and in the capital. Leaving this here, I was wondering if this has to do anything with the main story? Like, what was the significance in him sharing this story in the modern world? Was he just portraying the writer and sharing his work that he created to his coworker? 

 

In the novel on which the drama is based, the protagonist is a young patient who time travels into a different world (fictitious historical period) but such an element had already been banned by the censorship board so they had to come up with this convoluted way of introducing the storyline (a student created a story to convince his professor of the relevance of his proposed thesis topic).

[tothestars]

16 hours ago, nevva3 said:

Anyways, I will leave this post with some of my thoughts and questions for the 2nd season:

 

Hahaha welcome to the club! I think all your questions will be answered in 2nd season, especially no 4-5-6, if you okay with spoiler, i will tell you a bit, but i cant explain them thoroughly, i have read the novel, it is very complicated and my brain couldnt processed that much, i think i have to re read again lol. 

[weirdnshort]

I finished this drama a few weeks ago. it's just so good. It has topped my favourite cdrama list. I wanted to know what's next so I just purchased the books, without really realizing I only bought the first 5 of 20 xD. My chinese is crap so maybe i'll just see how the first 5 goes. However, I also started reading some reviews and it sounds like... Fan Xian is much nicer in the drama. . Oh well. 

 

I had an inkling after I saw the Saintess that the source material might be a harem, then I saw the tags on novelupdates. lol. I should be used to this, as a former (?) anime fan. 

 

Aww. I'm reading the past posts and it sounds like Xiao Zhan won't be revising his role? TBH he was my carrot into this show, but it was so good, so even if I didn't see him, until the end, I didn't mind. And TBH his character was a bit... . lol. Ah I believe he filmed JOL while doing the untamed because it was mentioned in one of those BTS videos of the untamed (might be a fansubber). 

[Drama Bowl]

In "Joy of Life", martial artists are ranked according to their skill level, grade 1 being the weakest, and grade 9 the strongest. I came out with a Top 10 Ranking of the martial arts experts. Check it out below!

 

https://dramabowl.blogspot.com/2020/12/of-life-top-10-martial-arts-experts.html

[a_tumiwa]

9 hours ago, Lee Sha said:

In "Joy of Life", martial artists are ranked according to their skill level, grade 1 being the weakest, and grade 9 the strongest. I came out with a Top 10 Ranking of the martial arts experts. Check it out below!

 

https://dramabowl.blogspot.com/2020/12/of-life-top-10-martial-arts-experts.html

nice work.

btw if eunuch Hong is one of the 4 grandmasters, why he is put outside the rank of 4 grandmasters?

[tothestars]

8 hours ago, a_tumiwa said:

nice work.

btw if eunuch Hong is one of the 4 grandmasters, why he is put outside the rank of 4 grandmasters?

 

He is inside the list as the mysterious from southern qing, or he wasnt but someone else which is

 

Spoiler

The emperor aka Fan Xian's father...

 

[Drama Bowl]

Eunuch Hong is only rumoured to be one of the 4 grandmasters, but no-one really knows who the hidden grandmaster is. Can't wait for the answer to be revealed in season 2! 

[skibbies]

Zhang Ruoyun finished filming Snow Stride Sword but he's filming a movie right now, judging by the schedule, he'll likely be there till early March (assuming no breaks, but February has Chinese New Years). I think the Grand Princess Li Xiaoran also started filming a drama (with Wallace Chung), Emperor Chen Daoming is rumoured to film a spy drama with Jin Dong thanks to Dragon TV but I don't see concrete news, Chen Pingping Wu Gang has been filming a drama with Huang Zitao since October. Other people might be wrapped up in other projects too but I haven't really looked. JoL's rumour starting day is May I think? I'm hoping for March though. Also hoping Wang Juan get on with s3 too, since I saw Young Blood 2 has a rumour starting date too.

[tothestars]

Missing this couple a lot!

 

[an-naum]

I have been avoiding JOL for a while now because I cannot wait for season 2. Season 1 was so great and still can repeat watch again n again. 

I remember reading the translated novel. Yes, the 700+ chapters and losing sleep for it. There's no way I can read it during working hours. But, I did cheat a little and still trying to come back to the skip scene. The novel is detailed! 

The drama change the storyline of course. Fan Xian was seen stabbed in the end of season 1 but in the novel he was stabbed in the palace while saving the little prince (havent introduced yet in the drama). Spoiler alert : Who is this little prince? Dun dun dun.. Stay tune.

His sister save Fan Xian and this is the beginning of Fan Rou Rou learning medical skills. Can we love the Fan family? 

Eventhough Fan Xian truely love Lin Wan Er, he did sleep with a few of interesting ladies and father's a few of babies... Naughty you.. 

 

I dont want to spoil much more. The shadow identity.. I zip my mouth until the drama revealed them. 

[taekwang]

helllooooo

has season 2 joy of life been filmed yet?

any updates?

[lilviolet]

On 2/7/2022 at 3:23 AM, taekwang said:

helllooooo

has season 2 joy of life been filmed yet?

any updates?

Unfortunately, it hasn't started filming yet.

But.. the word on the street is that it soon. Like this year...?!  I know, I know....but hopefully not as pessimistic as my initial greviences is that they said that last year and also we've only just into 2022 ..like what if they filmed in Dec 2022, that meant promises were kept but it just extend the broadcast for another while. That would be so sad.

 

But... I've chosen to be more optimistic now and just been waiting day by day for the news to come out ...anyday now lol.  Zhang Ruo Yun has mentioned a few times that Fan Xian will be his next role in interviews late last year and he doesn't yet have any project announced so everyone is crossing fingers its JOY2 next...any minute now, any day. 

 

Also news is that when it does started, Joy Part 2 and Part 3 will be filmed together back to back.

 

Last note, although choosing to be optimistic  the news that Xiao Zhan and Li Qin had just announced filming their new drama last week gave me   . Xiao Zhan may not return to JOY2 is predictable, but I would like Li Qin back as Lin Wan Er. Ah *throws hands up in air* whatever happen will happen .... 

 

[taekwang]

On 2/13/2022 at 9:10 PM, lilviolet said:

Unfortunately, it hasn't started filming yet.

But.. the word on the street is that it soon. Like this year...?!  I know, I know....but hopefully not as pessimistic as my initial greviences is that they said that last year and also we've only just into 2022 ..like what if they filmed in Dec 2022, that meant promises were kept but it just extend the broadcast for another while. That would be so sad.

 

But... I've chosen to be more optimistic now and just been waiting day by day for the news to come out ...anyday now lol.  Zhang Ruo Yun has mentioned a few times that Fan Xian will be his next role in interviews late last year and he doesn't yet have any project announced so everyone is crossing fingers its JOY2 next...any minute now, any day. 

 

Also news is that when it does started, Joy Part 2 and Part 3 will be filmed together back to back.

 

Last note, although choosing to be optimistic  the news that Xiao Zhan and Li Qin had just announced filming their new drama last week gave me   . Xiao Zhan may not return to JOY2 is predictable, but I would like Li Qin back as Lin Wan Er. Ah *throws hands up in air* whatever happen will happen .... 

 

oh i seeeeee... yet to start filming.. was hoping this will start soon.. the wait.. is agonising !

[maddymappo]

Any news? I hear this summer, and that Season 2 is a prequel. I would like to know what happens next, though.

[Yinye]

Great news everyone!!! Part 2 news!!!!