[Mainland Chinese Drama 2019] Joy of Life 庆余年

[JoyceDreamer]

I have a feeling that it won't follow through with 5 more years or 2 more seasons. I don't know if anyone here is a fan of The Lost Tomb, because that was what was suppose to happen with Yang Yang and Li Yi Feng and in the end... all the cast changed and it was just this past year that the last version came out (Book 2 & 3). 5 years is too long and things happen to fast. Unless they go into production right now and finish filming the 5 year worth of materials. Otherwise, I doubt we will get anything other than what they already finished filming the first time around. Sad reality of the Chinese entertainment industry... 

 

I'm even still waiting for Princess Agent 2 - which I have a strong feeling...won't be coming. 

 

Also...if anyone knows a good place that I can read Joy of Life in English, please let me know. Thank you.

 

Otherwise, if anyone changes their mind and plan to spoil the plot, please let me know too.   

[tothestars]

Article about Joy of Life, one of my most fave scene!

 

https://www.jaynestars.com/news/joy-of-life-zhang-ruoyun-shot-an-entire-sequence-drunk/

“Joy of Life” Zhang Ruoyun Shot an Entire Sequence Drunk

By addy on January 8, 2020 in NEWS, TV Dramas

 

The plot thickens as Joy of Life <庆余年> enters its grand finale. Fan Xian, played by Zhang Ruoyun (张若昀), is seemingly fatally stabbed by Yan Bingyun (guest star Sean Xiao 肖战), setting up the scene for a second season.

The comedy drama, based on the online novel Qing Yunian by Mao Ni (猫腻), follows a college student and his peculiar journey of completing a novel-length story that is meant for his professor to read. In the novel, a mysterious youth from a small seaside village learns medicine from a mysterious teacher that leads him to understand more of his own past.

With all 46 episodes coming to an end soon, Zhang Ruoyun feels both excitement and longing. He shared that his most memorable scene was where his character recites a long series of poems while in a drunken state. It turns out that Zhang Ruoyun was actually drunk while shooting the scene, and had memorized over 100 different poems to prepare for it.

“I started drinking at 8 in the morning,” he said. “We took three days to film that scene. I was drunk for half of that.”

He remembered shooting over 300 different shots on the first day, and several hundred more the following days. “You can look exceptionally fake when you try to film a drunk scene sober,” he said.

Zhang Ruoyun has played lead in many series, but he admitted that he has gotten the most satisfaction in playing Fan Xian. He appears in over 800 scenes, and if Fan Xian wasn’t a happy character, Zhang Ruoyun himself probably wouldn’t have been able to maintain such positive energy for a long time. Fan Xian is an extremely likable character, and many characters that he comes across in the story all have soft spots for him.

“Usually, when filming ends an actor would want to pull out of his character,” he said. “But Fan Xian is such a happy person, and he makes me so happy. Even to this day, I feel like I’m still him.”

 

 

Joy of Life also stars Chen Daoming (陈道明) and Sweet Li (李沁).

Source: Ettoday.net

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.

TAGS: iQIYI, Joy of Life, Tencent Video, Zhang Ruoyun 

JayneStars Media LLC reserves all copyrights. 

[tothestars]

3 hours ago, JoyceDreamer said:

Also...if anyone knows a good place that I can read Joy of Life in English, please let me know. Thank you.

 

https://wuxiaworld.live/joy-of-life/

 

3 hours ago, JoyceDreamer said:

I'm even still waiting for Princess Agent 2 - which I have a strong feeling...won't be coming. 

 

I had give up for this one long long time ago...

 

3 hours ago, JoyceDreamer said:

I have a feeling that it won't follow through with 5 more years or 2 more seasons

 

Yeah hopefully they can wrap up all in next one season only.

 

1 hour ago, angelangie said:

not bad not bad....there are dances in the period drama

 

Hahaha yeah this one is very entertaining, you can have a touch of modern in a period drama.

[GiaGia]

Wow Ep 41 when FX 

Spoiler

found out that the Emperor is his father!!!!

Although I already guessed it at the beginning! 

edit: Yan Bingyun has got to be one of the most cold face man in JOY!! Lol. XZ's character here is like night and day from WWX. Wait, I noticed of of the male actors wore black eyeliner?? Like CPP and YBY??? XZ's eyes looks different here, and his makeup makes him look pale???

Wow, now on ep 42; and everything is falling into place^^!!!!

[skibbies]

6 hours ago, epinklyn said:

Yeah hopefully they can wrap up all in next one season only.

Wang Juan's outline clearly planned for three seasons though. I'd worry more about how he'll adapt the story and still get it past NRTA to air. Also how he'll keep the fairly light tone as it gets increasingly dark and depressing. Maybe whether major supporting characters will be back, ZRY are definite yes, CPP's Wu Gang looks pretty interested, Qing Emperor's Chen Dao Ming was the most toss up, but seem to lean towards yes at the moment? 

 

For people worried about the coming season, it's by all indications in pre-production, likely to be film in late 2020. I'll note that Xinli, the production company's CEO, tencent pictures CEO (major investor, IP holder), scriptwriter Wang Juan and Zhang Ruo Yun (Fan Xian) are all originally fans of the book. I'm not kidding when I say it's big IP and they all really like it. The drama have been topping charts despite the problematic release schedules, backlash for vvip and multiple leaks, like it topped 2019 charts in literally a month, before it technically finished airing. It's hot property. They are making a mobile mmo for it (which is par for the course for tencent, since it started partially as a games company). Male protag (qidian) novels adaptations have mostly bombed or performed far below expectations, and tencent/yuewen have been waiting for something like this. Ever Night was reasonally well received, as was King's Avatar, but that's it, and neither have as big of audience reach as Joy of Life. 

[GiaGia]

^Well said. Season 2 would turn darker as the plot thicken. I hope most of the supporting casts return, if they are still relevant in the story. We still have questions about the divine temple? 

Spoiler

that's how the mom came over from the future??

I'm curious how the divine temple came to be??? That would be interesting to know if they explored more about it. Also, how would YBY react when he finds out about his real identity. Would he change side??? 

I have to say, most of Chinese dramas----they really know how to find personal guards that are cute, and talented; just like the ML.

[tothestars]

18 hours ago, rosierosie said:

Wow Ep 41 when FX 

  Reveal hidden contents

found out that the Emperor is his father!!!!

Although I already guessed it at the beginning! 

edit: Yan Bingyun has got to be one of the most cold face man in JOY!! Lol. XZ's character here is like night and day from WWX. Wait, I noticed of of the male actors wore black eyeliner?? Like CPP and YBY??? XZ's eyes looks different here, and his makeup makes him look pale???

Wow, now on ep 42; and everything is falling into place^^!!!!

 

7 hours ago, rosierosie said:

Also, how would YBY react when he finds out about his real identity. Would he change side??? 

 

Yeah ep 41 is so intense, also when Fan Xian discover that YBY is the grandchild of Xiao En, he was really emotional, how he feel scared of CPP, i cant wait to see when he find out that the real culprit was the emperor aka his father...

 

And about the eyeliner of YBY, it was just too obvious right, dont like it too, i want XZ just like in Untamed, more natural make up. CPP for me is still okay.

[GiaGia]

1 hour ago, epinklyn said:

 

 

Yeah ep 41 is so intense, also when Fan Xian discover that YBY is the grandchild of Xiao En, he was really emotional, how he feel scared of CPP, i cant wait to see when he find out that the real culprit was the emperor aka his father...

 

And about the eyeliner of YBY, it was just too obvious right, dont like it too, i want XZ just like in Untamed, more natural make up. CPP for me is still okay.

I was just thinking about XF finding out the mastermind is the Emperor

Spoiler

aka his appa

!!!

How cheated and betrayal he would feel!!?? Like, they did all that just

Spoiler

to get the secret of the divine temple??!

FX feel so used, and betrayal at this point. When that shocked on his face, when he realized that YBY and him are the same age!!??? That zoom into his face was so great---You can see all the shocked on his face???!! He was like, how can CPP do this to you and me?? But, he doesn't know that CPP worked under the Emperor. It was nice to see the three friendships between the older casts----Emperor is a man to fear---he can easily like and then destroy you. Love FX's adopted father, Fan Jian would not abandoned FX :)---so at least, one good person is on his side. Wait, at this point; does Fan Jian knows that FX is not his real son,

Spoiler

but the emperor

? BC in ep 42; CPP and FJ was talking, and it looks like FJ knows that FX is not his real son; but he doesn't care, and he still count FX as his real son.

[tothestars]

Remaining Years MV by Xiao Zhan

 

https://weibointl.api.weibo.cn/share/112479634.html?weibo_id=4458495757437179

 

[GiaGia]

lol ep 45 when the Saintess and FX dance^^!! That was funny to watched. I'm confused why is His Majesty of Beiqui a woman??

That Si Lili love storyline with FX was out of the blue, but who wouldn't resist FX's charm^^!!! He's full of wits and brain. 

[tothestars]

1 hour ago, rosierosie said:

lol ep 45 when the Saintess and FX dance^^!! That was funny to watched. I'm confused why is His Majesty of Beiqui a woman??

That Si Lili love storyline with FX was out of the blue, but who wouldn't resist FX's charm^^!!! He's full of wits and brain. 

 

I dont know whether Bei Qi Emperor is a woman or should be a man but played by an actress. I havent read the novel that far.

 

I feel that FX's expression to Si LiLi is so cute, he kinda scared to hurt her feeling, acting more and more ackward when Si LiLi says she likes him.

[MK916]

4 hours ago, epinklyn said:

 

I dont know whether Bei Qi Emperor is a woman or should be a man but played by an actress. I havent read the novel that far.

 

I feel that FX's expression to Si LiLi is so cute, he kinda scared to hurt her feeling, acting more and more ackward when Si LiLi says she likes him.

Fan Xian figures out later that Bei Qi Emperor (or Northern Qi Young Emperor as titled in the novel) is actually a female emperor. Around chapter 479.

[GiaGia]

5 hours ago, MK916 said:

Fan Xian figures out later that Bei Qi Emperor (or Northern Qi Young Emperor as titled in the novel) is actually a female emperor. Around chapter 479.

So the Bei Qi emperor likes Si Lili as a lover??

7 hours ago, epinklyn said:

 

I dont know whether Bei Qi Emperor is a woman or should be a man but played by an actress. I havent read the novel that far.

 

I feel that FX's expression to Si LiLi is so cute, he kinda scared to hurt her feeling, acting more and more ackward when Si LiLi says she likes him.

Yeah, it was awkward for FX when Si Lili confessed to him!!! 

[tothestars]

Back of Fan Xian n Emperor

 

 

[tothestars]

On 1/12/2020 at 1:18 AM, MK916 said:

Fan Xian figures out later that Bei Qi Emperor (or Northern Qi Young Emperor as titled in the novel) is actually a female emperor. Around chapter 479

 

Okay i just read it, i have read the novel randomly LOL...

 

On 1/12/2020 at 6:55 AM, rosierosie said:

So the Bei Qi emperor likes Si Lili as a lover??

 

Maybe just to cover her identity as emperor woman, i read that only Her Majesty (emperor's mom) and one nanny that babysit the emperor from baby to adult, and the nanny never change.

[tothestars]

Short video showing the JoL production from the beginning press conference till wrap up.

 

#在抖音，记录美好生活#庆余年第一季大结局了，但故事还未到尽头。余年有幸，期待重逢！#庆余年 https://v.douyin.com/qcDEu4/ 复制此链接，打开【抖音短视频】，直接观看视频！

 

 

[caranita]

On 1/12/2020 at 7:18 AM, MK916 said:

Fan Xian figures out later that Bei Qi Emperor (or Northern Qi Young Emperor as titled in the novel) is actually a female emperor. Around chapter 479.

 

I've been wondering why they cast an obviously female actor to play the Emperor -- thanks for this!  

[tothestars]

Zhang RuoYun update his weibo with a long post about Joy of Life... Plz someone translate this for me...

 

 

休谈风月，依诺沙星

 

        今天是个好日子，早在几周前，就想好了选在今天，和小范大人做一个短暂的告别。有了这个念头之后，标题的这八个字就是首先闯入我脑海的八个字。  

        无情对，最无情。

        2016年的冬天，是我初次接触庆余年的季节，彼时发生的许多，都是此生之前从未遭遇过的情节。如今回忆起这三年的旅程与内心经历的一切，不禁唏嘘，范闲的人生终将活成一段传奇，而有幸作为饰演者的我自己，也值得用一些文字，去祭奠这三年的时光。那个冬天发生了很多故事，其中包括一些今天已经广为人知的：在与曹华益先生孙皓导演第二次碰面的酒桌上，我借着三分酒气，留下了那句如今已经被流传出去的“小范大人非我莫属”。

        我不是我已知第一个做这样表态的演员，事实上，“非我莫属”这个句式本身，就来自于我的一个演员好友，也是我的好前辈，好兄长。许多许多年以前，当时稚嫩的我听到他讲这个故事的时候，心里就赞赏着一个演员能有如此自信的表达，或许也隐约的期许着，什么时候我能遇到，能让我说出这句话的那个角色呢？

        所以孙皓导演后来回忆起那次会面的时候，会想起“他在聊戏的时候人是颤抖的，演员在聊角色时颤抖，代表他心动了。”孙皓导演没想起来或没有说的是，当时我颤抖着聊的是无情对，我当时还拿手机放着一首歌，是由郭婞女士作词，陈粒女士作曲并演唱的《正趣果上果》。总之，有那么一段时间，说的都不是范安之如何如何，庆余年如何如何，我饰演这个角色有什么想法如何如何，而是“鸡冠花未放，狗尾草先生”，是“树已千寻难纵斧，果然一点不相干”，是驴唇不对马嘴的对子。

无情对，又名羊角对，驴唇不对马嘴，却妙趣横生，像极了小范大人与剧中人交流的样子，最是工整又最是无情，最是孤独。

       人生在世三万天，趣果有间孤独无解。

孤独，是我读完庆余年原著和剧版剧本之后，最先冒出来的念头。可那种孤独又很特别，不是傲然于世不食人间烟火的孤独，而是老师斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基所说的“当众孤独”。

        范闲，他是个演员呐，坐在石阶上拖着腮等待接下来的剧情，在世间众生中穿梭而过寻找自己存在的意义。朝堂醉吟唐诗三百首，世人皆道小范诗仙，有人夸他天界下凡，有人讽他用典不明，可没人知道他的心理依据是什么，他的心象是什么，他为何而来？他又为何而活？为何而爱又为何而恼？连他自己也不明白，所以他在寻找，在交流也在对抗，在苦闷也在快乐。有人说他父可敌国五父临门，可他却在世界的角落玩着没人知道的梗，守护着没人在乎的正义。“顺丰快件，快剑顺风。”“高达扎古，澹州会战。”

        “这世界觉得他无关紧要，我不喜欢。”

        “我想为了这些人，跟这世上的道理斗一斗。”

        范闲活成了我想活成的样子，回想那几年演过范闲，我会觉得自己要想办法对得起自己，活出风采，不然我会羞愧。我记得2016的那次会面后，我找孙皓导演聊过范闲的心理年龄，我在拧巴，一个实际年龄已经是个老人的角色，该如何像少年般去面对那个世界，孙皓导演跟我说，不要功课做得太细，你心里已经有了。一个老成的少年，或许就是作者和主创对这个世界最好的期许吧，既有岁月带来的智慧，又有少年改变不公的直率与勇气。

        我爱小范大人，他就像你我一样俗气，爱这众生，爱这世界烟火，即佩桃木降妖剑，又会一招不要脸，即练含笑半步癫，也会为你煮碗面。但是他又不似你我，他有着拒绝安排的脾性，他有着对抗不公的勇气，像极了你我渴望重新一次回到少年的样子。少年或许会过去，但少年心气永远不会过去。

        未来几年里，我将会与这个老成的少年继续相伴相随，运筹帷幄，除暴安良，用尽心力去守护好他身边的那些好人，和那个让他既来之则安之的世界。

        少年啊，不要输给风雨，更不要输给歪门邪道啊。

[skibbies]

I finished the drama! Overall I really liked it. I was little unsure about ZRY at first, even though I liked him in WuXin, but that was a supporting role. He excelled as Fan Xian, he read the book and clearly loved it and understood his character. I love the supporting cast so much, from veteran actors CPP, emperor, Wang Qinian, Granny, to the younger actors like two princes, Haitang Duoduo, Wuzhu etc. I liked that most of them had some characterisation so they weren't all flat/one note, and even the one-off supporting cast like the Cheng Jushu (the big guy in ep 14? 15?), Guo Baokun's hired assassins' or Shang Shanhu's subordinates had their shining moments.

 

It's so nice to have a relatively short drama that had no fillers, the pacing were always pretty quick, which is so refreshing after watching so many meticulously filmed but slow drama. The story was SO up my alley right from the start, the beginning was ingenious, and honestly to me, any plot holes can now be attributed to the young guy didn't do enough research/smooth out the plot enough. I did start it expecting modern values vs feudal values which is common for transmigration protagonists, but they rarely get explored in-depth. It's generally used as to a cheat with imbalance of knowledge/information, or sometimes it's comedy, but mostly it's just an easy way for audience to get into the story. This one clearly intended to do all three, and then I got lots of spoilers, and of course the drama reveals there's much more to the world than FX expected.

 

I loved following FX as he explores the world, and it feels like he stepped into the aftermath of overpowered transmigration protagonist reforming the world, his mum just did a lot of things he wanted to do. It's fun and refreshing, especially in dramas. FX's characterisation isn't quite hammered in the drama, although it's clearly stated several times, he treasures the time he gets to live, he treasures the people he meet and grew to love, he's lonely and struggles to find a purpose, all pretty poignant themes. I also really liked the humour in the series, name gags, modern knowledge gags, visual gags, gap moe/contrasting personality, absurdity, dry sarcasm, effective use of music, it's basically got almost every kind of humour you want. I thought it was little over the top at first, but I just wasn't quite expecting the tone of the series. It's totally understandable to keep it light while telling a rather serious story, it makes it much more accessible and have an easier time keeping the audience.

 

The arcs are all interlinked, as are the plot twists, and there's so many of them. I quite like the various schemes everyone had going on, multi party allegiance are so my thing. FX feels like he breezed through his way in first half of drama, but you are distracted by all these characters and the world. Then when you notice, he gets sent to Bei Qi, which is great, since now he has to solve problems by himself. You can totally tell the scriptwriter is building up to something, I am SO looking forward to s2! Since this really feels like it just introduced the world to us, established various characters and their motivations and relationship, and there's so much more to the story.

[GiaGia]

Just finished ep 46!!! What a twist, even though I read the spoil. YBY is so funny, like he asked the obvious questions lol.

Second prince is really despicable. I knew he was scarier than First Prince. So conniving, and working behind the scenes. 

FX has always been smart, he knows Second Prince cannot just killed anyone.

I heard of people having 2nd lead syndrome, but what about 2nd female lead syndrome^^?? I really like Haitang Duoduo's character, she is smart, kind, fierce and playful------like a female version of FX. Overall, I'm glad I watched this drama; it was funny, lots of good actions; romance good for the OTP---not too overdone or mushy.

But, really, YBY 

Spoiler

why you got to do FX's like that?

I feel like at this point, I still don't know if YBY is a good person or not; my suspicious is telling me he might be working for the second prince??? He's someone that must beware of. Cannot wait for season 2, hopefully it will kick season 1 in the richard simmons.

Also, when Beiqui Zhu Ge died, he redeemed himself by saving his sister-----I thought that was sad.

Hope to see more funny side character, like Fan Si Zhe and Ruo Ruo in season 2.

Anyone knows, how much is YBY's role in the book? Maybe he's gonna died in season 2???

 

I prob asked this before, but was there no dubbed here? I watched the BTS and their voices sounds similar?