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The drama overall was well done, if you had asked me to watch a time traveling wuxia. I would have said HELL no. I hate those dramas. They are never done well. Mostly due to the nonchalance of the historical versus the modern. The historical part of the story never has any weight to it. Its glossed over. This drama, I completely forgot the plot. It pulls you deep into the historical and you LOVE these people and want to stay forever. Great writing hands down. Great cast hands down. Great director hands down....
So what's NOT perfect, the most glaring. Li Qin, the supposed female lead. I have no idea about the book but they need change her character soon. As of now, she is literally just a pretty face. The male lead is supposedly the boy who inherits the kingdom and he shows all signs of capability. However, the female lead is sickly, soft and unaware of most of the political machinations around her. This disturbs me the most. I also came here for Li Qin and was apalled at her character. Sure she's not an idiot but she's not clever enough to be Empress either. I'm worried at where this is going. I am one that believes in a great man should have a great woman next to him not behind him OR vice versa. The burden of the kingdom must be shared otherwise you will go crazy.
That takes me to Duo Duo....LOL. Her name is hilarious. Translation may be off. Haitung....the ninth level master from Qi Kingdom. I hate to LOVE her because it feels like I'm cheating on Waner but she is PERFECT for him. So perfect its embarrassing to his family and friends when they're seen together. Sigh....what to do....what to do....Fan Xian is in a serious dilemma. Keep in mind he is young and his journey is long and arduous.
For those who love Xiao Zhan, NO worries. He obviously has a major role in the upcoming seasons. Definitely more face time in the works. Speaking of upcoming seasons, I can't tell you how disappointed I am they are not shooting back to back. Let's be for real. Cdramas have a bad record in sequels. Either they are not done or actors are changed. What's up with that??? If the world can wait for Avengers over 12 years. This shouldn't be that hard. So let's get this done with the same actors and proctuction team...Good luck
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This review may contain spoilers
“Have you ever felt like you were the main lead in a drama”.
This is the first ever drama that I have watched and put myself in the main leads perspective, and thought like he did, or maybe gave much thought to his decisions And what he did and the way he did it. From the moment you were born leaving all your life predicted by someone. Thinking every decision you made in your life is by your will however it’s not, it’s someone else trying to make you think that way. instead of leaving for yourself you were someone’s chess piece in a game of life and death.The male lead in this drama if he were a real person he was to be a man of greatness. because leaving in a world where you trust nobody and nobody trusts you in contrast maybe you think they do but in Reality they are doing it in the so called name of “ greater good”.
This is my favorite historical Chinese drama because it beats any other drama that I’ve ever seen. It makes you so involved in what is taking place that you start to suspect every person acting besides the male lead . in addition this drama is a highly recommended because at first I just give it a shot and after seeing the reviews I decided to watch it and I was not disappointed.
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Captivating, to say the least.
What a stunning & magnificent drama. It came with drama, comedy, suspense, and mystery in its finest form. Fans of Nirvana in Fire would appreciate this one. Allow me to elaborate:Pros:
1) VILLAINS. One thing this drama does well is having well-rounded characters. I don’t really see that in Chinese historicals very much. Usually villains are portrayed as completely evil with no redeeming qualities. And usually in drama world, when a “bad” guy dies, their existence just seems to cease to exist like a problem that went away. But in this drama their deaths lingered. Everything that they were, everything that they held dear, everyone that they knew & loved, were all affected. You felt their deaths just like Fan Xian did too. Even if they were considered the enemy, they weren’t just another “bad guy.” They were a dad. They were a son. They were a brother. They were somebody to someone even if they weren’t on the “good” side.
Surprisingly, I found myself sympathizing with the villains more often than I did with the heroes. Every character (good or bad) had their reasons for what they did. And they all had something they wanted to protect fiercely.
2) PLOT. The intricate web of plots are not there for the sake of just being there. The plot is not dumbed down for any of us. The writers will make you work for it. Every dialogue. Every movement a character makes. Every plot-line. All of this is there to develop Fan Xian’s character and to move the plot forward. Sometimes we get boring filler episodes that have nothing to do with the bigger picture in these types of dramas. But not in this one. Every. Episode. Counts. Seriously, don’t skip or you might just lose the plot.
3) UNRELIABLE NARRATOR. Not everything is what is seems. I know, I know. *eye rolls* But really. You can’t trust anyone in this drama. Usually you can tell who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. Not in Joy of Life. There’s so many layers to this story that keeps it refreshing. Always something brewing underneath the surface. And you never know what you’re gonna get.
4) THE EMPEROR. Jesus H. Christ, he is one hell of a character! Forget Fan Xian, I’d watch this for his performance alone! Extremely well-written! Wonderful acting! Not your typical, gullible, blinded-by-officials type of king. HE ALWAYS KNOWS WHAT’S GOING ON & I LOVE THAT. No one can fool him in his own court. And the best part is, you see all sides to him. You see the messy side. The hard side. The cruel side. The soft side. The ruthless side. The mysterious side. You never know his next move. THIS. This is how an emperor should be written. Take notes drama writers. He is the epitome of POWER.
5) BALANCE. What this drama also does well is knowing when to be comedic and when to be serious. You will laugh (most of the times it’s like a WTF laugh) and you will cry. Don’t let the gray color gradient on screen fool you into thinking this is a melodramatic drama. It is not. It is extremely funny when need be. And it pulls it off well.
Cons:
1) COMPLICATED. It can be hard to follow. There are times when I had to rewind a few times to understand. The plot is so intricate and deals with many characters so you must follow closely. Not only that, the writers assume that their audiences are smart enough to dissect the plot themselves, which is not always the case. It can be hard to understand at times with so much going on & so many character names to remember.
2) SLOW-PACED. I must say I don’t think I was fully invested until episode 20+. I stopped watching & it took me at least 3xs to push through. And when I did, I was so glad and thankful I didn’t miss out on such a wonderful drama. One of the best written!
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OVERALL:
This is one of those dramas that’s just different in terms of how it is written & directed. It breaks the barrier of what historical dramas should strive for. It really does it all! After watching, I was left utterly speechless, bereft, & lost. I haven’t felt like this since 10 Miles of Peach Blossom. I’m mad that there’s even a season 2! I wish it was all just 1 season! I don’t wanna wait for more Fan Xian & Yan Bing Yun!
P.S. Joy of Life has one of the most beautiful opening credits I’ve ever seen from a drama. Absolutely stunning.
Anyways, happy heartbreak! I mean watching! Happy watching! Haha.
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I usually don't take the time to write reviews, as a matter of fact, this is my first ever review.
I finished the entire drama about a minute ago and let me just say, I've never been more hooked on a drama in my entire life. When I say that the show had no bad parts, I mean it. Almost every part has meaning and was interesting.Story:
The plot has to be one of the best I have ever seen. If someone doesn't know the meaning of plot twist, tell them to watch this drama. I won't spoil anything but every little part is important. I swear my IQ has went up so high after watching this show. The only reason I gave it .5 off was because I can't give it a 9.9. The only thing that I couldn't really get was the romance between Lin Waner and Fan Xian. Other than that it was perfect.
Acting:
I don't have a single problem with the actors or actresses. I especially loved young Fan Xian and Duo Duo. All of them portrayed their characters extremely well. Respect.
Music:
The OST for this show was pretty good. Wouldn't say it's my favorite but is definitely a good song. The background music throughout the drama helped a lot with the mood each scene was going through. Music was chosen well. Especially during suspenseful parts.
Rewatch Value:
I'm about to go watch it again to see if there were any hints in the story leading up to the ending haha, so yes I will rewatch for sure.
Do I recommend?:
If you like good plots, this is absolutely phenomenal and I 100000% recommend. If you like romance and such, there is some, but I'm not quite sure it will be fulfilling but I'm sure you will become more interested in the plot over the romance.
Final notes:
Probably my favorite drama I've ever seen. Thank you for reading, have a good day :D
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Welcome to Dystopia
I started watching Joy of Life because of it's epic reviews on MDL. It's rare that a title gets a consistent ranking of 9. Also, I was in hospital and on bedrest so I had nothing else to do. This is a drama that started very very slowly. So slowly in fact that I got a bit bored mid way and watched a few other shows before I went back to it (determined to give it a shot given its high ratings online). I think it only started to pick up after the 30th or so episode.The cinematography of this show is incredible. Props to the Director and Cinematography team. The colour scheme and music they chose gives you an idea of what to expect. It's overall moody and foreboding and has an almost eerie air. Nothing is as it seems. Suspect everything. Trust no one. I feel that I was in perpetual late autumn / winter in this show. It has a very dark, dystopic aura about it.
Fan Xian is an extremely erudite, precocious and arrogant character. He's smart, but he's not that likeable. To be honest, not many people in this show are likeable. If I have to choose one person to like it's the Emperor. It took me a while to get used to Fan Xian's face and character as it's not normally the sort of face you will see in period dramas. But then this is not your typical period drama. This is in an altogether alternate reality.
I love dramas with smart, witty leads and Fan Xian is no exception (except he's arrogant and not that likeable). He was able to counteract most of the attacks against him. What I didn't like was the weakness of the FL (can we call her that? Maybe just Fan Xian's love interest). With the current trend gearing towards strong FLs who are equal, if not better than the MLs, I was surprised by how weak Lin Wan'Er was. Maybe they will surprise us in the second season. All she does is spend her time cooped up in her room because she's sick with TB (and recovering now thanks to Fan Xian). She sits around pining for him, hoping to see him next or else lying in bed coughing. I really wished that she could be stronger and solve crimes and face challenges with Fan Xian. That would really make me like the second season. Instead she's constantly playing the damsel in distress, waiting for Fan Xian to save her.
I was honestly surprised and disappointed by her character since the entire premise of the show was based on Fan Xian's own mother who everyone revered as ahead of her time. If it's so girl power - how come Lin Wan'Er is so weak? Maybe they will flesh out her character in the next season. I felt that the entire show was written by men, for men (pretending to be feminist but cannot really understand women) and a quick glance at the director, executive producer and writer proved me right.
Overall it's an extremely intelligent show (apart from the very obvious issues of the weak FL) with a fantastic soundtrack (I was happily surprised to hear Li Jian singing the opening song). I surprised myself by actually rating it so highly (because I really don't like Fan Xian that much) but I must say the plot twists and turns (towards the end) kept me going and hooked. This drama really stands out on its own. You'll be hard pressed to find another show like this.
If this series was a beverage it would be whiskey served neat. Not easily enjoyable, but if you like it, you really will.
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Joy of Life Season 1 is an amazing work of art
This first season is full of intrigue it’s very interesting and has heartfelt emotional story plots the action scenes are brilliant and outstanding it’s very well written the actors are very talented this is well worth watching its amazing brilliant has awesome fight scenes great character acting there’s something for everyone and some beautiful landscapes cinematically this is beautiful to watch it’s a work of art I loved this I cannot wait to see season 2 released on 30th of November 2023 available on WeTV and Viki Rankutan Tv apps and Tencent video app there is also talk of a season 3 in the pipeline possibly in November 2023 or 2024Was this review helpful to you?
Great Chinese Period Drama
This drama is beautifully done from every perspective, ecept the cliffhanger ending that seemed to promise a sequel. It feels like the writer was promoting a sequel or maybe just wanted to be mysterious. Zhang Ruo Yun (Fan Xian) and Li Qun ( Lin Wan’er) make a compelling and adorable onscreen couple. I can't leave out everyone's favorite, XIAO ZHAN (Yan Bing Yun) addint some romantic competition for Fan Xian. I would recommend any drama that contained any one of those actors. As seems to be his choice, Zhang Ruo Yun selects parts that are unpredictable and dramas that leave you wondering. This wonderful, cultural, period piece along with the great cast, acting skill, and gorgeous cinematograhy makes this a must watch.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Its a show which is great at political intrigue and fascinating complicated schemes. All else though has a lot to be desired. Mostly it suffers from unnecessary extra plot lines like romance and some really shallow supernatural elements.The cliche of protag is always right and everyone accepts and follows him really makes this drama boring. It just devolves into a power fantasy. At first at least he had a friend.
- Romance -
In the beginning the story starts with a heavy influence of a romantic sub plot. Unfortunately, later when the ML gets the girl, the girl becomes a meaningless show piece which turns up for small glimpses. The girl is also really meaningless in the whole scheme of things and ends up as a cliche pawn for others' use.
I do think having a harem would have tantalized this or if the main girl was a lot more active, apart from her supposed beauty. But beauty is subjective, as I found the actress not special at all, completely undeserving of the role. Almost all other love interests around ML were far more beautiful actresses, who would actually even help the ML and be more meaningful part of his life.
- The World -
The overall world also gets a back seat, we don't get much clarity of what the country is about, how it is organized, who it borders etc. Rather we get one or two lines thrown here and there about some front line, some province etc.
- Martial Aspect -
The martial power levels are loosely defined, actually only the the top 3 are ever mentioned throughout. Apart from some supernatural differences of the top level, nothing is clear. Out of thin air the protag mentions a breakthrough but of what, constitutes of what or to what end is never described.
- Story Background -
The story describes the nature of ML and his mysterious mother in a way which in my opinion is similar to shooting oneself dead:
"The past humankind actually died in a high tech era from a Great Ice Age, meaning thousands of years from now. Then this race came about and progressed much like ours till the state in the drama, against infinitely incalculable odds, the world after millions of years, went in the same trajectory as before!"
This supernatural aspect was a botched attempt. I guess, the author realized its premature nature and didn't immediately follow it through as well but its position in the plot made the TV production also unable to move it around.
All the improbabilities to impossibly making the world like ancient China. Even though this mankind is completely different from the humans of past like our ML.
But I understand from experience that rarely Chinese novel authors ever give attention to world details as long as things seem fantastical.
- Overall -
The second half only has its schemes that keep it interesting, there is no strong overarching goal. This is essentially a slice of life drama where we look at how the lead lives his life without any main goal or definite end to attain.
Still this drama, if you care to ignore all its fallacies, is a good one time watchable affair.
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Could've been great.
Joy of Life's premise is silly, it's the kind of scifi YA nonsense you'd write in highschool.Which is ok, I'm not expecting a masterpiece.
The series however relies on its story way too much, to its own detriment.
Put simply - the show is all about intrigue and plots, with a side of romance and mystery.
Trouble with this - the intrigue is not very clever or engaging, character motivations are shallow or terribly overcomplicated. It's written to work only as long as the plot rushes forward, so you don't notice how flimsy it is.
It also uses the "character decides to do the last mission before retirement, oops" cliche, and it's unfortunately very important to the overall story.
On the technical side, the show looks very nice in a few places. Mostly it's "ok" to watch. There are some fights, especially in the second half, and they're pretty well done.
One aspect where the show really dropped the ball is music. It's weirdly western sounding, like from a 90s/early 2000s sitcom. Quite distracting.
(side note: There's a bunch of talk about chi, levels of mastery etc., but it hardly ever matters. It's a device to lock certain plots into evolving certain ways. This is tied to the characters, which I'll get to now.)
The main reason to watch the show, to me at least, are the characters. They chose very good actors, there are hardly any weak links.
The problem is - the characters are slaves to the story and they come and go only in its service. If you happen to not care about the story, about the secret police stuff, about court intrigue and "The Mystery" of who Fan Xian is, you'll be constantly pissed off by what happens to these characters you like.
I wanna watch Fan Xian and his brother run a book shop, or do poetry battles and flirt with pretty ladies. I don't care who his parents were, or what the two princes are secretly plotting.
Speaking of Fan Xian - he's borderline unlikable. A very special Marty Stu boy who gets away with everything, either because of his super cool fighting skills, photographic memory, or because seemingly everyone in power (with a few exceptions) keeps him protected.
It heavily reminds me of young adult fiction novels, or perhaps Harry Potter.
The romance is interesting at first, because it largely skips the wooing stage, and the whole "will they or won't they", which is refreshing. But then when they are in fact together, it very quickly separates the couple, to introduce two new romantic interests for Fan Xian to flirt with.
The first season ends, of course, with a massive twist, AND a cliffhanger twist. Both are completely pointless and are not really foreshadowed, so you can't be satisfied you called it. (unlike the revelation of who FX's parents were, which was at least decent.)
TL;DR - mediocre to slightly bad show with really good actors and fun characters.
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The Masterpiece that is Joy of Life
First off I must say I gave this drama 10 stars rating at completion, but due to the score I gave for music at this review, overall rating got pulled down to 9....There are already soooo many reviews praising this drama on its plot and script (well deserved praises!!!), so I thought I would go in a different direction, and talk on a few points that few would have talked on.
THE CAST
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There are some dramas where there is cast magic (eg: Guardian, Ashes of Love, Once Upon a Time in Ling Jian Mountain), even if the cast magic did not captivate you at first, it works into your heart by middle of drama (eg: Scarlet Heart, Untamed, Love & Destiny)-- Joy of Life is the rare cdrama masterpiece that lacks this. Other then Chen Dao Ming and Wu Gang, the rest including the leading actors felt replaceable.... I love Zhang Ruo Yun! First saw him in Novoland Sky Castle 1 and fell in love with his ice-cold portrayal of the prince. But.... although he performed much better here, and JOL is also a much better drama, I would be remembering him as Feng Tian Yi from Novoland. Maybe it is personal taste, but the cast magic failed to captivate me. Somehow Zhang Ruo Yun does not "own" Fan Xian as much as he did as Feng Tian Yi. Even Tian Yu who put up an excellent performance as Wang Qi Nian did not "own" his role too. For me, only Chen Dao Ming (Emperor of Qing) and Wu Gang (Director Chen Ping Ping) stood out.
Acting wise, everyone is at top game!! Just a few supporting actors who were a bit weak, but nothing that would spoil your enjoyment of the drama ;)
THE MUSIC
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The background music can be quite off-putting at the beginning, for about the first 10, 13 eps. I wish it could have been less... but I guess the production team wanted to emphasize on the fun and comedic moments. This was why I dropped JoL initially -_-" Was excited when I saw Zhang Ruo Yun is leading this, watched it and dropped around ep 4 ~ 6 because I couldn't stomach the bgm..... All the rave reviews and high praise brought me back to this, and I AM VERY GLAD I persisted.
This is an excellent drama: with dynasty politics and schemes that make sense and do not felt too exaggerated, and I especially admire the finale eps. Director and scriptwriter are too good-- after relaxing the pace in the 3rd and 2nd last ep, filling these with extra scenes that are entertaining but adds no value to plot development, they suddenly gear up and gave us a punch-in-guts finale ep! Some might hate this (lol) but I especially love it! The impact of what they want to leave us with, to look forward to Season 2, felt especially sharp by relaxing the pace to comedy and self-reflection (you will understand this when you watch the drama), then sudden "fireworks" at the ending. Not sure if I'm making sense here, not quite sure how to express that ending in words. Looking forward to Season 2 ^^
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Secrets keep unraveling...
If you are reading this review to figure out whether you should watch this period drama, I say I highly recommend it. It had all the hygiene factors of an excellent drama - interesting story, excellent acting, handsome lead actors, pretty actresses, lovely costumes, beautiful cinematography and melodious theme songs - elements that many contemporary Chinese dramas exhibit. The story around the lead character was mysterious. Things were always not what it seemed to be. Just as the story unveiled a perpetrator behind the assassination of Fan Xian, another revelation was uncovered. This is only season 1, and the story ended at less than the mid-point of the story.However, if you are watching this because of Xiao Zhan, then you might be disappointed. He only appeared towards the last few episodes and he was a far cry from his outstanding performance in the Untamed. The role in this story did not suit him at all. The character was like a block of wood and did not give him the chance to perform his best. It is likely he would appear in future seasons and I hope he does better.
Chinese dramas can be very creative but in general tend to demonstrate a lot of weaknesses in the stories. In this drama, the link of the past to the present was rather weak. Even if this link was removed, the drama could have proceeded well, so creating this link seemed redundant.
The actress playing the part of Fan Xiao's mother was a rather poor fit. When the episode showed her coming out of the mysterious temple, I was expecting the dramatic appearance of someone exceptionally beautiful and intelligent, but was rather disappointed to find a seemingly silly teenage girl with crooked teeth. She might have done well in a role of a bubbly teenage girl but did not fit the important role of Fan Xian's mum who was to have an immense impact on the politics and a highly successful business woman. Since it was a very short appearance, it seemed like she was just conveniently roped in - perhaps the more established actresses do not want the role.
I think details in the stories are something that Chinese dramas need to work on to perfect their dramas. Even successful epics often demonstrate illogical bits, highly stretched parts that do not gel together well or scenes conveniently thrown together to make the story progress as desired. Someone needs to fine-combed through the scripts to sieve out these bits without dampening the story, or better still, enhance it.
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