Joy of Life (2019)

Joy of life is such a beautifully written drama, I have even watched it multiple times because I'll never get enough of it.

At first, the things interested me was the story idea where the main lead transmigrated from a modern world and to see more of Xiao Zhan's (because I just finished watching TU at the time). Honestly speaking, I was confused about why they didn't like focus on the time travel matter (which i loved btw) but as the story progresses I eventually forget that Fan Xian is from another timeline because of how amazing the plot is.

Fan Xian looks like an annoying and arrogant brat; though as the it progresses you can see how he actually isn't. Zhang RuoYun portrayed him so amazingly (as usual) to the point where you can feel Fan Xian's emotions, even the slightest ones.

Other's actings were so so so good as well, the one's caught my eyes were the seniors. Words alone wouldn't be enough to explain how fascinated I am with Chen Dao Ming and Wu Gang laoshi's actings. Whenever their characters appear on screen, a hundred of questions would start forming in my head. Things like, 'what are they thinking? what are they planning?' those kind of stuff.

I would write so much more but I'm keeping it spoiler free for now.

Can't wait for s2 <3 <3

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Best cdrama I've ever watched

The actors are superb, especially Fan Xian, Chen Ping Ping, and the Emperor. The director also took care to portray characters with complex motivations - even and especially villains. I didn't even fast forward or skip a single scene. I actually watched every villain scene. You will hate the villain at first sight, but end up kinda feeling sorry for them by the time they die. I appreciate this so much. I hate evil characters who are evil for the sake of being evil.

This show was also really funny and the plot is so fun - secrets within secrets within secrets. I loved it, I loved discovering the truth behind every case, and the true motivation of every character. It's also funny how Fan Xian basically has a bunch of dads.

The only slightly meh thing about this show is that Fan Xian and his fiancee don't really have much chemistry. While the actor/actress tried their best, I just wasn't feeling it. He had way more chemistry with Haitang Duoduo, even though she's more like a bro than a love interest.

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The Best Drama of 2020 so far for me

I started watching C-Dramas at the beginning of the lockdown but this wasn't my first show. I first came across it on Youtube then stopped. After watching some other dramas, I came back to watch it but thus time on DramaCool. I have to say that this is one of my favourite dramas ever. Zhang Ruo Yun did a incredible job as Fan Xian. His personality matched his character well and I can't wait for season 2 of this drama. The suspense, the comedy, the everything was to die for.

Plot: As far as plots go, this was superb. There were't too many twists and turns but when the plot did its turns, they were spectacular. I didn't expect the ending at all but if you haven't watched it, prepare for the shock of your life.

Cast: The casting was done very well in my opinion. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the characters. They did well with the actors. Li Qin did very well as Lin Wan'er. She was the perfect amount of sweet and elegant. Song Yi played Fan Ruo Ruo with an excellent amount of elegance and mystery. She was a character that I liked a lot. SHe was the most talented lady and she also held her own very well.

Music: Now this, I have to say was a deal for me. I absolutely loved the opening theme by Li Jian. 'One Life, One Thought' was a very endearing song and it matched the story's theme perfectly. The ending theme was also very beautiful and Sean Xiao gave the opening a run for its money.

Rewatch Value: I gave this a 10 because I found myself watching over the 1st season already. I am itching to watch season 2.

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Joy of Life is MEGA!!!

Truth be told, I'm relatively new to watching Chinese Costume Dramas...but have recently gotten hooked based on the quality of the storyline and acting. JOY OF LIFE is PAR EXCELLENCE! I don't watch these movies because of the cast's popularity or celebrity status...if you're a great actor or actress I'll watch...bottom line I don't chase after celebrities. Yet JOY OF LIFE is definitely worth REWATCHING and I can't wait for season 2. Yes indeed...from start to finish the screen writers, production team and performers hit a home run with this one!

So very glad I didn't read any of the reviews before I watched this JOL...I don't like to be tainted about a show. Afterwards I saw some reviews about one of the cast members that was rather unfortunate. Viewers should give credit where credit's due... 'cause JOL is simply a fantastic product with great performers all around!

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Decent but PROFOUNDLY OVER-RATED @ MDL

I used to teach Screenwriting. There were many 'best practices' that appeared in many books but one that was an affront to my experience of cinema. The practice said "START REAL BIG", then tone things down for most of the story, and then finish EVEN BIGGER than the opening. I completely disagreed with the first part of that advice based upon many quality classic movies.

The BETTER advice is to start 'interesting as hell' and make each page a little more interesting than the last. So that you become 'surprised' at how engaging the story is and start watching the series faster. Novels like this are called 'page turners'.

JOY OF LIFE does just this. It gets better as watch. The problem is that the build is so RIDICULOUSLY SLOW that a viewer can and will lose interest before they get hooked.

Read the comment sections here. I'd say a third of the people that tried this series walked. And that is understandable since the show is so amorous of itself it has no idea how dull the pacing is for the first two thirds. Knowing where the story is going works for the writers but not the viewers if you take WAY too long to set up the story.

The only reason I kept watching JOY OF LIFE was that I love half of this cast. There are several people from RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE, one from REBEL PRINCESS, and one from LUOYANG. If it wasn't for the amazingly talented lovely (and bitchy) Xin Zhi Lei I'd have ditched the series after 15 episodes. But since character was saved for much later I pushed on.

Why would I have ditched? There are two critical mistakes this story makes that NO STORY SHOULD MAKE --

1. This is mildly spoiler-ish but since it shows up in the first minutes of the first episode I don't see the harm: the lead character isn't really IN the story. He comes from our reality but ends up in this story's reality like it's a lucid dream. Because of this his character knows he is never in any actual peril. That would be like Dorothy AWARE that she is dreaming and smirking at the Wicked Witch the entire time. It completely DESTROYS normal dramatic tension. But don't take my word. As the series progresses they kind of back away from this STUPID idea and pretend it was never there. (This explains part of my low rating.)

2. The show shifts genres as it progresses. It's starts as a sort of funny leaning DRAMEDY but then evolves into a proper DRAMA. But the path to this transition is littered with way WAY too many comic relief sidekicks. And fight sequences featuring SALSA or ROCK AND ROLL music which took me right out of the story.. It leaves an adult with the impression that the production crew was entirely teenage.

What makes the 2nd half of the series more bearable is that it becomes a more serious story where our hero Fan Xian finds himself in genuine danger. Get this and I'm not kidding: in episode 42 (of 46) Fan Xian actually says, "For the first time I feel like I'm in real danger." I don't know how to break this to the morons who wrote this script but that feeling was supposed to happen no later than Episode 5. Imagine Dorothy of Kansas feeling in absolutely no peril at all until the Wizard took off in his balloon near the story's end. It's LUDICROUS.

So I'm left BAFFLED and BEWILDERED at how so many people on this site have rated this series so high. Was it based on a novel that everyone in this genre has already read? (Harry Potter syndrome?) Personally I resent when people like a series based upon some other source. I base my review on what I'm reviewing and nothing else.

The cast is easily the best part of this series. My problem is that I've seen half this cast elsewhere and the same actors got much better roles. If you enjoyed Song Yi in this you're going to ADORE her in LUOYANG where she basically chews every scene she's in. That show has a cast that's a little too emotionally distant -- except for her. There's a pout she does in one episode that's almost worth watching the entire series for. (No, really!)

Part 2 of JOY is being filmed now and no matter how compelling the 2nd half of this installment has been I absolutely positively will not watch the 2nd series if there's SALSA music in fight scenes. Or if Fan Xian is smirking too often in the first episodes.

It's been fun, I suppose, but I can recommend 4 other shows before this one: REBEL PRINCESS, RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE, MAKE A WISH, and THE GREAT CRAFTSMAN. These shows DESTROY this one.

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A Chinese Drama that you most possibly wont fast forward or skip scenes often if any.

So I just couldn't wait to finish the drama and write a review for you guys to know how I feel so far going 3/4 into the series. First off, im the kinda guy that when watching something whether its a tv series or movie, I tend to skip scenes I find boring or non important character/non sense a lot. Almost every drama I watch, I have some skips including this one but its very rare I skip only because the scene of a boat sailing soo long as an example. So anyway here we go, first off, if you are like me, who skip scenes constantly and get bored easily on dramas, think again for this one as I have seen so far, almost every character in the show with scenes gets interesting enough to keep watching. The thrill and excitement comes from almost every character whether minor or supporting ones is, its always interesting to keep on watching. So far this show kept me over 3 days watching due to me not skipping much at all. For a 50-60 episode series I have watched, I tend to finish within a day to 2 skipping a lot but this one, took me a good amounts of days to finished. The plot and each character plans played out are soo simple but yet captivating to the extend of keeping you glued to the seat without fast forwarding. That is what I like in series, when compare to Ten miles of blossom, I skip a bit on that show due to some characters I dont like to watch, but this, almost never skipped. That is how good it is. Let me tell you, the most useless character I find in the show to be boring somewhat is the main female lead, but its just to let you know the level of thrillness I find that if you like the female lead scenes, then almost every character scenes may again captivate you just like me. I also like the main lead, the story is always revolve around him, very rare that the whole drama you only find mainly to the lead, 9 out of 10 times, its a split multiple lead couples storyline. Give it a shot and see for yourself. Waiting for season 2 as the story continues.

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Fan Xian is a very smart and strong man. His background is very mysterious. His mom was dead when he was born and he never knew who she was. This is a drama that contains a lot of surprises and mysteries. I liked this drama a lot and you guys should watch it. If u guys are watching this for Xiao Zhan, he mostly only appears about the last 10 episodes. He appears in the start but we didn’t see much of his face. Also as u have seen I liked this drama a lot but also rated it poorly. Most of the main characters especially Li Qin or Wan’er didn’t appear more than 10 episodes. Also I thought the ending was bad and I couldn’t see what I wanted to truly happen.

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Don’t waste your time watching this drama

I watched this drama due to the high ratings and good reviews. But was greatly disappointed by it. Fan Xian, the male lead died in the end.

But the dramas had plot holes which I wonder why reviewers didn’t point out yet rated it 10.

For example, the main lead Fan Xian... his life is so charmed. Every time he gets into trouble, someone powerful will come to rescue him in the nick of time. The Majesty will send his eunuch to send a decree to bail him out, the black knights will appear out of nowhere at the right moment to save the situation. His father will send his troops to protect him when he got cornered. It’s just so many coincidences in the drama making me feel baffled.

The story is biased towards the main lead as Fan Xian is the chosen to lead the next generation. Fan Xian is the chosen successor of Neiku (treasury) and Investigating Office. His backing is the emperor, the top powers like the prime minister, minister of revenue and head of the investigation office. Seems like he’s more powerful than the good-for-nothing crown prince and 2nd prince.

With lots of unexpected twists and turns in the plots in the later episodes, just make me feel that the drama is toying with the audience expectations. The story is not endearing at all.

Xiao Zhan (famed in The Untamed), his appearance is not as stunning as in The Untamed since he’s not the male lead. Looking at the unnatural curve on the lower curve of his eyes just made me wonder if he had plastic surgery.

Finally, the drama ended with Xiao Zhan stabbing Fan Xian and FX died. Duh.... and the story is not ending there.

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Don't get fooled by the poster. This drama contains everything that you are looking for.

Initially I was a bit hesitant to watch this drama because of the serious looking poster. But then I gave it a try. I immediately fell in love. It is a mix of comedy, politics, sci-fi, cinematography and it is one of the best stories in c-dramaland in my opinion.

This is the first drama where I was not interested in the romance between ML and FL but was very much hooked to the story. Uncle Wu zhu has this charm that makes you fall in love with him even with his eyes closed. Also this is the drama where I didn't fast forward scenes (I am a chronic fast forwarder) and watched everything in its own pace.

I didn't like the FL, don't get me wrong, I am not able to tell why I don't like her but other Female Leads had amazing chemistry and very strong characters. Again, this drama is not about romance, it is about the strong story that keeps you hooked.

I finished this drama in 2 days and now I am very sad because I have to wait for season 2.

In summary best thing about this drama is its fantastic story and my new found crush Uncle Wu zhu (ahem) <3

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I can’t remember a drama with as many beautiful people (young or old, good or evil, main character or random person on the street). Mades it harder to follow the plot, haha. (It’s easier for KDramas. If a guy is good looking, he’s often good; if he’s bad looking he’s bad. If he’s good looking but bad then he gets a sad backstory to explain his badness.)

I like the main character who is funny, smart, principled (but not sanctimonious), and kind but not a pushover---he can, and does, match all of the schemers around him scheme for scheme. There are a number of great female characters, including his faithful sister and a sidekick/rival (whom, unfortunately, I like much more than the primary love interest). The fact that some of the most unlikely characters are actually martial arts experts made this especially fun and interesting.

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