Always missed out the discussion and just conveniently use the comments instead. 

 fmss:
“Joy Of Life 2,” a romantic period series that is a prequel to the “Joy Of Life” hit series and is written by Wang Juan. Production is by New Classics Media. "

I saw this prior too, and that JOL is to have 3 seasons, with Zhang Ruo Yun already signed a 5-year filming contract for JOL. If JOL 2 is a romantic prequel to JOL1, will it be on the encounters of Fan Xian's mother and her relationships with Qing Emperor, Chen Ping Ping, Xiao En and Ku He etc? And JOL3 continues where JOL1 finale left us?

On casting, while Xiao Zhan appeared only in the last few episodes, wont it be good to see the growth of XZ’s performance after these years, plus XZ’s chemistry with ZRY's FX and the veteran co-stars? Hope XZ chooses his projects wisely. Also if JOL2 is indeed a prequel, it is probably also unlikely to have YBY in JOL2. fingers crossed 🤞

If JOL 2 is a prequel you are right it would have to focus on Fan Xian's mother and could include the various conflicts between the other states. But if Zhang Ruo Yun signed a five year contract of JOL, unless it include JOL1, I wonder why the contract is five years (perhaps includes delays). Originally, I thought that there would be two sequels as there appears to be enough source material. Regardless, I will be happy if they tell the complete story at least as well as they did in JOL1 and that the main/significant characters are mostly played by the same cast.  In particular, I would be disappointed if the veteran actors did not appear. Chen Dao Ming was fantastic as the Qing Emperor.

i watched a lot of historical drama but this is the first drama that king so badass i loved it great actor hope to see him in sequel or in jol2(if it is) prequel 

 fmss:
But if Zhang Ruo Yun signed a five year contract of JOL, unless it include JOL1, I wonder why the contract is five years (perhaps includes delays). Originally, I thought that there would be two sequels as there appears to be enough source material.

From what i saw, it was a five year contract covering 3 seasons of JOL, so including JOL1. By splitting into prequel and sequel is not uncommon, and perhaps also helps in better understanding of the story.


 fmss:
the main/significant characters are mostly played by the same cast. In particular, I would be disappointed if the veteran actors did not appear. Chen Dao Ming was fantastic as the Qing Emperor.


 navidkhosravi:

i watched a lot of historical drama but this is the first drama that king so badass i loved it great actor hope to see him in sequel or in jol2(if it is) prequel 

I too, look forward to the main/significant characters returning (fingers crossed), and in particular the shabbily dressed and maned Qing Emperor, who is actually much more than what we see.

I remember when JoL premiered and XZ was already incredibly popular (although he didn't believe it himself yet) Avenux did a material saying that JoL was supposed to have 2 seasons of 60 episodes each and actors like ZRY and XZ signed contracts for the whole thing (a few others too). However, in the meantime, new regulations came in about the number of episodes in the drama and the story was split into 3 seasons. Apparently the footage shot was already running out for episodes 50 and beyond. I don't know how reliable her information was, but she was still saying some smart things at the time.
I don't know where you got the idea that JoL2 was going to be about the events of FX's mother. Note that the action would have to take place 20 years earlier, before FX was born. There would have to be completely different actors in the cast. The story is worth telling, but in a few flashback episodes, not as a whole season. Is the source of the information you speak of really reliable? Are you sure it's not just some KOL? They make their living by putting some rumor online and having people comment on that rumor. That is their job. The viewers are waiting for FX to continue and if after all these years they get the story of not him but his mother, with a completely different cast, won't they be disappointed? I for one would not let this go to the producers.

I just really hope the actor that plays Uncle Wang, because although some of the cast already have joy of life too underneath their TV shows the actor that plays uncle Wang doesn't.  

 janec:
I don't know where you got the idea that JoL2 was going to be about the events of FX's mother.

Hi, Thanks for the information.  I think the reference to the prequel as Jol2 came from the quote in Variety I found which confused the issue. My original comment was:

There was an article in Variety in October 2021( https://variety.com/2021/global/asia/disney-plus-asia-series-1235088819/  )that stated that Disney Plus would be streaming a number of Asian Series and Films including - " “Joy Of Life 2,” a romantic period series that is a prequel to the “Joy Of Life” hit series and is written by Wang Juan. Production is by New Classics Media. "   If this is still the case, I hope that the sequel Joy of Life is still in the works. While a prequel might be interesting I am certainly more interested in the continuation of Joy of Life 1. 

You are correct, it would make more sense for the continuation episodes to be JoL2 and for the prequel to have a separate name, although they may all have slightly different names as is often the case. I think the confusion may have arisen because of the use of JoL2 in the Variety article and then the subsequent comments using the reference to JoL2 for the purposes of referring to the prequel as referred to in the article.  My concern when I posted the comment was that maybe the prequel was being worked on and the sequel work was not or that they planned to make the prequel first.

Yes, I read this post a bit later,,,,, but that doesn't change much. After dozens of idiotic articles in various more-or-less official media outlets, I no longer believe any reports other than the official posts on Weibo. I just can't remember anymore when any media has told the truth without making it some kind of propaganda. Yes, in showbiz too, because that's where the big money is. This article rather made me worry if Disney would want to shoot their own version, which would totally mess up the current style of this JoL.

I totally agree janec. I think if there's anyone anywhere who would like to do some kind of JOL story whatsoever, let them please wait until we're done watching the complete storyline and version that we've been presented already by the JOL S1 team (cast, production etc). My expectations for the current JOL series is so high that I'll be very angry if they just let anyone come in to ruin it just so that they can make more money.

I can confirm with much certainty that JOL2 will not be a prequel of JOL1. Although ML’s mom’# storyline will be interwoven throughout the storyline it will not be the main story line that moves the plot forward. It is used to give context but isn’t the main story itself. I can confirm this because the ML has been asked in interviews about JOL2 and he has revealed a few things/events that will happen in the next series that are directly from the middle part of the book and that have nothing to do with his mom (I don’t want to give details due to it being spoilers). Furthermore, there have been interviews from the actor who plays Chen Ping Ping about his excitement to play certain scenes and that he’ll leave us with a surprise that is connected to scenes that are from the latter part of the book. The screenwriter himself has also given details of what the audience can expect from JOL2 that directly speak to events that take place in the middle and near end of the books. As a result of all of this we can pretty much confirm JOL2 will not be a prequel. Furthermore...I follow all the updates written in Chinese and even on Chinese social media and there has been no mention that JOL2 will be a prequel. Thus I feel we can believe it won’t be a prequel.

I have bad news and good news. 

So the bad news is that JOL2 has not started filming yet and filming schedule may be delayed and impacted by currently rising cases of COVID in China. 

However there is some good news: 

1) Zhang Ruo Yun (JOL ML) has not entered the set for any other film project. After finishing one short drama and doing a short “reality TV” program (which he should be finishing with  this month) he has nothing else scheduled.  This is evidence that JOL2 filming will be coming up soon and will for sure take place this year. 

2) Several individuals have went ahead and asked the filming locations where many China dramas are filmed whether JOL2 crew will be coming to film at those sites this year. There has already been 2 sites that have confirmed this and so it seems evident preparations are truly being made for this. 

Thus...let’s sit tight and wait because it seems it will be not too much longer before filming takes place. Although I know we have been waiting for years just think that of it as them taking extra precautions to make sure everything is ready. This is needed to make a quality drama anyhow. 

Thanks for the update.  My neck had grown long already! :0(

Now there's rumores that's the ML is going to film a law drama next. I'm dissaponted and i've lost hope that's we gonna see JOL2 anytime soon. 

Doesn't seem like anyone is in any hurry to finish Season 2.  Really sad cause 1st season was really good!

 kc-drama:

Now there's rumores that's the ML is going to film a law drama next. I'm dissaponted and i've lost hope that's we gonna see JOL2 anytime soon. 

I would not believe anything until this has been officially announced by the production team or the actual person confirms it him/herself. Too many rumors have not stood the test of time and many have been debunked by the actors themselves.