Quick review this gem
STORYThe story of this drama is amazing and I cannot stress out how hooked I was. The first few eps maybe not be appealing but TRUST ME, KEEP GOING. The story line is EXTREMELY UNPREDICTABLE.
ACTING AND CASTING
The main actor may not be attractive to many people but the story is all that matters and you will grow to love him. Everyone else did an amazing job at acting and I would not change a bit. I loveeeeee WU ZU SHU!
MUSIC
Sometimes I feel like there are random instrumental tracks that reminded me of Dora the Explorer. Although I didnt think that that track was suitable for the era of drama it doesn't make much of a difference.
REWATCH VALUE
I REWATCHED THIS DRAMA 20 TIMES ALREADY SO 1000000000/10
OVERLL
Overall this is my top favourite drama of all time. I feel bad for those who do not understand Chinese because you are missing out on the poems and language that cannot be translated into English subs.
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This review may contain spoilers
Must Watch!
The plot is thick. what make it different from other drama? the detail in each episode for "twist" in later episode. in short, the twist is well prepared!the scene is funny! i.e. the scene where he is holding chicken leg, putting chicken leg in a box, "aprosidiac scene", and many other scene.
the Male Lead is smart and "shameless".
season 1 story is mostly about politic, i guess season 2 story focus on "fantasy" part of this story (about divine temple). like "Ever Night" in season 1 (politic and revenge) and season 2 (divination of ever night)
recommended!
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This review may contain spoilers
One of the best C-drama i have ever watched, there wasn't a single boring plotline & i did not fast forward any scenes. Excellent acting from all the cast including the supporting role. My favourite is definetely the Fan family , they are the only ones who truly care & support each other whereas the rest has a hidden agenda beneath. I also admired Fei jie & despite his sloppy appearance he is a true leader , seeing how united his team was from the investigation bureau even without his presence,( his team go all out to protect Fan Xian when he is in trouble). There is a right balance of comedy, drama & suspense at end of each episode. The only bummer was the cliffhanger ending! I had to wait another 2 years , that is a torture for the fans. If you pay close attention, you will be able to figure out who is the big boss /ultimate villain in the end, i managed to guess it Was this review helpful to you?
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Super brilliant drama
I know this drama had a high rating but i don't have any expectation. I don't usually watch political drama but this JoL is brilliant. I can't believe I'm finishing this drama. Super amazing plot and twist that make me crazy haha lol.I have watched other period cdrama but in this JoL I love how FX and the step mother can get along and support each other. And i like how the each character that has strength and power help FX.
FX brother so hilarious and FX sister i think she is strong and smart women too.
This drama has a unique story from the first episode. a story full of surprises, strategy and the unexpected. characters that will be remembered (at least, remembered with strong, clever and tactical characteristics).
I'm more shock with the ending, so Because of the curiosity I'm reading the last part of the novel. And now I know, how to breath in joy haha. I hope you enjoy this story too ^^
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A totally enigmatic character in a great story. Highly recommended!!!
A really great central character can totally make a drama sing even if the story isn't quite there. But, in this case, that truly amazing character is a fully story in, and of, himself and so he elevates the whole drama to quite an impressive level.Overall, the Joy of Life world, it's premise and the story are novel; original. It starts extremely well with a talented younger actor and then it rolls out quite seamlessly with an adult actor who is genius at making his characters really come to life. The writing, the dialogue, the story's development are all impressive. It's intelligent. It's vibrant. It's clever and witty. The older characters are smart and cunning. Ruthless. And all the supporting characters are interesting, alive, and each is enigmatic too; each in their own, very memorably way. There are riches in this cast. And the production values are high as well. In fact, there's quality shot through it in every way. Everything is there. Nothing is missing.
And then there's Fan Xian who I honestly love and I bet you will too. Which is what happens when a great actor is cast to play an amazing character. Fan Xian is a good guy but not too good. He's charming, smart, talented. He's brave and loyal and all that. But he's also irreverent and cheeky and delightfully imperfect. You can't help falling in love with him. He's so easy to love. Easy to root for. He's so bright but he's also so out of his depth in ways that he isn't even aware of. You just have to sit on the edge of your seat and sweat it all out with him as he learns which way is up, down and around. And so he becomes easy to grow with. His story becomes our story and, well, it's really very involving, very motivating. Very easy to watch and so very easy to enjoy.
Yes. There's no doubt about it. Fan Xian is a special kind of character. A great central character went to an actor who could bring him to life for us to follow and really care about as he swims among the sharks and tries to survive with honour. It's really an excellent drama. Unique. Involving. Easily a 9.5. Highly recommended as long as you want to be entertained.
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Best acting i have ever seen.
minus the time travelling part. this has to be one of my favorite dramas of all time. the strongest acting and chemistry i have ever seen. it was like every single person was born to play their part. even the child actor is amazing. there was literally 1 scene in the entire drama i can say the acting was not 100% perfect. the chemistry between all actors is spectacular.if you have not watch it. DONT, they might film season 2 sometimes in 2021, you will regret every moment after you finished it. took me several days just to cope with the fact this show finished.its that good, here we are 30 dramas after just so i can stop being sad. this is a drama that needs to be binged watched all 3 seasons and all your 1000 questions answered. hopefully the acting will be as strong season two with the same cast.
and for all your king haters. i love this characters. probably my favourite.
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Unexpectedly hilarious royal politics cdrama
Unexpectedly hilarious royal politics cdrama with a sassy, jovial, badass protagonist who aspired to just enjoy life, only to be embroiled in royal politics within and between two warring states (Qing and Qi) as he began to uncover the truth of who wanted him dead, and the truth of the death of his mom. The protagonist Fan Xian sizzles with the veteran co-stars (Qing Emperor, Chen Ping Ping, Wang Qi Nian and Teng Zi Jing) and with not the FL, but the equally badass Haitang Duo Duo.Joy of Life effortlessly stands out as an enjoyable transition series of the MDL top-ranked costume cdrama trilogy, with a good mix of political scheming seen in Nirvana in Fire and hilarious comedic antics from a sassy, badass, frivolous protagonist with a pure righteous heart, seen in The Untamed.
The sci-fic/time travel elements and cliffhanger ending dent an otherwise brilliant, credible and enjoyable Season 1. A peep at the baidu page on the JOL novel on how the story will continue, especially the Qi King, is kinda wildly absurd plot-wise for me. That said, I’m still eagerly looking forward to Season 2, especially if Xiao Zhan continues as Yan Bing Yun, to see the growth of both Yan Bing Yun’s character and Xiao Zhan’s performance, plus Xiao Zhan’s chemistry with Zhang Ruo Yun’s Fan Xian and the veteran co-stars.
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Low expectation but ended up Jaw dropping
StoryBefore i watch this drama, i just finished watching Nirvana in Fire i think NIV is of the best drama that can pair with Game of Thrones in this genre. But after i watch Joy of Life, damn...i find another historical drama with intense political intrigue as good as NIV. The better thing in Joy of Life, there is not only one hella smart person, there are many ! (Fan Xian, Emperor of Qing, Chen Ping Ping, Shen Zong even the unexpected one - the 2nd Prince! ).
I love the ending how Yan Bing Yun choose to kill Fan Xian, it's going to be more intense later when someday he will find the truth about his real identity as Xiao En's grandson and he finds out that Fan Xian has known it for long time and choose to hide it considering this truth will ruin Yan's life.
Finally can't wait to see Fan Xian resurrected and i believe he will get more memories about his past life.
Cast : more than Excellent !
Honestly i dont know much about Zhang Ruo Yun but must admit it..the cast director did a great job to choose him as male lead. He has so many facial expressions and i love it. He can potray Fan Xian very well ! smart, manipulative, deliquent, loyal friend and easy to win people's heart.
Music : overall is good, only there is one part that sound likes Italian modern music which is not suit for historical drama.
Rewatch : Do it if you have spare times. But i prefer to move on to my wishlist drama that i haven't watched yet.
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Great Season
This review is based on a re-watch after a long hiatus. I didn't want to review it at the time due to the first season ending on a heavy cliffhanger and was waiting for season 2 to complete. As I'm about to drop season 2, this review will solely be on season 1.This season is deserving of its fame and there's no need to really go into too much details for the review because of it. The plot flow was great as there are multiple sub-plots that keep the series interesting. This is also one where you'll find yourself having multiple favorite characters. The humorous layer attached to some very serious and intense underlying situations really makes the series shine.
My only qualm is our main ML's love interest. There isn't great chemistry between the two, their romance doesn't feel natural, and the FL is pretty useless. Even during my first watch, I had skipped through most of their interactions as it was quite boring. Fortunately, the romantic scenes between them aren't heavy-handed. If it weren't for this, would have given the series a higher score.
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Court Politics At Its Finest
Joy of Life is a 2019 Chinese wuxia drama that centers around a young man named Fan Xian who was born in ancient imperial China with memories and knowledge of the 21st century. He grows up knowing about a far more advanced society so he has always felt alone and isolated like a fish out of water. That premise alone made me want to watch this drama immediately, but I had to wait years because I found out that it ends in a cliffhanger and there was no confirmed date for a season 2 release. Thankfully, they finally announced the premiere of the second season this year, so I decided to start the first season. I didn't regret it. I was able to finish this 46-episode drama in just 8 days. That rarely happens to me, but when it does, it's usually because the drama is really enjoyable and has gained my full attention.I'm a sucker for royal court intrigues, and political scheming and plotting, so this captured my undivided attention from the get-go. Not to mention this drama has what I hope most series would have, a very engaging, interesting, and endearing hero that you want to root for and fall in love with. Fan Xian is hands down one of my favorite characters of all time! He is highly intelligent, witty, humorous, crafty, skilled, and relatable in his flawed nature. I haven't laughed so much since I watched Word of Honor. But this drama also made me tear up more than once because of the emotional beats and brilliant acting of Zhang Ruoyun as Fan Xian. Ruoyun really carries this drama and he does it with flying colors. Despite acting alongside some of the best veteran actors in the business, he is, in no way, overshadowed by his more experienced co-stars. I've liked him since I saw him in Under the Microscope and Joy of Life only helped me confirm his undeniable charisma and screen presence. The rest of the cast are fantastic in their own way. My favorite among the supporting characters is Chen Pingping played by Wu Gang, whom I suspect to be a legendary actor in the Chinese entertainment industry. If he isn't, then it's a travesty! He is that good! This drama has such a strong supporting cast that I liked almost everyone, even the villains. I absolutely abhor the Princess Royal, Li Yun Rui, but Li Xiao Ran is so amazing in playing this detestable character that I applaud her for it. Wang Yang is also great in this, as always. He only appears in the first half of the drama but he cemented himself as one of the more unforgettable characters in the series. I also have to specially mention the actor who played young Fan Xian, he does not only look like Zhang Ruoyun but also acts like him. That was such a great casting choice!
The script is one of the best I've seen in any drama. It's what I expect from other dramas of its kind, even better than Nirvana in Fire's in my opinion. The dialogues are remarkably well-written with carefully chosen wording only meant to hint at the true meaning behind the statements. You have to read between the lines, so to speak. And this, coupled with the subtle acting from the cast, brings more tension to the scenes. The script also interweaves beautiful poetry with tragedy and unpredictable plot twists that make you immediately think of plot armor as an excuse. But as things unravel you begin to realize that perhaps the so-called plot armors can be justified by a number of reasons, making you believe in the brilliance of the writing.
As much as I love this drama, I do have some beefs with it, though. As I mentioned, while some turns in the plot can be justified, I do think that there are far too many convenient coincidences for them to be logical. I will not mention those here but if you pay attention to how problems are handled by the characters as things unfold, then you will know what I mean. I also have some issues with the female lead. For the life of me, I cannot understand why they have to continually infantalize women in these dramas. I do not find these women cute whatsoever. It is annoying and tiresome! Lin Wan'er is played by the beautiful Li Qin, but the character is the cookie cutter type of pretty, feminine, and angelic damsel in distress. I do not want all women to be warriors like Haitang Duoduo, but Lin Wan'er acts like a cute little girl who has a penchant for stealing food from the kitchen. What is so amusing about that?! How old is she, 8?! And Fan Xian falling in love with her at first sight is far too cliché for my taste. I don't know why they can't seem to write really good female characters in these dramas. It's probably a culture thing.
Even though it's quite obvious from the cinematography and sets that this drama was not made with a meager budget, the costumes look so out of place and plasticky cheap. I mean, leather belts and leather-like garb? Weird paisely looking patterns in the garments? Did those exist in ancient China? I understand that they probably wanted to bring a more modern feel to the costumes because of the science fiction aspects of the story, but come on! The costumes are hideous! I feel sorry for the actors who had to wear those heavy-looking dreadful garments in the peak of summer! I was also disappointed with the fight choreography. There are far too many cuts that you can barely see what's going on. I expected better. It didn't hinder me from enjoying the action scenes, though. The music is hit or miss. There are some themes that work, some that do not. Whoever thought that latin music would work in a Chinese costume drama is insane! Some are inappropriately used, too. Seriously, why would you put sinister-sounding music when there's no imminent danger?! lol
But my biggest disappointment is how the writers (or original writer of the novels) failed to cleverly incorporate modern elements into the story. Considering that Fan Xian was born with the knowledge of a technologically advanced society, he rarely used that knowledge for his benefit. While he did use his expertise in poetry and literature to help him advance his career in politics, it didn't go beyond that. The drama also barely explores the true nature of Fan Xian's character and that of his mother, who supposedly came from another world. I expected it to be more like the manga/anime Dr. Stone wherein the characters are frozen in time when a second ice age hit the earth and they wake up in another stone age. They help provide the foundations of that world by introducing science, technology, literature, and even modern warfare. But this drama doesn't do anything of the sort. Instead, it focuses on political intrigues and wars of that primitive society with Fan Xian barely putting his knowledge of a futuristic world to use. He rarely even mentions it, which is a total waste of that concept. The science fiction aspects are just cosmetic tools used to make the story seem a little more unique but does not use it to its fullest potential. Shame. This drama could've been way better.
But despite all that, I still give this drama a high rating of 9 out of 10. I recommend this to anyone who wants to watch an intelligently written drama with fleshed out characters and an engaging plot.
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Good concept & great implementation. A MUST WATCH
This series is so worth the time to watch. It is different from typical period story. Actors did excellently and portrayed their characters well. I only wish that they introduced the series with the story of the lead male mother. Interesting to see the development of the story explaining her but it seems lacking and minimized. Although her story seemed she was loved & admired by many men, it didn’t really highlight as to why.The blind martial arts mentor could be explored more. I love his character. I was wishing for more story on him.
I just realized Xiao zhang is in the cast and missed it in ep 38. I was so engrossed in the story, I glossed over his short appearance.
PLEASE PLEASE RELEASE SEASON 2 SOON!!!
I’m glad there’s a season 2 being prepared for this series.
Ending is now acceptable for me since there is a sequel coming.
7/16/23 - When is the second season coming??? I am anticipating this season 2.
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