Joy of Life Season 2 (2024)

Seamless continuation from Season 1 but over does it...

I still think it keeps what makes JOL great in the new season. However, I don't have a scene to point to in this season that will be the masterpiece. It doesn't have a '100 poems in one night' legendary scene. I think the scene between Fan Xian and Zi Ye was compelling though, and the scene at court when FX is accused of bribery or when the Censorate makes a complaint about the emperor. I feel like they went a little over the top with the humor and keeps trying to make the second prince a crass villain when I'm not convinced. All of his schemes fail, and yet he tries a new one. The second prince was almost cartoonish in this season. The CP's character also drastically changes from S1, in which I'm not sure whether he's a good guy or the show is trying to make him a good guy because of FX's influence, but then he burned a whole town, and callously tells his mother to forget about the slaughter of her entire clan. I'm actually not sure why the CP was made the CP, when compared with the emperor who is hard to read and whose plans reveal themselves when the deed is done, it's hard to see how a guy who is an open book can lead the country. I keep thinking that the emperor wants FX to be CP instead, what with making him a 'lone subject'. Others have complained about Ye Ling Er so I won't add on to it. I just don't get why she is making eyes at the 2nd prince whom she knows has no regard for human lives and keeps falling for his lies. Then again, this show has a problem with writing female characters, especially our female lead who is on all the posters yet I can count on two hands how many times I saw her in the whole show. The source material is a male fantasy so there's not much to improve on. I totally forgot that the whole point of the show was the Divine Temple and all this futuristic stuff, which seems to me like it was cut down to avoid censorship. It was so out of place in the latter half of the show. Despite my complaints, I'll watch season 3, I think we won't see Fan Si Zhe in the next season since his send off was made such a big thing.

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Boy they sure took too much time producing this season 2, i almost forgotten the storyline from s1 and i didnt even watch the show the same year it was aired!

Anyway, This s2 moved at a much slower pace than s1, cant say much about that because even in the novel, the arc after Fan Xian’s return from Northern Qi until before his wedding was indeed pretty boring. I love the fight at Xuankong Temple though.

I really loved the book, i think its one of the best that ive read so far. And the fact that its a sci fi in a wuxia premise made it a thousand times better cuz i definitely did not expect this plot twist when i was reading the novel. As i was reading, i tried to imagine how would it look if it were made into a tv show it wouldve been so gooood. The action in this book is aplenty and very satisfying. Cant wait to see them materialize on screen in s3. Thats where all the heartpounding actions are. Special Kudos to the screenwriters for smoothing out the Fanxian character into a loyal lover. I love everything about novel fanxian except how he constantly cheats on Wan er. Glad the fanxian on screen is nothing like the novel’s in the love relationship department.

So far the production has done a tremendously well done job on this show. The actors have given their top notch performance. A must see for a court politics/wuxia fan. U wont regret it.

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As good as season one but different style

LIKE

The hilarious Li Cheng Zhe

That moment when Xie Bi An visited Fan Wu Jiu - very sad

Convo between Guo You Zhi and Guo Bao Kun on Bei Qi - lol

When the scholars were checking their exam results - cries

When Qing Yu Tang family paid their respect at Ye Qing Mei

When Fan Xian asked Madam Fan to witness his wedding ceremony

When Wan Er and Da Bao kowtow-ed at Lin Ruo Fu before he left

DISLIKE

I seriously cannot wait again.. just let me know already

The mysterious Emperor of Qing

The unpredictable Chen Ping Ping

MUSIC

Not to my liking

REWATCH VALUE

Yes

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Perf but i wish for more fight scenes and less wan er

Loved it! If there’s anything I wish it could have had more is fight scenes. There were less in S2 but very exciting none the less . Given that there were level 8/9 martial artists and grandmasters an FX is a martial artis too, I just wish there were more. Also, I don’t know if it’s the character or the acting but I noticed since S1, there’s just no chemistry between Fan Xian and Wan Er. Their scenes were my least favorite in both seasons. I found FX’s interaction with each characters very entertaining except theirs. there was more chemistry between FX and Si Lili in S1. You can sense the intensity even with just the eye contact.

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Highly recommend

I have watched the first and second season of Joy of Life cdrama in a row. It has been a long long while since the last time I truly enjoyed every single little of a series. No matter how good they are, they always lack in a thing or two. The story was perfect i was mesmerized by how things could fall in their exact right place you couldn't stop guessing what will come next and the series would surely never disappoint you, i love how the king would twist everything for his own sake, it was brilliant. A great mixture of action, drama, and comedy. The drama's cast played fantastically. I enjoyed every little detail every face expression, everything i mean it. The ost was perfectly fine. I could feel the ending in particular with every bone. A masterpiece indeed. Can't wait for the third season. I hope it doesn't take another 5 years.

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NOT A PERFECT 10 LIKE THE 1ST SEASON

The 2nd season of JOL is good but not the best in my opinion. Time goes, people change and my higher expectation with long-waited anticipation doesn't pay off. The actors changed; 5 years older, some are chubbier and Fan Xian (Zhao Ruo Yun) depleted than looking back of himself in previous season. Fan Xian, a Nepo baby has 5 father/mentor figures and heavenly mother that increase his chances of best life not to mention his good look and intelligent. Emperor Qing (Biological father), Fan Jian (Adopted father), Fei Jie (Teacher/Mentor), Lin Ru Fu (Father-in-law), Wu Zhu (Teacher/Mentor) all outstanding and powerful men that give Fan Xian capability to achieve endless ambition in the world. Money, power, support, advise, love, knowledge, name it he got all. Not to mention he has a wife that come from a powerful family, friendship and love Hai Tang Duo Duo a beautiful independent a master, adoration from Emperor of Northern Qi, Fan Xian a perfect kind of young man who got everything going on in his life. He has top position, power, beautiful dutiful wife, girlfriends, money, friendship, support, who doesn't want to be Fan Xian? ZRY has great portrayal of Fan Xian, great fighting choreography, good dialog, setting is awesome. The actresses are beautiful; I love Li Xiao Ran (Li Yun Rui), Xin Zhi Lei (Hai Tang Duo Duo), Wang Chu Ran (Sang Wen), Wang Xiao Chen (Yuan Meng), Faye Yu (Empress) and great with their acting - just too bad their have limited air time. Let me breakdown why I don't give this popular drama JOL a 10 score:

Li Qin (Lin Wan'Er)
She has tepid chemistry with ZRY, her acting is appropriate according to the script but she doesn't bring her endgame. Lin Wan'Er is the weakest character in Fan Xian life. Her family is basically demoted/casted out because of Fan Xian, yet her devotion and love hasn't changed, her lack of principles and weak character is her best asset to FX. If she has a strong will and independent as Hai Tang or even Ruo Ruo, Wan'Er won't marry FX because it's just too much of bad blood between them. Basically, ZRY & Li Qin has cold-warm relationship especially after the marriage, they both didn't express their deep love to mostly a newly-wed couple.

Tian Yu (Wang Qi Nian) & Missing favorite characters from S1?
I love Wang Qi Nian, he's a loyal sidekick that trust FX v.v but in 2nd season he's kissing a** too much. He flattered FX too many times, cringe like overly sweeten the deals. Where is Gao Da (Li Jun Xian) he's one of my favorite but he barely has screen time. Limited appearance of Hai Tang, Fei Jie, Yan Bin Yun, Wu Zhu all important characters that isn't develop in Season 2. Especially Yan Bin Yun, he is the most important man who execute Fan Xian's strategies/action in Overwatch Council.

Costumes/hair piece & Background music
Shiny fabric, bad choice of hair piece but I like Yuan Meng/Sang Wen flowery head piece. Yodeling as part of background music isn't good, they should use any playful tone of Chinese music.

Ending
3 last episodes concentration in Ming Family before ending the drama in last quarter of ep 36. The director should have make 2-4 more episodes to elaborate the story but they're on and on about Ming Family. The screen writer should have developed the reunion between Hai Tang & Fan Xian that fans looking forward to. In the book though there're lots of people involve in FX open chest self-operating so he's declared not only God of Poetry but earned new title as Medical genius. Anyway, last scene is great, a promise 'Iam back' to next Season 3 which will have to wait again for 2-3 years before premier.

My prediction in Season 3 (base on novel)
Hai Tang Duo Duo will have more screen time. Hai Tang love journey will start on S3 with no happy ending. Wu Zhu will have more part as Fan Xian defender. Ruo Ruo will study medicine in Northern Qi and become a doctor (she'll break the engagement), Li Cheng Heng will try to win her heart and compete with despicable He Zong Wei. Country will be in turmoil, change in leadership, dead of Princes, family break up & Fan Xian as a family man.

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Where did the mystery and exiting events go?

Being halfway through the season, I cannot rate this series higher than “average”. While the costumes, set design, and visual are excellent, there are clear shortcomings in the story but perhaps most importantly in the running of the story. My primary complaint is that the drama is purely “talking heads”. Interesting events are not shown on screen, we learn about them when someone reports on them to someone else. As if that wasn't enough, we hear about the same events several times. This is really a money-saving way, but also unfortunately boring. Before someone accuses me that I don't seem to understand that this series is about plotting, not action, I'll reply, “are you kidding me?”

References to the first season are inevitable since we have a continuation, and in my opinion there was more plotting, intrigue and mystery there, but they were shown in an interesting, dynamic way and the viewer had time to think about how the situation would be resolved. This is what is simply missing in season two. We don't get the pieces of the puzzle that we can solve, the series gives us everything one by one and completes it with something obvious.
Now let's move on to the stakes. Seemingly, these stakes are important and the fate of the characters and the nation count, but are they really? Doesn't the viewer know from beginning to end that no price will be paid in this season by Fan Xien? That no one important will pay it? Even if someone dies, these are characters who have not managed to win the viewer's sympathy, so the viewer does not care about their fate.

In conclusion, in my opinion, in JoL 2 we have a clear excess of form over substance. The drama is shot very well technically, and I can even forgive it for the intrusive yogurt advertising. Unfortunately, in terms of plot, all the solutions are presented in a boring way. There are no exciting events. There are no unexpected twists and turns. There are walking heads who talk for hours about morality and state repair. And I would really like to watch a fun, adventure drama, just like season one, and not moral treatises. Sorry, 5/10 and only because the drama looks good visually.

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season 3 when??

Season 2 of Joy of Life had a lot to live up to, and while the first season is still better, this season really really good. The pacing was a little slower and the story less focused than the first season, but at this point I didn't care because a) it was still good and b) I just wanted to see Fan Xian worm his way out of all his problems.

It was so much fun to see all of the characters/actors back this season (with some changes). I will say some characters seemed to have a bit of a personality makeover (the Crown Prince). Something else I noticed was that it seemed like Fan Xian was a bit less morally grey this season. He was very much For the PEOPLE this season. Don't get me wrong I actually do buy his journey from "I just want to live comfortably" to wanting to help the common people. It's just that he seemed less ruthless this season and I wanted that aspect of him back in full force.

All of the acting was still excellent (shoutout to the Second Prince. He's my favorite Barefoot Psycho) but once again Zhang Ruoyun was beyond practically everyone else. Fan Xian has become one of my absolute favorite characters and it's really due to Zhang Ruoyun. That boy is acting with his ENTIRE chest and I love him for it.

Lastly! We've been teased with that damn gun for TWO seasons now. Fan Xian better blast someone with it next season.

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Waited for to long but....Not feeling attached to the story

I dont write reviews generally but I invested too much time in it therefore felt to do it. I watched first season 3 rd time before watching the second season even after that i felt connection to the story of first season but i fell totally detached in second season . In the first season male lead dealing with different things like family ,love ,the king ,chen ping ping,different bullies, discovering about his mom and in second half of first season with enemy state but in second season half way through and he is only bickering with second prince not much to do with other side character. One of the major disappointment I fell their is no major movement in second season which make you feel alive,full of emotions like in first season when he kill the bigger enemy in front of every one, writing greatest poem, then writing more than 100 poem and also raising his flag while entering enemy state.
I always thought why people write so much in reviews and now I get it.
I also want to say people should read comments and review but if ratings are decent they should definitely try it by themselves because people see and feel differently so it can be your cup of tea.
Finally if any one disagree they can message me or can comment ....we can discuss it

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THEY FORGOT SEASON 1…

They basically rebooted the series. The whole intrigue at the end of season 1 was the post ice age world, divine realm, futuristic mystery left behind by Fan Xian’s mother. They do not continue any of this and turned it into a generic corruption drama. It’s not even a mystery drama anymore, just corruption. They go through cases like dismantling brothels and ensuring ethical exams. New characters introduced are boring, while Uncle Wu, Eunuch Martial arts masters have all been forgotten thus far. Without a doubt, one of the biggest let downs of the year. Considering fans waited 5 years for this. The soul of the drama is lost.

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The show continues to be funny, clever, and very very entertaining. However, the story is missing a central plot that ties everything together.

It's not clear what the drama is trying to achieve. Is it a find your origins story? A quest for power? I have no idea because the plot is all over the place. Season 2 gave more explanation about Fan Xian's background, where his mother came from, but still left a lot of questions unanswered. Several key characters discussed finding the temple where mom came from, but no steps were taken to actually find it. Fan Xian constantly talked about bringing justice to the world, but the never-ending slew of conflict between the royal family and officials always kept him occupied with the current problem at hand. What is the end goal here?

I liked what the writers did with Waner's character. In season 1, I didn't think she fit Fan Xian's personality very well being very submissive and non-confrontational. I always found him having way more fun and chemistry with other female characters. But, in season 2, she came a little bit into her own and started making her own decisions. I also liked how she was able to figure certain things out without falling victim to someone else's manipulations.

Some of the character personalities completely changed. The crown prince was a lot meaner in season 1. In season 2, he is a lot friendlier and nicer. The second prince went from being kind of ambiguous to more villainous. The show spent too much effort subverting viewer expectations, than creating a central plot.

The best part of the story is the music. It's very goofy and completely out of place. We go from fighting sequences with Spanish-esque party music to Nordic yodeling. It's completely ridiculous and hilarious.

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Very confuse on this drama….I am between giving 5 or 6 at of 10.

Waiting 4 years for this drama makes me feel dissatisfied that it turns out to be boring, slow, a lot of talking and repetitive comedy.
If you are the type of person who wants this drama to be like S1…Then turn around and
leave.

BTW The op is not better than the first season however I like better the ending song of S2 than Season 1.

Spoilers…..


The ending of S1 end up in a cliffhanger however in the first episode without waiting at least for the 2 episode everyone knows that the ML is alive… Like where is the suspense or mystery? In this drama or kingdom everyone knows things at the speed of light. There are no secrets or silence. Since every rumor or conflict everybody including the death people knows about it.
There were scenes that could be a battle scene or a lot of fighting. HOWEVER, nobody fights and that was soooooooooo annoying to me. I think in this season there were no more than 3 or 4 fight scenes. That is why is very talk based and can get very boring.
The jokes were repetitive or unnecessary long. For example, when they were dressing the ML for his wedding they give literally a montage that lasted 5 or 6 minutes, another example was when they were giving a surgery to the Ml and the Ml stars to have illusions seeing cartooned made of AI faces and this lasted more than 3 minutes.. This was for me so annoying and unnecessary especially if it takes very long and they repeating the same song of this moments of comedy. Dies scenes could be replace with a fight scene or more story based context.

The Ml is not the same as S1 in fact I find him more cowardly than ever and bowing every time to the king something that in the first season he would not do.

And finally the ending. The last 2 eps were rush and the ending is not a sad cliffhanger but is a cliffhanger regardless and we have to wait for 3 years for season 3. To me was like WTF, especially when in the when in the real word they make a joke that if the 3 seasons would take years and I was like What? And the thing is that they will mostly take 3 years and I'm afraid will not be still like season 1.....

For me this drama could be better if it had 40 ep and more fighting scenes and more life-or-death scenarios. Also, more romance because the ML and the FL were barely together, without lying they were together if you include all the scenes less than 30 minutes.

Well, this is my humble review.

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