Completed
Drama Addict
0 people found this review helpful
Jul 19, 2024
36 of 36 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.0
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0

Wacky, suspenseful, humorous

Very often, sequel paled compared to the first season, but not for this drama. It carried on the momentum of Season 1. The drama was somewhat wacky, suspenseful and humorous .

The bold and scheming Fan Xian more than matched his antagonists. Returning to the capital, he went on to expose the conspiracy he discovered in ShangJin, capital of the rival state. But the Qing emperor was not impressed and did not seem to pay much attention to the fact that his second son and his sister was amassing huge amount of money from the activities of the State Enterprise (Neiku). A huge conspiracy was awaiting Fan Xian on his arrival.

And yes, Xiao Zhan did not participate in season 2. I think his talent is best placed in drama where his acting skills could be better demonstrated like The Untamed. Yan BingYun was not that type of character for him. Even in Season 1, it was more of a special guest appearance.

Everyone loves a hero who is smart, bold, righteous and uphold justice and this was what this drama presented in Fan Xian. Also, there are great lessons to be learned - if everyone condones a shitty system and not intervenes, bad practices will continue. If you do not like a corrupt system, then do not participate in it. What I particularly like about this drama which set it apart from some other drama was that it was proactive. Instead of some up righteous capable hero who preferred to hide away, he took up his responsibilities and faced it head on and sought to improve the system.

As with the first season, the story was interesting. Suspense and mystery abound. Humour was funny. Cinematography, acting, costumes, backdrop were all great.

The story however were a couple of far-fetched illogical sub-plots. For example, Fan Xian pretended that he faked death because the envoy was ambushed by a Grand Master, in order to avoid punishment. Why would the envoy not already know that the someone had sent a dead squad and a death threat, and that Yan BingYun 'killed' Fan Xian. They were travelling together. Why not simply exposed the second prince? Afterall, Yan BingYun could be a witness and he was one who was stubborn and daring enough to do this for the country. And there was also the letters from the prince as evidence. The writer had a complicated mind and preferred to fabricate lies and cover-up. In this regard, the story in Season 1 was more coherent. Unless the intent was to illustrate how intelligent people could buy into bullshit.

The second was when Ruo Ruo was asked to operate on Fan Xian, when she had never done an operation. Furthermore, what was she supposed to operate on? It was said that poison had affected Fan Xian's organs. What organs? All organs? Sound like a lot to clean up with just one slice made by the emperor.

By this stage, I await future seasons where hopefully a lot of the questions would be answered. Aside from Fan Xian taking over the State Enterprise, I hope they would have a season on how his mother came to this age, where she was actually from and what happened before Fan Xian was born. We also knew from Season 1 that the rival state was actually masquerading an empress dowager - emperor conflict and was staging a fake alliance with Fan Xian - so it would be interesting to see how this unravel in future seasons.

It had been 5 years since Season 1. So, it would be good to rewatch that again if you don't have the best memory in the world as Season 2 made a lot of references to events in the previous season. And hopefully, we do not have to wait for another 5 years to watch Season 3. If this goes on, all the cast and audience would be old by the time the last Season comes along.

Finally, I say, if you had enjoyed Season 1, don't miss out on this Season 2. Enjoy...

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Ongoing 26/36
sunny4ever
0 people found this review helpful
8 hours ago
26 of 36 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 10

The original was a masterpiece and so is the sequel, even after a five year wait.

Acting, Thrilling Action, Comic Relief, Cinematography, and great OST????

The year 2024 will be the year remembered by some as the year Chinese dramas out classed Korean Dramas in putting out great drama productions for this year. Like the year 2016 did for Korean dramas (the turning point for Korean dramas) 2024 abounds with some of the greatest most innovative Chinese Dramas I have seen. Forget the question about which is better, Chinese dramas have arrived.

Chinese Period Drama Joy of Life 2

From the Book Qing Yu Nian, written by Mao Ni, the Chinese drama series Joy of Life (2019) was written by Wang Juan and directed by Sun Hao. Both writer and director returned in 2024 for Joy of Life 2. It is like Wang Juan and Sun Hoa were not going to put out anything short of the perfection, like the high standards found in Joy of Life. The Chinese drama series Joy of Life sits at number one out of all 100 Chinese Dramas I have viewed. The pair of writer and director seemed to have vowed to wait out these five years until the stars aligned so that they could put out perfection and they did it again. It is a death knell to wait five years for a sequel. You lose your audience. Joy of Life 2 was going to be a masterpiece or it just was not going to be put out. There are thrills and action, great acting, great comic relief, great cinematography and filmmaking, great music and a very cohesive story. Joy of Life did not suffer from the five year wait as respects cohesive storyline between the original and the sequel. Joy of Life 2 will most likely land in number 2 on my All Time Chinese Drama List. Joy of Life is number 5 out of 400 Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Dramas I have reviewed. (To note: I have not watched Nirvana on Fire (2015) yet, which by everyone’s account should be in the top three)

What the story of ‘Joy of Life’ does is fill in all of the canvass. While many dramas are entertaining on so many different levels, many of these dramas are pencil drawings next to the Renoir of the Joy of Life drama series for me. Joy of Life 2 is so well written. Many words fill up the dialogue, leaving so many thoughts to digest, one doesn’t feel like the dialogue space is wasted with garbage words. The interplay between the good and the evil, each challenge, each victory, each loss in the cat and mouse games play out wonderfully in this Period Political drama with intense Court intrigue. The cat and mouse skirmishes are reminiscent of the great Chinese drama The Rise of the Phoenixes (2018). Joy of Life 2 is a next level experience.

Joy of Life 2 is a great interplay of serious drama with comic relief. Mapping out the comedy within the serious is not the easiest of tasks. If you throw in the comedy in the wrong places it becomes a joke. If the comedy is weaved in seamlessly, it can become a masterpiece. What Joy of Life 2 is good at is throwing in comedy amidst chaos. The viewers get scenes like where there is threatening chaos and thrilling danger and then amongst this you see dancing Eunuchs doing line dancing? You freeze in place trying to comprehend what you are viewing. This much of a juxtapose should not work in any universe, but it works in the Chinese Costume Drama ‘Joy of Life’ 2 series. What brain is that creative?

Joy of Life 2 has some of the best choreographed action sequences, as was the case with Joy of Life. Known for its trend-setting moves for its action sequences, I enjoyed the wonderful cliff scene in Joy of Life 2. The two nefarious Princes are back and a whole lot more nefarious and funnier in Joy of life 2 than in Joy of Life. (Watch out for the Poison Prince scene. Hilarious). Also back are much of the cast from Joy of Life, including the weirdest but most intelligent Emperor, who provides much angst for the protagonist. Our protagonist Fan Xian / Fan Shen again is played by Chinese actor Zhang Ruoyun. He gives another great dramatic comedic performance.

Can Joy of Life 2 stand on its own without viewing Joy of Life? There will be some parts of the drama that should produce a deeper value meaning with a deeper connection to the past that will be lost. However, Joy of Life 2 can stand on its own, because of its entertainment value. Some problems will arise for sure with the lost of all the information about the dead mother of the protagonist and her connection to the present action. This is lost to those who view this series out of sequence. It is worth putting in the 82 episodes back to back for the best experience. You won’t get bored at all if this is your kind of drama. However, the presentation of Joy of Life 2 is so good that if I could read Chinese, I would read the book.

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Dropped 8/36
JMUR
5 people found this review helpful
May 22, 2024
8 of 36 episodes seen
Dropped 0
Overall 6.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 10
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers

kind of boring - one of my most anticipated series was a a bummer

kind of boring - one of my most anticipated series was a a bummer ...
This is like Under the microscope tv show ... Better than the feminine heroes based tv shows recently though
why my rating is lower?
1. This is the second season of one of the top tv shows - so there is no urgency to finish anything
2. Took over 4 years to get the second season but messed up on the storyline
3. Death of Main hero in first season tweak in second season is not great - I would have preferred a much better twist - kind of lame deal in this season
4. im tired of honest man going through politics ... esp with all the knowledge of today in ancient world and he still is not able to deliver it - kind of super ordinary hero

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Ongoing 28/36
minchelymin
4 people found this review helpful
May 30, 2024
28 of 36 episodes seen
Ongoing 0
Overall 10
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10
This review may contain spoilers

EL MEJOR DRAMA CHINO DE LA HISTORIA

Puede que el título de esta reseña parezca exagerada, pero no lo es. Si aún no fuiste a ver la 1era temporada, te recomiendo que prepares un fin de semana, snacks, café, mascarillas y le des play a esta serie, IMPOSIBLE QUE TE ARREPIENTAS!

Todo en esta historia es atrapante, desde el 1er capítulo vas a querer saber más y más, la historia es tan atrapante, los personajes son tan intrigantes, tan divertidos (hasta los villanos son divertidos), tan estratégicos. Te muestran sus facetas de Leales, filiales, empáticos, estrategas, sarcásticos, y NADA está sobreactuado, todo está en su punto.

Me impactó mucho el nivel de sentido de justicia que tiene nuestro protagonista, la lealtad y lo protector que es con todos. Hace mucho tiempo que un drama no me impactaba tanto, hace solo unos dias terminé de ver la 1era temporada y ya inicié con la segunda, no sé como voy a entretenerme mientras espero la 3era temporada (espero que Cheng Yi estrene dramas durante el año).

Este es un pequeño spoiler, pero es sólo para que vayan a ver el drama: La combinación entre la historia antigua y el moderno siglo XXI les hará explotar la cabeza, especialmente por la mamá de Fan Xian y por el Maestro Wuzhu, estos dos personajes les hará pensar una y otra vez. Para que vean, no solo los protagonistas son interesantes en este drama, cada uno de los personajes es intrigante.

Aun quedan algunos días para que esta 2da temporada termine, pero no aguanté las ganas de contar lo EXCELENTE QUE ES ESTE DRAMA.

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Completed
lex_fsilva
1 people found this review helpful
Aug 18, 2024
36 of 36 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 10
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.5
This review may contain spoilers

Fan Xian será tornará um Grão-Mestre?


Tenho que dizer que agora tenho um ator chinês favorito: Zhang Ruo Yun. Que carisma e que domínio de cena ele tem! Não é à toa que "Joy Of Life" teve duas temporadas de sucesso tanto em audiência quanto em crítica. O protagonista se destaca de uma forma que prende o espectador, fazendo-o embarcar nas aventuras e loucuras de Fan Xian. Em nenhum momento me senti distraído assistindo aos episódios; pelo contrário, senti que eles acabavam muito rápido, o que me deixava frustrado.

A parceria entre Wang e Fan Xian tem uma química absurda. Desde a primeira temporada, as cenas deles são ótimas e bem desenvolvidas. Senti a ausência de Lin Wan Er nesta temporada, parecendo mais uma participação especial do que um membro do elenco fixo. Os atores Wu Gang (Chen) e Chen Dao Ming (Imperador) estão em outro nível de atuação. É impressionante como declamam seus textos e como a dualidade de seus personagens é apresentada.

Sinto que ainda falta explorar mais sobre os grão-mestres. Quero entender melhor esses personagens. Nas cenas do Templo na colina, ficou evidente para mim que o Imperador é o grão-mestre que se esconde no palácio; ele deu indícios claros disso. Também acho que Fan Xian é o filho favorito dele, mas está bem claro que o Imperador permitiu que a mãe do protagonista fosse assassinada, ou talvez ele mesmo tenha orquestrado isso. Sinto que a terceira temporada não será suficiente para responder todas as questões deixadas pela primeira e segunda temporadas. Quero entender por que o imperador de Qin do Norte é uma mulher disfarçada de homem e quais são seus planos.

Enfim, a temporada terminou com Fan Xian querendo se tornar um grão-mestre e com seu QI restaurado graças a um. Ah, quase esqueci de mencionar: o príncipe da primeira temporada, que era nostálgico, sério e odioso, tem uma personalidade completamente diferente nesta temporada, mais cômica, eu diria. Estou ansioso pela terceira, quarta e quinta temporadas—este drama merece. Obrigado, China!





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Completed
TCEceBatu
0 people found this review helpful
Oct 20, 2024
36 of 36 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 3.0
This review may contain spoilers

1.sezon vs 2.sezon

Merhabalar,

HİKAYE:
2.sezon hikayesinde 1. sezona göre (+) ve (-) leri mevcuttu ikisini kıyaslayınca bu sezon aksiyonu daha az fakat akıl oyunları daha fazla idi. Fan Xian nın yanında o aptal prensesi görmeye devam ettik bu çok sıkıcı idi ben yine seçimimi Hai tang Dou Dou dan yana kullanıyorum . 21.yy göndermelerini bir iki sahnede sergilediler bu sezon daha çok sahnede görmeyi tercih ederdim. Kuzey Qi ile olan hikayeleri 1. sezonda kaldığından bu sezon da hikaye açısından Hai tang Dou Dou dan başka kimseyi göremedik bu sezonun benim için en iyi süpriz'i ikinci prensin performansı oldu dizi içinde ki hikayesi gerçekten iyiydi ve bu sezon Fang Xian ve ikinci prens arasındaki akıl dolu oyunlarına tanık olduk. ben seviyorum böyle satranç oyunu gibi oyunları yine 4 büyük ustadan biri ile 1 sn bile olsa tanıştık ve yine dizi içindeki hikayeleri hiç yok gibiydi bana göre daha çok Fan Xian'ın var olma savaşı gibi geldi bu sezon ve hikaye yarım kalarak 3, sezona geçiş yaptı
OYUNCULAR:
Kadroyu bir iki değişiklik ile korumaları dizinin sürekliliği açısından iyiydi bu sezon da 2. prensin performansını çok iyi buldum.
MÜZİK:
1.sezonla bağlantılı olduğu için 1. sezonda da beğenmediğim gibi bu sezonu da pek beğenmedim yine de emeğe saygı
TEKRAR İZLENME DEĞERİ:
ne birinci sezonu nede 2, sezonu bir daha izlemek istemem sadece dizinin finali için 3. sezonu seyrederim
GENEL:
Dizi genel hatlarıyla eğlenceli olsa da bu kadar övgü almış bir dizinin 1. ve 2, sezon larının her anlamda akılda kalıcı olmasını beklerdim 2,sezon birinci sezonun üstüne çıkmalıydı ama biraz altında kaldı umarım 3, sezon izleyenlerin beklentilerini karşılayabilir. yine yapımda ve yayında emeği geçen herkese teşekkür ederizç

Not: Geçen 1. sezon ile ilgili inceleme yazarken unuttuğum bir diğer husus da Kuzey Qi imparatoru neden kadın dı koca Çin de erkek mi kalmadı da bir kadını imparator yaptınız.bu da 1. sezonu düşüren etmenlerden biriydi

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Joy of Life Season 2 (2024) poster

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