sunny4ever
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.
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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