10katie01

Then again, anyone looking at the s2 page has already probably watched season 1, so I'll delete my objection.

No, I remember it being revealed that FX is the son of the emporer in s1.

However, he was not officially announced as a prince. This is the aspect that Zhystel is referring to, and which I would consider a spoiler.

Though I get the point that I'm probably being a little too picky about it.

I'm glad the scriptwriters aren't committed to following the book to the nth degree.

They're following it to the spirit, but taking some leeway to present the story in the visual medium. What constraints they're following, I'm not sure of. Surely the Chinese limit on the number of episodes is one constraint, but they might have more than that one aspect in mind, who knows. If there is ever a Q&A done I'd like to have that question asked of the production team.

That they're willing to take some leeway makes me hopeful they'll do something more with the story of the northern temple than what was in the book.

I dunno. Apart from his eye make up being a bit weird, I thought XZ played the part of a released prisoner having to overcome his torture trauma at the end of s1 quite well.

Fame or not.
Good acting or not.
Toxic/blinkered fans or not.

All that is irrelevant to me.

XZ inhabited the part and I got used to him in it. Having to deal with a different face for the character is jarring.

I don't know why OP bothered to bring up the XZ drama since AFAIK it was that awful fan fic drama fallout that lead to him being dropped from this JOL production, not his ability nor his commitment to this project. Bringing it up now is flogging a dead horse.

That aside - even if a new actor's face in the role is a bit jarring, at least this new actor seems to be doing his best.

All else aside - human being to human being I hope XZ is doing well and put all that needless fan fic melodrama behind him.

He's not from the future. :)

All good things come to those who wait. :D

Prefer it to the original if only for the fixed introductory story of the MC dying in a hospital bed, not participating in a literary competition.

Main site address:
https://kisskh.co/

Page for the special edition:
https://kisskh.co/Drama/Joy-of-Life-Special-Edition?id=9013

Weird. I'm watching via kisskh right now :D

Location restriction perhaps? Do you a VPN?

But Zijin's story arc in the series was portrayed very impactfully I felt. It seemed to fit what I felt was the 1st season's overall theme of celebrating/experiencing all the human moments of life.

I'm hoping the 2nd season has been produced with the same degree of sentiment.

Try kisskh.

Seems like an abbreviated form of the 1st season. Since this 1st season was so many years ago, and the 2nd season has a lot of pre-release interest, they probably want to gain some viewership numbers in the lead up to the 2nd season and also help new and old viewers transition back into the storyline.

I think it's great they've fixed the originating premise back to that of the novel (ie him in the hospital bed due to illness in modern times, rather than that library/story competition nonsense).

I'm watching to see if they've made any other adjustments. Seems so far they're looking after the story not just doing this gratuitously.

The adjustment of that original library/story competition premise to him dying in a hospital bed in modern times adjusts the story to fit that of the novel, so I'm all for it. And watching this special edition with interest to see if they make any other adjustments.

roflmao

When one of the introductory scenes has an elaborate hair ornament in the FL's hair even before the bandage is unwrapped I knew : MELODRAMA BABY!!

This is gonna be a bumpy ride...
XD

Is someone able to please tell me what this 'turtle' reference means in China?

I see it regularly in c-dramas and I never understand it.

I'm thinking grandma has guessed Yanxi's identity. I mean: a) can ride horses, b) had to join the army in the north (specifically the expression on her face when listening to him talking about the north), her letter goes missing for the first time ever when he happens to be in the house. It's not a stretch to think she's kept track of her bff's family and is aware of the grandson in the north with the muddle-headed sister. Particularly when the Hua family visited the mourning family when his mother passed away.

Also, if you think think the ML has an expressionless face, you do not want to see him in 'handsome siblings'. In comparison, in this drama he's practically soap opera melodramatic.

I haven't watched every single thing that Zhao Li Ying has ever been in. But generally when I have caught one, it's a quality production with little to any excess fat needing to be trimmed off.

Her and Yang Mi. I don't think of myself as a 'fan', but when it comes to those two actresses, if it's a genre I fancy I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to enjoy the hell out of it.

One just started called white cat legend which seems like it might be somewhat interesting.

I need to find out why every other chinese temple seems to be called 'Dali'.

Yes, I understand why. Lazy script writing.

LOL!!

Not a minute into tonight's first episode and Minister Lin "Qin Yu is still alive"

pffft X,D