I'm now at the halfway point. There's an actress I adore coming in the 2nd half, Xin Zhi Lei. If this series weren't a 'family reunions' of many actors I've already seen in other dramas, I'd have dumped it already. Wildly over-rated in these parts.
I'm still on quest for finding better drama than this one.
I haven't seen it through yet but I know of 3 dramas I can simply recommend.
1. If you're okay with tragedy and concubines abusing each other, RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE is amazing balls. And it features a handful of this cast in stellar roles. Not to mention the additional actors within.
2. If you hate that kinda thing, lol, try MAKE A WISH. The story is great until it trips over itself towards the end, but you're watching for the amazing leads. It's bubblegum but sweet as hell.
3. REBEL PRINCESS is convoluted and takes a while to get rolling, but the cast is great. The production values makes JOY look like a home movie.
So I've been saving this well-rated drama because once you've watched 'the best' the rest might suck in comparison. I've seen RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE which shares three supporting actresses (great choices too). I just completed LUOYANG which shares a lead actress. And a male supporting actor from REBEL PRINCESS is here too.
So for me, this is like a family reunion.
I'm 14 Episodes in and feel, well, this series is over-rated. It's better than LUOYANG, yes, but RUYI and REBEL (so far) eat this for breakfast. I'm not saying it's junk but a firm 8.2 at the moment. Absolutely worth trying (and likely finishing) but nowhere near a 9.
I find many of the C-Drama fans are young and they adore lighthearted. JOY OF LIFE, to me, is like a normal Imperial C-Drama with a tiny touch of Disney spice.
Consider the distracting incidental music in so many scenes. Sometimes it's Spanish guitar. Sometimes it is salsa. Sometimes it's modern rock-ish. The main character is a little too smug and so confident he can't fail, which decreases tension and increases... well... 'Disney'.
My opinion may improve as I proceed but I'm just leaving this note here to anyone over 35 years who is wondering what all the fuss is here. I can promise you it has a FUN cast and is so far telling a decent story well, although it took about 4 extra episodes to get to Ep 13, which is to say it's a little slow at first. So it's definitely worth a look but I'm not gushing yet.
This is a challenging film because I suspect there's a few missing scenes that would make things clearer. Does anyone know who the boy on the ice was at the end?
Many thanks!! I am a fan of Zhou Xun and looking for her new work! :-)
I know people think I'm crazy when I say this, but honestly, she is the Bette Davis of China. This means no matter what she touches it becomes more interesting. And it applies to all stages of her career. Strong, smart, beauty -- only one actress in America had it all like Zhou Xun.
On Epi 5. Loved it from the beginning , but now I’m finding Chen Jialan quite annoying. She’s too righteous…
The actress was miscast. I've heard they didn't even user her vocal performance and dubbed someone else over her, in Chinese mind you. But in the last quarter of the series she begins to shine because they finally show her as human and vulnerable.
This is one of the films where a filmmaker discovers a dish and wants to show her off within a cool street film. The story doesn't matter and typically doesn't exist. As this type of film -- pretty good.
Sometimes movie producers re-title a project to make it more appealing. This was originally eentitled HER STORY. I haven't seen this yet but I believe it's actually 3 stories, and so right there it should have been title HER STORIES.
But apparently this film didn't want to draw attention to the female focus, which is unfortunate if that is one strength of this piece. And so it got renamed HERO, frankly another bad idea -- considering the legendary use of that title elsewhere.
What this movie is trying to hide is the depressing subject matter: the Chinese Covid Lockdown. It's actually rather annoying to trick people into trying something they wouldn't otherwise watch.
To me a simple title seems rather obvious: WOMEN OF THE LOCKDOWN.
That 8.2 rating simply doesn't accurately reflect this series. There are too many characters and the pace is crazy uneven. There are like 4 episodes in the middle of this story where you swear the actors are all standing around waiting for new pages. It's not awful, but it's not 8.2. And it's really a waste of such talented actors and brilliant production otherwise. :(
Watching LUOYANG and Yong Mei's EMPRESS is gold every time she appears. It makes you want to find a film like this and devour it. Unfortunately there isn't an English translation anywhere and this is so sad.
Hmm. How to respond without revealing your spoiler. Let's pretend you said you didn't like the story because it featured IDENTICAL TWINS. Well, some stories with twins are great and some are stupid. Simply pointing out it has 'twins' says more about you than the piece.
RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE has 'twins', if you will, and is extraordinary.
UPDATE: Now that I've seen the complete series, and staying in my analogy, I'll say LUOYANG's choice of 'Twins' was kinda weak and out of nowhere.
I cried my eyes out while watching this movie. I already watched the other two installment movies but the 2nd…
Hi. You say you already watched some of the installments. This tells me this film is just a collection of short films. In other words: these films were never intended to be released together. Is that true?
K-Drama 
1 
Xin Zhi Lei. If this series weren't a 'family reunions' of many actors I've already seen in other dramas, I'd have dumped it already. Wildly over-rated in these parts.
1. If you're okay with tragedy and concubines abusing each other, RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE is amazing balls. And it features a handful of this cast in stellar roles. Not to mention the additional actors within.
2. If you hate that kinda thing, lol, try MAKE A WISH. The story is great until it trips over itself towards the end, but you're watching for the amazing leads. It's bubblegum but sweet as hell.
3. REBEL PRINCESS is convoluted and takes a while to get rolling, but the cast is great. The production values makes JOY look like a home movie.
So for me, this is like a family reunion.
I'm 14 Episodes in and feel, well, this series is over-rated. It's better than LUOYANG, yes, but RUYI and REBEL (so far) eat this for breakfast. I'm not saying it's junk but a firm 8.2 at the moment. Absolutely worth trying (and likely finishing) but nowhere near a 9.
I find many of the C-Drama fans are young and they adore lighthearted. JOY OF LIFE, to me, is like a normal Imperial C-Drama with a tiny touch of Disney spice.
Consider the distracting incidental music in so many scenes. Sometimes it's Spanish guitar. Sometimes it is salsa. Sometimes it's modern rock-ish. The main character is a little too smug and so confident he can't fail, which decreases tension and increases... well... 'Disney'.
My opinion may improve as I proceed but I'm just leaving this note here to anyone over 35 years who is wondering what all the fuss is here. I can promise you it has a FUN cast and is so far telling a decent story well, although it took about 4 extra episodes to get to Ep 13, which is to say it's a little slow at first. So it's definitely worth a look but I'm not gushing yet.
But apparently this film didn't want to draw attention to the female focus, which is unfortunate if that is one strength of this piece. And so it got renamed HERO, frankly another bad idea -- considering the legendary use of that title elsewhere.
What this movie is trying to hide is the depressing subject matter: the Chinese Covid Lockdown. It's actually rather annoying to trick people into trying something they wouldn't otherwise watch.
To me a simple title seems rather obvious: WOMEN OF THE LOCKDOWN.
RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE has 'twins', if you will, and is extraordinary.
UPDATE: Now that I've seen the complete series, and staying in my analogy, I'll say LUOYANG's choice of 'Twins' was kinda weak and out of nowhere.
https://youtu.be/q4WQvFgoFkQ?t=2006