This review may contain spoilers
Self-insert protagonist fulfills author's delusions in a questionably "intricate" plot
Given the rave reviews about its humor, characters, and political intrigue, I was *very* excited to start "Joy of Life." Unfortunately, for me, at least, it fell flat.
The first reason comes from characterization. In a drama about political intrigue, the hidden motivations and personalities behind the characters are the key drivers behind the plot. While each character did have their distinct personality and motivations (more evident in the side characters such as Fan Sizhe), their actions and relationships didn't line up compellingly with their characters. Without believable characters, it's difficult for me (audience) to buy into almost any of the story.
Almost every female character, whether the ML's prisoner or a respected warrior from the enemy nation, ends up with "some romantic feelings, if not entanglement" for the ML, Fan Xian. Many times, there is no compelling reason *why*, and this ends of harming the depth of the female side characters. The more complex side characters, E.g. Qing Di or Chen Pingping, do have interesting schemes and politics. However, they fall into the cliche boxes that "strategic characters" in C-dramas usually do; they are endlessly ruthless to achieve some "not-yet-revealed, power-related" goal. Their lack of humanity make them one-dimensional and less compelling than similarly strategic protagonists such as Nie Huaisang, Jin Guangyao, Mei Changsu, Consort Jing, Xue Fangfei, etc. are. That is not to say there are no compelling characters in "Joy of Life"; Li Yunrui is a cliche evil-stepmother in a complex way, and Shen Zhong is an interesting break from the "silent, serious strategist" trope.
My biggest gripe lies with the main character, Fan Xian. He is a character with some talent in everything and the same, flippant sense of humor in almost every situation. He experiences character growth in scheme and intelligence often with no catalyst, never stops to reflect on anything (despite being portrayed as an "apotheosis of morality and justice for Teng Zijing" he kills his betrothed's brother and lies about it), participates in a romance warranted only by "love at first sight", and has no clear ambition (that ambition can be to be a regular person, even). These pitfalls mean the story has no arching, clear direction. The story is guided by the protagonist, and the protagonist needs to pick a lane— and stay there— to give the story a beginning and an end. To be clear, I am not against morally gray, complex protagonists— Fan Xian is just inconsistent and somewhat devoid of meaningful substance.
With that, my second problem lies with the writing. In a drama about political intrigue, there are few "symbolic" twists or moments that aren't just the "death of an antagonist" (because obviously, death is the only way to solve problems). There are few schemes with a broader purpose than "this person challenges my power/life and needs to die", which leave the char It is not like "Nirvana in Fire", where the revelation of certain information drives the plot forward by galvanizing character actions. The story seems to be complex but ends up coming off as "simplistic." Longer schemes, like Chen Pingping's, tend to be loose enough to come off as "afterthoughts".
That being said, these flaws are with the story, and given that the show is adapted from a novel—were likely inevitable. The acting and production itself is alright, though nothing to write home about. The script does have lighthearted and humorous characters (Wang Qinian, Fan Sizhe, etc.), but their characters end up becoming "one-trick ponies." The jokes are alright, but some of the puns (as a fluent Chinese speaker) are... so bad they're funny.
Anyhow, "Joy of Life" is definitely better than a lot of other attempts at a good revenge story that are being produced these days. Maybe it's time for me to go back an revisit "Nirvana in Fire."
The first reason comes from characterization. In a drama about political intrigue, the hidden motivations and personalities behind the characters are the key drivers behind the plot. While each character did have their distinct personality and motivations (more evident in the side characters such as Fan Sizhe), their actions and relationships didn't line up compellingly with their characters. Without believable characters, it's difficult for me (audience) to buy into almost any of the story.
Almost every female character, whether the ML's prisoner or a respected warrior from the enemy nation, ends up with "some romantic feelings, if not entanglement" for the ML, Fan Xian. Many times, there is no compelling reason *why*, and this ends of harming the depth of the female side characters. The more complex side characters, E.g. Qing Di or Chen Pingping, do have interesting schemes and politics. However, they fall into the cliche boxes that "strategic characters" in C-dramas usually do; they are endlessly ruthless to achieve some "not-yet-revealed, power-related" goal. Their lack of humanity make them one-dimensional and less compelling than similarly strategic protagonists such as Nie Huaisang, Jin Guangyao, Mei Changsu, Consort Jing, Xue Fangfei, etc. are. That is not to say there are no compelling characters in "Joy of Life"; Li Yunrui is a cliche evil-stepmother in a complex way, and Shen Zhong is an interesting break from the "silent, serious strategist" trope.
My biggest gripe lies with the main character, Fan Xian. He is a character with some talent in everything and the same, flippant sense of humor in almost every situation. He experiences character growth in scheme and intelligence often with no catalyst, never stops to reflect on anything (despite being portrayed as an "apotheosis of morality and justice for Teng Zijing" he kills his betrothed's brother and lies about it), participates in a romance warranted only by "love at first sight", and has no clear ambition (that ambition can be to be a regular person, even). These pitfalls mean the story has no arching, clear direction. The story is guided by the protagonist, and the protagonist needs to pick a lane— and stay there— to give the story a beginning and an end. To be clear, I am not against morally gray, complex protagonists— Fan Xian is just inconsistent and somewhat devoid of meaningful substance.
With that, my second problem lies with the writing. In a drama about political intrigue, there are few "symbolic" twists or moments that aren't just the "death of an antagonist" (because obviously, death is the only way to solve problems). There are few schemes with a broader purpose than "this person challenges my power/life and needs to die", which leave the char It is not like "Nirvana in Fire", where the revelation of certain information drives the plot forward by galvanizing character actions. The story seems to be complex but ends up coming off as "simplistic." Longer schemes, like Chen Pingping's, tend to be loose enough to come off as "afterthoughts".
That being said, these flaws are with the story, and given that the show is adapted from a novel—were likely inevitable. The acting and production itself is alright, though nothing to write home about. The script does have lighthearted and humorous characters (Wang Qinian, Fan Sizhe, etc.), but their characters end up becoming "one-trick ponies." The jokes are alright, but some of the puns (as a fluent Chinese speaker) are... so bad they're funny.
Anyhow, "Joy of Life" is definitely better than a lot of other attempts at a good revenge story that are being produced these days. Maybe it's time for me to go back an revisit "Nirvana in Fire."
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