1
1
Humor, Intelligence, Action, and Mostly Heart
I didn't know this series wasn't finished. Ack, I have to wait until 2027 for season 3. I'd complain that life is unfair, but as that's the theme of Joy of Life, I don't dare!I fell in love with the character of Fan Xian. All he wants is a simple, happy life, but that's not what fate has in store for him. He begrudgingly takes on duties and responsibilities out of a sense of decency and wanting a better life for others. He becomes the pawn of the Imperial family, but he's the chess piece that refuses to move in the expected direction.
Zhang Ruo Yun does an amazing job as Fan Xian. He's intelligent, brave, iron strong, and emotionally vulnerable. He is unshakably loyal to his friends, family, and love. I live for those scenes where he is listening to atrocities and is internally livid, yet outwardly calm.
The Imperial Court intrigues keep the viewer unbalanced. Who to trust? I've decided no one! And yet, I keep hoping for redemption for some of them, even those who don't deserve it. The actors have done such an excellent job balancing villainous tones with sympathetic ones.
I'm off to add more of writer Wang Juan's dramas to my list. I've added an extra half star for writing intelligent characters.
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This review may contain spoilers
Bizarre
So bizarre that my first thought was that I was watching a J-drama. I double-checked the next spoken sentence and ascertained it was, indeed, a Chinese drama. It's dark, dangerous, and deviated from the average drama.The leads were adorable together. He's the boy your parents warned you about: the bad boy. But not your typical bad boy who did poorly in school and hung out with the wrong crowd. This boy was smart, menacing tall, feral, and definitely detrimental to the well being of those around him. She, on the other hand, was tiny. The ML often picked her up around the waist with one arm and carried her like his own personal Barbie doll with a curtain of glossy black hair. She was kind, brave, and resourceful and an absolute addiction of the bad boy.
The mood was black, and it seemed it was only night in their world. The visuals were striking: the ML and FL fell from the dark sky into a heart-shaped pile of pink balloons (please don't ask why the balloons were there, as logic has no place in this drama, and I'd have to explain the leads landed, miraculously unharmed, on their feet next to a tank containing a murderous mutant octopus with huge ears which was mind controlled by a zombie, at which point the explanation about the balloons hardly matters, right?). Do I care that the plot is ridiculous? Not a bit, because I'm not bored. And the OST was as wild as the action.
I thought I'd picked a tiny filler to watch between the longer dramas, as Viki only showed six episodes. I realize now it has 40 (but only 18 minutes each), which Viki will mete out on a weekly (?) basis. Bah, humbug. Here's hoping the drama keeps its frantic pace, phenomenal weirdness, and ends well.
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