tsuyoi_hikari

Agreed 100%. This is one of dramas that show and do not tell. You can interpret characters' motivations and objective on your own since they are so 3 dimensional -- and you are probably wrong about them 50% of times.

Even when you watch S1, you still will have questions. Some people screamed 'plot holes!' when they simply didnt understand the story.

Definitely. Joy of Life season 1 is probably one of the best written Cdramas for the past years so you definitely should watch season 1 first in order to understand the story.

I adore adore Fan Xian and Wan'er's relationship. We all know Wan'er has always been smart and they way she speak up to the 2nd Prince is not surprising at all since she always know people want to use her as a chess piece but she was like ''Nope, I wont allow you to do that.'' -- strong yet graceful at the same time. She did the same thing to her mother in the 1st season -- pointing out her hypocrisy and refused to be included in her schemes.

Plus, I knew she always trust Fan Xian but the way she troll him by reciting the poem are funny since she actually use the exact words that has been changed to match Duo Duo's name. 😂 And Fan Xian wanting to write a poem for her which he writes on his own, well, its not gonna beat all those classic poems for sure and asked her to wait for a lifetime for that lol. And him casually put his head on her lap -- I love this details! One thing about Fan Xian is that I love that he never lie. He always said that it was not him who wrote the poems (of course, everyone not gonna believe that) and he even admitted that he is good friend with Duo Duo's to Wan'er but that's it. I love this part about him tbh.

And Dumb and Dumber at Beiqi! OMG, how ineffective they are as spies (and totally clueless about it 😂) that Beiqi need to turn blind eye not to report them had me in stitches. And poor Haitang, no matter what she said, no one gonna believe that she has no relationship with Fan Xian. The way they smile and wink at her just hilarious and there is nothing she can do about it! 😂

I watched more episode today and even more impressed with the writing as it is so intricate with so many layers -- for every characters. The Emperor's wisdom is the greatest example of this. Remember the scenes after the morning meeting with CPP and Fan Jian -- he is totally cool with them officially investigating his son but at the same time 'HE IS MY SON!' and the change in CPP's face explained everything. But that is the great thing about their friendship -- Fan Jian and CPP always know when to back off while at the same time dare enough to utter words like 'You dont want him. I want him!' to the Emperor.

Also, the Emperor's manipulative and twisted nature and the layers of his character -- he always want his government clean -- he took pride in them but at the same time, ''you can investigate, but not until it threaten my position and my ego.'' He likes Fan Xian bold enough to make that accusation, but at the same time, he throw Fan Xian's batch into the lake to save face towards the 4 of his sons but behind the scenes, he gave Fan Xian Gao Da and the Tiger squad to assist Fan Xian (Yan Bingyun) with the corruption case. He is very calculative with everyone and unfortunately, as much as we see how he runs upon hearing Fan Xian's death, we know that he probably never love anyone or anything except himself. But he is such an enigmatic character -- I love him while hating his twisted nature as well.

Many people seemed to watch the drama from the surface and always said this is dumb or why this character behave out of norm but actually when you look into the details, that characters are never white blankets as there are many colors on it -- you can never guess what they capable of as they always being painted as grey. Like Fan Xian poisoning the 2nd Prince. It is truly deliberately done on purpose to mess with the 2nd Prince. Fan Xian wants him to taste his own medicine as he simply treat the 2nd Prince's life as worthless just like the 2nd Prince's view of everyone else's lives. But look now how his life is in danger, look how he behaves -- scared like everyone's else -- very embarrassing to witness. If Fan Xian really want to kill him, he will not purposely show him the poison and later give him an antidote. This is all part of his mind games. He never intended to kill the 2nd Prince. But, he achieve his purpose which is to send the 2nd Prince a message on how his life, just like everyone else is fleeting and can be gone at any time. This served as a warning to him. Also, this again to highlight that Fan Xian has always been petty -- ''you tried to kill me? I will never let it go.''

All characters seemed to be that way -- written with these layers and interesting quirks. It seemed like the writer really have sheets where he makes every of his characters with interesting substance even the small ones. Take example the 2nd Prince's Guard when he told the 2nd Prince 'But not many people are good in the capital' -- just this simple sentence, conveys so many things which painted he is not as simple as we seen him on screen.

Or how we can view certain characters differently upon knowing more about them like the 1st Prince for an example. It is after all not about pissing contest against Fan Xian during his entrance to the Capital -- but more towards he wants to test Fan Xian's character as he is the Man who is going to marry Wan'er and in charge of Treasury in the future. This is why I find JOL's script is so layered and have so many depth. When you rewatch certain scenes, it gave different perspective now when you know these characters better. I really like the 1st Prince! He is brute but also tender -- such an awesome character!

She always been smart. That is why when her mother wants to manipulate her last time, she didnt fall for the trap at all. She is sheltered but has progressive idea just like Fan Xian and the one who truly understand him when Teng Zijing died when no one understand why he makes such a big fuss about it.

They wont. As the vibe they gave each other more like BFF than lovers. Haitang is too much like other girls in his life. He wants someone that give him calmness and tranquility and that person is Wan'er. She is the symbol of a life he truly want -- away from the game of throne he is playing right now.

Yes, and I love the scenes with his father. He is after all not stoic like we all originally thought from S1. I guess the explanation would be he behave differently at enemy place and at home.

The writing is still awesome. Its still halfway but its really good. But Season 1 indeed have one of the very best scripts in Cdramas so its hard to match but so far, they did it fantastically.

Aside from the fantastic writing, I'm loving all the new characters. Its actually very rare for me to actually love mostly 90% of the characters in one single drama but how can you not? They all written with little quirks that makes them interesting like the 2nd Prince Guard -- on how dumb he looks, and always seemed to judge the Prince and how he is studying for imperial exam. Or the nervous Beiqi Princess, the charismatic 1st Prince and even the new Yan Bingyuan. I adore adore him. I love how he will always try not to laugh everytime Fan Xian did something funny. And in Episode 8 is the best where he finally let a big smile after being trolled by Fan Xian to pay for the whole breakfast. I dont know whether it is the writer decision or the actor's decision to portray this strict character this way but I'm loving it.

True, from then on, I always knew that he's gonna be Fan Xian's nemesis despite they always have good relationship since he is so shady lol. Fan Xian has always been so guarded against him and always side eye him with everything like taking the whole street just to have a meeting with him or build and destroy a small pavilion just as it is without regarding anything. Fan Xian really dislike entitled traits like that.

Yes, all the little details makes the story -- in term of foreshadowing or relation between the characters. I love to catch all of these as it usually served as hints on which characters we should trust or not. For an example, the way it always emphasis how the 2nd Prince use human as stair when he took the carriage while Fan Xian's Dad, using a normal stool. Also, remember the part where Fan Xian allowed Fan Sizhe to report him after he beat him up -- where he comes all the way downstairs to call his guards? Because he truly know Fan Sizhe's kind nature and he wont ever reported him since he is after all his brother. :)

Also the special feature on Chan Ping Ping's chair -- it shows how he is still after all still guarded against the Emperor. Same with how even before the revelations, I knew it was the Crown Prince who brunt the village down and it wasnt the 2nd Prince. This is effective storytelling as when you combined all the hints one by one and understood the nature of each characters, you know what to expect -- like the Crown Prince already show his fangs since the first season and only this seasons we know how dark he truly is -- probably darker than the 2nd Prince.

7th episode is my favourite episode so far. While I always love Joy of Life for the menacing storylines and their intrigue plots, Fan Xian's family dynamics are still one of my very fave parts of the story.

And this episode shows their family dynamics to the fullest; his Dad is the one who takes him home and pretends not to care but we all know he cares the most -- Fan Xian trolling him about seeing Wan'er and the look he gave Fan Xian is hilarious. 😂 Then Ruo Ruo's blind faith on Fan Xian, and when he said he will settle it, she know he will and she will not have to worry about her marriage arrangement. Then his step-mum, just unyielding as Fan Xian is, knowing that Fan Family wont submit to the 2nd Prince and perfectly understood it. Then the ever adorable Fan Sizhe, he has finally grow up! I love the part where he finally get that words of care from the Dad and Fan Xian send him all the way inside the carriage. What a wholesome family. Reminds us that despite the world might be chaotic for Fan Xian, he can always return home where he can finally let his guard down and trust his family fully.

''Human is unpredictable, we shouldn't trust people entirely. But we can trust our family entirely.''

And his Dad brimming with happiness after hearing that. ❤️

I really enjoyed the released episodes so far. It remind me why I love this series so much as I like the lighthearted tone of it despite the heavy topic is covers -- the 'happiness' vibe is all over the place to make it is such an entertaining experience.

I love how they started with the news of Fan Xian's death and everyone's reaction of it. As expected, his Dad's reaction is the best when he said:

''You dont want him, but I want him!''

Since even in the previous season, while the Emperor and Chan Ping Ping no doubt will chose Nanqing over Fan Xian, his Dad only want him to be safe and sound.

And I like the fact that literally no one bought that he is dead -- Ruo Ruo's reaction is the best since she did have that blind faith on her brother.

And I finally get my fix of my fave duo Fan Xian and Wang Qinian's shenanigans lol. They are the best and we finally see Wang Qinian wife and daughter and his daughter is just the cutest lil human. What an adorable lil girl -- as clever as her Dad!

No prob! Actually, Zhousheng Chen in the novel (Forever & Ever) is unattractive that is why Ren Jialun really dress down for the role. That is why many instances in the drama where people asked why Shiyi likes him or he himself question why Shiyi likes him. That is all comes back to his 'beautiful bones'.

The reincarnation of the Evil Crown Prince in One & Only is Mei Xing (Zhousheng Chen's bestfriend) in Forever & Ever. And in that lifetime, he got everything that he envy of Zhousheng Chen be it his handsome face, healthy body and good reputation. However, Shiyi still didnt look at him at all and still attracted to Zhousheng Chen who is now boring, socially awkward and not that handsome. Since its always been his beautiful bones 'inner beauty' that made her love him just like in their past lives (One & Only) -- his gentleness, his tenderness, his thoughtfulness, his kindness as well as his consideration to others -- thats always been the reason why she loves him and she can see him despite he now has a different face. Thats the whole theme the writer going for in both dramas.

It is explained in detail in this drama when they were having celebration at Zhousheng Chen's military camp. Beautiful bones means 'inner beauty' which is what Zhousheng Chen's is known in the whole country. He is known to have 'Beautiful Facial Features as well as Beautiful Bones' a combination which are rare -- one of his female soldiers recite the poem during the celebration.

This is actually important reference and a theme in the whole drama as it is further explored in Forever & Ever. That is why Shiyi always caress his nose to emphasize on his beautiful bones through many scenes in Forever & Ever as well.

He did not come in the same area. He just travel the world searching for her. The morning glory flowers are just the symbol of their love and as evident throughout his journey, it can be seen everywhere like she is always with him.

At the end, he comes back to their house and saw the Snowman. The same Snowman that Bai Cai did at the mine. They are reunited at the end.

I did explain the ending here: https://kisskh.at/discussions/wu-geng-ji/124637-burning-flames-ending

Thank you for your kind words. 🤗 This drama certainly has fantastic writing. Many dramas usually opt for telling but not showing but Burning Flames is definitely different. Everything is shown in action -- Wu Geng's intelligent, power, strength, wisdom and how he inspired people. All characters are like that as well. Like how Uncle Ziyu breaking the crystal at the end, its an indication that his power has grown so much by the end of the drama -- he is one of the strongest from the team as well.

I think a lot of people who didn't appreciate the script is either simply too young to understand the layers of the script since I read many comments that completely missed the message that the drama wanted to tell. And sometimes, it makes me wonder are we even watching the same drama lol.

Like some are not even convinced that Wu Geng is the one in the prophecy since they really cant see his power. When it is shown since the first episode that he is indeed the one with how he bring 'hope' to all the 3 realms. The prophecy said he has the 'power' to defeat Hei Long and you can see how he is indeed the has the 'power' to make impossible things happened -- it is more figurative in meaning not actually he has this super power than is even greater than Hei Long's.

I think what they prefers is a longer happy ending or an ending where we can see Wu Geng and Bai Cai actually hug each other at the end. 🤗

Aww thank you so much for your kind words! But the drama itself is amazing. :D I just pointed out the good points that the drama has in each episode. Not many dramas actually took time to write proper story and depth in their plot but this drama certainly did and they also touched many important things as well as social commentaries.

And about whether Wu Geng and Bai Cai reunited again. Someone asked me the same question before so I just copy & paste the answer:

Of course! I thought its very obvious. I wanted to say its an open ending but its actually not. Its a clear cut happy ending except, it wasn't in our face kind of thing. There is so much hints in the script to say that she will appear again. First, her conversation with Wu Geng before she disappear about life is long, and perhaps they will meet again. Then, Wu Geng promised to wait for her. Then all the conversation of Wu Geng with everyone about Bai Cai and everyone and him seemed to convince that he will meet her again. Wu Xia, the girl from the Shenyin Clan also passed a message to Bai Cai through Wu Geng to say that she knew it wasnt Bai Cai who attacked the village last time.

Also notice how Wu Geng never tries to find his mother or father since he knew that they are really gone but with Bai Cai, he is adamant he will find her again -- that she is waiting for him somewhere. I guess since her origin is the crystal, it served as a clue on why she is different. Remember how Shi Xing is being resurrected even when he is just a normal immortal? With Bai Cai identity as ancient divine spirit, she is definitely more special than Shi Xing.

But then, the most obvious one is the way the story progressed after that. It shows the passing of times; Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter before Wu Geng arrived at their house at human world again. They wont show this passing of times if they just want to make he is just meeting someone random / no one. This narrative served as a purpose to show us that his journey has ended when he met Bai Cai again.

Beside that, the Snowman is biggest clue to us that it is Bai Cai since it is exactly the same Snowman that she once did at the mine. Now I understand why the Snowman scene is important since its actually served as a clue for the ending. Then, the one that sealed the deal for me is Wu Geng's expression upon seeing the person who open the door -- its a relief expression, then he smile with tears in his eyes. If it wasn't Bai Cai, his expression wont be that way.

The reason why Wu Geng didnt take the throne is to show that his legacy is not due to the fact he make a dynasty but rather he lives in the heart of the people and his fight for equality will be the drive for other to follow as an example even to the later generations. Thats the real message of this drama. Also, he never wanted the throne and he always being clear about it -- he told the Bai Prince that whether he win or lose, the Bai Prince will remain as King for the Human World. So his decision in the end wasn't surprising at all

I found the drama is great at addressing some social/political issues which can be applied to real life as well. And even the Xin King's decision to rebel, are also being covered how his unilateral decision robbed the people choice's and the condemnations that he faced after that despite his good intention. Everyone are not being spared from being criticized and how they gave an anology (ant and giant) and follow the same example to prove the point (when Wu Geng defeated Hei Long). The script somehow very faithful on the characters and their overall theme.

And I love how all supporting characters have their own purpose and roles while still making their own decision and do not exist just to please the main leads. They will come and go, yet still give impact and contribution to the main story.