After five years of preparation, the highly anticipated historical drama "Joy of Life 2" has finally reunited with its audience, simultaneously premiering on various platforms and quickly ascending to the peak of high attention. Its performance on the opening day not only dominated the hit list on Tencent Video but also set a historical record, becoming the first drama series to experience a real-time live audience attention surge beyond a rating of 2. Yet the much-watched "Joy of Life 2" has not been without its fair share of controversy.

Adapted from a best-selling novel of the same name, the drama targets male audiences and tells the tale of the protagonist Fan Xian, who transforms from a pawn into a chess master after a series of thrilling family feuds and social challenges. Despite this, the audience has expressed varying levels of skepticism regarding the fidelity to the original plot, the acting ability of the cast, and the originality of the storylines, believing that it failed to live up to the splendor of the first season.

Beyond the plot itself, a sharp increase in the number of advertisements within the show has become a focal point of criticism. Reports indicate that "Joy of Life 2" inserts an average of nine advertisements per episode, including traditional pre-roll and post-roll ads, as well as numerous in-episode product placements. While to some extent the embedded ads reflect the commercial value of a drama, the excessive advertisement has undoubtedly disturbed the viewing experience, sparking public discussion on how producers and platforms can balance profit with audience enjoyment.

With the release of "Joy of Life 2," the audience has split into two camps: those who enjoy it and those who do not, each giving sharply contrasting reviews about the pacing, character development, and script adaptation of the series. While some fans have expressed their liking for the new season, they also raise questions about its seemingly farcical aspects. Industry insiders have lamented that this season appears to deliberately pursue comedic effects, to the point of impacting the narrative flow, particularly evident in the first four episodes. Fans loyal to the original novel are discontent with significant changes to character settings and have expressed their disappointment.

"Joy of Life 2" overexerted its efforts in maintaining a light-hearted and humorous style, filling character dialogues with jokes and banter, and cobbling together workplace and financial elements from modern life into the historic setting. Even popular internet catchphrases couldn't escape inclusion.

In the area of film and television membership services, the recent setup of entitlements has stirred significant controversy. Of particular interest is that even high-tier VIP or SVIP members cannot avoid ads inserted into the episodes. These usually are integrated product placements that can't be skipped with membership privileges, leaving manual fast-forwarding as the only option.

Moreover, in terms of series updates, audiences have to incur high expenses to follow the latest storylines. Taking "Joy of Life 2" as an example, non-members can watch one episode update per day, while VIP members can watch two episodes per day from Monday to Friday, with the frequency returning to one episode per day on the weekend. In contrast, SVIP members, in addition to having the privilege of extreme Aurora TV on the television end, also enjoy unlocking new storylines earlier than VIP members.

At the same time, the cost factor is also a difficult issue. Even if a monthly VIP membership fee of 30 yuan is paid, viewers still need to spend an additional 35 yuan to upgrade to SVIP, with the cost of directly purchasing SVIP membership reaching as high as 50 yuan per month. Under these circumstances, netizens can't help but think of the previously canceled "advance on-demand" charge mode. Upon closer comparison, whether it is advance on-demand or SVIP service, the cost of following series for the audience is roughly equivalent.

The revenue of long video platforms mainly comes from membership services and advertising. Although this model is not objectionable, excessive advertising will undoubtedly severely affect the audience's viewing experience. It's necessary for the platform operators to properly weigh the balance between content and commerce.

Regarding the legality of membership benefits, lawyer Qu Hongtan points out that video platforms adjust service content and update service modes based on factors such as user demand, business revenue, and technological development. This is a necessary and reasonable aspect of the industry. "SVIP" as a business model does not violate legal regulations; the key is whether it unfairly diminishes the rights afforded to VIP members.

In terms of advertising, according to the regulations, "when broadcasting TV dramas, no form of advertising may be inserted in the middle of each episode." Thus, the version of "Joy of Life 2" broadcast on television should comply with this regulation. Internet video platforms should refer to this standard when it comes to advertising insertion and not be overly aggressive, as that would harm the user experience.

At the same time, pirated resources are also circulated on the internet. These actions not only infringe upon the right of information network dissemination and other copyright, but may also bear civil responsibility and even be suspected of criminal infringement of copyright.

As a sequel to a well-known IP, "Joy of Life 2" has garnered particular attention for its content controversy and commercial success. When "Joy of Life 1" was broadcast in 2019, it won the wide affection of audiences of all age groups due to its satirical adaptation style, changing storyline designs, a rich array of characters, and creation of classic scenes, becoming an exemplary model of IP-adapted dramas in the eyes of many viewers, attracting both fans of the original work and drama enthusiasts.