People’s Art Review： Can the second season of ＂Celebration of the Year＂ become a phenomenal hit？

There are the original cat and the first season of "Qingyu Nian" in the front, and the second season of "Qingyu Nian" finally went LIVE recently after the audience has been eagerly anticipating it for five years. According to the ratings data of CSM National Network, the second season of CCTV-8 golden hit drama "Qingyu Nian" has an audience rating of 1.07 and a ratings share of 5.29, ranking first in the evening TV series of all Shanghai Star Channel.

Continuing the plot of the first season, the second season is gradually getting better as the mystery of Fan Xian’s suspended animation is peeled off layer by layer. The creator focuses on Fan Xian’s dilemma in the power game. Through the spiritual guidance of his mother Ye Qingmei and the touching of the tragic fate of the Jin family father and daughter, Lai Yushi and other characters, he is pushed to recognize the truth of power and move towards individual awakening. Fan Xian’s high-profile passage of pressing Deng Ziyue is not only a summoning of the original intention, but also a self-confession. Compared with the first season, the emphasis on idealism makes the second season present a strong feature of the ideal of lending a refreshing narrative writing.

At the same time, as a modern individual, Fan Xian traveled to the pre-modern society of the future, and under the spiritual guidance of his mother Ye Qingmei and the blessing of the temple/modern technology, he opened up a modernity enlightenment. This also makes Fan Xian a character, and in recent years, the domestic film and television dramas Nezha ("Nezha’s Devil Child Comes"), An Xin ("Hurricane"), Jiang Yang ("Silent Truth") and other holdouts have the same spiritual base color. So in unexpected times, the self-identity of modern individuals and the collective identity required by the times have found a solid fit.

On the basis of keeping the story "original", the cast of the second season of "Qingyu Nian" almost guarantees the original cast. Zhang Ruoyun plays Fan Xian, who is unreliable and serious; Li Qin plays Lin Waner, who is generous and dignified; Chen Daoming plays Qing Di, an old urchin; Li Xiaoran plays the eldest princess, who is ruthless and vicious… Drama bones, powerful factions, flow actors, new actors, the strong lineup ensures the quality of the show. In addition, compared with the first season, the costume, makeup and prop design of the second season have been fully upgraded in all aspects. The makeup is more refined, the details are more delicate, and the visual effects are more brilliant. The character of each character can be reflected through clothing and styling. This not only allows the audience to feel the professionalism and dedication of the crew, but also allows the drama to present a high level of visual performance.

Although the second season of "Qingyu Nian" has performed very well in all aspects, the audience’s expectations for this drama are very high. Whether it can break the "second season spell" and become a phenomenon-level hit drama is the focus of public opinion at present. The sequel is difficult to work, it is difficult to get the word of mouth first in the previous work, it is difficult to upgrade the taste of the audience, and it is difficult to cause aesthetic fatigue caused by the same type of work in the past five years. The second season of "Qingyu Nian" also cannot avoid comparative scrutiny, and it has also encountered some doubts since its broadcast.

For example, in terms of balancing the relationship between the adaptation and the original work, the second season focuses on the growth of the protagonist Fan Xian, and re-sorts and arranges core passages such as the Huoyuelou incident, making the drama conflict more clear and concise. However, the new plot explaining Fan Xian’s suspended animation in the first few episodes seemed sloppy and protracted, creating a sense of separation from the later plot.

For example, in maintaining the consistency of the series, one of the major successes of the first season was that the mixed narratives of Zhuang Xie were well-suited to the interests of a young audience. In the second season, the character of humorous banter was deliberately strengthened, but it seemed to be overdone. This approach risks blurring and dissolving the personality traits of different characters.

Overall, it can be said that the flaws do not hide the Yu. With the development of the Academy of Investigation and the court drama, the second season of "Celebration of More Than Years" will appear one after another, which is exciting and worth chasing.

It is undeniable that the success of the first season of "Qingyu Nian" has accumulated a large number of fans and attention for the second season, which is also one of the important factors that have continued to be hot since the second season went LIVE. In other words, it is another successful case of IP operation of online literature. In addition to "Qingyu Nian", the audience is familiar with "Ghost Blows the Light", "Douluo Continent", "Fat Son-in-law" and so on are all representative works of successful IP operation of online literature. According to the report of China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), by the end of 2023, the number of users of online literature in our country has exceeded 500 million. The huge consumer group has also bred rich IP mines. This may become a new growth point to promote consumption.

It is worth mentioning that shortly after the first season of "Celebration of Yu Nian" was broadcast, Disney pre-ordered the overseas exclusive distribution rights for the second season. At present, Disney’s streaming platform Disney + has broadcast the second season simultaneously. However, "Celebration of Yu Nian" is just a microcosm. In recent years, IP series such as "Brocade Heart Like Jade", "Sword in the Snow", "Wind Rises Longxi" and "Tian Gengji" have all logged on to mainstream video websites in Europe and the United States such as YouTube and viki, and have had an impact in hundreds of countries and regions around the world. It is a great sight for film and television adaptations to go overseas. Behind this is the "new three" of online culture such as online literature, online dramas, and online games going overseas. It is translating culture in a way that overseas young people like to see and hear, making profound culture more concrete and intuitive, so as to promote the global expression of Chinese culture. Culture has vitality only when it affects young people. We look forward to using online IP as a carrier to help Chinese culture integrate into the popular culture of young people around the world.