STORY: The sequel to Nirvana in Fire takes place about 50-60 years after the end of the original, following the story of the children of Xiao Ting Sheng (the son of the late Prince Qi, who is later adopted by Xiao Jing Yan). As this was essentially an original story, the writers had a LOT of places they could go with it which has it's good and bad points. The first season was definitely more intricately wound. Everything revolved around the main plot of Lin Shu finding out what happened to the Chi Yan army 17 years prior and bringing to light all those who harmed his family.

The sequel, more so just follows the various families (Chang Lin Prince, Marquis of Laiyang, Xun family), and builds stories around that. While everything technically links up to other parts of the plot, overall there felt like a bit of disconnect to me. Essentially it felt like you were watching the story in phases which were related, but still felt distant. There is the general main split in the story (which is spoiled for viewers on most site's show descriptions), but even within those two halves, there are so many smaller sub-plots going on that it feels much less connected than the original did.

Overall the story was not bad, especially for a sequel. Most sequels are terrible in comparison to the first, more popular season, but this one was not as terrible as I feared. While there were points that were fairly predictable (who was going to be the bad guy, who was going to fall in love with who, etc.) it was still an intriguing watch. I never felt as though there was a big "A HA" moment while watching, but again, it was still a decent watch.

ACTING:

Liu Hao Ran - By now, most people know that there was a lot of criticism for Liu Hao Ran, a young actor being the main anchor of the show. I definitely think he did a great job portraying the younger version of Xiao Ping Jing, but feel he was lacking the power and stature a bit for the second half of the show. He did a good job portraying the different ages/personality of the character, but I do think he was a bit too young to be the main focus of such a weighty drama. As the younger XPJ, he had that youthfulness and brashness that went along very well with the character. He was cheeky and didn't always listen to others, but was loyal and brave. As he goes through the events of the series, his personality matures a lot, but I felt a disconnect between his acting and character when he was the older XPJ.

Huang Xiao Ming - I have a friend who wouldn't watch this drama because of how much she disliked HXM. Honestly, he again was a bit lacking at times (especially because I compared his character to Mei Chang Su/Lin Shu - yes I know, they are two different seasons and I shouldn't compare, but it's inevitable). He was supposed to be this awe-inspiring general who was brave and strong and so on, but (and yes this is a plot line) you never really get to see that out of him. Within the first episode he is wounded and spends most of his screen time recuperating from his wound (hence again the comparisons to MCS/LS). Whether it was his choice to portray Xiao Ping Zhang that way, or if it was the screenwriter/director - HXM just felt very soft and demure the whole way through and never gave off that aura of the strong general or Shi Zi(prince) that he was.

Tong Li Ya - probably my favorite of the four main leads. Meng Qian Xue had that strong energy and outgoingness that I felt with Xiao Jing Yan and Ni Huang in NIF. She was respectful and a good and filial wife and daughter, but was also a badass who could outtalk others and beat them in a fight as well. I felt the best range of emotion with her and enjoyed all the scenes she was in.

Zhang Hui Wen - another young actress, who - compared to the other leads - was a bit lacking in my opinion. My biggest impression of her was just her having a deer in headlights facial expression for most of the drama - when she was supposed to be sad, angry, etc. While she wasn't terrible, she is IMO the weakest link of the main characters. While it was also plot, her character felt a bit one note - she always was just kind of there - not necessarily happy or sad, but just there. The few scenes where she was supposed to be upset, you felt a bit more energy out of her, but overall meh.

REWATCH VALUE: As I learned with Princess Agents, I definitely feel differently about a show when I can watch the whole thing in it's entirety vs watching it as it airs, so eventually I'll watch it again to see if I have a better impression the second time around. While definitely not a -bad- show, it just pales so much in comparison to the original which was almost perfect from most standpoints. NIF 2 just falls slightly above the average for me.