The first Fox Spirit Matchmaker C-drama adaptation the Yue Hong chapter hasn’t even aired yet and the third one has started filming. Reportedly the production team wanted to air the first chapter and recoup some money from investing through to the third chapter but due to permit and timing it’s banking that all three will be a hit so went ahead and bit the bullet. The third chapter is called the Wang Quan chapter and stars Cheng Yi and Li Yi Tong after multiple casting names attached and moved around. Here are the first looks at the two leads in character and I do like the styling, suits the two stars quite well.
I know Cheng Yi is not everyone’s cup of tea…but I do miss him on screen. But overly make up on white face is definitely not my style…
I actually liked Cheng Yi’s styling as Xuan Ye the most lol ahahahah
He just look good as baddie
Lol, I remember that look. He was good as a baddie… I know he is not the best actor but I feel happy watching him on screen…I dont even know why. Happy but not overly excited… If a drama’s plot does not interest me, I will not watch the drama. But I really did not enjoy South Wind knows my Mood… I just drop that.
I did like him in Draw the Line. But my favourite cast is still Jin Dong. He is one of my all time favourite Chinese actor.
@Yuhyi, I just found out wha is Cheng Yi birth name… His stage name is so different from his birth name.
Isn’t that the same look from Mysterious Lotus Casebook? Li LianHua! He’s alive!
Actually I heard the production team has issues with the type of CGI they want for this projects, it didn’t go has planned, which maybe it will have to do with money issues too i guess. That why the first chapter has taken time to air.
It has been a few years already… Gong Jun was given this role on the back of Word of Honor success…But his dramas after have not reprise the same success. YangMi too have fade out abit… They may not get the hype they are hoping for if this delay further…
It is a real gamble… they have chosen to raise higher stakes on Cheng Yi and Li Yi Tong to part 3 to keep the interest in this drama. Series 2 is Liu Shishi, her lead actor is not liuliang.. I hope it is all worth the investment. So much at stake on this triplet series.
I don’t have high hopes for this series anymore, chapters 2 & 3 look so different from chapter 1 in terms of costumes, make-up, and set designs. I won’t know they are part of the same series if it isn’t for their drama title.
@Lilith, from a investment point of view, I think the steps they have taken to create this triplet series is very high risk and unwise…
To reach Part 3 and not having enough budget to present a good production will just disappoint many viewers.
Reminds me of Ever Night… I have never been so disappointed in a sequel as I have in Ever Night Part 2, not even talking about the male lead. It is the whole production…OMG, what a difference.
I guess LBFAD made Wang Yixu get too full of himself and gave investors blind faith in him.
@Lilith
This is being produced by HR themselves for Cheng Yi. He couldn’t find any other work but it’s no wonder there is money trouble. It’s expensive and HR is already in a financial loss since last year.
@HL, you’re opening my old wound here. I loved Ever Night so much! I still rewatch the first one from time to time because the build up and action scenes were just so good.
Ever Night 2 was such a disaster. The styling, costumes, story telling were definitely worse. Also, the big number of actor changes were just too much for me. The new male lead, King, Ye Hongyu, princess, and the casting of Yang Chaoyue. Everything was a total downgrade. I felt like I was watching a different drama and not a continuation. I didn’t even finish season 2.
@Soph, I feel your exact pain…I almost ‘cry’ as I watch Part 2…. I forward till the end… the last few eps was a joke. You did not miss anything.
Casting is on point for every Fox Spirit Matchmaker series. I’m excited to watch all 3. Hopefully I don’t need to wait till 2026 to see Wang Quan lol.
Same old, same old. And no wonder with that melon that came out yesterday. I have no idea why HR chose this guy over RJL.
I cannot warm up to LYT, her acting is passable, but something is missing…. maybe charm or elegance? She is FL in all her dramas but I cannot finish even one. I hope Yang Mi chapter can air soon.
She is with Gong Jun. It’s automatically a lost cause, he can’t act to save his life and it is not like she has been lighting up the screen lately anyway. She needs a way better partner to draw out the old Yang Mi who actually gaf.
I am all for the visuals. I think Yang Mi chapter will be the best judging from the FL and ML looks (regardless of acting skills). Most costume dramas are about the visuals more than acting talents anyways. CGI also ranks high in the success of the drama.
Cheng Yi is on my unwatchable list but I don’t dislike LYT. Cheng Yi always looks like a woman to me. LOL. Agreed the styling isn’t all over the top but CY’s heavy makeup still…sigh! When can C actors have more confidence in their own looks without tons of powder on their faces? LOL.
I will only check the one starring LSS and SD.
I like watching Cheng Yi but I really dislike China makeup aesthetic. I dont understand why male actors need to much make up…
I don’t deny myself a visual freak. If you read Chinese, I’m literally in the 外貌協會 when it comes to idol dramas. LOL. Exactly CY’s makeup turns me off, similar reason to Leo Luo’s makeup and physique, Esther Yu’s baby voice and makeup overkill. LOL. If they wear less make up not pretending handsome or a beauty in non-idol dramas, I may be able to watch them on screen. Take Zhang Wan Yi for example. He’s prolly pretty aware of his limitation on visuals, not in the handsome league. So, he picked projects that focus on acting and his makeup wasn’t all over the top in costume either. Even I can’t bring myself to root for ZWY in any idol costume dramas, I’ll check other dramas casting him and watch depending on plots/directing since he’s a decent actor.
Hopefully more C actors have more self awareness to take projects they fit, both visually and acting-wise.
BTW, I think actors themselves have the right and leeway to decide how their makeup should look like. They can tell their makeup artists to fix up if it’s too heavy or to light. Specifically for popular actors like the aforementioned lead actors, surely they can decide how they want to look like to certain degrees on screen. Didn’t they all try on costumes/makeup before the official shooting of dramas? I gather how they look on screen has much to do with their own taste. Wearing heavy makeup or extravagantly ornate costumes somehow indicates lack of confidence on their own looks.
You are missing out on Cheng Yi in The Case of the Mysterious Lotus if you are bias about his look. This drama is one of the best I have seen. His acting is so natural and graceful not arrogant like other actors.
LYT seems to be the most hard-working actress. I noticed that she is in many non-idol dramas, which is a sign of ‘graduated’ as many says, but here she is, also doing idol-dramas, by choice and passion, that’s the way I see it.
The styling looks nice and I’m loving this refreshing pairing since C-ENT loves pairing random actors/actresses together either with a huge age gap or huge disparity in acting skills. At least for this series, the acting will be on point.
this is actually their second time working together
Why all the comments I just posted appeared and then disappeared again? All of them in different threads I posted just now?
The Bot Mods cannot keep track with our frequent comments…🤣
Just kidding.
Frequent commenters and those who contribute most to the traffic have been treated like spammers!? LOL. That’s how a simple not-so-smart algorithm can only manage this far. 😭
Super excited for their collaboration for the second time around. I am a stan for both actors. And while visuals are heavily influenced now in days for dramas I am looking forward to their performance and what direction the production team is going to take it. Artists rely more on their ability to act than their visuals. Although I get it because high traffic for HR & iQIYI means more $$ and better ratings. Also, I like the script given I have already watched and read the anime of Foxspirit. WangQuan chapter is probably my favorite arc, and Donfang Yuechu and Tuscan Honghong. Given the trailers of both FoxSpirit 1&2 are already out it will be hard to judge or tell how well FoxSpirit 3 will fare. But just seeing the costumes and the make-up of the main leads + Reuters is making it quite painful to wait.
Btw, thank you for posting about this on your blog.