Things are not looking good for high profile big budget xianxia C-drama Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Red Moon Pact, not only is big expectations on its success but there are two more FSM dramas on deck to follow that are filmed. iQiyi premiered the drama starring Yang Mi and Gong Jun along with a huge cast of supporting and guest starring well-known actors and actresses and one week later the review and viewer trending is not good. The drama started off with the usual buzz and viewership but has been decreasing since then and by this rate forget being a small hit it will likely end up a flop due to the potential big budget versus mediocre viewership disparity. The reviews are also mid, with the biggest complaint on the directing, lack of energy, zero chemistry between Yang Mi and Gong Jun, and both giving bland performances with cookie cutter type xianxia characters. I watched an episode and while the CGI was decent and costuming probably the most solid element, it just bored me and I haven’t felt the urge to watch more.
Yang mi is boring,at least in Harbin 1944,qin hao and the rest of the cast acting are top notch,esp that pan yue guy,let’s face it the script of Harbin 1944 is a mess and illogical.this new drama with gong jun,everything is just ….the only good thing is everyone looks good in their costume.since they have mediocre cast,they should have good script like in blossom.even though they can’t stand ju jingyi acting,they stay for the story.
The plot is just too meh, I laughed uncontrollably when gongjun had his mouth wide open seeing yang mi in fox mask. Like bro, I don’t know what you’re trying to convey. And then yang mi took off the mask asking if he wants one, both really just do one expression. The short scene can be summarized as gong jun: 😮 yang mi: 😃
Remember, the director controls the scenes. It was probably re-shot several ways. What we see is the director’s vision of the drama, not the actor’s.
“The buzz” lasted as long as they kept pushing water into it. Then they gave up and now it’s dropping. It’s a total flop.
This drama confirm one thing,gong jun can’t act,the reason WOH is a hit is because Zhang zhehan can act and thus elevates Gong Jun acting and the script is good.Gong jun should stick to his strength,modeling and variety.
WOH has many supporting cast that can act. The whole production should be praised rather than individual actors. The drama is very well directed, the script is great especially the dialogue is strongly written. GJ costumes are very well designed. I do not find ZZH acting that impressive in WOH, he mostly put out an emotionless face with other supportive cast acting around him.
Agree with this, I find it unbearable that people only credits the main actors when the drama did well. But when it did bad they would mostly blame the crew, especially the actor’s fans
I read comments on the drama that it is creepy with a grooming aspect. Some are put off by that part of the story. With Yang mi and the male lead. Atleast on Dramacool. I have not watched it cause I’m waiting till it finishes. These type of dramas always have the most awkward endings and I’m not willing to go along the ride right now. Yang mi was so good before in fuyao and eternal love drama. Maybe she is just fed up being type casted. And their facial expressions always seem frozen but you can tell they try to get past that but very limited. Both main leads I mean. Makes me want massage their faces or loosen up and relax so maybe the emotions would come through. lol not sure if I make sense. 🙃
I agree…me too. I will wait till the end before investing my time currently.
I have watched til the latest episode (16) and agree it’s a mid drama. Not fantastic to gush about but not crappy either. The problem is the amount of money they poured into it. It needs to be a huge hit to get it all back.
What’s nice:
– Styling and costuming.
– It’s interesting that they used big LED (?) backdrops during the actual shoot instead of green screens. The end OST changes every few episodes too.
– There are several CPs in the series but the Gong Jun-Yang Mi (so far) works best for me.
What’s meh:
– Lackluster writing and directing. If one were at least stellar, it would have pulled the other up.
The biggest problem in this is the edoting/directing and the new technology. Its repetitve, slow most of the times and fast on emotional scenes when the audiemce needs to connect to them more. They dont know how to use the new tech, the fights are super boring because they can’t mess the backgroung. Some drama needed to ne the guinea pig and unfortunely it was FSMM. Its doing terribly for its budget, i think In blossom had better stats.The only positives are the pretty background and costumes.
Great gowns, beautiful gowns
One word, boring. Even Yang Mi looks bored and dragging her feet to act. For a big budget drama there wasn’t even a wow impact at the start of the drama to make you want to watch.
The character of the original story has a “frozen face”. YM is doing her job well, the story is too weak.I just think not every story needs to be adapted, the anime works with their short episodes. I remenber at the start of the casting YM fans were protesting a new fox character, and they were right. I think the 85 actresses can and still should do Xianxia, but they need to pick good scripts.
I feel that’s not really an excuse. Well in this case for the director. The character can’t show her feelings through her face? Then show her hand, eyes to convey it.
Well chinese drama shooting aren’t the careful type, it’s rare seeing people bother doing the detail in cdrama
China is huge…there is only as much fans can do to support a drama…ultimately, if a drama is good. It will just grow in viewerships. If it does not capture the attention of viewers then they will drop it…there are so many entertainment option these days. It is rare for viewers to sit thru a drama just to hope it gets better…
But this will not help Yang Mi and Gong Jun…both have their skills questioned alot. This is not going to be good for them. But even saying so, I still think both artistes still have stable Brand value. They will still be in the industry for a while.
As artistes, both knows the highs and lows of this industry… They just have be careful with how they handle their earning, invest wisely and live honorably.
Yang Mi yes because she has been in the industry for so long and from all account she is a good businesswoman who has built strong connections for the longest. She us already up there with the top stars in the industry no matter what. Things look less stable for Gong Jun though. WOH is the only thing in his resume that made him pass for a more than c-list-Cdramas actor : I discovered him in those cheap chick flicks shows where his acting looked very cartonish and fitting those type of unserious production. Plus other actors with better acting chops and more packaging are there. And with his steeak of fail projects after WOH and how people have been roasting his actors, it will probably be difficult for investors to trust his star power.
For now FSMM looks like a disater
@Sirey, I have watched Yang Mi is afew variety shows, she is clearly a very intelligent person…Even in those shows, one can see she is wise and not quick to jump into making decisions. I am surprised by how much information she can retain… I agree, she makes a good businesswoman.
I am seeing GJ is starting to place a strong footing in variety shows also. He is genuinely funny in a natural way. Agree with you that YM is intelligent in variety shows, she is very likable and willing to play games with other younger artists.
For me, they promote so much on different pairing, so far the ones that shown up,(eps 16) none have moved me.
Bad mistake to air at the same time as Joy of Life. I tried watching while waiting for JoL to start but the disparity in acting level is brutal to this drama and I gave up after 2 episodes. I think without the comparison I would have just overlooked it if the story is interesting.
I’ve watched this drama til ep 15 although not really wanting to continue but pushing myself to press play for part 2, part 3, and the prettiness. It is a pretty mid and boring drama. Like what everyone else says, the costumes and makeup are gorgeous, and CGI is pretty good too.
I always thought having too much couples takes away from the main couple and in this case, it is true but…The Yang Mi-Gong Jun pairing doesn’t work for me per script wise nor visual and so far, I’m also not emotionally invested in other couples that have shown up.
So far, the only characters I like are Tushan Rong Rong and A lai, but these 2 only pop up every so often and don’t really have their own backstory – at least not yet. Bummer that they aren’t paired up together or bummer that Wei Zhe Ming was not casted as the male lead.
I came to the drama with zero expectations and I must say, surprisingly, I’m rather enjoying it very much. This is one of the rare instances where I’m enjoying Gong Jun’s acting a lot, and I’ve always loved Yang Mi in costume dramas. For some of the naysayers, Yang mi very convincing as a non-expressive terse but shrewd, heavily burdened, leader of a sect with a lot of cares and responsibilities. She’s not supposed to be bubbly or very expressive. She does a lot of eye acting, here, and the chemistry between her and Gong Jun is top notch imho. I haven’t read the source novel, nor do I feel I need to, to enjoy this drama.
Drama fell so hard 🥴🏃 ! It cannot even pass 10000 on Iqiyi heat index. If anything it has been decreasing from what I heard (went from 9k to 8k). It is so bad it went from S+ standard drama to S only. Reviews are also very bad. Those huge names acting in this show can’t save it. People are also getting tired of Yang Mi. Was LBFAD a one trick pony for the production team behind that drama ? Well it starts and look like this. Gong Jun can be happy WOH BL drama exists and put him on the map. It made people believe he was a A-list actor for some time.
the only A-lister out of the currently airing dramas right now is Chen Daoming. That’s the definition of a true A-lister. GJ was previously considered within the top ranks of traffic stars but that is far from what actually is A-list.
I consider Zhang Ruo Yun A-list’er as well. This guy got it.
We’re talking about very very different levels. Chen Daoming is similar in status as Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Tony Leung, or maybe just that little less popular like the other Tony.
People can say whatever they want but Joy Of Life 2 is on top and to be honest acting, characters writting and storyline are not bad at all. At least with it people wanna know what happen nexr
It been a long time since the last time i watch C-drama and i try to watch this one but stop after one eps.
I just cant swallow the fact FL watch ML grow up, isnt it grooming? 😞 I okay if there are interlude, like she help him when child and meet again when adult, but none, she just there watching him grow up 😭 how can she fall in love with him?? Like… It different with growing up together hoiii
Also the fact this kind of thing in big budget drama??
The set up is icky.
Ughh it’s so boring. I checked it out because I was interested in the second one with Liu Shi Shi but I actually think watching this one has put me off.
Yang Mi is sleeping with her eyes open. So is the director for not dumping a bucket of cold water on her to wake her up.
And Gong Jun has transferred his fake wide mouth laugh he does in variety shows to his acting. His mouth is as big as a sesame street puppet lol. Sigh… honestly sometimes he looks gormless and like he doesn’t know where the camera is.
They have both made enough money they really should retire from acting.
Tried ep 1 and gave up. How can someone fall in love with a woman who raised him? She’s not like a sister but also a teacher… how in the world he falls for her???? No offense but grooming theme like this isnt my cup of tea.
Not to mention their acting lmao…
Guys, if you want to watch something GOOD, try Joy Of Life, both season 1 and 2 are phenomenal.
If you want something with humorous takes, go watching JoL. Or General Well. It’s cute tho.
Watched two episodes and I just wanna fall asleep. They really found the most boring way to set up the story. The icky and questionable romance doesn’t help either. Yang Mi looks like her soul left her body, and Gong Jun is way too old to be portraying an innocent teenager. Sadly this is a hard pass for me. Stellar Media should fire all their scriptwriters and hire new ones because all their dramas after Cang Lan Jue has been flopping hard.
I don’t know if it’s the main casting or the script. I like Yang Mi the most as Bai Qian. As Hong Hong, it’s like an AI doll reciting lines.
I am struggling to make it through episode one. Getting mother-son vibe from leads and right now not sure what the plot is.