So the failure of Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Red Moon Pact is already having immediate ramifications. The next two installments Love in Pavilion and Sword and Beloved have ceased all pre-airing work and will not air this year as planned, getting delayed into 2025 at the earliest to try and salvage this IP with the viewers. Both Yang Mi and Gong Jun‘s bankability have taken real hits and it’s yet to be seen if it’s a temporary or lasting impact. The production company is putting the blame on the screenwriter for changing the story so much from the source manhua and game as the reason for the fail, but the screenwriter claims all the changes were at the request of the production in order to bring in so many big name guest stars to play the various fairy-human OTP stories and also hype up the drama as filled to the brim with famous stars. Reportedly the script kept getting tweaked as well during the shoot to keep appeasing all the various stars including the leads hence the final product was so herky jerky. I hope this drama is a lesson learned on what not to do.
I have a huge issue with the fact that YM’s character basically raised GJ’s character. It felt too icky for me to even support them as a couple. This is way worse than HL, which also had a lot of people take issue to the first few episodes because the little girl was too young. Did that whole grooming thing not raise any red flags for the production or writing department?
Then the fact that they dumped a bunch of money on CGI so uselessly. The big battle scenes with YM is just her standing there, waving her hands around with things shooting out over and over again. It was a total yawn fest.
There were too many side couples to properly develop any of them or get me emotionally invested deep enough to care. The characters also lost a lot of their essence from the manga.
There’s just so many issues with this drama. I skipped so much and watched 2x. I still have hope that the other two will have a more engaging story though, since it doesn’t seem like they dumped as much money onto special effects and having so many side couples. Maybe there’s actual focus on a good storyline instead. Wishful thinking.
Prob cos its xianxia/fantasy and much more detached than reality. Alot of fantasy dramas has age difference of up to a million years. Yang Mi’s previous hit, Eternal Love, was also another older woman-younger man pairing with a huge age difference. The only mistake the show made was showing Gong Jun’sc haracter as a kid.
I agree that showing him as a child was a bad move. I think the issue is that not only did they show him as a kid, but she’s actually the one who raised him. Eternal Love, they’re both “thousands” of years old when they met even if Ye Hua is younger than Qianqian. They’re both full grown adults by then. If anything, that seemed more like noona romance for xianxia than a mother-son relationship. I just couldn’t get behind the main CP even if they’re both beautiful people.
Look at Ever Night with Chen Feiyu and Song Yi Ren. He was like her daddy who raised her since she was like couple of days old. Compared to that hidden love is much more tolerable.
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What about ROCH with Liu Yifei, she raised the main character and became the biggest couple in cdrama history.
Speaking of Liu Yifei, her currently airing drama 玫瑰的故事 / Tale of the Rose, is surprisingly very good. It’s one of the best modern c-dramas I’ve watched recently, with above-average production quality that feels noticeably different from the usual modern c-dramas.
@Ophelia: Thanks for the recommendation. I just read the synopsis and it sounds interesting compared to the idol dramas around. I love that the leads are all grown-up in their 30s and 40s and the main character is a woman.
I haven’t seen Koala post about it. Is it doing well in China?
The book is one of my favorite and the drama does change quite a lot. They kept some similar elements such as Rose personalities etc but the family background with the parents, the relationships are change quite a bit. So I decided to watch it without associating to the book. I am quite enjoying the drama and it’s for more mature audiences. I’d recommend it. For those that had read the book, it’s not direct interpretation so keep it open-minded.
@Sunny – The show is a hot topic on 小红书 / Little Red Book and my friends and acquaintances are tuning in for this one, so I assume so. I don’t look at charts or what not. If a show is legitimately doing well, one will hear about it via word-of-mouth.
Koala’s blog focuses more on xianxia shows, which are popular with a specific demographic, and fandom fights. There isn’t as much coverage on dramas that provokes a lot of social discussion with the general public, such as 漫长的季节 or 人世间.
Yang Guo and Xiao Longnv’s relationship was viewed as taboo throughout the series too. They literally judge them in the story itself. The two are actually only 4 years apart (He met her around the age of 14, when she was 18 in the actual text). That’s hardly a real mother and son relationship. More like an older sister. Tushan Honghong was a grown woman and literally raised Dongfang Yuechu as a child, with the intention to sacrifice him to the tree.
I think their relations as ‘teacher and student’ that make their relationship taboo. Their age gap wasnt much and Yang Guo, in my opinion, had more knowledge about real life than sheltered Xiao Liong Nie.
@zappy, I totally agree with you. It was more their master and disciple relationship that was taboo in the book. OP brought up their relationship and imho it’s not nearly as bad as the main CP in Red Moon Pact, and has the decency to address it in the show that makes readers/viewers understand them.
I watch the drama.. I see that the build romance between the OTP hadnt been developed smoothly.. Its kind a missing when she fall in love with Yuechu.. As viewer I see DFY has been chasing THH, but then I dont see how THH reciprocate the feeling.. THH act toward DFY always the same facial expression.. I know THH is the chief but if you dont show any feeling its hard for me as viewer believed that they love each other. I guest that the main problem, because their love story is the main highlight in here.. whether she raised him or not but if there is smooth transition to make viewer believe that love has grown i guess it will work.. but no, the show failed to show that to the viewer
Third installment (Wangquan arc) was never supposed to air this year anyway since they just wrapped up filming last month…but sure, whatever fits your narrative 🙄
The only people who are as sensitive as WYB fans are Cheng Yi fans and considering what you are doing in China it’s no wonder people are calling you toilets 2.
Why would they think that casting big names will bring success to the drama more than the story itself
Blah Blah Blah…whatever you said. I don’t entertain trolls. Bye.