Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Yue Hong (2024)

I don’t know where to start.

I truthfully don’t know where to start and not in a good way. I have had this drama in my “to watch” list for many years and I was extremely excited when iQIYI announced the airing date. I waited for it and started watching as soon as it aired. To say the least it was a big let down and disappointment. I feel like there was such a solid cast, and yet this drama turned out to be mediocre at best. I struggled to get past episode 15 and for a long time I abandoned it, I only continued to watch it later on because I hate dropping dramas, plus I really wanted to watch Zhang Linghe. I will say the story kind of picked up for me somewhere around episode 24 or so, but there was so many plot holes and bad scriptwriting, that no matter what miracle the CGI, or cinematography team, or the cast did the drama suffered a lot. I probably would have rated this lower if not for the last few episodes, honestly don’t know whether or not I recommend watching it.

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not what I expected

I've always loved Yangmi. Watched almost all her dramas.
Started feeling a bit bored with the drama since (?) can't remember which episodes lol.
To be honest, I dont feel for any characters in the drama, including Yangmi's one expression.
She would always tilt her head slightly down with her eyes looking up looking stoic or serious.
Wanted to drop few eps back but I persisted.......Until their kissing scene lol....I just can't. hehe.
She practically took him in as a kid (8 years old?), and watch him grew up.
Did I miss out any kind of emotion development?
Gosh...I just can't. This is not even a noona kind of relationship.
It's aunty/ahjumma with young boy relationship, despite him growing into a man (although childish acting), it's still quite difficult to convince my mind. Maybe if the drama started differently, it would have been easy to accept this.

So finally..I have to say goodbye to Yangmi.
This drama is not for me.

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Yang Mi has consistently impressed me in historical dramas, and her performance in this fantasy series is no exception. Thank you, Yang Mi, for your outstanding portrayal in this storyline; I loved it. Her costumes were exquisite and added so much to her character's presence.

Gong Jun, the main lead actor, was exceptionally handsome at 31 and played his role brilliantly. I was rooting for his character throughout, and his journey to find the love of his life kept me captivated. His performance brought many smiles to my face.

All the main actors executed their roles with excellence. The Black Fox character was genuinely terrifying and reminded me of the deceptive people we encounter in real life, often described as wolves in sheep's clothing.

The costumes and headdress jewelry were stunning, enhancing the visual appeal of the series. The concept of the Love Tree was enchanting. I wish I could find one and make a wish or two myself.

A heartfelt thank you to the entire cast and crew for creating such an incredible story.

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Why Did I Watch This Show

I waited so long to watch this drama, but was sorely disappointed!

This show was by far the biggest disappointment of 2024. Having watched the trailer last year, “Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Red-Moon Pact” was one of my most anticipated dramas this year. A beautiful cast paired with some stunning CGI and a commendable story line, this show was expected to be a win-win situation. Unfortunately, it was anything but that. Spurned by repetitive cliche plots, subpar love stories and no chemistry between the main couple, the drama became boring with each episode that went by. The only reason to trudge through this horrible experience was to write this review. There were moments when I wanted to disconnect, scenes where I fast forwarded the track to get done with the entire fiscal situation and scenarios where I wanted to drop the show entirely. There isn’t much to talk about, so let’s get done with this review in a few words!

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2024/06/13/fox-spirit-matchmaker-red-moon-pact-series-review/#more-925

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Keep prejuices aside & give it a try.

I've read many negative comments about this drama and I was about to drop it, but thankfully I didn't. Yes this drama is not all that great but it's better than most of the dramas out their.



Many people complain that FL blamed ML for everything , but that wasn't the case. Whenever she blamed him or pushed him away their was always a reason for it. In fact they always trusted each other and that was the thing I like most about this drama (not like other dramas with stupid misunderstandings).

And people complain that character of Honghong is too stiff, but according to me it's just perfect. You can't possibly expet chief of a big clan to cry her eyes out on her elders death. She is their leader and she has to be strong, if she breaks who'll take care of her people that too with such a big problem coming on them. Plus sadness doesn't always need to be shown with tears , at times its being indifferent to pain and that how most of the people with responsiblities do it, & that justifies Honghong 's reaction to most of the things.

The only thing that I questioned in this series was reaction of spirits during incidents to Yuechu, like no one cared about his feelings. No one thought about explaining things to him. They just expect him to make right decisions that too without kowing anything.

Overall I liked this drama a lot , It had no boring eps & Is worth a try.

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Not All that Glitters Is Gold

Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Red Moon Pact wows viewers with rich, vibrant colors, gorgeous CGI, an emotional and addicting OST, a beautiful cast, and…that’s it.

While I was hesitant to start this installment because I am not a fan of Gong Jun’s acting, I was highly anticipating the Fox Spirit Matchmaker series as a whole since many of my favorites are part of the cast across all three installments. Who would have thought Gong Jun was going to be the least of my problems when it comes to this show? Certainly not me. The story is slow and tedious to get through. I had serious issues staying awake through most of the episodes unless I was multitasking. The villains were a joke. Their actions are repetitive and tiring. I hated them not because of their villainous nature, I love extra villainous villains, but because I was tired of watching them.

While the side couples oozed chemistry even in the background, the main couple’s love story fell flat. I do not care that Yuechu was a sweet baby angel when he met the much older Tushan Hong Hong. Both Yuechu, and herself, never saw her as a mother figure. So, if I don’t have an issue with ancient gods who are thousands of years old falling head over heels over a human with their short lifespans, I did not have an issue with this. However, they lacked that addictive chemistry I love so much which makes me yearn for love even when I don’t really want it in real life. There were no real fighting scenes, it was all “hand choreography” as some members called it. Dull “hand choreography” at that. Even the last showdown was so… spiritless that it did not feel like there was ever a real build up or climax. In fact, I recently saw a lower budget drama and their fight scenes, while not the best, were still significantly better than Fox Spirit’s. The story simply lacked depth in every aspect, whether it was the plot, the characters, and relationships.

I’m hoping that because this installment flopped, despite it being highly anticipated and featuring many popular and highly coveted actors, it does not affect whether the other two will see the light of day or not. However, I hope it does serve as a learning lesson; not all that glitters is gold.

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Despite the glamorous budget, the plot is...

Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Red-Moon Pact aka Yue Hong is the first installment of the Fox Spirit Matchmaker trilogy. IQIYI and Stellar Pictures did spend a huge sum of money to produce the trilogy. While waiting for the release date, I kept searching for information on the manga's wikipedia site and also watched a tidbit of the anime. For your information, I've been waiting this show for a year and even kept fantasizing and imagining what the scenes in the show would look like. But my expectation is cut short when the actual release date is confirmed. Despite the stellar casts, aesthetic backgrounds, exquisite costumes, top-notch CGI, and high budget, the show falls short when it comes to the script. You can see just how disappointed I am. However, I don't want my one-year awaiting turns into a fruitless effort, so I keep pressing on until the final.
(For the synopsis, you can check it out at MDL main page or at justjacky's review. I'm not going to copy it down because this is gonna be a very long rant.)

The plot is simplistic, dull, and bland as if it were an exquisite cake without any icing on top of it. I don't feel any emotions out of the dialogues, instead I just keep a poker face and stare at my screen as if nothing had happened. Moreover, the script is full of typical cliches of a childish rom-com drama like are you injured, are you hungry, try my new dishes, it's late now-go back and rest, and blah blah blah. This cycle keeps repeating for countless times and soon becomes very repetitive. To me, it's like the parents nag to their child to oblige to the rules and do what he/she is supposed to do and not to meddle in someone else's business.

After searching the wikipedia once more, I only discover that the writers ATTEMPT to cram several little arcs into the show in order to prolong the story. However, it doesn't work out because the story becomes more underwhelmed, and those couples barely have screentime of their own. Somehow, I kinda feel that they always prioritize the main couple over the others.

Aside from the bad script, the show also suffers from choppy editing. The transition between every scene is done haphazardly even though the post-production team is given a one-year time. When a certain scene has reached the climax/pinnacle, it will zoom to another random scene which has nothing to do with the previous one. I personally feel that this absurd scene jumping hinders some of the audience to understand the story thoroughly, but all we can do is to ENDURE it!
(Note: The choppy editing is resulted by using panoramic screen instead of the normal green screen, claiming that they wanted to try using a new technology that never existed in other Chinese fantasy dramas.)

As for now, I'm going to explain every couple's arc and the rant will continue below. Here we go...
- Tushan Honghong and Dongfang Yuechu (Yang Mi and Gong Jun)
Honghong is the chief of Tushan and the eldest of the Tushan sister. Being a leader of the Tushan fox clan, she shoulders a lot of heavy responsibilities. She is cold, aloof, and can be authoritative. She has been acting cold because she fears of falling in love and is still guilty of what happened to Dongfang Luo, her childhood sweetheart. Yuechu is the descendant of the Dongfang family and has been hunted since he was younger. He is intelligent, mischievous, and a bit cunning. To him, Honghong is his life savior, and he can't help but to have a crush on her. Despite her objections, Yuechu relentlessly pursues Honghong and never gives up when she rejects her. The two of them have the same wish, which is to see humans and spirits love in harmony. In the process, he melts Honghong's cold heart and she decides to fall in love once more.

- Tushan Yaya and Aolai SanShao/Ah Lai (Cristy Guo and Wei Zheming)
Yaya is the deputy chief of Tushan and the second eldest of the Tushan sister. Yaya has a carefree and reckless personality, which is why both of her sisters always keep her dark of the truth, afraid that her recklessness will bring chaos to Tushan. Aolai Sanshao, disguised as Ah Lai the Poison Boy, is one of Honghong's friends who had been helping her to investigate the black fox. He has an easygoing, cheery, and cheeky vibe. As he spends his days in Tushan, he is attracted to Yaya's carefree nature while Yaya also admire Ah Lai's cleverness and courage.

- Bu Tai and Shi Kuan (Zhu Xudan and Yang Shize)
Bu Tai is the princess of Spirit-Master Kingdom. She is a nice person and also filial to her kingdom. She has a secret crush on her loyal spirit guard, Shi Kuan. She is the first person who confesses her love to a spirit under the Grief Tree. Her love is later reciprocated by Shi Kuan. Unfortunately, Bu Tai was assassinated by Guoguo as one of Shi Ji's schemes. Later, Shi Kuan ascends to the position of Spirit-Master Kingdom's new emperor.

- Lu Jianwen and Yan Rushan (Sebrina Chen and Mao Zijun)
Lu Jianwen is a new constable of the Yiqi Alliance. As far as I know, she is a justice-driven person and nothing else. She gets entangled in the women abduction case alongside Yan Rushan, also known as Thousand-Faces Gentleman, who is Rongrong's former disciple. At first, they never see eye to eye, but soon they are drawn to each other and stage another love story.

- Yueti Xia and Hu Weisheng (Chen Duling and Zhang Linghe)
Yueti Xia is the descendant of the Yueti Family who possess Seven-Treasures Bark. She has a playful and mischievous nature. Hu Weisheng is the disciple of the Ximen Family who takes part in the Seven-Treasures Bark's hunt. He is a naive guy and clueless when it comes to love. After escaping life-and-death situations and spending time together, they realized each other's feeling and love blossomed between the two.

- Tushan Rongrong (Hu Lianxin)
Rongrong is the third chief of Tushan and the youngest of the Tushan sister. Rongrong is more mature and meticulous compared to Yaya. She is one of Honghong's trusted aids in accomplishing Honghong's missions.

- Shi Ji (Wen Zhenrong)
Shi Ji is the former chief of Tushan and also Honghong's sworn enemy. She is a cruel, manipulative, and egoistic woman. Guoguo is her personal informant.

As expected of the stellar casts, their acting is actually top-notch if it hadn't been the stupid script. First couple has zero chemistry, second couple has a tiny spark of it, not enough time to elaborate third couple's story, cute and heartwarming scenes from the fourth couple, and the most ELECTRIFYING chemistry comes to the fifth couple. I actually like Gong Jun, but his acting as a hot-blooded youth is so-so to me. He's better off to psychopath/unhinged/murderous characters. This is my first time watching Yang Mi. I have to say that she acts as the stoic and cold leader too perfectly - not even a smile appears once. Even if she smiles, it feels rather forced. Somehow, they have master-disciple dynamic or worse mother-son relationship. I keep feeling that Honghong looks like a mom nagging to her child to obey her, seriously?

And what's with the amnesia trope? Logically speaking, after sacrificing the Love Seed, Honghong should've forgotten both Yuechu and Dongfang Luo, but why does she only forget Yuechu? Very illogical, right? Anyway, this shitty trope is played for ten episodes until I'm fed up with it. In other words, it can be simplified as a push-and-pull game.

Another thing is that Yuechu suddenly has a crush on Hong Hong after being raised in Tushan for 16 years!! What on the earth is going on? If Yuechu were still a child, it could be understandable. However, he has grown into a teenage boy and suddenly falls for Honghong at the first sight. It's weird, isn't it?

The villain is too one-dimensional and boring. Unlike JOL Season 2 which has unpredictable villain, this show exposes too much of her true intention to usurp the 6 realms. They should've made her more mysterious to captivate the audience, but hell no! Every time her scenes pop up, I'll remind myself that an I-will-kill-Honghong-and-rule-over-the-six-realms sentence would spurt out of her mouth lol!

Don't get me started at the ending! It's a forced happy ending and the most ABSURD one! It's obviously a sad ending for every couple, except for the second one. However, they make it looks like they've entered an alternate universe and got together with their loved ones. Also, the last scene of the main lead doesn't make any sense. I just can't work out what the writers are thinking about.

Don't expect good fighting scenes - there are only hand-waving gestures and everything is done. I know using CGI in a fight scene is not a bad idea, but they need to combine with weapons too.

OSTs and BGMs are okay-ish, but not enough to hook me up.

I'm settling at the score 7.5. I DON'T recommend this show and will never rewatch again unless I need some brainless antidote after tiring out myself. I feel sorry for the whole assembles of casts who have obviously tried their best, but who knows this is going to be a flop?

For those who are casted in Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Zhu Ye and Wang Quan arcs, I'll wish you all the best and hope you won't suffer the same fate as Yue Hong does. This is the end of my rant and good luck!

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A passable fox romance.

- starting quarter: good interesting
-middle quarter: meh and meh only visuals and rendom fluff.
- later middle quarter : built some what of a momentum the twisted ark begins
- final quarter : peaked with the twist but fell short for an impactful ending.

the main plot of giving a tangible value or place holders to feelings felt really cringing at times
what do you mean the love seed?? what the heck it grows with what tears??? like what, they could have at least come up with analogies for those feelings.

besicly large tree powered by love balancing the relmns. And human × spirit war stuff = bad!
All of the CPs are mirrors of the main leads story just with lil tweaks.

the cgi was one of the hopes of this drama and it kinda was inconsistent through out the run
they keep switching from high to low.

the cast? Are almost all leading actors and actresses they. their characters were bland and fixed to box little growth was seen and that did happen felt rushed.

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