53
212
2
1
5
2
1
3
1
11
1
1
1
7
7
10
3
The Soldier, the Spider, and the Script that forgot their romance
This drama had the potential to be the best Fox Spirit Matchmaker… until the writers messed up and made me so pissed off… I was on the verge of rating this 1 star and calling it the worst FSM (it’s not). But the title is extremely misleading.
The drama is about the male lead, a nameless soldier whose purpose is to kill demons. Void of emotions, forced to live a lonely life, he diligently complied with what he was told to do. Until the day he met the female lead, an insignificant, kind and innocent spider demon.
The first half of the drama was perfect. A blend of beautiful emotional moments, stunning fight scenes and heartwarming relationships. The second half of the drama shifted the focus on the secondary characters and expanded the world, but also created inconsistencies and a lot of irritation.
✨WATCH OR SKIP LOVE IN PAVILION AND RED MOON PACT?
Yes and no. Sword and Beloved (SnB) is made as a stand alone and can be watched on its own. However, it is also a direct continuation of Love in the Pavilion (LIP). Although the drama shows flashbacks of LIP and explains things well, I still recommend watching LIP first because of the bigger emotional payoff you will receive. There are details in LIP that make SnB more meaningful, such as Black Fox (main villain) origin story, the evil Uncle, Spider Queen, and the significance of the Bamboo Pavilion. On the other hand, I do not recommend Red Moon Pact (unless you love the cast), as the drama feels disconnected from the other two installments, and (for me) felt like a waste of a watch.
✨COUPLES / ACTORS PAIRS
Cheng Yi & Li Yi Tong (Human Soldier & Spider Demon, main couple)
I loved their chemistry. In the first half of the drama, they seemed to be the rare couple who loved quietly. A couple that you wouldn’t expect grand proclamations of love or passionate kisses. Their love seemed to be in the little gestures, unspoken but seen through their actions. However, I was extremely disappointed because in the end, this couple turned out to be more like friends/master-disciple relationship. There was nothing romantic about them (more in the negative points).
Guo Jun Chen & He Rui Xian (Human Swordsman & Dragon Demon, second couple)
This controversial couple had me questioning my drama choses. He met her when he was a kid and grew up living with her. But if we ignore that weird fact, I wanted them to work out because I simply loved Rumu. I didn’t particularly like her, she was too cold and mean for my taste. But I end up appreciating her in the end.
Chang Hua Sen & Zhang Kai Ying (Fox Demon & Human General, third couple)
My favourite foxy, who could even resist him! Honestly it wasn’t so much that I loved their romance but I simply loved watching Foxy as a character. This couple was fun and light-hearted but I can’t say they made a huge impact on me.
✨POSITIVE:
- Bromance. The best thing for me was the relationship of the three male characters - Fugui (the reserved leader), Rumu (a jack of all trades troublemaker) and Yunfei (an innocent cinnamon roll puppy). I love their interactions, their playfulness with each other, I could watch 40 episodes with just these three.
- Stunning visuals. The fight scenes, costumes, styling, settings. Everything was a feast for the eyes, especially the unique Western Region.
- Secondary romance. The second and third couple’s romance was developed really well. In fact, the second couple fit perfectly the title Sword and Beloved. However, at some point it felt like they did have too much screen time.
✨NEGATIVE:
- Main couple’s romance. In the first half of the drama, the plot seems to be connected to their romance. It was emotional, it was heartwarming, it was perfect. But in the second half, it’s like the writers switched and changed the characters. She promised to always be there for him and yet the writers separated them. Worse, when she met him again, she had dumb reasons to leave him again (without even speaking to him). Their reunion later was mega anti-climatic, pretending to be strangers for dumb reasons. Afterwards, their relationship completely digressed. In the end, it looked like they were just friends/master-disciple. There was zero romance between them which was extremely weird and disappointing.
- Main lead’s inconsistencies. This kind of covers my previous point. The leads became different characters in the second half of the drama. It’s like another writer had taken over, but he didn't understand their characters so he made up some stuff. It made no sense that she was hell bent on dealing with her brother alone because she thought Fugui would kill him. It made no sense that Fugui took 10k swords for her, but later didn’t even blink while sacrificing her. The male lead in particular felt like a shell of himself in some parts of the drama. The writers took away his sword, his beloved, and he ended up just showing up to drive the plot forward and that’s it.
- Father issue. Wangquan Hongye was one of my favourite characters in Love in Pavillion. I knew at the start that I would not like this new version of him. Part of me understood him. Part of me accepted him and his abusive behaviour. However, I expected growth, some sort of redemption. I suppose it’s realistic that he kind of stayed the same. Sure, he admitted his mistake in the end and gave a half ass apology to the main leads, but it wasn’t enough for me. I ended up disliking his character and wished he was killed off at the start and the male lead had a Shifu instead.
- Villains. They actually had the potential but weren’t fully utilised. The evil Uncle was pretty good at the start, but it was incredibly lame when the writers brought him back for the final episodes, as it made the heroes look dumb and weak. The Scepter Woman was mega hot but of course the writers killed her off quick. The Black Fox was fine but this is my third drama with her and I’m just thinking “does bish have 9 lives because she KEEPS coming back”. Overall, not impressive.
- Evil Brother. Unpopular opinion here but I didn’t mind his arc. However it was definitely too draggy.
✨OVERALL:
The early episodes of the drama promised a male centric story with heartwarming romance + bromance but ended up delivering only a portion of that. The first half of the drama was a solid 10/10 but then it felt like the writers had switched. The character’s inconsistencies were evident, as well as the main couple’s romance being changed to friendship/master-disciple. Some parts of the plot were brilliant, others a headache. I do have mixed feelings. It was kind of good but also quite disappointing. I guess if you are going in for the plot and the side couple’s romance, you might enjoy it. But if you are going in for Cheng Yi and the main couple’s romance, you’ll probably end up disappointed.
✨QUOTES:
“Lately, I’ve felt my heart growing warm. That warmth comes from bonds. The bond with family, friends, and even nature.” Fugui (male lead)
“Power is not right or wrong. It’s what you do with it.” Qing Tong (female lead)
P.S. I might reduce my rating later (depending on my mood).
The drama is about the male lead, a nameless soldier whose purpose is to kill demons. Void of emotions, forced to live a lonely life, he diligently complied with what he was told to do. Until the day he met the female lead, an insignificant, kind and innocent spider demon.
The first half of the drama was perfect. A blend of beautiful emotional moments, stunning fight scenes and heartwarming relationships. The second half of the drama shifted the focus on the secondary characters and expanded the world, but also created inconsistencies and a lot of irritation.
✨WATCH OR SKIP LOVE IN PAVILION AND RED MOON PACT?
Yes and no. Sword and Beloved (SnB) is made as a stand alone and can be watched on its own. However, it is also a direct continuation of Love in the Pavilion (LIP). Although the drama shows flashbacks of LIP and explains things well, I still recommend watching LIP first because of the bigger emotional payoff you will receive. There are details in LIP that make SnB more meaningful, such as Black Fox (main villain) origin story, the evil Uncle, Spider Queen, and the significance of the Bamboo Pavilion. On the other hand, I do not recommend Red Moon Pact (unless you love the cast), as the drama feels disconnected from the other two installments, and (for me) felt like a waste of a watch.
✨COUPLES / ACTORS PAIRS
Cheng Yi & Li Yi Tong (Human Soldier & Spider Demon, main couple)
I loved their chemistry. In the first half of the drama, they seemed to be the rare couple who loved quietly. A couple that you wouldn’t expect grand proclamations of love or passionate kisses. Their love seemed to be in the little gestures, unspoken but seen through their actions. However, I was extremely disappointed because in the end, this couple turned out to be more like friends/master-disciple relationship. There was nothing romantic about them (more in the negative points).
Guo Jun Chen & He Rui Xian (Human Swordsman & Dragon Demon, second couple)
This controversial couple had me questioning my drama choses. He met her when he was a kid and grew up living with her. But if we ignore that weird fact, I wanted them to work out because I simply loved Rumu. I didn’t particularly like her, she was too cold and mean for my taste. But I end up appreciating her in the end.
Chang Hua Sen & Zhang Kai Ying (Fox Demon & Human General, third couple)
My favourite foxy, who could even resist him! Honestly it wasn’t so much that I loved their romance but I simply loved watching Foxy as a character. This couple was fun and light-hearted but I can’t say they made a huge impact on me.
✨POSITIVE:
- Bromance. The best thing for me was the relationship of the three male characters - Fugui (the reserved leader), Rumu (a jack of all trades troublemaker) and Yunfei (an innocent cinnamon roll puppy). I love their interactions, their playfulness with each other, I could watch 40 episodes with just these three.
- Stunning visuals. The fight scenes, costumes, styling, settings. Everything was a feast for the eyes, especially the unique Western Region.
- Secondary romance. The second and third couple’s romance was developed really well. In fact, the second couple fit perfectly the title Sword and Beloved. However, at some point it felt like they did have too much screen time.
✨NEGATIVE:
- Main couple’s romance. In the first half of the drama, the plot seems to be connected to their romance. It was emotional, it was heartwarming, it was perfect. But in the second half, it’s like the writers switched and changed the characters. She promised to always be there for him and yet the writers separated them. Worse, when she met him again, she had dumb reasons to leave him again (without even speaking to him). Their reunion later was mega anti-climatic, pretending to be strangers for dumb reasons. Afterwards, their relationship completely digressed. In the end, it looked like they were just friends/master-disciple. There was zero romance between them which was extremely weird and disappointing.
- Main lead’s inconsistencies. This kind of covers my previous point. The leads became different characters in the second half of the drama. It’s like another writer had taken over, but he didn't understand their characters so he made up some stuff. It made no sense that she was hell bent on dealing with her brother alone because she thought Fugui would kill him. It made no sense that Fugui took 10k swords for her, but later didn’t even blink while sacrificing her. The male lead in particular felt like a shell of himself in some parts of the drama. The writers took away his sword, his beloved, and he ended up just showing up to drive the plot forward and that’s it.
- Father issue. Wangquan Hongye was one of my favourite characters in Love in Pavillion. I knew at the start that I would not like this new version of him. Part of me understood him. Part of me accepted him and his abusive behaviour. However, I expected growth, some sort of redemption. I suppose it’s realistic that he kind of stayed the same. Sure, he admitted his mistake in the end and gave a half ass apology to the main leads, but it wasn’t enough for me. I ended up disliking his character and wished he was killed off at the start and the male lead had a Shifu instead.
- Villains. They actually had the potential but weren’t fully utilised. The evil Uncle was pretty good at the start, but it was incredibly lame when the writers brought him back for the final episodes, as it made the heroes look dumb and weak. The Scepter Woman was mega hot but of course the writers killed her off quick. The Black Fox was fine but this is my third drama with her and I’m just thinking “does bish have 9 lives because she KEEPS coming back”. Overall, not impressive.
- Evil Brother. Unpopular opinion here but I didn’t mind his arc. However it was definitely too draggy.
✨OVERALL:
The early episodes of the drama promised a male centric story with heartwarming romance + bromance but ended up delivering only a portion of that. The first half of the drama was a solid 10/10 but then it felt like the writers had switched. The character’s inconsistencies were evident, as well as the main couple’s romance being changed to friendship/master-disciple. Some parts of the plot were brilliant, others a headache. I do have mixed feelings. It was kind of good but also quite disappointing. I guess if you are going in for the plot and the side couple’s romance, you might enjoy it. But if you are going in for Cheng Yi and the main couple’s romance, you’ll probably end up disappointed.
✨QUOTES:
“Lately, I’ve felt my heart growing warm. That warmth comes from bonds. The bond with family, friends, and even nature.” Fugui (male lead)
“Power is not right or wrong. It’s what you do with it.” Qing Tong (female lead)
P.S. I might reduce my rating later (depending on my mood).
Was this review helpful to you?
