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Love in Pavilion: Spoiler-Free Mini Review

  • Jul 27
  • 3 min read

Title:

Love in Pavilion (2025) 淮水竹亭


Platform:

iQIYI


MDL Rating:

8.2


Genre:

Xianxia/ Romance


Episode Count:

36


Parental Guidance Rating:

PG-13: Violence, Fake Blood Spewing (but also the sky is blue, so what's new?)


Staring:

Liu Shi Shi (Kill My Sins)

Zhang Yun Long (Fated Master and Disciple)

Wu Xuan Yi (Perfect Match)

Zhai Xiao Wen (Dream of Golden Years)

Shen Yue (The Comic Bang)

Ding Yu Xi (Love Game in Eastern Fantasy)

Meng Zi (Blossom)



RBTS Rating:

3.3/5 Stars (Ahh! A mediocre prequel to the Fox Spirit Matchmaker series that can (AND SHOULD) be watched as a standalone. It's the only good one of the three. Please spare yourselves from the others).



Synopsis:

Dongfang Huai Zhu and Wangquan Hong Ye are the leaders of two major families, the Dongfangs and the Wangquans. In a time when humans and demons are in conflict, they work together to stabilize the situation in order to revive the Unity Alliance. On the seventh day of the seventh month, at the Bamboo Pavilion by the Huai River, their fates intertwine like the sheaths of two swords, never to be separated. They pick up the most heartwarming promise and tell a story that has endured for generations. @MDL



Stay Tuned: Full Review Still to Come!


Spoiler-Free Mini Review:

I suffered through Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Red Moon Pact for this and I could have skipped it. The Fox Spirit Matchmaker branding of Love in Pavilion was removed to distance itself from that sad, stale drama. However, you can run, but you cannot hide. This is in fact the prequel to the first installment, and I told myself that if Love in Pavilion is terrible after languishing through the first, I would throw myself into the sea. I'm happy to report I will not be getting my hair wet.




The drama was aggressively fine. The side couples fell into the same pattern as RMP, but I really liked all the characters and their love stories. But I did not care for the time travel arc. Everyone here is dubbed, but honestly, thank goodness. They have a cast of chronic whisperers. Speaking of the cast, everyone (even side characters) are all popular actors and actresses. Except for Jerry. Who on earth cast Jerry as homegirl's senior brother? That person needs to come to Jesus and Jerry needs to see himself out the door.



The main leads romance was fine, but I thought the secondary romances were more compelling. Tragic love is the name of the game. The Female Lead was extraordinarily stiff (Yang Mi still takes that cake) in personality and bearing-- her posture was wild. Truly. The drama drags and the plot gets convoluted, but at least it can be watched as a standalone. For the love of all that is holy, do not watch Red Moon Pact or Sword and Beloved.


Do not watch these. They are literally so bad. Spare yourselves.


Do I recommend Love in Pavilion? In a vacuum, yes. But if it turns into a gateway to the other two shows, then No.



Story=3.5 (Better than FSM:RMP but drags in some area's and has the same repetition as the first. The theme is still tragic love.) , Acting =2.75 (FL gave poker face 3/4 of the drama & the ML was not memorable), Production Quality=4.25 (lower than FSM:RMP), Rewatch Value=2.5, Ending=3.5 (tragically predictable or predictably tragic?) , Enjoyability= 3.25


Trailer:



Does one really need to guess? These are more like suggestions of masks. The mask mania in dramas needs to end.
Does one really need to guess? These are more like suggestions of masks. The mask mania in dramas needs to end.

Director: Du Lin (Red Moon Pact)

Screenwriter: Jian An (Love You Seven Times)



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