Love You Seven Times

A way to show 7 beautiful stories, and sacrificing for each other each time without hesitation.

This drama is one of my favourite xianxia drama!

This storyline is very incredible and sweet!
Xiang Yun a fairy, silly Female lead that works in a Marriage Pavilion that find matches for others and Chu Kong a God of war Male Lead they were assign as marriage partners because Xiang Yun fell into the the moral world and Chu Kong was dragged into it since they were stuck in a love thread, and Chu Kong he got some primordial spirit back after passing the tribulation. But unfortunately without memory when they have to go into the but Xiang Yun had a potion that if she drinks the no memory spell she will remember everything for the second tribulation. That's when they started to get closer with eachother and Xiang Yun started to fall in love with Chu Kong and when the tribulation ended Chu Kong started to have a soft spot for her and started to fall in love with her. I really liked in each tribulation that Xiang Yun and Chu Kong sacrifice for each other each time with a hesitation.

This story contains up and downs, get tissues you need it !!
One of my favourite dramas!!!
This is a must watch if you love Ding Yuxi!!

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An amazing Xianxia with a Happy ending!

I love Ding YuXi. I loved this drama. Simple but not entirely related. Ding YuXi was the motivation but gosh I loved this drama! zthe story was so nicely interwoven and so perfectly executed that I was in awe. The romance was sweet and obviously we had YuXi and Chao Yue (always a plus) so I was pretty happy with the cast.Tbh there were some things that didn’t make sense like how he came back at the end or how he became a cat demon or how Lao Li knew what happened 30,000 years ago. But I am not complaining. It was a good story, I was never bored, never tired and never exhausted from this drama. It is a cute Xianxia with a very happy non-open ending. Definitely recommend. (I hated Xiu Ming. I won’t argue with anyone on the subject.)

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Piggy and Tiger Tales

I'm a bit on the fence about what to talk about with this Xanxia. I don't like Xanxias in general, but I love Chinese costume dramas, so I give them a try nonetheless, just in case one might be watchable.

I've stated in other reviews how I feel about the ML and the FL as actors. The actress who plays the FL always plays the exact same role of the gentle ingenue with a good heart, but somehow, compared to most FLs inhabiting this archetypal role, this FL seems to not annoy me or grate me in the same way as the others. The actress here, not only has a rare and astonishing beauty, but a real aura of goodness about her within her screen presence. I don't know what kind of person she is in real life, but I like her because she gives off a real sense of goodness. The ML is obviously a better actor technically, but the list of Chinese FL actresses I cannot stand is long, and this actress is not on that list because her expressive eyes and her screen charisma prevents her from being just another pretty, but wooden actress. In her defense, she's not the best, but she is so much better than the overwhelming majority of Chinese drama actresses.

The ML, is one that I had not enjoyed his performances up till now, but was pleasantly surprised and impressed with his performance in this. He doesn't scowl here, as I had previously encountered.

He was really, very good. If he is lacking in anything as an actor, it's charm. I wasn't charmed by him, and I didn't feel anything for him as a character. In fact, the 2nd male lead, though a very, very shallow character with no great charisma going for him, interested me more than the ML as a character. The story connecting the stories wasn't built up enough for me to want to watch further, but I appreciated the attempt at an original Xanxia story, at least.

It's not a bad Xanxia, but it is quite boring and predictable. The CGI used is laughably bad, and is worthwhile noting for that reason. Overall, an almost watchable Xanxia.... almost.... watchable.... but not quite.

A generous 6 grumpy pigs out of 10.

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Ding Yuxi, the ACTOR you are...

I will repeat what has been said many times - Ding Yuxi is the BEST part of this drama. That is not to say that the rest of the show is bad - on the contrary, I do believe that this show is worth watching, even if you are not watching for Ding Yuxi. I assure you, by the end of this show, you will fall irrevocably in love with him and be blown away by the versatility he has as an actor. For fans of Ding Yuxi, this show will be SUCH a fun watch because he looks so. insanely. GOOD. in every single episode, every single lifetime. And, as always, his acting is absolutely undeniable. The stylists did an excellent job in curating his every outfit, his every look. In every lifetime, he played a slightly different role, some more than others, and he NAILED each and every one. His subtle mannerisms, micro-expressions, and tone of voice stole the show. He is truly such a phenomenal actor and I am anguished that he did not receive the recognition he deserved for the incredible acting job he did in his show. He was wonderful as Chu Kong, the God of War, and personally I love every single one of his eyebrow raises and eye acting - he is truly one of the best eye actors out there and his gaze is always so full of emotion, be it love, sincerity, pain, rage, whatever you can name... In short, I have no complaints about Ding Yuxi's styling or performance in this drama, he brought every role to life and truly mastered the subtle details needed to show the difference between the characters in every lifetime, while at the same time maintaining enough similarities as he does remain as Chu Kong fundamentally throughout the show.

As for Yang Chaoyue, I will admit that I was doubtful of her acting skills in the beginning, but I pushed through for Ding Yuxi, and I will say that as the show goes on, her acting does improve. Given that she is relatively new to acting, I think she did a commendable job in this show, even though there are some scenes in which I was unable to feel the full impact of the emotions she was supposed to be showing. I am confident she will improve in her future works! Her acting does not stand out in this show, but it is highly watchable and at the very least, somewhat believable. I do think she did better in some lifetimes compared to others, and I do believe that she is better suited for some roles than others. I will talk more about this in my ranking/elaboration of the lifetimes.

The music was honestly terrible for the most part and took me out of the show instead of helping me become more invested in the scene. There is one score that was done well, that is the score used in Love Between Fairy and Devil, and it is the dramatic kind of music that swells and builds tension. There were also a few other moments where the OST was paired quite nicely with the romantic scenes, but I do think that these moments were pretty few and far between. Especially for fight/action scenes, the music used felt too much like a modern-day rap and did nothing to build tension, it honestly made the scene quite hilarious, which definitely was not the intended effect.

The chemistry between the leads is not electric, but it is built slowly through the lifetimes and their experiences and interactions together. They do a good job of encapsulating their gentle love and do play a fairly convincing couple. I enjoyed watching them together and also the process of them falling for each other. It is a sweet love story that brings you both contentment and anguish when things do not turn out well in the lifetimes. I would not consider this love story as anywhere near the greatest in the history of cdramas or even in the history of xianxia cdramas, but it is definitely watchable and they have sweet moments together that will warm your heart. They also grow to have an amusing dynamic.

This is not a show where the FL is a badass, and neither is it a show where she is extremely weak and unable to fend for herself. In terms of power, yes the FL is weak(er), but her personality is not helpless and she is far from a damsel in distress (mostly). But she is not a powerful badass FL throughout the show - she is at some point, in one or two lifetimes, but if you are watching the show solely for this, I would not recommend it.

The side characters are, in my opinion, highly forgettable. The villain is very predictable and the plot twists were unsurprising, they were all quite typical of a traditional xianxia. I personally did not care for the side couple at all but it was still pretty heartening to see them get their semi-happy ending. Just a fair warning - this show does have a love triangle, and the 2nd ML annoyed me to NO END. I might be a little biased because I hate love triangles with a burning passion... but honestly, he truly was quite infuriating, at least in the first half of the show. He definitely had some character development in the second half but I have never felt such annoyance at a 2nd ML before. Though I will say that he is not a huge influence on your watching pleasure because watching the ML and FL together made up for his irritating appearances.

As for the plot and the pace of the show, you would think that it gets repetitive and boring after 7 tribulations, but it really doesn't. Every lifetime is critical to the storyline and pushes the plot forward well. There were callbacks and references to previous lifetimes in the later lifetimes as well which was not overdone, just done enough to tug on your heartstrings. I also loved how each lifetime was slightly different so we really got to see the diversity, range, and versatility of the actors (honestly the FL's role did not change MUCH, but we truly got to explore Ding Yuxi's range and he aced every single one of his roles). I would say that this is one of the better xianxias I have watched and it uses lots of old tropes but it also offers a more refreshing twist on it, which I appreciated. So if you're tired of the typical xianxias but still want to watch a good xianxia, I think this show is definitely worth a shot.

I will now dive deeper into each lifetime, in chronological order, then in order of my preferred ranking. [Mild SPOILERS]

1. The animal lifetime
This was just hilarious. It lasted about half an episode because they were literally animals but it was so funny and entertaining to watch. This was here for pure humour, but it's also very touching when in the other lifetimes to follow, references were made to this lifetime through the mention of a pig and a tiger together (which were their animal reincarnations in this life).

2. The lifetime of Lu Chang Kong
I forgot the exact titles of their roles in this lifetime... but this was the longest one, lasting about 7 episodes. In this life, ML reincarnated without his memories while FL had hers intact. This is also the lifetime in which we could see the FL falling for the ML (well, and vice versa, but the ML fell for her as Lu Chang Kong, aka the name of his reincarnation in this life, not as his "original" identity, Chu Kong the God of War). This lifetime was cute and I enjoyed their interactions, but it was also very complex with the whole palace politics plotline etc. The first half was really cute, but the second half was just tragedy after tragedy and while I didn't cry per se, I did come very close to it. Also - this lifetime was my 2nd favourite look on Ding Yuxi.

3. The shifu/disciple lifetime
I LOVED this lifetime so much because we got to see the ML falling for the FL as himself, and the FL falling for him as her identity in this lifetime. Being around 6 episodes long, this lifetime was in many ways a role reversal of sorts from the previous lifetime since the ML had his memories and the FL did not. I also absolutely adored the side characters in this lifetime, the bromance between them was one of the best parts (if not THE best) of this lifetime. And in terms of styling, this lifetime was my 2nd favourite look on Yang Chaoyue.

4. The Princess/General lifetime
Honestly, this lifetime was not my favourite, but it was also one of the shortest, lasting around 3 episodes. The palace politics really didn't interest me at all and everything moved fairly quickly, given that they were only in this lifetime for a short while, and I was more than happy with that LOL. The best part of this lifetime was the brief body swap in the beginning, which lasted maybe around 1 episode? This really showed the acting and the range of the leads, and I think both did well but Ding Yuxi gave a more convincing performance - though that might also be in part due to the fact that MLs acting as FLs tend to be easier to showcase. Nonetheless, it was an entertaining watch and I was impressed with their acting skills, especially Ding Yuxi because he truly did a fantastic job acting as the FL. This was also the lifetime in which both of them had their memories. However, I did not care for the styling in this lifetime at all - it was probably the worst look for both leads, not that it was horrible, but it was nothing special.

5. The "original" lifetime, 30 000 years ago
This lifetime technically wasn't a reincarnation in the mortal realm, but they travelled back to 30 000 years ago [SPOILER] when they first met and fell in love. This plot point is typical of a xianxia so it really wasn't anything surprising and it was pretty predictable, but this was my FAVOURITE lifetime. Neither had their memories, but this lifetime was very sweet and I loved seeing them fall in love as their original selves/identities. The styling here was also immaculate - my 3rd favourite for both the ML and the FL, and both are a VERY close 3rd to my 2nd favourite styling of both of them. The plot got a little hurried in the end but I enjoyed this one so so so much. This lasted around 6 episodes too and I personally think that the leads had the best chemistry in this lifetime.

6. The demon lifetime
I loved this lifetime!! It was probably my 3rd favourite, purely for the styling and also to see Ding Yuxi's demon acting. He ATE this up I really cannot stress this enough - he reincarnated as a cat demon so watching his cat-like mannerisms was insane, the lazy drawl and the EYE ACTING, the slow drag of his feet and every action, the times where he actually acts like a cat... he really did so well and I would argue that this lifetime was the one where his acting shone through the most. This lasted maybe around 5-6 episodes? And the styling was IMMACULATE, top-tier, for both Ding Yuxi and Yang Chaoyue, he looked SOOOO good and she was STUNNING I almost collapsed with the face cards and costumes in this life. The visual of this lifetime is the strongest part of this lifetime (along with Ding Yuxi's acting, of course). Moreover, both the ML and FL had their memories.

7. The last lifetime
This lasted like 5 minutes and it really was just [SPOILER] a reunion of the two leads for their deserved happy ending, so I have nothing to say about this lifetime, except - the stylists gave up on Ding Yuxi here because WHO put him in that fugly bun?????!! His face card is lethally strong but nobody can pull that off please... the bun they should've put him in was the one they did in the 2nd lifetime because THAT ate, but this one was just not it.

Now in my preferred order...
1. The "original" lifetime, 30 000 years ago
2. The shifu/disciple lifetime
3. The demon lifetime
4. The lifetime as Lu Chang Kong
5. The Princess/General lifetime
6. The animal lifetime
7. The last lifetime
(5 & 6 are pretty close)

Honestly, if you don't watch this for anything else, do it for Ding Yuxi's face card and phenomenal acting. He really aced this role and I do not have a single negative comment on his performance. Yes, I might be biased because I love him, but I truly think he did an excellent, formidable job. I would recommend this drama if you're looking for a good xianxia that isn't entirely new but also isn't a copy-and-paste of all the other xianxias that came before it. I would also recommend it if you're a fan of Ding Yuxi, or if you like the reincarnation trope. The CGI is also pretty believable and many sets/scenes remind me a lot of Love Between Fairy and Devil, given that this show came from the same production company.

If you liked this show, do give Love Between Fairy and Devil a watch - I have a full review of that on my account too, it's my #1 favourite cdrama of all time. For more of Ding Yuxi, honestly he does an excellent job in all his shows, but his best one is Love Game in Eastern Fantasy for sure. I also recommend The Romance of Tiger and Rose and Melody of Golden Age. For Yang Chaoyue, this is the only show I've seen her in so I unfortunately don't have other recs but I'm looking forward to watching more of her shows and seeing her grow as an actress because she does have good potential.

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must watch

awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch awesome story awesome caste awesome acting must watch

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I couldn’t even love two lifetimes out of seven

Love You Seven Times is a pretty show.

What I like are the costumes. The budget goes hard in this drama and it’s used beautifully with the makeup and the costuming of the characters. Especially in the heavenly realm. Although I do like the mortal outfits and they are less distracting for me to focus on the characters better. Nothing wrong with this at all, honestly I look at all the details in the costumes as the dialogue goes on but that’s more of my problem. It’s all so beautiful and the main leads are also both gorgeous.

My concern has been with Yang Chao Yue as I’ve heard she isn’t the best actress. I think she does a fine job with the comedic relief.. but her character is directed a little weird to me. I can’t get into her as a ground and mature character, and I don’t think she’s supposed to be- it’s just when scenes with emotional delivery and heartbreak will be sort of unbelievable because of this. Since I’ve seen her do outlandish things I’ll have a hard time adjusting to her suddenly being serious. Although with each episode it’s getting increasingly hard to watch her. I feel like she is cast here because she is so pretty. I am going to be transparent and just say that she is sucking the life from this drama for me.

It sucks because Ding Yu Xi is so amazing. He is very good at delivering multiple characters and multiple personalities of each character. I want this to be a hit drama for him and the work everyone put in. What is good is anything with Ding Yu Xi. Something about him just grabs my attention right away. Chu Kong is interesting and I like to see him in the mortal realm. Catered to love Xiang Yun and it’s funny to see how devoted he is. Although I don’t know why he is the way he is or what shaped him.

I’m not a fan of Xiang Yun right now as she is over the top stupid. Then again it’s the first few episodes that she is like this so I hope they are just setting her character up and she’ll develop to realize the gravity of her situation. I think the comedy in this show was a bad idea considering these character live and die nine times and you are supposed to feel and be invested in each live. Maybe in some way it could be done right, but my god it is so jarring here to see someone die and then a girl with a mustache gamble for no reason.

It’s like two separate shows between the scene with just the ML. It’s such a shame for the potential with him and the grandness of the worlds and stories here.

The whole seven trials makes sense. But I don’t get why Xiang Yun wants to sabotage her marriage, if she wants to save her marriage pavilion you would think she’s want things to go smoothly? I don’t know why she didn’t take the amnesia elixer.. I’m just a lost with that. So if I’m initially lost that is very bad, because I’m following them for seven lives and don’t even understand why someone did something and they just brush past it. The FL character is so over the place.. it’s just bad bad awful writing or maybe delivery or maybe both.

I’m slowly beginning to see the problem being the female lead and her acting is actually unbearable to me. She is so pretty and looks like a doll, but I feel she is very privaledged to be in a role like this. Maybe more low budget dramas would suit her better, but in this role it’s a large task to fill and she simply cannot. The actress does not have the skill to fill this character and make her feel real and likeable. I can’t help thinking that others would be better, for example, Sun Zhenni. I wasn’t a fan of Til the End of the Moon for the opposite of Thais drama. Amazing acting but bad script, but her I think Zhenni could be the female lead and do a much better job. She can act sassy and was someone I wanted to see more of from a drama I didn’t even like all too much. What could’ve been would’ve been watchable. Instead I can’t buy into the character of the female lead so I’m at a loss. She is the focus of the show, her love with Chu Kong. It’s just a shame he is so good at acting but she does worse than nothing. As much as the score can swell and the people around her are acting their hearts out I’m not dumb. I know shows that have low budget but the acting is amazing and makes me believe and feel even in a magical world. She wrings this fry of any emotional depth and merit for me. Seven whole lifetimes and different people to be all tied together by the same soul and love, but I feel she is like a low budget actress in this giant role. I’ll continue watching but only for the costumes and Yu Xi.

Long story short is I’m not buying into a love story that can’t even get me to understand why these two love eachother. It’s just a string of fate but why and how are they attached. What proved their devotion. This show is overly ambitious and fails to do the simple things and plays cheap tricks like music or costume without backing it up with a full narrative that is cohesive and makes sense. I can’t get behind trying to be invested in lives that I know they just have to get through in the end. The ultimate goal is what? Maybe I would find out if I watched the rest. I just realized if I’m skipping so much of the drama then I just can skip the whole thing and spend my time somewhere else. I honestly don’t think this show is going anywhere or will change me as a person. I don’t even think I want to watch anymore, I don’t think I’ll miss out.

If you like it then you like it. Just my opinion but I wouldn’t watch it. There are better things to watch.

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boring

I'm really tired of these FLs with inadequate brain cells. For a person who lived for 3000 years, she's as stupid as a rock. Having to lived for so long, how can she's not able to have a bit of wisdom? just a tiny bit would suffice. Why does Chinese writer love these dumb FL? To made it worse, they cast YCY, she's never been good in acting, just pouting most of the time, and open her eyes as big as possible. She does this in this one too. Aiyaa... I feel so bad for Ryan Ding, his performance is good, but an actor can't carry the whole drama by him self. I hope he can get better project in the future, with better script and better partner.

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A Passable Xianxia Cinderella and Prince Charming drama. Good CGI. Great acting from Ding Yu Xi

Love You Seven Times is an adaptation of a popular novel written by Jiu Lu Fei Xiang. I liked that novel back then. So, I had this high expectation when I first saw the trailer of this drama last year. I was a regular Korean drama watchers that time, so I did not know about Ding Yu Xi nor about Yang Chao Yue.
When it finally aired, I decided to watch it. The premise is definitely the same as the novel. 1 god and 1 fairy from The Matchmaking Pavilion have to go the mortal world to experience love trials. But, there are so many differences that I do not expect that I will point out though here I do not want to waste your time to read them. So, I'll just get straight to my review about this drama:
- The Story
Not trying to compare the story between the novel version and the drama version. However, the set up could have been much better if they follow the beginning of the novel version. It is more logical. In the novel, the Male Lead and the Female Lead are punished to go the mortal world because they have created such a great mess in heaven. Here in the drama version, the Male Lead and the Female Lead go to the mortal world just to help the Male Lead restore his power because he lacks in the love aspect and it's a coincidence that he and the female lead are accidentally bound by the red thread. But, it's still okay for me and I still keep watching. The more I watch this, the more I find it quite hard to go the next episode. Not even the secrets of what happened 30,000 years ago to keep me feel intrigued. Thankfully, the character Chu Kong (played by Ding Yu Xi) is what keeps me from the boredom. Though the FIRST half of the story especially the ones set in the heaven realm seems like an ordinary Cinderella and Prince Charming in the Xianxia world. But, I'll keep watching this drama till the end because after all, I like dramas with heaven realm, gods, and goddesses setting.
- The Acting
I find Moonlight because of watching Ding Yu Xi here. He's a great actor. Though many find him not eligible for the god role, but I like his manly and strong screen presence. He's great in crying scenes, especially in episode 12 in which he was crying his eyes out when his lover died. I cried with him. He's so bloody good in crying scenes and the scenes that require more depth. The one who played the role of Yue Lao is good as well. Between the 4 main characters (Chu Kong, Xiang Yun, Xiu Ming, and Hao Xuan), I must say that Ding Yu Xi and the one who plays the role Hao Xuan are the best. As for Yang Chao Yue, because I did not watch her previous dramas, I'll only review her acting here. Her acting is quite in the range of passable and below passable. Not that bad as others point out, but definitely so much room for improvement. I have to admit in her crying scenes, I find her to be not engaging and sometimes I feel like that she's forced to do so. Even the tears seem can not come out. I can know that she's acting, therefore I can not bring myself to cry with her. It's a totally different feeling when Ding Yu Xi cries. Yang Chao Yue's eyes in most of her scenes look bland. But, I have to admit she's good in portraying a good girl character that even her acting is bad, you can not bring yourself to dislike her. It's just I hope in her future projects, she can practice more and more to balance herself with her costar. It's quite unfortunate that when Ding Yu Xi has tried his best to create great chemistry with her, she can't balance it well. Beside the story, her acting is what hinders me to continue watch this.
- The Music
Quite similar with the Love Between Fairy and Devil OST, but not as good.
- The Costume and CGI
Beautiful and so dreamy

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Not too bad for a fantasy drama

LIKE

How Chu Kong and Xiang Yun's fates intertwined in their past and the future - how sacrifices beng made and love being found once again

DISLIKE

When at first Hao Xuan was pretty doting towards Chu Kong but changed due to his own ambitions

MUSIC - personal fav

唯爱 Wei Ai - 詹雯婷 Zhan Wen Ting
余味 Yu Wei - 单依纯 Shan Yi Chun
与爱无关 Yu Ai Wu Guan - 徐佳莹 Xu Jia Ying
哀情记 Ai Qing Ji - A Lin
思想者 Si Xiang Zhe - 胡夏 Hu Xia

REWATCH VALUE

Probably re-watch when I have the time

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Beautiful love perseveres life times

starting off, the first reason i was instantly hooked with this drama was because of the amazing sfx in ep 1. They got a little less 'amazing' towards the end nevertheless they were still pretty good. I also loved the side stories alotttt. Prince Xiu Ming, Zi Hui the stone, and the evil brother Jin Lian were my top 3 fav characters after the main couple. The main couples chemistry was TOP NOTCHHHHH.

I also love how everyone had their own stories. Towards the end i was only resenting 1 person. Everyone had their own reasons for everything they did.

The end was confusing yet fulfilling, this is a must watch.

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