Love You Seven Times (2023)

Sweet xianxia with seven beautiful interconnected lives

The drama tells the love story between the God of War and a Fairy and their seven lives together. Due to accidentally entangling each other with a love thread, the main leads are tasked to go through seven love tribulations together in order to repair the male lead's primordial spirit. But with each passing tribulation, secrets of the past begin to surface and a long forgotten truth is finally revealed.

POSITIVE:
- The story has tons and I mean TONS of parallels in between all lives and tribulations that the main leads experience. Everything is woven together to perfection. All the characters have meaningful roles in each tribulation, all little details like a simple hairpin are connected through all tribulations and this is very, very difficult to do so I'm absolutely blown away how it was all put together. And there are NO plot holes.
- I was sceptical at first as seven lives seemed like it might get repetitive and boring but there are not the typical 3 lives xianxia style. All lives are connected but at the same time move the plot forward in a very clever way. Each life is very different, with different settings and length of episodes. Some of the lives only FL remembers her present self, others only ML, and we also have lives where they both remember so it gives a unique experience in each one.
- I absolutely loved, loved, loved ML performance in the drama. He really brought all of his characters to life, when he was happy, I was happy, when he was in pain, I was in pain, when he was crying, I was crying. Even when I felt the script was lacking in certain scenes his brilliant performance really moved me and made up for it. I've only seen his other drama with Lusi and I have to say he has now become one of my favourite actors.
- Beautiful costumes and settings (they are done by the same production team as LBFAD).
- Secondary couple has an interesting plot twist so it's quite unique to watch.
- Happy ending for everyone (well except the bad guys lol).

NEGATIVE:
- Doesn't have that addictive factor where you totally obsess over the drama. Like there was something missing, perhaps the lack of emotional impact I was looking for.
- FL acting is very lacking. I rarely discuss acting but unfortunately this one was very obviously bad in comparison to the brilliant job that the ML actor did. I felt the FL actress was specifically bad in delivering scenes where she was supposed to be scared, distressed and in extreme pain. She was making all the facial expressions, I could see the tears but somehow there was no real emotion behind it especially compared to the ML.
- It has a slow start and the 2nd tribulation (the first human one) is the longest one so it feels very dragged out.
- The ending is quite.. well boring. Lots of unnecessary talks and excessive weird effects (almost like they ran out of budget). Without spoiling it, I feel there is a very interesting plot line relating to the tribulations that's very unique and would have made an epic final however it was brushed off and instead we were given a very typical xianxia ending.
- SML has a very typical "I'm obsessively in love with the FL" syndrome at the beginning but he gets very much redeemed in my eyes. He does get a lot of screen time and very much feels like a main character so that might be positive or negative depending how much you like his character. In general the actor did a great job and I didn't mind his scenes however in certain episodes he got more screen time than the male lead which I didn't like.
- Editing feels choppy and weird at times.
- Effects and CGI in the last episodes are a bit weird.

OVERALL:
The drama is a sweet xianxia with beautiful interconnecting themes and parallels, lots of interesting characters and some character's growth. The main focus is the love story between the leads so it's a nice comfort drama to watch. Great rewatch value because of the mystery and all parallels.

GUIDE:
Read my short episodes guide (with minor spoilers) about the 7 tribulations:
https://mydramalist.com/discussions/the-seventh-generation/110999-all-tribulation-lives-brief-info-with-minor-spoilers

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A love that connects through 7 life times and an honest ML, I love!!

After Back from the Brink, it has been a while since I got hooked into another Xianxia genre (drama). LY7T doesn't disappoint with their love story.

One of the many aspects I love about this drama, is that everything is connected back into a full circle and I love those parallels that was cleverly used throughout the drama and none of them felt disconnected; so that was cleverly done by the writers in this drama.

To be honest, I am not into Mortal Tribulations in Xianxia genre, since I always find them draggy, and every time it happens in the story (of other Xianxia dramas), I always want it to end quicker so we can return back to the Immortal life, and focus on that instead, but LY7T has done it in a way that I don't dislike it, because each (well, maybe aside from the beginning arc of the 2nd tribulation, with the whole political stuff), I actually enjoyed it on my end.

To introduce the ML of this story, acted by Ding Yuxi (DYX), which this is my first time seeing him act in a drama, so I have no previous drama to compare him with, but he has played his role well in bringing out the character to life, whether, it's the Chu Kong from the present time, the Chu Kong of the past, and his each/every Mortal Tribulation identities, I did enjoyed all of them. I have to make a note and mention that DYX at times does kinda remind me to this Hong Kong actor Roger Kwok. Not saying that as a negative, just want to make a point about this on my end; because they look similar to me. DYX does look handsome to me though! I am glad to know he dubbed his own voice in this drama! Anyways, back to the Male Lead he portrayed: Chu Kong, being the God of War, who did not have the memories of what happened 30,000 years ago, was due to a reason, I will not spoil in my review, but you will find out when his past is uncovered; and it all makes sense in the end, of what happened 30,000 years ago. I really do love his character, whether it is the him as the God of War in the present time, or the him 30,000 years ago (before he became the God of War) he's a loveable character in my eyes, and I actually love his honesty, when it comes to the FL, it is always a positive/plus point in my eyes!

Moving onto the FL, Xiang Yun/Cang Hai played by Yang Chao Yue (YCY). This isn't my first time seeing her, since I've seen her in the Journey of Congzi in the past. Comparing to her portrayal between the two drama's, to me, she definitely has improved in this drama LY7T. So I really don't understand the hate some Cnetz / or International viewers have on her, aside from the fact of spreading hate/nonsense that doesn't make sense to me. My favourite portrayal of her character is Cang Hai. I love how bold and direct she is when it comes to what she wants, and she can be a little bit shameless too haha, but I don't mind, since it just makes her character even more refreshing to see this side to her.

This pairing is definitely among my top favourite for sure, because I really love their chemistry whether its onscreen or off-screen. I love how Chu Kong(ML) is honest with XiangYun (FL) during those times, is a bit different to other xianxia ML, because in LY7T, I really love how Chu Kong(ML) is honest with Xiang Yun(FL), whereas in other Xianxia dramas the ML might hid the truth from the FL to protect her of the danger, which may lead to unnecessary misunderstanding afterwards, so that was really loveable to see a different type of ML where he's honest with the FL like that in the Xianxia verse.

I love how in each life-time, throughout the drama, you can pick out these parallels and compare it which lead to a beautiful result. I love how Chu Kong (ML) opened up to her and became attached to her as the story progresses, because I really see that as a development in his character! I especially love the backstory depicted in the drama, when their past is revealed. Their past is among my favorite focus, although it didn't end up well :( I do also love the Master and Disciple Relationship during the SL sect times, because I love the trio JL and ZH(in their mortal life), they were some nice times/memories with some funny moments as well!

I hope DYX and YCY will have another Modern Day drama in the future like DYX want; because they really do have chemistry, and I enjoy watching them on my end!

For drama side of things, it is really compelling, and fun to watch, because it is like you are going through a journey with the characters, where there are hints that lead to a piece of puzzle that you can put together to form the answer to the story, and it is intriguing enough for us to want to guess what's going to happen next. It may start off a bit slow for some people at the beginning, especially during the 2nd mortal tribulation, but take it from someone (me) who is not into Mortal Tribulation in Xianxia dramas, for me LY7T did it in a way that is not boring, and I enjoyed it on my end! At times it really doesn't feel like they are doing a Mortal Tribulation, but it feels like they are just taking a trip to the Mortal realm.

For ending side of things, it's a Happy Ending. Sure it is not the satisfying kind of happy ending, but it is without a doubt that CK came back, and the fact that he was emotional in that scene hint(revealed) that he does remember her. I love the way he wiped her tears on his end!!!

I somehow like that they take this as a form of Mortal Tribulation where XY enter into the mortal gate (like how they normally do the mortal tribulation, because this way I can actually take it that after that 7th "Mortal tribulation" is done, CK can regain his immortality and they both can return to heavens and I like that the other characters were revealing that it is possible for CK to return to heavens one day.

The first hint was CK celestial star that XY saw that flew by the sky showing CK has returned and she went to find him again, although that took a lot of detour with the other side character scenes... I actually fast forward some of them especially the red thread master, immortal sun and XM Scenes...

Overall I was happy with the ending, since it did put a smile to my face when I saw CK again. Do I want more than what I was given? Yes!!! but it is without a doubt CK has returned and he have his memories on his end, I just wish he would have said something to her like what I heard him said in the trailer: "Regardless of now, or 30,000 years ago. I'm destined to find you" (so I hate IQIYI for deleting that) but with the way they look at each other, it really said it all. I strongly believe that after that scene CK will be able to regain his immortal status and be the God of War again. Who knows maybe he will takeover and the heavenly emperor since XM did said that he is temporarily taking that role as Heavenly emperor on his end and he's looking forward to one day XY can return with CK on his end.

It was a nice open ending for Jin Luo and ZH(reincarnated) though.

But overall, I just want to say, that this drama is definitely recommended, because it is really good! If you don't watch it, you will surely miss out on this drama! I have read a little bit of the novel on my end, but in terms of characterization and the deep complexities of the story/plot, I prefer the drama better.

Music in this drama is excellent!! I love a few actually!! My favourite, I will have to say is the Opening theme: 唯爱 (Only Love) - Faye詹雯婷, but I also really love the other OST's in this drama as well, such as: 哀情记 (Grief Record) - A Lin and 破空 (Break Through) - 李常超 (Li Changchao). I also love the bgm(midi) that was played in the drama during those specific times (but don't know the name of that song, if I know I will definitely download it and listen to it on my end).

P.S: thank you LY7T, you officially made my journey enjoyable and I therefore have put you on my top 5 rankings:

Top 5 favourite Xianxia Chinese Drama
1. Back from the Brink (Hu Xin)
2. Love you Seven times
3. Ancient Love Poetry
4. Love and Redemption
5. Ten Miles Peach Blossom (3L3W)

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