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