The Seventh Generation (2023)

Wibbley Wobbley Time Wimey with several shots of Caffeine

Rated - 🧚‍♀️with a little nap in the middle 💤

For my review of White Cat Legend, I hated the cgi cat face and paws and gave a description of what I would have preferred, and damn, I love being right 😂I got a little bit of it in this one. He looked great 👍

Plot - I find some people hate the Immortals going to the Mortal realm plot so the creators of this one laughed and added several mortal realm journeys as the entire point of the plot lol

We open with the story of a great evil empress, Cang Hai who was defeated by the God of War and now there is a prediction that she may return. Our God of War, the ML, is isolated and moody. His primordial spirit was damaged in his battle with Cang Hai, and he suffered memory loss, and has gone to the mortal realm for numerous different trials in an effort to heal it but nothing has worked. With the prediction that Cang Hai will soon be resurrected by her vengeful clan, he agrees to the trials he hasn't tried yet. Love Trials.

Enter our FL. Once a cloud, she was brought to form and raised by the Red Thread Master, the master of the Marriage Pavilion, responsible for match making in the human realm. Our FL is coerced into taking on the responsibility of finding a woman to go through the love trials with the God of War or the Marriage Pavilion will be destroyed. She auctions this role off to the God of War's many admirers to raise funds and in the process of tying the red thread of fate to the sleeping ML's wrist, accidentally gets tied to him as well, thus beginning the trials.

The first trial is accidental, short and funny as they take the form of a tiger and a pig, which becomes a running theme throughout the show.
Each life is different, furthering the romantic plot. The 2nd life or the first 'official' life is the longest running, starting in childhood and going through to the characters eventual deaths. Each life gets progressively shorter in episodes as we start building the momentum.
Back in the Immortal realm, the leads eventually find out that by the FL sacrificing her life for the ML, she is giving him her own primordial spirit as they share the same origins. This leads us back to discovering what actually happened in the famous battle with Cang Hai and who the real villain is.

There is an interconnectedness that I really liked within the plot. As some characters keep reappearing in different lifetimes, casual mentions of previous life characters to give us a sense of time between each life, as well as a side plot unravelling with a secondary couple. It feels like one big web and I like when writers do that as it creates connections between the different segments and helps the flow of the story telling when you are using several very different characters, environments and backgrounds.
We see an array of sets and designs in each life, from middle class life, sects, royalty and demons. And each one with it's own aesthetic that mirrors the lifetimes of the characters.

Unfortunately, I found at times, the plot dragged. The thing is, I felt like the pacing was fine. The first life had to be the longest because it was the one that built the feelings the ML had for the FL. But every time we got back to the Immortal realm, I felt like the writers had hit a wall. There was a sudden drop in momentum. That's the problem with using several different stories to create one larger one. The viewer spends time getting wrapped up in the mortal realm arc that when we go back to the 'real' plot, we almost feel like what we just witnessed didn't matter. Although there is some essence of history repeating it's self, there's nothing more than the romantic element. In one life, the FL commits suicide knowing that the ML won't be returning from battle and decides to just say 'hey, I'll see ya back at home'. This hurt my feelings a little bit. The first one dealt with this well, in that yes, they return to the Immortal realm but the mortal lives they lived will be forgotten. The body dies, the person ceases to exist ever again. There is importance placed on their earthly lives but then after that, they just forget about it. Afterwards, there was perhaps too much of a casual approach to the mortal lives.

There was also a joke about cooking a pet pig for dinner. Not cute. I was very annoyed. The little pig lived but was forgotten once that life ended.

Another reason for the drag brings me to my next point.

Acting - Ding Yu Xi has beautiful, cat like eyes, and a very expressive face. Unfortunately his co star, our FL, is not quite on the same level. I only call out actors when they stand out specifically and I'm afraid Yang Chao Yue stood out for all the wrong reasons. Her character started off with that really annoying, pouty, childlike voice that Chinese actresses are sometimes made to do. Thankfully as the character evolves, she loses it but she is severely lacking the 'umph' to pull off the emotional scenes. I was actually skipping through her death scenes, scenes that were meant to be emotional, were just really grating my nerves. She was more annoying as an actress than as a character, and that doesn't happen often. I was drama kid, I can give actors some room to grow but wow, this just felt awful to watch. I haven't seen any other work from this actress so I'm willing to make it a directional problem but there were just too many times where her portrayal just felt so wooden and dry, like she was on her 100th night of a touring show. The emotional crying scenes were painful, like a child pretending to cry for attention. Ding Yu Xi managed to counteract this with his own quips and quirks to keep me watching but he shouldn't have to and that's just sad as a performer.

Music - I quite enjoyed the music to this one. There were two specifically that stood out. The dramatic one and the bah dah bah one that played during the cute moments.

Rewatch - The romance in this isn't particular intense and the kisses are simple, which may have contributed to the feeling of drag for me, when we returned to the Immortal realm. It feels as though, even though the leads have had lifetimes together, the romance never leaves that teenage phase of hand holding and promising to be together always. It is however an enjoyable watch but I did skip scenes so I'm unlikely to watch it again.

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Enjoyable but DING YUXI ARE THE BEST

Once I heard about this drama, I decided to wait until I had enough time to marathon for Ding Yuxi.

Story,
It's not bad yet it's not sophisticated enough to make me cannot skip any scene. Maybe just me but I feel like I'm watching several dramas with not really detailed stories. But I can enjoy it until the end without thinking about dropping the drama. Sometimes I feel like they could do better, sometimes I feel enough. This drama could do better in some parts. But yeah, nothing is perfect.
Some things that annoyed me when I watched this drama were some scenes shaking till I got dizzy, little scenes where their CGI was horrible, and the annoying lighting that was too bright and not necessary.

Acting,
Shout out to Ding Yuxi for his acting, I know him from The Romance of Tiger and Rose and I know this guy really has good facial expressions that make his acting more natural. He can deliver both the Dominering God of War, The Second Prince of the Qilin Clan, and even Xiang Yun's cuteness behavior when they got their body switched. Don't forget when he becomes a cat demon, HE IS SO ADORABLE THERE.
As for Yang Chaoyue, I haven't watched her dramas before. For this drama, she is good but she could do a better job in some scenes. Her acting here was okay and enjoyable, but she could do better next time,
Some of the cast did a great job in their roles, but some are just so-so.

Music,
IT IS PERFECT, I love all of their OST. Faye, Liu Yuning, until Huxia, I can enjoy all of them. I can say that all of the songs really suit the plot and the drama itself.

I will rewatch it if I miss Ding Yuxi as God of War Chu Kong, The Second Prince of Qilin Clan. But now I can say that there are other good Xianxia dramas than this.

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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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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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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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Ding Yuxi is a great GREAT actor

Watching this drama just for Ding Yuxi was the right decision for me. I watched this drama after I watched 'The Romance of Tiger and Rose' and I was very interested in Ding Yuxi's acting, so I looked up Yuxi's discography and found in his latest drama Yuxi's voice wasn't dubbed. I'm so happy, finally i can hear his original voice!

After watching this, I respect Ding Yuxi even more, for me he's a hardworking actor and is dedicated to every character he takes on. I was touched by his effort to display such amazing micro-expressions! even when playing a young General, he was able to portray the figure of a mighty General. I was even amazed by his posture when wearing armor, and when Yuxi has to change the role of a God, he can also play the character of a God who is authoritative and scary.

Moving on to the plot of the drama. So far I like the storyline created by the writer. Very interesting, and what is a plus for me is that the love journey of the two main characters isn't made too slowly.

But when it comes to acting... I really want to give it a perfect score, but for me the female lead's acting is still lacking in several points. She can still expand her acting range, she has enormous potential to deepen her character, and after finishing this drama, Yang Chaoyue apparently made good progress.

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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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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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Lovely story with a lot going on

I loved watching this drama so much even tho i waited a long time for the last few eps to get released. The story is so good and doesnt get boring at all because the sevne different lives are all very different from each other, and its so cute to see that the "cloud" (Fl) and "the god of war" (ML) turn out to have known each other for a long time but their memories were deleted by the villian of the story at the same time they find out that the Fl lead turns out to be not just a cloud but has a different identity from the time they knew each other before their memories got deleted. They both want to save each other all the time which is so cute and sometimes heartbreaking at the same time, i cried a lot during this drama which, for me, means its a rlly good drama. Another thing that makes it so good for me is that the villian was so unpredictable, i always try to guess who the villian is but this time i was taken by a surprise to know who the real villian is. Which is way better than knowing it for a long time allready cuz that cluld make the drama boring. But that was not the case here! The only thing that could be better is maybe a special episode thats ab 30 min long cuz the ML died for the FL in the last episode but came back in the last few minutes, it doesnt tell how he came back and i would like to see them live a happily ever after life so for that reason a special episode would be great!❤️

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