‘Love You Seven Times’: Episode 1 Run-down — Cuz… Three Lifetimes Are Too Few

EPISODE 1 RECAP

The Heaven is a happy place and everyone has a job. The female lead Xiangyun (Yang Chaoyue) works in the matchmaking department which helps pair up people around the realms and helps them find their “destiny”. Kind of like Tinder but with a better filtering system; I’m sure they kick all the creeps out before allowing any kind of pairing to happen.

Xiangyun’s job also involves setting up bachelor auctions so people can find dates. One day, a bit of bad news comes. The Lord of the Heaven orders them to find a match for an immortal called Chukong pronto. If they can’t do it in seven days, the whole department will be laid off. Oooh, so who is this Chukong? A God of War who is charged with protecting the Heaven. He avoids romance like the plague.

Down at the Demon Realm, things aren’t so bubbly. The Demon Lord (Lin Borui) has been waiting for a chance to wage war on the Heaven to avenge his father.

It is Shangque from Love Between Fairy & Devil, by the way. Our boy has gone from goofy assistant to “Lord”, great job. And his acting is really not bad.

The Demon Realm’s intention reaches upstairs, and the Heaven Lord speaks to an advisor about their defence forces.

Before we go on with the discussion, let’s take note of this: It’s Helian Zheng from Rise of Phoenixes! We’re being treated with good-looking Lords this time and not grumpy old men.

Plus, I’m grateful they didn’t put a golden pineapple crown or melted gold on his head. I’m not saying that that block of jelly looks particularly attractive, but it’s less crazy than a lot I’ve seen so far.

Now, the thing about Edward Zhang is: his appearance is suitable to play both protagonists and antagonists, and there’s no way you can tell if his character is good or bad at first glance. So, God of Dramas, please let this Heaven Lord be a sensible one. I’ve seen evil and I’ve seen pathetic from this guy, okay? Let him be good and glorious for once.

Anyway, military discussion.

The Heaven relies on only Chukong to protect them. Of course they do. However, at this time, Chukong is still recovering from his previous mission and isn’t well enough to take on the Demon Lord.

But they barely finish this conversation when the Demon forces attack. And by “attack”, they mean the Demon Lord goes in solo with no backup. Chukong (Ding Yuxi) flies out to meet him.

Here we are: another warrior who looks like he can’t handle the weight of his own armor. But I’m used to it by now. Dramatic music is turned on in the background and it’s on for an unnecessarily long time during his introduction scene. In the end, Chukong temporarily pushes the Demon Lord back.

By the way, some time during the fight Xiangyun charges out with an important artefact in her hands and is hit by the Demon Lord, but Chukong pulls her out of danger. Just so we can have that “catching the girl in midair scene”. I have to say that when you treat your lead couple’s first encounter like just an item on a checklist, the audience might too.

Anyway, the battle is over for now. The Heaven Lord has a talk with Chukong, reminding him that he still needs to regain his strength. The way to do that in here is: you go through trials – difficult scenarios set up to test your heart and mind — and if you pass those tests, you get energy boosts. Like in a game.

It seems that Chukong has finished all of his trials. All except one. The trial of looooove. That’s why the Heaven Lord needs him to be matched ASAP.

Chukong doesn’t like romance so he goes back home to rest and think about it.

Now, Xiangyun has a genius idea. She sneaks into Chukong’s place while he is napping, bringing the Red Thread of Fate along, hoping to trap him with some girl. But as Xiangyun approaches Chukong, he catches her and announces that he supports tearing down the matchmaking department because they dared put him up for a bachelor auction once.

Xiangyun begs, Chukong scoffs, they fight. During their careless struggle, the Red Thread gets released from its container and binds them together.

A romance with a naive girl with a permanent pout and the survival skills of a fruit-fly? No way, Chukong will not have it. He doesn’t think much at first because there aren’t many things that his War God magical sword can’t destroy, so it should cut the Thread easily. Hah! No, it doesn’t. The Thread continues to keep them trapped together.

If they don’t think of a way to separate soon, they might be stuck together permanently.

Xiangyun and Chukong fight again. This time, they take it out near the Pool of Reincarnation and what do you know, they both fall down there after a while.

When Chukong opens his eyes again, he finds out that he’s been reborn as Pumbaa. Xiangyu is a white tiger now. They bicker for a bit but quickly get axed by a group of hunters nearby. Was that… one of the seven lifetimes?

COMMENTS

If I’m right about what I have seen, then this drama has a different approach when it comes to romance. The Heaven Realm so far treat it like a game/joke rather than something serious, which is refreshing to see in this genre.

We can also see that a lot has been put into the sets of this drama. Look at those dragons on the giant pillars. Not bad.

Character-wise, from the first few episodes, I can’t say that I’m particularly excited about Xiangyun or Chukong.

Xiangyun is another version of the Bubbly Female Lead we have seen before and Yang Chaoyue doesn’t bring anything new to the character. And Chukong, while Ding Yuxi tries hard to convey the premise of his character — a powerful man with a cruel sense of humor but good at heart — he ends up looking exactly that: a young actor who is trying very hard.

But since I am familiar with both Ding Yuxi and Yang Chaoyue’s works and did not expect any groundbreaking acting, this is not really a disappointment. What they have going on is good enough for the genre they are in. In a sea of fantasy dramas that survive on the same tropes and characters, I would not say their performances are the worst out there. So, as long as you enjoy their presence on the screen, the formulaic acting shouldn’t be a problem.

And if you like the idea of these two turning into animals and falling in love as they go through embarrassing situations together, this might just be a drama to relax with.

As for me, I will stick around to see how the Demon Lord and Heaven Lord turn out.