Seven Sisters Review

Seven Sisters is an older 32-episode drama from 2001 that stars Gallen Lo, Charmaine Sheh, Kong Wah, and Anne Heung. I thought that this drama was going to be a ghost story about seven sisters but it turns out that only one of them is a ghost. Then, I realized that it was more about Gallen and Charmaine than the ghost story of Kong Wah and Anne.


In short, would I recommend this series? NO! You can read below for why but beware of spoilers.



Here is the synopsis from Yesasia:

Inspired by the Hong Kong folk legend about seven sworn sisters who dived to their death together in order to rebel against an arranged marriage, 2001 TVB drama Seven Sisters tells a haunting tale of romance and heartbreak set in 1930/40s Hong Kong. Popular leading man Gallen Lo stars alongside Charmaine Sheh, Kwong Wa, and Anne Heung, with Shirley Cheung, Annie Man, Eddie Cheung, Florence Kwok, Kingdom Yuen, Lo Hoi Pang, Law Lan, Lau Siu Ming, and Ellesmere Choi in supporting roles. 

Tse Chi Tong (Gallen Lo) was once the heir to a medicine oil factory that was closed more than 10 years ago. He is now dedicated to his work as a postman, and he lives with his younger sister Mei Ling (Annie Man) and his late father's loyal servant Chan Tung (Lo Hoi Pang), whose daughter Yuen Yuen (Shirley Cheung) is in love with him. Tong's peaceful life is changed forever when the ghost of a woman named Mak Chau Kuen (Anne Heung) appears before him one day, telling him her tragic love story and begging him to do one thing for her. Tong vows to help her, and he teams up with sparring rich girl Wong Yuk Cham (Charmaine Sheh) on a quest to find the lost letter from Kuen's beau, Miu Lin Sin (Kwong Wa), from 12 years ago...

First of all, this series is not a "haunting tale" at all. Also, Gallen is the son of a restaurant owner, not a medicine oil factory. Basically this series is about Gallen who meets Charmaine because they both see a ghost (Anne). Anne's story about how and why she committed suicide is woven in with Gallen and Charmaine's current storyline, meaning that Anne just keeps repeating that the love of her life is Kong Wah and how she needs to find the last letter that he sent to her. Gallen works at the post office so he is able to sort through the old mail. Charmaine then realizes that the man that Anne is looking for is now her uncle. Sensing that Charmaine knows more than she admits, Anne hides away in an old room in Charmaine's mansion until the aunt (Florence Kwok) realizes that there is a ghost in the mansion. She hires a ghost killer who keeps hunting her and fails. Anne realizes that Kong Wah lost his memory and is now happily married to Charmaine's aunt so she decides to leave them alone. Florence still repeatedly tries to kill the ghost thinking that she will steal her husband away even though Anne is set to reincarnate. It all ends with Florence setting fire to an old opera house that Anne is in but she doesn't realize her husband is in there. Anne risks her chance at reincarnation to help save Kong Wah's life, while Florence rushes back into the fire to save him. It all ends at around episode 26-27 with Florence realizing how wrong she is. They do a ceremony where Kong Wah marries the dead Anne and then they decide to leave and have some time for themselves.

At this point, there is around 5-6 episodes left and Gallen and Charmaine realize that they like each other but then Charmaine realizes her cancer has come back. Kong Wah and Anne's story is done so I was thinking that maybe Charmaine dies and comes back as a ghost or something. Instead, they drag out Charmaine's cancer story for a few episodes and it is just repetitive and exhausting! I think they wanted to make it some epic love story about how they overcame so much and to make it sad when Charmaine finally dies at the end, but I was just pissed and relieved that it was finally over. I was pissed because I couldn't believe I wasted my time watching the last few episodes to fight a battle where she dies, but I was also relieved that it ended and wished that she had just died earlier! I also kept waiting for some ghost elements to come back in but that didn't happen. Isn't this series supposed to be about ghosts?!

Overall, the series was very repetitive and could have definitely been condensed to around 20 episodes. There were some cute moments with Gallen and Charmaine and how people reacted to Anne as a ghost including the reunion of the seven sisters. However, I wish I just stopped watching once the "ghost story" ended. The last few episodes were a complete waste of time and I became completely aggravated and made me wish I never watch this series! Haha, so if you do watch it, just don't watch the last few episodes.

7 comments:

Lynne said...

"Inspired by the Hong Kong folk legend about seven sworn sisters who dived to their death together in order to rebel against an arranged marriage..."

WHAT?! I never new it was base of a folk tale o.O Seven Sisters strayed off quite a bit there :P

Either way, I remember enjoying the series when I was young but only the parts of Kwong Wah and Anne Heung. Even though I was only 8 or something...still remember how I disliked Gallen's and Charmaine's parts b/c it was pretty draggy. Wanted more ghosts :P since I was really into ghost stories back then xD

haha even when I re-watched it, it was only for Kwong Wah and only his parts...I really miss Kwong Wah T-T

I miss tvb's ghost series...and those jumping zombies (???). haha xD

AC said...

Omg! Are you talking about the jumping vampires? I just remember liking a lot of the older HK movies and I remember a lot of them were comedies.

Also, the main reason I watched that series is because I thought it would be about ghosts! That's probably why I was so pissed off at the last few episodes. haha

I'm going to watch another old series next- Time Before Time- It's supposed to be a ghost story as well so I'm hoping this one is better.

By the way, what happened to TVB Horizon? I keep trying to go on there but it says "This blog is open to invited readers only"

Lynne said...

Sorry! Was changing the layout, but blog is back up now x)

Yes!! Jumping vampires! They were so awesome xD Too bad they're not in trend anymore....so many back then!

Oh yes! Time Before Time is so much better! lols loved it! There's also this other atv ghost series, Coincidentally? It starred Frankie Lam and Annie Man. Personally liked that alot too.

You liked My DAte with a Vampire right? Dunno...but you might like this Singaporean series too, Immortal Love. Have both modern and the jumping vampires. Quite old though xD Another fav of mine xD

Anonymous said...

I think this series is based more on TVB 1997 "Time Before Time", maybe with the seven sisters added.

Norris said...

This series is never about ghost or horror despite what the impression it gave early on. It's first and foremost a story about cruel fate of couples who couldn't live together happily ever after, which happens to the two pairs of Seven Sisters. Honestly, the last few episodes are my favorite of the entire series because it made me realise how life can be cruel sometimes, and it was interesting to see the dynamic between Gallen and Charmaine change like a roller coaster. It was about survival, companionship, and the struggle to overcome a life ending illness. I LOVE the acting in this series. I always want to tear up near the end of the story. The conclusion is bittersweet as well, but it was beautiful.

I love Seven Sisters.

Bosco Wong fiona said...

I love seven sisters show I will repeat the show again why people don't like to see but i like a lot the show was not scary

Bosco Wong fiona said...

I love seven sisters show I will repeat the show again why people don't like to see but i like a lot the show was not scary

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