Never-Ending Summer

A Love Worth Waiting For

Never-Ending Summer (炽夏) – Review
Overall Rating: 9.4/10

Overview
Watched: Youtube
Never-Ending Summer is one of the best Chinese dramas I've watched in a long time. It perfectly balances romance, heartbreak, healing, and coming-of-age themes without feeling overly dramatic. The story captures the feeling of a realistic high school romance while also highlighting the struggles of poverty, family responsibilities, and growing up. The emotional moments hit hard, but the lighter, romantic scenes keep the drama engaging throughout.

Plot
The story follows Zhou Wan (Bao Shang'en) and Lu Xixiao (Daniel Zhou/Zhou Keyu). Their relationship develops naturally from complicated circumstances into a deep, emotional love story. What makes the plot stand out is that the romance never feels rushed, it takes time for both characters to trust each other and grow together. The drama also does a great job portraying the realities of financial hardship and how those struggles affect relationships and life choices.

Characters
Zhou Wan (Bao Shang'en)
Bao Shang'en delivered a strong performance as Zhou Wan. She portrayed her character's resilience, kindness, and emotional burdens very well. While I understood why Zhou Wan kept so many secrets because of her difficult circumstances, it became frustrating that she constantly chose to hide the truth instead of communicating. Many of the conflicts could have been avoided if she had simply been honest.
Lu Xixiao (Daniel Zhou / Zhou Keyu)
Daniel Zhou was definitely one of the highlights of the drama. His acting felt incredibly natural, and he portrayed Lu Xixiao's devotion and emotional vulnerability so well. I especially loved how much he yearned for Zhou Wan without it ever feeling forced or over-the-top. His chemistry with Bao Shang'en was outstanding, and their relationship felt believable from beginning to end.

What I Loved
• The chemistry between the two leads was amazing. Their interactions felt genuine, funny, romantic, and full of tension.
•The romance developed naturally instead of relying on instant love.
• The balance between sweet moments and emotional heartbreak kept the story engaging.
• The drama realistically portrayed poverty, family pressure, and personal sacrifice.
• The emotional scenes were powerful without becoming overly melodramatic.
• Daniel Zhou's performance was excellent and made Lu Xixiao incredibly easy to root for.

What Could Have Been Better
My biggest issue with the drama was the number of misunderstandings. Zhou Wan repeatedly kept important secrets, lied by omission, and pushed Lu Xixiao away. While I understood her motivations, it became repetitive and sometimes felt like the drama created conflict simply to extend the story.
I also wish Lu Xixiao had stood by the boundaries he set. After everything that happened, he forgave Zhou Wan fairly quickly. Considering how deeply hurt he was, I expected a longer period of rebuilding trust. A slower reconciliation would have felt more realistic and made their reunion even more satisfying.
A few of the misunderstandings could have been resolved through simple conversations, making some conflicts feel slightly forced. Though I understand the reason she lied, he said to promise to her that they will share everything and she said yes, then continued to lie, they could have fought evil together, i understand they are young and this becomes more plausible actions but idk. I also hate in general when shows add kidnapping scenes. ( i never dated a rich guy and his family is keeping us apart and never got into it with debt collectors lol). I feel this trope is overly used and find it hard to believe it happens this often. Also unrealistic how a 17-18 year old boy can fight off most of these guys.

Final Thoughts
Despite my frustrations with the repeated misunderstandings and the quick forgiveness, Never-Ending Summer is an incredibly enjoyable romance. The chemistry between Bao Shang'en and Daniel Zhou carries the entire drama, and their performances make every emotional moment feel authentic. The romance feels mature, heartfelt, and beautifully developed, making it easy to become invested in their journey.
If you enjoy coming-of-age romances with strong emotional storytelling, realistic struggles, slow-burn chemistry, and unforgettable lead performances, this drama is absolutely worth watching. It's easily one of my favorite Chinese dramas released this year and overall.

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OBSESSED!!!

This is the first drama this summer that had me in a real chokehold. The chemistry between the lead actors Zhou Keyu and Bao Shangen is absolutely electric, from their easy banter when they start (and re-start) as enemies, to the literal diabetes they exude during their sweet moments, to the heartbreak they convey when circumstances drive them apart. THE YEARNING is 100000/100 in this one.

From their youth to adulthood there was never a moment I felt bored of their relationship and I felt that every plot device served to show us just how significant, impactful, and "destined" their love was. I truly believed they were made for each other. Often times I find it problematic when youthful (high school) love is portrayed so all-consuming that they'd willingly throw away their lives for each other (because it's just not realistic). I also would not think that someone can't possibly move on after a 10 year gap. But in this show, it not only makes sense, you can truly feel the magnitude of what they feel for each other. Zhou Keyu and Bao Shangen did an incredible job of bringing life to these characters.

Though the plot elements in the 2026 timeline could make a littleeeee more sense, i appreciated that they served to quickly bring our two leads back together (they know what we want hihihi).

Bottom line is, I'm OBSESSED. Never-ending summer has completely taken over my algorithm on all platforms and I'm not mad about it.

This is your sign to WATCH IT NOW! (and have tissues ready)

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The chemistry was off the charts and the actor gave a stellar performance

Things I adored

1 The ML. I've never seen apart for Hidden Love an actor play his part in such a natural way. If you ask me he must be one of the greatest actor out there and I've seen thousands of movies and series n my life. He's not only handsome, he embodies his role like no one else. It was such a joyful experience to see him fall in love, fall in despair and get back from hell. I haven't read the novel and I have no idea if the differences are big between the novel and the drama. What I do know is that his character is perfection. The right amount of rebellious attitude, the right amount of arrogance, of kindness, of everything. I don't know what else can one ask from a character. I'll follow his career and I hope he does many modern dramas and has a successful trajectory. He was just perfect in this drama.

2 The chemistry between the main couple. They were wonderful together. I'll rewatch for sure their romantic swooning moments and fortunately there were so many. He did a great job playing the head over heels for her guy and she matched his talent although I'll admit I think he was stellar and she was great. Some scenes were breathtaking. I cried, I laughed, I wished I could live such a relationship. The dancing scene was so absurd yet so moving. I can't get it out of my mind.

3 The song. It was one of the rare songs I listened to without ever get tired of it. Perfection.

Things I loved

1 The FL. She was a great character and not once I didn't get why she did what she did. She did what she had to do to survive and she thought she did the right thing when she left. I have no complaints about her character and the actress did a great job. It's my first drama with her and I loved her acting. I preferred her looks when she was an adult. I think she was more beautiful and I liked her aura more.

2 The grandmother. The actress did a good job and the relationship between the grandmother and the FL was beautiful. I wish she was there for a longer period.

3 The kisses. There weren't enough, but at least they were decent and they showed us that they had a mature believable relationship. I adored the way they were comfortable with each other, the teasing, the closeness, the gestures.

Things I liked

1 The 2ML. Unlike others I didn't dislike him. Yes he did something that cost our couple dearly but as the FL said, he didn't do it on purpose, and even if he did, who can blame him? he had a stupid mother and a horrible father and no one to lean on. The ML and the FL had at least each other. He literally had no one, so as an adult I get why he did what he did and he redeemed himself so I'm quite happy with his character development. I just wish he remained friends with the FL and built a relationship with the ML. My heart went to him when we last saw him. He was a lonely child who had to figure things out alone.

2 The second couple. I liked them but I didn't love them. Yes their arc was believable and realistic, but I was put off by the looks of the actor. I've seen him recently in my Little Happiness and he was my favorite character. Here he had a weird haircut and he seemed so awkward. In the high school years he was good, but then he was weird so I didn't care much about his arc. Anyway, I was happy they stayed friends with the main couple and I was happy they had their happy ending.

3 The aunt of the ML. I wish she had a bigger part and a closer relationship to her nephew. They probably were close but we didn't see that enough.

Things I disliked

1 The outfits. I read that many praised the way the FL was dressed but I thought she was awfully dressed most of the times. The outfits weren't a good fit for her and same goes for the ML. He had some good outfits but he had also some quite awful. Did I hate all of them? No, she had a few good ones and same goes for him, but all in all I can't say I liked the bad fitted items they wore. An example: the white dress and the awful flower. What the heck was that? There were others equally bad and even worse, but that is what came to mind right now.

2 That we didn't have enough episodes with them as adults. I'd like to see them more in their adult life. I didn't like that the forgive her period lasted so little. I wanted him to be distant and try to make her pay for longer. Somehow it felt rushed and not strong enough a reaction for what he went through. Yes, I get that he loved her, but I needed a better outcome. I wanted to see more of him keeping his distance even though I was craving for him to forgive her. Weird I know, but I needed more time with them dealing with their past.

Things I hated

1 The father of the ML. What can I say other than he should go to jail and have a terrible, horrible life from then on. What a despicable, horrible excuse of a father. No excuse for any of his actions. He deserved nothing than the worst. He didn't suffer enough if you ask me.

2 The mother of the FL. It's crazy that they tried to find her some excuses for abandoning her child. Do I think parents have sometimes to make hard decisions go give their children a better future? Absolutely and it's heartbreaking. Do I think this was the case here? Definitely not. It's not only what she did when the FL was a child. It was how she behaved when they met again. She was a horrible human being and I was happy she paid a price, albeit not big enough for me. Unlike others I didn't find the actress beautiful at all, but maybe that's because she did a great job to make me hate her and I could only see her as an ugly villain.

3 The grandfather. I'm not sure why they tried to sell him to us as a good person. He wasn't. He didn't care abut his grandson, he only cared about what he wanted for him. He had no reason whatsoever to behave he way he did with the FL and I blame him for his despicable son. I wasn't happy that the ML still had a close relationship with him. He shouldn't have forgiven him. Period.

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When you know their love story will be never ending!

I reeeeeally enjoyed Never Ending Summer! It had so many emotional and genuinely sad moments, and the yearning from the MMC was SO good — he really had me feeling all the feelings. His eyes could say sooo much even without dialogue. I can’t tell you the amount of heart flutters I had each time Lu Xi Xiao cradled her head!

I honestly hated seeing everything they had to go through before finally getting their happy ending. There were so many hardships and moments where I just wanted to scream, “Can’t they catch a break?!” Zhou Wan was a standout lead, she powered so many great scenes and when she cried, I wanted to cry too.

The love rival was flipping irritating in places, I don’t know why we always need a love rival, although let’s be real… he never stood a chance against the FL’s true love, anyway! I felt bad for Jiang Yan; he was in an unpleasant life situation, and you could see his fondness, but as with all second MLs, he didn’t know when to bow out gracefully.

I’m also a fan of both lead actors, and I thought they gave such great, convincing performances. They really sold the emotions and made the romance feel believable. Oh, the longing was real, folks! And so was the angst.
Not a fan of time jumps, like at all, I always feel like we miss so much story of the in between, but I understood it was needed to get the couple to the next part of their lives.

So many episodes, this show got me in my feelings. That dancing alone scene, gah! I was a sobbing mess.

If I had to criticize anything, I never took to the second couple. They felt too immature from the school days into adulthood. I would have given screen time to Jiang Yan finding a new love interest over them.

Overall, such a great watch.
Aesthetically pleasing to the eye and wonderful acting.
I’d beg on my rickety knees to see the leads in another modern drama together.

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Its all about the way the male lead looks at the female lead the rest is kind of meeh

This drama is a bit hard to rate, it start off sweet fun with great leads nice cinematography biut also a promise that this will end keeping the suspense alive for a just a little bit to long as the whole break up (we know from the start is going to happen) kind of feels off. and disproportionate to all that came before it...

That said the way the male looks at the female lead is a solid 10, his playfulness, his obsession, everything about him is a lot of fun to watch. Not healthy or goals in any way but dude looks at the female lead like Homer Simpson looks a a donut. And it is adorable.

Ha also has some pretty decent and honest lines here and there.

Chemistry is good, kisses phenomenal there are decent side characters main plot is kind of meeh seen this before and brings nothing new to the table.

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What a master piece!!!

It's best modern cdrama in 2026 ! I didn't have so much expectations bcoz i didn't watched any work of zhou keyu,now i watched this his acting is really good not iam saying top notch but look at his age he is only 24 and he is really good for that ,and I felt he is truly handsome in this ✋🤏.and bao shengnan also played really well actually her work i watched before was generation to generation it was really bland not bcoz of their acting but the story itself is boring ,so I also didn't have hope for her but some reels hooked me and i started watching it and the desition was not wrong.

Iam not giving you any spoilers bcoz you should watch it then only you can know it ,and if you are pending it bcoz of the negative comments,no don't do it it's really good ,like it was an mixed things have happiness, yearning, emotional times,but his love for her so visible even in his eyes and she also you only understand her true feelings at last not judge at middle episodes.iam not saying anymore.iam about reluctant for leaving this drama.😮‍💨💔

Bye bye lixixiao ,zhou wan...

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Everyone must watch it to enjoy the lovely moments

I have watched so many dramas… but Never Ending Summer (2026) hit me in a completely different way. 🌅

This is not just a love story — it’s a journey of first love, heartbreak, memories, and the kind of emotions that stay with you for a long time. The way the story moves from youthful innocence to mature love makes it feel so real and deeply relatable.

Every episode pulled me deeper into its world. Once I entered, coming out felt almost impossible. The calm, dreamy vibe, the emotions, and the connection between the characters made me feel like I was living inside a never-ending summer.

Even after finishing it, I still feel like I’m stuck in that world… like a beautiful dream I don’t want to wake up from. 💭✨

This drama didn’t just entertain me — it stayed with me. ❤️

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it's a slop, but still the chemistry makes it somewhat watchable.

This drama has a full blown 2000s era kdrama makjang setting, with all the classics such as secret familial relations, a secret child from a mistress etc.. Sure there is way less shouting here than what's normal in such kdrama makjangs, it's still a cdrama after all, but all the typical plots we can expect end up happening. There is a stabbing and another kidnapping etc.

Normally I don't like this genre, but I'm of the opinion that it could have kind of worked here, however I called this a slop in the headline & I have a very good reason for that. To me it seems like this drama is using AI generated dialog, not all of it is that & there are quite a few good ideas & epic scenes, but for example pretty much none of the second ML's later conversations with FL feel like what a human writer would have made. Sure, there are some bad writers out there, disrespecting the audience, insulting their intelligence etc, but this is beyond that. It really does feel like Ai generated discourse, with all the weird back and forth that is very unlike what humans produce. If someone actually pays attention, Ai generated conversations are just incredibly EXHAUSTING to read & that's what I increasingly felt as the subs rolled by.

While it's unlikely that the main plot of the final episodes, which can be summarized in 10 sentences has been done by ai, but it's mindbogglingly stupid how FL starts living with ML & then sleeps on his bed all the while the conversations they are having about all this is just wow.

While it's unfortunate a script reliant on so much Ai assisted writing made it through, the rest of the crew worked really hard on this. The actors were awesome, FL and ML had quite extraordinary chemistry. Chemistry to the point that is rarely seen on Chinese TV, maybe the last time I saw something like this was in `Love Is Sweet`.

Anyway even if I tried to turn my brain off, at times this drama takes itself way too seriously & as such it's hard to forgive the complete lack of dialog coherence. Meaning the conversations tend to be very random & disconnected from past dialog.

The irony is that Ai video generation is also used for special effects & with the exception of the -incredibly stupid & poorly prompted- swimming pool scene, most of it is rather ok & not too over the top.

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In the abyssal dark lies glimpses of brilliance.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much for this drama. I knew just seeing the tags that this was going to be a bit heavy. Though this obviously had a ton of inspiration from another drama *ahem OBS lololol, it was re-written and reinterpreted enough that I would call it an original, albeit inspired work.

With that said, this is one of the more better produced dramas that came out of China in a while. There are tons of dramas this year, but this drama hearkens back to the days where classic cinematography and composition was used to move the story along.

Now onto the story, it actually makes a lot of sense. I know when it comes to romance, most "romance" drama watchers would prefer the angle of "prince charming" swooping in. However, not only was that not realistic, it devalues the girl wayy too much. I much preferred this. Call me old, but I prefer mature romance in which there's independence from both parties and inspite of that, they can still come together in the end. And this drama delivered in that aspect. Lu Xi Xiao, though he had his problems, it never occurred to him that all that he's done, all that he's achieved were done on his dad's/ family's penny. It was totally justified for Zhou Wan to leave him and let him understand his own value. As for Zhou Wan's character, I was a bit disappointed that she wasn't given a better platform after her 10 years of hard work. A bit realistic, but man, couldn't she become someone more... important? In the end, I dinked the writing a bit just because Zhou Wan's value ended up being the acceptance of Lu Xi Xiao for her complete self... i guess lol

Anyways, I just wrote a review for this drama just because i loved OBS. And since this was heavily inspired by that, I want justify my own score for it using this review lol

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A Refreshing Youth Drama

Never-Ending Summer is about young romance between a rich, rebelious bad boy and a studious, and poor girl. Does this pairing ring a bell? It's not a new pairing, but it's definitely addictive to watch. I personally enjoyed watching this drama due to the complexity of the characters. While watching this drama, many people compared it to The First Frost, because the man is always chasing for the love of his life, while the woman is always running away due to personal, fair, reasons.

Our female lead, Zhou Wan (Bao Shang En) is a very complex character, she may not be liked by many people, but I enjoyed navigating the layers of our heroine. I would say she is a morally grey character, because she sacrificed a lot for people she loves dearly. Doesn't matter what she does in her youth, as long as she could save the people she loves. Some would say she's selfish, mean, and a liar, I think otherwise. Zhou Wan is not inherently selfish, or mean. Yes, she is a liar, but she was forced to do so. Some say she could've just told the guy, however, from her perspective I think she would prefer to keep her issues to herself. She always handles these situations alone, because that's how she grew up. She was alone in a sense, she didn't want to hurt anyone and she thinks she's not the best person if the people she loves are hurt in the process. Her upbringing explains a lot of her behavior honestly. As an adult, I think she finally learned that it's okay to lean on others rather than holding it in, and that's character development in my books. I really enjoyed Bao Shang En's acting in this drama, very natural in my opinion, it felt like she embodied her character quite well.

On the opposite side, we have Lu Xi Xiao (Zhou Ke Yu) - your typical rich, yet rebellious male lead. I personally think LXX's personality stems from his broken family. Of course, other things comes in to play as well, but deep inside I don't think he's truly a rebellious guy. Other than having a weathly background, all he really wants is someone who loves him unconditionally and gives the attention he needs. That's where Zhou Wan comes in. The way LXX treats ZW is like she's the queen of his world. When he fell for her, he would always put her first and will never forget her. I think that's amazing, and genuine. He was heartbroken several times, yet continued to love Zhou Wan, because he knew she is not genuinely a bad person. I think this is where the anger stems from as they reunited as adults. Because he loved her with his whole heart, and knew what kind of person she is, he is angry that she couldn't just tell him the truth. As an adult though, LXX was childish AF, it was very annoying and cringe to watch. Zhou Ke Yu's acting as a rebeliious guy was a bit cringe I'm not gonna lie, maybe cause I've seen him on variety shows and can tell he's just acting, and not embodying the bad boy persona. Needless to say, his acting overall was decent as well. It was natural aside from the bad boy vibes he was trying to go for, his puppy eye love for Zhou Wan felt very genuine. I think this is my first ZKY drama, not sure if I've seen him in other dramas to compare but the impression was pretty good.


The music overall was good, the story was decent. It's quite sad honestly to watch in the beginning, but as adults it's all about revenge and reunion between the leads so the drama vibes did shift. I'm not going to lie, I skipped a lot of scenes in the last few episodes. lol I feel like I only watched this drama for the lead characters, no interest in the side characters at all.

If you enjoy rich, bad boy x poor, studious girl tropes definitely go ahead and watch it.

Never-Ending Summer touches upon some dark topics such as loss of loved ones, grieving, depression, abandonment, loneliness, etc. I feel like they touched the surface of some of these topics instead of going deep into it
If you must ask whether I recommend it, I can only say it did not give me the "Omg are you watching this drama?!" vibe when chatting with my friends. Like the only thing I cared about were the main leads, and that says a lot about the drama overall imo.

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