This review may contain spoilers
Good Girl x Bad Boy with A Pinch of Teenage Angst and Chaebol Family Soap Opera
Disclaimer: This review only covers the first 17 episodes, so please do not attack me for marking it as completed. I need to do so in order to make a full yapping about this series as I'm totally pissed off after watching it.
I don't even have the slightest idea of the reason I'm coming to "Never-Ending Summer". I did try to read the novel once, but goodness only knows why, it's so full of violence and sexual contents which discourages me to continue - oh yeah, the ML is also a total jerk who only knows to flirt with other pretty girls since he's a carefree chaebol boy. I couldn't care less about that. However, when words got out that Zhou Keyu and Bao Shang'en would star this drama, I reminded myself it wouldn't do much harm to try watching a bit, 'cause I like Keyu (he's a super-duper pretty boy and a sexy one on top of that). So, let's see my take on "Never-Ending Summer".
The story tells us the angsty romance story between Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao. Zhou Wan is a straight-A student whom the teachers always brag about. She also has a nice and kind-hearted personality and is extroverted enough to build a connection within her classmates. However, nobody ever knows her family condition and that she's now living in a run-down apartment with her sickly grandmother. To pay her grandma's medical bill, Zhou Wan becomes a manipulative person and secretly works as a tutor by posing as a college student looking for part-time job. Sometimes, she also makes note and sells them to a nearby bookstore, hoping that her school friends will buy dozens of them. Zhou Wan comes from a broken family as her father had died during a factory accident and her mother Guo Yan (better known as Guo Xiangling) fled to the Lu Family to have a better life, preferring to abandon her biological daughter with her grandma. On the other hand, Lu Xixiao is your typical bad boy with a rebellious streak against his controlling family. He has zero interest in studies but is zealous over painting (as painting is his mother's favorite hobby). Xixiao accidentally meets Zhou Wan in an abandoned swimming pool behind their school and she helps to tutor him so that he can go abroad to delve more into the painting world. Since then, the two develop an unusual bond and become each other's emotional anchor since they both come from dysfunctional families. Nevertheless, there will always be obstacles hampering their relationship. As they approach their adult years, their love and loyalty are tested repeatedly, and they finally find their true selves within the storm.
So, what can I say about the plot? Well, nothing much to say maybe, because the story is so awfully generic that even writers who love rich-boy-x-poor-girl trope know how to combine this spice into a hot mess. I grow frustrated over times as I watch this drama and always skip endlessly as the plot rumbles with a pace of a snail. Zhou Wan grows into a frustrating character as she always gives mixed signals to Xixiao. Well, she only approaches him so that she can have her revenge against her bitchy mommy and extract money from her to pay for grandma's hospital bill. Unbeknownst to Xixiao, the pair of mother and daughter has concocted scheme that will threaten the couple's relationship. All I see from Zhou Wan is crying like a little baby, mumbling about suicide after grandma dies, breaking down in front of Xixiao, being bullied by a gang of thugs, and complaining interminably to Jiang Yan (her neighborhood friend). However, the next day, she will turn into a completely different person and attempts very hard to make Xixiao hate her, like gurl, can you be more specific about your feeling - like you love him or not? If no, please leave Xixiao alone before he hates you that much. But she doesn't seem to be aware of her actions and acts like a double-faced liar instead. For Xixiao, I don't know why you always have to listen to your sugar daddy and listen to every of his order. Firstly, you want to escape abroad then he threatens to sell your mommy's residence. Secondly, you want to play along with Zhou Wan, then he grounds him in the Lu mansion. Thirdly, grandpa intervenes as well and wants Zhou Wan to stay away from you. Okay, this is getting more and more tedious and I don't care the single fuck you want to do anymore. I'm also tired of seeing him repeatedly forgiving Zhou Wan despite her manipulative behavior. After the forgiving, they will act as if nothing happened, then fluffy couple scenes will be thrown in your frame and you are going to see how both of them flirt endlessly, including kissing, I guess.
In the above paragraph, I've said pretty clearly that I don't like the main couple. Now, let me list what I also dislike from this drama. Firstly, congratulation for the bitchy mommy Guo Yan/Guo Xiangling for being so awfully selfish and abusive that I hate her the most. Secondly, the whole Lu family (except for Xixiao's auntie) for being so fucking lucrative and only thinking about their company and whatsoever. Thirdly, the second couple Jiang Fan and Gu Meng for having the most lackluster bickering relationship - I see no spark between these two people. Fourthly, Jiang Yan and his mommy - mommy previously had an affair with sugar daddy Lu and she got pregnant with Jiang Yan, then the two of them were kicked out of the Lu mansion due to their underprivileged economic background. That's why she always encourages Jiang Yan to loathe the Lu family, even though not all people are the same as sugar daddy. Fifthly, Jiang Yan gives mixed signal as well, sometimes being hostile to Xixiao, and sometimes secretly helping the couple to escape by having meaningless talk with sugar daddy. Sixthly, the hooligan Luo He keeps abusing Zhou Wan and uses violence to harm her, and yet his elusive gang always disappears before the police comes. Seventhly, Xixiao always comes to Zhou Wan's rescue whenever she is harassed by Luo He's gang, like they are in some kind of mafia mini dramas. I don't have any idea about the stabbing scene, but that comes off as cheesy to me.
Now, to the acting. All the actors have performed very well according to the script, and I appreciate all their hard works. This is my third drama of Bao Shang'en after the reboot of "The Legend of Condor Heroes" and "Generation to Generation". I feel Shang'en still has room for improvement for her next roles, and she radiates the bubbly yet resilient and independent aura of Zhou Wan seamlessly, proving herself as a promising future actress in C-drama land. Meanwhile, Zhou Keyu has come out of his comfort zone and has better micro-expressions which are shown during the scene of Zhou Wan lying to her and how he forcefully kisses her in ep 10. Other than the leads, I've only known Fu Weilun from "Extraordinary" and Ke Chun from numerous mini dramas. Their performances are so-so, so I don't think I'm going to complain much further. And please tell Ke Chun not to take any of this abusive role in the future. He's too good to become a real rogue juvenile delinquent.
The OSTs are giving mixed signals as well because I like some of them and dislike some too. My favorite will be 梦与环游 by Xu Ziwei and Cui Shiba, Sunburn by Brian Cheng, Frozen Heart by 8Bite and Dyrox, 最蓝核梦 by Murphy's Law band. Other than the songs I list, all sounds kinda meh to me, or maybe I'm too overwhelmed by the shitty stuffs happening in the drama.
Of course, my last words will be do not try to watch this drama unless you're in a total drama slump or you want to see beautiful fashions of the leads here or you need a daily dose of sizzling chemistry of these two people (all is up to you). Thank you for reading my whole yapping and I'm so glad to take everything off my chest. Good luck and happy watching!!!
P.S.
If any of you ever know about an Indonesian novel titled "Long Lost Memories in Daejeon", the ML's tragic backstory is more or less similar to Xixiao's. However, the characterization of the FL is completely different and she's a full-time simp too.
I don't even have the slightest idea of the reason I'm coming to "Never-Ending Summer". I did try to read the novel once, but goodness only knows why, it's so full of violence and sexual contents which discourages me to continue - oh yeah, the ML is also a total jerk who only knows to flirt with other pretty girls since he's a carefree chaebol boy. I couldn't care less about that. However, when words got out that Zhou Keyu and Bao Shang'en would star this drama, I reminded myself it wouldn't do much harm to try watching a bit, 'cause I like Keyu (he's a super-duper pretty boy and a sexy one on top of that). So, let's see my take on "Never-Ending Summer".
The story tells us the angsty romance story between Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao. Zhou Wan is a straight-A student whom the teachers always brag about. She also has a nice and kind-hearted personality and is extroverted enough to build a connection within her classmates. However, nobody ever knows her family condition and that she's now living in a run-down apartment with her sickly grandmother. To pay her grandma's medical bill, Zhou Wan becomes a manipulative person and secretly works as a tutor by posing as a college student looking for part-time job. Sometimes, she also makes note and sells them to a nearby bookstore, hoping that her school friends will buy dozens of them. Zhou Wan comes from a broken family as her father had died during a factory accident and her mother Guo Yan (better known as Guo Xiangling) fled to the Lu Family to have a better life, preferring to abandon her biological daughter with her grandma. On the other hand, Lu Xixiao is your typical bad boy with a rebellious streak against his controlling family. He has zero interest in studies but is zealous over painting (as painting is his mother's favorite hobby). Xixiao accidentally meets Zhou Wan in an abandoned swimming pool behind their school and she helps to tutor him so that he can go abroad to delve more into the painting world. Since then, the two develop an unusual bond and become each other's emotional anchor since they both come from dysfunctional families. Nevertheless, there will always be obstacles hampering their relationship. As they approach their adult years, their love and loyalty are tested repeatedly, and they finally find their true selves within the storm.
So, what can I say about the plot? Well, nothing much to say maybe, because the story is so awfully generic that even writers who love rich-boy-x-poor-girl trope know how to combine this spice into a hot mess. I grow frustrated over times as I watch this drama and always skip endlessly as the plot rumbles with a pace of a snail. Zhou Wan grows into a frustrating character as she always gives mixed signals to Xixiao. Well, she only approaches him so that she can have her revenge against her bitchy mommy and extract money from her to pay for grandma's hospital bill. Unbeknownst to Xixiao, the pair of mother and daughter has concocted scheme that will threaten the couple's relationship. All I see from Zhou Wan is crying like a little baby, mumbling about suicide after grandma dies, breaking down in front of Xixiao, being bullied by a gang of thugs, and complaining interminably to Jiang Yan (her neighborhood friend). However, the next day, she will turn into a completely different person and attempts very hard to make Xixiao hate her, like gurl, can you be more specific about your feeling - like you love him or not? If no, please leave Xixiao alone before he hates you that much. But she doesn't seem to be aware of her actions and acts like a double-faced liar instead. For Xixiao, I don't know why you always have to listen to your sugar daddy and listen to every of his order. Firstly, you want to escape abroad then he threatens to sell your mommy's residence. Secondly, you want to play along with Zhou Wan, then he grounds him in the Lu mansion. Thirdly, grandpa intervenes as well and wants Zhou Wan to stay away from you. Okay, this is getting more and more tedious and I don't care the single fuck you want to do anymore. I'm also tired of seeing him repeatedly forgiving Zhou Wan despite her manipulative behavior. After the forgiving, they will act as if nothing happened, then fluffy couple scenes will be thrown in your frame and you are going to see how both of them flirt endlessly, including kissing, I guess.
In the above paragraph, I've said pretty clearly that I don't like the main couple. Now, let me list what I also dislike from this drama. Firstly, congratulation for the bitchy mommy Guo Yan/Guo Xiangling for being so awfully selfish and abusive that I hate her the most. Secondly, the whole Lu family (except for Xixiao's auntie) for being so fucking lucrative and only thinking about their company and whatsoever. Thirdly, the second couple Jiang Fan and Gu Meng for having the most lackluster bickering relationship - I see no spark between these two people. Fourthly, Jiang Yan and his mommy - mommy previously had an affair with sugar daddy Lu and she got pregnant with Jiang Yan, then the two of them were kicked out of the Lu mansion due to their underprivileged economic background. That's why she always encourages Jiang Yan to loathe the Lu family, even though not all people are the same as sugar daddy. Fifthly, Jiang Yan gives mixed signal as well, sometimes being hostile to Xixiao, and sometimes secretly helping the couple to escape by having meaningless talk with sugar daddy. Sixthly, the hooligan Luo He keeps abusing Zhou Wan and uses violence to harm her, and yet his elusive gang always disappears before the police comes. Seventhly, Xixiao always comes to Zhou Wan's rescue whenever she is harassed by Luo He's gang, like they are in some kind of mafia mini dramas. I don't have any idea about the stabbing scene, but that comes off as cheesy to me.
Now, to the acting. All the actors have performed very well according to the script, and I appreciate all their hard works. This is my third drama of Bao Shang'en after the reboot of "The Legend of Condor Heroes" and "Generation to Generation". I feel Shang'en still has room for improvement for her next roles, and she radiates the bubbly yet resilient and independent aura of Zhou Wan seamlessly, proving herself as a promising future actress in C-drama land. Meanwhile, Zhou Keyu has come out of his comfort zone and has better micro-expressions which are shown during the scene of Zhou Wan lying to her and how he forcefully kisses her in ep 10. Other than the leads, I've only known Fu Weilun from "Extraordinary" and Ke Chun from numerous mini dramas. Their performances are so-so, so I don't think I'm going to complain much further. And please tell Ke Chun not to take any of this abusive role in the future. He's too good to become a real rogue juvenile delinquent.
The OSTs are giving mixed signals as well because I like some of them and dislike some too. My favorite will be 梦与环游 by Xu Ziwei and Cui Shiba, Sunburn by Brian Cheng, Frozen Heart by 8Bite and Dyrox, 最蓝核梦 by Murphy's Law band. Other than the songs I list, all sounds kinda meh to me, or maybe I'm too overwhelmed by the shitty stuffs happening in the drama.
Of course, my last words will be do not try to watch this drama unless you're in a total drama slump or you want to see beautiful fashions of the leads here or you need a daily dose of sizzling chemistry of these two people (all is up to you). Thank you for reading my whole yapping and I'm so glad to take everything off my chest. Good luck and happy watching!!!
P.S.
If any of you ever know about an Indonesian novel titled "Long Lost Memories in Daejeon", the ML's tragic backstory is more or less similar to Xixiao's. However, the characterization of the FL is completely different and she's a full-time simp too.
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