Sunshine Through the Rain (original title 今天是太阳雨) is a Chinese youth romance starring Winwin (Dong Sicheng) and Yang Chaoyue as two rival students who start out competing for a scholarship and end up supporting each other. It began airing on 6 November 2026, so this is an early review: our verdict is a promising, gentle watch for fans of youth healing dramas, with a provisional rating of 3.5 out of 5 that we will revisit after the finale.
The series airs on Mango TV in China and is on Netflix in some regions. Because it is still releasing, we cover what has been confirmed, the cast, the premise, the early reception and what to expect, and we keep story spoilers out.
Please note: episode counts and schedules differ between sources, so we list them in the table below with the source of each.
At a glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Original title | 今天是太阳雨 |
| Premiere | Friday 6 November 2026, 12:00 China time (9:30 AM IST), episodes 1 to 3 together |
| Platforms | Mango TV in China; Netflix in selected regions |
| Episodes | Reported as 24 episodes of about 45 minutes (Knitting Hiyori); Netflix’s page lists 11 in its header, so the count is unsettled |
| Genre | Youth romance, healing drama |
| Leads | Winwin (Dong Sicheng) as Chen Yanzhou, Yang Chaoyue as Zheng Yu |
| Other cast | Sun Ning, Li Yuzhen, Liu Jiaxi, Zhang Simin, Sun Yushu |
| Director | Mao De Shu, who also directed When I Fly Towards You (2023) |
| Writer | Shi Ye, original screenplay (not adapted from a novel) |
| Netflix audio | Mandarin, Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Thai |
| Netflix subtitles | English, Spanish (Latin America), French, Simplified and Traditional Chinese |
| Maturity rating | TV-14 on Netflix |
The plot (premise only)
Zheng Yu (Yang Chaoyue) is a third-year biology student weighed down by family debt, working several part-time jobs while competing for a scholarship. Chen Yanzhou (Winwin) returns to university after a period of medical leave and takes first place in the biology department, which makes him her academic rival.
The drama is described as enemies-to-lovers: the two begin as competitors for the same scholarship and gradually become each other’s support through personal hardships. Chen Yanzhou is described as withdrawn after the death of his brother, and Zheng Yu as someone forced to take on heavy responsibilities early.
The series is an original screenplay, not an adaptation of a novel, and it is billed as a youth healing drama. Because it is still releasing, we describe only the premise and early set-up, and keep later plot points out.
Meet the characters
Zheng Yu (Yang Chaoyue), “the grass girl”. A junior biology student at Qingyi University whom coverage nicknames the “grass girl” (野草少女) for her toughness. Her father died early, her mother is in a vegetative state and her younger brother has nerve-related deafness, so she carries the medical bills and debts. She works several part-time jobs, faces debt collectors and chases a scholarship to keep the family afloat.
Chen Yanzhou (Winwin), “the shadow boy”. A gifted student who returns after a year of medical leave, described as recovering from heart surgery and withdrawn after his brother’s death. He looks well-off but is emotionally closed, and he arrives in the biology programme and takes first place straight away.
What binds them. Both are people “caught in the rain”, as one article puts it. They compete for a single scholarship, the Vitality Award (生机奖), until a joint research project forces them to work side by side and each sees the vulnerability behind the other’s guarded exterior. The romance is described as restrained and built on quiet companionship rather than a quick spark.
Cast and performances
| Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Winwin (Dong Sicheng) | Chen Yanzhou | Returns from medical leave and tops the biology department; best known internationally as a member of NCT and WayV |
| Yang Chaoyue | Zheng Yu | A student juggling part-time jobs and a scholarship race |
| Sun Ning | Special starring role | Role not confirmed in the sources we checked |
| Li Yuzhen, Liu Jiaxi, Zhang Simin, Sun Yushu | Supporting roles | Roles to be confirmed |
What to expect from the leads. The pairing rests on two contrasting temperaments: Zheng Yu is practical and driven by necessity, while Chen Yanzhou is quiet and guarded. How well the two actors build that chemistry over the long run is the main thing to judge, and with only the first episodes out, we cannot yet say whether it fully works.
On Winwin. Reports describe this as a new youth C-drama for him, and fans of his music will recognise him as a member of NCT and WayV.
Episode guide: the first six episodes
The first six episodes aired between 6 and 7 November 2026, and the drama is reported at 24 episodes in total. Titles and the short summaries below come from a show tracker, and later episodes are not yet titled.
| # | Title | Aired | Runtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Off the Curve | 6 Nov | 46 min |
| 2 | The Driven | 6 Nov | 52 min |
| 3 | Points of Reference | 6 Nov | 51 min |
| 4 | Someone in Yesterday | 7 Nov | 52 min |
| 5 | What You Never Knew | 7 Nov | 45 min |
| 6 | Two Under the Mountain | 7 Nov | 46 min |
Episodes 1 to 3 (as summarised by the tracker). Zheng Yu struggles financially and is wary of Chen Yanzhou after an awkward encounter, and their rivalry for a lab position grows into mutual respect. No summaries were available for episodes 4 to 6.
Where it airs. Netflix and Mango TV started the series at the same time on 6 November, and it is reported to air on Hunan Satellite TV on the evening of 11 November. Regional Netflix availability varies.
Direction, writing and craft
Direction. Mao De Shu directs, and the director’s earlier credit When I Fly Towards You (2023) is a youth romance, so the genre is familiar ground. Viewers who liked that series will find the same focus on school-age relationships here.
Writing. Shi Ye wrote the original screenplay. Because it is not adapted from a novel, there is no source story to compare against and the pacing is an open question until the later episodes arrive.
Format. The series is released in batches, with episodes 1 to 3 on the premiere day and further episodes in the following days. Episodes run about 45 minutes, so even the early batch gives a fair sense of tone.
What we could not assess yet. We have not covered the music, cinematography or editing in detail because there is not enough released material and not enough published coverage to judge them fairly. We will update this section as the series continues.
The look and the locations
The visual identity is built around rain. A Taiwanese entertainment report describes rainy, low-saturation visuals as central to the series’ look, which fits a title about sunlight appearing while the rain is still falling. The production is reported to have filmed in Berlin, Guangzhou and Zhuhai, which suggests a story that moves beyond a single campus. The production company listed by TMDB-style databases is Linmon Pictures.
The title image is also the show’s theme. One article describes the series as being about “people caught in the rain”, with the sun shower standing for light arriving before the storm has passed.
Audience and critical reaction
Early coverage is positive but thin. A MyDramaList News headline reports that the series “premieres to positive reviews”, and the casting of Winwin has drawn interest from his international fans. We could not open the full article, so we cannot report specific scores or quotes.
We did not find enough published ratings, such as Douban or MyDramaList scores, to report a reliable audience number, and any figure quoted this early in a series’ run can change quickly as more episodes air.
How to read early reception. For a 24-episode youth romance, the first batch mostly shows tone and chemistry, while the real test comes in the middle, when the pacing, the subplots and the emotional payoffs arrive.
The scene fans are talking about
The most-discussed early moment is not a kiss or a confession. It is a quiet exchange in which Zheng Yu and Chen Yanzhou pass messages through the comment feature of a shared document, which fans have nicknamed “cyber note-passing” (赛博传纸条). In one scene Zheng Yu zones out while typing in class and Chen Yanzhou prompts her to look up, right there in the document. Some viewers said this subtle exchange was more moving than an explicit declaration.
Winwin’s acting debut. Before the premiere, trailer viewers praised the singer for dropping his idol image, with no stage make-up or flashy styling, and for a cool, reserved presence and restrained reactions in emotional scenes. Many said he was convincing as a university student. That is anticipation and trailer reaction, not a verdict on the full performance.
Our first impressions
This is a provisional take, based on the premise, the cast, the director’s track record and early reception, not on the full series.
The premise is a strong fit for the genre. Two students in competition for one scholarship, one carrying the pressure of family debt and the other returning from medical leave and grief, is a setup that gives a youth romance real stakes. Enemies-to-lovers works best when each character has something genuinely at risk, and both leads do here.
The title does a lot of work. A sun shower is rain falling while the sun is out, a good image for a story about hope in the middle of hardship. The healing-drama label suggests a gentle, emotional tone rather than a high-concept plot.
The leads are the draw. Winwin brings an international audience, and Yang Chaoyue carries the more practical, struggling side of the story. Whether their chemistry holds across 24 episodes is the thing to watch.
Risks. A long run for a campus romance can mean repeated misunderstandings and filler, and an original screenplay has no source novel to keep the plot tight. We will watch the middle episodes for pacing.
Our verdict so far. A promising, warm-hearted watch for fans of youth healing dramas, with the usual risk of mid-season drag.
Our provisional rating: 3.5 / 5
This rating is provisional and will be updated after the finale. It reflects the premise, cast and early reception, not the whole series.
| Category | Score (out of 5) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Premise and concept | 4 | Strong stakes for a youth romance |
| Cast and chemistry | 3.5 | Promising leads, chemistry still to be tested |
| Writing and pacing | 3 | Unknown until the middle episodes air |
| Direction | 3.5 | Experienced in the genre |
| Emotional pull | 3.5 | Healing-drama tone suggests a warm watch |
| Overall (provisional) | 3.5 | Promising, to be revisited |
Why we scored it this way
Every score below is provisional and based on the premise, the characters, the early episodes as described in coverage, and the director’s record, not on a full viewing of the series.
Premise and concept: 4 / 5. Few youth romances begin with this much at stake. Zheng Yu is paying for her family’s medical care and debts, and Chen Yanzhou is recovering from surgery and grief. The scholarship rivalry is a neat device because it turns money, ambition and loneliness into a single competition.
Cast and chemistry: 3.5 / 5. Pre-release praise for Winwin’s restraint and the show’s early quiet scenes are encouraging, and Yang Chaoyue has the tougher, more practical role. We hold back half a point until we can judge how the pair play the long emotional stretch.
Writing and pacing: 3 / 5. The small, specific touches reported from the early episodes, such as the shared-document messages, show a writer who prefers subtlety. A 24-episode run is long for a campus romance, though, and original screenplays can sag in the middle. This is our most uncertain score.
Direction and visuals: 3.5 / 5. The director has made a popular youth romance before, and the rainy, low-saturation look and the Berlin, Guangzhou and Zhuhai locations point to a considered style.
Emotional pull: 3.5 / 5. The healing-drama label, the quiet-companionship romance and the sun-shower theme all aim at comfort rather than shock, which is what many viewers want from this genre.
What would raise or lower the score. A rating of 4 or higher would need the middle episodes to keep the stakes alive without repeating misunderstandings. A drop to 3 would come if the pacing slows and the supporting cast stays thin.
Pros and cons (so far)
Pros
- A clear, emotionally rich premise with real stakes
- Winwin and Yang Chaoyue as leads
- An experienced youth-romance director
- Netflix subtitles in English and several other languages
- Early coverage is positive
Cons
- A 24-episode run risks pacing problems
- Episode count and schedule are reported inconsistently
- Little published reception so far, so ratings are provisional
- Netflix availability varies by region
Who should watch it, and where to stream
Watch it if you enjoy youth romances, enemies-to-lovers stories and gentle healing dramas, liked When I Fly Towards You, or follow Winwin.
Wait if you prefer to binge a finished series, since it is still airing and episodes arrive in daily batches.
Where to watch. The series premiered on Mango TV in China. Netflix lists it with Mandarin audio and subtitles in English and other languages, and Knitting Hiyori reports that Netflix Taiwan had Episode 6 available on 7 November. Which episodes you get on Netflix, and when, depends on your region, so check the Netflix app. Fan uploads of the series on sites such as Dailymotion are unofficial.
Final verdict
Sunshine Through the Rain has the ingredients of a heartfelt youth healing drama: a strong rivals-to-partners premise, two leads with something real at stake, and an experienced youth-romance director. It is early days, so we give it a provisional 3.5 / 5 and will revisit once the finale has aired.
Are you watching Sunshine Through the Rain? Tell us in the comments how the first episodes landed for you.
FAQs
What is Sunshine Through the Rain about? It is a Chinese youth romance about Zheng Yu, a biology student with family debt, and Chen Yanzhou, a classmate returning from medical leave, who start as scholarship rivals and become each other’s support.
Who stars in it? Winwin (Dong Sicheng) plays Chen Yanzhou and Yang Chaoyue plays Zheng Yu, with Sun Ning, Li Yuzhen, Liu Jiaxi, Zhang Simin and Sun Yushu in the cast.
When did it premiere? On Friday 6 November 2026, with episodes 1 to 3 released together at 12:00 China time.
How many episodes are there? Sources disagree. Knitting Hiyori reports 24 episodes of about 45 minutes, while Netflix’s page header lists 11. Check the platform you use.
Is it on Netflix? Yes, in selected regions, with Mandarin audio and English and other subtitles. Netflix Taiwan was reported to have Episode 6 on 7 November.
What is the original title? 今天是太阳雨 (the Traditional Chinese listing writes 今天是太陽雨).
Is it based on a novel? No. It is an original screenplay by Shi Ye.
Who directed it? Mao De Shu, who also directed When I Fly Towards You (2023).
When is the finale? No official date. One tracker estimates around 25 November if episodes keep arriving daily, but this is not confirmed.
Is this a full review? No. The series is still airing, so our rating is provisional and will be updated.