The Early Spring

Bold, Intimate and Visually Stunning

So good. Strong acting, bold storytelling, amazing chemistry, phenomenal music and absolutely beautiful cinematography. The Early Spring caught my attention from the beginning and somehow kept getting better.
The acting is one of its biggest strengths. The chemistry between the leads feels intense and incredibly natural, and so much is communicated without words but through looks, pauses, body language and the smallest changes in expression.
Visually, this drama is stunning. The cinematography, framing, colors and symbolism are beautiful, but they aren't there just to make everything look pretty. The visual details actually tell part of the story. Even the silences have meaning.
I also loved how bold and mature the drama was willing to be. The intimacy was handled beautifully, not only the physical scenes, but the closeness, hesitation, tension and little gestures between the characters.
And the OST is phenomenal. The music isn't simply in the background, it becomes part of the storytelling. Sometimes it feels like the music is saying everything the characters can't put into words.
The characters themselves are far from perfect. They make mistakes, frustrate you and give you plenty to argue about. There was so much discussion about red flags and green flags while this was airing, but after finishing it, I think those labels are simply too easy. These are complicated, flawed people, and that's exactly what made them interesting to me.
Was everything perfect? No. But The Early Spring made me feel, think, argue, rewatch scenes and notice tiny details I would normally miss.
Bold, intimate, beautifully acted and visually stunning. This one is going to stay with me for a long time

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A drama that resembles real people in real life

What I appreciate most about *The Early Spring* is that its characters actually feel like people. It feels like as if we are walking in their shoes. we work, we fall in love, we have bosses, we struggle financially, and life is harsh in the end.

They are not always reasonable. They don’t always say the right thing at the right time. They can be selfish, insecure, ambitious, stubborn, kind, frustrating, and vulnerable. And that is exactly what makes them believable.

This drama doesn’t try too hard to make its characters lovable. Instead, it allows them to be flawed. Luan Nian can be difficult and emotionally complicated, but you can still understand where some of his behavior comes from. Shang Zhitao is not written as a perfect, endlessly optimistic female lead either. She makes mistakes, gets hurt, learns, changes, and slowly becomes more certain of who she is and what she wants.

What I especially liked is that the romance doesn’t exist in a separate fantasy world. Career, money, timing, pride, personal growth, and the different stages people are at in their lives all affect the relationship. Sometimes loving someone does not automatically mean that two people are ready for each other. That feels much closer to real life than the usual idea that love magically solves everything.

Even the unpleasant moments have value because people in real life are not divided into “green flags” and “red flags.” We can care about someone and still dislike some of their choices. We can understand a character without defending everything they do. *The Early Spring* trusts the audience enough to let us sit with that discomfort.

I also love how much is communicated through small expressions, silences, awkward conversations, and things left unsaid. The chemistry between Jing Boran and Sun Qian works so well because it doesn’t feel like they are constantly trying to convince us that these two people are in love. Sometimes you can simply feel it. They are indeed in love!

This probably won’t be the perfect drama for viewers looking for an idealized romance or characters who always behave the way we want them to. But for me, that is exactly its strength.

I applaud the makers of this drama. They created their own version of Masterpiece.


And maybe that is why they stay with you.

Highly recommended. 10/10 and you will end up falling in love all over again.

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Two Imperfect People, One Realistic Love Story

The more I watch this drama, the more I feel like I understand what it’s trying to say about relationships.

For me, a healthy relationship isn’t about finding a “green flag” and avoiding every “red flag.” Real people aren’t that simple. When you start a relationship, you shouldn’t only focus on the qualities you love in your partner. You also need to pay attention to their flaws and ask yourself: Can I accept this? Can they work on it? Is it something that can actually change, or is it simply part of who they are?

Because if you understand these things from the beginning, you don’t have to spend four, five or six years with someone just to discover that you can’t build a life together.

Some flaws are part of someone’s personality, while others come from their family, childhood, the way they were raised, or experiences they had throughout life. Those things can sometimes be changed, but only if the person is willing to work on themselves.

That’s why I find Luke and Flora so realistic. They don’t feel like the perfect ML and FL we often see in dramas. They feel like real people. Honestly, we probably meet more people like Luke and Flora in real life than those perfect “green flags.”

For me, Luke’s biggest problem is communication, especially the hurtful way he speaks when he’s angry. His family background and his relationship with his father clearly influenced the way he deals with emotions. But I also think this is something he can work on because he actually listens. If Flora had been more emotionally mature and better at communicating, she might have helped him understand this much earlier.

Flora’s problem, however, feels deeper. She’s talented, ambitious, hardworking and has achieved a lot, but she still doesn’t truly believe in herself. She constantly feels inferior, especially when she compares herself to Luke.

And that’s something nobody else can fix for her. People can love her, support her and reassure her, but she has to build her own confidence. Otherwise, that insecurity will keep affecting her personal life and her relationships.

So I think the drama is teaching us that a successful relationship needs more than love.

You need communication. You need to understand your partner’s flaws and decide whether you can genuinely accept them. And you need to learn how to separate your past from the life you want to build.

Your family and your past can explain why you became the person you are, but they shouldn’t decide who you will become.

That’s what makes this drama feel so real to me. It’s not about two perfect people finding each other. It’s about two imperfect people who love each other, but still have things within themselves that they need to work on.

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A Beautiful Study of Love, Growth and Imperfection

Came back to say… I AM DONE.

And wow. Nian and Zhitao… I loved them. I was beginning to question myself at some point, lol.

The more I think about The Early Spring, the more I appreciate just how realistic its portrayal of an adult relationship was. These two people were not perfect. They did questionable things, made mistakes, hurt each other, misunderstood each other, and sometimes made me want to pull my hair out. But they also had moments where you couldn’t deny that they genuinely cared for each other.

And I LOVED that the drama showed all of it — the good, the bad and the very ugly.

I think we’re so used to relationships in dramas being presented in this very flowery, idealized way, where one person is clearly good and the other is clearly bad, and everything eventually falls neatly into place. But real people are not like that. Life is not purely roses, and relationships certainly aren’t.

Nian could be incredibly annoying. But there were also times when you had to admit that this man was an absolute gem. And Zhitao? There were definitely moments when I wanted to shake her too. Yet that’s precisely why I found them so compelling.

People are complicated. You can love someone and still hurt them. You can have good intentions and still make terrible decisions. You can be a good person and still do bad things. Being flawed doesn’t automatically make someone a bad person.

And I still really appreciate that Zhitao valued herself enough to walk away when she felt she had reached her limit. She knew what she could and couldn’t accept, and she didn’t completely lose herself trying to make the relationship work. I LOVE that for her.

The emphasis on communication also really stayed with me. So many of their problems could have been handled differently if they had simply said what they felt, listened to each other properly and communicated their expectations more clearly. Very adult. Very frustrating. Very real.

Honestly, The Early Spring has officially become one of my favourite Chinese dramas of 2026. Definitely a dark horse for me.

I started this drama casually and somehow ended up emotionally invested in Nian and Zhitao like they were my personal business.

I loved them. I loved the mess. I loved the realism. And apparently, I now love this new version of me that actually enjoys watching complicated adult relationships instead of needing everyone to behave perfectly.

Onto the next one! ❤️

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May we all leave our bitter winters and welcome our early springs!

The Early Spring was one of my most anticipated c-dramas this year! And I loved it! Jing Bo Ran and Sun Qian had an amazing chemistry. I am glad they took the roles of Luke and Flora respectively.

I have read the novel, and I was excited for it to be adapted. I was glad to some changes that were made but also disappointed to some situations that were not added in the show.

I wished that the pacing is more done thoroughly. In my opinion, I feel like the start was good to keep me going, the middle was dragging, and the ending felt rushed. I wanted more scenes of their reconciliation though. Anyways, I am still happy watching.

++ the OSTs are good!! I have been listening to it all day!

You guys have to admit, despite the not so spectacular plot, The Early Spring is addictive. A watch that makes you feel all the emotions.

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I Knew It Was Too Good to Be True

There are dramas that take a few episodes to win you over, and then there are dramas like The Early Spring that grab you by the collar from the very beginning and make you think: “Oh, this is going to be GOOD.”
Unfortunately, this is also one of those dramas that makes you wonder halfway through: “Wait… where did all that momentum go?”

Let's start with the good stuff, because there is a lot of it.
The opening episodes are fantastic. The story immediately creates an interesting dynamic between Shang Zhitao and Luan Nian, and instead of spending forever waiting for something to happen, the drama gives us tension, attraction, awkwardness and conflict almost immediately.
And then there are Jing Boran and Sun Qian.
These two have chemistry. Not the kind of chemistry where the script tells you, “Look! They like each other!” and you are supposed to believe it. I'm talking about the kind where they can simply stand in the same room and you can feel that something is happening.
A look.
A pause.
A change in tone.
The distance between them.
Sometimes they don't even need dialogue.

Jing Boran is particularly good at playing Luan Nian's complicated personality. He can be arrogant, difficult, controlling and occasionally incredibly frustrating, but he never makes the character boring. There is always something underneath the surface, and Jing Boran knows exactly how much to show and how much to leave unsaid.
Sun Qian is equally important to this chemistry.
I've seen quite a few discussions where most of the praise goes to Jing Boran, and I actually think that's unfair to Sun Qian. She is an essential part of why this pairing works. Shang Zhitao may sometimes come across as passive or uncertain, but Sun Qian gives her enough warmth and sincerity to make the attraction believable.

Another thing I appreciated is that The Early Spring doesn't feel like a typical fluffy office romance.
These are adults with careers, ambitions, insecurities and responsibilities.
Shang Zhitao isn't simply introduced as “the girl who will eventually get the handsome boss.” She has her own professional journey, and watching her find her place in a competitive environment is an important part of the story.
I also liked the contrast between her and Luan Nian.
She is more straightforward and tends to take things literally, while he is much more complicated and often communicates through implications, half-truths and carefully controlled emotions.
The workplace setting also works surprisingly well. The office isn't simply there so the leads can bump into each other every five minutes. Their careers and professional choices actually influence their relationship, which gives the romance a more mature atmosphere.

Unfortunately, somewhere before the halfway point, I started feeling the drama losing itself.
Not all at once.
That's what makes it worse. Instead, you start noticing that the story isn't really moving anymore.
The romance becomes repetitive.
At first, the push-and-pull between Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao is exciting. You want to know whether they're going to take that next step.
Then they get closer.
Something happens.
They pull away.
You think: Okay, NOW they're finally going to talk about it.
Nope.
They go backwards again.
Then the story gives you another moment that makes you think they're finally going somewhere.
And once again… back to square one.
At some point I started feeling like I was watching the same emotional conversation in different outfits.
And this is where the drama lost me a little.
Meanwhile, the final episodes suddenly have to carry all the emotional development that the middle section could have been building gradually. Things that deserved time to breathe are suddenly happening one after another.

I also think the drama could have done more with its characters.
Luan Nian is fascinating because he is flawed. I actually prefer complicated male leads to perfectly polished green flags, so his personality didn't bother me as much as it might bother other viewers. What bothered me more was seeing how often the same emotional patterns repeated.
He has his issues.
She has her insecurities.
They clearly care about each other.
They clearly understand that something is happening between them.
And yet they keep making things unnecessarily complicated.
Sometimes it works because that's who they are.
Sometimes it just feels like the plot needs them to misunderstand each other for another episode.
I don't dislike Shang Zhitao, and I actually like that she has her own professional aspirations. But I wish the drama had given her more consistent development instead of allowing so much of her emotional journey to revolve around Luan Nian.

I wish the writers had trusted the relationship enough to let it develop naturally instead of repeatedly resetting it. I wish some of the middle episodes had been used to actually deepen the characters rather than prolonging the same conflict. And most of all, I wish the final developments hadn't been squeezed into the last couple of episodes.
Still, I can't deny the appeal.
Because whenever Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao are actually together, talking, looking at each other, fighting, teasing each other or simply existing in the same space… the drama comes alive again. And that chemistry is impossible to ignore.
So my final feeling is basically: Amazing beginning. Incredible chemistry. Beautiful atmosphere. Frustrating middle. Rushed ending. The Early Spring gave me a taste of how good it could be, and unfortunately, it never quite managed to live up to that first impression.

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I love second chance plot

It’s a second chance plot with amazing actors. the chemistry appears in the first episode nd uauuuu! I don't understand people giving low ratings to the first few episodes; I felt that wasn't fair, so I wanted to give it a positive review. I'm really enjoying it, and I think if you like "second chance" stories and romances with chemistry, you should definitely watch it. I'll update my review as I keep watching.♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

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It is the best Chinese drama I watched in 2026. Congratulations to the cast

For me, The Early Spring is easily the best Chinese drama I have watched in 2026.

What makes it special is not just the story, but how real everything feels. The characters are complicated, imperfect, emotional, and sometimes frustrating, but that is exactly why they feel human.

The cast deserves so much credit for this. Jing Boran and Sun Qian gave performances that felt natural rather than overly dramatic. Their chemistry was so good but alo very convincing. The supporting cast also helped make the world of the drama feel believable and complete.

The drama trusted its characters, its writing, and the actors’ performances. There were so many small moments, expressions, pauses, and conversations that stayed with me more than big dramatic scenes usually do.

By the end, I felt like I had genuinely spent time with these people rather than simply watched fictional characters on a screen.

Congratulations to the entire cast and production team. They created something mature, emotional, romantic and memorable.

There have been many good Chinese dramas in 2026, but for me, The Early Spring is the one that stands above the rest.

10/10.

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Love, Flaws, Words, and Everything In Between

This drama is so damn good. I love when there are flawed characters who don't take stupid decisions but decisions based on what they're feeling and the situation they are in. I love how this drama portrayed that even when you show you care, you show your love, you can hurt your loved ones by your words which is like a knife in their heart. It showed that not apologising and constant snarky remarks can affect a relationship very badly, and its this small things which can affect your relationship. I love how there was no side couple but each character has a part to play in this beautiful love story of leads.

Every bit of drama seemed realistic and raw. Romance drama is often a place that people choose to escape from reality but sometimes stories like this point out what's actually important in life.

I got nothing bad to say about its drama. Its unique storyline, acting of all the actors, cinematography, osts and theme speaks millions already. This is drama that people may not like right now, but will definitely cry and swoon over at some point in their life.

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So good, so toxic, so angsty, so real, so dramatic

Sep 8, 2026

The Early Spring really sets the tone for the Cdramas that has been out for this quarter. I have dropped many Cdramas left and right and this one really stuck out to me. I know that many people flock the series for it being abrupt in comparison to the novel which is also why I docked marks in terms of that story scoring. However, if you are willing to overlook past that given how the cast and the directory and basically the cinematography of the drama delivers, it is a solid 10 across all boards to me.

I think that Flora and Luke has a realist nuance couple dynamics that stems from their situationship-esque, fwb, casual exclusive relation but not official, to blurry lines, to officially in a relation, and along with the power imbalance in workforce, social standing, and just overall financial stability. I think that this relationship component really tug hearts to many viewers. They exhibit toxicness for sure, lack of communication skills, and overall inability to trust each other. But given the circumstances they were both in and how they were progressing, it is inevitable to say the least. I truly think that people who hate on either Luke and Flora are valid in terms of their feelings, to me on the other hand, I just think that they are a good example of how complex human relationships are. We all have thresholds and we all do things differently, obviously it is not an excuse to be a bad or mean person to anyone or to even put them down. Luke is a clear example of how his actions speak louder than his harsh words to Flora. It just feels so realistic to me, and I get that people say it is a romanticization of toxicity of human nature.

I truly just can't get behind that narrative of the leads having to be FULL GREEN FLAG, GREEN FOREST. Like yes, we preach and we don't settle for less. But there is just something about Flora and Luke's dynamic that screams to me, I totally get it, I get why they came back to each other, I get why after all the shit they been through and what they put to each other, they really made each other end-game. Again, no romanticizing toxicity but I feel like they weren't even that toxic. They are just being normal human beings. And I get the comparison of Flora or Luke to other Cdrama leads that are green flags, it is a viewer's freedom to compare. Truly, I just don't think that The Early Spring was selling that plot of whimsical, rainbows and sunshine plot, that many of these characters were in.

A wholeass tangent during midnight just cause I had to finish that 4 episodes back-to-back and they truly delivered. Keeping up with this series, waiting for each episodes to drop day-by-day was truly something that I needed. It was so good, I was so hook, I did not even bother watching anything else every time new episodes drop. I watched this first then the other dramas airing that timeslot.

Truly feel like the fall season that is basically around the corner with this series ending. It definitely boiled my blood, both leads were getting on my nerves, but for some reason, I cannot hate them like everyone else. They just screamed so realistic and human to me. Maybe I am just built different, but I truly loved this show. I hope that you can give this a chance like i did, and if you drop it, oh well! It is truly not for everyone, I think that this series just like this kind of genre is for niche viewers!

Cheers 🥂

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Love was never lost

This is the first Drama I have watched without waiting for it to be finished.
I have been commenting on each episode as there are so many things to talk about.
I know alot of persons can relate to their relationship.
Where one does not really know how to actually love and the other doesnt communicate their feelings.
They clearly were at fault and even though it was an easy fix, the break up helped them to get some space and reflect on what happened and how they can be better should they find their way back.
I understand both sides and though he checked in on her without her knowing, she was living her life and I am happy she was able to do something for herself and that made him prouder of her.
When the 2nd chance came, he apologized but did she? I mean, I think she should have or say, she will start communicating more.
I will miss this drama and though I am sucker for a wedding and kid....that didnt happen but at least the ending didnt seem too too rush if that make sense.

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