This review may contain spoilers
“You don’t have to be perfect to be worthy of love.”
The tagline of this drama fits well with Luan Nian & Shang Zhitao relationship.
This isn't a story about two perfect people finding each other.
Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao are both flawed, and their biggest problem isn't whether they love each other, but it's whether they know how to love each other properly.
[Story/Plot]:
At first glance, The Early Spring doesn't have a particularly groundbreaking plot. It's ultimately a romance drama about two people falling in love, building a relationship, facing misunderstandings, separating, and eventually finding their way back to each other.
But what makes it interesting is the way it portrays the problems inside a long-term relationship realistically. The idea that six years together doesn't automatically mean you truly understand your partner.
Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao have known each other for years, but they still misunderstand each other's needs and motivations. They love each other, but they don't always communicate that love in a way the other person can understand.
And Luan Nian's biggest problem isn't that he doesn't care about Shang Zhitao. In fact, he is probably someone who expresses love very naturally through acts of service. He takes care of her, notices small details, helps her, and is always there when she needs him.
The problem is his ego and arrogance.
He often says things without realizing how deeply they can hurt Shang Zhitao. He also spends a long time denying just how deeply he has fallen for her.
He knows he cares about her.
He knows he is attached to her.
He knows he gets jealous.
But admitting “I'm in love with you” is another matter entirely.
Flora has her own problems too.
From the beginning, she builds a certain emotional guard around Luan Nian because she is never completely sure where she stands with him. Is he her boyfriend? Is he her superior? Is she someone he genuinely loves, or simply someone he has chosen to keep around?
That blurred line between boyfriend and boss makes it difficult for her to completely surrender herself to the relationship.
She loves him, but she is also constantly protecting herself.
There are many occasions where she puts her career and friedship first before Luan Nian. It's not because she loves Luan Nian less, but because she needs to establish her own sense of worth and independence.
I actually think that's important to her character development.
Flora needs to achieve her own goals and become comfortable with who she is outside of her relationship with Luan Nian.
Because when you don't feel complete within yourself, it's much harder to love someone openly without constantly asking, “Am I enough for you?”
_______________________________________________
— The breakup was necessary —
There are many drama out there with unnecessary break up, but in this drama the break up is something that viewers looking forward to and it's essential to the plot.
The breakup isn't simply there to create angst or give us a dramatic separation before the reunion.
They genuinely needed to break up.
Luan Nian needed to experience what his life was like without Flora before he could stop rationalizing their relationship and finally confront what she meant to him.
He needed to understand that taking care of her wasn't enough, but sometimes you also have to actually say the words.
He needed to put his ego aside, stop hiding behind his usual confidence, acknowledge that he had fallen deeply in love with her and start talking decently and properly.
And Flora needed the separation too.
She needed to step outside of their relationship and build herself up independently. She needed to pursue her career, accomplish the things she wanted, and understand her own value without measuring it through Luan Nian's eyes.
Only after both of them had time to reflect could they come back to the relationship as two more complete individuals, rather than two people desperately trying to get the other person to fill whatever was missing inside them.
That's why I don't see the breakup as the failure of their love. It was part of their growth.
Criticism:
My biggest criticism is that the drama needed more episodes.
I genuinely think The Early Spring should have been 28–30 episodes. Trying to portray a six-year relationship in around 20 episodes makes everything feel compressed.
We are told that these two people have shared years of memories, but sometimes we don't get enough time to actually experience those years with them.
The biggest victim of this pacing is probably Flora's perspective.
The drama doesn't spend enough time showing what's happening inside her head, why she becomes insecure, why she has built those emotional walls, and how the small things Luan Nian says gradually accumulate.
As a result, some of her reactions can feel abrupt if you don't already understand her character.
[Acting of the Actor and Actress]:
The acting is one of the drama's strongest points.
Jing Boran and Sun Qian have excellent chemistry, but what I particularly appreciate is how different their characters feel.
Jing Boran's portrayal of Luan Nian is especially impressive.
Luan Nian isn't an easy character to play because so much of his emotion is internalized. He isn't someone who constantly says what he's feeling. A lot of his emotions come through his eyes, pauses, expressions, and subtle changes in behavior.
Jing Boran, as a senior and established actor, handles those nuances extremely well.
Sun Qian as Shang Zhitao also works well because she brings warmth and vulnerability to the character. She conveys Shang Zhitao's insecurity, hurt, affection, and gradual emotional growth with a great deal of sincerity.
At the same time, the drama's limited exploration of Shang Zhitao's perspective feels like a waste of Sun Qian's acting potential. She is capable of expressing the small, internal shifts that would make Flora's development more convincing, but the rushed pacing means many of those changes are implied rather than fully shown.
[Music]:
The music is another highlight.
The OST fits the drama's emotional atmosphere beautifully, especially during the romantic, nostalgic, and heartbreaking moments.
The songs complement the characters' emotional journeys rather than simply functioning as background music.
Some scenes definitely hit harder because of the music.
[Rewatch Value]:
I think The Early Spring has very good rewatch value, especially if you enjoy relationship-driven dramas.
Once you know where Luan Nian and Flora's relationship eventually goes, their earlier interactions become more interesting. You start noticing little details in Luan Nian's behavior and the ways Flora's insecurities appear before they become major conflicts.
It is the kind of drama where the second watch can make you understand the characters differently.
[Conclusions]:
The Early Spring isn't a drama with a revolutionary romance plot.
Its strength is in something much more familiar:
It tries to show what happens when love exists, but communication doesn't always follow.
Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao aren't perfect. They make mistakes. They misunderstand each other. They hurt each other. Sometimes they are selfish. Sometimes they are afraid. Sometimes they love each other but don't know how to make the other person feel loved.
And that's precisely why the tagline fits them so well:
"You don't have to be perfect to be worthy of love."
It's about learning how to love an imperfect person and allowing yourself to be loved despite your own imperfections.
Luan Nian isn't perfect.
Shang Zhitao isn't perfect.
Their relationship certainly isn't perfect.
But their imperfections don't make their love less worthy.
And perhaps that's what makes The Early Spring feel so real.
This isn't a story about two perfect people finding each other.
Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao are both flawed, and their biggest problem isn't whether they love each other, but it's whether they know how to love each other properly.
[Story/Plot]:
At first glance, The Early Spring doesn't have a particularly groundbreaking plot. It's ultimately a romance drama about two people falling in love, building a relationship, facing misunderstandings, separating, and eventually finding their way back to each other.
But what makes it interesting is the way it portrays the problems inside a long-term relationship realistically. The idea that six years together doesn't automatically mean you truly understand your partner.
Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao have known each other for years, but they still misunderstand each other's needs and motivations. They love each other, but they don't always communicate that love in a way the other person can understand.
And Luan Nian's biggest problem isn't that he doesn't care about Shang Zhitao. In fact, he is probably someone who expresses love very naturally through acts of service. He takes care of her, notices small details, helps her, and is always there when she needs him.
The problem is his ego and arrogance.
He often says things without realizing how deeply they can hurt Shang Zhitao. He also spends a long time denying just how deeply he has fallen for her.
He knows he cares about her.
He knows he is attached to her.
He knows he gets jealous.
But admitting “I'm in love with you” is another matter entirely.
Flora has her own problems too.
From the beginning, she builds a certain emotional guard around Luan Nian because she is never completely sure where she stands with him. Is he her boyfriend? Is he her superior? Is she someone he genuinely loves, or simply someone he has chosen to keep around?
That blurred line between boyfriend and boss makes it difficult for her to completely surrender herself to the relationship.
She loves him, but she is also constantly protecting herself.
There are many occasions where she puts her career and friedship first before Luan Nian. It's not because she loves Luan Nian less, but because she needs to establish her own sense of worth and independence.
I actually think that's important to her character development.
Flora needs to achieve her own goals and become comfortable with who she is outside of her relationship with Luan Nian.
Because when you don't feel complete within yourself, it's much harder to love someone openly without constantly asking, “Am I enough for you?”
_______________________________________________
— The breakup was necessary —
There are many drama out there with unnecessary break up, but in this drama the break up is something that viewers looking forward to and it's essential to the plot.
The breakup isn't simply there to create angst or give us a dramatic separation before the reunion.
They genuinely needed to break up.
Luan Nian needed to experience what his life was like without Flora before he could stop rationalizing their relationship and finally confront what she meant to him.
He needed to understand that taking care of her wasn't enough, but sometimes you also have to actually say the words.
He needed to put his ego aside, stop hiding behind his usual confidence, acknowledge that he had fallen deeply in love with her and start talking decently and properly.
And Flora needed the separation too.
She needed to step outside of their relationship and build herself up independently. She needed to pursue her career, accomplish the things she wanted, and understand her own value without measuring it through Luan Nian's eyes.
Only after both of them had time to reflect could they come back to the relationship as two more complete individuals, rather than two people desperately trying to get the other person to fill whatever was missing inside them.
That's why I don't see the breakup as the failure of their love. It was part of their growth.
Criticism:
My biggest criticism is that the drama needed more episodes.
I genuinely think The Early Spring should have been 28–30 episodes. Trying to portray a six-year relationship in around 20 episodes makes everything feel compressed.
We are told that these two people have shared years of memories, but sometimes we don't get enough time to actually experience those years with them.
The biggest victim of this pacing is probably Flora's perspective.
The drama doesn't spend enough time showing what's happening inside her head, why she becomes insecure, why she has built those emotional walls, and how the small things Luan Nian says gradually accumulate.
As a result, some of her reactions can feel abrupt if you don't already understand her character.
[Acting of the Actor and Actress]:
The acting is one of the drama's strongest points.
Jing Boran and Sun Qian have excellent chemistry, but what I particularly appreciate is how different their characters feel.
Jing Boran's portrayal of Luan Nian is especially impressive.
Luan Nian isn't an easy character to play because so much of his emotion is internalized. He isn't someone who constantly says what he's feeling. A lot of his emotions come through his eyes, pauses, expressions, and subtle changes in behavior.
Jing Boran, as a senior and established actor, handles those nuances extremely well.
Sun Qian as Shang Zhitao also works well because she brings warmth and vulnerability to the character. She conveys Shang Zhitao's insecurity, hurt, affection, and gradual emotional growth with a great deal of sincerity.
At the same time, the drama's limited exploration of Shang Zhitao's perspective feels like a waste of Sun Qian's acting potential. She is capable of expressing the small, internal shifts that would make Flora's development more convincing, but the rushed pacing means many of those changes are implied rather than fully shown.
[Music]:
The music is another highlight.
The OST fits the drama's emotional atmosphere beautifully, especially during the romantic, nostalgic, and heartbreaking moments.
The songs complement the characters' emotional journeys rather than simply functioning as background music.
Some scenes definitely hit harder because of the music.
[Rewatch Value]:
I think The Early Spring has very good rewatch value, especially if you enjoy relationship-driven dramas.
Once you know where Luan Nian and Flora's relationship eventually goes, their earlier interactions become more interesting. You start noticing little details in Luan Nian's behavior and the ways Flora's insecurities appear before they become major conflicts.
It is the kind of drama where the second watch can make you understand the characters differently.
[Conclusions]:
The Early Spring isn't a drama with a revolutionary romance plot.
Its strength is in something much more familiar:
It tries to show what happens when love exists, but communication doesn't always follow.
Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao aren't perfect. They make mistakes. They misunderstand each other. They hurt each other. Sometimes they are selfish. Sometimes they are afraid. Sometimes they love each other but don't know how to make the other person feel loved.
And that's precisely why the tagline fits them so well:
"You don't have to be perfect to be worthy of love."
It's about learning how to love an imperfect person and allowing yourself to be loved despite your own imperfections.
Luan Nian isn't perfect.
Shang Zhitao isn't perfect.
Their relationship certainly isn't perfect.
But their imperfections don't make their love less worthy.
And perhaps that's what makes The Early Spring feel so real.
Was this review helpful to you?
