Can This Love Be Translated?

Their translation of love was mostly on track but kept veering off course

I was really into every episode in the first half especially early on, but the second half fell pretty flat and I mainly just continued to watch because I was curious on the ending, almost felt like I was watching a different drama once it got to the midway point. The OST was super sweet on the ears and genuinely a treat, and the acting and chemistry between Seon Ho and Youn Jung was great; I really hope they get another project together because they showed that they bounce off each other really well. Their scenes were really sweet and sometimes bitter, but I loved watching their relationship slowly build, even if it took a while for them to actually translate their love. All the leads did really well, though I wish Hiro had been written a little better, felt like his character was never given the chance to shine despite having the best development in the show in my opinion but seems like they just wanted him to be the guy who would make Jin Ho realize his feelings and bridge the gap.

Plot-wise, again it had me hooked early and I looked forward to each episode throughout my week of watching, but around the midpoint it lost some direction and shifted away from the rom-com sweetness it was building toward to a more uneven drama that felt different every episode, again almost like I was watching a different drama. It wasn’t bad, just unexpected, which I think made the second half not feel as exciting but what did get tiring was the “will they, won’t they”. The back-and-forth between wanting each other and then pulling away happened a bit too often, especially with Ho Jin. Felt like he changed his mind 5 times an episode, while Mu Hui they would have Mu Hui continue to chase him. At a point felt like it should of been the other way around but felt like the writers didn't like that route i guess? Also for as much and long as they tried to build up the relationship, kinda surprised they barely gave them any time to be a proper couple before the story kinda abruptly ending. After everything they went through to understand each other, they really made them speed through their love phase which we barely saw any moments of truly developing after becoming a couple and were just left to instead envision it while they were apart.

Overall, it was still a nice watch with some nice moments that unfortunately didn't fully meet my expectations after the really long wait.

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Not the Light Rom-Com I Expected

I had high expectations for this drama because I love both lead actors and I’m a big fan of romcoms. I really enjoyed the first episodes, they were engaging and promising, but around the middle, my interest started to fade. I think the main issue was the shift from a light romcom to a more unsettling, psychological tone. In other contexts, I might have appreciated this change, but here it felt unnecessary. I was hoping for something sweet, comforting, and carefree, like old school romcoms such as Hometown Cha Cha Cha, especially after so many heavy K-dramas released this past year.
That said, putting my unmet expectations aside, I still think this is a good drama overall. The cast is excellent, the actors are both talented and charming, and the story is worth finishing. I did expect a bit more chemistry between the leads, but perhaps the darker subplot affected that emotional connection.
I still recommend giving it a watch!

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This Must Be the Place (To Translate Love)

The premise of Can This Love Be Translated? is undoubtedly appealing.
A drama that plays on linguistic differences, manages to weave Italian into its narrative structure and moves between fascinating international settings such as Canada, Italy, Japan and Korea, it seems to have all the right ingredients to surprise. However, once the initial impact has worn off, the series reveals its limitations: a rather thin narrative, which develops according to familiar patterns and struggles to stand out and really explore the subject matter, getting lost in smoke and mirrors and convoluted musings. Everything remains superficial, proceeding by accumulation and ending in a rambling and inconclusive manner.

And that's a shame, because the set of themes deserved a much more elaborate narrative; telling the story of love, identity and trauma through the filter of linguistic and cultural translation, especially in a meta-cinematic context – albeit reduced to a horrifying case of “dating show” around the world – would in itself be an excellent starting point:
Love, like language, is an imperfect system: Something is always lost in the transition from one heart to another. It is constantly filtered: By the right words, by messages, by unspoken words that must be rephrased so as not to hurt, so as not to lose the other person. The act of translation is not only linguistic, but emotional. The characters try to make themselves “readable”...

It almost seems like a “tragedy of miscommunication”: even though they speak the same language, Ju Ho Jin and Cha Mu Hui do not understand each other, and translators are not needed when the problem is not language, but meaning.

In this game of “emotional translations”, Can This Love Be Translated? introduces an element that is seemingly unrelated and unconventional, but in reality powerful, at least in principle: Do Ra Mi. A character who -initially- functions as the protagonist's alter ego — her lighter, more ironic version, the one who says what she cannot say — but who ultimately reveals herself to be something more trivially introjected.

Not an autonomous presence, but a functional projection that openly “betrays” the narrative construction; initially, the main character’s trauma is introduced with considerable weight (coma, loss of control, scarred childhood) but then it conforms, it is handled as a narrative mechanism, not as a transformative experience; Do Ra-mi - in principle - would be a “valve” that allows the protagonist to say what she does not dare to say, to act on what she cannot process, until the final “explanation” which, unreasonably, overturns everything, bringing it back to a cliché tiredly exploited in the Dramaverse, especially in the golden age; the internalised maternal voice, the one that teaches how to make oneself acceptable, how to survive emotionally, how to love “well”.

However, even this surprise is handled more as a narrative clarification than as a real emotional earthquake; even after the revelation, the conflict does not really intensify. The internalised mother does not suffocate, dominate or ever threaten to take definitive control. She is a tamed ghost, more explanatory than destabilising. In this way, the childhood trauma – which is evoked with great emphasis – never becomes a force capable of irreversibly redefining the protagonist's present. Everything is accepted and overcome with lightness...

Furthermore, from a cinematic point of view, the choice of an “off-screen” solution (... “I'll meet her in Koreatown” ...) to resolve what is, to all intents and purposes, the narrative core of the drama, is absolutely unacceptable and unforgivable!

Unforgivable, like the representation of Italy, once again reduced to a stereotype, to an imaginary concept rather than the real country; For decades, the narrative of the Belpaese, mainly due to Hollywood, has portrayed Italy as a narrative postcard, an open-air museum with its slow pace, almost invisible work, as if we were a nation of slackers, permanent conviviality, and the absurd rituals of coffee, wine and weddings (the whole part about the protagonist's mother's wedding is an anthology of the ridiculous...); and here there is also a touch of irony, where a drama entitled “Can This Love Be Translated?” ends up not really “translating” Italy, but adapting it to a convenient, already familiar language.

A compendium of the most hackneyed narrative clichés of K-drama, ‘CTLBT’ plays on the tried and tested, offering an accessible, elegant and emotionally safe narrative in which it seems that the choice has been made not to make the characters pay a real emotional price. No truly irreversible choices, no net losses. And without loss, the conclusion struggles to feel necessary in a drama that promises complexity but chooses consolation, leaving two doubts that are at least concrete;

The Netflix model focuses on building media hype to capture the “present”, with a young, beautiful, "Instagrammable" lead actress, a beloved actor who never divides opinion – their excellent performances practically single-handedly “save” the drama – and a “clean”, explained, resolved trauma; all set in a beautiful scenario that leads one to think that the whole thing is the result of a major global marketing operation.

"Can This Love Be Translated" is not a creative failure—the series is saved by its craftsmanship and adequate cast—but rather a deliberate choice of narrative safety in a context of global aesthetic ambition. Perhaps for younger generations – or for those who have no memory of the great dramas of the early 2000s or the more radical titles of the 2010s – this series seems mature because it deals with trauma, identity and social issues. But talking about them is not the same as experiencing them, it is simply finding oneself in a comfort zone that works very well at the moment, generates discussion, etc., but which, perhaps in a few years' time, will be remembered as one of those “nice Netflix dramas”.
6 ½

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Cute show, not sure about the plot...

kicking off the review by saying that the visual and color grading is AMAZING. all actors did great for the show, but my endless praise for go younjung herself bc she pulled it off so well as cha muhee and do rami, truly felt like watching two different persona!

that being said... there are some parts which left me dissatisfied. i went into the show expecting strong theme about language barriers and love, and while it still touches the matter in a lot of parts, i feel like it was sidelined many times. i was sliiightly sad abt it, since i happened to be a student under a major related to linguistic, but im still glad with how they worked on the language theme!

the DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) trope caught me off-guard, and i know people debate whether cha muhee actually suffers from it or not (given the fact that nothing was confirmed on the show), regardless of what it was... as a watcher who struggles with mental disorder I also didn't like how the show resolved with the conflicts surrounding it. i feel like in a lot of their projects... hongsis owe their actors big time!

overall, it was still a cute experience and i'd recommend to watch the show for some heart-fluttering chemistry. i absolutely loveee the mutual pining, go younjung and kim seonho were made for it!

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What is *actually* wrong with this series

If you haven’t watched this series yet, I think you should read this. The spoilers don’t reveal the ending but they will help you to not feel as disappointed as many seem to. Here’s why.

This series suffers from multiple personalities and most of the bad reviews I’ve seen seem to be reacting badly to the surprise of a mid-series genre change. I understand the film makers want it to be a surprise but I think it’s a mistake. Ok, here comes the spoiler.

The story is not a conventional comedy romance and the title is misleading. It’s deeper than that. The story revolves around the ml falling for a fl who has multiple personality disorder.

I won’t give away what happens in the end but the middle of the series that people are criticising is actually really sweet and heartwarming as the ml negotiates the complexities of dealing with someone with psychological issues.

The performances are uniformly great and the writing, although at times a little patchy, still manages to hit some pretty high marks.

In short, if you’re prepared to turn your brain on and look beyond the surface, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Watch it with an open mind.

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A Slow Convoluted Burn

I want to preface this by saying that my experience with this show might've been drastically different if this were one of my first kdrama experiences. But considering that I've been watching dramas for a while now, what could've come across as unique to others has turned out to be pretty confusing/jarring for me.

So I loved the first 5 to 6 episodes. It felt like I was finally watching something I hadn't before. It had all the tropes I've always wanted to see but seldom ever done well, if at all. The slow burn, the FL falling first, but she isn't manic or clingy about it. The ML is actually kind to her and respectful. Kim Seon Ho as Hojin simply standing and staring at Muhee as she has her big talk show moment alone convinces anyone how much of a goner he is for someone he wants to only see as a stranger he met on a trip. These small moments are what define this drama for me.

Cha Mu Hee is such a lovable, endearing character. She truly makes you root for her, even in her embarassment. Even in her desperation to be loved and accepted by everyone, there is an innocence and sincerity that is hard to ignore. It's why her paired up against someone completely practical-minded like Hojin feels so thrilling, because they're bound to have chemistry simply because of the difference in their approach to life and living.

Hojin is everything I like about a male lead. He knows what he is and wants but doesn't hokd that against anyone else.

I loved this exact dynamic of a struggling actress who met a man on a trip and fell in love with him, a man who doesn't reciprocate her feelings but wholeheartedly chooses to root for her and support her from a distance. Someone who chose to be kind to a woman who never had it growing up. Of course she would fall for this ahndsome good hearted stranger!

There was so much potential in this dynamic alone: A successful actress still pining for a man who knew her before she got all the fame and appreciation she wanted.

I guess this is the story I thought I was getting from those first 5 episodes only for the second half to turn into a completely different dissection into mental health and dissociative identities. Something like My Liberation Notes meets Bad and Crazy (two dramas I LOVED individually but would stay far away from if they were made into one...if you get what I mean...)

Now it's not even the dissociative idenitites part (that I've come to find repetitive in dramas/movies/literature at this point), but the main issue with this drama being that Muhee becomes a patient that Hojin needs to "fix" for them to be together. Thus going back to the eternal trope of fixing someone to be with them, instead of giving them the free agency to figure it out themselves while the partner supports them.

In fact Muhee's lack of agency goes back to around ep 5/6, even before the genre shift when she kisses Hojin, thoroughly breaking his boundaries btw, and magically, that is the moment when Hojin decides that he will finally start thinking about moving on from the fantasy of his first love. Now sure, he most definitely could've had feelings for Muhee the whole time after their first meeting, but I wish her kiss didn't become the catalyst for his change of heart and urgency. It truly felt completely insincere to both Muhee, and the tone the first half of the drama set up.

I also found that the chemistry between the leads sort of just fell off after around ep 7...

Dorami as a character and even altar are all great creative choices but it felt like they didn’t belong in the same font as the first half of this drama.

Aside from the writing and themes, the making of the drama and the performances of the leads stands out. Go Youn Jung and Kim Seon Ho have great screen presence and truly make their characters compelling to watch and root for. But it's tough to keep up with a plot that's trying to be 10 different things in 10 different fonts at once so I wouldn't put that on them.

The OST is beyond memorable and I will be thinking about that aurora scene for a long, long time...

I think I'll have to rewrite this show in my head from that point onwards just for myself...haha!

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A Visually Stunning Romance That Struggles to Fully Connect

Story & Plot
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This drama had a very strong start and immediately pulled me in with its atmosphere and presentation. The premise felt refreshing at first, especially with how language, culture, and emotional barriers were woven into the experience. I enjoyed the tone that the drama began with, which made it feel a little different from typical romantic comedies.

That said, the storytelling became increasingly frustrating as there was a lot of back and forth. With some miscommunication. While this fits Muhee's internal struggles, it was getting to the point where it wasn't so meaningful. I didn't find the pacing to be slow, but there was certain narrative choices that left me confused rather than emotionally satisfied. I was expecting more. The drama had a lot of good moments, but the resolution felt less impactful than it should have been.

Despite these issues, the story isn't that bad. It simply didn't fully deliver on the emotional depth it was clearly aiming for.

Characters & Acting
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The acting was consistently strong throughout the drama. Kim Seonho and Go Youn Jung conveyed their characters beautifully through subtle glances, body language, and silence. Their chemistry feels gentle and authentic, particularly in the initial episodes.

Hojin, while likable, doesn't undergo much noticeable growth, which leaves his character feeling a bit flat by the end. Muhee, on the other hand, does experience growth as she slowly faces her trauma. However, her development feels limited due to the audience spending a considerable amount of time focused on Do Rami. While Do Rami is an interesting narrative device, her presence sometimes overshadows Muhee.

My favorite character was Hiro. His arc went from childish/petty to someone who was able to allow himself to love someone and even learning Korean. This is probably the best part of this drama. His effort to learn Korean in order to better communicate with Muhee is genuinely touching and adds depth to his role. His dynamic with Muhee feels natural, warm, and so sincere, making it hard not to root for him. Second lead syndrome strikes again!

Music
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The OST is a highlight. "Lay Down Together" by off the menu, "Daydream" by WENDY, and "Promise" by WONSTEIN are all memorable tracks, that I enjoyed, that elevate the emotional tone of the drama. The music plays a crucial role in grounding scenes and enhancing the atmosphere. I felt that some of the background tracks—particularly English ones—felt oddly artificial??? Overall the main OST left a strong impression.

Rewatch Value
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This isn't a drama that makes me want to STRONGLY rewatch it. While episode one, scenes with Hiro, and the breathtaking scenery are tempting reasons to return, the narrative confusion, random timeskips, and emotional frustration makes me less likely to rewatch it. The drama is best appreciated for its experience rather than revisited for comfort.

Overall
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"Can This Love Be Translated?" is a well-produced, thoughtfully acted drama that doesn't fully live up to its potential, but still offers an engaging experience. Its strengths lie in its cinematography, international settings, strong performances, and memorable OST. While the script of Hojin and Muhee's romance sometimes feels forced and super back and forth—along with the confusing storytelling—the emotional themes and character dynamics keep it engaging.

This drama is easy to recommend to viewers who enjoy travel-heavy stories, co-productions, and stories centered on language, identity, and internal struggle. Polyglots and language enthusiasts, in particular, may find it especially appealing. However, those who prefer straightforward storytelling/romance or are easily frustrated by miscommunication may want to take their time with this drama.

In the end, this drama is true to its title—occasionally confusing, undeniably beautiful, and emotionally imperfect. It may get lost in translation, but for viewers willing to follow the storyline, it's a meaningful and visually rewarding watch.

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9/10 from my alter (call them So-La Di-Da), but my brain and I (Toot), not so much.

I always come out of a Hong drama feeling like it was a guilty pleasure. I enjoy it at the time, but all the while, feel like I shouldn't. And "Can This Love Be Translated", is no exception. I find Hong dramas often address big issues, and complex philosophical themes; what higher ideal is there than open communication, understanding and acceptance between people. They ask the question directly in the title - can love be translated? But the Hong sisters are too wont to fall back on tropey, caricature-ish plot devices and populist imagery, to actually give us a convincing answer. That just makes me come away feeling dirty. I personally find the Hong sisters, as writers, are not clever, they're manipulative. And in the experience of watching a drama you have to ask yourself, "Why am I thinking more about the writers than the actual drama?!?"

For ratings purposes, I'm going to take a leaf out of this script and create an alter for myself:

Me, My alter, So-La Di-Da: ...I'm just here for the entertainment!
Story: 9/10 Committed to romance, beautiful locations, easy brain switch off visuals of both people and places.
Acting/Cast: 10/10 The cast is great. Across the board. PRETTY!
Music: 7/10 To satisfy the "I'm here for the entertainment!", part of my brain, The Dancer should have had more dancing but meh.
Rewatch Value: 1/10 Still not switching off that part of my brain.
Overall: 9/10 Good chemistry, beautiful scenery, interesting dialogue. In the moment, whenever I can switch off my brain to just "ENTERTAIN ME" mode, this is a charmer of a drama.

Me, Myself, Toot: ...if I'm investing all of my time, make it mean something
Story: 5/10
Acting/Cast: 10/10 Worked well with what they had
Music: 7/10 Is not notable, which is to some advantage in telling a story.
Rewatch Value: 1/10 except for going back to make sure they really did or did not say that! Or checking the translation is accurate and there's not...more...
Overall: 4.5/10 There are just too many issues we're expected to swallow whole. The Italy chapter being illustrative - He's savvy enough to know that her belief that she is unlovable, is a delusion. They've written those words into his mouth. It's therefore absolutely unconvincing and inconsistent with the character, that he would just go along with her psychotic episodes (as Do Ra Mi) and not seek medical help. What gets me to a five/ten is the attempts at witty banter between the characters, and the fact that the main characters do...generally... present as intelligent and caring human beings. No-one is fully a caricature, they are ...somewhat... believable, if not well realised. And I believe that's a problem of the script rather than the acting.

In order to illustrate what I mean, I'm just going to focus on the use of Do Ra Mi: The Dancer (as the Hong's referred to her or if you prefer, The Zombie) Cha Mu Hui's disassociated persona/alter-ego: We, as an audience, ALONG WITH the male lead character Ju Ho Jin, are expected to accept this characteristic, without question. And more importantly for Ju Ho Jin, without action. It is a very obvious plot device, dumped in to create story, but never directly addressed or explored.

The ML is highly educated. He is also very clearly and in his own spoken words, aware that she has a serious mental illness. ("The idea that you are unlovable is a delusion") He is kind and clearly has a highly educated degree of insight, in being able to identify her alter. He is also informed enough to recognise that her core belief structure is a delusion. It is not realistic that, having this kind of awareness, you would just go along with a person's full blown psychotic breaks, her clear displays of Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), without seeking help or care for that person. It is a disturbing illustration of how NOT to deal with serious mental illness, but is wrapped up in a lovely romantic bow. The ML being written as the ultimate polyglot, with the ability to understand and communicate on so many levels beyond the norm, is just inconsistent with a character who would fail to seek help and medical care for the person they love.

And so for my little rant...
The existence of Mu Hui's alter Do Ra Mi, is realistic, in the sense that it's a protection from very significant childhood trauma. This is in keeping with DID. But tying her central belief - that she is unlovable - specifically to the fact that she was A WITNESS to a horrific act, is ludicrous. There's a perfectly reasonable rationalisation that she was an actual victim of multiple horrific acts. I won't spoil them all here... But why tie it to being A WITNESS rather than being A VICTIM? This could have been an excellent opportunity to explore how, as humans, we create layers of, often irrational, belief around trauma, in order to function in our complex world. But unfortunately, nope, they're just there as backstory, to create a facade of character depth, with no exposition at all. Looking further and accepting the Witness/Victim dichotomy as a believable trope, I also feel an opportunity was lost for developing this further, as an exploration of Korean Society. If we accept the idea that characterising yourself as a victim is harder to swallow that characterising yourself as a witness; and that being a victim or even a witness, makes you believe you are 'less than", and makes you accept that others will see you that way too... what does that say about a society?!? But alas, that was also not explored.

I come out of Hong sister dramas, always questioning whether these writers are just ignorant enough, to be unaware of what mental illness really is, or just clever enough to use mental illness to shine a light on a core SK cultural belief: That being perfect is a requirement. That being imperfect, damaged, filially rejected, traumatised or broken, and SHOWING those in any way, makes you a problem for, and at worst, worthless to Korean Society.

Fortunately I am cognisant that my opinion is mine and is valid, in that all opinions are valid if you can justify it. When you write something and release it out into the world, your own interpretations of your words, remain only yours. You invite multitudes of interpretations when you publish. So whatever you intended to portray, is only secondary to the audience's reception. I think that what makes me cross about the Hong Sisters' writing is that they cause me to question THEM. I should be able to forget about the writer when I am watching a drama. But they can't seem to commit. They try to be populist - they try to write for the masses, using obvious and lazy tropes (Meet/Cute, love at first sight, destined love, childhood trauma as plot device), but at the same time, try to make grand statements about social issues and the human condition. There is something...a certain amount of finesse that is missing. In trying to be clever, they can sometimes come off as stupid. And I just really don't want them to be stupid. It's a dilemma because either they are clever but they think we (their audience) are stupid, or they are stupid, and therefore so are we, for enjoying their dramas.

Truly, for me this drama might be enjoyable in some moments but afterwards, when your brain turns back on, it has an unpleasant post show ick. I admire the central idea of addressing the question of translating love, I am disgusted by the use of childhood trauma and DID as a plot device, and a form of audience manipulation.

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Beyond Fluff: The Quiet Depth of Can This Love Be Translated

Over the years, we’ve seen rom-coms get hijacked by murder-thriller plots, so genre-blending in romance shows is nothing new. Personally, I’m of the opinion that in a rom-com, offering only romance and comedy is simply not satisfying enough. Watching two people giggle, stare into each other’s eyes, argue, then kiss and make up over and over again for 12 episodes isn’t really how I picture myself spending my weekend.

That’s why I prefer it when another drama genre—almost as present as the romance and comedy—is included. Some shows, like Crash Landing on You and Goblin, manage to strike a suitable balance and incorporate these elements in interesting ways, while others, like Would You Marry Me, are not so fortunate. The point of this lengthy prologue is to say that I think Can This Love Be Translated is a brilliant example of genre-blending done right.

What impressed me the most about this show is Cha Muhee’s character writing. Sadly, complex female leads are hard to come by in dramaland, and even more so in the romance genre, so Muhee felt like a breath of fresh air. The bold decision to blend rom-com elements with psychological drama paid off, in my opinion. The result is a deeply meaningful, distinctly unique story about two complex individuals.

Our female lead is a deeply flawed woman, desperate to be loved in spite of her brokenness. The way her backstory is structured—and how it shapes who she is—makes it clear that the writers were incredibly intentional with every decision concerning her character. The same care is given to the male lead. Every choice our main characters make, though seemingly illogical at first, is actually a direct manifestation of their past experiences and inner struggles. Watching them confront their trauma and slowly realise that it does not define them is nothing short of healing.

This emotional depth is brought to life by the talented actors, who deliver layered, compelling performances. Their microexpressions convey emotions beautifully, and I felt every word they spoke. Kim Seon-ho’s ability to transition seamlessly between languages while sounding natural and fluent shows just how much effort he put into this role. His character’s yearning, restraint, devastation, and eventual surrender are all communicated through subtle looks and gestures.

Go Youn-jung’s dual portrayal of Cha Muhee and Do Rami is both fun and heartbreaking to watch. She is convincing as both, and you can always tell them apart—even when one is pretending to be the other. You always understand what Muhee truly wants, even when her words contradict her feelings. Her detailed performance, paired with excellent writing, makes Cha Muhee a truly memorable and unforgettable character for me.

The actors also absolutely delivered in the comedy department 😂. When this show wants to be funny, it really is.

Can This Love Be Translated is a deep, thoughtful piece of art, full of small moments that compound into an awe-inspiring, breathtaking experience. I went in expecting a light, cheesy, fluffy romance, and I’ve never been happier to be disappointed. This drama is a love letter to scenery. K-dramas are already known for their visual appeal, but this one takes it a step further—every frame is picturesque, even during the most mundane moments, like two people simply talking. The OST is memorable and elevates every scene it accompanies.

If I had to point out a negative, it would be my lack of investment in the second couple. Their romance started too late and too abruptly, ultimately feeling more like filler than something meaningful. Also, while I have no personal experience with dissociative identity disorder, something about its portrayal here felt slightly inaccurate. That said, the way it’s depicted is integral to the premise and plot, so I’m willing to allow some creative wiggle room.

All in all, I really enjoyed this drama. I’ve always felt that typical rom-coms aren’t for me—I didn’t enjoy King the Land, and I found Business Proposal to be a middling experience. Can This Love Be Translated does something entirely different. It abandons familiar tropes and forges its own path. It’s original in every sense of the word, and I truly hope to see more rom-coms like this in the future.

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Overrated and Messy Writting!

If I had to describe this drama in five points, it would be:
1. Messy plot and writing
2. Good visuals and color grading
3. A very good OST
4. An almost impossible plot to understand
5. “What is this story even trying to be?”

Can This Love Be Translated? is a drama that looks good on the surface, but quickly becomes confusing and unfocused.

However, the main problem lies in the writing and story structure. The plot feels extremely messy and scattered. It is unclear what the drama actually wants to focus on. Is it about romance? Family trauma? Personal healing? The show keeps shifting directions without developing any of them properly.

The subplot about the parents’ past feels unnecessarily heavy and, honestly, not very important to the core story. Instead of adding depth, it makes the narrative more crowded and harder to follow.

The male lead’s feelings are also confusing. It is never clear who he truly likes — Dorami or Cha Muhee. This weakens the emotional impact of the romance, because the audience is not given a consistent emotional line to follow.

Overall, the drama lacks a clear “issue pattern.” There is no strong central conflict that is developed step by step. Because of this, many scenes feel disconnected, and it becomes difficult for viewers to understand what the story is building toward.

Despite its strong visuals and excellent OST, Can This Love Be Translated? feels overrated. The messy writing and unfocused plot make it more confusing than engaging.

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Solid drama!

I'm a big fan of Kim Seon-ho & I think Go Young is really coming into her own as an actor. They both did a great job! I genuinely enjoyed watching this. The first 5 episodes were especially great! They had great chemistry and synergy and I really enjoyed the comedic timing. I also really liked the 2nd couple. Their story was really fun. Overall I'd say the casting was done well and you could feel the chemistry onscreen. I'm happy they didn't overdo the cringe and didn't make everyone date each other lol.

The on & off with their communication was frustrating at times but I didn't dwell on it too much because the drama is literally called can this love be translated? And it's apparent from the beginning that their different communication styles would clash, so the slow burn absolutely makes sense! Now, the Do-rami arc was interesting at first but I didn't expect it to become so heavy handed for a romcom genre. I did however enjoy the funny brought out as a result of Do-rami. Revealing Mu-hee's parents were alive in the last 30 minutes was unexpected and poorly timed imo and we didn't see anything about how that actually went when Mu-hee left. I wish they'd showed us more stability in the last episode but at least we got a happy ending.

I think it's a solid drama that was well paced, lived up to the title and the dialogues were interesting so I'd definitely rewatch it and I will. Don't be dissuaded by reactive comments and reviews. It's a really good show!!

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