This review may contain spoilers
Less really would have been more here
Can This Love Be Translated? is a tricky one to review. It was marketed as a rom-com, but rom-com it was not. What it was, however, is one of the most visually beautiful dramas I’ve ever seen. From Canada to Italy to Japan to Korea, every location was stunning, and by the end of the show I was ready to book my plane ticket to Banff, Canada ASAP. The use of so many international locations made the show feel fresh and different, especially after watching countless dramas that recycle the same office buildings, apartments, and parks. Nostalgic? Sure. But also boring. This drama definitely stood out visually, and I genuinely enjoyed the entire cast.As for the main couple, I actually think they worked well together, but the romance often felt stagnant because of the story choices. The pacing of their relationship was all over the place, sometimes rushed and sometimes completely stalled, and while that may have been intentional, it wasn’t always enjoyable to watch. That said, the FL’s quirkiness was often very endearing, and Go Youn-jung really shines in those types of roles. I also have to give credit to Kim Seon-ho, who was genuinely impressive with the amount of language learning required for the role.
Story-wise, the first six episodes were solid, but episode seven marked a noticeable shift, and not for the better. I usually don’t mind mental health themes in dramas, but the way this one was handled didn’t sit right with me. If Do Ra-mi had remained more of an inner-voice concept, that could have worked. Instead, the show seemed to introduce something resembling a multiple personality disorder, which is a complex and serious condition, only to treat it in a way that felt rushed and oddly flippant.
That said, there were moments where the portrayal felt more thoughtful and artful. Some of the visual and symbolic interpretations of her internal struggle were genuinely interesting and well done, and they hinted at a deeper, more nuanced exploration that could have worked beautifully. The problem was time, or rather, the lack of it. The female lead is clearly not okay for several episodes, then literally says goodbye to Do Ra-mi, and suddenly… she’s kind of fine? That’s not how that works. I’m no expert, but reducing something this serious into a few conveniently resolved episodes ultimately felt unsatisfying and underdeveloped.
And then there’s the ending. Yet another ridiculous one. Was it necessary to reveal, within the final 30 minutes of the entire series, that her parents were alive this whole time? No. Absolutely not. And then, to “heal,” the female lead simply disappears for an unspecified amount of time and magically returns cured. Nope. No. Not buying it.
What’s frustrating is that this drama didn’t need all of this. I never thought I’d say it, but the show would have been better if it had just stuck to a quirky female lead (which this actress does so well), the love triangle with the Japanese actor, and the male lead dealing with unresolved feelings from his past relationship. And I’m someone who loathes love triangles!! But honestly, that was more than enough. Less really would have been more here. There was no need to cram a poorly handled, overly complex mental health storyline into a drama that already had plenty going for it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Too Long, Too Juvenile, Too Frustrating
Beautiful Gong Shim started with a quirky, lighthearted premise and a lot of potential, but unfortunately it never fully delivered. While the early episodes were watchable, several issues became more apparent as the drama progressed. The romance moved at a glacial pace and felt surprisingly juvenile, and as the show went on, the family drama increasingly overshadowed the charm and humor that initially drew me in. By the end, I was fast-forwarding just to get it over with.The ending, in particular, was ridiculous. The one-year time jump was bad enough, but then the male lead somehow couldn’t contact the female lead for the entire year? Yeah, okay. (Insert the biggest eye roll imaginable.) It brought back strong True Beauty memories, except this time there wasn’t even a compelling second male lead for me to emotionally fall back on. Honestly, I found myself wishing the female lead had ended up with no one at all and simply moved on to find someone new.
The lead couple had moments where they were kind of cute together, but it was hard to ignore that the male lead felt significantly older than the female lead. While the drama insisted they were only about four years apart, the real-life fifteen-year age gap was obvious and made their dynamic feel unbalanced. What made this even more frustrating was that both leads behaved like middle schoolers when it came to their relationship—poor communication, constant misunderstandings, and interactions that felt immature rather than endearing.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a drama I’ll be rewatching. Beautiful Gong Shim had potential, but in the end it was too long, too juvenile, and too frustrating to justify the time investment.
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