Reviews

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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Learning to Love Through Loneliness

Love Me quietly proves why character-driven melodramas hit the deepest. Maybe it’s the Seo Hyun Jin effect, but I came in ready to fall—and I did. The story isn’t about big twists; it’s about people. Every character is layered, emotionally complex, and beautifully flawed. They’re selfish at times, hesitant, and hard to fully root for—but that’s exactly what makes them feel real.

The drama explores loneliness not as a weakness, but as a shared human condition. The father carries regret and emotional distance, loving in ways he never learned to express. The brother masks his wounds with silence, while the sister struggles between independence and longing to be understood. Their imperfections hurt each other, yet also become the starting point for healing.

Some scenes quietly break your heart—helped by thoughtful cinematography and dialogues that linger long after. Love Me reminds us that everyone deserves loneliness, a second chance, and ultimately, happiness—on their own imperfect terms.

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Kim Seon-ho is a Chameleon in Can This Love Be Translated? ???

I’m still trying to process that Joo Ho-jin and Kim Seon-ho are the same person. Seon-ho completely buried his bubbly, high-energy personality to play Ho-jin, and the result is a masterclass in subtle, grounded acting.
The real MVP move? The languages. He learned his foreign lines from scratch in just 4 months. He’s been praised by native speakers for his flawless accent and natural delivery.
It’s one thing to memorize lines, but Seon-ho captured the soul of a multilingual professional. His dedication is honestly unmatched. If you haven't started this yet, watch it for the romance, but stay for the incredible craft Seon-ho brings to the screen.

#CanThisLoveBeTranslated
#KimSeonHo
#JooHoJin

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Very very cheesy cheese

- The story was very clearly a web novel adaptation, a lot of things didn't feel like they pass as something believable in a live action show, and a lot of the plot was quite ridicolous honestly. The pacing was tolerable most of the time, but I did skip some scenes especially in the middle episodes because they really dragged on. This is definitely a more "trashy" and cheesy romance show, nothing really feels realistic about it, but it still has a charm because of that. It's silly, mushy, but still kinda lovable.

- The mains were all right, I think they did what they could with this plot and writing, I think Chi Cheng's character was played the best, the actor really felt like this edgelord comic character, I liked his acting! The others had lots of under/overacting that didn't really fit with the vibe all the time.

- I really liked the lighting, and the camerawork and makeup was nice too. It reminded me of Taiwanese shows (I don't watch that many Chinese ones), which are also lovely and have a good taste in that department.

- I actually really liked the songs they used as the soundtrack, but there were only a few ones so they became quite repetative fast.

- The show definitely had a few soft "corn" parts, I'm not into erotic stuff, so I skipped those. Overall it was fun to watch when I wanted something kinda over the top lovey-dovey.

- The overdub of the whole show is pretty bad though. I mean it kinda works, but so many scenes felt odd, and it pretty much messed up all the crying scenes.

- I feel like my rating is a bit high, because it really was just a cheesy drama, but I also feel like it's a bit low, because I think in its own genre it did succeed making it how they wanted it to be, so I'm at odds about what to rate it.

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Title: Back to the Beginning — D.C.

For ten years, he lived as someone else.

When Thontarn learned that the life he had been living as Photleng was never truly his own, he chose to walk away — even from Tankhun, the person who loved him the most. Not because he stopped loving him, but because he needed to find himself first.

What makes this finale powerful is not the resolution of the murder mystery, nor the answers to the long-buried secrets.

It is about identity.

Thontarn’s entire life had been shaped by other people’s sacrifices, lies, and desperate attempts to protect him. He carried guilt for surviving. He carried the weight of a name that was never meant to be his.

But when the truth finally surfaced, he also discovered something else:

He had never been alone.

Photleng tried to save him.
Mrs. Kang loved him as her own son.
His father committed an unforgivable act to protect him.
And Tankhun — from the very beginning — loved him as himself.

Not as a replacement.
Not as a shadow.
But as Thontarn.

The title of the final episode, “D.C. (Da Capo)”, means “back to the beginning.” It is not about returning to the past — it is about starting again, properly this time.

The previous episodes were heavy with revelations, almost overwhelming in their pace. But looking back, that density existed to clear the stage for this quiet, emotional restoration.

Tankhun does not rescue Thontarn.

He waits.

And that choice — to wait — might be the most romantic gesture in the entire series.

The lake that once witnessed tragedy now witnesses rebirth. The melody that once carried secrets now carries acceptance.

This drama was never simply about suspense. The murders and memory loss were mechanisms — painful ones — that forced the characters to confront who they truly were.

The ending is not a fairy tale. Loss remains. The past cannot be erased.

But Thontarn chooses to live as himself.

And that is enough.

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the most infuriating bunch

every single man in this series is an absolute selfish lech. bad script where characters keep falling for terrible plot devices, male lead accuses female lead of infidelity every other episode and never lets her explain. prince zhou is a bully, and then in the end the nicest character just gets kidnapped??? are we supposed to laugh?? I’m all for court dramas with political scandals, and a lot of this has the makings of a very good show, but getting there was AGONY. The costumes are beautiful, for sure, and that’s the nicest thing I’ll say for this series. it shows off the beautiful textiles of the Tang Dynasty.

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Why not finish the story?

This is a trauma survival story. Our female lead plays a fragile, talented, gorgeous young actress who struggles with ego, mental health, work, reputation, and relationships. We know early on that her childhood was tragic. Her parents died violently. The aunt and uncle who raised her seem to hate her. She is haunted by her zombie character, her break-out role, first with hallucinations, then with a personality split. We have two handsome potential love interests, a polyglot interpreter and a reality dating show co-star. Good stuff, right?
Tension builds on every front. And then a bombshell drops in the closing episodes. Her parents aren’t dead! What? She saw mom kill dad. She jumped from a balcony when her mom tried to make it a family group death (let’s all eat the poison cake!). But the aunt and uncle withheld the truth from her: the parents survived, had separated but were very much alive. And Aunt & Uncle were afraid of this child, the spitting image of her crazy? Murderous? Mother. Who is alive in America. No wonder she became an actress. No wonder the fragile ego. She’d been acting all her life to try to please these pathetic guardians.
This is at the very end of the drama: packs her suitcases to find mom, then she’s back, and no more personality splits.
No explanations.
It is refreshing to have a drama explore trauma and mental health challenges.
The lead actress particularly was compelling, extraordinary, great job (best actress trophy winner).
BUT it makes no sense to introduce a significant shift that heals our lead, but is not shared/explained/explored. Might as well have had her drunk a magic potion.
Could have been a very, very good drama. Flop of an ending.

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Never Lose Hope in Seeking Justice & Love is the Destiny to Embrace.

(First review of a show in 2026) After seeing Wow the World, I had really wanted to check out CXX's work even more and the first one was LOTTL w/Reba which was decent and I liked his character though this one I already had on my watchlist. I knew LYX from previous other works so I knew she would handle herself as well as some of the supporting cast.

Pros: Though the leads originally met in a VR game designed by the ML or XZY and the VR game was important, it wasn't centered to the plot. XZY was a lonely young man with one friend, one ally, and a small architect firm though growing in fame because of his natural talent. Behind all of that though, was for 20 years harboring a secret for justice and to vindicate his father who he and his uncle Xu knew was framed and killed after a stadium he and his business partner (ultimately the killer and the one behind the tragedy) were building, collapsed, killing 3 people and injuring 6 others. His name and identity was changed by his stepfather (the same psychopath responsible for everything else) and mother (who very conveniently and without waiting too long jumped into the arms of the business partner; I'll talk about her in the cons), XZY whose real name was QXY and he only used it in the VR game; which was his refuge. He studied in the states after becoming independent at a young age, not wanting to use his stepfather's or mother's money; he concentrated hard on earning his own money while also researching and slowly gathering evidence with the help behind the scenes of uncle Xu. By the time our story takes place he had gathered the majority of the evidence except some very key pieces.

FL or HX was a young woman working a job she hated because she studied architecture and that's what she wanted to do. She lived in her childhood home and after being dumped by her crappy fiancé on the eve of their engagement party, quit her job and decided to apply at different firms; the first one she was offered the same position as before so she declined and left. This was a big firm owned by XZY's stepfather that was originally started by him and XZY's father as well as named by him. The firm that she ended up working in was the one owned by XZY as that was her dream place anyways and the two of them met in real life after he rented her place and they had a series of funny encounters. He was aloof for obvious reasons so didn't warm to her quickly though she was bubbly and hardworking. But he did protect her and helped her get back at her ex fiancé among other things. She fell first and he fell later.

As cliche as things have to be, her father was one of those that were injured in the stadium collapse and his best friend was killed as both were engineers building it. This is where a rather unpleasant person comes in aka PZ; he was the GM of the big firm HX interviewed at as well as XZY's stepbrother, one who cheated, plagiarized, and tried to do anything to one up XZY. He hated him because XZY was always better and more natural. Furthermore, he was physically abused by his psychopath father which didn't help matters. First, he tried using HX to get back at XZY but she saw right through him and called him out on it. Than, after she gave him a band aid, he developed some convoluted feelings for her (Buffalo Bill style); but upon learning she was XZY's girlfriend, he exposed XZY's identity and name and the showdown 20 years in the making was about to hit a climax. I do have to say though the actor that played PZ or DX did a phenomenal job at playing him! This actor has done many characters, both protagonists and antagonists in different genres and I have to say he's very versatile.

The rest you'll have to watch yourselves; it does have an HE for all important people so don't worry. Both best friends of both leads were great, the rest of NPC's from the VR game, and FL's mom was alright. Loved uncle Xu, Xie Lyman guy, co-owner and the other employees of D Studio, were all good. The two antagonists were psychopath stepfather (justice was served after 20 years with all evidence found on him and he was most likely going to get the death penalty); ironically I had just watched him play a drug mastermind in a crime thriller before I started this show so he plays these types of characters very well and PZ who though thankfully didn't get a redemption arc because he did too much wrong, he did ultimately apologize properly to XZY for absolutely everything and left the industry (after turning himself into the police) though as creepy as he was, he took the used band aid HX gave him that he kept like a trophy with him. The thing probably already had fungus on it, 🤮.

Cinematography with the VR game was absolutely stunning for Republican era and all of the costumes for that period was beautiful as well as other scenes where you had outdoor shots were great. Oh and the kiss calendar was awesome (all dramas with romance should have them lol!); CXX is a very good kisser, just need LXY to be more natural and actually open her mouth so he’s not kissing her teeth as she pierces her lips together. P.S. There's an extra scene after the credits returning back to the VR game only with a role reversal, so came full circle.

Cons: There were issues with fluidity with the story. Firstly, the synopsis on the site only covered the first few episodes and not what the story was really about, which sucked because it was this huge story intertwined within and we had no clue it had such serious undertones. Next, they should never have had her best friend married because they started by randomly chucking this couple into the show and their scenes felt like very much an afterthought. It was all geared up to eventually show him "cheating". But they both were at fault because he had mentally checked out a long time ago and was solely married to his work while she had just grown complacent and also never really put much work into their marriage. I've got friends that work as much as these characters do plus have kids and still find time for an occasional date night in or not or something to keep things spicy. If there's love there and you want to make it work, you do. If you don't, like he was hospitalized from all that work and the breakup and instead of "let's try marriage counseling," she just said "I choose not to love you anymore," gave her ring to him and walked away. The entire thing was just weird to me; because feelings like that you can't turn them on and off like what we saw with the leads, even when FL broke up with ML more from being pressured by her parents and guilt then because she wanted to after his real identity was revealed, couldn't even function and they weren't married but just in a relationship. He cared about his clients from his new business more than his wife and she didn't see anything nor put in the effort. Both were at fault.

I have 2 small issues someone else mentioned in the comments with the FL; that CNY ML spent with her and her parents and than later was invited by her to sit on the roof when she tried to kiss him. It was most noticeable here because he was completely shut off and hurting and she didn't see it at all. On the roof she just babbled about her dreams and whatnot while the man she cared so much about was going through something and not mentally there and not once did she ask him if he was ok. It's like men are supposed to be able to take pain and loneliness and just swallow it while women can just not see it right in front of their eyes and people blamed him for not seeing her and her feelings. He's dealing with so much and always apologizes for everything even if none of it was his fault. Also, when she did her speechifying without letting him talk which was highly annoying; with the breakup and then after the factory thing. This man has been hunting for the truth for 20 years with only uncle Xu helping here and there and now he's just supposed to open up to you after you've said a bunch of hurtful, untruthful shit to him (after the factory especially) when he's not done a single bad thing to you nor was he responsible for what happened 20 years ago. I understand people say mean things when they're angry but some of what she said she should have apologized for and I don't think she said I'm sorry to him once the entire show. He was the one always apologizing; it was ridiculously unfair. It's one thing when he was in the wrong, ok good, but when he didn't do anything wrong even put her dad up in a private hospital room and gave him all of that equipment. He didn't have to do any of that.

FL's father was fine up until he started blaming XZY for what his father was framed for. When towards the end and they met instead of XZY apologizing again even though his father's name was cleared by then and HX's father knew that, instead of saying "let bygones be bygones" he should have been the bigger man and said "I'm sorry for blaming you for something you never did, were a child when it happened, and that I couldn't see that, letting the injustice continue." That would have been what a real man would say.

XZY's mother on the other hand was a lost cause; she never cared about his father or really him, just herself. She was insufferable, playing the victim while XZY had to essentially grow up on his own and look for evidence more or less alone. What mother wouldn't know that a father would only call their son by a pet name or what that pet name was? If she was dialed in, when that text message supposedly from him came through to her with the wrong name for their son claiming he was at fault for the collapse, she would have known instantly, he wasn't the one who sent it. But she took every opportunity to berate XZY about losing "another family" when he and PZ got into a fist fight without even knowing what it was about, as well as speak up for her new husband and stepson every chance she got. She resented her dead husband without knowing the truth but hopped into his killer's and the one responsible for the collapse's arms and bed before the ink dried on his tombstone. Only went to see his grave when his name was cleared after the psychopath confessed and was arrested. She actually asked XZY why he never told her about his findings after which she apologized to him for being weak, unhealthy, and incompetent which just seemed like weak, BS excuses for not being a proper mother to him basically most of his life. She briefly acknowledged that he essentially did this for 20 years alone without a mother. He thanked her for being with him in the end and she hugged him but by his awkward reaction, it was obvious she hadn't hugged him in a long time. She didn't deserve a son like him, so I was happy she was returning to the US after the divorce was finalized. I didn't want to see her anymore. Just made me want to throw something at the screen; glad they didn't give her a lot of screen time.

Would I recommend it? I would, absolutely. Despite the cons, the pros were more favorable. The story was rich and deep and though it wasn't lighthearted and had a lot to chew through, it was worth it, so give it a go!

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Zhuang Xu count your fucking days.

One thing about men is their audacity. And Zhuang Xu is that man. I want to run him over, reverse, then do it again at least ten times. I thought I had met annoying second leads before, but my god, Zhuang Xu made me wanna rip out my hair more times than humanly possible. I swear to god, I’m so glad I didn’t have to see him so much after they graduated, cuz if I had to, I might have actually dropped his show. I can’t stand him. I genuinely can’t. I don’t care what your issues are, what you’re struggling with, or what you’re dealing with, STOP FUCKING PROJECTING YOUR PROBLEMS ONTO THE MAIN GIRL.

This man reeks of insecurity, and he makes it OUR fucking problem. FUCK OFF. Usually, I don’t care about second leads; even more rarely, I fall for them, but this guy. This bloody guy. He makes my blood boil. He would just be standing there like a nob, and I would still feel myself getting annoyed. How the fuck were there THREE girls interested in him? THREE?! And the fact that our main girl was still hung on him after like a year?! GIRL PLS, WAKE UP WTF!!

People are right when they say men will do anything but take accountability and go to therapy. And add that with their fucking audacity, and they are insufferable. I knew this guy was going to be a problem the moment he called Xiguang pathetic for apparently “leeching off her parents”. His words, not mine. The moment I heard that, I knew this guy was for the fucking streets. Like, why are you projecting your fucking insecurities onto her? And don’t even get me started on him getting onto her for wearing heels because she wanted to look pretty. Like, excuse me!? Go die. Disrespectfully, go die.

And no, I don’t give a flying fuck that he loved her all along, and he didn’t know how to express it, and that he wouldn't have been able to confess cuz blah, blah, blah. No. Fuck you lot for trying to justify this behaviour. Our ML hated the FL and yet couldn’t help but love her. He pursued her DESPITE her being hung up on the SL. And what does our SL do? He calls her pathetic, doesn’t believe or defend her when she’s getting ganged up on, scolds her when she wears heels, lets countless opportunities go, and fucking expects the FL to follow him like a lost puppy.

And oh. OH. When he mentioned the promise. The rage I felt course through my body when he confronted her at the friend's wedding. Not only did he purposefully spill wine all over her hand because he was jealous, but he had the AUDACITY to be mad at her for “moving on”. I can’t. I’m sorry, if anyone likes this guy or even remotely tries to defend him, you're on my hit list. It’s giving bullying the girl you like, but in this case, he’s a fucking adult, he graduated at the top of his class and works at one of the most prestigious places. Get this stinky attitude out of my face.

And when he lost his shit, I was terrified. That was the look of a man who would hit you if you weren’t in public. Kudos to the actor because my god, he was able to make this man terrifying and annoying and so hateful. And Xiguang is a better person than me cuz I would have at least slapped him for the way he was grabbing her wrist. Talking about some missed opportunities and having nothing left to lose. Motherfucker you bought this upon yourself, go suck a cactus and choke. Fucking hell.

I can’t believe I spent this long talking about this loser. I just can’t stand him one bit. And this is the first time a SL made me this enraged. This drama got so much hype, and I can totally see why it did, but I guess it just wasn’t for me. I got the hype, but the hype didn’t hit me unfortunately.


Let’s talk about the positives now cuz I spent far too long talking about that annoying being that is a wet sock.

- I loved the character relationships. The friendships and dynamics were absolutely solid, and I liked how we gave every single one of them enough time. FL and her cousin might just be my favourite dynamic of all time. They’re so adorable, especially in the more serious moments.

- The main couple are amazing. I mainly watched this show for its romance, and I’m not ashamed to say it. Yusen is the perfect man and an incredible yearner. How Xiguang didn’t jump his bones from the get-go is beyond me. I think I focused more on Yusen’s face than I did on the actual show. Song Wei Long is a gorgeous man, and that face card of his has never once declined.

- I appreciate how down-to-earth both the leads were despite being rich. And glad that we didn’t do the whole poor girl x rich CEO trope that we usually see. They were at the same level, and that was a breath of fresh air. Sometimes I even forgot they were rich lmao. The scene where Xiguang claimed her mans in front of all the rich business people had me screaming. Like yes girl, that man belongs to you!!

- We got to see ML’s struggles with accepting not being a neurosurgeon anymore more than I expected. Honestly, I thought we were gonna forget that as the show went on, but it was one of the main focal points of the story, and I was so happy. Even the fact that we got to see him in medical situations, and how much he misses it. Glad he got to go back to doing a job related to it.


Now onto everything else I didn’t like apart from Zhuang Xu:

- The CGI in this show was fucking horrendous, my god. It made me laugh. Budget couldn’t have been that bad, right?

- As much as I loved all the medical stuff, I feel like that was just a gimmick to make this series stand out from the rest of the office romance dramas out there. Yeah, the guy went through a life-changing tragedy, and he had to change careers, but I feel like he could have done something that wasn’t a CEO. I don’t know, you could just tell the writer wanted an office romance, but wanted this to stand out somehow and figured, hey, what do the girlies also love? Oh yeah, hot doctors! Like, the ML is the youngest AND the top neurosurgeon, but also a CEO? Come on, pick one or the other. I get that Chinese MLs can basically do anything, but even this is a bit of a stretch. I guess they somehow managed to link it back to his childhood backstory, but still.

- Story felt incredibly slow. I’m amazing with slow-burn dramas. Some of my favourites are slow burns that don’t have much going on in them plot-wise. But this show just didn’t do it for me. The start was pretty solid, but somewhere in the middle, it got so boring and draggy that I had to use my skip button. Maybe because I liked the medical stuff more than the business. Which really doesn’t bode well when this is an office romance.

- The weddings. I’m sorry, did we blow out the budget in the last two weddings? What the hell was that? They’re the main couple, and we don’t even get a proper wedding? When the hell can we start having proper modern wedding scenes in Chinese dramas? I’m sick and tired of this shit.

- Ending lowkey felt rushed. Don’t know why we always have to include them having children. I mean, it was cute, but that’s always the ending. Give me a proper wedding instead, damn it!!

I guess this was about it, really. The edits made me watch this show, and I think this is the first time that the edits were better. Which is sad to say, because I love Zhao Jin Mai, and I was so excited to see her back on my screen. But I guess it is what it is. LIN YUSEN, YOU’RE STILL MY FAVOURITE!! AND ONCE AGAIN, FUCK ZHUANG XU!!

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Hooked from the start!!!!!

I started this series without much expectation from the storyline, but since FirstKhao are one of the best actors and I love all of their series, I thought to give it a go . Boy was I wronggg, I became obsessed within 10 mins !!! I love love love some fantasy or supernatural elements in any story and since I am a cat person, I was literally giggling (more like laughing like a maniac) when I got the best of both worlds. Supernatural element is minimal as of now, but I am content with that.
As always, FirstKhao are so natural and have one of the best chemistries (in my personal opinion). I am glad they finally have a cute, fluffy series, since I always re-watch there other series like Eclipse (when I feel frustrated) and Only Friends (when I want drama). Now I have a go-to series whenever I feel down.
I am a binge watcher and this is first series of my life i am trying to watch as it gets aired, since I wrongly assumed it as a monotonous and cute only story (blame is on me since I didnt watch any trailers). Now did I enjoy the episode? You bet I did !! Do I regret not waiting to binge watch ? regretting a wee bit (if wee bit defines as alot) since I will have to wait for a week now ... and again and again and again. But a new experience is always welcome, I kinda like this feeling of waiting for now atleast.

Definitely looking forward to next episode (><)

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Translated Well, Written Thin

“Can This Love Be Translated?” is a mixed bag for me. Some things worked, some things left me with question marks about the intent behind them. I kept oscillating between ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ ) and ( ꩜ ᯅ ꩜;) ??
Overall though, I had a good time.

Story
It’s not a deep story. A struggling actress (FL) meets a polyglot (ML) abroad, gets smitten, and they part ways. An accident boosts her popularity, she signs up for a travel diary show with a foreign rising star (SML), lo and behold - the ML is hired as their translator. He is emotionally closed off, she is very openly interested, and after a lot of push and pull (plus some unnecessary secrets), they end up together.
Is there much substance? No.
Is it particularly engaging on its own? Heck, no.

Characters
Cha Mu-hee and Joo Ho-jin carry the drama. She’s insecure and prone to self-flagellation; he’s hyper-rational to the point of rudeness. She is smitten with him; he is not interested at all. This reversed dynamic is refreshing and a welcome change from the usual ML-chasing-FL trope. Both make assumptions, stick to them, and unintentionally fuel the conflict. Their flaws actually work for the story.

Hiro, unfortunately, is pure wasted potential. What could have been a genuinely compelling character is reduced to a forced love triangle that doesn’t even form a proper triangle. The third line barely exists. Everyone else, also unfortunately, feels undercooked. The secondary romance adds nothing, The emotional weight rests almost entirely on the leads, and the drama wobbles because of it.

Strengths
The biggest strength is the lack of tropiness. Refreshing, honestly. The cinematography and production are lovely, and the dialogue lands well even in translation.

Performances are solid. Go Youn-jung shines as Mu-hee, making her relentless pursuit endearing rather than creepy. Kim Seon-han’s Ho-jin is sharp and practical, and their contrasting personalities create charming chemistry (though Mu-hee carries most of it).

Weaknesses
Unnecessary plot points. Since there isn’t much story to begin with, the drama pads itself with twists and secrets to stretch across 12 episodes. The final twist is especially underwhelming. Ho-jin’s mother’s track isn’t irritating, but it begs the question: what does it actually achieve? And Ho-jin and Ji-seon’s confrontation toward the end…what was the point, other than ticking a romance drama checklist box? Eh.

Also, certain repetitiveness. It’s like they all have short term memory losses. The push and pull between the OTP as well as with Hiro, is the same rinse and repeat over and over again.

Overall
This drama wants to be thoughtful but settles for pleasant. It’s uneven, padded, and carried almost entirely by its leads. But as a laid back, low stakes watch for a lazy Sunday afternoon, it does the job.

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So Sweet, Yet I Wanted More

"When I Fly Towards You" is a very warm and comforting coming-of-age drama that truly shines during its school arc. The development of the characters in their teenage years feels natural, emotional, and meaningful. Watching them grow, especially seeing how the female lead supports the male lead in overcoming his insecurities and psychological barriers, is the strongest part of the story.

The male lead is written as an introverted and emotionally reserved person, which makes sense for his background and personality.

During the school phase, this works very well because every small step he takes feels like real progress. His growth, both academically and emotionally, feels genuine and satisfying, and the relationship develops through small, quiet moments rather than dramatic scenes, which makes it feel realistic and sincere.

However, once the story moves into their adult lives, the emotional progression slows down significantly. While their relationship remains sweet and stable, it also feels somewhat stagnant. The male lead stays emotionally in the same place, and although that fits his personality, it creates the feeling that his internal journey is never fully explored or resolved on screen. The romance becomes more about comfort and companionship, but less about emotional depth and transformation.

The ending, including the pregnancy announcement, is symbolically beautiful and shows that their love continues into a new stage of life. Still, it feels more like a life milestone than an emotional climax. It confirms that they stay together, but it doesn’t quite deliver a strong emotional resolution to their personal growth, especially for the male lead.

Overall, this drama is perfect for viewers who enjoy calm, healthy, and gentle romances with strong school development and a comforting atmosphere. It may not be emotionally intense in the final episodes, but it remains a sweet and heartwarming story about growing up and growing together.

Rating: 8/10

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