I’ve been a fan of Kim Seon-Ho ever since his early days of playing side characters who nobody cared about. The actor slowly became a well-known face of the K-drama industry, cementing himself as a leading man with Hometown Cha Cha Cha after leaving everyone swooning over his character in Start Up. However, the typical order of things for K-drama stars who quickly rise in popularity is that they are inevitably brought to a fall. In Kim’s case, the scandal almost ruined his career, which had only just started to pick up, until he was proven innocent and returned to our screens as an evil (I think?) guy in The Childe. But I consider his real comeback to be When Life Gives You Tangerines, returning him to his glory and setting him to do this exact role of Joo Ho-Jin in Can This Love Be Translated.
We have become accustomed to calling characters red flags and green flags simply based on one quality that’s either bad or great. But in my opinion, the thing about Ho-Jin is that he’s neither a prince nor a prick. He’s a regular person and doesn’t seem to cloud our judgment with fancy appearances or exciting promises. It’s ironic, and I mention this in my explainer, too. In this show, the romance is between an actress and a language interpreter. Now, most of us aren’t going to relate to these roles, especially to the role of an actress who has just reached celebrity status almost accidentally. If only it held true for me, too. But anyway, in other circumstances, this might’ve felt a little annoying for a romance, because it’s something we obviously can’t dream of achieving, but the show is grounded in its actual themes. At the end of the day, both of these people are human and have similar issues we all face. That’s why it’s so fun to watch.
Can This Love Be Translated is a show about childhood trauma, friendship, and romance. It starts with two strangers meeting in the far-off land (well, not that far) of Japan. Mu-Hee is there to find an ex, while Ho-Jin is there for work. Their interaction is brief, and just a nod, “Are you Korean?” “Oh no, you understood what I was saying.” But when an accident in the restaurant they’re at proves that Ho-Jin unironically collects tour guides in different languages because he speaks all of them. Mu-Hee offers to look after his stuff while he runs off with a child in his arms because an ambulance won’t reach such a skinny street. Wow, what a dreamy guy, no? When Ho-Jin returns for his things, Mu-Hee immediately asks him to help her out. While he refuses at first because he doesn’t want to fall into a romantic feud, he later learns that the Italian couple he helped wants to give him a reservation at an expensive restaurant. He invites Mu-Hee, but they have to spend the day together to make it to the restaurant at 7 PM. But the rendezvous ends abruptly when a “situation” drives Ho-Jin to head in the wrong direction while Mu-Hee cheers him on (sigh).
A little later, Mu-Hee finds herself waking up in the hospital after having a near-death experience while shooting her latest film, a zombie horror that has become a global sensation during her time in the hospital. Because of this, she needs to show up for international interviews, and what do you know? She needs a…you guessed it…translator! So that’s how Mu-Hee and Ho-Jin meet again, but will they have a happy ending? Is Mu-Hee really okay after that accident? What happened to her in her childhood? What comes next for her? All of this is what we find out in Can This Love Be Translated.
The show certainly falls under a myriad of tropes we might be tired of in Dramaworld, but there’s something about how this show does it that somehow works. Sure, there are some misunderstandings and family drama that almost feel too dated, but this plot navigates it with ease, subverting major trope-y “red flags.”
Given this is a romantic drama, the first thing you want to know is if the two leads have romantic chemistry, and boy, do I tell you they do. As individual actors, Go Youn-Jung and Kim Seon-Ho both have a way with their eyes that could make any scenario look romantic. Youn-Jung gets to have extra fun in this role, and truth be told, rather than calling it a show about them, it’s more a show about Mu-Hee that then turns into a romance as well. Youn-Jung also might’ve started off with small shows, but with her crazy passion in “Alchemy Of Souls,” everyone who was ever skeptical of Jung So-Min not being in the second season was immediately floored by Youn-Jung’s skills. Especially when it comes to the romance bit.
Youn-Jung and Seon-Ho share a comforting chemistry. This story isn’t necessarily a typical K-drama romance. There are a lot of ups and downs, and there’s the whole mental health angle that changes things up from making it just romance to something more thrilling. But don’t let that distract you from the butterflies when they do come, because they will come. The score is good, and I really quite enjoyed some of the OSTs of the show (Daydream by Wendy feels perfectly nostalgic yet fresh). Her voice is just so perfect for this kind of show.
Now, a lot of the time, when it comes to rom-coms these days, people have started to forget the “com” of things. But Can This Love Be Translated is hilarious, and Go Youn-Jung is especially good at making you laugh with her innocent and confused expressions. The last time I watched Japanese actor Sota Fukushi was literally a decade ago in My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday, which I remember touched me, but now I know why this man seemed familiar. The Japanese actor plays Hiro, the man with whom Mu-Hee is meant to do a reality show. It’s all quite exciting, and these two also have great chemistry.
At the end of the day, if you’re looking for a K-drama that feels like the old ones but doesn’t follow the same old boring patterns, then Can This Love Be Translated is the perfect show for you. It’s a great start for 2026, but it also sets the bar really high for whatever is coming next. With that said, I give Can This Love Be Translated 4 out of 5 stars. Honestly, I didn’t find many flaws at all.
