This review may contain spoilers
I like this so far it's actually fun and cute
I find this really adorable esp the romance! I honestly was waiting for it to release and watched it right away lol. I love both leads esp the actress she's just too beautiful honestly her eyes gave me so many emotions whenever she's tearing up like my god it's too good I love it, I've loved her since Alchemy of Souls that was my first time seeing her and I'm hooked with her she's really good at acting and I really love her. I dont normally like romance but this one was fun to watch esp the switch personality thats something rare to see and it was super interesting and fun i love that new badass side of her lol, I also love the OST it's so good I cant stop listening to it. But yea if anyone like the leads like me pls do check out this drama and pls dont listen to the bad reviews honestly all their acc are like created freshly new just to trash talk and bring down the drama on purpose which i dnt understand but yea it is a worth watch of cute romance.Was this review helpful to you?
A promising drama that was dragged down by too many ideas
I was really hyped for this drama because I was excited by the summary and I love both the main actors. I was so happy by the refreshing first half but the story kept getting more and more chaotic and fell off at the end.Let's start with the positives:
1. The amazing cast- I knew the actors would deliver on their roles. Kim Seonho is an amazing actor and just shone on the screen. The rest of the cast also did well and I loved that they made the foreign cast speak normally in the native accent instead of the cringey accent they do in other dramas.
2. The cinematography- I've got to say, the cinematography was amazing. Some scenes felt like a nature documentary and beautifully shot
3. The dialogue- I actually liked how the dialogue wasn't overtly cringey. Like there was some cheesiness here and there but nothing too crazy
4. The runtime- I'm actually glad this is short with just 12 epsidoes. If this was any longer, I would've gone crazy with everything that was happening
Now let's move on the negatives/rant:
1. The convoluted plot- What the heck were the writers thinking?! It had such a great start and I was loving it but so many plot points got introduced in the middle that I felt like I was watching another drama. The pacing was all over the place and I started to get frustrated towards the end
2. The repetitive plot structure- I lost count how many times the same thing happened again and again in the story. It was like I was watching a rerun of the same drama in a different font.
3. The useless second lead- I don't even know why Hiro was given so much importance in the story. Honestly, I just found him cheesy (like a typical jdrama character) and started skipping whenever he appeared on my screen. He did have some great acting moments but they were overshadowed by the cringe potrayal of his character
4. The anxiety ridden relationship dynamic- I don't know why they labelled this as a romance when the romance part is so unsteady and unreliable. Because of the numerous sad scenes, I as a viewer kept feeling dread about their romance. Like even when they got together, i knew that they wouldn't last and something is going to happen which I don't want to see in a romance drama
5. The "too deep" concept- I get that the writers had a message to deliver but they were too philosophical or too deep about how they portrayed it. Like I could understand it but it was done in a way where it seemed too artsy or theatrical for the common audience. It started seeming forced and unnatural to the storyline.
6. Bad marketing- This drama is more like a melodrama than a romance. I think people might be disappointed because the marketing as well as the first few episodes promised a refreshing romance but it changed from the middle. It was just too different than what we were promised.
Overall, i felt like this was a spiritual successor to "It's ok to not be ok" in terms of how it tackled childhood trauma, mental health issues, and complex family dynamics with a kooky, quirky concept. If they had marketed this properly, people would have set the right expectations. But still, i enjoyed this drama and might even rewatch it again. 8/10
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Butterflies On My Stomach!
Still only on episode 4, and I have to say, the romcom is REALLY romcom-ing in this series!There’s Cha Muhee, a struggling artist who, almost overnight, like something straight out of a fantasy film, suddenly becomes famous and gets everything she never even dared to dream of.
And then there’s Joo Hojin, a multilingual genius interpreter (he can speak six languages!) who is neat, clean, and well-organized, his life is basically just… straight and orderly.
Like most good, cute romcoms, their meeting is organic and heart-fluttering, sprinkled with a sense of fate, following the classic from strangers to something trope. Hojin meets Muhee in Japan, they meet again because of work, and the rest is history.
Their push-and-pull dynamic is so engaging to watch. There are so many scenes that make you squeal, feel shy for them, or even burst out laughing. It’s truly a light, easy watch, yet filled with beautiful shots and stunning scenery across four different countries.
A must-watch if you’re a romantic comedy enthusiast! 🤭🩵🍀
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Go Youn-Jung's Make Up Team
Go Youn-jung's makeup team needs to be replaced. Go Youn-jung's makeup in recent dramas has been truly awful. The powder is too white and unnatural-looking. Her eyebrows are too thin, as if she doesn't have any eyebrows at all. Go Youn-jung's beauty doesn't come out and instead looks like a pale mannequin statue.Was this review helpful to you?
An In-Depth Exploration of Childhood Trauma Set Against a Romantic Backdrop
If you’re going into *Can This Love Be Translated?* expecting swoony romance (I mean Kim Seon Ho paired up with Go Youn Jung!), adjust your expectations accordingly.
While the drama features romance, it’s important to note that it’s more focused on the complexities of mental health and the healing journey for our female lead rather than a traditional K-Drama love story. It will be evident when you start watching and notice that Cha Mu Hui gets quite a lot of screen time as opposed to her love interest. And obviously, this is for a reason.
I typically divide K-dramas into two categories: the quirky, over-the-top madness that follows a typical formula and is a full-on cliche ride that’s totally a wild ride, and those that stray from it. Lowkey, slow-paced, and nuanced stories. And they can be real gems. *Can This Love Be Translated?* belongs to the second category and, while I often find these dramas can really stand out from the crowd (Worst of Evil, Somebody, Eat, Love, Kill to name a few), this one didn’t hit the mark for me.
To be honest, I’m disappointed because I truly enjoy both actors, especially Kim Seon Ho as Ju Ho Jin. I’ve been waiting for a new romance drama featuring him for a while.
The drama starts off slowly but the first episode sets up the story’s foundation really well and I think it almost does the drama disservice because I expected that we would progress in the same manner. But the pacing for some reason did not take off or kept up. I don’t mind the slow pace at first because I know sometimes Asian dramas like to get really detailed with their exposition. However, my expectation is that once the foundation is laid, we need to make sure we start building upon it rather quickly, or build towards something.
But in *Can This Love Be Translated?* the plot kind of just wobbles through the motions. Yes things are happening and yes, some of them are interesting and there is a secondary couple. That’s quite cute, and I liked that there was not a lot of drama around them and things got resolved pretty quickly. But I think our leading couple deserved a little bit more. While they had some really great scenes and dialogues, they also had some strange ones too.
The drama attempts to explore deeper themes like childhood trauma, mental health, and the complexities of human relationships. However, it stumbled in the execution, particularly in how characters communicated with one another. I understood what the writers aimed to convey, and why the communication was meant to be still good and not clear (I mean, the show is literally about translating and understanding), but some dialogues missed the mark and didn’t effectively get to the point. I'm pretty decent at reading between the lines, but even I struggled to get the idea behind their interactions.
While I appreciated the detailed portrayal of Cha Mu Hui’s character and the focus on mental health, Ju Ho Jin felt underdeveloped. He seemed to have his own issues to tackle, yet we barely got to understand him beyond the family drama presented, and the situation with his mother was resolved pretty quickly. But why he was the way he was (because let's be honest, the guy was kind of a dick 70% of the time) wasn’t explained. There was a lot to explore about him that was left untouched.
I’d say overall, *Can This Love Be Translated?* is a decent drama; it’s well-written with great acting and good storytelling. It’s a quality TV. However, I do think the pacing could have been faster to address the elements that would have made it more engaging. For those expecting a romance-centric story, you might want to adjust your expectations. While there’s a lot of romance, the focus is more on overcoming trauma and navigating human relationships and it feels almost one-sided because we are mostly going through it with Cha Mu Hui.
I think a lot of people will still love it. But for a seasoned Asian drama lover like me, I have seen better dramas.
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1The story opens in a shooting location of a reality show 'Romantic Trip' where Korean actress Cha Mu-hee & Japanese Actor Hiro Kurosawa are filming their final scenes, and interpreter Joo Ho-jin is communicating with them through earpiece from the production truck. just when the final words of the filming scene are said which happened to be a love confession from Hiro Kurosawa towards cha muhee, story flashes back to the past 1 year back from where truly the drama Starts. Cha Muhee,an unknown actress back then, had a chance encounter with multilingual interpreter Joo Hojin there in a ramen shop in Tokyo while they Both were travelling for own personal reasons. However, as they ended up spending half of the day together because of some unintended turn of events,they ended up knowing these 'personal reasons' of each other in unexpected ways.They part ways abruptly, and returned to Korea respectively, never to cross paths with each other Again until at least 7 months later, & From this point,the story flows naturally, it explores out of the box genre switch in the middle of the drama,turning it more into a psychological Romance with quirky humours,rather than a typical romcom.
Written by one of the most renowned South Korean Screenwriters duo Hong sisters, and directed by another female director yoo young eun,this drama was a pleasant watch for me in many aspects, the layers of unfolding the story with a conversational script, Amazing chemistry between leads which made their characters' interactions so smooth to form a natural connection, Scenic beauties of the outdoor filming locations in Japan,Korea, Italy & Canada were eye catching as cinematography were top notch, added with good Comedy scenes & funny interactions of supporting characters were cherry on top. Go youn jung is an actress of her generation who can pull off probably any roles She's given with outstanding perfection, Her Cha muhee & Do Rami were flawless as well, Kim Seon Ho blended with his character Joo hojin so perfectly that it will surely be one of his memorable roles for me. Sota fukoshi was so brilliant in his nonchalant role that i had to look him up only to realize I've watched him in a Movie many years ago,he's such a good Actor to incredibly enjoy every scene he was in! Kim won hae Ahjussi as Novelist Mr. Kim gave a comedic Relief to the screen and i really laughed so hard in his scenes with Hojin.Other Supporting roles,although screentimes of them were not much, definitely marked their presences with good dialogues & performances. As a Conversation-led script, the dialogues were well written & scene transitions were smooth so narratives made enough sense.
Coming to the aesthetic parts of the show, How they crafted the 'kindness is scary' poem and Verdi's 'La traviata' opera's Ending scene into the plot of this drama was praiseworthy..."Amami, Alfredo! quanto io t′amo! quanto io t′amo! Addio! " & He DID, Joo Hojin in the end was able to translate her language, "it felt as though kindness may kill me ", He understood her, embraced her, stood up for her, and loved her as much as she did, they realized each other's hearts & walked the path together to their Happy Ending.
It's been soo long that I've enjoyed a korean drama with anticipation of next episode & also without skipping a single scene, and ever since Netflix started originally producing kdramas, this is probably the first time i am able to complete a show, for this reason alone,I'm Rating it much higher than usual.
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What a pleasant surprise!!!
I hadn't watched a Kdrama for a long time, and this drama just brought my spirit in a snap, just like when I first started watching dramas in 2021. This drama has made the cut for my favorite K-drama list, which I have maintained till now. I have a similar list for other dramas in other languages (I will share someday). Now let's jump to the review.I don't have that much experience or patience for a review, so please bear with me. I may not be able to describe the drama in words but can in numbers.
Story -> 10/10
Acting -> 10/10
Cinematography -> 10/10
OST -> 10/10
Rewatch value -> 10/10
The chemistry between the leads is very endearing, and for the first time I didn't dislike the 2nd lead; moreover, I enjoyed their interaction.
And lastly my love for Go Youn Jung ....🫠🫠 Just how pretty can one person be!!!
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That hopeful melo fairytale
Do we understand even when we communicate?🩷 Nuanced romance
💛 Timidity vs spontaneity
❤️ FL falls first ML falls harder
🧡 Slow-burn but heartfelt
💜 warm and sad and surprising
This was an ingenuous take on language, translation and how we comprehend others based on whats said but what of those left unsaid. And our leads, both Mu Hee and Ho Jin spoke plenty with just their eyes.
Though the story haf some dip in energy but it was carried through by the strong performance of the actors. They made you believe when 2 beings who approach life very differently found attracted to each other. The tension. The mood. That yearning for love and romance. The scenery, the breathtaking aurora. All made for a very cinematic and memorable watch.
Excellent production. May we hope more of this calibre from Netflix.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Bunch of Nothing Wrapped in Beautiful Visuals
✧✦ This is just my personal view on the drama. We can all agree to disagree✦✧I usually finish Netflix originals in a single day but this one took me three days and that alone says a lot.
✦Let me start with the good, because there are good things. The cinematography is easily the biggest highlight of the drama. It’s consistently beautiful. Cha Muhee’s outfits were another win and Dorami completely stole the show for me. I think I liked Dorami so much partly because I wasn’t invested in the main love story at all and Go Youn Jung absolutely nailed the role.
✦Now, the things that didn’t work for me.
This drama suffers a lot from mis-genre issues.
The drama is labeled as a rom-com but the comedy is almost non existent and I’m not even sure the constant push and pull between rejection and pursuit qualifies as romance.
In the first half, It felt like the same thing happened in every episode: the main leads having the exact same conversation, the female lead trying to court the male lead, the male lead rejecting her and then a goodbye at the end of the episode. As irritating as that was, at least the male lead still felt somewhat relevant to the story during this phase.
The second half is where the male lead completely faded for me. He wasn’t doing anything remarkable or even necessary for the plot. He felt like background noise, so much so that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if he’d barely appeared. Ironically, I enjoyed the second half more simply because Dorami had more presence. Go Youn Jung once again proved her range by slaying the dual role.
If you strip away the cinematography and the pretty actors, I honestly don’t know what’s left of the story. It feels like many things are happening, yet nothing is actually happening. The main love angle was repetitive and painfully boring.
Personally, found the second male lead–female lead dynamic far more engaging. Hiro wasn’t perfect but if his character had been properly developed as the main lead, the drama could have been much more entertaining.
A story about a Japanese actor and a Korean actress, carrying childhood trauma, unable to understand each other’s language, starting off as enemies and slowly falling in love sounds far more aligned with the rom-com genre they were supposedly aiming for. Dorami being dynamic and Hiro matching her energy would’ve made so much more sense. Hiro wasn’t some flawless green flag character either.He had his own issues and I don’t mind imperfect characters at all. My problem with the male lead is simply that he felt repetitive and stagnant.
✦I rated the drama 6/10 and here’s why:
2 points for the cinematography
1 point for Go Youn Jung
1 point for Go Youn Jung slaying a double role
1 point for Go Youn Jung’s outfits
I’m not blaming the actors. They did what they could with what they were given. Visually, the drama was engaging and easy to watch but when it comes to storytelling, it ultimately fell apart.
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Watch it for yourself and Decide
TBH I have been in a Kdrama slump all last year enjoyed Dyanmite Kiss bec it was a siĺly fun to watch drama, so Ibwas waiting for this expecting the same but OH Boy what a surprise these 2 main leads match each other in everything and Go Youn Jung again and again shows how good of an actress she can be the snap between her persona and alter ego had me at Wow....it b is a Must watch for me and for many reasons. Ppl that watch dramas fastforwarding this is not for you, you need to pay attention not an ordinary fluffy prince charm and damsel in distress drama.Highly recommended 👌!
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Stunningly Beautiful Drama
What to say! The choice of Leads was astonishingly inspired. It is so great to see the wonderful Male lead back doing what he does best. Korean Netizens must be the worst followers on the Planet. They are deaddy and happily ruin creative successful actors without care. They must be really unhappy people. This drama is so brilliant. One of the best I have watched alongside 'Love Between Liness' so far this Year. The acting is memeorable. The story wonderful, the Performances superb. The settings are great, especially the Winery in Italy. The female lead also gave an outstanding performance. I cannot put my finger on, what exactly make the Male lead so appealing and lovable. His sensitivity is so attractive. Tgether with the Female Lead they have made an award Winning Drama. Hero is gorgeous too. I hope to see these actors again in more dramas. This is one out of the Box..Was this review helpful to you?
Foreign Language in Love and Life
There are two kinds of language in this world—one that can be spoken, and one that can only be felt. But what happens when a person isn’t fluent in either? How can the other truly understand?Can This Love Be Translated? tells the story of a language interpreter and a rising actress who encounter each other by chance while traveling. Despite working in a field surrounded by communication, they often fail to grasp each other’s feelings—and that’s where a seemingly straightforward plot becomes surprisingly layered?
The drama centers on people who struggle to express their emotions because of personal wounds: one dealing with the sting of unrequited love, another numb to her own emotions, and the last uncertain about the validity of what he feels.
Throughout the filming of a global dating show, the language interpreter, the Korean actress and the Japanese Heartthrob gradually uncover parts of themselves, learn to heal, and even begin to understand languages—both literal and emotional—that once felt foreign, even to themselves.
It carries many tropes I love: love triangles, travel, entertainment industry settings, fun and fluttering moments, good music, and gorgeous scenery—all woven together in a way that kept me engaged.
Interestingly, it also contains elements I usually dislike—family secrets, psychological angles, side couples, and a larger ensemble—yet they all work together surprisingly well, becoming as enjoyable as the tropes I favor most.
That’s what makes this drama different. I assumed it would be just another popular K-drama of today, but instead it turned out to be light to watch, comforting, and free of pressure. Even the things I thought I wouldn’t enjoy ended up becoming some of the highlights. I expected those elements to make the story harder to understand, but they actually helped me see the drama more fully.
No character overshadows the others. Everyone has a role. Every relationship has weight. Every word reveals a part of their story.
And in the end, I found myself able to translate the love they carried—and it’s those emotions that allowed them to love freely, to love themselves, and to love others.
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