Can This Love Be Translated?

The best kdrama for me this year!!

After a long kdrama slump this drama brought me back to it! I was actually anticipating this drama since long n it didn't disappoint me.. i totally loved it. The starting episodes were sooo sooo good, i binge watched first 6 episodes in one go till late night. Though the later episodes were a bit slow n I didn't get why they were breaking up again n again, I still loved it n would definitely recommend it as the drama I loved this year!! N not to forget I loved all the casts in it, also special mention to the 2nd lead, the Japanese actor, he was so swoonworthy ;), I almost got 2nd lead syndrome becos of his ckt development by the end, if it wasn't for a better ML cktwise n actorwise
😊9/10 for me. Oh n I m so impressed that KSH learned n mastered three different languages for this! I was so awestruck! Last but the least, the FL, GYJ did such an amazing job of portraying two different personalities n she is so pretty, this is my first drama of her n I m won over!! Soo altogether a wonderful experience, definitely rewatching! A solid 9/10 for me😊!!

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There is as many languages as they are people in the world

Loved it ! Very easy to binge ! A really nice drama with a lovely romance. It feels like I watched the romance of two avoidant people who always put the others first falling for each other and their journey of not letting that trait get in the way of them finding love. It was beautifully told.
Amazing acting from the leads. Kudos to Go Youn Jung for the versatility of her role. Kudos to Kim Seon Ho too, it's not evident to play someone who speaks several languages but he did very well. He really looked like a polyglot, lol. He has amazing facial expressions, we could tell so much about how he felt just by looking at his face. Nice chemistry between the leads.
I like the development of the scenario a lot, you can't tell what will happen in the next episode nor how the drama will end. There's so many things we just don't see coming, it makes the drama even more enjoyable. It was cool. the one point where it failed for me is how no one thinks about using an online translator even if it's not the most accurate things when there's no interpertror. The character just rather speak their language and not be understood by the person they're talking to even when they're saying something important. It doesn't make sense. Anyway, it's not a focal point in the drama, we can easily tell it's to create misunderstandings that will unfold later in the story and you can still enjoy the drama despite that.
They traveled a lot so we have amazing sceneries, that was cool. The dialogues aregreat, a lot of nice lines. And we have some nice character development, the characters still remain true to themselves till the end, loved that too.
I really liked this drama, I was waiting for it since I heard about it because I love the Hong sisters as writers, and I've not been disappointed. It's just missing that little je ne sais quoi for me, that thing that makes you addicted, hence why I didn't give it a 10.

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Love's Lost in Translation—Until It Isn't ?

An interpreter who translates the language, not the emotion; an actress who just blurts things out emotionally.

This drama captures how two individuals are so different yet so similar in their own way. Talking about Ju Ho Jin, he is a rational thinker and someone who just keeps all his emotions and feelings to himself and deals with them in his own silent and isolated way without interrupting the other person. Whereas there is Cha Mu Hui and I don't think she can be described in words from my limited vocabulary but I will try.

Cha Mu Hui is chaos and vulnerability wrapped in a smile. She doesn’t translate her feelings; she spills them, raw and unfiltered, as if emotions are the only language she truly trusts.
And then comes Do Ra-mi, the name similar to the role which made Cha Mu Hui a celebrity overnight, but she isn’t some name rather she is a living shadow inside Mu-hee’s mind, a bold, troublemaking alter ego born from trauma she can’t escape. And she rocks especially in that church scene!!

At first I thought that Kurosawa Hiro’s feelings could be considered collateral damage for the sake of the plot but that’s not the case, my dear viewers, because as a great actor that he is, he got his own character arc going on. He went from avoiding things that he really wanted to do but was afraid of rejection to trying his best and leaving no space for regret no matter the result.

Here the leads are not the ideal ones who can ‘conquer’ whatever comes their way, instead they walk at their own pace, crossing paths with misunderstanding and flaws. When being ‘too much’ is just right enough for the one who understands your language. Even when one takes words as they are and the other doesn’t even know how to speak her own language.


Stream if: You're tired of perfect love stories and want something that tastes like 3 AM confessions—auroras glowing over frozen lakes while someone who can't say "I love you" watches you dance alone, knowing you're both too fucked up to walk away.

Stream if you crave a slow-burn ache over instant gratification, psychological mess over sanitized romance, Kim Seon-ho's quiet devastation, or Go Youn-jung splitting herself in two and owning every fracture.

Stream if you've ever needed someone to translate the static in your head into something that doesn't feel like drowning.

Skip if: You need tidy endings, hate pacing that breathes instead of sprints, or can't handle mental health as metaphor without therapy receipts.

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My FAVORITE kdrama pairing!! ?

When we first found out this drama would be filming with Go Youn Jung and Kim Seon Ho as the leads back in 2024, I was beyond ecstatic. Alchemy of Souls 2 is one of my all-time favorite kdramas, and GYJ is probably my favorite k-actress. And then finding out the Hong Sisters wrote this was just a cherry on top. It was a LONG wait but I can finally feel the satisfaction of finishing such a well-executed and high-budget show!

Plot-wise, I have to be blunt and say it wasn't my favorite. The pacing was pretty slow, and there wasn't a SUPER big plot twist, nor constant action to keep you on your toes. But I still enjoyed its simplicity. Almost like a healing drama, there was more of a lighthearted vibe to this drama from start to finish. I do wish there was a bit more though, as I did not find myself crying myself to sleep or laughing with giddiness like I do with some really well-written masterpieces.

Characters were all great, emphasis on our three leads. Like I stated earlier, our ML and FL were just fantastic and simultaneously executed the yearning and comedic relationship development so well. But I have to say, Fukushi Sota was quite the scene stealer. Every episode, I liked him more and more. It was pretty obvious from the start it would be a love triangle (literally the first scene lol) but I didn't realize I'd low-key be rooting for him🥲 He's such a healthy example of a MAN. 😅 The second couple was very random and meh but not annoying.

High budget is always a feast for the eyes-- in this case, the travel destinations were so beautiful. Japan, Canada, Italy were all filmed in quite scenic locations and it was a delight to see them going to places I've visited. Overall, I think more budget does have some correlation to high quality, giving the show almost a movie-like aesthetic. I wonder if they cut the story to only 12 episodes because of the amount of money they were pouring into this-- honestly 16 could've been better for the story.

Overall, it was an enjoyable finish. And just a feast for my eyes🫣🥰 Don't think I'd rewatch, but this will remain in my memory as a beautifully-executed easy watch with a great lineup.

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Battle between reason and feelings

I have never been this confused trying to understand what the characters are thinking, but that didn't stop me from enjoying their push-and-pull dynamic. The first half shows Cha Mu-hee chasing Ho-jin and getting rejected three times, while the second half is the opposite, with Mu-hee being the one pushing him away.

I really liked the male lead. If it wasn't for him, I don't think they would have ended up together. Though credit goes to both—if it wasn't for Mu-hee, he wouldn't have fallen in love. But most importantly, I would give all the credit to 'Do Ra-mi'.

I actually thought I would hate him. There were times I even tried to force myself to dislike Ho-jin whenever he rejected her—but I couldn't. He is just very respectful and sets clear boundaries, which is his right. It wouldn't be fair to hate him just for being honest.

Thankfully it's only 12 episodes. It's not too short and not too long—it's perfect.

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Potencial para ser kdrama del año?

me atrevo a decir que este es uno de los mejores dramas que nos deja el 2026, de principio a fin la historia es encantadora y atrapante. Desde que vi a Kim seonho y go younjung como protagonistas, supe que iba a ser un kdrama que valdría la pena ver, y felizmente confirmo que fue así. Me gusta cómo llevaron a cabo el proyecto, desde la simbología de carteles, "idiomas" y demás detalles hasta el abordaje de la salud mental. Como una amante de los idiomas y de viajar, conocer, experimentar, es un drama que ha dejado una gran impresión en mí, por lo que si estás en un bloqueo y ya no sabes qué mirar, lo recomiendo muchísimo.

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A classic by the Hong Sisters

This is a solid classic. I loved it and stayed up way too late to binge it last Friday night.

Listen to no one, not even me. Proceed with caution, and try this out for yourself. The summaries given out publically before the show aired may have been somewhat misleading.

The frame is that of a crew and actors shooting a romantic dating-reality show. The two stars of this show-within-the-show, the Korean actress, suddenly made famous by a role as an axe-wielding zombie, and the princely Japanese romance lead, have to summon romantic feelings as part of their jobs. The basic genre which develops inside of that frame is that of a psychological thriller, because it turns out that the actress has crazy difficulty with romance. The issue of sincerity -- how do you know if someone means what they say? -- is thus handled very cleverly at both levels.

The misunderstandings of the OTP turn out not to be linguistic, since both the interpreter and the lead actress speak Korean. The ML, played by the legendary Kim Seon Ho, struggles wryly, as will you, to understand the FL. The SML, Hiro, the Japanese co-star of the dating show, also struggles; he doesnt know Korean, she understands neither Japanese nor English, so he ends up learning Korean.

Go Yoon Jung really shines. The actress she plays, MuHui, constantly hallucinates an intensely funny, mischievous and irresponsible alter. She suffers from a classic case of dissociative personality disorder due to a very traumatic childhood. Do-Ra-Mi, the alter, takes over MuHui's personality in her off-hours and meddles with MuHui's love life..

Zombie love. Most of MuHui's energy and joy is captured in her alternate self. She slept in a coma through the growth of her fame. The ML, a classic taciturn lead, is still enraptured by a love he could never achieve. He has a richly difficult family life, swiftly introduced but not given as much visual time as his amazing house full of books tottering on every surface. The house itself is allusive, literary. It is inhabited by a wild-haired author, a family friend; also by the love rival from the frozen past, a bohemian brother. Many more secondary characters are clearly drawn and reflect issues brought up by the OTP. without their own entire arc made visible.

The script and dialogue of Can This Love Be Translated are classic Hong Sisters: heavy on metaphor, difficult to translate into English, thick and rich with all sorts of plot textures. THE HS ARE NEVER EVER PREDICTABLE. HS shows often involve some incredibly creative twists on currently popular genres which put them at the top of the class. Some love the HS, some hate them. Find out who you are.

My favorite visual trick amongst many lovely scenes, shots and sequences, is that the show starts out in the open light of day, in Italy, Japan and most notably in the wide open spaces of the Canadian West. At the end of the Canada episodes the crew chases the spectacle of the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis, only to fall asleep exhausted and miss the show. The lovers, up late by chance, do see it. The show, then moving to Italy, dives into darkness psychologically and frequently visually, as the two begin to heal her illness. The show finishes in Korea at a dark sky reserve where the lovers stargaze under the brilliant night sky. Nice, huh?

But before we get there there is a lot of translation to be done by the viewer. Does Hiro fall for MuHui, will MuHui and the interpreter ever wake up and fall in love, why ever does MuHui appear at one point to try to seduce poor Hiro? Why are certain conversations between the ML and FL completely opaque; how do they suddenly turn into fights? (tbh, this is a RL experience for many of us, right?) At some points at the ends of one or two scenes the actors' dialogues are left unsubtitled -- horrifyingly, this may have been deliberate?

The romance is a bit old-school, for my taste. The structures of the 12ep plot may seem old-school too, since the HS wrote that book on 16 episode romcom that you are reading from. The halfway mark is hit at ep6 -- the lovers commit. Troubles and travails begin in episode 7 right on cue. Instant resolutions and sudden wrap-ups are held in the final episodes 11-12, as a vestigial representation of the old scramble of non pre-produced shows. I was actually happy that this took up two episodes instead of the often crazy old-style one episode wrap.

The Hong Sisters have written 14 shows, each distinct, in many genres, It is a mystery how they manage to hit the public sweet spot every time. If you want your favourite romantic recipe, this isnt for you. But this is the real warning: they mostly write smash hits, so you may miss out.

ps. I normally strive for short, somewhat condensed reviews. Apologies for this one. It confuses me that my own view of the show was so different than most others', so I tried to lay out why. Probably not very well, but whatever.

pps. here is another way to look at it. People always contrast the Hong sisters' top shows to those of Kim EunSook, the writer for Goblin and most recently, for Genie Make a Wish. For me the imperfections of even the best of the HS still have more heart and sincerity than the slicker and often more entertaining KES. Both brilliant. Both classic.

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refreshing drama

everything about this drama is beautiful, the actors, the acting, the cinematography, the song, the languages. i didn't expect it was physiological-romance, i thought it was a silly rom-com. i would say that there are many plot twists in this drama.
"Kindness is scary. There is nothing more terrifying than kindness that you believe will come to an end." many quotes in this drama that makes me learn something new and opened my mind.
i'm here for kim seonho and go younjung but i'm still stuck with this drama, their chemistry is top tier and also their characters are well written.

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amazing acting

Go Youn-jung absolutely delivered a phenomenal performance as both Cha Mu-hee and Do Ra-mi in this show. She made the two personas feel like completely distinct individuals—Cha Mu-hee with her grounded, vulnerable actress energy, and Do Ra-mi bursting with that bold, enigmatic charisma. The contrast was so seamless and convincing that it really elevated the entire storyline, especially with the emotional depth she brought to their shared history and the surprising reveal of the second persona.
The translator's velvety, smooth voice was such a treat to listen to, particularly when he switched between languages effortlessly—it added this layer of sophistication and intimacy to every scene. Bringing in Do Ra-mi as this unexpected second identity was a bold twist that caught me off guard, but the execution was handled so skillfully that it felt natural and impactful rather than forced.
And Hiro was portrayed by a really talented actor whose presence was magnetic. His chemistry and screen time made me wish he had even more leading roles in future projects—he has so much potential to carry entire series with his charm and acting range. Overall, this drama's cast choices were spot-on, and Go Youn-jung's dual role stands out as one of the highlights to me.

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