Can This Love Be Translated?

CAN THIS LOVE BE TRANSLATED? 🏞️ (2026) 이 사랑 통역 되나요?

“Aurora Borealis is the light created when earth, forever unable to reach the sun, draws in minute traces of solar plasma through the power of its magnetic field. Perhaps this brilliant, mesmerizing light is nothing but a sad, momentary delusion. The Earth is yearning to touch the Sun. It believes that even a collision with those tiny particles means they have made a connection. That night, for the first time, I desperately hoped my delusion would become a reality. But the Earth cannot touch the Sun, and Auroras do not appear in the sky over Seoul.”

One of the most difficult languages in the world is one the right person will make you want to learn, and that’s love.

The 2026 Korean drama series CAN THIS LOVE BE TRANSLATED? takes that idea and runs with it, cleverly pairing the emotional labor of falling in love with the literal act of translation. At its core, the series is about two people who cannot communicate due to a language barrier, and the effort it takes to truly understand someone from a completely different walk of life.

The story begins with Cha Mu-hee, an acclaimed actress cast in a reality show opposite Japan’s “Prince Charming,” Hiro Kurosawa. For the show to function at all, the production team hires a translator, who just happens to be the very man Mu-hee met while on vacation.

Enter Joo Ho-jin: an international man of many languages who speaks Korean, Japanese, English, and Italian. The problem? He can’t stand her. The other problem? She is completely obsessed with him.

From there, the trio embarks on a globetrotting journey, navigating the complexities of two people who view each other in entirely different ways while desperately trying to make a professional relationship work. Understanding one another isn’t optional, it’s required.

As someone who loves learning (and unfortunately butchering) new languages, I couldn't wait to watch this show. There's a sweeping, jet-setting energy to the series that audiences are likely to fall in love with. That sense of adventure, paired with three lead actors giving everything they have to this emotionally charged romantic escapade, becomes the show's saving grace.

What I don't understand is how the story manages to feel grounded while also being a nonstop whirlwind of infinite plot twists that catapult the romance into constant emotional turmoil. That turmoil stems from one character's inability to let love in and the other's relentless, often unwanted, acts of affection.

It begins as a classic case of the right type of love, wrong person. The saying goes that distance makes the heart grow fonder, but here, closeness seems to soften even the angriest heart. Eventually, the need to communicate effectively for the sake of the show's success outweighs personal wants, and the byproduct of that necessity is a deeper, more meaningful bond.

Everything l've said so far probably sounds straightforward. Yet alter egos emerge, memories disappear, family disputes erupt, plot holes multiply, and emotional manipulation takes center stage, making this one of the most confusing series l've watched in a long time.

Was it a romantic comedy? Was it a family drama? Was it a psychological... something?

I honestly have no clue.

When the show leaned into its rom-com roots, I was fully invested. But as it drifted further away from heartfelt moments and leaned too heavily on manufactured conflict and relitigating events that had already cemented certain plot points, I found myself wishing it had ended after episode ten.

The unsung hero (and real MVP) of the series is Cha Mu-hee's agent, who never complains and simply keeps things moving, no matter how chaotic things become.

CAN THIS LOVE BE TRANSLATED? uses a phantom-thread approach to bind two broken hearts together in an "I love you, but stay away, but also come closer..." mess of a story, and despite its excesses, it never fully loses sight of the idea that the right connection is worth fighting for. Beneath the twists and missteps is a sincere belief that love, like language, can be learned, mispronounced, and relearned again. It may stumble along the way, but its heart remains in the right place.

Enjoy!

6.4/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 60mins

Episodes: 12

Where: Now Streaming on Netflix

The Richmond Reviewer Can This Love Be Translated? Review (2026) - February 2nd, 2026.

#KDrama #KimSeonHo #GoYounJung #SotaFukushi #ChoiWooSung #LeeYiDam #Cinematography #Korea #Japan