Can This Love Be Translated? / 이 사랑 통역 되나요? (2026)

💕 Can This Love Be Translated? / 이 사랑 통역 되나요? — Review

⭐ 3.5/5 · Finished

The basic premise is actually adorable: Joo Ho-jin can translate multiple languages for a living, yet the one person he absolutely cannot figure out is Cha Mu-hee, who speaks the exact same language he does.

Of course. 😂

The professional interpreter gets defeated by one emotionally chaotic actress. 😭

Mu-hee and Ho-jin first meet in Japan before Mu-hee becomes a huge star. After an accident leaves her unconscious for months, she eventually wakes up famous because of her role as the murderous Do Ra-mi. Later, she reunites with Ho-jin while filming the international dating show Romantic Trip, where he becomes the interpreter between her and Japanese actor Hiro.

And this is where the drama is at its best.

Kim Seon-ho and Go Youn-jung have really good chemistry. Their quiet scenes work, the jealousy works, the little looks work, and Ho-jin gradually becoming completely emotionally invested in this woman while supposedly remaining a neutral interpreter is cute as hell. 😂❤️

The globe-trotting locations are also gorgeous. Japan, Canada, Italy — Netflix clearly said:

“We have a travel budget and EVERYONE WILL KNOW IT.”

😂

The production genuinely looks beautiful.

And then the plot decides a normal romance apparently isn't enough.

Enter Do Ra-mi.

At first she appears to be Mu-hee's fictional character bleeding into her mind after the accident, but eventually the drama turns this into a much heavier trauma/dissociation storyline where Do Ra-mi can take control while Mu-hee later has memory gaps.

Ho-jin becomes the person who really starts understanding what is happening and spends part of Italy secretly looking after her.

This storyline is interesting, but it also makes the middle of the drama much messier than the simple interpreter/celebrity romance needed to be.

Because apparently we already had:

language problems + celebrity problems + reality-show problems + first-love problems + Hiro problems

…and somebody in the writers' room went:

“You know what we're missing? A psychological alter ego.”

😭🤦‍♀️

❤️ The Romance

The romance has some genuinely good moments.

The Episode 6 lake kiss is especially cute because it happens naturally before either one of them has figured out what they are doing.

Mu-hee kisses Ho-jin almost instinctively — and then immediately panics.

😂

Unfortunately, the drama then proceeds to do what irritates me most:

two people clearly like each other, but instead of just speaking Korean to each other LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE, they manage to misunderstand absolutely everything.

Which is admittedly the entire theme of the drama, but still. 🙄

Mu-hee becomes convinced Ho-jin still has unresolved feelings for Ji-sun and backs away right when she and Ho-jin should probably be moving forward.

That causes a significant romantic rupture before Italy.

Eventually, in Italy, Mu-hee remembers more of what happened while Do Ra-mi was controlling her and finally admits that she still likes him.

Ho-jin confesses in the most Ho-jin way possible — so indirectly that she STILL doesn't understand him — and finally just kisses her.

😂

THANK YOU. USE THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, SIR.

They eventually agree to actually try dating instead of making some enormous promise about forever.

Ho-jin basically goes along with the idea that if she thinks relationships eventually end anyway, then fine — they can just concentrate on not breaking up right now.

Strangely enough, that works for her. 😂

They also spend the night together in Italy, so the romance has more adult intimacy than a completely chaste rom-com.

💔 And Yes, They Actually Break Up

Unfortunately, yes.

This one absolutely counts under our rules.

Mu-hee first tries to push Ho-jin away during her celebrity scandal, but he sees through what she is doing.

That attempted breakup does not successfully become a completed breakup.

But in Episode 12, after learning more about her parents and deciding she needs to confront her childhood trauma, Mu-hee leaves to travel abroad.

At the airport, the established couple explicitly agrees to break up temporarily.

So according to our rules:

Established romantic relationship + explicitly ending that relationship = actual breakup.

Yes, even if it is temporary.

Do I think the drama needed a finale breakup after spending twelve episodes teaching these people how to communicate?

NO. 😂

But at least it does not last permanently.

🌌 Ending — Happy Ending

Happy Ending. Main couple ends together.

Mu-hee travels abroad to work through her family history and childhood trauma.

By Christmas, she returns and asks Ho-jin to meet her at the dark-sky reserve they had previously discussed visiting.

And because this drama needed one final translation joke, Mu-hee uses translation to express how much she missed the PROFESSIONAL INTERPRETER.

😂❤️

They reunite, kiss under the stars, and end the series together.

So the family/trauma storyline retains some unresolved elements, but the romantic ending itself is clear.

Ho-jin + Mu-hee:

alive + reunited + in love + together.

No wedding.

No engagement.

But definitely together.