Language can be taught, practiced, and perfected. Emotion is another matter entirely. A new Netflix romantic comedy leans into this tension, asking whether affection, longing and timing can ever be clearly expressed — even by someone fluent in dozens of tongues.
Can This Love Be Translated? brings together Kim Seon Ho and Go Youn Jung in a story that treats romance like a conversation constantly at risk of being misunderstood. The series unfolds across countries and cultures, following two people whose lives reconnect at the most inconvenient moment, when saying the right thing matters more than ever.
At the center of the story is Joo Ho Jin, a world-class interpreter who trusts precision more than intuition. He excels at smoothing over diplomatic missteps and bridging linguistic gaps, yet struggles when communication involves his own heart. His carefully ordered life is disrupted when he joins the production of a high-profile reality dating program — a job that reunites him with Cha Mu Hee, someone he once encountered briefly while traveling years earlier.
That fleeting meeting changed everything for Mu Hee. Once an aspiring actor with no recognition to her name, she skyrocketed to international fame after landing a breakout role shortly after crossing paths with Ho Jin. Now a global star, she agrees to headline Romantic Trip, a glossy travel-based dating show that pairs her with Hiro Kurosawa, a well-known Japanese actor. The premise is simple: visit breathtaking destinations and see whether romance follows.
Ho Jin is assigned to translate their conversations for the cameras, positioning him as an invisible intermediary — someone who conveys tone and meaning without ever being meant to matter himself. But as the trio moves from country to country, unspoken feelings, unresolved memories, and subtle emotional shifts begin to surface. Ho-jin finds himself not only interpreting dialogue, but confronting emotions he has spent years avoiding, while Mu Hee navigates fame, expectation, and a connection that no script can account for.
The series is penned by Hong Jung Eun and Hong Mi Ran, the writers behind some of Korea’s most beloved romantic fantasies. Known for pairing contrasting personalities and exploring how love grows in unlikely circumstances, the Hong sisters trade supernatural elements for emotional nuance this time, focusing on the quiet misunderstandings and fragile moments that define modern relationships.
Directing the journey is Yoo Young Eun, who treats each filming location as more than a backdrop. From snow-covered landscapes to sun-drenched European streets, the settings mirror the characters’ internal states — sometimes isolating, sometimes intoxicating, always in motion.
Rather than offering easy answers, Can This Love Be Translated? lingers on the spaces between words. It suggests that love may not need perfect grammar or flawless delivery — only the courage to be understood, even when meaning gets lost along the way.