Too “Problematic” To Watch: Upcoming Netflix K-Drama’s Male Lead And Second Lead Face Hate

On December 17, 2025 (KST), Netflix shared the official poster and teaser for its upcoming K-Drama, Can This Love Be Translated?, starring Go Youn Jung and Kim Seon Ho as leads. This reveal, though, ended up triggering some intense reactions about the casting.

As for Kim Seon Ho, the actor has still not been able to move past his 2021 scandal.

Not too different from the reactions he received for being cast in the Disney+ K-Drama, Portraits of Delusion, he faced backlash for accepting yet another role alongside a beloved female lead.

• “I would really like to stop seeing Kim Seon Ho on the screens.”
• “They don’t even look good together.”
• “Man, I like Go Youn Jung, damn it.”
• “I mean, it’s not as bad as I thought.”
• “How come this dude gets cast in male lead roles all the time?!”
• “I want to watch this for Go Youn Jung, but there are too many issues at hand here…”
• “I don’t think they look that good together.”

In addition, the second lead Japanese actor Sota Fukushi‘s past also sparked frustration.

In 2015, Sota Fukushi appeared in a TV documentary called Please Teach Us About The War where he conducted an interview with a surviving kamikaze pilot. In this documentary, upon learning that his own grandfather had also been a candidate for the special attack unit, Sota wiped away tears and said, “I respect my grandfather.”

That said, Korean viewers have labeled Sota Fukushi as “right-wing,” or a Japanese nationalist, often with strong patriotic or pro-military sentiments, with a tendency to glorify or defend Japan’s military actions—and expressed disappointment in him being cast in a role.

• “You know what? Unless it’s a Japanese colonial-era police officer role, can we please not cast Japanese actors?”
• “Hates Korea and defends the Japanese colonial era… but still wants to snag that K-Drama romantic second lead vibes, huh?”
• “I mean, I already boycott Hong Sisters, but especially so with this second lead… Wow.”
• [Deleted comment]
• [Deleted comment]
• “Wait, I know who this is?! I’m just finding out he was a right-wing individual. Well, he doesn’t really know how to act anyway, so… LOL.”
• “Sota was already known in Japan for being bad at acting, and now they picked him up and are casting him in Korea? That’s funny lol. Total chaos, it seems.”
• “Are we really this out of actors to cast?”

This, along with the show’s scriptwriters being the Hong Sisters, who have faced multiple allegations of plagiarism, has since led to the K-Drama being dubbed “too problematic to watch.”

• “Why produce something that no one wants?”
• “Look at this lineup… I absolutely won’t watch this.”
• “No one wants to watch them act.”
• “From the writers to the actors, there’s nothing worth seeing.”
• “Pfft.”
• “Hope it flops.”
• [Deleted comment]
• “Can we just snatch Go Youn Jung out of this?”
• “Wow…”
• “Why do K-Dramas keep mixing in these Japanese elements?”
• “Boycott.”
• “Ugh, this is f*cked up.”
• “From the writers to the actors, there’s absolutely no reason to watch this.”

Can This Love Be Translated? is set to premiere on January 16, 2026.

“사람들은 다 각자의 언어로 말한다고 하셨죠. 저 그 사람이 하는 말을 잘 못 알아듣는 거 같아요.”

다중언어 통역사 주호진과 글로벌 톱스타 차무희의 예측 불가 로맨틱 코미디 <이 사랑 통역 되나요?>, 2026년 1월 16일 공개. 오직 넷플릭스에서. pic.twitter.com/nDHxXoxqcG

— Netflix Korea｜넷플릭스 코리아 (@NetflixKR) December 18, 2025

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