Love Alarm (2019)

So here's the review part:

This drama is the type of drama where you can see the flaws and not help but talk about them out loud, but also the type of drama where you wouldn't care about its flaws and watch non-stop otherwise. This drama was realistic and unrealistic at the same time; most of the realistic parts were about the hard truth of life and most of the unrealistic parts were mostly concerning the romance part of this drama. I may say that some romance parts of this drama were unrealistic, but that may be because I am used to the 1 season/16 episode format of most dramas. I am not familiar with dramas having 2 seasons or more; meaning, dramas like this are probably meant to be unnaturally fast-paced. The overall story was enough to pique my interest. This was probably due to the main(?) conflict of the drama; I kept watching every episode as I was curious to whom the main female lead would fall in love with at the end. This simple reason kept me wanting more (also why this drama deserves a score of 8.0-8.5), and why I am eagerly waiting for the release of a second season.


This is the rant part: >:(

I'm sorry but I can't believe most people prefer Sun-Oh over Hye Yeong. Besides Sun-Oh's romantic side, he's completely messed up. He has such a bad attitude and is a complete hypocrite. First of all, Hye Yeong fell in love with Jojo first; not to mention, Sun-Oh knew about it and still daringly flirted with Jojo. Sun-Oh keeps making Hye Yeong seem like the bad guy; saying he was never on his side (bich he took care of you ever since you were both little). Sun-Oh said at the 16:15 mark "You know exactly what Kim Jojo did to me. Yet how could you, of all people, do this to me?" (what a hypocrite this guy is); like I said before, Sun-Oh knew from the very beginning that Hye Yeong liked Jojo, Hye Yeong treated Sun-Oh very warmly and as mentioned in the previous episodes he was there for Sun-Oh during his hard times (unlike Jojo having no one). So how could Sun-Oh, of all people, do that to his dear friend, Hye Yeong. With the way things are going (with my personal preference in this drama), the only acceptable ending would be Jojo ringing Sun-Oh's love alarm but also love alarm 2.0 predicting that Hye Yeong becoming "the person you will fall in love with".

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My ramblings

Original story, beautiful/talented actors, excellent music, and gorgeous outfits. This drama touches on sensitive topics like homosexuality and dark things like teen suicide.

I really liked JoJo in the beginning.... towards the end, not at all and I can sorta see why her BFF started to hate her. She had a great relationship with Sun Oh until he doesn't respond to her for 2 days because he was recovering from a bike accident they had..? She decides during this time that it's best to break up with him because she doesn't want to be hurt. Four years later, she admits to being young and immature and regrets what she did, but does she try to fix it? Nope. She sees how broken Sun Oh is. She even has proof that he still loves her. The easiest thing in the world is to just tell him what happened so he's not blaming himself and unable to get the answers he needs to at least move on. At this point I really feel like JoJo doesn't deserve him now. He's better off with the girl he's with. How the heck is JoJo so full of regret but is now able to give Sun Oh's best friend Hye Young (who she didn't even know existed despite working with him until she got with Sun Oh) a chance but she can't give Sun Oh back his chance? As if she doesn't still feel something for him. How is Hye Young more deserving than Sun Oh?

I see so many people dislike Sun Oh but I personally like a man who knows what he wants. I get that he and Hye Young were best friends but I don't believe Sun Oh intentionally went after Hye Young's crush. Sun Oh even gave Hye Young several chances to confess to JoJo and Hye Young denies it/never does. I love that Sun Oh went for what he wanted and he got the girl until she became stupid. I'm sorry but Hye Young was so annoying to me. He missed his chance and now he needs to leave Sun Oh and JoJo alone - whether they are together or not. The only other character that I REALLLLLYYYY FOOOKING hate more than JoJo is Gul Mi. That girl is awful! Nothing she said even makes sense. How is it JoJo's fault what happened to her parents? Worse, how is JoJo believing that crap? Just seems like everyone started on drugs half way through this drama because it became a bunch of bad decisions with no clear explanations.

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Love Alarm Did it. They made like no main character in the show at all.

I already wrote a review on LA2's (Love Alarm 2) page. But I'm here to talk about the 3 of the main roles.

Jo-jo: One of the WORST FL's I could ask for. First, she cheats on her boyfriend by kissing Sun-oh. It was clear Jojo never loved her first boyfriend we saw, (I forgot his name) I have NO CLUE why she never broke up with him in the first place. Basically leading him on. Then don't even get my started with her relationship with Sun-oh. She broke up with Sun-oh for a lousy reason. Because she was scared and that she couldn't deal with the damn problem. She literally ran away from the boy who loved her the most at that time.

Hye-young: Don't even get my started on this mf. THIS DUDE WAS A LITERAL SHADOW IN SEASON ONE. Meaning that he barely had ANY screen time, not even with Jo-jo. And let me remind you, she's the supposed Male Lead. WHAT MAIN LEAD IS GONE THE WHOLE DAMN SEASON?! I swear this mf was lurking in the dark. And barely had ANY communication with Jo-jo at all! I assumed Hye-young was going to be that one shy second lead guy who was the friend of the female lead's but no. Hye-Young is a nice guy but to be a male lead? Not much. I would prefer him as a second lead or even a support role at most.

Sun-Oh: Ok. People might not find anything wrong with Sun-oh but their is one thing that I hated about him. When it came to friendship or love. He picked love. Meaning that Sun-oh and Hye-young's relationship was eventually broken up in Season Two. Sun-oh KNEW from the start that Hye-Young liked Jo-jo yet he tells her that they kissed. What kind of friend is that? You might say that Hye-Young literally told Sun-oh that he didn't like Jo-jo with a blank face. But they were literally friends for YEARS. Since they were kids! And you're telling me Sun-oh can't tell when Hye-young's lying? Okay.

In the end, Jo-jo was a fucked up FL, she could've been better but wasn't. She ended up with the soft guy who literally lurked around the shadows throughout Season One. Nobody deserved Jo-jo in my opinion. Two cute guys ruined their friendship over a dumb FL who doesn't consider anybody's feelings to heart and always ran away from problems cause she couldn't face them without somebody protecting her.

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Lackluster

The idea is an interesting one for a plot. It's not one you would consider thinking through because when you do then it doesn't make sense. However, while the idea piques interest, the execution falls flat. The main characters are not interesting. I don't think I can pinpoint any personality traits from the main girl other than being sad, being awkward, or being regretful over her actions. She's bland and one you can insert yourself with but that is not a likable character. Issues with the love interest fall in terms of miscommunication which is an annoying trope at this point. And despite an impact where the characters are forced to change, the main girl remains the same which she shouldn't.

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I'm conflicted about this one. I did like it and watched it quickly (it does only have 8 episodes) so I was invested, but the concept of the Love Alarm app and how it impacts the characters and their society was what interested me the most (Black Mirror is shaking). I really liked the friendships as well and how it briefly talked about homosexuality and how such an app outed people against their will. But the romance didn't make sense to me. At all.

From Jojo's point of view, it's normal, but as viewers, we know that Sun Oh only knows that Jojo exists because Hye Young likes her. It feels like the only reason he tries to seduce her is because his best friend likes her, he probably wouldn't have noticed her at all otherwise. So, it doesn't make sense to me... and it's also a dick move. The friendship between him and Hye Young is obviously strong, but it looks like Hye Young is the only one actually doing anything for Sun Oh. Everytime Hye Young decides to do something for himself (like twice during the show lol), Sun Oh gets mad. It sometimes felt like the main relationship of the show was between them, to be honest, and it probably would have been better (a love triangle I could get behind, for once). Because, aside from his behaviour, I do not dislike Sun Oh that much. But he's a selfish baby, sometimes.
There's not much to say about Jojo, she's a cliché, but the way her best friend treated her was really disappointing. Her friend could learn from Hye Young.

I have Thoughts about the Love Alarm app but that would include too many spoilers, but I really want to see how it's going to be treated in the next season and if someone is going to do something about it or not.

This being said, I wasn't rooting for Hye Young until the time skip. I mean, he's a sweet boy but it's not like he ever talked to Jojo. I definitely am not rooting for Sun Oh, though, so as much as I'm curious about the Love Alarm app side of the plot, the romance and how it might "evolve" doesn't make me that excited for a second season.

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I honestly don't get why some are rooting for the man-child Sun Oh. He selfishly went after his best friend's long time high school crush, and even after growing up he blamed his best friend for using him while caring for him all these years. WTH??? His character is so annoying, as if the world revolves around him and if anything doesn't go his way or people reject him - it's an immediate betrayal. HY and Jojo doesn't need that negativity in their hard-working life. I'm glad Jojo dumped Sun-Oh, so his ego will deflate a bit. HY is more of a man than he will ever be and deserves the girl so much more. The scenes between them are more fluttering and innocent, while the scenes between her and Sun-Oh are always so dramatic & she always ends up sad. Honestly, who needs that baggage in their life. Him & Gul Mi should be together instead.

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The first season was good. But...

“If you go by what everyone says about this drama, I wouldn't have watched it. Its story is captivating and throughout the narrative, the characters develop in perfect synchrony. The love triangle that exists, made me ask several times who Jo Jo would be with. But my dorameira heart screamed louder, and for sure, I liked the couple Jo Jo and Sun-Oh better.

I would like to add in this analysis that there were indeed moments when I wanted to put Sun-Oh in a pot, because he is so human and a typical character who respects women, in addition to his way of enduring and waiting for Jo Jo's summer love ( this really is cliché!).

In principle, another character that brought a very good analysis was Jo Jo herself, with her game of coldness and fear of giving her heart to Son-Oh.

Another factor that I have to detail is the use of the application for the purpose of finding 'who loves you' (fictional), which is the main mechanism for the story to revolve, but which, in a way, showed its development and despite everything I liked it . Furthermore, it itself provides a warning and raises questions for the public, such as: - every media or digital world -
"how far does your mind go within technology?" or "Are we influenced by all kinds of data/apps?"

Kisses, bye-bye!!

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I heard this show through Instagram and thought it was quite an intriguing drama. the concept was really unique and I loved how the developer of this supposed app ''Joalarm'' wasn't an individual high up in the hierarchy, but rather an ordinary high schooler that developed the app from the comforts of their own home. As I am a sucker for high school romance dramas, I might as well have given this one a watch.

The storyline wasn't something I was very fond of. The falsehood of how the characters acted in certain situations within the series made me frustrated with the drama. I'll start with Kim Jojo. Although I did moderately empathise with her feelings through the series that led her to break up with Sun-Oh on top of her family circumstances, I thought it was an idiotic and quick-witted decision to make before considering other factors like how her partner would feel and the position it would put him in. Jojo didn't outright give a clear explanation as to why she did it and she could have easily spoken to Sun Oh about her situation. He clearly told her to speak to him when she is worried, but she didn't take that chance and now things ended up for Sun-Oh's misinterpretation. I understand maybe it could have been difficult because they haven't dated for that long, but then again we can see she regrets it later on; why doesn't she bother to even fix it or at least talk to him about it within the 4 years time-lapse?
Next, I'll speak about Sun-Oh. When he was first introduced to the drama I knew instantly what kind of a character he would be. And I was not wrong. the drama portrayed him as romantic and cool. But he's immature and selfish, not once did he think about his childhood best friend, he just thought of him and Jojo. Sun-Oh is aware that Hye Young had a crush on Jojo from the very beginning; Hye Young didn't openly admit it, but he did make it clear and semi-obvious, but no, he decides to chase her instead and pulls her into an alleyway to kiss her, show each other's love on Joalarm and boom they're a couple. Another thing that ticked me off about him is that he had the decency to claim that Hye Young was using him and is even saying Hye Young is moving out because of Jojo. like I kinda get he feels betrayed in some way because someone who has been by his side and entrusts his life with is leaving, but seriously, that's what happens in life and to question his decision really shows who is actually the true friend
Hye Young is a sweetheart and is the most loving character from this drama, however, I don't quite understand why he didn't tell his viewpoint on the real reason why he is leaving and actually stand up for himself because like with Jojo, he could have been understood by Sun-Oh if he told the truth. The drama didn't do much justice on his character as he was quite silent in the beginning, but only really got the spotlight when it came to the end. It bugged me throughout the drama that there was barely any interaction between him and Jojo, maybe that was the whole point.
DESPITE my long-winded rant about the storyline as well as the characters, I quite enjoyed this frustratingly good drama. The cute romantic scenes of SuhJo were definitely a highlight, but I also treasure the adorable moments that we got with HyeJo . I loved how they touched upon society perspective and made us viewers aware of the fact that

I thought the cast was amazing, everyone played their roles well and I wouldn't imagine this drama without them. The acting was immaculate for a high-school drama.

The music was really nice and suited the drama amazingly.

Although the story did bug me and there were plot holes throughout the series, I would rewatch the drama again for the moments we had with both male leads and Jojo.

Overall, in my opinion, I think it's an okay drama, definitely a cute one, but a frustrating watch and if you are that type of person that likes to watch a frustrating romance, then I would recommend it. I hope that there is going to be a season 2 soon

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App that can let you know who likes you is much better in knowing how the other person truly feels about you , but the story was a lackluster , Both ML and FL had romantic interest but the relation shown was not memorable , but i really respected female choice of breakup as it was unusual decision that helps her growth in sharing her feeling with backlash of the love app with her drawing and how this had affected the feeling of people who had to block they feelings as no one is there to love them back, but FL lacks reason for breakup which i find absent and confused , Character didnt show why they love other person more than themself , I really liked 2nd ML when he told her Thanks for being alive and not giving up on love even after 4 years

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Bu diziden çok umutluydum. Harika bir konusu vardı ve bunu mahvetmişler. Konu çok iyi ama konunun iyi olduğu kadar karakterler berbattı, tek iyi ve düzgün karakter diyebileceğim kişi Jojo'nun kuzeni. Onun dışında çekim efektleri ve ortamlar çok iyiydi hatta serinin tek iyi yanı görsel bir şölen olmasıydı. İlk defa bir seride lead erkeği destekledim. Bu seriye arkadaşımın önerisiyle başlamıştım ama sinir olmadan bitirmek mümkün değildi. Müzikler hiç akılda kalıcı değildi güzel de değildi.
Bütün olumsuzluklara rağmen izlemenizi öneririm çünkü zaten kısa bir dizi ama sakin kalabileceğinizi söyleyemem.

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This was essentially a typical Korean high school drama but with an element of fantasy brought in by the app Love Alarm.
The characters were not extraordinary. You have your quintessential poor hardworking orphaned heroine with a tragic background. Right now I don’t know who the first or second lead is. The male character who does date the heroine is rich and attractive whose otherwise easy life is made more difficult by a ignorant mother, so I’m going to call him first lead. The second lead is his best friend however he is a kind and thoughtful boy who lacks confidence. I’m totally rooting for the second lead. The way the first male lead betrayed his best friend was truly cruel and I guess I easily forgave him because he was so kind to heroine. The heroine and first male lead definitely gave me the heirs vibes but I suppose the male lead was up to date because he asked for consent before kissing. The heroine ends up breaking up with first male lead as the show progressed. There was answered to why she did that but I hope it’s because she realised how he betrayed his best friend.
Why everyone liked the heroine is quite unclear. She succeeded in having handsome boys to fancy her but yet had no healthy friendships.

Whilst the show clings to cliche, it was interesting and enjoyable to watch.
I finished it all in one day. It’s definitely a guilty pleasure. The music was amazing too. The actors did a good job, although there was nothing special brought in by the writers.
I will half-heartedly recommend this.

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