Love Alarm (2019)

Don't bother

This whole show was mediocre.

What kind of guy goes and kisses his best friend’s crush? Sun-oh went and kissed Jojo when he knew his best friend liked her, and Sun-oh’s best friend just lets him do whatever he pleases!? What has Sun-oh done to earn so much of this man’s respect? This didn’t gain my respect for him as a viewer.

Now, I understand that Jojo and her boyfriend were having problems and not really feeling it anymore, but she shouldn’t have done anything with Sun-oh without breaking up with her boyfriend first. Nevertheless, the chemistry between the leads was definitely there, but aside from face value, it didn’t get any deeper than that which was a letdown. If this show was fun, light-hearted and fluffy, I wouldn’t have been disappointed, but seeing as it’s more serious and has zero comedy, I can’t help but find it lacking in that regard. Each episode was just ‘they rang my alarm,’ ‘they didn’t ring my alarm!’ It just seems very shallow.

I wasn’t okay with how the leads got together in five minutes with Sun-oh basically forcing himself on Jojo WHILST she had a boyfriend!

Jojo is just a heartbreaker - she broke up with Sun-oh, for whatever reason, and then blew off Sun-oh’s best friend.

I’m glad they addressed the issue of ‘those who have never been liked.’ It’s no surprise Duk-gu killed himself but I am still confused how he could be attracted to Jojo’s cousin when she is such a bitch! Side note: what windows don’t have safety latches on them nowadays? That must have been an ancient building to allow the windows to open up all the way.

The biggest issue with this story is how does a phone detect someone’s romantic feelings? I’m guessing this show is pinned as urban fantasy? The vibe I was getting from this show is that it is realistic, but for this made-up app to work, it must be fantasy. I feel like if there was a better explanation as to how the app worked I wouldn’t have been so bothered by it. The characters kept saying ‘someone rang their alarm’ so does this mean they were going into the app and pressing a button, or does "the phone" know when its user has romantic feelings and makes it ring? The latter is what I think the writer’s were trying to portray, but it is just too incomprehensible.

There was plenty of good acting and okay music, but this didn’t make up for the average story. I found myself being moved the most when Jojo’s aunt told her to leave the house after having their fight. I was confused as to why the aunt and cousin hated Jojo so much, like how is it an iddy biddy child’s fault that their parents took their own lives and left debt? AND the parents tried to kill Jojo so she wouldn’t suffer anyway. I can understand the situation her aunt was put in, but couldn’t she have been a little more understanding? Heck, if the child was that much of a burden, could she not have adopted it out?

Needless to say, I have zero intention of watching season 2.

-E

Lire davantage

Aburrido como ninguno

Me pareció algo aburrido por lo que no pude entender su gran éxito y aceptación por el público en un principio, hasta que vi la segunda temporada.

Aunque le tengo cierto cariño a este drama -pues no se puede negar que la trama basada en la app es de lo más genial e innovador- la verdad es que ni siquiera recuerdo haberlo disfrutado, sin embargo la segunda temporada me gustó tanto que estoy dispuesta a ver nuevamente todo el drama a ver si cambia mi percepción de la primera temporada. Por lo que si estás dispuesto a ver 8 capítulos no tan buenos (por no decir super aburridos) de la primera temporada, para luego ver 6 capítulos buenísimos de la segunda temporada, te lo recomiendo, pues los últimos 6 capítulos valen la pena (por lo menos para mi) y después de todo, para ver la 2da temporada, 1ero necesitas ver la 1era.

Sinceramente, para mi, la 1era temporada cobra sentido con la 2da, la 1era temporada sola (sin la 2da parte) no tiene sentido, es casi una pérdida de tiempo, por lo que si llego a cambiar mi opinión de la 1era temporada al volverla a ver (lo cual dudo mucho porque realmente me aburrió) es definitivamente gracias a la segunda temporada.

Nunca me gustó Sun Oh (me cae muy mal) así que soy team Lee Hye Yeong.

P.D: no entiendo la comparación con True Beauty, Belleza Verdadera es otro nivel.

Por cierto, si te gusta la comedia (como a mi), probablemente este drama no sea para ti, pues Love Alarm no es ni lo más mínimamente cómico, y talvez es por eso que se me hizo tan aburrido a pesar de ser un drama bastante corto.

Enserio tenía altas expectativas, todo el mundo habla de este drama, me quede muy decepcionada, es uno de los dramas más aburridos y peores que he visto.

Lo vi todo en un mismo dia y me dió sueño. Love Alarm lo tenía todo para ser un gran drama, algo espectacular, logró mucho éxito, pero no logró ser un gran drama para mi.

No me gustó (entre otras muchas cosas) que a ambos chicos les gustara la protagonista desde antes, o sea, comienza el drama y ya les gusta jojo.

Lire davantage

This is like Mac and Cheese as it wasn't good for me but I couldn't stop eating it

Love Alarm has something going on interesting at it's core that kept me going. Frankly, the show is at it most compelling when it is exploring the premise and the idea behind it. Of an app that has that much of an impact on relationships and the consequences. Which I wish there was more of in the drama even though that's the whole idea. We are supposedly exploring the concept of the app through the love triangle but it falls flat. I almost wish the love triangle didn't exist because you could easily dive into the appeal of Love Alarm without it. From here on spoilers...

So the three main characters are standard enough which is fine by me. They each have something going on so at least nothing feels like imbalanced characterization even though they are tropey. But whatever- the problem is that the love between Sun-Oh and Jojo ,which jumpstarts the plot, just comes out of nowhere.
He literally saw his best friend admire a girl and then he clung on to that- and decided like her too. Which is just...so not cool and it is hard to root for a guy like that- no matter how cute.

But damn it I kept going because of course I had to know more.
So at the end of it- I was pleasantly surprised because the end couple actually makes sense. I like how it delves into the aspects about the app but the love triangle shenanigans made no sense due to the insta-love between Sun-Oh and Jojo.
I think if you want to give this drama a quick watch for a fluff fix go ahead. Not anything too special

Lire davantage

not good...

This was my first k-drama LOL.... I'm writing this review after like almost a year of being addicted to k-dramas so my rating isn't that good but to be honest it would be much better if I wrote it right after finishing it. But since I know that there are some really good masterpieces among k-dramas, i cannot give this series better ratings, sorry not sorry.
I remember being so freaking excited for season 2...it's actually cute but also pretty cringe lmao
Anyways, i don't remember details and I'm definitely not rewatching it just for this review so please excuse me if I don't include something or if I write something wrong, feel free to correct me :)
The story was so so....it wasn't the worst but sometimes it felt like it's not moving anywhere. It was still the same. I don't really remember the characters that well and idk how well the actors played their roles but I remember liking it, so i guess it wasn't anything tragic. Yes, it was my first k-drama, but not my first series so I think I could say if someone is acting good or not so good :)) I don't remember the music at all, like seriously I don't, so excuse me, i can't really tell you how was it. Would I rewatch it? No. I'm 100% sure that there are so many better k-dramas, i haven't seen yet, so i don't want to waste the time i could spend on them, spend on rewatching this one. Maybe, if i would be really bored, didn't know what to watch at all....no, not even then, i'd just rewatch Semantic Error ( very good BL if you don't know, definitely check it out <3 ) lol
Overall...6.5/10. Can't say more because i for real don't know what to say :DDD
Anygays, have a good life besties and don't forget to stream your fav artists :>>>

Lire davantage

Disappointing. One of the few where I feel like my time was wasted. Sad.

3/10 is my rating. This is a 2019 South Korean coming of age romance drama. Based on a webtoon of the same name. There are 8, 42-55 minute episodes in Season 1 and 6, 43-71 minute episodes in the 2nd season.

First I will provide a Unique Synopsis then Review
Synopsis

A brilliant student app developer, Cheon Duk-gu (Lee Jae eung) releases an app called Love Alarm that is a huge sensation in South Korea. A heart signal is displayed omn the user’s phone app if the app is active and someone feeling the love is within 10 meters. Kim Jojo (Kim So hyun) is more focused on earning money and attending school than she is in worrying about some app. Besides she already has a boyfriend, Jang Il sik (Shin Seung-ho) and does not want to reveql to him that she does not see him romantically. But things get complicated when she stumbles upon a phone with the app and finds herself caught in a love triangle with the unapproachable god of campus, Hwang Sun oh (Song kang) and his best friend Lee Hee Young (Jung Ga Ram). All the girls hope Hwang sun will set off their love alarm but Jojo and he develop interest in each other at first sight and he only sets off Jojo’s love alarm.

How do things change when technology reveals things that might be best hidden? And what if only one side is hidden?
Review

To say this series was disappointing just barely skims the surface of how awful it turns out to be. It does not end happily in my opinion and what could have been a good story takes a surprising and horrible turn. It made me sad. I would not rewatch it nor would I recommend it. I am baffled how anyone thinks this was a good romance. It portrayed such a twisted sense of what love should be I am still annoyed at the mere thought of this terrible series.
Spoilers


I seriously dislke sad movies and series. Some sad content is okay as long as it is brief and it turns around and winds up happy. With this series, it started with a heartwarming romance between Jojo and Sun Oh and, just when things are going well, they get into an accident and she decides to brutally end it with him. Lie and say she doesn’t care about him at all. It was a pointless break up for very selfish reasons. I thought they made a great couple he was lonely and sad from always being treated like an object by his parents and she was lonely and sad because she was an orphan, whose parents tried to murder her, and her aunt and cousin treated her like a lesser human being. They were able to comfort and provide solace to each other and they were all laughter and smiles when they were together. Their love made sense and was happy. If the show had kept that trajectory and even if they did that stupid break up but they got back together and made up later I would still have liked it. But the writers decided that would be the end of it for them as a couple even though they teased us with the possibility they would get back together. The scene where the Sun Oh’s mom, Jeong Mi-mi (Song Seon mi) talks about Jojo and pretty much points out she is still the one in his heart is pointless because they never get back together.

Another pointless story line was the whole conflict with Jojo’s best friend, Kim Jang go as they never reconciled and she just disappeared from the story line with no resolution on her crush nor the rift in their friendship. No big point to having either the best friend or ex boyfriend characters. Unless the point of thise two characters was other oeople thought Jojo could be a jerk, because later I wound up thinking so too. The way she ended her relationship badly with her boyfriend, Jang Il-sik (Shin Seung Ho) was a good indicator of the way she did things, If she decided it was over she did not care who got hurt.

Many commented that Sun Oh betrayed his friend when he went after the girl he had been crushing on for a long time. Hee young had been around Jojo because he liked her and would deliberately do things to bring himself into her presence. But that was it. He never acted on any of that and it made his admiration for her seem very shallow. Sun Oh asked him multiple times if he liked Jojo so he gave him ample opportunity to say he did and act on his feelings. So I wasn’t bothered by that because I felt Hee young had his chance and never took it. Just liking someone does not put your mark of ownership on them in my opinion. Those feeings have to be expressed and reciprocated.. So, I did not fault Sun Oh for liking Jojo and following through with his feelings. I found it incredibly sad that such an unlikable female lead became the one to create a large rift in the brotherly like friendship the two men had. Once again how lonely for Sun oh to lose his friend who eased his loneliness.

That whole “shield” so the other person cannot see how you feel about them thing just ticked me off. It was an incredibly selfish thing to know how the other person felt but have that shield deceive the other person into thinking you had no feelings for them. The fact that Jojo used that showed how selfish in love she was. She was perfectly fine with them exhibiting their feelings for her. Even reveled in it. But she was okay with never showing her feelings and being dishonest with them about why. Okay you cannot get the shield off your phone but how about you tell the other people you have the shield? It was selfish, narcissistic and made me not like her character at all. Oh I am so damaged I cannot show love even if I feel it? Find a shrink lady and quit using people to make yourself feel better.

One reviewer said all the relationships were very superficial. I have to agree. The software developer, Cheon Duk gu (Lee Jae-eung) liked Jojo’s cousin, Park Gul-mi, (Go Min Si) because she was pretty. And really that could be the only reason because she was an awful person. Hee young liked Jojo from afar, until they got deep in their relationship he only ever liked what he saw of her and it didn’t seem like he really knew her. The influencer that loved Sun oh, his new girlfriend, Lee Yuk-jo (Kim Si eun) did not need him to reciprocate which means she was with him for other reasons. Maybe the optics?

The one sided love thing portrayed as romantic was annoying. It was not romantic that Hee young loved Jojo from afar and was willing to be with her even though she said she may never ring his love alarm. That’s okay babe I will just continually stroke your ego by ringing your love alarm all the time. I found that disgusting and selfish of her. Sun oh found the love of his life in Jojo and you had the sense he would never love anyone else that deeply. He seemed sad and unhappy in the “fake” life he was living with hus new girlfriend. All of that being in the spotlight and objectified was exactly what he hated and found lonely in his childhood. But now we are supposed to believe that he will grow to love someone where he did not have those feelings in the beginning, when you are most likely to feel romantic love? So I did not find it romantic that eveyone woud up in these one sided love relationships and we were expected to believe the love would grow and everyone would wind up happy. That so rarely happens you can say it doesn’t happen. The person who loves more winds up hurt and emotionally starved all the time. The person that does not have that romantic love feeling feels guilty for being unable to feel that way about the other person. Love is not something that can be manufactured or forced. So I seriously disliked that this series tried to romanticize such a deeply painful and harmul relationship dynamic.

I could go on and on about how horrible this series was. But, to sum up my discontent, they Netflixed it, the female lead character was unlikable, everyone winds up in superficial substandard relationship and they lied about love. It made me sad for Sun oh that he ended up with someone he was not deeply in love with (they would have made awesome friends, Jojo is taking advantage of Hee young in a relationship where the love balance is so horribly off just to gratify herself and feel safe in the relationship. The horrible cousin winds up with a chance to be with the software developer who she treated like dirt early on and she never changed to become a better person. I strongly disliked every outcome. I never thought there would be a situation where I would be unhappy the second guy got the girl but they made it happen. Those two being together just made it so everyone would wind up miserable.

#KimSohyun #JungGaram #HwangSunoh #GoMinsi #LeeJaeeung #SongKang #KimSohyun #JungGaram #LoveAlarm #GoMinSi #LoveAlarm2 #SongSeonmi #JeongMimi

Lire davantage

The only good thing about this is the OST

Review for both seasons !!! This drama managed to contain everything I hate in a love story:
- love triangle ✔️
- two best friends fighting for the girl ✔️
- asshole guy stealing the girl from his nice friend who liked her first ✔️
- girl immediately liking the asshole guy over absolutely nothing (but his looks I guess) ✔️
- dumb miscommunication which breaks them up✔️
- time lapse ✔️
- the miscommunication is cleared, but they have moved on and do NOT get back together, the main couple changes ✔️ (I love second-chance romance :( )
- bittersweet ending ✔️


Basically, I hate love triangles cause they're always a mess and bittersweet. I especially hate them when the MC changes throughout the story. I can't ship one couple and then ship another, I just can't.

The only good thing about this is the OST and maaaybe the character development of the heroine, coming to terms with her past.

Lire davantage

Wasted potential

A lovely premise, very original. But I speak as someone who soley watched the drama, and not the webtoon.

The main character is plain, and doesn’t seem to particularly have anything going for her, she is a walking cliché (and although I love clichés, this wasn’t it). I did find Song Kang’s and Go Min Si’s characters much more interesting but that didn’t really matter.

To put it plainly: It sucked.

The first 2 episodes pulled me in, the other 12 repulsed me. I honestly don’t think I even watched the second season properly, I did want to finish it to give it a chance but I do regret it now.

The actual ending? A shit show, I don’t think I rooted for JoJo any less than I rooted for GulMi or actually any character in the show. Everyone was so inherently dislikable even though the writers tried hard to condition us to like JoJo.

I personally don’t think its a good drama, and definitely not worth the wait and hype for the second season.

Lire davantage

Difícil?

Eu acho que a cultura da Coreia cria jovens fracos emocionalmente, entendam que não é uma crítica destrutiva, quero fazer uma comparação à minha própria vida, onde me sentindo sozinha, totalmente largada, apesar de ter família, precisei ser forte até meu último fio de cabelo e na época, exatamente como a Jojo eu não era ninguém e tive alguém financeiramente bem, bonito, era realmente muita areia pro meu caminhão, mas que se dane, pensei, nem que eu carregue balde por balde a areia era minha, ele me escolheu, ele sabia o que eu vivia, e ainda assim decidiu ficar comigo. Joguei pro alto tudo, a família dele era contra, eu não era "suficiente" para ele me diziam, ele "merecia" coisa melhor. Mas isso foi a nossa força, nos unimos mais, era um pelo outro, com pais narcisistas, juntos saímos de tudo isso, não foi nada fácil, mas já estávamos até o pescoço de lama, o que era dar um mergulho? Aqui no Brasil o número de órfãos de pais vivos é tanto quanto na Coreia, mas nosso instinto de sobrevivência nasce com a gente, você já sai da barriga da tua mãe sabendo que o mundo vai te socar até você aprender a ser gente, na marra. Então Jojo foi covarde, quando ela teve Sun Oh do lado dela, e tenho certeza, que ele iria ao fim do mundo por ela, mas ela escolheu se vitimizar. Vitimismo, a pior posição para um ser humano, vamos dizer que é ponto final da autoestima.

Lire davantage

Blech - read Crime and Punishment instead. it's a fun read comparatively

Actor who plays ML has the dubious distinction of being in two of the worst Chinese dramas I have ever seen: Nevertheless, and this piece of garbage.

Utterly depressing story about how people are so dependent on apps to tell them who they like, that they don't even think for themselves. After they kiss in the alley upon meeting (gross) they have to check their love alarm app to see whether they like each other. They are relieved when the app tells them what they want to hear. More storytelling that is complete crap. Not a love story, not "feel good". You will leave feeling completely depressed, hopeless and broken hearted.

SPOILERS AHEAD
2ML "loves" FL from afar for years but never even speaks to her. He tells his ML friend/brother new on the scene that he likes her. So ML goes for it. Then the checking of the apps begins.

FL bullied and abused by her cousin for no apparent reason. Aunt hates her and abuses her and treats her so badly that she doesn't even feed her. She lives with them because her parents died in a fire. Cousin likes the ML and to break them apart, she threatens to reveal FL's "dirty little secret": that she failed to drag her parents out of the fire when she was 5 years old. And this "dirty secret" will apparently mark her as evil. Are the characters completely stupid? How is this a character flaw? The abuse is so relentless that FL feels "forced" to dump her boyfriend so that cousin will lay off her. Storytelling is complete crap.

Then there's the "love" story. She breaks off with him, resulting in us watching the ML being completely broken for years. At the end he can't love anyone else.

In the end we're supposed to have hope that maybe this broken ML can somehow love because the FL eventually found love even in this dystopian, depressing, tragic show.

END OF SPOILERS

I beg you to spare yourself. I wish I had.

Music, didn't pay any attention to it, so just gave it a 3.

Lire davantage

It's Dry ...

I watched both seasons for the sake of trying to understand why the heck this was popular enough to get a second season and I don't understand it.

The Story: It had so much potential. it really did. I have not read the webtoon and I don't know if it differs or goes more in depth, but for eight hour and a half episodes, I really expected more substance. There's zero character development. You're just assaulted with characters and their trauma and expected to know who, what, where, when, and why. It makes for a very awkward and dull drama. You don't get a chance to love, hate, learn to love a character.

The acting seems forced and fake. I didn't feel there was any chemistry among any of them.

The music was OK. It seemed a bit out of place to me, but it was decent.

There is zero rewatch value for me. Even as background noise, I'd tune it out.

Overall, I am curious to read the webtoon to see if I'm missing anything that would make the drama make more sense or give me a sense of the character/story. As for the drama, it's not it.

Lire davantage

How to Fall in Love?

I watch this with zero knowledge of anything. The premise is really inviting. I was drawn by curiosity of how this world would become after the breakthrough of love alarm technology. How it would effect our normalcy. How to fall in love.

Story
It's originality and storyline is intriguing. The story was unfold pretty slow but still acceptable. What I love the most is I was being misled the whole time but in a good way. Just like the app invention that I thought would bring a great outcome for many, however it speaks differently to the main characters. The story cleverly written to paints us this picture perfect illusions of what love means when in actual reality it doesn't work that way. Love works differently for everyone. That one app doesn't have the absolute answer for all, and certainly not for the FL.

This drama really push the usual kdrama cliches on romance. Yes, it's a pretty long and crawling journey but it's getting there. Finally a drama that pushes normalcy into building a relationship. How FL finally breaks her barrier and pushes through the wall that everyone else is trying to forced on her.

What's with all the hate and backlash that this show is receiving? Just because the final outcome doesn't go your way? LOL. I guess some are missing the point of the story. How FL was being forced into a situation. A situation that she still perplexed and having trouble to understand. The whole first kiss drama is supposed to represent WHAT NOT TO DO in starting a relationship (Ooops sorry to stranger). Heck in any situations. It's a big NO-NO. But the reaction from everyone else speaks differently from how I felt. Am I sane or everyone else is crazy?

Cast
I hated that rich guy. I found him to be annoying as hell. The character is unbelievably self-centered and obnoxious and I found it so alarming that almost everyone else seem to love him. Is it just because of his looks? If it is, that is pretty messed up.

FL is convincingly troubled and I sometimes annoyed by her reactions to all the shenanigans that she had to put up with. But her character growth really speaks volume and I really love her towards the end when she finally stand up and has the courage to pursue what she feel, regardsless of the app.

The actual ML is the star here. He is the one that kept me on the show. He is the embodiment of 'How to Fall in Love' done in a sane way. Meaning; no force, no manipulations, no app, no agenda, no bs and no strings attached. It's about time that falling in love was shown in the purest way.

Overall casts are pleasantly good and pretty believable. The schools, the parents, the office are well portarayed as normal-no-that-perfect vibe. It's decent.

Music
The theme song is really captivating just like the app. Really draw your attention. I was spellbound.

As always; Would I watch it all again?
Yes.

Lire davantage

S1 is overhated

FYI: this review contains my thoughts on S1 NOT S2!!!
First of all it seems that y'all assume that S1 was as bad as S2 but that is FALSE INFORMATION! S1 was still watchable and kind of entertaining which is why I'm doing seperate reviews! I was actually kind of hooked at the beginning because the concept was original. I remember the visuals being kind of good too. Like it was just a vibe and I was rooting for the ml and fl! They kind of lost me in the second half when they actually got together because I could tell it was just visuals and vibes and there wasn't really a storyline! The love triangle was annoying asf too. The acting was not good and kind of started the song kang hate train for a reason! The fl's acting was just as bad. But at the end of the day this is just a cute rom-com and definitely could be a cute rewatch without S2!

Lire davantage