Love Alarm

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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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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If you've seen dramas before...do NOT watch this

*sighs* Firstly...Kim Jojo is a mess.

This was my first ever Korean drama show and as a first time watcher, I did not know why it got so much hate. But now that I've seen more dramas, I understand why. Sooo many plot holes that left me wondering "wait, what happened?". An example is the falling out of Kim Jojo and her friend, like WHERE IS THE FRIEND I WANNA SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FRIEND!!!!!

The love interests: wth?

Like Sun Oh is a creep if I am being fr. He does not act like a friend AT ALL and is sooo self absorbed like if Jojo does not want you then LAY THE F OFF. There are other fish in the sea brother. I feel like he was not even in love with Jojo but rather just playing with his friends feelings. If you are a fan of Song Kang DO NOT WATCH THIS. It is not worth it and he is in such better shows.

Please save Lee Hye-yeong. You deserve so much better that Sun Oh AND Kim Jojo. He was the only character I could tolerate. Just kinda basic and wish I could have learned more about him. Sweet character, but really confused about some of his backstory to really call him a "favorite character".

Kim Jojo needs help. She is so dumb and makes stupid decisions but does not do anything to fix it. Like girl just make up your freaking mind about who you have feelings for. Stop being difficult. There are so many times in the show when I would just yell at her to stop being stupid.

Also, the cousin is a bitch.

Music is not that special. I only really like "Falling Again" but that is it.

Final thoughts:

Do not watch this if you have seen many dramas, it is not worth the watch. If you have not seen any dramas...then maybe?? If complicated romance is your thing, then give it a try. But I would personally recommend 'True Beauty' for first watchers. No hate for any of the actors, they are just in better shows and movies. This show rang so many alarm bells in my head.

Thanks for reading!

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disappointing

This is one of the worst. Season 1 shows some potential, but season 2 goes downhill quickly. Jo-jo, the lead female, and Sun-oh developed love at high school. Since Sun-oh is rich and handsome, other girls became jealous and turned against Jo-jo. Sun-oh defended Jo-jo and loved her deeply, and told her that she should never abandon him. After a motorcycle accident, Sun-oh suffered a more serious injury and lost contact with Jo-jo. Hye-yeong, best friend of Sun-oh, initially helped Jo-jo to go to Sun-oh’s house to visit him; Jo-jo overheard that his parents would send him to the US if he continued to see Jo-jo. As a self-protection and “for the sake of Sun-oh”, Jo-jo ended her relationship with Sun-oh despite deep hurt to him and her love for him. In the meanwhile, Hye-yeong helped Jo-jo when she was bullied by her aunt and her cousin. In the moment of despair and loneliness, Jo-jo agreed to date Hye-yeong even though there is no love alarm for him. Sun-oh continued to pursue Jo-jo because he was in deep pain and he still had strong love for her. Jo-jo rejected him repeatedly and even activated a shield in the Love Alarm app to hide her love for Sun-oh. After seeing Sun-oh again, Jo-jo went to the developer of Love Alarm to disable the shield so her true love can be shown; but she was told the shield can’t disabled. This is a huge lie since you can always get a new phone or start a new installation of the App. It is clear that Jo-jo still has feelings towards Sun-oh. Sun-oh finally confronted her on her deception (hiding her love); she said she regretted the decision everyday, but said she made the right decision to protect herself. She was shaken and was going to tell Hye-yeong that she was to end the relationship with him; but she did not have the courage to tell him the truth since she was afraid that she would hurt his feelings. After several back-n-forth, she chose to stay with Sun-oh by convincing herself that she was truly in love with Sun-oh despite the love alarm rating. This time, she used a spear in Love Alarm to force a love alarm on Sun-oh. Her action was praised by the developer of the love alarm because will can determine true love. In the end, Jo-jo and Sun-oh became a happy couple; Hye-yeong was still recovering from the deep hurt; there was no reconciliation between Jo-jo and her aunt and cousin, between Hye-yeong and Sun-oh.

The ending was a surprise and terrible. The overall message is (1) it’s okay to be selfish in order to survive, (2) it is okay to be not faithful to vows (please do not abandon me, we will stick together), (3) it is okay to steal your best friend’s girl friend when the couple are vulnerable, (4) there is no remedy for the past mistake, (5) perpetuating past mistake is okay, (6) it is okay to escape from difficult situation while hurting loved ones deeply (and not standing up to bullies), like Jo-jo’s parents did (committing suicide with Jo-jo).

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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

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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.

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it sucks so bad

this has beeen one of the first kdramas i’ve ever seen in my life and i have to say i’m so disappointed by the story itself.
I must admit i am a very huge song kang fan and i was so upset to see the protagonist chose the other guy (sorry i don’t remember the names) because su-ho love for the protagonist was genuine and true, i can’t understand why she chose the other guy.
i cried at the end of the season because of how disappointing it was.
It was also kinda boring i remember falling asleep and noticing that the story remained the exact same, so it’s kinda stupid??
I DONT RECCOMMEND IT 0/10

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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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I thought Love Alarm was supposed to be 'one of the greats', for some maybe yes. but I found the show rather filled with plot holes, super unrealistic dialogue and a poor choice of casting. This show has an amazing premise after all and COULD have been an amazing thing to watch, but I believe the delivery on this was poorly executed. Love Alarm is the definition of 'all the gear but no idea'.
Don't get me wrong, it's not all negative, as the 40 minutes of episodes didn't feel like they were dragging at all. I'm just disappointed that the opportunity of a great premise wasn't seized as well as it should have. Plus, what the hell was that ending? Overall, good show but could have been WAY better.

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I can’t rate this high because of the fire in my soul. The main guy? Asshole. The families? Useless. Especially the cousin. The bullies and stuff? Dumb. The idiot friends and drama? Pointless. First things first, I have extreme second lead syndrome even though Ga-Ram is a main character. Kim So-Hyun plays a wonderful character and actress and she does a damn good job at playing someone that has to go through tragedy and her emotion is crazy for someone still so young in this acting game. The biggest spoiler is that there wasn’t necessarily a love triangle or a fight between two friends, it starts by Ga-Ram’s character having a crush on So-Hyun’s and then Song Kang (who is still a rookie) pops up, sees his best friend likes a girl and decides to but in because somehow he’s attracted to her and ends up liking her too. The rich cool guy of course gets the girl because no one wants the nice and caring guy and the girl is clueless and obvious so that’s what makes this cliche. But let’s be real, Song Kang’s character didn’t even deserve her. He is manipulative, a bad friend and basically a piece of shit. Who takes their best friends girl for no reason? He’s selfish and then wanted to call Ga-Ram’s character a bad friend LOL you’re a piece of shit dude. Ga-Ram is too much of a nice guy and just wants love and peace and honestly So-Hyun characters always have to be weak and can’t stand up for themselves so that’s a mess in its own. I’m team Hye-Young all the way tbh. But that’s just me. This show is okay, it’s a fast watch, the acting is decent, like the concept is cool but I’m sick and tired of this cliche, the weak girl has to fall for the lame rich, rude main guy because he’s handsome and “different” which he’s not. I hope they truly do switch it up so the nice guy finally gets the girl but of course that probably won’t happen so would I rewatch this? No. Do I wish for a season 2? Absolutely. But am I excited or anticipate it? No. Because I’ll be disappointed in the end.

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