Love Alarm

Song Kang is my only reason to watch this drama.

I just posted a "review" of sorts under Season 2 so it only makes sense that I leave something here too. Not going to say much honestly. The story isn't my kind of thing and none of the characters are actually truly likable in my honest opinion. The only thing I feel for Jojo and Sunho is pity and nothing else. Hyeyeong... it's better I don't say anything about him.

Since I watched this in 2024, I don't know what the hype around this show was when it first aired and I'll never know it. But having seen how season 1 is still more popular than season 2, even if I don't like this show I'm going to rewatch it. And because I like season 2 even less than season 1, I'm not going to contribute to it's viewership on Netflix. My only reason to rewatch season 1: 1) Song Kang 2) it's more popular than season 2

Lmao I'm too petty 😂😂

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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

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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

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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 :>>>

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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This show really made me upset in that it was seeming to go pretty well, but then the story got super lost.

While not realistic, the start of their relationship was super cute and exciting and I was excited to see where things were heading. The story of her past and her parents was brought up, but never really done anything with? Same with his backstory with his mom. It's brought up, but never done anything with.
It just drops all the major plot points brought up in the first 6 episodes or so and changes it with a car crash. I literally could not even tell if she had amnesia or it jumped forward in time.. It also made absolutely no sense the way this "time-line" plays out. They just have sudden memory loss and his "best friend" comes and basically tricks JoJo because he knows everything and she doesn't. It's really messed up, but even Sun-Oh was the same way to him in the beginning of the show.
Most of the background characters are really annoying and sort of frustrating. Gul-Mi is so insufferable and I could hardly watch any scene that she was in. She blamed JoJo for her parents wanting to literally murder her and them having to take care of her? Also tried to get with Sun-Oh any way that she could, if she could spill a secret she tried. She went out of her way to be a horrible person to JoJo and Duk-Gu. His backstory is another that drops off as well. It's insinuated that he created Love Alarm, but never brought up again. Him and Gul-Mi's story never goes anywhere either from what I've watched - which is slightly disappointing because it could have been something to make her character actually a little likable.
Just too many plot holes and too many things that didn't make sense at all. It could've been really great.

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