Starlitelet

There's a limit to the amount of mistakes a human should make. Sure, some makes more than others, but if I was any of them I'd just stay far away from Nabi as possible. She's just as toxic as Jae Eon, but she doesn't show it and she plays the victim card. Arg, I just really dislike these type of characters.

I am sure that I am also older than most of the audience here. Tbh, I never understood girls like Nabi even when I was younger. Why they would fall for Jae Eon type of guys? I always thought to myself that they're really asking for trouble, so if anything happens it's their fault. Girls like Nabi require like 3 slaps on the face (as in meeting 3 jerks) to finally realize it. I'm not quite sure why they need that many to finally wake up. In my book, that's too late girl! I feel bad for guys like Do Hyuk. Like, he's really getting used by her. She's basically using Do Hyuk to make Jae Eon jealous. I understand that she has been through a lot of trauma and she can't think properly, but I wish the story made a bit more progression on this, especially considering there are only 3 episodes left. Feels like she's been the same character since episode 1.

Whatever Jae Eon is doing to Nabi, she is serving it right back at Do Hyuk. So in my book, she's just a bad character. She hurts and uses people and doesn't care. In fact, she likes stepping on people who cares for her and I find that repulsive. She's a horrible character. We can clearly see that she's not made out for a polygamous relationship.

DISCLAIMER for spoilers to Love Alarm:

I know a lot of people hate/dislike Love Alarm, but Jojo's character arc made much more sense in my opinion. She also never toyed with 2 guys, and she had a better growth in finding herself. I have no clue what they're going to do with 3 episodes left.

I am gonna go ballistic if Jae Eon suddenly becomes good. Like, please, that is so unrealistic and convenient.

Na-bi always seems so shocked and surprised when she sees other girls with the butterfly. When is she gonna learn to treat herself better? She should learn to love herself before loving anyone else.

I'm like on a crazy ffw pace because I don't have time for these BS 🤣.

I really don't like Jae Eon's character. Why are characters like him supported? I feel like Song Kang has been attached to these roles 😬. I'm actually more annoyed at Nabi for falling for him. Like girl, run away. I'm so sad girls in real life actually buy into guys like Jae Eon.

Yes, I agree with you so much! I'm still thinking about this show till now. I watch a lot of shows and movies, but this just stuck to me, so here I am lurking. I also really love how the characters remained consistent from S1 to S2. Sun-Oh was not done dirty! He was like that since the beginning and I understood why he was like that until now. It's because he hasn't moved on from the past yet. This show does a great job at depicting what being stuck in the past does to the character. We see that in all 3 of our main characters.

The slow moving scenes added much poetry and art to the show IMO.

Why would someone want to interfere in another's relationship? She was with Il Sik.

I think Love Alarm is one of the few shows that actually touched on the 3 stages of romantic loves that one can experience in their lifetime. It did so quite well in my opinion.

1) Experimental Love / First Love (Il Sik) - Where we just want to try to see what all the fuss of dating is about, and we probably don't really like them, but hey they are convenient. If we are lucky they can be our first love and stage 1 and 2 can be intertwined.

2) Passionate Hard Love / First Real Love (Sun Oh) - First sight, instant love, where we fall head over heels for them. There's plenty of butterflies in the tummy and we go goo goo gah gah for each other. The couple has a lot of chemistry, but also many differences and hurdles to overcome. However, love shouldn't be this hard, and realistically speaking it probably would not work out in the long-run. Even through the rollercoaster ride, it's probably the most exciting from the 3 stages. It's also the stage where most romantic movies/shows stop at because no movies/shows want to talk about real relationship problems.

3) Compatibility & Stability / Long Lasting Love (Hye-Yeong) - There might not be crazy passion like the second stage, but it comes to us without having to search for it. In a lot of cases, it's not our ideal image of who our lover should be. However, we just feel like everything is right and safe and that they'll be with us through thick and thin. There is not only chemistry that is important anymore, but compatibility. Furthermore, they make us become a better person and vice versa. This requires patience because we are talking about the long-run. Every love requires work, but love shouldn't be about wondering if they'll quit on us one day or vice versa. There are bigger issues for a couple to face, such as their inner demons and real life problems. This is the stage that defines who we are and we should be proud to say we get to share a life with them.

Do we actually get closure in real life when someone breaks up with us?

I am one of those people who is praising it for its realism compared to a lot of other Kdramas and not as a standalone compared to all entertainment I've seen because I have seen a lot. I am not saying the entire drama is realistic, but the characters' emotions are pretty raw for me. They are also consistent throughout the entire show. As I mentioned to someone else, it reminds me of 5cm/s (the Japanese anime) where it's more of a philosophical outtake and makes one ponder on what is love. Love Alarm is also on the more artsy side in terms of how the story pans out as opposed to other Kdramas. I think those who are patient and enjoy the philosophical question of "what is love", and not in for the cheap thrills will appreciate it more. There's a huge tonal shift from S1 to S2 and it's done with purpose. At first I felt like it was out of nowhere because of the almost 2 years gap, but then I rewatched S1 briefly. It wasn't done out of nowhere because there were minor hints scattered throughout S1 that was leading up to S2. I am not talking about plot points, but characters' motivations, consistency, and growth. Though, I've mentioned a few times that the transition could have been done way smoother.

You're right that True Beauty never tried to be realistic, but I am one of those people who needs characters to act like real life characters or at least need to possess some real life emotions for me to be emotionally attached to the story. I wasn't attached to any of the characters from True Beauty because their characters' felt very scripted. It goes from point A to B with no risk. It has no point of discussion because there is nothing to discuss about, whereas Love Alarm stirs a lot of emotion whether it be hate or love. I am also very tired of cliches like "I might not be good at anything or be the prettiest, but if I have a good heart and the prince charming wants me then I will get saved". Let's also not get started with the backstabbing friend. I appreciated how in Love Alarm S2 there was none of this drama. I actually watch Kdramas for the main leads' love story and not for the side storylines. I'm sorry but Kdramas fail at doing most side storylines because they usually add in sob stories or a lot of blabla that I do not care about. I tend to fastforward through the side plots because they are so redundant and boring. I am super happy there was no focus or emphasis here. There was no obstructions from parents, or involvement of third party characters that divided them. It was all about Jojo's path to finding out what kind of love she needs and deserves. SO and HY are just extensions of JJ's story. I like that they didn't spoon feed us about HY's not SO's baggage.

I think if people overlook the Love Alarm app in the show then they won't like this show at all. There's always the question of why did SO go back to YJ at the end when he had no feelings for her or why does JJ go with HY when there is no chemistry? To each their own on what they've perceived while watching, but for me it shows that the technology is unreliable and it cuts off all possibilities of other possibly greater loves in our life if we put our trust into it (like most people). Just because your cell does not ring, does not mean that it's 100% definite we will never be attracted to that person or we might already be attracted to them and the darn app can't detect it. Action speaks louder than the Love Alarm and they have been consistent with that concept throughout the show. Some love grows backward. You start off liking them then loving them then feeling attracted to them. Not all love starts off with physical attraction. The message I got is that love is supposed to be calm and patient, so that both individuals can grow together. SO has been chasing JJ blindly because he was stuck in the past, but when he allowed himself to adjust back to reality after JJ's confrontation, he realized that he was in it for YJ. That is why I find it realistic.

Tbh, if a Hollywood romance is done well, they are way more realistic and have more impact than most Korean love dramas/movies. The only Korean love story movie that I'd recommend to people is A Moment to Remember. So yes, I definitely recommend people to watch Little Women.

However, if we do compare it to other Kdramas of similar calibre, I tried watching True Beauty and I was surprised and turned off by how childish it is compared to Love Alarm.

She didn't dump him because she didn't trust him, but it's because she didn't trust herself. By not trusting herself, she projected a shield and paranoia on him. Have you not guarded yourself at some point when you think that the person is not right for you? She also believed that he would have moved on from her, like she was able to, but nope. Was what she did right to SO? Nope, but a good person can make mistakes too. These are human emotions and not black and white situations.

Thanks for the insight! I enjoyed reading this. I guess it boils down to the question of whether a friend can transition into a lover at some point. I truly believe that it is possible. I believe that by transitioning from a friend to a lover, might build a stronger and more lasting foundation, but that's just me! It takes time to know someone to see if you are really truly into them. Sometimes we overlook them at first, but we slowly become so attracted by their actions and virtues that eventually we love them as a whole.

We will never really know if JJ was not into HY at all solely base on her love alarm, since she always had her shield on. From when I was watching S2 and S1, I did feel their connection. Maybe not a spicy chemistry like SH, but I felt like they understood each other simply from the way they look at each other. It's kind of like they're comfortable in their relationship and pass that passion phase (which I agree could have been done so much better).

I think every Kdrama makes the guy work harder than the girl to actually get into a relationship. So ofc, if we are expecting a totally realistic relationship dynamic then don't bother watching Kdramas. It's the annoying part of Kdramas because men like these will never be translated 100% to real life and in reality they should not. The idea of loving someone knowing that they don't love you back is very touching though. It takes a lot of pride to accept that and yet still love. I think that was what made it poignant even though I know that men like HY don't exist.

However, JJ did go out of her ways many times for HY. She always went to his house, bought him food, and gave him comfort when he needed. You can say that's like platonic love, but to me I felt like they were two introverted people who just understood one another without having to show much. Maybe I understand them because I'm in a long-term relationship and I know that's what it probably looks like with my boyfriend from the outside. I dearly love my boyfriend, and people can question our relationship all they like because we don't show it as much as other couples. We don't have to prove it to anyone and that's what made me connect with JJ and HY a lot.

I can write really long, but I can't cover all your points on what I see because it'll only be longer.

By using the shield to block off SH, she did that outof her choice because she knew that they weren't right for the both of them (family background, etc), but she still loved him up to this point. She thought that he would move on like she did eventually. That was her taking action about future side effects, but yes it was also due to her trauma of her parents that swayed her first and foremost. Though, I think she moved on from SH slowly already by the end of S1, especially the car scene.

How was HY not supporting her near the end when he was letting her make her own decision? He was allowing her to come to terms with her own feelings. I think people are seeing that HY became a hypocrite because he got mad that she didn't love him after overhearing that she had to use the spear on him. This is not how I took it at all. Yes he was disappointed for himself (who wouldn't be), but he was more disappointed in the fact that she was not being true to herself rather than she did not love him.

Also, if you are saying that HY was only supportive to Jojo because he was scared of losing her then SH was only forgiving her because he doesn't have her and wants her back.

Most people are forgetting that her inability to make a decision stems from the reliance on the app. She thought that she was unable to make a decision, but in reality shealready knows what she wanted and just had to embrace it by the end. That it's okay not to be okay and her decision shouldn't be coming from any pressure.

Ya the whole drama was about her not being able to make decisions. Why? How? They're so reliant on the app that they don't know trust their own feelings anymore. I think the way she's able to sway in her own feelings is excusable because of the love alarm app. If this was a drama without the dependency on the love alarm app, then ya I'd be really annoyed. However, I can understand with the presence of the love alarm app. It's like she thought she didn't know what she wanted, but deep down she actually already knew the answer from the beginning. Could it have been better done executed? Yes. I am not going to say it's flawless because there are plot holes, but the message is present. Most Kdramas lay all the answers out flat like spoon feeding us, but this one doesn't and I didn't know it had to.

He told her to make a choice, and she gave him no answer, so that's why he walked away.

If I am allowing someone to make their own choice in whether they should stay in a relationship with me or not, am I actually breaking up with them? No, I am giving them the power to break up with me if they decide to.

Where is the proof that she still loves Sun-Oh to? There's no proof unless she says it herself. To me, she felt guilty for having done what she did to Sun-Oh in the past. Hence, she flinched a couple of times and looked uncomfortable whenever they crossed paths or locked eyes. Those were the signs written in her eyes whenever she crossed paths with him. If she really loved Sun-Oh then why not go out of her ways to find him? Why did she not go out of her ways to explain to him? She went out of her ways to make Hye-Yeong happy. Is that really forced then? The entire S2 there was no indication of her trying to get to Sun-Oh at all and she never wavered between the two males. First loves are hard to get over. Sometimes not because you want to go back to the person, but because they hold a special place in your heart that you'll cherish forever. They are your first in many things after all. Sun-Oh will always be that someone in her heart.

No one can force any character to love them. Look at Sun-Oh forcing Jojo to love him. Did that work out? No. Jojo is her own woman and she can make choices, so how can Hye-Yeong force her? Hye-Yeong even gave her so many chances to walk away, but she didn't!

He never ever broke up with her. He reminded her that she has a choice and she should be sincere to do what she wants to do. Hye-Yeong was being all you Sun-Oh fans thinking that Jojo has eyes and chemistry for Sun-Oh only, but the only difference is that Jojo does not think like a typical Korean drama lead. She's thinking about her future too. One of the first smart characters. She's actually doing Sun-Oh a favor by not dating him again. Save him of all the family and press dramas that will ensue.

Chemistry or not, I don't get why people are saying that Jojo did not coming to terms with her feelings hahah. It's like we are all pressuring her to choose who she has more chemistry with. We sound like the love alarm app.

I am so surprised that Sun-Oh and Hye-Yeong's teams are so divided to the point of like saying Hye-Yeong is forcing her to love him. I am at lost for words. If a good character does something GOOD, they are punished by viewers anyway. Might as well just only fall for go-getters because who can resist a good looking dude with so much oozing chemistry ya?

Maybe this is why Kdramas keep doing Lalaland stories that always end up being the same formula.

100% agree with you!

Yes, I agree with you! It's not consistent, which is why I just went with the idea that it rings if you like someone only. Sun Oh's alarm didn't ring because he was not into Yuk Jo yet, but we can see him trying. I think they should have made his alarm ring at the end. That would have been the better way to go. However, I think it's just trying to tell us that love does not have to start off from attraction and can start off as platonic or friendship and slowly transition to something more.