This review may contain spoilers
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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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'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 review may contain spoilers
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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For now, the story was pretty good. The love alarm app was a bit confusing at first, but it quickly got clearer as the drama progressed. The part with the school love story was cute, although the begining of the romance was awkward. Still, the love triangle was strong and it only seems to get better and better in the second part.
The performances were really good, moreover. Plus the leads had nice chemistry between them. However, there were some parts that were just too predictable and common in korean dramas.
So, overall, seven out of ten.
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A Pack of Criticism Wrapped in 'Uncooked' Romance
This review is written solely depended on the drama since I figure that there is season 2 in the making (supposed to be released two weeks ago?) and based on a webtoon.I love the premise! Love Alarm represents a concern and also a social condition where 'digital era' is one step ahead of people. This time, the technology is taking over people's feeling and make it visible through others by the presence of Love Alarm. The procedure of the app is still unknown for me, but the time I know how it works I am sure that its function to manipulate people to rely on it is damaging. I love the tone of the drama changed after the fast-forwarded scenes.
HOWEVER. I feel that the love story brought by the presence of the app is still lousy. The characters are still pretty much flat and cartoonish. Jojo with her naivety, Sunoh with his selfishness and Hyeyeong is just too kind...so does Dukgu. And Gulmi, she is pretty much an antagonist to hate here.
Jojo's feelings don't have basic ground. Her background story doesn't motivate her to do something. As if victim-blamed, she's just embracing her deeds just as it is. I thought there will be development about it. And then Sunoh, he may look like the main character everyone is rooting for, however, he is too self-centred to be called a protagonist. His good looking persona seems like taken for granted here so he can do things he wanted (pushing over Hyeyeong and Jojo, and rebelling without valid reasons). Hyeyeong and Dukgu here are collecting sympathy from the audience, I kind of feel sorry for them....as if their character here is only for the main characters to be happy and feel good. Again, the class problem seems apparent here for creating distance between the characters instead of as a reason for them to struggle to fight it in the name of their feeling.
Looking forward for the next season to confirm the next story and closure of this series. It ended nicely to continue in next season.
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Not for me
Okay so it’s not often that I agree with the negative feedback on drama’s especially my k-drama’s but I have to say. I do on this one.The actors were why I watched it - love love love Song Kang and others in this drama but the story for me fell short, way short of what I was expecting. That and the fact that, as others have already said, “too unrealistic” in the story and the characters. That’s not the actors fault but the writers.
So this one is definitely a “never watch again” for me.
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um, i think the relationship between them is toxic.
as for the story, it was unique where two phones near each other could tell whether you love the specific person. it was nice, yeah. i thought of downloading that app bc it seems so cool. NOW for my review, i think sun-oh is um toxic. he clearly knows that his bestfriend has feelings for jojo but he still kissed her knowing jojo has a BOYFRIEND. im waiting for season 2 hoping that jojo would end up with hye-young. if not then HYE-YOUNG deserves so much better. he's actually so kind and is always there for jojo. it'd be another school 2015 if they don't end up w/ each other.Was this review helpful to you?
I LOVE THIS DRAMA
This drama was so good. It hits all the right spots if you're looking for a school romance. The reason why I didn't give it a 10 is because the story felt a little rushed. A lot of things happen fast and it's hard to wrap your head around it (it might be because I binged). Another reason is that the motives that the characters had were weak, and at times they didn't make much sense for them to act that way. Also, some of the characters were under-developed in my opinion. But still, this drama is a must watch. The characters grow on you and their interactions are so cute! Not to mention season 2 is coming out.Was this review helpful to you?
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