Korean Drama: 좋아하면 울리는 Love Alarm Season 1 (2019)
Genre: school, romance, drama
Starring: Kim So Hyun, Song Kang, Jung Ga Ram
Aired: August 2019 / Netflix
Watched: October 2019 on Netflix
I WAS THOROUGHLY UNIMPRESSED… in the beginning. But then episodes 5-7 picked up. And then 8, it started to get ehh. BUT THEN IT WAS OVER, WHAT ON EARTH. If you are reading this before Season 2 has been released, let me just tell you, DON’T WATCH IT.
I don’t understand this thing that Netflix is doing (probably trying to get more viewers) by breaking PERFECTLY FINE-LENGTH KOREAN DRAMAS (i.e., this one and My First First Love) IN HALF AND CALLING THEM SEASONS. IT’S NOT A SEASON, IT’S … HALF OF A DRAMA U_U. Guh. Stahppit, Netflix.
WATCHED IT BECAUSE...
I randomly saw a trailer for it on Youtube. I thought it looked cute and cheesy and interesting. Also, just finished Boku Mada. Needed something new to watch. My ideal schedule was, watch some other drama, and then start watching Vagabond, and then Wei would watch Vagabond too, and then he’s coming for his birthday, so we would perfectly watch the last episode when it aired together. But he hasn’t finished The K2 or Boku Mada yet, sooo he fails.
THE REVIEW
As I started to say, I was so unimpressed for the first 4 episodes of this drama. And that happened to be “half” of the season.. Because Netflix is doing weird junk and cutting full KDramas (I know it’s their first “original” series (it’s based off a webtoon), but I feel like Korean, Asian dramas aren’t meant to be serialized like that.)
Aside from that, let’s start from the beginning.
Jo Alarm 좋알람 (Jo 좋 is abbreviated from 좋다 ‘to like’, so it’s technically “Like Alarm”… But to say “I like you” in many Asian languages is just as meaningful as saying “I love you.”) aka Love Alarm, is an app that lets its users know who “loves” them within a ten meter radius. It’s synced with the user’s heart, and as other users walk within the alarm’s reach, it’ll send a little ding. (Yeah. Okay. Also, to sync it to your heart, all you have to do is say “yes” once you install it. …. … …. …) Okay, fine. So for the purpose of this review, I will ignore the technicalities of what would be required for something like this to exist.
The drama tells a sort-of story of Kim Jo Jo (played by Kim So Hyun) and two boys, Hwang Sun Oh (Song Kang) and Lee Hye Young (Jung Ga Ram). Kim Jo Jo is a hardworking high school student who lives with her aunt and same-aged cousin, Gool Mi. As the story progresses, we learn just why she lives with them and has to work two part time jobs. It’s unlike many Korean dramas, because from the first episode, Jo Jo has a boyfriend (Il Shik, played by Shin Seung Ho) already. And also in that same episode, she kisses someone. Who is not her boyfriend. Wut.
Shortly after, Jo Jo breaks up with Il Shik and starts to go out with Hwang Sun Oh. Sun Oh has newly transferred to Jo Jo’s high school and everyone is “in love.” (Cue eye rolls.) He’s like a celeb of sorts, a model, so everyone “loves” him (aka rings his Love Alarm). Meanwhile Hye Young is his best friend—his mother has served Sun Oh’’s family since they were both young. They are very close (it’s sort of confusing at first?) so when Sun Oh suspects that Hye Young likes Jo Jo, what does he do? HE GOES AND KISSES THE GIRL THAT HIS BEST FRIEND WON’T ADMIT TO LIKING. HUH. WUT. CAN SOMEONE PLZ EXPLAIN? (I know it’s sort of spoilery, but you’ll get the same information from some synopses, so it’s fine. This all happens in just the first episode.)
But that doesn’t It’s just so confusing. To top it off, Jo Jo WORKS with Hye Young, and she doesn’t really know him, despite the fact that they also go to the same high school. Meanwhile, Sun Oh falls in love with Jo Jo so quickly—first he saw Hye Young staring at her, and then at school a few times, Sun Oh and Jo Jo stare at each other a little more, and then Sun Oh asks Hye Young a few times if he likes Jo Jo, and then Sun Oh goes and kisses Jo Jo. And then after that, Jo Jo and Sun Oh are dating.
Like, really. There is no relationship development there at all. So when disaster strikes and Jo Jo has an important realization, the triangle shifts and maybe Hye Young has a chance. Who will Jo Jo end up with?
(Really, if you’re somewhat interested in watching Love Alarm, don’t watch it until the second half comes out.)
Anyway, additional comment about the storyline: because everyone (including Gool Mi) is bitter and jealous of her/the people she gets to date, Jo Jo suffers… and suffers and suffers. So this the story of how she suffers but these boys add some sunshine to her life. This is half a high school drama, so there’s a lot of bullying, mind you. The bullying in Asia always looks so horrible. :(.
I feel so old now…. because Kim So Hyun is a baby..!! She’s 9 years younger than me. But it’s fine though. Her acting is fine. And I guess it works out better since she’s supposed to play a high schooler. Sun Oh’s character was a bit unbelievable because of what I just described, above. Meanwhile, I feel like Hye Young is also confusing and… This is a drama where I don’t know who the main guy is (sort of), and I don’t even like one of them over the other, I don’t have a preference who she ends up with. I… I just don’t really understand. As mentioned above, I was going to stop on episode 4, but then I found out that it’s only half (up to 8), so I only had 4 more episodes (and each episode is only 45ish minutes), so I decided to just finish. Well, I would sort of say, good thing I did; the drama (finally) picked up from there. But then it slows down.
And. I think the directors exaggerated a little bit too much with the flashback business. Often you have a drama start, and then a flashback here and there to fill in the story as we go along. Love Alarm? We have a snippet of present day, and then the next few episodes in the past, and then we finally catch up to present day, but then continue to have 40 flashbacks per episode, even though whatever happened just happened in the previous episode. It was a little too much. If the director cut out all the flashbacks, I swear, we would’ve been left with just four 45-minute episodes. Other than the storyline (which I dont’t know whether to blame the writer or the webtoon creator, probably the former?) this timeline business would be my biggest critique.
So if you’re okay with how that sounds, then go ahead and watch it. (But just wait till the second season comes out, okay. I promise you will be happy with me.)
SPOILERS
(highlight below to read)
“So Jang Go is supposed to be Jo Jo’s best friend, but she’s so stupid. Because of what happened with Il Shik and Sun Oh, she ends up ditching her. So much for a best friend. But it’s also because Jang Go liked Il Shik. Uh. Fail.
Gool Mi tries to get Jo Jo in trouble so many times, because she sucks. It’s because she likes Sun Oh and Sun oh and Jo Jo were going out. But it’s sooo dumb u_u Like the premise of what it means for someone’s Love Alarm to go off is stupid. People SEE each other for the first time and they “LOVE” each other? And later when it skips to four years, people also have to turn on their Love Alarm when they get married to prove to each other and everyone who’s there that they LOVE each other when their apps go off? That’s just so stupid. How can you equate those two things? I had to shove it aside in order to keep watching the drama.
Oh, and to reiterate, the timeline of this drama is so ridiculous. It starts in the future, and then goes back to 4 years ago, when the app launched. And then Jo Jo and Sun Oh go to Jeju Island on their class field trip, and there’s a fire in one of the hotel rooms (it’s so lame because DO CHAPERONES HAVE NO DUTIES ON THESE OVERNIGHT TRIPS??? — this is coming from a teacher). And then Jo Jo has like a PTSD episode and spazzes out. When she was a little girl, her parents committed suicide—all of them together: they sealed all of their windows and doors with plastic and tape, and lit stuff (=carbon monoxide poisoning). The adults took some sleeping pills and went to sleep. Jo Jo woke up and threw up and spazzed out and couldn’t wake up her parents or open a window. She finally got out, but her parents died. Her parents must’ve been in a huge debt. That’s why she lives with her aunt and Gool Mi now. But her aunt is so bitter to her because of her mom’s debt that she inherited, and Gool Mi accuses Jo Jo of being the reason why her dad left. It’s all so so messed up. Jo Jo’s grandma MUST be on her dad’s side then, because her aunt isn’t helping to pay for her hospital bills. So that’s why Jo Jo has to work at her aunt’s convenience store AND at a KBBQ place. It’s really sad…
Something really stupid is also that she’s never told this to her supposed-to-be-BFF Jang Go. And then Jang Go doesn’t even bother to find out the truth from Jo Jo or care, once Jo Jo starts going out with Sun Oh. She’s such a bad friend wtcrap.
So anyway, after the PTSD episode, she runs away (AGAIN, WHAT’S THIS CHAPERONE BUSINESS??) and Sun Oh meets her (it’s night time by the way), rents a scooter (Um.) and they ride off to the ocean (okay.). And then it’s daytime (um. They stayed out overnight? Huh??) and they’re drivin’ drivin’ and Sun Oh turns his head to look at her face and drives super on the wrong side of the road and swerves to not hit a car. And then we fast forward to four years later (where the drama started). And then Sun Oh and Jo Jo are no longer together? And then it flashes back AGAIN to where we left off. WHAT’S THE POINT OF THATTT.
After the accident, Jo Jo felt so responsible—she was bad news and didn’t want to bring down Sun Oh. So she ends up breaking up with him. AH, I forgot mention someone important: Chun Duk Goo. He created Love Alarm. He’s also really geeky looking (like mushroom haircut and short…) and he lovesssss Gool Mi. Gool Mi is always so disgusted by him. He apparently made Love Alarm to confess to her but she’s so offended that he rings her Love Alarm. One day she tells him to disappear. He and Jo Jo have some chats. He was the one that gave Jo Jo her first phone that was compatible with the Love Alarm (since she previously had no money to get a newer phone). He was going to give that to Gool Mi, but she didn’t show up when he wanted to confess confess to her. Later, Gool Mi is like, “Where’d you get that phone!” and when she finds out it was from Deok Goo, she was like, “Ew!” and throws it. SO SO immature.
And then after the accident, Deok Goo knows how Jo Jo feels about her feelings being burdensome for the person that is receiving their love. He sends her an extension for the app: a shield that blocks her from ringing any other person’s Love Alarm (aka “a shield for the heart”). She ends up installing it (and it can’t be removed EVER unless it’s done by the developer aka Deok Goo). So then when she breaks up with Sun Oh, HE WANTS TO KNOW THE TRUTH WITH THEIR LOVE ALARMS. So they TAKE OUT THEIR PHONES (cue eye rolling again), and to his horror, HIS APP DOESN’T RING. And then later, Deok Goo…. COMMITS SUICIDE? We see him fall out the edge of his window…. Gool Mi is trash.
And then four years later again, Sun Oh is dating another girl. But actually, he doesn’t ring her alarm. But he likes her enough it seems. (But people that are just walking on the street and see Sun Oh for the first time in high school can ring his alarm? It still doesn’t make sense.) And there’s even a badge club for the people whose alarms are rang the most (aka real-life instagram?)
It also seems like Gool Mi and her aunt are a little better now, but Gool Mi even takes like $3000 of Jo Jo’s savings to spend on material objects to try to boost her popularity as a broadcasting jockey (it still feels too weird to use BJ…) from home. She’s not popular. She didn’t get into college. She’s trying to get views and donations to join the badge club. She really wants to meet the developer. (Irony.) And she throws all of Jo Jo’s textbooks out the window (so bad).
And also. Jo Jo is an artist! She makes art related to Love Alarm on her iPad and puts it on _howling.moon, an anonymous instagram. Sun Oh follows it. And so when they’re releasing Love Alarm 2.0, of course she gets an invitation, as the artist of all these Love Alarm art pieces. So she needs to go, because she wants to get her shield removed (because even buying a new phone didn’t do it.)
And also, Hye Young still likes Jo Jo, and he tries to go for her again (he ended up uninstalling the app back in high school when he rang Jo Jo’s alarm without wanting to; since he still didn’t want Sun Oh to know that he liked her?? I still don;t understand this either.). And when Sun Oh found out, he went to meet Jo Jo, and Jo Jo apologized but they were over. And also, he rang her alarm and that’s SOO sad, since he couldn’t even ring his current girlfriend (Yook Jo)’s alarm. So he still loves her, AND ONLY HER.
So anyway. Then we end up at the reveal party of Love Alarm 2.0 and ALSO THE DEVELOPER. AND IT’S LIKE WE KNOWWW IT’S Chun Deok Goo. And then Jo Jo’s going into the venue and she shows her invitation… And they reveal the developer in shadows, and it’s…. BRIAN CHUN (Netflix subs spell it Brian Chon I think).. SO THIS IS A MYSTERY. Is it.. Chun Deok Goo just gave himself an English name? I didn’t listen closely but if it is 천, then that’s spelled so many ways.. Chun, Cheon, Chon. Also, in one of Gool Mi’s broadcasts, we see that she has one viewer who donates a lot of money to her and there’s a set up of the person’s room, which is reminiscent of Deok Goo’s room.. So that seems like a hint that he’s still alive. But who’s this Brian man? It seems like we could be thinking that it IS still Deok Goo buuuut…
BUT THEN. There’s also a huge group of people who are AGAINST Love Alarm, and how it’s messing with society, e.g., there were 20+ individuals who became part of a group of people who didn’t have ANYONE who loved them (but again, walking down the halls in high school, people can LOVE YOU just seeing you for the first time —__—). And they all committed suicide beside their phones that were dinging with 0 alarms. (Yeah, but also, romantic love ISN’T the only kind of love in the world. These 20-30 year old individuals may not have had ROMANTIC loves, but they MUST have family or friends. OR there’s also the rest of the world. Who’s to say they can’t walk down the street in Los Angeles and have people ALL OF A SUDDEN LOVE THEM??? -_-. A lot of these things really don’t make sense and add up so I got a little annoyed.)
Anyway. And then this anti-Love Alarm group starts to attack/protest the event, and Hye Young sees it and see Jo Jo on TV at the venue. So he RUNS there faster than the protesters can drive through (…?). And then Jo Jo, inside the venue, stumbles upon Sun Oh and Yook Jo. And Jo Jo’s alarm rings right in front of Yook Jo (poor thing…). And then Hye Young shows up and ALSO rings Jo Jo’s app…. Also, how is he in the venue, without an invitation, while security needed to see Jo Jo’s invitation for them to allow her in??? And this is the first time they were both in a 10m radius together, the first time her app shows up as 2. AND THEN IT’S OVER. WHATTTTTTTTT. That’s JUNK. That’s why I’m SO ANGRY. Korean dramas DON’T CLIFFHANGER LIKE THAT. PER EPISODE, YES, SOMETIMES, BUT THIS IS JUNK. SO ANGRY. ALSO.
I don’t really like Sun Oh.. I don’t need him to be with Jo Jo. I sort of like Hye Young. But I feel like I don’t necessarily want him and Jo Jo to be together either. This is what I mean by, I don’t like her with either of them/either of them with her. There’s no relationship development with either of them, really (I mean with Sun Oh, there was AFTER THE FACT) but it doesn’t make me wish that they were together.
Oh, and the other part is that, you can see the mouth of the person who’s leading the anti-Love Alarm protest. He’s shouting and people are chanting after him. Only his mouth. So he’s meant to be mysterious. And then his mouth LOOKS LIKE CHUN DEOK GOO’S MOUTH, with his slight shadow of a mustache (what Asian boy in high school has a mustache though?? You could always see a hint of it in his high school scenes….) But then this shatters the possibility that Brian Chon is Deok Goo, because then who’s this protesting guy? Because it WOULD make sense that Deok Goo ends up hating his creation because of how Gool Mi pushed him away…. BUT. At the same time, it would also be the biggest slap in Gool Mi’s face if she meets the developer and it’s Deok Goo…. Sooooooooooooooooooooooo. I don’t know. And that’s why I must watch Season 2.
Makes me feel so angry. But apparently, Netflix JUST announced the second season (https://www.soompi.com/article/1362445wpp/love-alarm-confirmed-to-return-with-2nd-season), so good.
Perhaps I should share this review with them so they can make adjustments to their storyline accordingly. Ha.”
</spoilers>
OST/MUSIC
One thing I WAS impressed with was the soundtrack. It’s very K-Indie, easy listening. Particularly:
* Tearliner - Blooming Story (featuring Jo Hae Jin)
This song is so pretty—the singing part is so nice, and then there’s a strong contrast in music, but in the last chorus? verse? when they come together, it sounds perfect.
* KLANG - Can’t I Fall in Love Again?
This is a song that sounds like… Laying in a grassy meadow on a spring day with the sun shining down from the blue sky, a light floral breeze ruffling your hair.
Some of the other ones were also good, but those were my favorites. There are also some instrumentals?? that I can’t find.. Or maybe they’re just the MRs of those songs? I feel like they’re not though…
OTHER COMMENTS
I like the way the episodes were named. Good.
Also, at the ending of each episode, there were little noted about the app, which was pretty cute. If you’re in Korea, you can download the app.
This is the first time I’m watching Kim So Hyun in a drama. But apparently she’s in everything else I planned to watch but haven’t yet, like Let’s Fight, Ghost and Radio Romance…! I also got confused because I thought she was in Clean With Passion For Now, but it turns out that that’s Kim Yoo Jung (who I really liked). So I got confused since they’re both 99ers… And looks like I’m not the only two that notice their similarities (just google their names together). Interesting. … Babies T^T.
OVERALL
- Did I cry? No.
- Should you watch it? Um. (Shrug) There are other things I suggest you watch first. (BUT AGAIN AGAIN, if you want to watch it, just wait for the second season to come out.)
-huay