Love Alarm Season 2 (2021)

Weird whitening glare filter

The only con of season 2 is the weird whitening glare filter. I know that most Chinese and Koreans love white skin, but it's not normal for people to bleach their skin at all, especially to the point they look paper white. Not even white people in America or Europe look paper white, so when I see Asians using filters or use bleaching products to whiten their skin, I find it very toxic. It sends a message to their fellow Asians, and other people of color, that white is beautiful, and dark is ugly.

As I mentioned in my review of season 1, "both the female lead and male lead characters had childhood trauma, specifically fear of abandonment. Thus, the male lead clinged to the female lead, thinking he loved her but really it was more out of fear. The female lead ended the relationship with the male lead, thinking she loved him, but again, it was out of fear. To be fair, most romcoms tend to have a toxic definition and understanding of what love really is. Note: the female lead and male lead were only together for 6 weeks...6 weeks! So, it shouldn't surprise anyone how she was able to move on from the relationship. What I find weird is how someone can still not be over someone 4 years after dating them, and they were only together for 6 weeks while in high school. " Now, season 2 is really showing us that the male lead (the rich one) is obsessed with the female lead (see episode 4), he doesn't love her. He is literally following her around in silence (creepy vibes).

The good of season 2:
•I love the way that the screenwriter wrote this story, meaning how it is told (from past to present, and present to past)
• I love the fact that this drama was only 6 episodes. Sometimes K & C-dramas have way too many episodes with way too many fillers, and that takes away from the storyline.
•If you watch this drama and understand the setting (high school age kids to young adults), you may like this drama too as it is a realistic feel good romantic drama. Again, when watching this drama, it's showing romance of high school age kids.
•Strong female lead character

What makes a female character strong?
A strong female lead character is not necessarily someone who knows how to fight physically, but is a female character that
1. Uses wisdom most of the time (not all the time) - A lot of the female damsel in distress characters lack wisdom. They act on impulse, and make decisions that almost always lead them to depend on the male lead or second male lead for the whole drama.
2. Does not allow the male leads to ruin her life, while she sit idly by for the sake of "love," that really isn't love -Dramas tend portray a false image of love when it comes to romance. Love is not a woman taking abuse (verbal, emotional, or physical abuse) in order to be with a man. Almost always in dramas we see that the female lead is deceived, manipulated, or intimidated into a situation by the hands of the male lead. What's the female lead response? They either stick with the male lead through heartbreak and pain, or get back together with the male lead eventually. We often see the male leads choosing their family, revenge, or their title over the female lead, and or we see the male leads leading the female lead on a romantic chase, metaphorically speaking. The female lead in dramas while angered, end up being okay with being the last priority on the male lead's priority list.
3. Is free to choose who she love, even if it's the second lead and not the first - For goodness sakes, dramas will have people thinking that females love attractive toxic men, while hating the good guys who are caring and attractive.

READ MY REVIEW TO PART 1 OF THIS DRAMA https://mydramalist.com/22126-love-alarm

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Jojo chooses hye yeong.

Mostly people shipped jojo and sun oh in love alarm Season 01, But jojo broke up with sun oh. After that sun oh date a girl called Yuk jo, I think everyone liked to watch again sun oh and jojo's scene. Jojo choose hye yeong. I felt bad for sun oh cause he still like jojo but jojo date hye yeong, At the end jojo and hye yeong became a couple , I thought jojo'll date sun oh again. but i realized sun oh and Yuk jo is the best couple.
So rate this drama , If you think this drama ending is not good, You're wrong this ending is the best.
Sun oh jojo ×
Sun oh yuk jo <3

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Closure for Love Alarm that can feel confusing but also right at the same time

Hi, this is my first review, so hopefully everything feels okay to read. I'm doing it spoiler free and posting a comment that contains my full thoughts with spoilers.

Love Alarm Season 1 was the first K/Asian Drama i ever watched so it has a special place to me.

-Story
Although the story can be a bit confusing at times (mainly ep6 for me), the overall plot gives closure on the open-ended ending of season 1 for all the characters whether it is in the way you hoped or not. One concept this Drama plays with a lot is keeping you on your toes guessing who she will end up with in the end.
I feel like for the best viewer experience you should be watching this straight after finishing season 1. Unlike most other people who have been waiting for 2 years pondering on what would actually happen.

-Acting/Cast
The actors for the 2 male leads were great and definitely felt like the same old as season 1. I did feel that the female lead (Kim So Hyun/Kim Jo Jo) did give a slight different vibe, but that could be atoned to her character maturing.
Other notables are Gul Mi and Duk Goo, especially Duk Goo his visuals have gone up a ton.
Overall acting was great and I think everyone portrayed their roles in a good way.

-Music
The OST from what I could tell was mostly reused and had 1 or 2 new songs in there if I'm not wrong.
I Loved the OST and even ended up on my Top Songs 2019 on Spotify.

-Cinematography
Nothing notable and not bad either. Just what you would expect from a good film crew but nothing standout.


-Would I recommend this Drama?
Yes if you watched Season 2 no matter what your expectations are, closure is good, rather this than the open end of Season 1. The story keeps you on your toes and makes you wonder who she will end up with which is a big part of this drama as people were pondering over this for 2 years already and kept on doing it for most of these 6 episodes. The Music is great, the actors did their part.

-Rewatch Value
Would I rewatch this? No, I always saw rewatch value in season 1, but now having also watched season 2 there is nothing inside me that tells me that I would want to rewatch this.

It gets a 7 /10 from me as I liked it, but it had a lot more room to perhaps at least be 8 episodes to give the side characters some more developed stories.

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Fantastic conclusion

People giving this show a negative review because they want 2 people to end up together are ridiculous. Sun- oh was a completely selfish prick the entire series. He went after Jojo during season one because he thought his supposed best friend liked her.
Hye -yeong was always a better match. They are a lot more compatible in terms of personality and he understands her much more than sun-oh.
She broke up with sun-oh. She didn’t just run out on him. He didn’t deserve her, he was a horrible friend and boyfriend. He kissed her even though he knew she was with hye-yeong.
I loved the ending. I understand why people are upset it was different than season 1. But the setting had to be different because they finished school. 6 episodes seemed short that’s my only complaint.

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This is a different kdrama

I love this kdrama because was different , we can see different kind of loves , the young Love and how is passionate and selfish without looking who is who ,and the adults Love when you find a person who is the right for you and you have the same values, dreams and struggles. If some one dont likes how end up things in this drama just remember how selfish was Sun Oh, in first episode , when he knew before ever met her that his best friend love her, was a game for him in the begging to challenge him. Sun Oh was selfish and not a good friend, he have to pass a few stages in life to grow up and be more grounded. In the other hand Lee Hye when he finds out about Sun Oh and her he step back and has the patience to love her and be in his friend side, when the time comes Sun Oh doesn't do the same for him. My english is bad i hope to understand what i mean 😉

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This is about the message behind, not the demand ship

The turn off about this season is the execution of events (everything is way complicated, rushed and flat) and how everything made it so unclear for two guys especially for Sun Oh who waited for a proper explanation so that he could move forward. I thought he just got stuck with his first love and can't love Yuk Jo back bcoz he had lots of questions for four years, thus making him unable to move on for real. Jojo didn't explain her side clearly to him. In the first season, I didn't like Sun Oh's character, but in this season, can't help to feel so bad for him and my hatred towards Jojo grew more.

Above all, I felt so so so bad for Yuk Jo among the characters here (but hey, even though she did not deserve it still Sun Oh still tries for her. I think Sun Oh likes her, but the disadvantage of Love Alarm is that maths can't actually measure accurately someone's soul (feelings), adding also that Sun Oh has a set of feelings towards Jojo that's why it's hard for him to like Yuk Jo completely) T^T

What's more is that Jojo didn't understand herself why she desparately used the spear feature just to ring Hyeyeong's love alarm, which made Hyeyeong get confused and made him question her sincerity to him. She said herself that she wants to get rid of the shield bcoz of Hyeyeong so she should understand better and let Hyeyeong understand her real motive. Jojo wasn't able to come up with her inner conflicts until Duk Gu came just to give a good and sensible explanation to her and Hyeyeong 🤦‍♀ And what lacks about this season is the character behind Duk Gu and his story with Gul Mi. End game aside, everybody is curious about Duk Gu but the film didn't show him that much.

Though genre and message wise, this isn't a typical love story and I like it. This drama is all about overcoming anxiety and the impact of social media and technology to everyone's life.

Without looking at the actors and just focus on the characters, the season 2 delivered what it is to love without the reliability of the Love Alarm app (since the girl can't ring either of the two guys' love alarm bcoz of the shield). The girl ending with the fine and understanding man who respected her, didn't touch (kiss) her, and courted her until she could finally say that she loves him, is much better.

If you guys can't appreciate Jung Ga Ram (Hye Yeong), just appreciate the maturity of his character in the film and also the beautiful message behind this series. It's not just bcoz Song Kang (Sun Oh) has better chemistry with the girl and is more handsome (and he suffered "more", they said), he would be the one. Remember, it takes a good foundation and maturity for a relationship to become pure and strong and that's what Hyeyeong x Jojo portrayed in this season. It's not all about the sudden feelings and "kilig", it's all about patience and understanding each other's feelings which both Sun Oh and Jojo failed to do when they were together. Jojo felt so inferior and Sun Oh failed to see that. Sun Oh just hated Jojo and didn't patiently work out his feelings and waited when Jojo did not ring his love alarm anymore (which Hyeyeong did even though he did not receive even a single ring from the beginning). Their relationship started as just selfish feelings of lust and infatuation.

For music, I love it. For me it feels so nostalgic and beautiful and they really suit the scenes in the film. For acting, well, I love Sun Oh's acting best. You can see how he portrays a broken man.

To be honest, this season is not highly recommendable to watch given the plot made. If they just made it more detailed and time-oriented as how it's made in the webtoon, maybe people would understand and accept more why it should be Hyeyeong, not Sun Oh. Or if it would have shown more of Hyeyeong in the first season, not only focused on Sun Oh and Jojo, maybe they may have considered Hyeyeong as a better choice. As for me, regardless the acting and chemistry between the actors, I've always been rooting for Hyeyeong. I write short novels too and I understand why the author of the original story made it this way. Good thing also that the director and staff considered the original and did not follow fans' demands and bandwagon or else, this series would have been a more turn off for me.

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Happy miserable ending

First of all, i am writing this review to thank the director and screenwriter of this drama for the way they have folded the season 2 of it, such unpleased watcher.
Second, the main story(5.5 rating) is disappointing and messed up for a love triangle to end this way, Kim jojo dumping sun-oh for not clear reason and chose hye-young while she doesn't believe in her feeling and sincerity and because of her terrible scar of the past that shadowed her present life. Her immature acts lead her to hurt the feeling of others and i think she deserves a beating just to wake up from the dark hole that surround her and influence negatively the persons she love. My anger got alleviated a bit by apologizing to sun-oh for her misdeeds but still she needs to give a reason!!!
Third, i gave a 7 overall rating because of the side stories that were interesting, geul mi hardworking to enter that badge club and her discovery that the developer is choi suk duk the one who rang her love alarm and she rejected him is quite epic and funny, that suk-duk is a thing but this 2.0 function created a disturb and caused some suicide crimes so he wanted to remove it after the person called as his brother and the fake developer of love alarm was keen to activate it. Geul mi believing in herself despite her continuing fails make her suscced in the end she even forsaken her online shopping to enter the club, i liked her character.
Fourth, the acting and ost were amazing and well played whether by the leads or the supporters that why i gave a rate of 8.0. The ost called tearliner is quite impressing.
In general, i don't recommend to rewatch this drama but those who will to watch give it a try even if i spoiled everything her

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Most people won't like the S02

I did! A lot more than S01 but it has a "but". A big one!
All the characters were super interesting yet we had absolutely no time to get to know them. Even the main characters... what do we really know about them?! Jojo's best friends from highschool never showed up again, even though i was pretty sure they would. Jojo's new best friend also had a lot of potential but was completely forgotten. The new app developer (the brother) has no story, nothing. The Duk Goo's comeback was also out of the blue and not explained at all. The character development for Jojo's cousin, just for hearts, was also very sudden and hold no meaning for her. Jojo was never into drawing yet all of a sudden, for this season, she is an artist on her free time. To me, everything was touched on the surface. Absolutely everything.

I liked Sunoh, i did! But i also didn't.
Even though deep down he was a sweet boy, he was always following JoJo around trying to convince her that she loved him, and for this season where they are no longer teenagers, that suddenly started to annoy me. I was team Hye Young even halfway through S01. I just loved the way he loved her so genuinely without asking anything in return, and without making scenes at school. Because no matter how "desperate for love" you are, Jojo and Sunoh's sudden kiss in the S01 felt so so wrong to me. Putting a girl in a corner... but also she just went along with it - why? Cause he was a pretty boy? I overlooked it all season, but i just didn't find any reason for them to like each other... like what was it? the stalking and kissing on empty feelings?! my empathy for them wasn't quite there.

But- then they got cute in the middle of S01... only for the writer to take it all back without a proper explanation. Yes ok, Jojo was scared to love cause she was scared to lose him and cause him pain (while doing just that...) but hey- believe me! I get it! But it wasn't well explained here. There's a lot of things the screenwriter just skipped over. Cause Jojo did all that in highschool... ok, but then you grow up and at the very least you should give closure to someone that cleary is still in pain because of you. Even if you still love him back, if don't plan on dating him, then let him go. So he can start to heal, instead of giving him mixed signals.

As for the Hye Young x Jojo couple, is like a dream honestly. He's been an absolute sweetheart to everyone since episode 1. Always so humble, always waiting, always supportive, always respecting her space and boundaries. When his love alarm went off i was so happy for him, was like watching a friend finally winning at life after being the best human being possible on earth. More beautiful human beings like him should win in kdramas. The oustanding beautiful/model/rich ones always win and it bugs me a lot - Also for an "adult character" season... the kisses?! hello?! Puff-

Yet again, Hye Young chapter with his father was left unfinished... a lot to unpack there! Even Sunoh'sparents... I feel like there was something to explore there too. Like, did they ever loved each other? Why is his mother still with his father if she's the one not ringing his love alarm. like what happened?

Everyone was a side character in their own lives, including the main ones. This show had potential to be explored for full 20 episodes, and i never say this... i kinda always want shows to have less episodes... but not this one. All these characters looked awesome! Plots about suicide over having no one "love" you, also super interesting considering we live in a "likes on insta add value to my life" generation... so much potential wow. it's sad.

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It was okay

Though i started watching kdramas like two years ago this was one of the dramas that interested me the most,actually the one i was most awaited for,i won't say I'm disappointed with it but ya I'm sad because I wanted jojo and sunoh to be together, but at the end i can understand why they don't end up together. One thing i can't take in was the hye young and jojo ending together it was like the writers were forcing us to accept that. They both had no spark no chemistry even sunoh and yuk jo's relationship looked better than them. I hated that the writers presented sunoh as third wheel till the fifth episode, the only thing i liked was the last 35 mins of the last episode and the only thing that made me emotional was the last moment where jojo and sunoh saw there past while walking on that road, this season was actually more focused on the smaller parts than the bigger picture of bringing the main charaters together

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Started off dull, builds up the latter half of the season nicely

I watched Season 1 of Love Alarm two years ago and have been on the wait for Season 2 ever since. Recently, as the second season's release had been fast approaching, I rewatched the first just to hype myself up and get a grasp of the plot once again, and I really have to say, the first season IS GOLD. Every second of it felt nostalgic and inspiring. Unfortunately, I might not be able to say the exact same for this season, though there are some noteworthy and loveable parts from this season too.

Warning: Pretty long review (?).

PLOT

Plot-wise, the first two episodes of S2 were honestly quite slow. Especially since I was fresh off my S1 rewatch, I really waited for a continuation of the final scene where Jojo, Sun-oh, and Hye-young were gathered at the Love Alarm conference event, but to my surprise, S2 didn't start there. I have no idea if this was the intention of the Webtoon writer, but I really hoped it wouldn't just skip on it, 'cause it created a lot of tension, leaving me wanting its next scene. Are we supposed to just guess what happened after they met at the conference? The writers also introduced a lot of new storylines that weren't in the first. What happened to Jojo's job at the wedding events place? How about the friend she made there? Did Gulmi's family move elsewhere and bought a new convenience store? (I wouldn't call these spoilers since they don't contribute much to the plot, but if they are for you, I'm sorry. There are many more surprising new plots in the new season that I didn't include here.) It took a while to get used to them, so I only picked up on the plot and found it interesting halfway through.

I would have to say though that even if there were these new interesting workable storylines introduced, they still added to S2 being very disconnected from the premise of S1. The first two episodes, as I have said, took so long to build upon the continuation of the first, and it's probably because of the large time jump they made. This, honestly, I'm not a fan of. We literally caught a glimpse of all 3 leads in the final episode of Season 1 and at a dramatic encounter at that, but why did it take 1-2 episodes just to establish the same situation as last season. Did nothing happen at the event such that it had to take 5 years for the next encounter to happen?

Regarding the set and environment for this season, it looked really different from the first season's. It may be due to the pandemic's push-backs and restrictions that the original filming sites were abandoned due to not being available, but it really didn't feel right. I think I speak for a lot of us when I say that the sceneries from the first season were absolutely iconic to love alarm. The school's environment, the convenience store, and even the alley. They all added to the warmth of the series. I understand though that S1 took place during the fall season, while I think S2 is during the summer. This could be a reason for the vibe change. I sure the writers could also defend the scenery changes (Sun-oh's house, new convenience store, etc.) by saying that the plot's 5-year time skip from 2018 to 2023 had a huge part. However, the dryness of it all still added to the disconnection from S1 that I felt this season.

The plot's development could definitely have been better, most especially for the first half of this season. Also, the characters' maturity arcs could have been introduced more slowly too, since I really felt like I was watching a different drama multiple times throughout the first half. Toward the end though, I still found myself warming up to it anyway, so I wouldn't give the plot an extremely low score. Give it a chance I guess, since its scenes still advance the story quite well. About the direction of the plot and romance, I'm not against it, since thinking about it from Jojo's point of view, it was the most logical choice for her, although not the most logical choice from a viewer's perspective who does not know what happened during the 5 years in between the seasons' settings. As much as I did not find this season to be iconic as the previous, I still absolutely want an S3, because this drama really has a knack for making their viewers invested with the plot.

ACTING/CAST

Top-notch as usual. The actors are perfect for their roles! The chemistry between the couple this season, it's there--as well as all the heartbreaks. They really did a good job conveying their characters' emotions.

MUSIC

I'm glad they kept the OST and background music from the first season because aside from the sceneries, the music really sets the atmosphere up for this drama. I definitely felt the nostalgia and remembered the bittersweet that came with it from the first season. It really helped lessen how disconnected S2 felt from S1. Whenever I heard songs they used from the previous, it brought lots of memories. From the newly added songs though, I didn't really feel for much. Maybe I should give them multiple listens? Anyway, the music was great!

REWATCH VALUE

Kinda low for this season, since there weren't many iconic scenes like you know, S1's alley-kiss scene. I would watch several clips on YouTube though when they come out. And who knows? Maybe when S3 is under works and about to come, I might watch again as I did for S1 while I waited for S2.

CONCLUSION

Season 1 may have been better overall since the first half of this season was slow and dull, but I'm still a fan and willing to wait for the next season if ever there is one.

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There was also positive things

I agree storyline wasn't best, I really don't have much to say about it. I didn't like how first half of s1 was built around jojo and sunoh and then they just dropped it and they didn't have anything after it till end. They really had chemistry and for me the best and the cutest moments. I think writers didn't thought that sunoh and jojo would get that much love from watchers since it didn't get what they would have to offer. When it comes to Hye Young and Jojo story separately it was logic, cute and realistic. I just hate the feeling that I didn't watch a same show anymore.

the endgame wasn't bad. Im not mad because the couples were cute and so was their stories. The problem was still for me, my bitterness because of how sunoh and jojos story ended so fast and sadly I couldn't see the same chemistry anymore with jojo & Hye young and sunoh & Yuk Jo.

characters themselves were good. in s2 I specially liked Gulmi and Yuk Jo. Gulmi had little character development, she made me smile between I ugly cried for other scenes. Yuk jo have really sweat personality. I had little pity towards her because she really loved sunoh and it hurted her when she didn't get same back. She deserved happy ending.

Also filming scenes were so beautiful. Cherry trees and Hye Young's house...I loved them :)

After all it still broke me and even if I someday want to watch it again I will not. I miss Jojo and Sunoh moments little too much.

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