This review may contain spoilers
An underwhelming sequel to a phenomenal predecessor
Love Alarm 2, how should I remember thee?
The execution was okay, the actors were great, but this season felt like a whole different drama. Had this not been introduced as a sequel to THE phenomenal Love Alarm (2019), I would have not set my expectation high, only to be let down big time.
Could it be because the director changed? Perhaps so.
This new guy/girl really had a different take and interpretation of the story from the previous director. Even the filming style, cinematography, and scoring that we really loved during the previous season (which were even considered the catalyst to the success of it), was not followed through properly here.
This sequel just felt so underwhelming in a lot of ways.
Now, regarding the script. I understand that the main author of the webtoon already decided the endgame, but making or watching it in live-action just wasn’t convincing enough. Not even to me who understands Jojo’s plight and the choices she’s made thus far. Here, her relationship with Hyeyoung just felt too contrived and Sunoh was deliberately written to be more rude and emotionally challenged than he was 5 years before. If this was the writer’s intention then he/she nailed it, at the expense of good storytelling.
Moreover, I just wish there’s more depth to Jojo’s love story with Hyeyoung as I honestly enjoyed their quiet and little bubble. Maybe the sudden introduction of them as a couple who is already together for quite some time, has started the disconnect of the audience from the story. In the first season, we were still at the part where Jojo is starting to consider Hyeyoung’s feelings towards her. We’re still AT THE BEGINNING PHASE, and yet here, the two have been clearly together for quite a while which possibly threw most of the audience off. Not everyone is as ecstatic to join the “very sudden” boat as nothing has been laid down yet for people to understand how it all reached such point.
Nonetheless, this is still a pretty enjoyable end to the great Love Alarm story. However, I still definitely prefer the first season more in terms of filming technique. That was really a very good high school drama worth remembering for the great scenes it gifted the drama-land.
The execution was okay, the actors were great, but this season felt like a whole different drama. Had this not been introduced as a sequel to THE phenomenal Love Alarm (2019), I would have not set my expectation high, only to be let down big time.
Could it be because the director changed? Perhaps so.
This new guy/girl really had a different take and interpretation of the story from the previous director. Even the filming style, cinematography, and scoring that we really loved during the previous season (which were even considered the catalyst to the success of it), was not followed through properly here.
This sequel just felt so underwhelming in a lot of ways.
Now, regarding the script. I understand that the main author of the webtoon already decided the endgame, but making or watching it in live-action just wasn’t convincing enough. Not even to me who understands Jojo’s plight and the choices she’s made thus far. Here, her relationship with Hyeyoung just felt too contrived and Sunoh was deliberately written to be more rude and emotionally challenged than he was 5 years before. If this was the writer’s intention then he/she nailed it, at the expense of good storytelling.
Moreover, I just wish there’s more depth to Jojo’s love story with Hyeyoung as I honestly enjoyed their quiet and little bubble. Maybe the sudden introduction of them as a couple who is already together for quite some time, has started the disconnect of the audience from the story. In the first season, we were still at the part where Jojo is starting to consider Hyeyoung’s feelings towards her. We’re still AT THE BEGINNING PHASE, and yet here, the two have been clearly together for quite a while which possibly threw most of the audience off. Not everyone is as ecstatic to join the “very sudden” boat as nothing has been laid down yet for people to understand how it all reached such point.
Nonetheless, this is still a pretty enjoyable end to the great Love Alarm story. However, I still definitely prefer the first season more in terms of filming technique. That was really a very good high school drama worth remembering for the great scenes it gifted the drama-land.
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