Every week I was left wanting more!
This drama really has me hooked from start to finish (I’m actually starting this review with still a week left, since I already know I have to write something , that’s how good it is)

Rain definitely carried this drama so well. I felt all of his emotions as Lee Jae Sang every time! Also seeing his desire to change, yet still be true to himself, it was great. Lee Jae Sang has become one of my favorite protagonist Kdrama characters.

This drama also has my most hated villains too! Not to spoil it, but I loved/hated them because of just how good and convincing they were it’s crazy!!! It actually makes me want to search out any other villain roles they might have been in and watch just for that lol!

I really felt every character was done really well. From Ra Shi On in both worlds showing her hard and soft side.

Lee Bo Na played by Lee Soo Ah is just amazing at only 5 years old! I’m so impressed, she was great, she just made me smile so much, cracking me up and loving her so much! Looking at her MDL profile she’s got some great supporting roles this year, wishing her all the best.

As for the story, it’s not exactly what I was expecting. It starts out really building up the first world, which is his own world and who he is as a person and his relationships. Then through a situation he’s in this alternate world. There is no jumping back and forth between worlds. He’s in the alternate world for a while, learning that he made different choices in this world which altered his path. When he truly begins to accept this new world, he is then back to his reality, where the rest of the story takes place. We see how his experience and time spent in the alternate world affects how he chooses to live going forward.

I’m actually glad it didn’t jump back and forth. I think it made all the emotions and realizations Lee Jae Sang had even more powerful because you understand that regardless of the alternate reality, he has only one life and this is it! What are you going to do with it? This life you are given.

Okay that’s the end of my pre-ending review. I’ll now write how I’m feeling after watching the last episodes...

So I just finished the last episode and I’m smiling. It truly felt complete and even tied up a major loose end. I’m usually a binge watcher, mainly because I easily drop dramas while waiting a whole week for the new episodes to be released. Not with this one. These last 2 months have been so enjoyable with this drama. Well done! I’ll definitely rewatch.

P.S. major shout outs to the subbers that had same day English subtitles, when an episode was released! Real MVPs!!

Read More

Uninstall App

The title was the same, the actors were the same, the plot concept was the same, I mean even the writers and director were the same, but did they even watch Love Alarm Season 1? Like did they at least rewatch it before proceeding with making Season 2, like the rest of us did?!

I don’t know what this was. The theme was sad, the characters were sad, the OST was sad, the ending was “happy” but felt sad.

The only character I liked: the Aunt/mom who did a 180 and showed major character development from season 1, she was like a whole new person and it was awesome!

The only relationship I liked: Jojo’s best friend and leather jacket guy, you two write all the notes in that journal. I’ll watch that for 6 hours instead.

These 3 characters: Jojo, Sun-Oh, and Jojo’s cousin are THE most selfish characters. POV: you’re the main character and it shows!!

It was cringey at times, I mean Jojo literally said, after possibly learning DukGu might/might not have committed suicide, “I’m afraid I’ll never be able to get rid of the shield” like whattt, that’s why you’re sad?

It gets better though, apparently Jojo forgot she was dating some other dude when she first met SunOh and thinks she was really in love with HyeYeong all along? Who came up with that reasoning? I’m done.

If this is true then why did she ring SunOh’s love alarm in the first place? Lapse of judgment? Temporary memory loss?? Got sucked into his beauty for a moment? (Okay that last one might be possible, I mean who doesn’t have a collection of oppas). Then love alarm isn’t love, it’s lust alarm. I mean we even see when people quickly change their “love” in the app to someone else.

Okay I’m just ranting now. Overall I think the plot concept is a good one. However, Love Alarm 2.0 was a fake app. It looked like Love Alarm 1, acted like Love Alarm 1, but in the end was just masquerading, I saw right through that, can’t fool me.

Love Alarm 2.0 update had too many bugs in it for me.

*uninstalls app*

I should have just left Season 1 on read!!

Read More

You won’t forget it!

When you watch so many kdramas sometimes they can blur together. So many of the same cliches and story lines. This one will wipe them all from your mind, all in the last 10 minutes and make you think about it for hours afterwards.
My review is biased on how I’m feeling after watching it. I love it and hate it, very few dramas leave this kind of taste in my mouth and I remember each one of them. Which is why in the end, I’ll say I love it, because it evoked such strong feelings in me.
Feelings for and against JH then, feelings for and against DE. No one is perfect and it was refreshing to see it in kdrama land, realistic and messy, and, hard and kind.
I really hope you watch it without spoiling it for yourself and feel all the crazy emotions.

Read More

When I see the tag:
Love Triangle
I'm usually out, I never liked them in any story.
Now let me go against all that I just said, to say: Best. Love. Triangle. EVER! It turned out to be an all out Love War.
I realized what made it so good was the time jump. So the story talks about the Past and Present, what happened when the APP launched and then it jumps to 4 years later. I feel like the Leads (because there is no Main/Second) switched roles, which makes it so good.
In the past it was Sun Oh in the driver seat with Hye Young taking a passive role, loving from a distance. Although I feel Sun Oh started off unethical, with Jojo having a boyfriend and knowing his BFF liked her. However, you really saw him fall for her and truly love her.
Can I pause here to talk about my love/hate relationship with Jojo, just as Sun Oh's pursuit in the beginning wasn't a righteous one, she didn't really stop him either (cheaters always make me cringe). Her story is definitely sad and you see her fight through, not giving up. I truly felt her fear when it came to loving someone else, but the immaturity of feelings at that age *sigh*. I feel like if she had her mom, someone she could talk with, her choices would be different, but we wouldn't have a KDrama then would we? lol.
Back to the Love War, everything changed when we jump 4 years into the future. Sun Oh with someone new, horrible, but then here comes Hye Young taking a chance, okay I see you! Hye Young isn't going to stand on the sidelines this time. He goes old school, pursuing her without the APP, not even caring if she rings his alarm. Then you have Sun Oh who is passive on the sidelines now (I get it she broke his heart) but honestly still loves her after everything, hating himself for that.
And then it ENDS!
Now I'm left here without closure. Taking a realistic look, if she did go back to Sun Oh, how would the relationship look? for 4 years he was left believing she didn't like him, their relationship would need constant reassurance for Sun Oh (hence the reliance on the APP to confirm ones feelings). That's not easy to live out, its almost too broken to fix, all because of Jojo's fear. Buuuut the Chemistry, sooooo good!
Hye Young is a more realistic, healthy option, but I'm going to need more to be sold. I mean it's delicate now because you want both guys to be happy, if we can see Sun Oh accept the truth and Jojo can sort out her true feelings and be open giving them both closure, then up the Chemistry with Hye Young, I could buy it.
Whichever way it goes, I think this is a triangle I can love.

Spoiler Hypothesis!
Can I also add how I think one of the side stories in this Drama is going to play out?
Duk Go. The creator of Love Alarm. I don't see him as being dead. I know the guy on the stage wasn't him, but I don't think he died. I think he's switched teams, I think he sees the bad that came from the APP and is now a protester, specifically the guy driving the van at the end. I'd love to see him be strong, since he was so shy, and take back the company changing it for the better somehow.

Read More

She was diagnosed with leukemia, he was the only match.

This sounded like a great storyline, however it was discarded real quickly to be replaced with; Rich man proposes marriage contract to D-list actress. The illness was just a creative way for them to “meet” although there is a plot twist involving the illness.

I didn’t like the plot twist only because it involved the main lead acting out of character, in my opinion. It caused me to look at him differently yet be forced to overlook it all because well “love”.

It does have a lot of the common drama factors:
-childhood friend who gets jealous of his new love interest
-best friend starts liking the main lead
-cute second lead couple syndrome, which I wish got some more time in the story
-crazy family drama
-loving grandma
-cute one liners
-kidnapping
-amnésia
-betrayal
-scandal

One added bonus was at the end of every episode there was an extra extended clip of one of the scenes earlier in the episode.

Some of my favorite one liners:
Online ID “make money for mumu”
“Grandma wants a great-grandson”
“I’ll teach you how to hold your breath”

I also appreciated the slight character development of the main female lead, I wish there was more.

Ending rating: 6
The ending felt a little rushed. I wish there was one final moment for the Main leads. However I read they are making a season 2 so maybe that’s what influenced the ending.

Read More