Love Alarm might just be the best romantic drama I've ever watched!

[Spoiler alert] Do not read this review if you don't want the ending spoiled!

I have always blamed kdramas and films in general, why there are so many girls who are attracted to "bad guys" who disrespects them and will treat them horribly. Because in most dramas and films we are taught that the "bad boy" male lead is "bad" but that it's up to the female lead to "change" him, which is such an absurd and unrealistic idea to sell to young impressionable girls.
Though I do understand the film industry that a "bad boy" male lead will cause more emotional rollercoaster rides thus a more interesting storyline. But that doesn't change how it's inflicting this unhealthy view on what is a "romantic relationship" to girls. Which is why, I have always wished and prayed for a romantic drama where the female lead ends up with the "nice guy", to show how we as girls do deserve to be with a nice guy who treats us with respect and that a nice guy is a better romantic partner.
And this is the first kdrama I've ever watched where the female lead FINALLY ends up the genuine nice guy who treats her well and with respect instead of the "bad guy". ( I would say that she ended up with the nice guy as well in Start Up, but I thought both male leads were nice guys so it doesn't count)

Now for all the Sun-oh stans out there who disagrees that Sun-oh is a "bad guy"; In season 1, Sun-oh first encounter with Jojo was because he observed and saw that Hye-yeong had a big crush on Jojo. Sun-oh then became interested in Jojo more or less because he knew Hye-yeong had a big crush on her. He followed and persuaded her and forced her into kissing him, again well-knowing that his best bro has the biggest crush on this girl + she has a boyrfriend. I'm not a guy, but this should be a huge break on bro code. And Sun-oh is lucky Hye-yeong never got mad at him over this.
But Sun-oh is so hypocritical that he thought it was okay to go after his best friends biggest crush, but when Hye-yeong said he still likes Jojo and wants to pursue her 4 years after they have broken up, Sun-oh gets so mad and petty asking Hye-yeong how he could do that to him. But what about you, Sun-oh? How could you pursue a girl you knew your best friend has the biggest crush on? And the only reason you ever noticed Jojo was because you saw that Hye-yeong likes her.
And when Sun-oh dated Jojo, Hye-yeong respectfully stepped back and didn't interfere, uninstalled the Love Alarm app so he wouldn't ring Jojo's Love Alarm all the time and let Sun-oh and Jojo be happy. But when Hye-yeong is finally dating Jojo 4 years after, Sun-oh constantly interferes, follows (basically stalking) Jojo around and even forced a kiss on Jojo.

That brings me to another point; Sun-oh basically forced a kiss upon Jojo in the first episode of season 1 well-knowing she had a boyfriend. He constantly follows (stalking) her and interferes with her life (again well-knowing she has a boyfriend) and not respecting her boundaries at all. If this was me, I would've gotten a restraining order on this guy.
Also when Jojo constantly rejects Sun-oh telling him she likes Hye-yeong, Sun-oh is so immature and can't accept that fact and is constantly blaming it on Jojo lying, the Love Alarm app or the developer. He is both selfish and arrogant and only cares about how he is feeling and not what the other party is feeling and acts with no regard to either Jojo, Hye-yeong or his girlfriend Yuk-jo.

Now, I've also had plenty of frustrations with Jojo. Like why didn't she just push Sun-oh away when he kissed her. Why wasn't she honest with Hye-yeong about the shield and her feelings? Like, is it so hard to say "I love you" in this Love Alarm world? You shouldn't be depended on an app to tell someone your feelings. (But I guess that's the point of show)
Now I got frustrated throughout all 6 episodes at Jojo for not being honest and just explaining everything to Hye-yeong. But I think we sometimes tend to forget, that Jojo is a broken person with a lot of mental issues, she might not even be aware of herself. And obvious things such as just speaking your mind and being honest, might not come naturally for a person like Jojo.
But I think the show explained very well, that Jojo is not okay mentally and why she is not good at expressing love. Both with flashbacks and imagery of her traumatic childhood and how she copes with her mental issues through The Ringing World art page. Because if you've never received love from your family and surroundings throughout your upbringing, it's difficult to know how to both receive and give love when you're older. And even harder when it is normalised that you can only give and receive love through an app in this particular world. So I forgive Jojo for acting like she does.

Now I must give Jojo some points as well for the times she is actually really proactive; She hugs and kisses Hye-yeong on the cheek to show her feelings. She actively tries to contact the developer to remove her shield so she can ring Hye-yeong's Love Alarm and express her feelings towards him. She uses the spear to express her feelings towards Hye-yeong even though she should just have been honest with him about everything here (but I'm giving her a break on that one). So I actually really liked how Jojo became more proactive in this season, but also how we more fully understood her character on a deeper level with her mental struggles and past trauma.

I feel like we got to know Hye-yeongs character on a deeper level as well in this season, We get to meet his father in prison whom he has never met before. And we learn that because Hye-yeong grew up without his father, he has always imagined his father when he looks at himself in the mirror. Therefore pushing himself to be a good person, so that his father will be a good person. Which ultimately makes him face the hard truth, when he eventually meets his dad in prison. I really love how we got to see this other side to Hye-yeongs character, and that he has so much more to him than just his nice and good personality. I could really see his inner struggles in this season and I just loved how Jojo came and supported him no matter what.

On another note, Hye-yeong is not only the perfect male lead, he is what all other male leads should aspire to be like.
Now I know that both myself and others would have really wished for Hye-yeong to be more proactive in his relationship with Jojo. But I just love how Hye-yeong takes it slow with Jojo, respecting her boundarie,s and not pressuring her to do or feel anything, and really letting it to be up to her on how she feels and acts. Exactly the opposite of Sun-oh.
And when Sun-oh tells Hye-yeong he met Jojo, Hye-yeong doesn't care because he trusts Jojo. And when he sees the viral video of Sun-oh and Jojo, he never questions or blames Jojo, only worrying if she's okay.
Though I was sometimes frustrated at Hye-yeong for not showing more affection. Like if she is hugging you and kissing you on the cheek, you can hug her back, that's a green light for that it's okay. But I also really respect Hye-yeong for respecting Jojo's boundaries and never forcing himself upon her like Sun-oh did. And letting her decide when she is ready to kiss him.
I love how the show started in season 1 with Sun-oh forcing a kiss on Jojo and ended with Jojo kissing Hye-yeong on her own free will in season 2. It really shows that girls should be the master of their own feelings and fate and that they should've never be pressured into feeling or doing anything by a guy. I really think kdramas (and the whole film industry in general) should follow in Love Alarm's footsteps teaching girls they deserve to be treated with respect.

On a totally different note, the show's sci-fi element with the Love Alarm app, and how it has become so normalised to express your feelings through this app, that we forget how we actually used to be aware of how we were feeling before this app. And how couples break up if their Love Alarm doesn't ring anymore, and that we never say words like "I love you" anymore because the app does that for you - shows how you begin to trust an app more than your own judgement. Which really criticises today's fast evolving technologies and society, where we as humans has begun to trust technology more than ourselves these days. Just like how people are depended on Love Alarm to love in the show, we are in today's society depended on various kinds of technology to "function".
But the shows also portrays how this technology can be dangerous and harmful, especially with mentally unstable people like Jang In-su. But also in season 1 how Love Alarm caused more depression and loneliness with the people in the mass suicide. We see the show obviously criticising the app's nature themselves with the protests in season 1. But in season 2 they also show that even though a technology is bad and harmful, you can't just exclude yourself from it when everyone in the world is using it. Because how will you ever date or find love, when everyone around you dates and finds love based on Love Alarm? Which really draws a clear parallel towards social media, because even though you might be against social media, everyone arounds you uses social media and that it is their only way communication, inviting you to things and so on. So you're more or less forced to be on social media if you don't want to be excluded. Like how you're forced to have Love Alarm if you ever want to find love.
I must say I'm really impressed with how the show incorporated this criticism into the storyline.

All in all, I think season 2 of Love Alarm is such a good romantic drama. I really feel that the show portrayed the characters so well, and that the storyline allowed the deeper layers to the characters to be shown. It raised awareness about mental health and criticised today's fast evolving technologies and social media so well. The show also taught girls that they deserve to be treated with respect and that they should've never be pressured into feeling or doing anything by a guy. I could really go on and on about this show. I haven't even talked about how good the acting and the filmmaking is and so many other parallels. But this review has already gotten way too long, so thank you if you've been reading this far.

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