Words by Gianna Sibal
WARNING: Minor spoilers!
This new show is for you, hopeless romantics slash K-Drama lovers!
Starring Kim So Hyun, Jung Ga Ram, and rookie actor Song Kang, Love Alarm, with the cliche love triangle, presents a new spin on technology—imagine living in a society where an APP is in sync with your feelings?
As a K-Drama fan, I was really intrigued with this idea: mixing sci-fi and romance together hasn’t really been the best formula for a great K-Drama as of yet, but Love Alarm certainly adds its own unique twist to it that made me binge-watch it in one night. That’s pretty telling of the story to me!
The concept of the app is this: with it being in sync with one’s feelings, your love alarm will ring and alert you if someone within a ten-meter radius likes you! Conversely, your crush’s love alarm will ring as well once you’re in their ten-meter radius. The numbers on your love alarm can’t really pinpoint who it is that likes you, exactly, especially if there are many people within your radius, but with your crush, if you’re alone with them: it’s really obvious, then, no?
Main characters Kim Jojo, Hye-young, and Sun-oh, like everyone else, rely on their love alarms to speak their feelings for them. Jojo, in a relationship at the beginning of the series, notices that they don’t ring each other’s alarms, and declares that they should break up. Another side story reveals that a friendship is ruined because a friend rang another’s love alarm, and the feelings weren’t returned. Jojo and Sun-oh start dating because they ring each other’s love alarm, and Jojo finds out, years later after they break up, that Sun-oh still loves her. Courtesy of love alarm, of course.
I guess the good thing about this is that the love alarm doesn’t lie (except in one, very particular situation that Jojo goes through). You can’t deny your feelings for someone and vice-versa, and it also gives you a chance to know if your crush likes you back or not!
That said, would you download an app that lets your crush know you like them?
Eight people shared their responses with me—five of them said yes, and three of them said no way. Here are their reasons:
YES!
- “Para straightforward na and wala nang hiya-hiya!”
- “It’s a lowkey but sweet way of telling your crush you like them!”
- “Para wala nang pakipot-kipot pa. It’s time for effective communication.”
- “It can give you the push you need to approach your crush, and so that ‘di ka na umasa if ever yours doesn’t ring.”
- “It may be good for a person who has a hard time expressing their feelings honestly. Plus, if you want to know if someone actually likes you when they keep giving you mixed signals, then Love Alarm will surely remedy that.”
NO WAY!
- “I want to personally admit my feelings for someone, and not rely on an app to do it for me. Kasi maybe I’m not yet ready to admit my feelings for someone.”
- “I prefer having the confidence to confess my feelings rather than umasa sa Love Alarm and vice-versa. I appreciate someone more having the confidence to confess to me as well.”
- “I’m someone who is very mahiyain and who prefers to keep feelings to myself. I’d rather wait for it to go away or subside instead of letting the person know of my feelings towards them. I would find the situation very embarrassing.”
Personally, my answer would be a no, either. Maybe not for my confession—which is actually a little surprising, as I tend to run away from confrontational issues that require me to actually speak my feelings—because I know I’d try my hardest to avoid my crush’s ten-meter radius. Anyone else like me?
But, if, say, we were already in a relationship, then I’d probably ring his all the time. Just to let him know I love him. You can really tell I’m a hopeless romantic.
In my opinion, it would hurt when your love alarm stops ringing while in a relationship, but then it’d give you a clearer perspective and direction as to what you should do: don’t stay with anyone who doesn’t love you anymore!
Love Alarm definitely took an interesting concept and portrayed it well on screen; there may have been some scenes or lines that made me shrug and think, “Oh, yeah, this is a typical K-Drama,” but the love alarm itself is a very redeeming quality.
Did you know? Director Lee Na Jeong consulted with actual app developers and designers to create the look and functionality of the app, and it definitely shows. The app really looks like it’s real!
So, to those who are intrigued by the Love Alarm, I don’t blame you. Check it out.
(ALSO READ: Cha Eun Woo is coming to Manila!)
What do you think? Would you download Love Alarm? Let us know!
