Full House Review

Drama: Full House
Alternate Titles: 풀하우스 / Pool Ha-woo-seu
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Language: Korean
Number of Episodes: 16
Film Date: July 2004
Favorite Episode: none in particular
My Rating: 3/5

Main Cast: Bi (Rain) as Lee Young Jae
Song Hye Gyo as Han Ji Eun

Kim Sung Soo as Yoo Min Hyuk
Han Eun Jung as Kang Hye Won

Introduction/Description of Main Characters:
Lee Young Jae - A popular rising actor in Korea, Young Jae marries Ji Eun because of rumors of his sexuality. Although Young Jae appears to be rough and is mean to Ji Eun, he actually does care about her. He has always liked his childhood friend Hye Won, but he seems to be quite possessive about Ji Eun sometimes.
Han Ji Eun - She appears to be weak, but she won't let herself get picked on. Even though she fights with Young Jae all the time, she can't help but be touched by his obscure kindness. However, she knows that he loves Hae Won and finds it harder and harder to live as his wife under such circumstances.
Yoo Min Hyuk - Young Jae and Hye Won's childhood friend. He is rich and successful, which means that he has many girls after him. But he finds none of them attractive until he meets Han Ji Eun. He always takes care of Ji Eun and helps her. He doesn't want her to be hurt by Young Jae.
Kang Hye Won - Young Jae's childhood friend, who was pursuing Min Hyuk at the beginning of the series. However, she finds herself jealous when Young Jae marries Ji Eun. Min Hyuk points out that she only wants him, but doesn't like him, and she realizes she does not want Young Jae, who has always been by her side, to be taken away from her.


My Favorite Songs: Oon Myung
I think I
Geu Deh Ji Geum


Synopsis: A story about love and heartbreak, sadness and self-preservation.
Han Ji Eun is a naïve writer who got swindled out of everything she owned. Not by strangers, but by her best friends! Stranded in China, she managed to borrow money from an actor, Lee Young Jae, to return to Korea after coming up with a clever lie. Once she lands in Korea, she finds out that all which is precious to her has been sold to Lee Young Jae. In an attempt to get her possessions back, she entered in a contract marriage with Young Jae for six months. It is quite simple, until strong feelings start to develop. Everyone around them tests the “love” Young Jae and Ji Eun have for one another. In spite of losing it all, Ji Eun manages to be cheerful and take things on strike as the business relationship between the two become personal while they start to rely and care for each other.



Review: Full House did not fulfill my expectations. I heard from many other reviews that it was a good and cute drama, but when I saw it, it appeared rather boring and dragging. Although it was just 16 episodes, I felt that the plot wasn’t really going anywhere. Yes, Full House started out very attractive, but it became a bit repetitive after a few episodes. Han Ji Eun would continually pack and leave the house to escape to her friends’ place, and Lee Young Jae would continually fight with her throughout the whole drama. Whenever Young Jae was telling Ji Eun his true feelings, he’d immediately become defensive and start yelling again, telling her to clean the place. Whenever Ji Eun wanted to go out with Yoo Min Hyuk, Young Jae would give her a task to do because he wanted her to stay with him. The plot was just confusing. I liked this drama a little though, because it was nice seeing Ji Eun help Young Jae’s relationship with his family. The best part of the drama was when Ji Eun sang the 3 bears song in front of Young Jae’s grandmother! Another bad thing about this drama was that when Young Jae finally proposes to Ji Eun, they start arguing shortly after that, and Ji Eun doesn’t take it seriously. She rejects Young Jae the next day even though it’s clear that from the middle of the drama she fell in love with Young Jae. It was also weird how she went out with Min Hyuk even though she had no feelings for him, and she was supposed to be married. Near the end, the kiss was sweet when Young Jae and Ji Eun finally realize that they love each other, but it seemed a bit rushed. It didn’t have a smooth transition or progression like Smiling Pasta. Even though Smiling Pasta was based off of Full House, I enjoyed Smiling Pasta so much more. But Full House is still by all means a good drama. :D It’s just that some factors in it annoyed me and after reading so many good reviews about Full House, it definitely did NOT meet my expectations (like I mentioned at the beginning of this review). But if you like such plots, you should still see it, because it wasn’t a horrible drama, I just would not count it as one of my favorites. To say this in simpler words, it's good, but not great. Like all other dramas, it had a sweet ending. :) No surprise there. :D

~Source for character descriptions and synopsis: http://www.spcnet.tv/Korean-Dramas/Full-House-review-r647.html, http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Full_House