Full House
풀하우스
(Jul – Sept 2004)
who’s in it
Song Hye Gyo (World Within, All In)
Rain (A Love To Kill, Ninja Assassin - film)
Han EunJung (Gumiho’s Revenge)
Kim SungSoo (More Charming By The Day)
Han EunJung (Gumiho’s Revenge)
Kim SungSoo (More Charming By The Day)
what’s it about
Rain is a clean freak top actor in love with his childhood best friend, although unable to confess those feelings to her. Unfortunately, that first love, Han EunJung, happens to be smitten with his best guy pal Kim SungSoo. Due to his impulsive and childish temper, Rain finds himself married instead to Song HyeGyo, a poor but cute aspiring screenwriter who has two of the crappiest friends to ever ruin a kdrama heroine’s life in order to get a plot moving. Throughout the course of their contract marriage, this height-challenged couple attempt to meet halfway.
committment
16 episodes
network
KBS
wildcard factor
How much do you love (or dislike) Rain?
after the first episode
Immediate attraction, both Song and Rain had an abundance of natural cute and it sizzled in a way that brought their characters to life. The two leads had chemistry enough to light up all of South Korea with their snappy banter and saucy glances.
snoozer moments
Eps 14 and 15—the biggest complaint, even by fans who like the show, is that the show became dull as it spun its heels near the end. The latter episodes were clunky fillers, no argument here, but acceptable because again, it was always in service to highlighting the main couple’s chemistry.
soju-guzzling
There were some late-night drinking in this one, but only to showcase more cute between Song and Rain. It was very low on the melodrama. This one was mostly about the childishness of falling in love.
what didn’t work
Rain’s wardrobe...oh boy was it an eye sore.
what did
The casting
what made me want to gouge my eyes out
See above at what didn’t work
what kept me going
The cuteness of the two leads made up for the lack of plot complexity. There’s some funny over-the-top comedy and good push and pull between them, which seems such a simple thing, but not always easy to create, and can offer so much pure enjoyment. We had here a story of a movie star, an orphan, and a fake marriage between them, all in one compact plot under one roof—if you think about it, this was the perfect recipe for romantic hijinks.
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Other factors:
predictability is highengrish No
originality Hmmm, not really, but Rain and Song make a convincing argument of it
eye-candy Kinda, sorta, maybe—again, how much do you lurve the Rainy?
hair and fashion [sigh] Way more Rainy collarbone than I care to see, thank you.
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is it worth trying to find?
Without a doubt! This was a star-making vehicle for both Song and Rain and is considered an iconic kdrama for a reason. There is a checklist of must-sees for any kdrama watcher, and guarantee, this one should be on the list. Will you love it? Who knows? But it’s not acceptable to say you’ve never even tried it.
total enjoyment factor
10/10
why this review is completely biased
Full House is one of my earliest kdrama loves, you could even say it was the drama that pulled me into this crazy world. You say contrived, I say warm and comforting. You say repetitive, I say the circuitous dance of love. Is it perfect? Of course not, but nostalgia makes me completely blind to its faults and the chemistry between the two leads still feels genuine and charming even after repeated watching.
could a non-kdrama fan like this
Possible—if they are able to get past Rain’s surprising fashion statements
verdict
One of my faves forever.
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