Synopsis & Review

Full House stars Song Hye Kyo as Han Ji-Eun, a fun-loving, well-natured author that is tricked by her friends to go on a trip to China. On the plane she meets Lee Young-Jae, played by Jung Ji-Hoon (commonly known as Rain), an actor that has a hot temper and immature attitude. Since she is stranded in China without any money, she desperately asks Lee Young-Jae to help her out. Young-Jae was in love with his childhood friend, Kang Hye-Won, however, Kang Hye-Won is in love with a man named Yoo Min Hyuk. When Ji-Eun pretends to have dated Min-Hyuk, Young-Jae sees her as leverage to stop Min-Hyuk's supposed affection for Hye-Won, and he helps Ji-Eun return to Korea. When Han Ji-Eun returns, her house, nicknamed the Full House, has been sold by her friends. She finds out later that the house was coincidentally sold to Lee Young-Jae. In her desperate situation, she agrees to work for Young-Jae as a maid. Along the way they slowly fall in love, but Min-Hyuk also falls in love with Ji-Eun and Young-Jae still has feelings for Kang Hye-Won. How will it end?

First of all, this Korean drama is more in the Romantic comedy genre, although there's plenty of drama. There is nothing that involves death, suicide, violence, sex, etc. Still, Full House is a heart-wrenching drama that has a warm and happy ending.

The characters are all good, there is no genuinely bad or evil character in this drama. You might say that the antagonist could be Yoo Min-Hyuk because he fights for Han Ji-Eun's love, however, he is still good man and friend. The ending shows Min-Hyuk's good-hearted nature. The main problem with this series is the character development of Lee Young-Jae; he always reverts back to his old immature ways after seemingly going through a coming-of-age process. Although you can slowly tell that his demeanor is changing, it isn't until the very last episode that he makes a final transformation. Young-Jae's fluctuating personality is the main reason that the series lasted for sixteen episodes, while it could have easily been more entertaining at twelve episodes.

There are several very funny incidents during the series but they are not funny enough to truly make you laugh out loud. While Han Ji-Eun and her friends, Dong-Wook and Hee-Jin, create a lot of the comedic relief, Lee Young-Jae actually has some of the funniest scenes. The actor that plays Young-Jae is able to use a good variety of facial expressions that make him one of the funniest parts to this drama. While you may not like him at first, he becomes a very endearing and loveable character as the series goes on. Song Hye Kyo, who plays Han Ji-Eun, fits the role of the cute and naive girl very well, and she is incredible in her role. The two other main characters, Min-Hyuk and Kye-Won, are also very realistic and have a good persona. While you can't ever genuinely hate either Min-Hyuk or Kye-Won, the series gives them a subtle antagonistic feel.

Several episodes are somewhat meaningless or pointless at times. There are way too many scenes that are focused on cleaning, Young-Jae exercising, or meaningless bits that don't really add to the series. While no episodes can be considered filler, sometimes it may feel as if the story is moving along very slow or at times, backtracking. The beginning and ending move very fast, while the middle of the series is very slow and somewhat tedious. If shortened, this series might have been perfect.

Full House also has a very good OST, with songs that correspond well with the mood. I Think I by Byul is one of the highlight songs of the series. Song Hye Kyo also performs a very funny song and dance entitled the Three-Bears dance in many of the episodes, which is an incredibly funny dance.

This type of series definitely appeals to anyone looking for a light-hearted Korean drama that can still make you cry. Full House is a series that could have been drastically improved with better pacing, but it has an ending that will make anyone fall in love with the series.

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