Wow. I. Did. It! Party! Determination finally wins out! Then promptly after my excitement of completely finishing Full House, I desperately wished I would have listened to the advise of some of the other reviewers/viewers. ****Watch the first five episodes. Know that the male lead treats the female lead like crap. There's lot's of cleaning. And then drop in for the last 4 episodes.**** Because for me that was really all this story needed. Which is sad, because Full House started off really strong for me. The humor, the characters, and almost every aspect of this series was clicking for me.
Ji Eun is a well developed leading lady. She's so kind and naïve how could I not love her? She might not be worldly and this gets her into a lot of trouble. Especially her capability to love. Sure I'd get frustrated with her inability to stand up for herself or even turn her friends in to the police after they scam her. But that's part of her charm. Ji Eun is fully realized, friendship and her ability to forgive are definitely her crowing glories. She's kind and while that makes her a victim at times you can't help but admire her tenacity. Especially when she wants to get her father's home back.
Sadly Yeong Jae, Rian's character, doesn't do well for me. Oh, he's well fleshed out. His problem is he's spoiled, and a super horrible person. Yes, his character evolves and it's clear that underneath his horrible personality resides a nice guy. (Deep-deep-deep-deep-deep-deep-deep down.) The problem is that most of his development happens in the last few episodes of the series. Because this guy is a jerk to Ji Eun. He spends most of the show pining away for another woman, who is basically the male version of him. He does a few nice things for Ji Eun in between his trying to win the love of another woman. And watching him slowly (SLOWLY) fall for Ji Eun is sweet. I advocate for shows to take their time and build the love story.
It's a sticky point for me when a male lead is a jerk. That the scenes where I want to punch him out way anything else I've seen from him. The last few episodes should not suddenly be crammed with how he finally realizes how awful he's been to the lead, and now he wants her. It irks me. Whether books, TV, or movies. It irks. Especially because Ji Eun is so great! I loved her and I wanted to watch her be wooed and romanced properly. Not just by the third wheel of the love triangle, or again the last part of the show.
The rest of the cast of characters are fun, but none of them interested me. In fact, I disliked the majority of them. Their basic purpose for being there was to make Ji Eun miserable or give her some new hardship to over come. Sure there were some great friendship moments, love triangle swooning, and other things to add to the story. Sadly just not enough. Being able to enjoy supporting characters is something that can save a dramas and enhance. Of course conflicts need to come from them. But at least let some of them be likable and developed.
Now another painful thing was the music. Holy cow. Whenever Yeong Jae visited this bar the same song would be playing on endless repeat. (A song I used to love.) Some of the music was good, but after hearing it on endless repeat, during a pointlessly drug out scene . . . ugh. Oh, and the music that came on for the endless cleaning sequences . . .
This dramas took me three years of stopping and going to finally finish. It caused me to give up dramas for a while as I TRIED so hard to finish it. Full House will be the last drama I ever force myself to finish. The fact that this is a drama standard classic, and I can see how it has influenced and inspired many a dramas after it. (A formula that is very hit or miss with me.) Sad truth is that if I hadn't watch Rain in other roles and adored him before that, it would have been a lot harder for me to become a fan.
This is a drama staple. Just be sure to watch it because you enjoy it. Don't push on. If you really need to see it what I said above would be great advice. Especially if you've tried watching it before, or you hit the point where Full House is no longer working for you. This was the dramas that truly taught me that though dramas may be short, they can be some of the most repetitive and drug out viewing material out there.
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