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[Revisiting Dramas] Full House: When it Rains, it pours…

By @ximeteagirl

It all started because of Rain.

I was a dedicated Japanese drama, anime, and music addict, happily going about my business basking in the light of Japanese entertainment. I never considered delving into Korean entertainment until a Youtube suggestion list included the music video “Rainism.” Oh.my.Lord. I had to find more.

I preface this submission with the background mainly because I do deeply respect the person who blew me away with his singing, dancing, and acting to the point that I briefly abandoned my beloved Japanese everything to delve into the world of Korean dramas. Rain introduced me to Full House and I’ve never looked back since.

So, after many years of watching a wide variety of Korean comedies, historical dramas, action, romance, etc., thanks to this month’s theme, I stepped back to the past and watched Full House again—the 2004 rom-com about a spoiled movie star who moves into a house, kicking out the former owner who’s been scammed of her home, who then works as his housekeeper. She ends up contract-marrying him for appearance’s sake, and the two fall in love. I curled up in my comfy chair with some popcorn looking for the comfortable and fun I had experienced before. I remember all the reasons why I loved this show while having the same frustrations as I did before—the “I wish I could reach through the screen and shake him/her.”

As I was watching these characters again, I actually found myself picking up details I had missed in my first viewing. For example, the fact that Young-jae’s (Rain) clothing perfectly matched his pompous, spoiled attitude escaped me at first. I initially figured that 2004 was the year for “What were they thinking?!” style clothing. Yet, as he progresses through the show, his clothing and style change to something that fits his maturing personality. As I watched Young Jae’s growth, I also noticed Ji-eun (Song Hye-gyo) mature outwardly and inwardly. Her bubbly persona takes a beating throughout the show, but she finally steps into her own.

I still experienced those laugh-out-loud moments with the various antics the leads put each other through and found their chemistry endearing and wonderful as they learned what it means to be a family. I had happy tears in my eyes again from Ji-eun singing the three bears song… sooo cute. When they were together and not bickering, things were perfect. Ji-eun’s blossoming relationship with Young-jae’s estranged family was the icing on the cake. It was nice to see the empty space in her heart fill with their growing love for her, which brought Young-jae back to them. I still love that.

But that noble idiocy knew no bounds. Being new to Korean dramas the first time around, I had yet to really experience the full force of this trope. This show definitely leaned on the noble idiot actions way more than I remembered, but there it was in all its glory. If the leads had taken just a few minutes to really communicate instead of sacrificing their possible happiness… oh well.

The beginning of the story is based on so-called friends who get in the way every time our girl she attempts to take a step forward. It was bad enough to watch them rack up a friend’s credit card, then sell her house behind her back. Adding insult to injury, they spread rumors and discourage the leads from communicating. Ji-eun was either a saint or an idiot for having (and keeping) friends like them.

While I thoroughly enjoyed Ji-eun and Young-jae’s developing relationship and growth, I found the second leads just as annoying as before. Maybe it was because of my love for Rain that I never found Min-Hyuk (Kim Sung-soo) a threat as second lead. But now I feel he was friend-zoned from the start, and when I watched his lingering looks towards the leads, he knew it as well. As for Hye-won (Han Eun-jung), her continued selfish actions did nothing to build sympathy for her character’s plight, so I never could find a connection with her.

It took sixteen episodes to finally communicate with their hearts, but once they did, Ji Eun and Young Jae’s romance was adorable. Wrapped in a blanket the next morning, with those embarrassed, shy looks and swoon-worthy smiles made the revisit of this drama worth every minute.

Maybe it was fate that I stumbled across that music video. Whatever the reason, I am happy I did because it opened a new world of entertainment that I still thoroughly love.

 
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i love the fact that song-song couple dramas are listed in this month theme ??

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I think it's because their dramas are wildly popular and stand against passing time. Autumn In My Heart, Full House, Sungkyunkwan Scandal are really popular both for domestic and international audience.

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One of my favorite dramas! I think I've watched this drama for 6 or 7 times already and I memorize most of their scripts together! Three bears song scene is such a gold scene indeed.

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This takes the cake as my favorite kdrama of all time. Who knows how many times I've watched this drama. And it still gets me. Every. Single. Time. ???

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+1 right here!

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Full house was my very first kdrama too.. thank you for taking this up.

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Full House ?I think I love you ? ;) , so many memories : three bears american version, the fight for not sharing the bed on the honeymoon, the chicken trainer, ....and all the swoony moments, very good drama :)

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I think I loveeeeeeeee you
(Korean)
'Cause I miiiiiiiiisssss you

Yas, that song and the main theme song rocks!

It was frustrating at times, but oh, it did have many cute and funny moments, huh?

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Lol @ the title!

Ah, Full House, another classic. KBS World's YouTube channel uploaded the episodes one day and I was tempted to rewatch it. I remember not liking the second female lead and the two "friends," either, so I think I'll still feel the same way when I rewatch it. I really dislike it when K-drama male leads are wishy-washy and constantly going back and forth between their ex, first love, etc., and the female lead (who's oftentimes a much better person), especially when the male leads obviously developed romantic feelings for the female lead. I remember Rain's character doing just that, so blegh.

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The whole Rainism album is pure perfection. That song. Those moves. Those abs. God God! *fans herself* Of course my Rain obsession started from then as well and hasn't stopped yet.

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Hahah who can ever split Rain from his classic Rainism self.

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My favorite thing about Full House is hands down the extra level of pettiness these two went through. Every time they tried to one up each other in pettiness, the bed scene is my favorite example, I died laughing! It was that mostly, apart from the bickering, which made this drama such a fun watch. I find myself still laughing at the same scenes every time I watch it. Now that's what I call a timeless classic?

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and if i may add.. the drama is so important in the international scene with its spinoff..

and not just one of the first kdramas for me.. but well its adaptation introduced the thai entertainment too..

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I re-watch a couple of clips from this drama every now and then and it still gives me joy. Their pettiness is both cute and hilarious. Love the OST as well. I wish Rain and SHK would do another drama together. (I loved this drama so much that I also watched the Thai and Philippine versions.)

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I have fond memories but the drama was too chaste.
I think the Thai version does it better...but of course kversion has its own charm.

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I suggest EVERYBODY watch the Thai version of Full House. Aom and Mike did something to this story that I am forever in love with (The second lead is STILL as annoying, if not more).
On that note, you also need to watch KissKiss (Thai version of Playful Kiss, the very best version of that drama of all the 5 versions in my opinion)

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Didn't know there was a thai version. I might chek it out when I'll have time

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He he.. no no no.. while i like the spin to itazura na kiss.. and that aom and mike are perfect couples..

but mike hard carries this drama..but some aspects of the story are too stupid..

and yes, i also like the twist that mike had a gf in japan.. that's more natural..

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My first drama! Such a fond memory.

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I'm so glad I didn't get into the hype of Full House. It's like the start of somehow accepted douchebaggery by impossible leads that I absolutely loath. Good riddance.

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My first Song Hyekyo's drama was Autumn in My Heart, so in my mind, it felt like she was meant only for tragic and melancholic roles. One day during my middle school, my classmate told me about Hyekyo doing a romcom drama. I was like, huh, really? Can Song Hyekyo be funny? I watched it and jajajang! It was unexpectedly hilarious.

Afterward I was soo into Full House. I still remember I bought magazine with her in the cover and the headline was 'Song Hyekyo: Succeeded in Image Change'. So true, though.

In my final year of High School, we needed to sing an elective overseas song for music exam and Full House OST appeared to be the one of the optional choice. Some friends of mine then performed 'I think I love You' for the exam. We love young music teacher who loves Full House!! Thanks to that, our final year didn't completely feel as boring and depressing.

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Aww, it was the first k-drama I watched as well. Before Full house I had only watched c-dramas.
Bought the box set and watched it over and over :-)

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Thank you for this post. It was my first drama and the drama that brought me into the world of kdramas. I loved it the first time around and re watched it again recently and still loved it. So many good memories and scenes from this drama. This drama will forever be one of those feel good drama that I can re watch again and again and enjoy it still.

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One of my first kdramas. I enjoyed it then. However, looking back now, I realized how so many things were frustrating about the show. Also, I've grown so much through the years that I now have less tolerance for jerk characters. The three bears song was cute though.

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Almost the same thing happened to me ^^
I remember when I was like 16 my friends were telling me to watch"a chinese drama called princess jamyoung ..it's great u gonna love it etc etc.." ( yes here they call all Asians chinese just like most of the rest of the world ^^) and i was like .."i'll never ever watch chinese dramas ..why would i do that wgen there r mexican..american?" And man now i regret saying that^^
I was introduced to kdrama world first through Full house...that time in2008 they aired mexican dramas on our national tv that i was crazy about..and then one day they decided to air a korean one "FULL HOUSE"...l remeber i was so angry like " da hell I'm gonna watch now?" But eventually gave up and watched it cuz i had nth to do (it was summee holiday at 1p.m) ..AND THAT WAS A GREAT SURPRISE AND DISCOVERY ..I fell deeply in love with the drama and the leads and the fact that it lasted for only 16 episodes( if u know about mexican drama there's like +100 episodes hhh). I started looking for the leads and drama online .. rewatching and rewatching the drama again..
Then one day i decided to check some others .."maybe there will be others like this one right?" But i remember those days the internet was not stable ..i couldn't watch videos .and after looking here and there i got lucky to come across ur website Dramabeans: the reason why i'm now a kdrama addict ^_^ ...as i already love reading ..i found reading the recaps pretty entertaining that i kept and still reading them even after watching the episodes . Now after almost 10 years ..i'm not only a kdrama addict but i also watch japanese chinese thai etc etc any good asian drama ^_^ ..almost 400 drama completed
AND that was my story of how i got into the Kdrama world

Ps: Anyone who didnt watch the Thai version of the drama u should really check it..i loved it more than the original cuz it's like an upgraded version..they fixed so many errors and plotholes ..even fixed the story a bit ..trust me ..u gonna love this one more ;)

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Wow the memories. It was one of the first drama on contract marriage and I was hooked from beginning to end. The writing was iffy but what saved it was the otp, they were Super cute. Although that kiss was awkward!! They only kissed once right? It's not a perfect drama but it was highly addicting. Upon the discovery of Rain, I started on a journey of being an obsessive fangirl. I ship them once so badly too.

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This version of Full House definitely was the catalyst for my interest in Korean dramas. It was like chicken soup the first time I watched it. So light but satisfying and it just gave off the warm fuzzies.

While I fell in love with Song Hye Kyo, Rain made my blood curl the ENTIRE drama. Full House was one of my first K-dramas and my first run in with Second Lead Syndrome. You couldn't, and still can't, pay me to believe this couple ACTUALLY got together. Ji- Eun was wasted on him. I just couldn't...

That said, and as I mentioned before (I know, I know) the Thai version is SO MUCH better. However, you can't appreciate the awesomeness of the Thai version without seeing the Korean version. So just watch both.

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This is my first love to K-Drama.. and I love to revisiting it again and again.. ?

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I love this drama. This is one of the early kdramas I've enjoyed immensely. The noble idiocy was cringey but the overall cuteness of the leads helped compensate.
I remember feeling shortchanged when i didnt see his parents and grandmother in the last episodes. I luff them so much. But overall I liked the leads, disliked thr so-called friends who swindled money from her, annoyed as hell with second female lead, crushing on MinHyuk and felt sorry he is friend-zoned.
I really like Ji Eun and Young Jae (despite his immaturity). ? I can rewatch their scenes over again except for the time they decided to be noble idiots. ?

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This was my first Kdrama back in high school and wow, was I obsessed. I've recently tried watching this as an adult nearing her 30s and for me it sadly doesn't have that same shine to it versus watching it as a 14 year old. I still have a soft spot for it though, and I have great memories from watching this drama. ❤️

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Wowwww.. what a throwback!

This is the first K-drama I watched without tearing up; it was just too funny. I was in college back then, watched in through a local TV in my home country, and it was dubbed in my native language. Later, the TV station reran this serial after a while.

And, because I loved this drama, I brought the original CD (before the DVD era) from a cassette store, and I still have it till this day. I remember during some of "rainy days", I'd sit in front of my computer and watched it all over again. I just lost in count how many times I watched this show.

Then I'd been in drama hiatus for several years. Then, sometime in 2015, out of whim, I watched this drama again. Then, my love for K-drama is blossoming again. By the time I picked up this drama again, I just told myself, "So, we spent more than 15 episodes only to wait Young-jae and Ji-eun's awkward kiss scene in ep 16...." :) :) :)

After this re-picking "Full House", I found myself digging old good dramas I missed during my hiatus. Despite of the simple plot and repeated scenes (such as breakfast and brushing teeth), this drama is unforgettable.

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I rewatched full house recently, it was my first korean drama ever but this time around I wondered why I sticked to this drama. The female second lead is just so annoying and the female lead's "friends" make me want to murder someone. But above all, the male lead was such a jerk in the way he treated the female lead and he kept going back and forth with the second lead which from my point of you didn't make sense at all. He was always expecting the female lead to do stuff for him like cooking or cleaning the house and well the feminist in me got mad at that. However I still have fond memories of full house because I remember loving it when I was younger.

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When everyone was into Princess Hours, I got into Full House bandwagon and never regret it one bit. Till now I still remember most of the scenes, the cheesy and corny dialogues, and their never-ending bickering. Through this drama I also discovered bibimbap (mixed rice), Three Bears song, and Rain. I still have soft spot for our beloved lead couple, Lee Young Jae and Han Ji Eun!

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Every time I think of this show I smile.

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Full House
*watched it for Song HyeKyo
*introduced me to Rain
*rewatched it A LOT in spite of "what are they wearing" constantly running in my head
*definitely in my top 10

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First Korean Drama that I watched and Iove... It was shown in our country dubbed in our language I didn't watch it instead my family download the whole DRAMA and that year it really takes a long time downloading just 1 episodes. We want to watch it in their own language so as soon as the download finished. The WHOLE FAMILY as in my whole family MARATHON it together. Our only breaks is only going to the toilet. For 16 hours the whole family laugh and cry together . A very meaningful drama for me and that's the time I became a fan of Rain and until now he is the only Kpop Singer/Actor that I love. I even went to his concerts and saw him do the running man shooting

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awww my babies! i love their couple so much!

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i really like full house

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