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This is the drama that made me fall in love with K-dramas in 2005
By that time, I had already watched several Japanese, Chinese, and Korean dramas. However, it was this particular drama that got me excited and interested in learning more details about other dramas.Even though the story doesn't make sense, how could someone be so naive in that day as to be easily deceived by a close friend, and put up with being yelled at every day by someone they had just met? But Song HyeKyo and Rain make this drama enjoyable to watch thanks to their chemistry and funny interactions. This is also what made me realize that this is indeed a rom-com drama where you don't need to overthink the direction of the story. The interactions between the FL and the ML's family, especially ML grandmother, are absolutely delightful and something I always look forward to.
If you hate red flag men who boss their partners around and yell at them, you probably won't like this drama. The drama might feel drawn out due to repetitive conflicts, yet this is precisely where we see the male lead’s character development as he becomes a better person and grows to cherish the female lead. The female lead also matures throughout the story.
I love this drama so much that I rewatch it almost every year, whenever I listen OST from this drama, I feel an urge to watch it all over again. The soundtrack is masterpiece and brings back fond memories of the past. The fact that it has been remade in several countries is a testament to just how popular the drama was at the time.
This drama is etched in my core memories and will always be one of my all-time favorites.
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Dated, and not in a nostalgic way
There was so much shouting and pettiness and lack of growth in this drama, it just pissed me off. The treatment of women was poor, and I got so sick of the male lead's clownery. This was really the style and plot of early dramas: love triangles, ridiculous premises, awful friends, shouting, pouty and immature leads... It really feels of its time. Unfortunately, unlike other early dramas, it just doesn't have much heart. The couple's sweet moments are constantly undercut by their tiresome bickering. Rain is great to look at, though.Was this review helpful to you?
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BY ANGELJET
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Rain is incredibly cute, and often shirtless, as the stubbornly childish Lee Young Jae. Song Hye Kyo is endearing as the unbelievably naive, and ditzy Han Ji Eun. The first two episodes are filled with totally unrealistic, but pretty amusing, situations that end in a false marriage, and the two leads having to learn to live together. Full House paves the way for many future K-drama clichés, since they work so well in this one (like "Personal Taste", which Is my first K-drama love).
Everything is basically straight from the K-drama RomCom handbook (unrealistic chance encounters, unbelievable coincidence, nursing people back to health, rich vs broke, OCD vs slob, frustrating misunderstandings, running through airports, Hallyu star scandals, love squares... ) and most of it works. The cast is what makes it work so well, and kept the sometimes repetitive moments entertaining. I also think the leads, & their romantic rivals, do show some depth. I loved to hate Han Eun Jung as needy Kang Hye Won. Kim Sung Soo as Yoo Min Hyuk was a little one-note throughout, but still made for an appealing 2nd lead (but those eyebrows???!!!). I really disliked Han Ji Eun's two "best friends" who's audacity was hard to believe, and watch, but I think that is the fault of the writers, not the actors. One of my favorite supporting characters was the grandmother, and I thought the family scenes were really cute.
This drama could have easily been cut a little shorter. They made sure to drag out the banter & bickering to the last possible moments, because they know it's what people like to see from the leads. It's clear, during the last two episodes, that they ran out of story, and that they had to rely heavily on flashbacks to fill the time. The leads do a good job of keeping the chemistry going, so the final moments still have some entertainment value, and I did really like the final moments with the 4 main characters.
If you're in the mood for a love story without any frills, give this one a try. I have already rewatched it, and it doesn't lose it's charm with the 2nd viewing, nor does it feel too dated (just the phones). The soundtrack is also incredibly catchy. For better or worse, I found myself humming the songs to myself.
The key to liking this drama is knowing what to expect. It's a lighthearted innocent romance that's fun to watch if you're in a romcom mood. It's still converting people into drama-addicts for a reason.
Aja, Aja, Fighting!
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Real Estate Scam
As per design, this is the usual love square quarrels from the 2000s, following the blueprint precisely but with one major unforgivable flaw. It's expected from this formula to have a loose story not adhering to reality, common sense or logic, in one way or another it blends and enhances its entertaining value to push forward the narrative and dynamics. However, this drama went beyond what the viewers may deem passable in that regard with how they snowballed the setup involving the FL's friends, and her friends existence in general, pure atrocity. I refuse to believe that the writer spent more than 1-2 minutes thinking about the initial setup. Admittedly, the cast is what kept it alive and watchable, from the main leads to the elder cast, absolutely excluding the duo friends. The resolution and the romance in general felt quite distant from the characters, probably because they held it off for too long before establishing a clear communication between the leads which only happened in the last episode. Overall, the drama was just alright.Was this review helpful to you?
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The plot is very simplistic, so simplistic in fact that it becomes repetitive.
Boy does whatever he can to annoy girl, in a very immature way.
They bicker constantly, they fight, shout at each other and this leaves me, the viewer, in quite an unamused and/or uncomfortable position. Am I not supposed to be entertained by a show?
If the show wanted me to sympathize with this couple constantly on each other’s case, and ultimately buy into the fact that they fall in love, they failed miserably.
I came out of this show frustrated and rather annoyed.
I’d rather go to the dentist than watch it again a second time.
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Would you pick this man after all that abuse?
I found this to be an interesting series but a little awkward to watch. The acting was superb. Song Hye Kyo can light up a screen just by being there. She played the part well, as did the other main characters. This familiar story of two people who are not in love, living under a contract marriage is not new, and the effort to make it unique is what I found awkward. The two outside influences, one male and one female, were well placed and fit the part well. The cooking and cleaning arguments were repetitive and started wearing on my nerves. Who thinks screaming about cleaning the house contributes to the quality of a personal relationship? The amount of domestic abuse delivered reached way up on the misery index and frankly wasn’t funny. This show did have some funny moments, like Ji Eun carrying grandmother on her back, but domestic bullying wasn’t one of them. I wanted them to get divorced so bad, but I knew it wasn’t going to happen.Can a woman who receives that much abuse fall for this repulsive character? In my opinion, Lee Yeong Jae had very few redeeming qualities. After he looked like a raving idiot for so many episodes trying to make him look even partially normal in the end was a far stretch. I found myself rooting for Min Hyuk. Setting up Ji Eun to be a doormat for this guy was just way over the top. Taking all that verbal abuse and coming back for more felt like a battered woman going to the man who abuses her. For some reason, the writers think calling somebody dense, stupid, and other names is endearing or normal. I’ll accept the unique twist of two friends selling your house, emptying your bank account, and opening credit cards in your name, but remaining friends?
I’m not trying to tear this series apart, although it may seem like it. I watched every minute and rooted for Ji Eun the whole way. I wish I could have felt good about them at the end. I somehow thought they were with the wrong partners as the car drove away. Please watch and decide for yourself.
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Oh boy who said this was a classic?
I would say that this drama is the perfect contender for explaining just how much nostalgia can blind us to the quality of our entertainment. And I`m extremely glad that I didn`t get to watch this in my childhood because now I might be one of those people who herald this drama as a classic. It`s not. A drama I can consider a true classic is "Coffee Prince" for example. A classic for me is supposed to signify something that will never get old, whose message will always beat the concept of time and won`t fall victim to changing tides. This on the other hand... yikes.I think, again, that this would have no chance with me, in retrospect, even if it wasn`t held up at such a high standard. I just hate every trope this drama decides to utilize. From immature leads who cannot stand each other to the point of acting like actual five year olds (at times I felt like I was in charge of kindergarteners), a douchey second lead who only looks out for his own benefit, a male lead who can`t get over a girl from his past...Yup, it`s all here. And, in this concept, you need your main characters to be likeable. They are NOT. And this is rare, but I would say that they both got on my nerves in the same amount. And it`s a shame because chemistry is there. The soundtrack is crazy good. But you need some kind of meat on the bones of your plot OR interesting characters who mature and change over time. Unfortunately, neither was achieved here.
When both of the characters had the opportunity of a turning point on the porch, they just reverted to their old selves and it was all for naught. All that time, all that dragging, only to wrap it up quickly and nonsensically. It`s a real shame that this pairing ended up in this project because I feel like they could`ve done something. But this ain`t it.
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