Cleaning your house and heart.
"Your House Helper" is a slice-of-life drama that focuses on day-to-day issues faced by Koreans in their society, namely three women: Im Da Yeong (Bona), Yoon Sang Ah (Go Won Hee), and Han So Mi (Seo Eun Ah).As part of the main story topics such as women's health, misogyny, overwork, rape, abuse, and gender roles are brought up and handled in a sensible manner though at times failing to push forward when the timing demanded so. The #metoo movement is hailed and discussed as an important movement for women, something unusual for a k-drama and a bold step to make as women's struggle in south Korea is heavily opposed by chauvinism and an excruciatingly patriarchal society.
Since this is a story that puts emphasis on women, the three leading women take the centre stage with each character facing particular issues related to their personality, workplace, and personal struggles. Ha Suk Jin, Lee Ji Hoon, and Jo Hee Bong undoubtedly play story relevant characters, but they're not steering the helm or the main driving force of why you should watch "Your House Helper."
The cast was well selected -- the actors matched well the characters they were assigned, and I have to praise whomever cared for all the small details, especially in the fashion department: they all look great, but never overdressed.
When it comes to the acting itself the first episodes are rough on Bona - as she's among the youngest in the cast - but she does improve with her character's development and I digress with anyone who argues she was not a good choice to play Im Da Yeong -- she captured well the demeanour of a young woman dealing with hardship and not knowing what to do next. Yoon Sang Ah's character initially has more on screen chemistry with Ha Suk Jin's, something which may cause some conflictive feelings as a viewer, but this quickly dissipates away as Lee Ji Hoon enters the scene and becomes more prominent. I am somewhat disappointed with the screen time Seo Eun Ah's character had but I should praise that her issues were handled in a respectful manner, although again constrained by the conservative mainframe of Korean society. Overall the male leading characters did a good job, it's good to see Ha Suk Jin play a more sensitive, less gruff heads on character -- really had to drag him out of the office to become a house cleaner.
"Your House Helper" has an upbeat soundtrack with its trademark tune whenever some house cleaning action begins while reserving more sombre tones when serious subjects or more dramatic moments are handled. There is nothing particularly outstanding about its music but it never feels repetitive and blends well with all scenes.
Does this 32 episodes long drama have re-watch value? Each episode is roughly 29-30 minutes long and easy to watch through. If you enjoy the overall story, you can expect yourself binge watching through several episodes and not noticing the time. The overall plot and side stories are always on the move, there is no mid story dragging/stalling, and since there are no particular villains you can expect a drama grounded in reality with a pinch of idyllic hope, sunshine, and a quirky golden retriever.
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The plot is paced well, and it covers a range of social topics in a way that's sensitive and kindhearted. Maybe a little too kindhearted, to be honest, as one of my few critiques of the show is the way characters who harm (sexual assault, harassment, etc.) are redeemed far too quickly, to the point where the forgiveness they receive feels somewhat unearned. That's not to say that I don't like the message of abusers growing and holding themselves accountable for the harm they cause, and maybe someday being redeemed... I think that message is very much in line with the show's themes of growth and unlearning destructive habits. But those particular moments could have been built up better, definitely.
Otherwise, the plot was just like the show itself: soft and sweet, and gentle... slowly, steadily progressing.
Ha Seok Jin as the aloof but gentle Ji Woon was a breath of fresh air, and I was really happy to see him even getting to be a little goofy and fun compared to his usual tightlaced, arrogant characters (who I also love, to be fair). Bona's acting improved a lot over the course of the episodes, and now at the end I honestly can't imagine anyone else for the role of Da Yeong.
The supporting characters were all wonderful. My very favorite was Le Ji Hoon as the lawyer Jin Kuk: his antics while trying to win over Sang Ah were hilarious and wildly relatable for anyone who has ever had a hopeless crush on someone. It was so good to see this side of him, haha.
Also, the music I LOVED. It's upbeat and soothing at the same time, which appropriately makes it the perfect soundtrack when you're cleaning, or working to finish some other task.
Overall, this isn't the most exciting drama ever written, but it is soothing and appeals to the humanity in each viewer, quietly offering to inspire us along a path towards being happier and healthier.
(Bonus!: There's a big fluffy old dog who is wonderful, and Ha Seok Jin's cleaning tips at the ends of the episodes were A+++++)
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Minus:
-Lack of chemistry for the main couple
-Got boring halfway through
-No surprises, no twists
Possitives:
-Slice of life theme
-The second leads' romance was so strong that overpowered the whole drama
-Interesting side stories
-Good acting
Overall, it was just good, with some sparks of solid slice of life drama and age of youth vibes. So, 6.5 out of 10
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This drama is about friendship, love, social taboos and ofcourse the art of cleaning.
In my opinion both the leads did a great job in portraying their characters and emotions.
The drama also has one of the most cute and original love story for the second leads. (They both were just so cute together!)
In fact all of romantic relationships in the show were a highlight for me. This drama also does not shy away from touchy emotional subjects, you could easily find yourself wiping away tears either of sadness or of joy watching this show
However it did have flaws and one of them would be the friendship element. All the three female characters were shown to be long time bestfriend but somehow they lacked chemistry. I rooted for all of them but separately.
The last few episodes did get a tad draggy but it all wrapped in a nice way in the end.
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For some people the drama is very soft, refreshing, with no stress, and yes it’s true, but I find it kind of boring...
Honestly I didn't like the main characters/actors that much. For me, the acting itself of Bona is boring, the way she talks, acts and shows her emotions is boring, and I actually thought the same with Ha Suk Jin.
I can't hide that I liked that friendship between the girls. I completely loved the support couples and their stories, but I didn't like the main couple, they were cute, but didn't have a good chemistry and their relationship as lovers was so rushed.
I was seriously enjoying the drama in the last episodes, everything seems more "alive" and enjoyable.
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None of the men are real but it was fun to watch. I would give anything with Ha Seok Jin a 10. He could clean my house any day!! But, seriously, it is his acting that is impressive. In Drinking Solo, he made me want to eat and drink. Now he is making me want to organize my house.
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Unfortunately, I couldn't find ony other strong points - other than the OSTs - throughout this whole series. The story was predictable enough, probably because it was adapted from webtoon. And the casts were.. well, there was absolutely no chemistry between main casts there, especially, with Bona. If only I can rate each actor separately -_- I couldn't feel her chemistry whatsoeverl with Ha Seok Jin, and she seemed "out-of-place" most of the time, which I assumed, was due to her being new..? Oh wellz, I guess she'll grow more as an actress when given a chance.
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CAST: This cast is wonderful. They all play off each other so well. Though Ha Suk Jin is the title character, he is one of 4 primary lead characters and 5 other sub lead characters that are just fantastic. I think my favorite story line revolved around Seo Eun Ah's character (a manicurist who is afraid of men) and Yun Joon Suk's character (a very sweet young bartender and musician). These two are not characters that you necessarily expect to have fun scenes together, but they do and they are truly highlights of the show...even if they are a bit different than what you might expect.
STORY: This show does a fantastic job of weaving several powerful story lines into one amazing drama. It has several parts of the stories that are empowering to women, but also several story parts that are empowering men to be there for those they care for. It truly does a great job of making the women and men stand on equal levels and to call out when there is an uneven standard.
MUSIC: I enjoyed the soundtrack for this series a lot. It was catchy and added to the scenes in valuable, but often understated ways.
REWATCH VALUE: I'm pretty sure I will be rewatching this over and over in the future.
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Your House Helper captures the beauty of love and friendship that supports each other, celebrates and cries together. Maybe if we cant clean the clutter by ourselves, we can ask for help and clean our spaces together.
Your House helper is a slice of life drama with a touching story of a group of friends coming together. Friendships are formed and romance is bloomed. It is warm comforting and opens up to issues that naturally occur in life. Death, Forgiveness, Loss, Trauma are some examples. The show covers these issues in an optimistic way and reminds us to stand up again. I smiled, laughed and cried both happy and sad tears. Its a refreshing slow paced drama to cool us down from the busy world.
Personally I love character driven stories so this was perfect for me. I personally think the music was lacking. The track choices were distracting at times as they did not match the scene. Although this could just be based on taste.
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This review may contain spoilers
He's Like a Male Version of Mary Poppins - I want one
9/10 is my rating. This is a 2018 South Korean Drama with 32, 30 minute, episodes. Kim Ji-woon (Ha Seok-jin) works as a House Helper a blend of "Mary Poppins", Dr. Phil, and House Brothers. He is an organizing and cleaning expert and only takes cases where he feels like he can improve the home environment as well as his client's lives. Im Da-young (Bona) is a young woman with a very chaotic life. She is an intern at an advertising company and works long hours trying to get hired on permanent. As the only daughter of a deceased architect, she lives in the house her father built and keeps it somewhat as a memorial to him. Her loneliness and work life are driving factors in the messy state of her house. She is riddled with debt from her late father but determined to keep the house he built. Her life changes dramatically when "Mr. Kim" agrees to help her restore order so that she can take on roommates to help with her financial situation. Her roommates turn out to be a couple of old high school friends who she became estranged with. Can these women get their messy lives back on track? Can "Mr. Kim" truly work miracles?Spoiler 🚨 I really loved this story. All of the relationships were interesting and the interplay between the characters and various story lines was compelling. There are even little household tips to pick up on and really, who wouldn't want a gorgeous House Helper to make sense of the chaos of modern life. It ended nicely and the length of the series was just right to fully tell the stories. The only slight drawback was not to see the story completely through to what happened after - but it was pretty clear where things were going so that was not a major fail point for me. I loved the central female lead. She was as kind as she was beautiful.
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WJSN Bona's acting need more improvement. She didn't express the character's emotion well. Angry doesn't really look angry. Sad doesn't look like sad. Basically, poker face. Sorry fans out there, I'm just pointing out my opinion. No offense, actually I'm fan of her :/. Just hoping she could perform well in her future dramas' role :). Fighting Bona!
Oh well for the rest of the actors and actresses, I have no comments. They have much more experience in acting so I expected them to perform well. Great acting there, keep up the good work.
As for music OST, I didn't manage to capture some catchy background music out there. Won't say its suck but just don't attract any of my attention. I only focus the music if it is showing a drastic sad moment. However, this drama doesn't have any drastically sad moments that could make me feel soft.
In a nutshell, simple story may not be superb but it may still be worth to devote my time watching. Its great to give this drama a try. I didn't really regret watching this and I feel that this is still a good drama to watch and it could attracts other KDrama watchers out there that could have great interest in this kind of plot. So why not give this a shot? It might even interest you more than me :3.
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