Forecasting Love & Weather

Welcome back to *Hallyu Reviews*! We hope you enjoyed Sabrina’s review of **"Business Proposal"** last week. If you missed it, Make it stand out, go back and have a read!

This week we take a look at “Forecasting Love & Weather.”
**SPOILERS AHEAD!!**

Synopsis

“Forecasting Love and Weather” (“Forecasting”) is about Jin Ha Kyung (Park Min Young), the director of Chief Team Two at Innovative Weather Services Headquarters for the Korea Meteorological Administration/National Weather Service, and Lee Si Woo (Song Kang) Extreme Weather Forecaster. Ha Kyung is engaged to be married to Han Ki Jun (Yoon Park), but she discovers him cheating on her with Cha Yu Jin (Yura), and calls off the wedding. Si Woo works at the Metropolitan Office of the Korea Meteorological Administration/National Weather Service and when he makes what seems like a crazy weather prediction that turns out to be accurate, it sparks a meeting between him and Ha Kyung. After his successful prediction, Si Woo is assigned to Headquarters and Ha Kyung is his new director. Despite their age gap and Ha Kyung’s vow to never again date a coworker, Ha Kyung and Si Woo begin to date in secret and the two fall in love. After overcoming many difficulties, including differing opinions on the institution of marriage, Ha Kyung and Si Woo eventually decide to be together.

Two of my Favorites

Park Min Young and Song Kang are two of my favorite K-drama actors, particularly Park Min Young. If you watch K-dramas for swoon worthy kisses, then the kisses between these two rulers of K-drama kisses will not disappoint. Not uncommon in K-dramas, there is an age gap between the Lead Couple - Ha Kyung is 12 years Si Woo’s senior. But while I usually find a large age gap distracting - particularly if the younger person in the couple is a minor - both of these characters are grown adults and their intimate interactions do not feel inappropriate. In addition, Park Min Young’s tiny size and ageless beauty seem to lessen the age gap visually.

To Marry or Not to Marry

Unfortunately, Ha Kyung and Si Woo have differing opinions on marriage. Ha Kyung is a by-the-numbers type of personality, cautiously weighing probabilities to make her predictions about both the weather and love. After her failed engagement, Ha Kyung is understandably hesitant about entering any relationship, especially one at work. In spite of that, however, she is a traditionalist and her goal in dating is ultimately marriage. Ki Jun, Ha Kyung’s ex-fiancé, tells Si Woo that Ha Kyung “doesn’t seriously date anyone if they’re not a marriage prospect.” By contrast, Si Woo is willing to look outside of traditional formulas and look at variables to forecast the weather, and that can also be applied to his view of the institution of marriage. Troubled by a leach of a father, Lee Myung Han (Jeon Bae Su), Si Woo sees family - and by default, marriage - as a burden. Yu Jin, Si Woo’s ex-girlfriend, tells Ha Kyung that Si Woo “doesn’t want to marry anyone.” The couples differing views are brought to a head when Ha Kyung’s mother, Bae Soo Ja (Kim Mi Kyung - another of my favorites!), unexpectedly shows up at her apartment and learns that Ha Kyung has invited two male forecasters in search of a place to stay to live with her, putting her prospects of marriage in jeopardy.

“Forecasting” takes a hard look at marriage and family, and the obligations and struggles of both. “Forecasting” does a great job of demonstrating that the definition of a successful life is slowly being redefined in Korea. Thanks to the global popularity of K-pop musical groups like BTS who sing about the power of Korea’s youth and their dreams (or lack thereof) which may differ from those of previous generations, traditional cultural norms in Korea are slowly beginning to acknowledge that success takes many forms. When Ha Kyung learns from Yu Jin, Si Woo’s ex-girlfriend and Ki Jun’s new wife, that “Si Woo doesn’t believe in marriage,” she is shocked, but decides that she would rather be happy than married, and she tells Si Woo that she is okay being a couple without the goal of marriage - quite an untraditional approach!

Ha Kyung’s mother, by contrast, values marriage and equates it to happiness and success. She wants to see her daughter happily married, not in a relationship without marriage in mind. She, for most of the series, represents traditional Korean culture with her various matchmaking (and meddlesome) efforts. Eventually, Ha Kyung’s mother learns the truth about Ha Kyung and Si Woo’s relationship and is able to witness firsthand their love for each other. To Si Woo she says that marriage is not a union of two complete people, but two people who come together and become one. “Stop trying to only predict tomorrow’s weather” she tells Ha Kyung, but “observe today’s, as well.” Life is short and should be shared with those you love. It is her words of wisdom that serve as the turning point for Ha Kyung and Si Woo, propelling them to return to one another (during Korea’s first snowfall of the season, of course). Her words are profound, and it is because she is able to look outside the traditional box of marriage that she is able to ultimately accept Si Woo as her daughter’s unconventional partner of choice.

Communication

Communication is key to any good relationship, and “Forecasting” contrasts that in several relationships. For the most part, Ha Kyung and Si Woo communicate well. They seem to always sit down and discuss their issues and concerns, rather than let them fester or go unaddressed, which is atypical for K-dramas. When Ha Kyung learns that Si Woo does not wish to get married, she asks him why, and he tells her honestly that he does not think marriage suits him. He wonders if marriage has to be the next step in love, revealing that his problem is not with love, but the institution of marriage. He adds, “Being tied to each other as family makes me uncomfortable.” Because of his experience and relationship with his father, Si Woo vows that he will never get married. For Si Woo, family is very much a burden. His father has always been a burden to him, and he does not want the person he loves to carry that burden. Si Woo promises Ha Kyung that not wanting to marry her does not mean that he is not sincere to her and that their relationship is not a fling, but it brings up the inevitable question, what is the goal of their relationship if it is not marriage?

Si Woo’s Vow

But vows made, particularly early in life, are seldom healthy, nor are they ever in a character’s best interest in any drama - Korean or not. Vows do not allow for growth or change, particularly as circumstances change, which happens in life. By making the vow to never marry, Si Woo never allows another person to show him a different perspective on what being or having a family can look like. Si Woo fails to understand that part of finding a partner in life - whether married or unmarried - is finding someone who is willing to walk by your side and share in your burdens as you tackle life together. Ha Kyung demonstrates that she is willing to help Si Woo carry the burden of his father, as evidenced by the multiple times she meets with Si Woo’s father and attempts to help. Si Woo’s vow made out of fear does not give Ha Kyung a chance to have an opinion on the matter and ultimately leads him to push her away. In the final episode, Ha Kyung admits that she was originally attracted to Si Woo because of his “bright and healthy attitude,” but, despite his concerns, it was through learning about his pain and fears that she got to know him better and “fell deeper in love.”

Role of Women

“Forecasting” also does a great job in comparing the sacrifices women make, as both homemakers and working moms. We learn that Oh Myung Joo (Yoon Sa Bong), a member of Team Two, gives up the possibility of promotion when she marries and has children. She also becomes the sole breadwinner so that her husband can quit his job and go back to school. Myung Joo’s situation brings up many truths about how most cultures around the globe remain patriarchal, and how many women sacrifice success in their lives in order to further society through childrearing. This is especially apparent when Yu Jin’s supervisor comments on a co-worker who he learns is pregnant, saying that she has thrown away her career to have a child. Not knowing that Yu Jin is also newly pregnant, the words are harsh and disappointing. Simply put, children are our future, and while childrearing is a difficult process filled with lots of sacrifice, women unjustly carry the majority of the burden, frequently having to choose between dedication and success in their career or dedication and success at home. Women should be allowed to be incredible mothers without sacrificing personal accomplishments and success in their careers. This issue is near and dear to my heart, personally, as I have made the choice to sacrifice my career to be home and available for my children and their needs. It is a shame that one must be sacrificed for the other.

Too Many Relationships

I love a good ensemble cast, but simply put, this K-drama has too many relationships. There is the Lead Couple of Ha Kyung and Si Woo; the relationship between Ki Jun and Yu Jin; the relationship Ha Kyung and Si Woo each have with their parents; the relationship between Ha Kyung’s sister, Jin Tae Kyung (Jung Woon Sun), and Ha Kyung and Si Woo’s coworker, Shin Seok Ho (Moon Tae Yoo); the relationship between Oh Myung Joo and her husband; the relationship between Senior Forecaster Um Dong Han (Lee Sung Wook) and his wife (Jang So Yeon); and even the relationship between Senior Forecaster Um Dong Han and his daughter (Lee Seung Joo). Even though most of them intersect, there are a lot of storylines to follow, each with their own emotional arcs. The other relationships in a K-drama should enhance the story of the Lead Couple, but with so many storylines to follow - and without any lighthearted or comedic moments to break up the drama - the multiple storylines get overwhelming, while simultaneously slowing down the storyline of the Lead Couple. The relationship of Jin Tae Kyung and Shin Seok Ho could be totally left out without affecting the main story. And while Senior Forecaster’s family drama shows a different kind of familial struggle, it too, could have been omitted.

And while the relationships Ha Kyung and Si Woo have with their mother and father, respectively, are necessary to explain the differences in opinion that Ha Kyung and Si Woo have regarding the institution of marriage, the only other relationship that adds to the Lead Couple’s story in any interesting way is that of Ki Jun and Yu Jin. Ki Jun (who has my favorite character arc in “Forecasting”) and Yu Jin, who married quickly without much thought, find themselves forced to deal with the consequences of that hasty decision. And unlike Ha Kyung and Si Woo, Ki Jun and Yu Jin struggle to communicate effectively. When scenes between Ki Jun and Yu immediately precede or follow scenes between Ha Kyung and Si Woo, the two couples are compared and contrasted beautifully, each reflecting the struggles that dating/newly married couples face today.

Too Much Weather

“Forecasting” uses weather as an analogy to demonstrate the different ways the Lead Couple approaches marriage; Ha Kyung is more of a traditionalist and Si Woo is more unconventional. With a title of “Forecasting Love and Weather,” and with weather-centric episode titles (such as “Visibility,” “Localized Heavy Rain,” and “Ozone Warning,” to name a few), parallels between love and weather are obvious. Si Woo’s name means “timely rain,” and he arrives in Ha Kyung’s life right when she needs him. The weather serves as a character in the series, with more screentime than some of the cast. It rains when Ha Kyung and Si Woo first meet, and it is during the first snow of the season that they It also acts as a plot device, providing moments of intensity that propel the story along. An example of this is when Si Woo is hospitalized after a weather balloon explodes in his face causing temporary blindness. This moment is important because it forces the issue with Si Woo’s father to the foreground of the relationship between Si Woo and Ha Kyung, and results in their breakup.

Sometimes, however, the weather analogies are a bit of a stretch when being applied to human relationships, and at times, distracting. Also, I felt I learned a lot about Korea and its weather, but probably more than was necessarily needed to in order to watch a K-drama.

Final verdict: SKIP

The acting in “Forecasting” is top notch, and the kisses between Park Min Young and Song Kang are great. “Forecasting” also takes a good look at relationships - both romantic and familial - and how they are changing in Korean society. Overall, however, I found this K-drama to be disappointing. Between the exhausting weather analogies and the multiple hardships that the various couples face, it is not a very uplifting story. When preparing to write a review, I like to watch a K-drama at least twice, and I really struggled to re-watch “Forecasting.” All-in-all, it is not the type of K-drama that I am drawn to. I like my K-dramas to have a strong Lead Couple at the heart of its story, and a balance between the drama and comedy. Unfortunately, the Lead Couple spends too little time happily together, and the various storylines are too heavy on the drama. There were simply not enough light-hearted moments to balance the serious ones. Until the last episode, I felt depressed watching it (insert seasonal depression weather analogy!). I enjoy watching Park Min Young in everything she does, and her kisses with Song Kang are definitely worth watching, but ultimately, this K-drama is not a must-watch for me.

So there it is, our review of “Forecasting Love and Weather.” What did you think?! Thank you for joining us on this journey. Have a favorite K-drama you think we should review, comment down below!! We look forward to seeing you back again next week!

Up next, “True Beauty”

Forecasting Love & Weather

True Beauty

Business Proposal

FOLLOW