REVIEW: Forecasting Love and Weather - k-drama binge (2024)

REVIEW: Forecasting Love and Weather

Storyline

Forecasting Love and Weather is a romantic comedy-drama that focuses on the romance between Jin Ha-Kyung as portrayed by Park Min-Young and Lee Shi-Woo as portrayed by Song Kang. The leads both works at the KMA or the Korea Meteorological Administration, the national meteorological service of South Korea. The KMA is responsible for forecasting and reporting the weather.

The Busy Bride-to-Be

Jin Ha-Kyung is a thirty-five-year-old lady who works as a general forecaster of Division 2 in KMA. She lives with her widowed mother and divorced older sister who worries a lot about her being a workaholic. Ha-Kyung is engaged. She is marrying her long-time boyfriend of ten years Han Ki-Jun. They met and fell in love at university.

Preparing for a Life Together

Both of them work at the KMA. Starting at the entry-level position and working their way up. Ha-Kyung is the more successful of the two. She is very dedicated and driven at what she does. At the beginning of the show, they are in the midst of preparation for their upcoming wedding and life together.

The Astute Weather Forecaster

Lee Shi-Woo is in charge of the Special Reporting Division of the KMA Seoul Metropolitan Office of Meteorology. He is deeply involved in the nuances of his job. His astute readings of key weather indicators and fearless forecasts have gained him enough credibility with his superiors and has secured a position at the KMA head office.

A Devoted Boyfriend

Shi-Woo is living together with his girlfriend, Chae Yoo-Jin. She is a reporter at the weather station. He is a devoted boyfriend. He is always thinking of ways how to make her happy. Even though Shi-Woo always makes an effort to please Yoo-Jin, she always seems distracted and unhappy.

Trouble is Brewing

The Persistent Clues

In the beginning, Ha-Kyung narrates clues that we encounter in our everyday lives. A changed password. An unusual new favorite food. Random things that are not in their proper places. These are examples of clues that we often ignore because we know searching for where it leads could hurt us.

Things we already know surprise us. Ha-Kyung gets blindsided by these clues that she chose to ignore. One day, she goes to Ki-Jun’s apartment unannounced and she finds him cheating on her with another woman.

Moving to the HQ

Yoo-Jin breaks up with Shi-Woo and leaves their apartment without any knowledge of what he did wrong. Back at the KMA HQ, Division 2’s manager suffers from a heart attack from too much stress. He decides to take a break from work. Meanwhile, Ha-Kyung takes her boss’s position.

She reluctantly agrees to the added workload knowing that she is already too busy with preparations for her wedding. Shi-Woo is assigned to the head office Division 2. He will now be reporting directly under Ha-Kyung.

Mending Broken Hearts

Ha-Kyung and Shi-Woo end up working together. They get to spend time and learn more about each other. Coming from their previous failed relationships, they both find solace and understanding spending time in each other’s company. They both reflect on what went wrong in their past. In the process, they find themselves developing feelings for each other.

Initial Reaction

I am hooked after two episodes. Forecasting Love and Weather is something familiar. But it is also something different. The show depicts what it is like to be working in a weather forecasting station. The drama’s plot and the setting are very regular. An office romance centering on the leads having messy relationships in the office. All of these happening inside a weather forecasting bureau have added depth to the story and have made it infinitely more interesting.

What I like about this drama:

The Leads

• I think Park Min-Young and Song Kang are great for their roles. I actually find them cute together. At first glance, they don’t seem to fit together. But as the story progresses, you can see how they grow on each other and you can understand why they are together.
• Ha-Kyung and Si-Woo are broken people. They are both looking for somebody. Whether they are able to overcome their issues and end up together, in the end, is still up in the air at this point. Whichever way the story goes, it kind of feels okay.
• Shi-Woo’s bubbly personality is a lighthearted contrast to Ha-Kyung’s more serious and gloomy demeanor. Their age difference is an issue for some but it did not bother me. I think both their level of maturity is a good match. They each have baggage that they need to heal from.

The Relatable Sub-plots

I liked the sub-plots that reflect the struggles of people working at the station. They are situations that any regular family has undergone at one point. These make the drama very relatable.

• Um Dong-Han is a returning absentee father to his now teenage daughter. Dong-Han is assigned to KMA’s regional offices. Despite that he barely ever gets to go home. Returning to the headquarters has now allowed him to live at home and adjust to life with his wife and teenage daughter. On top of his issues at home, he has to adjust to having a younger boss at work.
• Oh Myung-Joo and her husband struggle as a couple with kids who both need to work to provide for the basic needs of their family.

Mother’s Instinct

• Ha-Kyung’s mother, Mrs. Bae’s intuition. The saying that mothers know best is true almost 100% of the time. Mrs. Bae knew at the onset that there is something off about her daughter’s fiance. She has voiced her opinion many times and continues to be suspicious of him to the annoyance of her daughter. In the end, her instinct has been proven correct.

Binge Star Rating – 8 Stars

I liked Forecasting Love and Weather because it provided an insider point of view into a world that I have never been privy to. It is a romantic comedy set in the office but it is not just any office. I have watched a lot of romcoms within the office setting but this one deals with weather forecasting and that adds its own twist to what is supposedly just another rom-com. It gave a refreshing take on a very ordinary setting with a very ordinary relatable situation.

When you think of it, everything about the drama is very relatable. The two-timing fiance. The divorced sister trying not to meddle because she already has a lot on her own plate. The abusive dad. The coworker who is having trouble at home. The mild mannered boss. Every character in this story is relatable.

In my opinion, what gives it an interesting twist is the setting so yes I am giving it a solid 8 stars solely for that.

Watch the series on Netflix

Watch the series with full English subtitles onNETFLIX with newepisodes available every Monday and Tuesday.

Looking for more K Dramas to watch? Check out KDB’sWhat to Watch Nextfor more binge-worthy series you can choose from.

Images from promotional materials from JTBC may be subject to copyright. [Last Update 04252024]