Pachinko is an American drama television series created by Soo Hugh based on the 2017 novel by Min Jin Lee. The series premiered on Apple TV+ on March 25, 2022. It received critical acclaim for its cinematography, writing, and acting. The second season premiered on August 23, 2024.
Lee Min-ho as Koh Hansu, a Zainichi Korean man who lives in Osaka, Japan. He is introduced as a merchant and fish broker who regularly visits Busan, South Korea. He is Noa's biological father.
Jin Ha as Solomon Baek, the son of Baek Mozasu and grandson of Sunja. Educated at English-speaking schools and Yale University, he has always socialized with Americans and Westerners.
Yoon Kyung-ho as teenage Solomon (guest, season 1)[4]
Soji Arai as Baek Mose/Mozasu (whose Japanese name is Bando Mozasu), a wealthy businessman who owns several pachinko parlors. He is Sunja's second son (the first and only child fathered by Isak) and Noa's half-brother.
Carter Jeong and Koren Lee as baby Mozasu (guest, season 1)
Eunseong Kwon as child Mozasu (recurring, season 2)
Mansaku Takada as teenage Mozasu (recurring, season 2)
Steve Sang-Hyun Noh as Baek Isak,[b] a Protestant minister from Pyongyang, Korea. He marries Sunja despite his poor health condition to save her honor by giving her son his surname. He is Yoseb's younger brother, Noa's legal father, and Mozasu's father.
Han Jun-woo as Baek Yoseb,[5] Isak's second older brother who lives in Osaka, Japan. He is Kyunghee's husband and Sunja's brother-in-law.
Jung Eun-chae as Kyunghee (whose Japanese name is Bando Kimiko), Yoseb's wife and Sunja's sister-in-law. She becomes a best-friend figure for Sunja after they meet in Japan.
Felice Choi as older Kyunghee (recurring, season 1)
Jeong In-ji as Yangjin,[3] Sunja's mother, who runs a boarding house in Yeongdo.
Kaho Minami as Etsuko (season 1), Hana's mother and Mozasu's girlfriend.
The narrative begins in 1915 Yeongdo, a small island of the second largest city Busan, in Japanese-occupied Korea with Yangjin, evidently in some anguish, visiting a female shaman's house, where Yangjin recounts that she is married to a kind man with a cleft-lip with whom she has born three sons, none of whom have lived beyond one year, and asks the shaman to "lift the curse" of her childbearing. The narrative jumps to 1989 in New York City, where it follows a young, sharply-dressed Korean-American business man, who we later learn is originally from Japan and is named Solomon, as he attends a performance-review meeting with two of his managers, who inform him that, despite his stellar performance, he has not been selected by executives for a promotion to Vice President, news that prompts Solomon to boldly propose in the meeting that he be sent to Japan in order to close a stalled business deal worth millions of dollars, since he is confident he can cajole a Korean woman who is holding up the deal, in order to secure for himself the promotion and pay raise he covets. Back in 1920s Korea, Yangjin and her husband give birth to Sunja, a daughter, who as a young girl is popular, bright and capable. Sunja's parents—unnamed in the first episode—house male lodgers, at least one of which is a drunken fisherman who, because of anti-Japanese sentiments, is a controversial figure. In 1989, Solomon travels to Japan, where, prior to his business projects, he visits his father's home, where he catches up, seemingly after a long time away, with his grandmother—the elderly Sunja—his father, and a woman who we are meant to infer is his stepmother. In the 1920s, Sunja's father falls ill and dies. Nine years after his death, she is depicted as a regular merchant in a more developed fish market, still popular, bright, and capable, where she locks impassioned eyes with Hansu, a young impeccably-dressed businessman, who evidently has only then become the market's broker.
2
2
"Chapter Two"
Kogonada
Soo Hugh & Matthew J. McCue
March 25, 2022 (2022-03-25)
In Yeongdo 1930, tensions between Japanese emigrants and Korean natives evidently remain intense, as Sunja's mother, Yangjin, exhorts the teenage girl not to walk unaccompanied, fearing rumors spread among Korean women about targeted assaults upon them by Japanese men. Sunja, bright and capable, dismisses the exhortation, though is accosted shortly afterward on a solitary walk near the market by a group of young Japanese men, who are within moments of raping her before the dapper and commanding market broker apprehends the men and compels their apology to Sunja. In 1989 Tokyo, Solomon attends a wedding reception of the daughter of a prominent Japanese financier with two colleagues from his multinational corporation based in New York City, Shiffley. Solomon begins to immerse himself in the business culture of the Tokyo offices beneath and beside Tom Andrews and Naomi. Contemporaneously, the elderly Sunja nurses her sister-in-law, Kyunghee, as she reminisces about her past. In the 1930s, Sunja and Hansu become closer, as they share details about their dreams, history, and opinions about the world. Eventually, they make love in the woods at the peak of their romance. In 1989 Japan, Solomon's father, Baek Mozasu, the owner of a pachinko arcade, secures a massive loan to expand his operations, while he and his partner take steps to discover the whereabouts of Hana. Solomon's bid to the Korean woman in pursuit of his business deal is refused, and Hana, who we infer is his childhood friend and/or stepsister, erstwhile missing inexplicably, calls him at work and evidently knows more than is imaginable about his personal and professional life.
In Yeongdo 1930, Sunja and Hansu continue their love affair and Sunja becomes pregnant after missing her period. A short period after this time, Hansu, who was supposed to be gone a week from his job as a fish broker, disappears. He returns, however, with a pocket watch as a gift for Sunja. Sunja announces her pregnancy to Hansu and talks about marriage but Hansu informs her that he's married and that he has three daughters but intends to keep her as his mistress. Ashamed, Sunja refuses to be his mistress and ends their relationship. Later, Baek Isak, a Protestant minister stricken with tuberculosis, arrives to the boarding house and collapses in front of it. Sunja later confesses her pregnancy to Yangjin, Isak overhears this and the next day accompanies Sunja to lunch, Sunja sees Hansu on the way to lunch and immediately walks away. Isak and Sunja have a conversation at lunch and Isak proposes that Sunja being pregnant and being unmarried could potentially marry him. In 1989, Kyunghee dies and is cremated. Solomon gets an idea to have Sunja come talk to the Korean woman who refuses to sell her land to him, they get along very well, being that they are of the same generation and relate to each other. They eat rice and Sunja recognizes the taste of the rice as from her homeland. The woman sees right through Solomon and he confesses his plan to use Sunja to get her to sell. It looks as if the plan backfired, but back at the office Tom informs Solomon the woman indeed called him to sell. Hana calls Solomon at work, revealing she's very sick. Sunja visits Mozasu and tells him that she wants to bury Kyunghee back in Korea.
In Busan 1931, Sunja and Isak are married. Yangjin asks for Korean rice as dowry from a local merchant as Sunja is about to leave for Osaka and wants her to remember her homeland. Hansu meets Sunja in the market and berates her for marrying Isak. Sunja tells Hansu that the child is hers, not his. Yangjin offers her jewelry to sell in case of a rainy day, but Sunja shows her the pocket watch given to her by Hansu and lies saying that it was a gift from her late father. A singer on her way to the boat as the evening's entertainment drops her scarf and Sunja gives it back to her. Isak and Sunja leave for Osaka on the boat on the lower decks. The singer in the middle of her performance shifts from an Italian aria to a traditional Korean song and as the guards close in on her she produces a knife and commits suicide. In 1989, Sunja packs for a return to Korea and Mozasu accompanies her. Back in Korea, Sunja orders the car to stop. She goes out to the ocean and breaks down in tears of joy. At the meeting to close the deal, the Korean Grandmother has second thoughts about signing the deal, mostly due to anti-Japanese sentiment and in a moment of empathy Solomon tells her in Korean not to do the deal. The Korean Grandmother gets up and leaves, Tom erupts at Solomon and one of the other Japanese executives tells Tom that he warned him that bringing Solomon into the deal was dangerous and that he made fools out of them. Solomon runs out of the meeting, throws off his tie and dances in the rain to the sound of a street band. Naomi sees this and smiles.
5
5
"Chapter Five"
Justin Chon
Franklin Jin Rho and Soo Hugh
April 8, 2022 (2022-04-08)
Isak and Sunja arrive in Osaka in 1931, and meet Yoseb, Isak's brother. Sunja feels like an outsider, especially as speaking Korean is frowned upon there. Sunja is silent while the two brothers talk. Isak is warned to keep his guard up as they arrive in the area of Ikaino. There, Sunja meets Kyunghee for the first time. Upon seeing the food Kyunghee puts out for her, Sunja breaks into tears. Sunja and Kyunghee come to learn Yoseb is in heavy debt due to paying for Sunja and Isak's passage to Osaka. To repay the debtors, Sunja sells the watch Hansu had given her in Yeongdo. Hansu later buys back the watch in secret. In Busan 1989, Sunja and Mozasu scatter Kyunghee's ashes into the sea. They try to locate her father's grave but realize it has been moved due to construction of a parking lot. Through the Clerk's office, Sunja learns that Shin Bokhee, who she worked with in her boarding house as a young girl is alive and through her is able to locate her father's grave. In Tokyo 1989, Solomon meets with Arimoto who says he will do his best to defend his reputation after the deal collapses. Arimoto tells him that he should look for Hana at the Yoshiwara area by Uguisudani Station. He searches for her to no avail but runs into Haruki, his father's old friend. Solomon takes a phone call from Tom, who tells him that he's been fired, this causes Solomon to panic because his work visa was sponsored by Shiffley's. Before he can respond, Hana calls him and tells him that she's in grave danger.
In Osaka 1931, Yoseb berates Sunja and Kyunghee paying off his debts because it made him look weak. Sunja's water breaks prematurely and she gives birth to a son. Sunja asks Yoseb to name the baby. He does so and gives him the name Noa. In a different part of town, Isak is entreated by a widow who asks him to speak to her son, who is refusing to speak to her. Isak finds the young man and he expresses his anger at being exploited by the Japanese. In Tokyo 1989, Mozasu and Etsuko find Hana but the doctor tells them she is dying of AIDS. Solomon tries to convince Hana to go to America to seek a cure for her condition; she refuses and tells him that the Hana he knew is gone and that despite all his degrees and fancy clothing the Japanese in business will never accept him because of his race. Solomon cleans out his desk at Shiffley's and leaves throwing his box into a nearby fountain. He runs into Mamoru Yoshii who proposes trying to expand a potential Pachinko business beyond Japan to Korea, Thailand and Macau. Solomon tells Sunja that he was fired and blames her for his moment of weakness that led to him telling the Korean Grandmother not to sign the deal.
7
7
"Chapter Seven"
Kogonada
Ethan Kuperberg and Soo Hugh
April 22, 2022 (2022-04-22)
In 1923, a young Hansu lives in Yokohama with his single father Jong-yul, who works as a bookkeeper at an underground boxing ring owned by Ryoichi, a yakuza. Hansu earns money tutoring the dim-witted son of the wealthy Holmes family of American industrialists, whose matriarch suggests sending Hansu to Yale alongside their son. Jong-yul is discovered embezzling money from the yakuza, and is about to be executed by Ryoichi's men when the city is suddenly struck by the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which kills Jong-yul and his would-be executioners. In the aftermath of the earthquake, Hansu finds the bodies of the Holmes family, from whom he takes the pocketwatch he later gifts to Sunja, and encounters Ryoichi, who helps to hide Hansu from a group of vigilantes attacking Koreans. When he finally encounters his family, Ryoichi vows that they will take in Hansu, who still has his "father's debt to pay."
It's now 1938 in Osaka, Isak gets Noa after school and together with Sunja celebrate Mozasu's first birthday. A member of Isak's church is caught reciting the Lord's Prayer when they were supposed to be worshipping the emperor, and Isak is sent to prison. Sunja begins to work in the market, selling kimchi that she and Kyunghee make at home. In Tokyo 1989, Etsuko is told by the doctor that Hana will require a tremendous amount of morphine to numb her pain as she passes away. Etsuko yells at Mozasu after he tells her that she should do what is best for Hana and storms off. Hana dies from her illness just as Solomon comes in to say goodbye. The episode ends with stories from actual Zainichi Koreans in Tokyo 2021.
Promotional poster incorporating several notable characters from the series.
In August 2018, Apple Inc. obtained the rights to the series, which was given a series order in April 2019.[13] The reports also included that Soo Hugh would act as showrunner, writer, and executive producer for the series. The production company, Media Res, would also produce alongside Hugh. In October 2020, Lee Min-ho, Jin Ha, Anna Sawai, Minha Kim, Soji Arai, and Kaho Minami were announced to star, with South Korean filmmaker Kogonada and Justin Chon set to executive-produce and direct four episodes each.[14] Soo Hugh said it took six to seven months of worldwide search to cast the main actors and that she had asked all her actors to audition for their roles.[15] Filming was set to commence on October 26, 2020, in South Korea, Japan, and North America.[16] Lee Min-ho said he had finished filming in Busan, South Korea, in December 2020 and that he was preparing to film in Canada.[17] Filming in Vancouver was scheduled to take place between February 6 and April 9, 2021.[18]
The show's opening theme song is "Let's Live for Today" by The Grass Roots. Hugh said she originally thought about selecting "Out of Time" by The Rolling Stones but they were unable to secure the rights to that song. The title sequence was shot several times with different songs until "Let's Live for Today" was added during post-production.[19]
On February 17, 2022, The New Yorker revealed that Min Jin Lee had been, but was no longer, involved in the production of the show based on her novel. The reason for her lack of involvement moving forward was not given.[20]
On April 29, 2022, Apple renewed the series for a second season.[21] Filming was scheduled to take place in Toronto from January 9 to March 27, 2023, and in Japan from March 27 to June 16, 2023.[22] Leanne Welham was to direct four episodes of the second season.[23]
Release
The first season, consisting of 8 episodes, was produced in three languages (Korean, Japanese, and English). It premiered on March 25, 2022, on Apple TV+ with 3 episodes. One episode was released every Friday until April 29, 2022.[24][25] The second season premiered on August 23, 2024, and is set to release weekly until its season finale on October 11, 2024.[26]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 97% based on 62 critic reviews, with an average rating of 9.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Intricate yet intimate, Pachinko is a sweeping epic that captures the arc of history as well as the enduring bonds of family."[27] On Metacritic, it has a score of 87 out of 100 based on 29 critics.[28] The episode "Chapter Seven" was listed as one of the best TV episodes of 2022 by The New York Times,[31]Rolling Stone[32] and Collider.[33]
The second season has a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 100% based on 37 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Pachinko's second season continues the travails and triumphs of the Baek family with ever-expanding breadth without missing a beat, further cementing this soulful series as one of television's best."[29] On Metacritic, it has a score of 87 out of 100 based on 22 critics.[30]
^Jung Ha-eun (July 23, 2021). [단독]한준우, '파친코' 요셉 役 캐스팅...이민호X윤여정과 호흡 [[Exclusive] Jun-woo Han, cast as Joseph in 'Pachinko'... Breathing with Lee Min-ho X Yoon Yeo-jeong]. Sports Seoul (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 24, 2021. Retrieved July 23, 2021 – via Naver.
^Jo, Hyun-na (August 25, 2022). "[WHO ARE YOU] '카터' 배우 정소리" [[WHO ARE YOU] Actor Jung So-ri of 'Carter] (in Korean). Cine21. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022 – via Naver.
^Jang Jin-ri (April 6, 2022). '파친코' 이지혜, 각본가 수 휴도 극찬한 신스틸러..."립싱크 전혀 안해" ['Pachinko' Lee Ji-hye, scriptwriter Su-Hyu also praised the scene stealer... "I don't lip sync at all] (in Korean). spoTV News. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022 – via Naver.
^Yoo Byung-chul (April 26, 2022). '파친코'에 등장한 정웅인, 이민호와 끈끈한 부자 지간 호흡 맞추며 진한 울림 선사 [Woong-in Jung, who appeared in 'Pachinko', and Lee Min-ho and Lee Min-ho are closely related to each other, giving a deep resonance] (in Korean). Korea Economy TV. Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022 – via Naver.
^Kim Kyung-hee (January 27, 2022). 이민호X윤여정 주연 '파친코' 3월 25일 공개! ['Pachinko' starring Lee Min-ho and Yoon Yeo-jeong will be released on March 25th!]. iMBC (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on January 30, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
^Kim, Ji-hye (September 27, 2022). 김민하X판빙빙, 아시아콘텐츠어워즈서 라이징스타상·인기상 수상 [Kim Min-ha and Fan Bing-bing win the Rising Star Award and Popularity Award at the Asia Content Awards] (in Korean). SBS Entertainment News. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022 – via Naver.
^Lee, Se-bin (October 10, 2022). 김민하, '비욘드 시네마상'→'라이징스타상' 2관왕 영예 [Kim Min-ha, 'Beyond Cinema Award' → 'Rising Star Award' 2 honors] (in Korean). Ilgan Sports. Archived from the original on October 10, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2022 – via Naver.
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