[Current Drama 2022 & 2024] Pachinko, 파친코 - Lee Min Ho, Youn Yuh Jung, Jin Ha, Anna Sawai, Minha Kim, Soji Arai, Kaho Minami - Streaming on Apple TV+ | Season 1 & 2

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Review: Korean drama series ‘Pachinko’ is a triumph among streaming shows

 

 

The sprawling yet specific family saga “Pachinko” is the kind of triumph streaming platforms were built to deliver.

 

Apple TV+’s eight-episode adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s bestselling novel combines serial bingeability with strong cinematic presentation. It’s patient, insightful and a modulated emotional powerhouse that examines maddening history and multiple cultural intricacies — ethnic, political, business, food, faith — with keen eyes. Yet “Pachinko’s” focus always remains on the trials and triumphs of mostly Japan-based Korean families making it through a good chunk of the tumultuous 20th century.

 

Dialogue floats fluidly between Korean, Japanese and English. So do eras in poetically edited, thematically mirroring ways. “Pachinko” creates lost worlds with deceptive ease, awash in a palpable longing for past homes, even as it recognizes that they were anything but hospitable.

 

Sunja is the constant figure throughout “Pachinko’s” key timeframes, 1915 to 1938, and 1989. Born five years after Japan brutally annexed Korea, she’s played as a clever child from a fishing village near Busan by the adorable and spunky Yu-na Jeon; as a teen and young mother in Osaka by soulful newcomer Minha Kim; and as a 74-year-old matriarch by “Minari” Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung. Each actress has a distinctive personality and works different sets of issues and emotions. They’re all so attentive, though — as is the writing by showrunner Soo Hugh (“The Terror”) and her team — that the character feels consistent through all her diverse stages.

 

The show’s other primary point of view belongs to Sunja’s grandson Solomon (“Devs’ ” Jin Ha). He was sent to American business schools as a teenager and is an aspiring master of the universe at a Wall Street bank by 1989. Dispatched to Tokyo to close a billion-yen real estate deal, Solomon discovers Japanese prejudice has many mutations — and he has a lot to learn about his family and himself.

 

Lee Min-ho plays Sunja’s first love, Koh Hansu, in “Pachinko.

South Korean media idol Lee Min-ho gets high billing among the vast cast for what seems to be a supporting role as Sunja’s first love, mobbed-up, Japan-raised Korean Koh Hansu. Prominent in early episodes, he fades into afterthought scenes once Sunja marries. But then comes Chapter Seven, an out-of-continuity flashback in which Lee plays a naive, teenaged Hansu in 1923 Yokohama. He’s in every scene and convincingly traumatized in every conceivable way, which adds fascinating angles to his older, caddish Hansu.

 

That episode is a masterfully rendered hellscape, “Pachinko’s” answer to “Gone with the Wind’s” burning of Atlanta. It’s directed by the brilliant Korean American filmmaker Kogonada (“Columbus,” the just-released “After Yang”). He helmed three other chapters, and the remaining four were directed by that acute chronicler of Korean American dislocation, “Gook” and “Blue Bayou’s” Justin Chon.

 

Kogonada also makes educated documentaries about film artists. He applies revered auteur Kenji Mizoguchi’s Japanese scroll-tracking technique and sensitivity for “fallen women” to this material, along with his own striking, architectural formality. Chon has a looser, contemporary style, with sunlight flooding enclosed spaces like a scrutinizing oppressor and Dutch Masters illumination that lends a sense of isolation to crowded slums.

 

Together, the directors bring artful resonance to what, in other hands, could be a collection of soapy conventions.

“Pachinko” has everything: judgmental relations, generational conflicts, beloved parents who die too soon, teenage pregnancies, missing girls, stubborn seniors, AIDS, yakuzas, awful imperialists and their ever-resentful, colonized victims. Yet the show finds boundless human complexity and different kinds of love beneath melodramatic cliches (Sunja’s relationship with her husband-of-convenience, Steve Sanghyun Noh’s sickly Christian pastor Isak, is a thing of growing tenderness and respect). Where streaming shows often just pad and repeat, this one takes every opportunity to dig deeper into the human condition.

 

And season one doesn’t even get to World War II! “Pachinko” leaves us with many dangling threads, yet still richly satisfies with testimony to history’s impact on people — and people’s determination to be themselves.

 

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/review-korean-drama-series-pachinko-is-a-triumph-among-streaming-shows

 

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Every generation connects us. Yuh-Jung Youn #LeeMinho Minha Kim Jin Ha The first 3 episodes of #Pachinko premiere Thursday at 9pm est/Friday at 10am kst, exclusively on #AppleTV+

 

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Deeply felt and unpredictable, 'Pachinko' follows the epic rise of a Korean family

 

 

Early in the Apple TV+ series Pachinko, an arrogant whiz kid named Solomon — who is of Korean ancestry, but was born in Japan — is trying to secure a huge real estate deal by getting an old Korean woman to sell her house in Tokyo. After regaling him with memories of her painful life, the woman suddenly says, "Tell me honestly. When old people talk of suffering, isn't it tiresome?" Solomon replies, "Isn't that the point? To burden us."

 

He's wrong, but not completely. You'll see why when you watch this adaptation of Min Jin Lee's bestselling novel, a deeply felt crowd-pleaser by a Korean American team — writer Soo Hugh, and directors Kogonada and Justin Chon. Chronicling a Korean family's difficult rise over 70 years, Pachinko offers a cornucopian narrative that's at once a multi-generational epic, an immigrant saga, a history lesson, a portrait of cultural bigotry, a high-class soap opera and a celebration of women's capacity to survive even the darkest circumstances. Awash in big emotions, this is not a series shy about trying to make you cry.

 

Fiddling with the novel's time-frame, Pachinko interlaces two time periods. The first starts during the Japanese occupation of Korea in the early 20th century with the birth of Sunja, a poor girl who is obviously special. When she reaches her teenage years — where she's played by the amazing newcomer Kim Min-ha — Sunja wins the love of two very different men: a handsome gangster (played by Korean heartthrob Lee Min-ho) and a saintly Protestant minister (Steve Sanghyun Noh), who marries her, then moves them to Japan, where they live in Osaka's wretched Korean ghetto.

 

The second strand takes place in 1989 Japan, where Sunja is now a grandmother brilliantly played by Youn Yuh-jung, who won the Oscar last year for Minari. The action centers on her smug, yet anxious grandson, Solomon (played terrifically by Jin Ha), who works at a New York bank and has returned to Japan to close the business deal I mentioned earlier.

 

Solomon thinks such a financial coup will let him escape the stigma that comes from being both Korean and the son of a low-class man who owns a parlor where people play pachinko, the pinball-like gambling game whose unpredictability becomes the story's central metaphor. Unlike his grandmother, who mourns her lost home in Korea, Solomon yearns to shed the skin of his heritage and become a modern cosmopolitan defined purely by his personal talents.

 

Time doesn't allow me to do justice to Pachinko's Dickensian profusion of vivid characters, who are beautifully acted to a one and who variously speak in Korean, Japanese or English (complete with color-coded subtitles). Nor can I begin to tell you just how much stuff happens over the eight episodes. You get death, murder, suicide, love affairs, arrests, diseases, broken homes, broken hearts, fires, earthquakes, a few preposterous coincidences and many intimate moments of great delicacy.

 

Through all these changes there are a few constants, including the hardship, loss and misery that was Korea's lot after the nation's 1910 annexation by Japan, which proceeded to exploit its resources and workers. Such material exploitation is made all the worse by the vicious anti-Korean bigotry of the Japanese, who called the Korean people "cockroaches." When Solomon steps into Japanese boardrooms in 1989, he's still treated as a man with inferior blood who can't really be trusted.

The other constant is the Korean indomitability embodied in Sunja who, thanks in no small part to Kim and Youn's memorable performances, is both the show's spine and its beating heart. Sunja takes all manner of buffeting, yet refuses to knuckle under — either to circumstances or the Japanese. Even as she thinks longingly of her homeland or the distinctive taste of Korean rice, she finds herself wondering, What good does it do to cling to the past?

 

In their different ways, Sunja and Solomon both dream of Koreans finally winning their proper respect. And this series reminds us that they've done just that — in pop culture terms, anyway. Just think. Parasite was the first foreign language film ever to win the Best Picture Oscar. Squid Games conquered the world's small screens. The K-Pop band BTS has international teens swooning. And now comes Pachinko, a show whose groundbreaking vision of Korean history in both its cruelty and triumph, will be remembered as a television landmark.

 

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/23/1088179222/pachinko-apple-tv-review

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So I've already watched episode 1, thanks to the advance screening of Gold House!

 

The reviews are right on raving about the storytelling, cinematography and acting of the cast. And with LMH, the camera does love him! Boy, those eyes, we again see how his eyes add so much depth in his acting. Can't wait to see the whole series!

 

 

 

 

 

[nina_mitrokhina]

Pachinko review: Is it too soon to crown the best show of 2022?

 

The gorgeous and gripping adaptation of Min Jin Lee's bestselling novel is dangerously close to a masterpiece.

 

By Kristen Baldwin
March 23, 2022

 

 

Watching Pachinko, the Apple TV+ adaptation of Min Jin Lee's bestselling historical novel, I kept thinking about that old Saturday Night Live sketch spoofing overly effusive reviews of The Sopranos. ("The Sopranos will one day replace oxygen as the thing we breathe in order to stay alive," raved the Chicago Tribune.) Apologies in advance if this review veers rhapsodical, but Pachinko — a sprawling, stunning drama chronicling four generations of an immigrant Korean family — is truly "it's time to start tossing around words like 'masterpiece'" TV.

Told in Korean, Japanese, and English, Pachinko jumps between multiple time periods, beginning with Japan's occupation of Korea during the first half of the 20th century. In a small fishing village in Busan, a teenage girl named Sunja (Minha Kim) lives a quiet life, traveling daily to the market and helping her widowed mother (Inji Jeong) run the local boarding house. Then Koh Hansu (Korean superstar Lee Min-ho) — the district's dashing and shady new fish broker, resplendent in his white suit and crisp fedora — falls for Sunja, and their clandestine romance ultimately forces her to leave her home and country.

More than a half-century later, Solomon (future superstar Jin Ha), an ambitious New York-based banker, arrives in Japan to help his company close a major real-estate deal in Tokyo. This rare trip home delights Solomon's father, Mozasu (Soji Arai), who runs a pachinko arcade in Osaka — though his grandmother, Sunja (Oscar winner Yuh-Jung Youn), wants assurances that Solomon will return to New York. "Your father may fool himself into thinking things have changed here for us Koreans," she says, "but I know better." Her skepticism is hard-won: Episodes flash back to Sunja's move to Osaka with the kindhearted Isak (Steve Sanghyun Noh) in 1931, a time when Koreans suffered harsh discrimination and financial oppression from the ruling Japanese. At first, Solomon scoffs at his grandmother's admonitions — but the longer he stays in Japan, the more relatable her worldview becomes.

"The whole Koreans versus Japanese situation — why can't people just get over that?" muses Solomon's American boss, Tom (Jimmi Simpson, delivering peak financial-bro). But for the characters in Pachinko, history is something that must be honored — escape is both impossible and ill-advised. The show's vibrant and joyful opening sequence features all of the characters dancing down the brightly lit aisles of a pachinko parlor — old Sunja in her granny tracksuit, young Sunjas (Minha and Yu-na Jeon, who plays the character as a child) in their hanboks. They dance to The Grass Roots' "Let's Live for Today," along with Solomon and Hansu, Mozasu and Isak — past and present, inextricably linked to the future.

Creator Soo Hugh (The Whispers) — who wrote or co-wrote all eight episodes — packs an impressive amount of story into the season. Still, she and directors Kogonada and Justin Chon never rush the characters, or their moments of elation and grief. While sharing a meal with a fellow Korean expat, Sunja takes a bite of rice. Her eyes fill with wonder, and then tears. "This is rice grown in our country," she marvels. It's a taste from her childhood, before the days when the Japanese arrived and took control of Korean farmers' crops. The series devotes an entire episode to the Kanto earthquake of 1923, skillfully weaving the events of that tragedy — and the mass murder of Koreans that followed — into Hansu's backstory.

Both Youn and Kim are phenomenal as Sunja, conveying an impressive spectrum of emotions — heartbreak, defiance, gratitude — through quiet intensity. Ha, such a standout in the weirdo sci-fi thriller Devs, makes a compelling transition to leading man as Solomon, whose go-getter confidence slowly gives way to a shrewd cynicism.

The series covers only a portion of Lee's nearly 500-page saga. I came out of it frantic for another chapter in Sunja's story — and knowing more about Korean-Japanese relations than I learned in four years of higher education. A beautiful, yearning testament to the concept of home, Pachinko may not replace oxygen in the near future, but it's definitely giving me life. Grade: A

The first three episodes of Pachinko premiere March 25 on Apple TV+.

 

https://ew.com/tv/tv-reviews/pachinko-review-apple-tv-plus/

*****

 

Entertainment Weekly writer says Apple TV+ original series 'Pachinko' might be the best show of 2022

 

 

There has been much anticipation for the new Apple TV+ original series, 'Pachinko.'

The story follows four generations of an immigrant Korean family as it draws out the struggles and hardships the family has to face for their hopes and dreams. The story is mainly told in the view of the main female lead, Sunja, who leaves Korea to go to Japan, seeking out a better life.

The drama has been garnering much attention previously, as well as it was announced that Lee Min Ho and Academy winner Youn Yuh Jung would be part of the cast. Also, the trailers that have been released have increased the anticipation for the show. On March 23, one Entertainment Weekly writer praised the drama saying that 'Pachinko' might be the best drama of 2022 even though we're at only the first half of the year.

Entertainment Weekly writer Kristen Baldwin wrote in her article, "Pachinko — a sprawling, stunning drama chronicling four generations of an immigrant Korean family — is truly "it's time to start tossing around words like 'masterpiece'" TV."

With a positive review from an Entertainment Weekly writer, many netizens are more excited to watch the drama. Netizens commented, "I am really excited to watch the drama," "I want to watch the drama so much," "This is amazing," "I hope this drama is really successful," "I'm so curious about this drama," and "My heart is fluttering to watch this drama," "I need to go subscribe to Apple TV now, lol."

 

https://www.allkpop.com/article/2022/03/entertainment-weekly-writer-says-apple-tv-original-series-pachinko-might-be-the-best-show-of-2022

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MYM IG and LMH Twt update

 

Remember, March 25th. It's the day when we meet Hansu, the character of out lifetime, and fall in love with him

 

 

 

 

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The Deadline Watchlist: Oscars, ‘Atlanta’ & ‘Bridgerton’ Return, ‘Halo’ & ‘Pachinko’ Debut + ‘King Richard’

 

Pachinko: Apple TV+ assembles an Oscar winner, a K-drama icon and a fresh face to bring Min Jin Lee’s multi-generational drama Pachinko to screen. Starring Youn Yuh-jung, Lee Minho, Minha Kim and Jin Ha, Pachinko begins with the dramatic yet hopeful upbringing of the novel’s resilient protagonist Sunja. Forgoing the original source material’s chronological approach, the debut also introduces Ha’s Solomon, a savvy businessman who taps into his heritage in hopes of landing the deal of his career. The eight-episode trilingual drama offers a lesson in Korean history and identity, natural chemistry between Minha Kim and Lee Minho, and an undeniably stylish title sequence. 

 

https://deadline.com/2022/03/oscars-atlanta-bridgerton-halo-pachinko-king-richard-watchist-1234984924/

[Geolyvseven]

BBC: Praise on Pachinko

 

Pachinko review: A 'dazzling, heartfelt Korean epic'

 

The Korean TV family epic is 'unsurpassed among recent series', writes Caryn James.

 

The family epic is a shop-worn genre, but the creators of Pachinko reinvent it in their dazzling, heartfelt series about four generations of a Korean family that moves to Japan. The story starts in a poor fishing village in 1915, when Korea was under Japanese occupation, and goes through to the polished world of high finance in Tokyo and New York in 1989. But that saga is delivered with such artistry and imagination – including the passionate yet restrained emotions of the actors, the elegance of the time-shifting narrative and the show's astonishing visual beauty – that Pachinko is unsurpassed among recent series.

 

Based on Min Jin Lee's bestselling 2017 novel, the story centres on Sunya, played as a girl by Yu-na Jeon, in a delightful performance. For much of the story, Min-ha Kim plays her as a young woman who moves to Japan with her husband, a Korean minister. But the true heart of the series is Yuh-jung Youn, who won last year's best supporting actress Oscar as the blunt but warm grandmother in Minari. She plays the older Sunya, who lives in Osaka with her son, Mozasu (Soji Arai), the owner of pachinko gaming parlours (arcades popular in Japan where people play a game resembling pinball). All three actresses mesh perfectly, depicting a life that includes a misbegotten romance in Korea, and years of hard work in Japan selling kimchi from a street cart to support her family. The oldest Sunya's calm but expressive face contains them all. Wise, observant, deeply feeling and still troubled, she carries the weight of her personal past and of history.   

 

While Sunya's trajectory is essentially the same as in the novel, the show's creator, Soo Hugh (The Terror), and its directors, Kogonada and Justin Chon, have radically transformed the book. The novel's straightforward chronology owes a debt to 19th-Century narratives. But the series opens with Sunja's pregnant mother asking for a curse to be lifted so she will not miscarry her child, then immediately leaps ahead to New York in 1989, where Sunja's grandson, Solomon (Jin Ha) is on the rise at an investment banking firm. From there the series keeps moving back and forth, picking up the forward movement of each timeline. This is not complication for complication's sake, but a brilliant stroke. Many episodes from the past flow gracefully from the older Sunja as if they are her flashbacks, adding a poignant layer of memory that enhances the show's emotional power, and gives the screen Pachinko a sharper, 21st-Century feel.

 

In the 1989 timeline, Mozasu has made money with his pachinko parlours. But his profession is considered disreputable in polite society, adding a thread to the themes of class and discrimination that run through the decades. In Sunya's youth, Japanese police beat and threaten innocent Koreans in their own country. Mozasu, although born in Japan, is still considered an outsider there. The mix of languages the characters speak – Korean and Japanese with English in the brief New York scenes – call attention to the divide, with subtitles for different languages in different colours.

 

The entire cast is stunning and natural. Lee Min-ho, a major pop star in South Korea, is the charismatic Hansu, a Korean who works for a Japanese company and returns home as a broker at the fish market near Sunya's village. Dashing in a white suit and fedora, he is drawn to the modest, trusting, teenaged Sunya, who is dazzled by him despite rumours of his ties to organised crime. His life and hers intersect through the years.

 

Jin Ha, a US actor (Devs and Love Life), brings complicated layers to Solomon, who goes to Tokyo to try to convince an old Korean woman there to sell her house to make way for his company's building project. His character is greatly enhanced and at times altered from the novel's, which allows the screen version to foreground the family's generational differences and give Solomon more difficult ethical choices. A scene in which he brings his grandmother, Sunya, to visit the older Korean woman is among the most affecting.

 

Kogonada and Chon (Blue Bayou) direct four episodes each. Throughout, the cameras capture vistas that create an epic feel, looking out across the vast, glittering sea separating Korea and Japan, or down on to Tokyo high rises. Those views move in and out easily, leading to closeups that bring us intimately into the characters' lives. Pachinko is the latest in Kogonada's string of jaw-droppingly good works, including the films Columbus (2017) and the current After Yang, each made with intelligence and amazing visual style.

 

Among the many smart choices in Pachinko, one of the best is its buoyant, joyful opening credit sequence. Each of the major actors dances down the aisle of the pachinko parlour to the bouncy 1967 song Let's Live for Today. They are in costume but not in character as Hansu/Lee swirls around and holds little Sunya/Yu-na in his arms, Solomon/Ha tosses his suit jacket in the air, and a smiling Mozasu/Soji raises his arms in disco moves. Seeing the actors highlights the fictional quality of the story, but the sheer happiness of the endlessly rewatchable scene signals the resilience of the family they play. 

 

In the first episode, when Sunya is very young, her father tells her of the promise he made when she was just a week old, that "I would do anything to keep the ugliness of the world from touching you". Pachinko captures both the ugliness of a world bound to hurt her, and the profound beauty of her father's love, that endures through the generations and outweighs everything else.

 

★★★★★

Pachinko premieres on AppleTV+ on 25 March.

 

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220323-pachinko-review-a-dazzling-heartfelt-korean-epic

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Pachinko is now Certified Fresh at 100% on the Tomatometer, with 20 reviews: https://rottentomatoes.com/tv/pachinko/s01?cmp=TWRT_Tv_Pachinko_CF 

 

 

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Apple TV Plus’ Pachinko is an immersive, poignant, must-see journey

 

 

Let’s get this out of the way: Pachinko is an extraordinary drama. Based on Min Jin Lee’s 2017 novel of the same name, it masterfully weaves the intricate tapestry of a Korean family with an expansive scope, spanning different cities, languages, and generations. The show is at once an educational, sweeping saga (about culture, history, politics, romance, and lineage), and a pointed story about its protagonist, Sunja, and her loved ones at various times in their lives. As such, it’s brimming with ideas, and conveys them really well.

 

Sunja first shows up as a resourceful 8-year-old (Jeon Yu-Na) residing on a small fishing island near Busan in 1920s Korea, then occupied by Japan and rife with militant rule and racism. As a young adult (played by Minha Kim), she helps her mother run a boarding house. After getting caught up in a reckless love affair, Sunja moves to Osaka amidst political turmoil and indigence. The story then goes back-and-forth between her early attempts to assimilate, and an older Sunja (Minari’s Youn Yuh-Jung) in 1989, now living comfortably in Japan with her son Baek Mozasu (Soji Arai).

 

So Pachinko takes place primarily in two Asian countries during highly combative times, with the dialogue in Korean and Japanese (helpfully subtitled in yellow and blue, respectively). Yet there’s an unwavering universal resonance with the show’s—and its source material’s—exploration of freedom and identity. Pachinko is timeless in how it grapples with the complexities of immigration during very specific times, and the writing accurately captures the longing for—and meaning of—home.

 

In the 1989 portion, Sunja’s workaholic grandson Solomon Baek (Jin Ha) arrives from the U.S. to secure a critical deal for his bank and land a VP promotion. The show switches to his point-of-view at times; it’s one that Stateside viewers are probably most familiar with. Having established a successful career in New York City, Solomon has a conflicted relationship with Japan (where he was raised) and Korea (his ancestral country). Thankfully, the transition between all these perspectives is seamless and never tedious.

 

The timeline-hopping differs from the book’s effective chronological structure, but the choice leads to some stunning visual rewards. In episode four, for instance, Sunja bids her mother and friends a tearful goodbye while leaving Busan on (literally) choppy waters, not knowing if she’ll ever see them again. The scene cuts to a wistful Sunja decades later at the airport, finally visiting her homeland with her son Mozasu.

 

Mozasu owns a parlor for pachinko—a popular game commonly found in Japanese arcades—whose players rely on luck to win. The game is an intriguing motif, and serendipity factors into the show in wonderful ways. Chance encounters and subsequent prudent decisions have altered Sunja’s course, whether it’s how she meets and marries Protestant minister Baek Isak (Steve Sanghyun Noh), or her judicious use of an expensive watch gifted to her by her former lover.

 

The parlor is the setting for Pachinko’s electrifying opening credits, which even outdo Peacemaker in the fun department, so skipping the intro here is not an option. During it, snapshots of the countries’ tragedies appear, only to be followed by the cast freely dancing to The Grass Roots’ “Let’s Live For Today.” It’s a moving depiction of endurance, and no one in the show encapsulates this feeling more than Kim’s take on Sunja.

 

She’s Pachinko’s linchpin. All three actors are up to the task to evolve the character, from a promising child actor to a soulful Oscar winner. But Kim’s version is the standout. A relative newcomer, she has to carry Sunja’s toughest years. She instantly embodies the character’s naiveté and gradually molds her into an unbreakable force of nature. Every expression—a painful sob, a longing look, a moment of pride—is transfixing and all too real.

 

The remaining ensemble is compelling, too, especially Jeong In-Ji, who gives an emotional, natural turn as Sunja’s mother, Yangjin. Ha also brings nuance to Solomon despite his journey slowing down Pachinko’s pace in the second half. The whole bank deal situation does drag out, ever-so-slightly marring the show’s overall triumph. But his story leads to Pachinko’s most heart-rending scenes: a sincere conversation between Youn’s Sunja and his potential client, another Korean immigrant, about the struggle to move on from their hardships. (Fair warning to keep tissues handy; the tears will flow).

 

Lee Min-Ho, known for being an endearing romantic lead, is exceptional as the antihero Koh Hansu, a wealthy fish broker with ties to the Japanese crime world. His entanglement with teenage Sunja upends her life. Lee’s scattered appearances build up to episode seven, which is entirely about his own tragic upbringing. (The hour’s contents are a departure from the book and shed a light on the devastating 1923 Kanto earthquake.)

 

The production design and cinematography are just as key to Pachinko, as the characters travel from boardrooms to narrow cobbled lanes, scenic islands to big cities, and devastation to solace. Kogonoda and Justin Chon’s direction elevates the script. Through their eyes, even something as simple as white rice holds court onscreen, whether it’s Yangjin preparing it as a final luxurious meal before her daughter leaves or Youn’s Sunja recognizing the nutty taste of her homeland’s staple, now easily available food.

 

Only three months into 2022, it’s hard not to proclaim Pachinko as one of the best new shows of the year, or years even. Luckily, season one hasn’t covered the entirety of the novel, leaving room for plenty more to uncover in any future installments. Here’s hoping. Because it would be something of a travesty if a multigenerational story this exceptional didn’t get a second shot.

 

https://www.avclub.com/pachinko-review-apple-tv-plus-drama-transcends-boundari-1848672791

 

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Pachinko - a monumental series

 

A review (no spoiler) and statements from k-drama superstar Lee Minho, Oscar winner Youn Yu-jung and other actors and producers to introduce the massive costume production of cinematic

 

Pachinko, AppleTv + original period drama debuting on March 25, probably boasts the most beautiful theme song of the millennium (of the addictive ones, we got the preview episodes on February 3 and are still in love with it). The valuable cast hired to tell the story of Sunja, her parents, her children and her grandchildren dances wildly to the notes of Let's Live for Today. Sparks happiness and joie de vivre, despite the respective characters, over a span of seventy years that culminates in 1989, each suffering very hard experiences. Sunja is barely a teenager when the Japanese occupation and a stormy love forces her to leave Korea to move to Japan, where zainichi , Korean immigrants like her, suffer discrimination and abuse. For the sake of her children, Sunja and her husband Isak, together with the brothers-in-law Kyung-Hee and Yoseb, will face everything.

 

Producer Theresa Kang explained that the iconic sequence - the only chance to see all the performers together - is an important part of Pachinko : " All the characters face triumphs, setbacks and the roughness of life ," she explained, "but while dance that irresistible song we can see who they really are, net of those experiences. They reveal their inner child, their joie de vivre ”. Pachinko is based on The Korean Wife (Ed Piemme), the award-winning novel by Min Jin Lee that showrunner Soo Hugh adapted for the small screen creating a less raw and more poetic story. with respect to the source: “ The book is extraordinary but I didn't want its adaptation to be specular, but rather to be complementary. Translating the events into a visual medium would have made it too harsh, unsustainable, so I sought a balance between light and dark, between laughter and tears ".

 

The result is majestic : Pachinko is an ambitious work with a   gestation that lasted four years , a grandiose historical fresco and the chronicle of the tragedies of a people, the Korean, who survived a century of hardships, told through the events of a single, anonymous family. The Sunja saga is reflected in that of Korea, but Pachinko is not exactly a k-drama, despite Soo Hugh and Theresa Kang (American of Korean descent) are die-hard fans and the actors Youn Yuh-jung and Lee Min-ho ne are famous faces. And despite the fact that more than half of the eight episodes are spoken in this language: "We approached the project long before Parasite 's success, ”producer Michael Ellenberg informed us,“ We knew that one part of the audience, the one who loves k-dramas, would have no problem with the language. We also thought specifically of the Italian audience because they knew they prefer dubbing. However, we went further, and in Pachinko we also speak American and Japanese. It was necessary to faithfully report the story of the characters, just think of Solomon [Sunja's grandson, Japanese of Korean parents who works in the US, ed]that when he speaks English he expresses different shades of his personality than when he speaks Japanese. The language returns a specific emotion ".

 

The show doesn't follow the chronological order of the story , rather it jumps back and forth in time linking characters and situations. Much of the narrative focuses on Solomon, the son of a Pachinko restaurant manager and an American agency employee in 1989. His interpreter , acclaimed Hamilton star Jin Ha , told us about the careful reconstruction of the glossy years . '80 : “ I was not born yet in 1989, but I grew up in the US where the transmitted image of that period was that of a gaudy decade. Instead, I had to study the Japan of those years and I let myself be taken a lot, especially by the music and by a song in particular, Ride on Time . by Tatsuro Yamashita. I sing it all the time ".

 

The sumptuousness of the historical reconstruction, facilitated by a huge budget, is one of the most impressive aspects of Pachinko , a production that has the breath of the great, unforgettable British (and local) dramas; thanks to Soo Hugh's meticulous (he even investigated the size of kimchi cabbages in the 1930s!) and almost obsessive research. Her historical investigations prompted her to expand the narrative towards unprecedented boundaries by revealing the past and future of some characters, and in particular of Ko Hansu , a cryptic, seductive and ambiguous figure of the yakuza with whom Sunja shares some crucial moments of her existence: "Discussing the characters with my writers , ”commented Soo Hugh,“ We dwelt on Ko Hansu and wondered where he came from, who he really was. I realized that I wanted to know more about him and his past so I thought we could give an answer ourselves ” .

 

An entire episode focused on an unreleased flashback to the novel is dedicated to Ko Hansu, in order to reveal the reasons that made him a gangster. Anyone who has read the novel will find a different character : instead of a real irredeemable villain we find a less cynical, more honorable and moral figure, the kind of villain he falls in love with . The direction reserves close-ups that linger on his face, underlining his inscrutable charm and bursting beauty, almost as if to ensnare the public (not without a hint of conscious fanservice , so much so that Soo Hugh had thought of printing T-shirts for the “ Team Hansu" and others for" Team Isak ", the other man in Sunja's life). Wrapped in elegant gangster pinstripes is Lee Min-ho , an iconic figure in the South Korean serial landscape and interpreter of hugely popular k-dramas such as Boys Over Flowers and City Hunter (both inspired by Japanese manga), Heirs, Legend of the Blue Sea and the recent Netflix's The King: Eternal Monarch .

 

The statuesque actor found in the tendency to “ look ahead without letting oneself be governed by the past” a point in common with an otherwise unrelated character. To play the Mafioso he watched and re-watched Al Pacino's interpretation in The Godfather and hopes he was able to deliver the same kind of performance . To help him a lot was literally getting into his shoes, that is Ko Hansu's sophisticated costumes: " The wardrobe helps the actor to 'feel' the character, but for Ko it is even more important: sometimes he uses it to hide his identity. , others to show off the power he has in society". His relationship with Sunja forcefully deviates the course of Sunja's existence, it has an epochal impact in different phases of his life and those of his loved ones.

 

In the role of the latter, humble daughter of hoteliers full of strength, humility, dignity and a sense of sacrifice, three performers, including the newcomer Kim Min-ha and the veteran of Hallyu (the Korean nouvelle vague ) Youn Yu-jung . A Min-ha playing the role of Sunja cost several moments of emotion - " I cried a lot, the series is so full of exciting moments " -, but to play it she did not agree with the other performers: " Not having, of course, scenes together, it was impossible for us to meet on set and discuss the character and how to play her "she recalled, "Yet, I cannot explain how, we knew we had a connection, we knew which type of Sunja corresponded to each ”. This writer delivered her first article on Hallyu to print at least fifteen years ago: of hundreds of compelling Korean female characters known in films and series, Sunja remains one of the most memorable. Her reserve, her pain relegated to the depths of her soul, her modest stoicism, make her a phenomenal literary and television figure.

 

The talented Asian film and television star Youn Yu-jung, the first Korean actress to win the Oscar , last year, thanks to Minari , also acknowledged : “ I am 74 years old and have a long career behind me. I'm not saying this to brag "She confessed," But I've been doing this for a long time and all the roles are now the same thing for me, they're not special. Yet this managed to move me. It is very rare that a character of her excites me, but her honesty, strength and will to survive made me feel a bond with her ". We asked her why small countries like Italy and South Korea managed to conquer Hollywood in different times and conditions with their cinema: “ When director Bong Joon-ho of Parasite won the Oscar he broke a barrier. Then Minari and Squid Game came out and suddenly the rest of the world noticed us, but Koreans have always loved to watch - and make - great serious movies ”.

 

https://www.wired.it/article/pachinko-la-moglie-coreana-apple-tv-recensione-interviste-video/?utm_medium=social&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=Twitter&utm_brand=wired#Echobox=1647966198-1

[syntyche]

The cast of Pachinko could not have been more gracious. My job depends so much on them. I’m excited for you to experience these exceptional performances.

Airs THIS FRIDAY. March 25.

 

cr: rebeccalee.ca

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

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REVIEW: ‘Pachinko’ is Epic and Intimate

 

Television dramas are a dime a dozen, family dramas too. But then there are series that push storytelling to a new level, and that’s Pachinko. An AppleTV+ Original, Pachinko is written and executive produced by Soo Hugh, who created the series and serves as showrunner. Additionally, Kogonada and Justin Chon are executive producers and directed four episodes each. The 8-episode series stars Youn Yuh-jung, Soji Arai, Jin Ha, Inji Jeong, Minha Kim, Lee Min-Ho, Kaho Minami, Steve Sang-Hyun Noh, Anna Sawai, and Jimmi Simpson.

...

Through Sunja, Pachinko handles issues of gender, immigration, and identity. Her choices and the impact of the world on her ripple through her family, ultimately tying her struggle to that of her grandchildren in ways that even decades of change couldn’t correct. More importantly, though, Pachinko shows where the generations meet, where they push each other, and how they learn, too.

 

But while there is great sadness in the series there is also a moving force of resiliency and reckoning there too. A healing journey with depths that leave no stone unturned, Pachinko is a masterful look at family and the histories that every parent and child holds in them. Unraveling generations is no easy task, and this series manages to do it in a narratively and thematically cohesive way.

 

Pachinko has become the new standard for television. Its time-jumping format had a dynamic edge and seamless flow that triumphs where others falter. The relationships between characters as they grow are now my baseline to judge dramatic long-form series. Epic in scope but intimate in its execution, nothing tops the emotive beauty of Pachinko.

 

https://butwhythopodcast.com/2022/03/23/review-pachinko-is-epic-and-intimate/

[Ameera Ali]

 

I can’t wait for it 

 

 

 

[syntyche]

Pachinko Episodes 1 to 3 now available!

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Pachinko — Opening Title Sequence | Apple TV+

 

 

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Yoon Yeojung, Apple TV+ original "Pachinko" will be released today...You can watch the first episode for free on YouTube.
 

The original series "Pachinko" of the online video service Apple TV+ will be released today. 

 

Pachinko, which consists of a total of eight episodes, is a work that has been expected even before its release, starring actor Yoon Yeo-jung.  Apple TV+ announced on the 25th that it will release the first to third episodes of "Pachinko." The first episode can be watched free of charge through Apple's YouTube channel from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the 1st of next month. 

 

Episodes 4-8 will be released sequentially every Friday until the 29th of next month on Apple TV+. 

 

Pachinko, known to have invested 100 billion won in production, is based on a novel of the same name by Korean-American Lee Min-jin and depicts the story of four generations of a Korean-Japanese family in Japan. 

 

Yoon Yeo-jung, who plays the protagonist "Seonja," Lee Min-ho, Kim Min-ha, and Jin-ha appear to show unforgettable saga of war, peace, love and separation, victory and judgment between Korea, Japan, and the United States.

 

https://www.idaegu.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=376695

[twinkle_little_star]

hai everyone.  honestly.. when I first heard that Pachinko was going to air, I was excited. because I simply love the main actor and have liked many dramas of him.  Pachinko when the cast and trailers where let out it seemed interesting and promising by the first 3 episodes I know it was amazing and the cast did what they could with their parts. let's watch it together. something so unusual. in your eyes..  Min Ho Dongsaeng. it's absolutely great. 

 

 

source : 

 

https://tv.apple.com/?ign-itscg=30200&ign-itsct=Future_TV

 

https://www.imdb.com/video/vi3158885145

[CarolynH]

Finally, it's here!

I want to watch LMH on my TV, but my dang smart TV is asking me to log into Apple TV+ when I did that months ago.  I can watch on my ipad or phone, but I must see Hansu on a bigger screen!

[syntyche]

hey @twinkle_little_star! welcome to the thread. Love your avatar! Enjoy watching Pachinko!

 

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Lovely Pachinko banners!

 

 

 

[twinkle_little_star]

1 hour ago, syntyche said:

hey @twinkle_little_star! welcome to the thread. Love your avatar! Enjoy watching Pachinko!

 

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Lovely Pachinko banners!

 

 

 

hai there @syntyche , thank you. 

thank you again for sharing with us, syntyche. it's been really lovely. 

[Lindyloo421]

OMG I have just finished watching the first 3 episodes - it was so wonderful.

The critics got it absolutely right- everything about it was awe-inspiring.

Every single one of the cast was perfect and as for  LMH -what can I say.

His performance was so good, so perfect that it should shut up forever anyone who has criticised his acting in the past.

 

[snowjewelz]

I only managed to watch the 1st episode but I am so, so impressed! They way the weaved through Sunja and Jin Ha's storylines. The cinematography, cast, everything. Totally live up to the hype and amazing reviews! 

[Ameera Ali]

Oh gosh , Oppa is handsome  
 

 

 

[Kris Silva]

 

 

Showrunner Soo Hugh on new series "Pachinko" and its importance

CBS Mornings, March 25, 2022

 

 

[Ameera Ali]

 

I am loving bad boy attitude  , he meet his match , the way she looking at him 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Newbie21SG]

Watched the first episode tonight and this Apple TV+ Original blockbuster drama delivered!

 

The back-story about Sunja's mom in the opening scene set the stage up for an epic drama sprawling over three time-lines. Episode 1 was wonderfully shot and superb acting by all the cast so far. The child actress who was casted as the young Sunja was flawless in her depiction of the smart, tenacious and fearless girl who had to endure losing a father at a young age and helping her mom manage the boarding house.

 

The parallel timeline in 1989 also poignantly portrayed the old Sunja, living in Osaka. Her interaction with her Western-educated grandson, Solomon Baek, showed that despite the generational gap between the two, both underwent roughly similar journey in terms of discrimination. That was also what fuelled Solomon to return back to Osaka to secure a deal that will guarantee his promotion at his workplace.

 

The various scenes highlighting the Japanese occupation of Korea also reminded us of that painful era! This was captured best when Mr. Song, the fisherman, was captured by the Japanese and dragged in front of the watching crowd, including Sunja and her father.

 

Overall, it was an excellent debut for Pachinko and I would rate it as 9.5/10!

Definitely the best Korean drama serial in 2022, beating SBS's Through the Darkness.