[Drama 2022] 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

[Photo Photo]

On 4/27/2022 at 1:35 AM, msdot said:

It puzzles me how the reviewers talk about how "bad" the character of Hansu is. I don't see him depicted that way at all, at least in the TV series. He's tough but fair in his dealings at the fish market. He rescues Sunja from Japanese toughs. Yes, he impregnates her, but he intended to provide very well for her and have a long-lasting relationship. His   insensitivity to how she might feel about it reveals a serious character flaw, but doesn't make him a terrible person, especially considering that male-dominated era and their class difference.  His wife has treated him like a subhuman, and he speaks harshly to her as he "relieves" of her childbearing duty. Hard but hardly villainous.

 

Perhaps it's due to his yakuza ties? And late in the book, his character takes a more vicious turn, but so far in the series, I don't get it. Am I missing something?

 

Still doesn't change the fact that he is a cheater and Sunja would have never dated him if she knew he was married. He tricked her.

[Kris Silva]

It's official !! Pachinko is coming back for Season 2 !!

 

 

[Lindyloo421]

It’s back for season 2- that’s wonderful and what a quick announcement on the same day as the finale. 
My gosh LMH is going to be busy!

How lucky are we- 2 dramas!

[Kris Silva]

14 minutes ago, Lindyloo421 said:

It’s back for season 2- that’s wonderful and what a quick announcement on the same day as the finale. 
My gosh LMH is going to be busy!

How lucky are we- 2 dramas!

 

Yes, so happy it got renewed ! The big question is, when will it air ? LMH is busy with Ask The Stars.  And based on this article, Soo Hugh is also busy with another project.  
 

 

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a39826174/pachinko-season-2-release-date-apple-tv/

 

Pachinko season 2 potential release date, cast, plot and everything you need to know
"There’s no way you could tell the book’s story in one season."

 

...

 

Pachinko has now been officially renewed, but given the international scale of this project, season two could still take some time to reach us regardless.

And on top of that, showrunner Soo Hugh also has another Apple TV+ show on the way. ....   

Given all that, we wouldn't be surprised if Pachinko season two doesn't arrive until 2024, although this early renewal makes us hope that it might arrive sooner.

....

 

 

[agenth]

 

Just heard Pachinko got Season 2 lined up... congratulations team! Now that you finished the first season, it's time to collect your thoughts, feelings - what did you like about it? Did you miss something? 

 

Please share your thoughts to tide over as we wait for the next Season!

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

@nina_mitrokhina @Kris Silva @CallieP @Lindyloo421 @pixie0622 @backstreetboysfan  @msdot @twinkle_little_star @nrllee @imgreatgal @andy78 @1ouise @Photo Photo @madmad min @shamesblade @chickfactor @JoannaID @Thong Thin @rocher22 @Ameera Ali

 

 

 

If you have any poll / event idea , please do get in touch with the EO Team.  This poll is powered by @syntyche

 

re: Your friendly neighbourhood EO Team 

 

@partyon @Sleepy Owl @agenth and @confusedheart

[CallieP]

4 hours ago, Photo Photo said:

 

Still doesn't change the fact that he is a cheater and Sunja would have never dated him if she knew he was married. He tricked her.

 Don't think he cheated, he doesn't really lie.  He assumed she knew, but why would he think she did though?  Pretty naive on his part.  He did cheat on his wife though but I don't think she is surprised.  He is probably a womanizer.

 

Saw some on Twitter asking for LMH to be the adult Noa.  That would be great.  Don't expect him to get a lot of screen-time though as Hansu so I hope he doesn't wait for Season 2 to be on TV before he starts his next project, movie or series. Solomon got a greater role of all the male leads and I really don't care for Solomon.

[nina_mitrokhina]

‘Pachinko’ Renewed For Season 2 By Apple TV+

 

By Alexandra Del Rosario
April 29, 2022 8:00am

 

 

The multigenerational saga of Pachinko will continue at Apple TV+, which said Friday that it has renewed the family drama for a second season. The series comes from creator-showrunner Soo Hugh and executive producers Theresa Kang-Lowe and Michael Ellenberg.

The renewal comes before the Season 1 finale, titled “Chapter Eight,” will be available to stream globally Friday on Apple TV+.

 

Cancellations/Renewals Scorecard: TV Shows Ended Or Continuing In 2021-22 Season

 

Pachinko, based on the 2017 bestseller by Min Jin Lee, stars Oscar winner Youn Yuh-jung, Minha Kim, Lee Minho, Jin Ha and more. The drama follows four generations of a Korean immigrant family who fight to realize their dreams across Korea, Japan and America. The main protagonists are Zainichi Koreans, ethnic Koreans who came to Japan during Japanese colonial rule of Korea, and their descendants, who faced discrimination and marginalization. The freshman season focused on the early life of Sunja (Kim) as she moves from Korea to Japan, and her grandson Solomon’s (Ha) efforts to close a critical business deal.

 

RELATED STORY

 

'Pachinko' Bosses Talk "Resilience And Hope" Of Emotional Finale, Tease "Even More Dramatic" Season 2 Storylines
Hugh and Kang-Lowe shared with Deadline that the upcoming second season may explore the third generation of characters including Sunja’s sons Mozasu and Noa. The story may also build on Solomon’s self-discovery and Koh Hansu’s redemption.

“Words cannot express my joy in being able to continue telling the extraordinary story of this indomitable family,” said Hugh. “I’m grateful to the amazing team at Apple and Media Res studio for believing and supporting this show and to our passionate fans who have cheered us on. It’s an honor to be able to continue working with this amazing cast and crew.”

The drama also features Soji Ara, Inji Jeong, Kaho Minami, Steve Sanghyun Noh, Anna Sawai, Junwoo Han, Eun Chae Jung, Jimmi Simpson and Yu-na Jeon.

Kogonada and Justin Chon are executive producers and directed four episodes each, with Kogonada directing the pilot. Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer executive produce for Media Res; Theresa Kang-Lowe executive produces for Blue Marble Pictures; and Media Res’ Dani Gorin co-executive produces along with Richard Middleton, David Kim and Sebastian Lee.

 

https://deadline.com/2022/04/pachinko-renewed-season-2-apple-tv-1235012491/

 

*****

‘Pachinko’ Renewed for Season 2 at Apple TV+

 

Kelli Boyle
4 HOURS AGO

 

 

As Pachinko Season 1 comes to a close Friday, April 29, Apple TV+ has green-lit Pachinko Season 2. The acclaimed series is developed by Soo Hugh from Min Jin Lee’s bestselling novel of the same name.

Pachinko documents the hopes and dreams of a Korean immigrant family across four generations as they leave their homeland in an indomitable quest to survive and thrive. Beginning in early 1900s South Korea, Pachinko is told through the eyes of its remarkable matriarch, Sunja (Yuh-jung Youn), who triumphs against all odds.

“Epic in scope and intimate in tone, Pachinko tells an unforgettable story of war and peace, love and loss, triumph and reckoning,” the Season 2 logline teases. Season 2 will continue the captivating multigenerational story told across three languages — Korean, Japanese, and English.”

 

Hugh will continue with the lauded series in Season 2 as creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer.

 

“Words cannot express my joy in being able to continue telling the extraordinary story of this indomitable family,” Hugh said in a statement. “I’m grateful to the amazing team at Apple and Media Res studio for believing and supporting this show and to our passionate fans who have cheered us on. It’s an honor to be able to continue working with this amazing cast and crew.”

 

Pachinko stars Academy Award-winning actress Youn as older Sunja, Lee Minho as Hansu, Jin Ha as Solomon, Minha Kim as teenage Sunja, Anna Sawai as Naomi, Eunchae Jung as young Kyunghee, Inji Jeong as Yangjin, Jimmi Simpson as Tom Andrews, Junwoo Han as Yoseb, Kaho Minami as Etsuko, Steve Sanghyun Noh as Isak, Soji Arai as Mozasu, and Yuna as young Sunja.

 

Spoiler

 

 

The series is executive produced by Kogonada and Justin Chon, who both directed four episodes each in Pachinko Season 1. Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer executive produce for Media Res, the studio behind the series. Theresa Kang-Lowe executive produces for Blue Marble Pictures, and Richard Middleton also executive produces. David Kim and Sebastian Lee co-executive produce.

 

Hugh and Kang-Lowe will next develop The White Darkness limited series for Apple TV+, starring Tom Hiddleston.

 

https://www.tvinsider.com/1042736/pachinko-renewed-season-2-apple-tv-plus-soo-hugh/#:~:text=As Pachinko Season 1 comes,novel of the same name.

 

 

*****

‘Pachinko’ Renewed for Season 2 at Apple TV+

 

By Ellise Shafer

 

 

“Pachinko” has been renewed for a second season at Apple TV+ ahead of the series’ Season 1 finale on Friday night.

The Korean, Japanese and English-language drama was created, written and executive produced by Soo Hugh. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee, “Pachinko” follows a Korean immigrant family across four generations as they leave their homeland in hopes of a brighter future. Beginning in the early 1900s, the tale is told from the perspective of Sunja, the family’s matriarch.

“Words cannot express my joy in being able to continue telling the extraordinary story of this indomitable family,” Hugh said in a statement. “I’m grateful to the amazing team at Apple and Media Res studio for believing and supporting this show and to our passionate fans who have cheered us on. It’s an honor to be able to continue working with this amazing cast and crew.”

Hugh also serves as showrunner for the series. Kogonada and Justin Chon directed four episodes each of the first season, and also serve as executive producers. Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer executive produce for Media Res, Theresa Kang-Lowe executive produces for Blue Marble Pictures and Richard Middleton also executive produces.

“Pachinko” stars Yuh-Jung Youn as older Sunja, Lee Minho as Hansu, Jin Ha as Solomon, Minha Kim as teenage Sunja, Anna Sawai as Naomi, Eunchae Jung as young Kyunghee, Inji Jeong as Yangjin, Jimmi Simpson as Tom Andrews, Junwoo Han as Yoseb, Kaho Minami as Etsuko, Steve Sanghyun Noh as Isak, Soji Arai as Mozasu and Yuna as young Sunja.

 

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/pachinko-renewed-season-2-apple-tv-plus-1235254017/

[syntyche]

9 hours ago, agenth said:

 

Just heard Pachinko got Season 2 lined up... congratulations team! Now that you finished the first season, it's time to collect your thoughts, feelings - what did you like about it? Did you miss something? 

 

Please share your thoughts to tide over as we wait for the next Season!

 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

  Hide contents

@nina_mitrokhina @Kris Silva @CallieP @Lindyloo421 @pixie0622 @backstreetboysfan  @msdot @twinkle_little_star @nrllee @imgreatgal @andy78 @1ouise @Photo Photo @madmad min @shamesblade @chickfactor @JoannaID @Thong Thin @rocher22 @Ameera Ali

 

 

 

If you have any poll / event idea , please do get in touch with the EO Team.  This poll is powered by @syntyche

 

re: Your friendly neighbourhood EO Team 

 

@partyon @Sleepy Owl @agenth and @confusedheart

 

Thank you for putting up the poll @agenth!

Thank you EO Team

@partyon @Sleepy Owl  and @confusedheart

 

Thanks for the help @CarolynH

 

 

********************************

 

 

appletvplus IG update

 

'There’s more story to tell.  #Pachinko Season 2 is coming to Apple TV+'

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[nina_mitrokhina]

What’s hot in streaming – Pachinko, Tokyo Vice, Slow Horses
A sweeping historical drama, a meticulous crime epic, and a shaggy spy thriller

 

28 Apr 2022

 

 

THERE’S no shortage of quality content available to stream right now. With Netflix floundering in more ways than one, rival services are more than able and willing to pick up the slack. Here are three shows that are among the very best of what’s out there.

 

Pachinko – Apple TV+

 

Pachinko — Official Trailer | Apple TV+

 

Pachinko, an adaptation of a very well-received historical fiction novel from 2017 by Korean-American author Min Jin Lee, is a generational story of a Korean family stretching from the 1920s to the late 1980s – and everything in between. It is a deeply emotional and deeply human drama about people who find themselves swept up in the tides of history and who try to make the best out of tough circumstances.

For those unfamiliar with history, the show does a very good job of putting the viewer into the perspective of an average Korean during the Japanese occupation, which stretched from 1910 to 1945. Many tens of thousands of Koreans migrated to Japan, forming a labour underclass, simmering under pervasive discrimination. The legacy of this dark period still colours relations between Japan and the Koreas.

Although Pachinko takes place over a grand time frame – with mostly elegant weaving of scenes in the past and present, showing how the past echoes into the present – a throughline is the character of Sunja, played in 1989 (when the modern storyline takes place) by Oscar winner Yuh-Jung Youn, and in her youth by newcomer Minha Kim. Both performances are equally powerful, as we go back and forth and slowly uncover the trauma that dominated her upbringing, as well as how she persevered – though never unscathed.

In broad terms, the series follows a young and impoverished Sunja as she forges a relationship with a taciturn gangster (Korean superstar Lee Minho) and a hopeful priest (Steve Sanghyun Noh), and leaves behind her home for an uncertain future in Osaka, Japan.

 

 

Lee Minho plays a nattily dressed gangster in 1930s Korea and Japan. – Pic courtesy of Apple TV+

The present-day story follows her grandson Solomon (Jin Ha), a banker who has been living in the United States, but has returned home to tie up a business deal and resolve old wounds. The elder Sunja, quietly strong though burdened by the weight of her past, has to juggle a number of family crises, from caring for an ailing sister-in-law to helping her grandson convince another elder Korean woman to give up her land.

Pachinko is not really a plot-driven show, in many ways staying true to its roots as a novel in how it unfolds. It’s not a slow show, per se, but those looking for a mystery to unravel or a propulsive narrative won’t find that here. There are reveals and surprises to be sure, but the show’s power comes from its open-heartedness and humanity.

The show is also a visual feast, as Apple has spared no expense in bringing this world to life. The recreation of Korea and Japan of a century ago is so well realised that it is almost a transporting experience. A standout episode focused on a devastating earthquake in Japan in 1923 is an achievement on so many levels.

While there are many aspects of the show that are specific to the Korean experience, there is plenty for others to relate to, especially those whose history has been defined by colonialism. There’s a lot about the push and pull between modernity and cultural traditions, between east and west, trying to find a place in a country that will always find you foreign… topics that don’t really have an expiration date.

Pachinko is so well conceived that it would be trivialising to call it a tearjerker, but each episode tugs at the heartstrings many times over. This is an epic story well worth catching up with.

 

https://www.thevibes.com/articles/culture/59650/whats-hot-in-streaming-pachinko-tokyo-vice-slow-horses

[syntyche]

“Pachinko” Confirmed To Return With Season 2

 

It’s official: “Pachinko” will be returning for a second season!

 

On April 29 local time, Apple TV+ officially announced ahead of the Season 1 finale of “Pachinko” that the series had been renewed for Season 2.

 

Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by MIn Jin Lee, “Pachinko” is a multi-generational saga of war and peace, love and separation, and victory and judgment that spans Korea, Japan, and the United States. The star-studded cast includes Youn Yuh Jung, Lee Min Ho, Kim Min Ha, and more.

 

“Pachinko” showrunner, creator, writer, and executive producer Soo Hugh remarked, “Words cannot express my joy in being able to continue telling the extraordinary story of this indomitable family. I’m grateful to the amazing team at Apple and Media Res studio for believing and supporting this show and to our passionate fans who have cheered us on. It’s an honor to be able to continue working with this amazing cast and crew.”

 

https://www.soompi.com/article/1524328wpp/pachinko-confirmed-to-return-with-season-2

 

************************************

 

AppleTV+ series 'Pachinko' starring Lee Min Ho, Kim Min Ha, Youn Yeo Jung & more renewed for season 2

 

 

The global AppleTV+ original series 'Pachinko', based off of the bestselling novel by Min Jin Lee, has been renewed for season 2, according to producer Soo Hugh. 

 

Starring 'Academy' award-winning actress Youn Yeo Jung, Lee Min Ho, Kim Min Ha, Jung Eun Chae, and more, 'Pachinko' follows the journey of a Korean immigrant family across four generations from Korea, to Japan, and the United States, as the family members witness war, peace, love, heartbreak, victory, and judgement. Season 1 of the series wrapped up earlier this week on April 29 with a total of 8 episodes. 

 

Producer Soo Hugh relayed in light of the series' renewal, "Words cannot express my joy in being able to continue telling the extraordinary story of this indomitable family... I’m grateful to the amazing team at Apple and Media Res studio for believing and supporting this show, and to our passionate fans who have cheered us on. It’s an honor to be able to continue working with this amazing cast and crew." 

 

https://www.allkpop.com/article/2022/04/appletv-series-pachinko-starring-lee-min-ho-kim-min-ha-youn-yeo-jung-more-renewed-for-season-2

 

**********************************

 

 

 

 

[nina_mitrokhina]

Park Jae Jun ig updated with Lee Min Ho omggg the long awaited selca of daddy Hansu & Noa is finally here

 

[twinkle_little_star]

4 hours ago, nina_mitrokhina said:

What’s hot in streaming – Pachinko, Tokyo Vice, Slow Horses
A sweeping historical drama, a meticulous crime epic, and a shaggy spy thriller

 

28 Apr 2022

 

THERE’S no shortage of quality content available to stream right now. With Netflix floundering in more ways than one, rival services are more than able and willing to pick up the slack. Here are three shows that are among the very best of what’s out there.

 

Pachinko – Apple TV+

 

Pachinko — Official Trailer | Apple TV+

 

Pachinko, an adaptation of a very well-received historical fiction novel from 2017 by Korean-American author Min Jin Lee, is a generational story of a Korean family stretching from the 1920s to the late 1980s – and everything in between. It is a deeply emotional and deeply human drama about people who find themselves swept up in the tides of history and who try to make the best out of tough circumstances.

For those unfamiliar with history, the show does a very good job of putting the viewer into the perspective of an average Korean during the Japanese occupation, which stretched from 1910 to 1945. Many tens of thousands of Koreans migrated to Japan, forming a labour underclass, simmering under pervasive discrimination. The legacy of this dark period still colours relations between Japan and the Koreas.

Although Pachinko takes place over a grand time frame – with mostly elegant weaving of scenes in the past and present, showing how the past echoes into the present – a throughline is the character of Sunja, played in 1989 (when the modern storyline takes place) by Oscar winner Yuh-Jung Youn, and in her youth by newcomer Minha Kim. Both performances are equally powerful, as we go back and forth and slowly uncover the trauma that dominated her upbringing, as well as how she persevered – though never unscathed.

In broad terms, the series follows a young and impoverished Sunja as she forges a relationship with a taciturn gangster (Korean superstar Lee Minho) and a hopeful priest (Steve Sanghyun Noh), and leaves behind her home for an uncertain future in Osaka, Japan.

 

Lee Minho plays a nattily dressed gangster in 1930s Korea and Japan. – Pic courtesy of Apple TV+

The present-day story follows her grandson Solomon (Jin Ha), a banker who has been living in the United States, but has returned home to tie up a business deal and resolve old wounds. The elder Sunja, quietly strong though burdened by the weight of her past, has to juggle a number of family crises, from caring for an ailing sister-in-law to helping her grandson convince another elder Korean woman to give up her land.

Pachinko is not really a plot-driven show, in many ways staying true to its roots as a novel in how it unfolds. It’s not a slow show, per se, but those looking for a mystery to unravel or a propulsive narrative won’t find that here. There are reveals and surprises to be sure, but the show’s power comes from its open-heartedness and humanity.

The show is also a visual feast, as Apple has spared no expense in bringing this world to life. The recreation of Korea and Japan of a century ago is so well realised that it is almost a transporting experience. A standout episode focused on a devastating earthquake in Japan in 1923 is an achievement on so many levels.

While there are many aspects of the show that are specific to the Korean experience, there is plenty for others to relate to, especially those whose history has been defined by colonialism. There’s a lot about the push and pull between modernity and cultural traditions, between east and west, trying to find a place in a country that will always find you foreign… topics that don’t really have an expiration date.

Pachinko is so well conceived that it would be trivialising to call it a tearjerker, but each episode tugs at the heartstrings many times over. This is an epic story well worth catching up with.

 

 

3 hours ago, syntyche said:

AppleTV+ series 'Pachinko' starring Lee Min Ho, Kim Min Ha, Youn Yeo Jung & more renewed for season 2

 

 

The global AppleTV+ original series 'Pachinko', based off of the bestselling novel by Min Jin Lee, has been renewed for season 2, according to producer Soo Hugh. 

 

Starring 'Academy' award-winning actress Youn Yeo Jung, Lee Min Ho, Kim Min Ha, Jung Eun Chae, and more, 'Pachinko' follows the journey of a Korean immigrant family across four generations from Korea, to Japan, and the United States, as the family members witness war, peace, love, heartbreak, victory, and judgement. Season 1 of the series wrapped up earlier this week on April 29 with a total of 8 episodes. 

 

Producer Soo Hugh relayed in light of the series' renewal, "Words cannot express my joy in being able to continue telling the extraordinary story of this indomitable family... I’m grateful to the amazing team at Apple and Media Res studio for believing and supporting this show, and to our passionate fans who have cheered us on. It’s an honor to be able to continue working with this amazing cast and crew." 

 

**********************************

 

 

 

hai @syntyche , hai @nina_mitrokhina..  chingu, thank you so much for the article that you sent us. they are really interesting to read. 

 

 

[syntyche]

43 minutes ago, twinkle_little_star said:

 

 

hai @syntyche , hai @nina_mitrokhina..

 chingu, thank you so much for the article that you sent us. they are really interesting to read. 

 

 

@twinkle_little_star thanks, too, for visiting and commenting on the thread often. 

 

********************************

 

Translations, Meticulous Set Design and Those Opening Titles: ‘Pachinko’s’ Soo Hugh Talks Season One

 

Nearly four years after development formally began on Pachinko, Soo Hugh’s sweeping adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s best-selling novel of the same name, the final episode of its first season bows April 29 on Apple TV+.

 

Evidence of the painstaking approach to making Pachinko — a pricy, time-hopping, multilingual exploration of family — is apparent in almost every frame, and Hugh knows that pain as well as anyone. While not divulging any spoilers for those who’ve yet to tune into the new drama, the showrunner spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about her approach to adapting the novel, what she learned from the translation process and her adamance about kicking off every episode with those invigorating opening titles.

 

Spoiler

People often praise a series or a film for feeling “lived in,” which sounds like some ineffable quality — but it’s one usually achieved through a lot of work. What kind of conversations did you have about giving that feeling to Pachinko?

What I thought was very important for a show like this was that it feel extremely subjective. We have to absolutely believe in the characters in the show and the world that’s created around them. That’s made up of all the components… not just the shot choices, but the set design, the music. You want to suck the audience in, as psychically as possible, to our characters’ world. It’s really a sleight of hand that we’re doing. In order for that sleight of hand to work, you cannot believe that you’re watching is a TV show. You just have to be completely invested in that world. How do we make this feel as lived-in as possible? How do you believe that kitchen that you see has been used by that character for years and years and years?

 

Or the living room, which you see so completely when Yuh-Jung Youn’s version of Sunja is looking for a place to put an urn.

 

We talked a lot about that room. If you ever want to freeze frame —because you have tons of time in your life, right? — look at the titles on those bookshelves. That’s something that most audiences will never do. But because we thought it was really crucial that we make sure that we build this world as authentically and believably as possible. We always said, “Mozasu [Soji Arai] is not going to be a great reader.” He is not going to have War and Peace. Who are the people that he has on his bookshelves? And so we went through and looked at all the bestsellers in Japan during those years — Tom Clancy, Jeffrey Archer, these writers were translated and huge megastars in Japan at that time. That bookshelf is all paperback bestsellers, which totally fits his character. I think it’s not just for the audience, but it’s for the actors as well. When our actors step into that space, they fall into their own characters. It really helps them become those characters. That felt important.

 

What did you learn from the rigorous translation process — moving scripts from English to Korean and Japanese and then back to English again for the subtitles? And how do you think the learning curve will be different in future seasons?

 

The biggest lesson I learned was just how to trust people in this respect. I’m so protective over the script, and I had to make a leap of faith on this one that I’ve never done before. It’s interesting. When you’re in America, because so much of the content has been in English for so long, we take for granted what it’s like when the dominant language is not English. We had many translators who did different things, various dialects, various aspects of the translation, but our dialogue translator is this gentleman named Hwang Seok-hee. He’s almost a celebrity in Korea. Well, why would a translator be a celebrity? Because so much of English-language content has been translated into Korean, that they’re so in-tune to what a good translation is. In America, we never even think about it, right?

 

Not at all.

I think that’s fascinating. And, just terms of phrases that I take for granted that don’t exist in those other languages… it was constantly trying to figure out, “Ah, you’re right. That’s an idiom. It makes no sense to you.” How do we figure out a different way for that character to say something while still being true to that character’s voice?

 

I heard somewhere that you studied poetry.

I mentioned poetry classes. [laughs] I am, by far, not a poet in any way. But when my brain hurts, I like to read poetry and it sort of takes me into a different energy space. And I bring poetry into the writer’s room because I really do ask the writers to think about how words sound on page. I’m one of those people that believe that script is an art form and I would defend it to the death. There’s so many amazing screenwriters who understand that and make sure that language is used rigorously and deliberately in their script. They’re the people I most admire.

 

Outside of the actual translation process, what was the biggest challenge language posed here? Because you’re a showrunner, but you’re delegating to people and working with a lot of collaborators who speak a number of languages.

 

I always make this joke, but I so wish we had a documentary crew follow our set around because it would’ve made the best comedy. We had so many translators on set. Every department, be it the camera team of the makeup team, had their own translators, Korean translators, Japanese translators. Once you get to set, all these translators would swarm together and you’re just listening to all these languages being spoken at once. The first few weeks of shooting I just remember thinking, “This is insane.” I thought it was really heartwarming because we figured out how to get past miscommunication and misinterpretation and we really became a family. But it was nutty.

 

Have you followed how it’s been received abroad?

It’s airing wherever Apple TV airs. In Korea, because I have probably most intel there, it’s become a phenomenon. It’s something that I just would never have imagined. You look at Korean content, it’s amazing. I was very worried about whether or not this show would be successful or interesting there. The reviews and that welcome from people probably means the most to me. This is a hard show, because of the languages and the time periods, but for people to embrace the show as warm as they have, I just hope it speaks to this craving that the audience has for shows like this. They don’t have to just be Korean. I hope it opens the flood gate.

 

At what point in this process did you decide that this should be a multi-season story?

From the very beginning, I never thought it was possible to do this as a limited series. It was always conceived and sold as an ongoing four seasons. The book is 500 pages. You can’t do it in one season. But then, when you live with the show, the character’s grow and grow and you fall in love with them and you start to see their past, present and future. The timelines multiply. And there’s all these characters that I love from the book that we don’t even meet in the first season — not because they’re not important, it’s because their time has not come.

 

Did that play into your departure from the linear timeline, like the one in the book?

 

It just felt so intuitive to me. When I finished that book, the four generations in my head became a conversation. And it’s the conversation that I’ve been having with my own family history, that so many have with their own family history. If you told it linearly, the way the narrative unfolds is completely different. It would’ve made a beautiful adaptation, but I think it would’ve made a simpler adaptation. I really was interested in the bigger questions, running concurrently within the story. Adaptations are such an interesting art form.

 

This was also quite laborious. You spent four years doing the first season.

 

It did take a bit of time, didn’t it?

 

How are you looking at the coming seasons?

 

As soon as I finished post-production, which was also a long process, the Apple team was like, “So you don’t think it’s going to take another four years do you?” I could hear the fear in their voices. I know the responsibility. Once you present a show, you have to be on a cycle or else you’ve lost your audience. And I think so much heavy lifting was done in conceiving of the show that the second season will hopefully go much faster.

 

Spoiler

Can you walk me through the choices that you made with the opening titles? They’re quite unexpected, in juxtaposition to the narrative of the show, and they really beg viewers to not hit a “skip intro” button.

 

I wrote the title sequence into the script. I wanted, from day one, people to know that we were going to have a title sequence. Period. I love title sequences, because I think they really set up that feeling that you are about to experience something. And I don’t think of this show as bleak at all. I think of this as life. You have ups and down, trials and tribulations, laughter and tears. But the title sequence for me was that gift to the audience. What I love about that title sequence is that it’s the only time in our show that past and present will ever meet.

 

Yes, it creates a dialogue between the different generations.

 

We are being non-diegetic. We’re stepping outside of the fictional world for a minute. And in title sequence, there’s photographs from our actors of their own real life family. We try to incorporate as much of our lives into that title sequence. I would say this for myself, for the actors and for so many of the crew, this show is more than just a TV show for us. It’s the culmination of what we’ve been working so hard for, for so long. It felt like a reclaiming of our identity. So that title sequence is not just for the audience. It’s for us. We wanted to celebrate the show.

For anyone who says it’s jarring and different, I do think it starts to take on a very different mood and feel as the episodes continue. And, in episode eight, we do something different with the title sequence. But in order for that to work on episode eight, you have to have lived with the title sequence in the previous episodes.

 

Last question: what’s the best thing you ate during the Korean portion of the shoot?

 

That’s a really important question. I’m partial to my hometown Busan. This is a terrible, terrible comparison, but I’m just going to make it anyway. Think of Seoul like New York and Busan like L.A. New Yorkers are going to get very mad at me, because I’m a New Yorker, but I still think L.A. has the best food. Because I really like the street food, that everyday cuisine. Busan has this rich variety of cuisines, and I really like seafood. The best thing I probably ate… actually, it’s in the show. Dongnae pajeon. I love pajeon, but in Busan they make it with just every seafood imaginable and we get all the condiments. It’s just hot and fatty and crispy and amazing.

 

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/pachinko-finale-showrunner-soo-hugh-interview-season-two-1235136876/

 

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Pachinko season 2 potential release date, cast, plot and everything you need to know

 

Pachinko is the kind of epic story that could so easily falter on screen, and yet Apple TV+'s adaptation has defied the odds to become one of this year's best shows by far.

 

Much of that is down to Soo Hugh's unique approach to the material. Rather than adopting the same linear approach that author Min Jin Lee used in the book, Pachinko's showrunner decided to blend different timelines together, creating a mesmerising tapestry of Sunja's life across multiple generations at once.

 

As powerful as this is, that approach will only work properly if Pachinko returns for the multiple seasons that it so clearly deserves. Thankfully, Hugh plans to continue the show for four seasons in total – and Apple has now confirmed that season two is definitely on the cards (via Deadline).

 

"There's no way you could tell the book's story in one season, nor should you," she told Variety. "It would be a disservice to what the book accomplished. When you think about all the characters that we have, we want to live with them and move on this journey of what a live is. So that was always the intention when we filmed the show. Our fingers are crossed for season two."

 

And now it's been confirmed! So join us here at Digital Spy as we share everything you need to know about Pachinko season two on Apple TV+.

 

Pachinko season 2 potential release date: When will it air?

 

Pachinko has now been officially renewed, but given the international scale of this project, season two could still take some time to reach us regardless.

 

And on top of that, showrunner Soo Hugh also has another Apple TV+ show on the way. Based on David Grann's non-fiction book, The White Darkness will star Loki's Tom Hiddleston as a British explorer who tried to cross the Antarctica on foot.

 

Hugh is developing the project as showrunner alongside Black Swan writer Mark Heyman.

Given all that, we wouldn't be surprised if Pachinko season two doesn't arrive until 2024, although this early renewal makes us hope that it might arrive sooner.

 

Pachinko season 2 cast: Who's coming back in season 2?

 

Key cast members such as Youn Yuh-jung (as Kim Sunja), Kim Min-ha (as teenage Sunja), and Lee Min-ho (as Koh Hansu) are all but guaranteed to return – and they'll likely be joined by the following:

• Soji Arai as Baek Mozasu
• Jin Ha as Solomon Baek
• Han Jun-woo as Baek Yoseb
• Jung Eun-chae as Kyunghee
• Felice Choi as older Kyunghee
• Steve Sanghyun Noh as Baek Isak
• Anna Sawai as Naomi

 

New faces could show up too, including younger and older versions of various characters who we already met in season one.

 

Pachinko season 2 plot: What will it be about?

 

Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Pachinko actor Lee Min-ho told us that he "would really love" to return for a second season: "I think all the characters go through a lot of personal growth. So in season two I’m very curious about the personal growth of our characters."

 

But what does that growth look like? Season one ended with Sunja finding some independence as a kimchi seller in the marketplace. This will keep her family going until her husband returns from prison, assuming that he is even released.

 

Fans of the book will likely know what's coming next, because, for the most part, this adaptation has been a faithful, yet remixed version of the source material. However, the introduction of new characters like Naomi suggests that unexpected elements will continue to take even longtime readers by surprise in season two.

 

One thing we are sure of though is that little Noa will play a much bigger role moving forward. And of course, don't forget to bring your tissues. If season one was anything to go by, future episodes will be just as euphoric and yet devastating in equal measure.

 

Ahead of the finale, showrunner Soo Hugh teased more season two details in a chat with Deadline:

"I'm excited about three things in season two. In season two, Kyunghee (Eun-chae Jung) I think she comes into her own as just her own person and her own being, and she's just one of my favorite characters in this story, so I would love, love to see that."

 

Soo continued: "The brotherhood between Mozasu and Noa, I think because they're so young in season one, we don't get a capture, but in season two, that brotherhood is just magical. Then season two, we see a reunion that is my favorite reunion in the book. If I said a name, that is a spoiler."

 

In that same chat, executive producer Theresa Kang-Lowe added:

"I think where we're going in season two, the stakes get even bigger and it's actually even more dramatic because what happens is you see with occupation how something is coming towards everyone in Korean-based families. What happens in season two is the scale grows and the stakes get even higher. I can't tell you more than that, but I can tell you… we always say that season one is epic. Season two it gets to an even greater place of epic-ness in scale."

 

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a39826174/pachinko-season-2-release-date-apple-tv/

 

***********************************

 

Pachinko season 1, episode 8 recap – the finale and ending explained

...

The ending

There is plenty of heartache but there is also inspiration too. Pachinko plays into its two main strengths with the finale. Firstly, the show’s ability to conjure heightened emotion. “Chapter Four” had me in tears and the finale is just as powerful. The gut-wrenching scenes in question involve a young Noa chasing after his father in the police car and Solomon taking Hana to the hospital roof for one last moment in the sunshine. This is a heartbreaking finale that capitalises on the characters’ yearnings. The second strength is finding hope in all this devastation. Sunja starts her own market stall and Hana gets the closest version of her dying wish.

 

This is a fitting end to the generational saga, one that captures the struggles of a displaced nation and the importance of legacy. Creator Soo Hugh has crafted an exceptional series that hits hard, addressing a forgotten history and its people. The very end scenes take a break from convention, with interviews of the women who endured these atrocities themselves, those who inspired the novel, and subsequent drama. They bring a raw authenticity to the conclusion, which only adds to the overall potency of the subject matter.

 

https://readysteadycut.com/2022/04/29/recap-pachinko-season-1-episode-8-the-finale-and-ending-explained-apple-tv-plus-series/

[nina_mitrokhina]

leeminho film "apple tv +" pachinko "hansu trailer long"
has been added to the AppleTV+ Pachinko site.
This is first of Apple, andproving Lee Min Ho's global influence and his credibility as an actor.

 

[syntyche]

@CallieP, saw this article on why young Hansu wore a kimono and his dad did not in episode 7. Interesting read.

 

**********************************

 

How — and Why — Pachinko Re-created Japan’s Dual Kanto Disasters

 

 

The television adaptation of Pachinko, Min Jin Lee’s 2017 best seller about four generations of a South Korean family living in Japan, has taken a few liberties with its source material. Lee’s novel begins in 1910 with Hoonie and Yangjin — parents to the main character, Sunja — struggling to make ends meet as boardinghouse owners in the South Korean fishing village of Yeongdo; their labor and sacrifices provide a blueprint for their descendants, whose stories follow chronologically. But on the decade-spanning Apple TV+ series, the plot jumps fluidly between timelines, seamlessly mirroring the suffering and joy of one generation into another and providing a modern anchor in Sunja’s grandson Solomon (Jin Ha), who grapples with the reverberations of his ancestors’ decisions while pursuing a career in finance in the 1980s.

 

But the biggest departure from the book comes in the penultimate episode of the first season, “Chapter Seven,” which flashes back to Koh Hansu’s (Lee Min-ho) lower-class upbringing in Yokohama, Japan. Lee’s novel left Hansu, a wealthy fish merchant and father of Sunja’s first child, as an enigma, offering only slight details about his personal life — he’s married to a Japanese woman and works for her father — and almost nothing of his past. Series creator and showrunner Soo Hugh was fascinated by Lee’s rendering of the stoic, secretive Hansu and knew early in development that she wanted to use one of the first season’s eight episodes to explore his character and backstory.

 

Spoiler

Hugh foregrounds Hansu’s hard exterior with tragedy: He’s a survivor of the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake and the subsequent Korean massacre by Japanese vigilantes. “Chapter Seven” is a stand-alone episode that feels like a departure from the rest of the series, from the visual language down to the absence of its joyful title sequence, which was written into the script. “I wanted audiences to know from the very beginning that we’re not watching a regular episode — that the vibration of this episode was going to be unsettling,” says Hugh.

 

The 1923 Kanto earthquake had a magnitude of 7.9 on the moment-magnitude scale and was so devastating that, to this day, Japan acknowledges the tragedy by practicing emergency drills across the country. Hugh first learned of the disaster while researching Japanese history in the months prior to launching the writers’ room. She was shocked she had never heard of it before. “I felt like something of this magnitude should be studied and learned,” she says. “As I started to piece together the Kanto-earthquake research, it felt perfectly in line with Hansu’s backstory.” She describes the earthquake as a “sliding-doors moment” for the character, who was set to chase the American Dream via an offer to move to the United States with the Holmes family, which employed him as a tutor. “He has two paths in life, and the earthquake completely shuts off one path,” Hugh says. “He could have lived a completely different life if he hadn’t been in Yokohama in 1923.”

 

America’s looming presence in Korea and Japan during this period manifests not only in Hansu’s What if story but also in the costuming. Though Hansu wears a worn-down kimono as a sign of his forced assimilation into Japanese culture (Hugh and director Kogonada “wanted Hansu to look young and fragile,” according to costume designer Kyunghwa Chae), his father dons western garb. “His father has a strong aspiration for western society and is dressed in just that: his desires,” Chae says. Hansu’s father saw America as the answer to his family’s plight and the only way out of their fate in Japan — the same mind-set that sends Solomon abroad for education and instills in him a reverence for his job at a western bank.

 

Once the writers established the story line for episode seven, Kogonada, who also directed the first three episodes of the series, pitched the idea of adding a scar to Hansu’s face. The mark above his eye, which is present from the Pachinko premiere onward, stems from a blow from his father during an argument about Hansu’s future in Japan and serves as a physical reminder of what Hansu lost that day. “He carries with him the loss of his father and the loss of hope. On this day, he sees the ruthlessness of history and realizes what it means to survive,” Kogonada says.

 

For “Chapter Seven,” war films provided a touchstone for all aspects of production. To help Lee embody this traumatic event and map out Hansu’s emotional journey, Kogonada assigned him a viewing of the 1985 Russian film Come and See, which depicts the effect of war on a boy’s life. “We knew we wanted to end on Hansu’s face and that we were going to linger there and feel this transformation in his eyes,” Kogonada says. The episode is shot in a different aspect ratio from the rest of the series to showcase it as a portrait of Hansu. “This was a parenthesis in our story to step back both historically and in regard to Hansu,” the director says. “Wider aspect ratio is not suited for portraiture, so we added height because it’s shaped more for the face.”

 

Survival is at the heart of Pachinko’s framing of the Kanto earthquake, which killed over 100,000 people on September 1, 1923, including thousands of scapegoated Koreans. But much is still disputed about these murders at the hands of Japanese vigilantes in the earthquake’s aftermath, and the show made fact-checking a priority. Employing historians, consultants, and experts, the series’ preproduction team went to work translating Japanese texts and watching documentaries to understand what exactly happened.

 

Spoiler

Episode seven of Pachinko is likely the first time western audiences will learn of the Kanto earthquake and massacre, and while accuracy was of the utmost importance, Hugh wanted to make sure the show didn’t feel like a history lesson. She scaled back on the horrors of the violence; in her research, she read accounts of Koreans being lined up against the canals and then either shot or lit on fire. “I didn’t want to bring that kind of visual imagery to the show or to the real world,” she says. Instead, the episode depicts a shack hiding Koreans set on fire — still conveying the brutality of the moment without indulging in explicitly gruesome images.

 

Hugh also took liberties with the time stamps present throughout the episode. 12:10 is the accurate timing of the earthquake — records showed stopped clocks indicating the initial impact — but the rest of these moments within the episode serve as a creative expression of Hansu’s fictional journey that day. In fact, Hugh acknowledges that much of the violence in the aftermath didn’t actually take place the night of the earthquake: “It was spread out over days, but because of the compression of time with the narrative, we moved it up.”

 

One of the visuals the production team kept coming back to was the dust, which oral histories described as tinged yellow and hanging thick in the air. Production designer Mara LePere-Schloop focused on re-creating the texture and color, importing samples from the U.K. and Malaysia to their shooting location in South Korea. The production team dealt with COVID restrictions, supply-chain limitations, and film-industry standards around what was deemed safe for use. “There was a difference between what we would use as set dressing versus airborne dust from canons,” LePere-Schloop says. The special-effects team would spray different layers of watered-down dust onto set pieces to get the desired effect, while cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister tweaked the lighting to reflect the thick, smoglike quality in the air.

 

Kogonada and Hugh identified the initial trembling and subsequent collapse of the city’s buildings as impactful moments in the episode. For the scene in which Hansu, his father, and Ryoichi experience the first quakes, LePere-Schloop’s team built the set onto a giant steel box that could torque and move in all directions so the scene wouldn’t rely on camera movements to convey the shocks. The cast rehearsed the earthquake scene many times and shot it in one take. “Most of the set was resettable, but the enemy was actually time,” LePere-Schloop recalls. “If it was a movie, we would have had a week to shoot that sequence. Instead, we had one night.”

 

Over and over again, the people behind Pachinko describe working on “Chapter Seven” as akin to shooting an epic movie during the eight months of series production. “The ambition and scale of the episode was really memorable, though it was a herculean task,” Kogonada says.” It required new locations, costumes, props, and crucial attention to detail from everyone involved — even as production shot the series out of order. But to bring such a significant moment for the Korean diaspora and Japanese history to life, Kogonada says, “all of the challenges were worth it.”

 

https://www.vulture.com/article/how-pachinko-episode-seven-recreated-great-kanto-earthquake.html

 

********************************

 

Pachinko tells an epic, stirring multi-generational saga of displacement and homecoming

 

Spoiler

Pachinko, the Apple TV+ series adapted from Min Jin Lee's second novel, is named for a pinball-meets-slot machine derivative that is a national obsession and a booming industry in Japan. Players launch tiny metal balls into a vertical maze of pins. The ball makes its journey downwards, facing a variety of obstacles. The goal is for the ball to fall into a pocket with a decent pay-out value. Running a pachinko parlour is how a Korean family jostling for a place in a hostile Japanese society ultimately improve their fortunes in this multi-generational saga of displacement and discrimination. The game's mechanics inform the show thematically and structurally. For the matriarch Sunja and her progeny at the centre of the story, the trajectory of their lives is determined well before the launch of the ball. At birth, they are plunged into a cacophony of cries, laughs, flashing lights and competing stimuli. The rest of their lives are spent bouncing and ricocheting off obstacles, correcting and sometimes overcorrecting the trajectory. A single mistake can undo all the hard and precise work put in towards the goal of social mobility. This isn't a game based on skill alone, but luck too. And you need plenty of it, as the owner of the pachinko parlour has rigged the game to keep the winnings always under his control. Learning the rules and learning they are either arbitrary or predetermined is only half the battle won. Pachinko is life itself.

 

Over a sprawl of a near century, the show created by Soo Hugh traces the trials suffered by a Korean clan living under Japanese occupation in Busan to living among their colonisers in Osaka. History serves as a fluid backdrop to a story epic in its scope, but intimate in its characterisation, especially in how it captures its characters' inner lives. The experiences of Japan's ethnic Korean community, referred to as Zainichi, going back to the colonial days is framed through the lens of Sunja and her family. Kogonada and Justin Chon, who split directing duties between the eight episodes, give the show an unerring sense of rhythm, weaving emotion, thought and history to an intergenerational narrative. Season 1 charts two timelines. In the first set in the 1910s to 30s, we follow Sunja, a poor and uneducated daughter of innkeepers, as she grows up in a tiny village a ferry ride from the fishing port city of Busan, falls in love with the ambitious fish broker Koh Hansu (Lee Min-ho), becomes pregnant only to discover he has already got a family in Japan. Before she faces ignominy, a kind missionary saves her from it, whisks her off to Osaka, where a whole other nightmare of poverty, misfortune and persecution awaits them. In parallel in the year 1989, we follow Sunja's grandson Solomon (Jin Ha), a Yale-educated real estate hotshot who decides to return to Japan to secure a deal worth millions to rise up the corporate ladder. The return to roots however triggers an identity crisis. The thread that ties both timelines together is the immigrant family's endless search for a place they can call home.

 

The trauma passed down from generation to generation marks each differently but indelibly. Solomon is in constant negotiation with his identity. A Yale education doesn't insulate him from discrimination in the American company or its Japanese office where he works. Having been born and brought up in Japan, he still remains an outsider, never quite accepted by his colleagues. This in-between identity also causes generational discord, as Solomon has grown up with comforts his father and grandmother never had. Assimilation was a relatively easier process for him.

 

How immigrants adapt to the dominant culture through language is conveyed visually with colour-coded subtitles: blue for Japanese words and yellow for Korean. When Sunja and Solomon converse, Solomon mixes words from both languages, and the subtitles highlight the distinction. Code-switching helps Solomon navigate the discrimination and if possible, turn it to his advantage. We see this when he can't convince the Korean homeowner to sell him her land, and he switches to Korean to appeal to her as a compatriot.

 

Food becomes its own language, a whole other mode of expression, in the world of Pachinko. When Solomon takes Sunja to convince the homeowner to sell her land, Sunja is served a bowl of rice sourced straight from Korea whose nutty flavour immediately takes her back to her childhood. Solomon of course can't taste any difference. It's these details in quiet moments that makes Pachinko such a powerful tale. Whether a bowl of steamed rice prepared by a mother as a gift for her daughter's wedding or a fresh batch of kimchi whose recipe has been passed down for generations, food conveys a deeper emotional truth. It acts as a tool of communication, linking the past, present and future. The buoyant title sequence has a similar effect, as Sunja and her family, across every age and every generation, twirl, slide, leap and boogie down to The Grass Roots' "Let's Live for Today" in a pachinko parlour.

 

The three actors who play Sunja — Yu-na as a child, Kim Min-ha as a teenager and Youn Yuh-jung as an octogenarian — convey her inexhaustible strength, grace and resolve. The younger iterations delicately echo the physical and psychological presence of their older counterpart. Artful editing keeps a narrative that switches back and forth between different periods seamless. The younger Sunja's journey to Japan in the fifth episode is intercut with the elderly Sunja's bittersweet homecoming some six decades later. The Busan she returns to is very different from the Busan she had left. Learning about the relocation of her father's grave and the death of her childhood friend, she is wracked by survivor's guilt. "It's not shameful to survive, mom," assures her son Baek (Soji Arai) in a heart-rending moment.

 

Though Koh Hansu refuses to marry Sunja, he still uses his wealth and power to help her in his own way, unbeknownst to her. The finale hints he is still keen on playing a role in their son Noa's life. This and the resulting complications will no doubt shape the events of the next season. In contrast to every other episode, the colours are a lot less warm, the tone more sombre in the seventh, which zooms in on Koh Hansu's youth growing up with his father in Honshu. Koh Hansu turns out to be one of the few survivors of Japan's deadliest natural disaster, the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923. Adjacent to the devastation, an entirely man-made disaster unfolded. Rumours spread of Koreans breaking out of prison and rioting, and the grieving Japanese took their pain and anger out on the Koreans. The resulting massacre illustrates a tragic case of displacement — in both the sociological and psychological senses of the word.

 

Just like a player pulling the lever in the game of pachinko, the immigrant striving for a better life is making a choice, taking a gamble, hoping for a decent payout — knowing very well the game is rigged. Like every group of immigrants who arrive on foreign shores, Zainichi Koreans were treated as the underclass, second-class citizens who were denied the rights and privileges of the ruling class yet blamed for society's ills. They suffered every injustice that politically disenfranchised minorities all over the world are made to suffer. With little to no access to well-paying conventional professions, some like Sunja's son Baek thus gained an economic foothold by running pachinko parlours for the yakuza. (For whom, it's just another money-laundering scheme — as we also see in Tokyo Vice.)

 

By sketching the story of a single family on a larger historical canvas of a marginalised ethnic community, Pachinko bares the mechanisms of internalised trauma, and how the weight of it can fracture generations. Yet, at the same time, it is a reminder of the possibility of family as survival. For a story that encompasses oppression, injustice and cruelty is mitigated by everyday acts of peace, heroism and kindness. Where there is disaster, natural or man-made, there is also fortitude. Where there is loss, there is also love. Where there is hardship, there is also opportunity for renewal.

 

https://www.news9live.com/entertainment/ott/pachinko-apple-tv-review-epic-stirring-multi-generational-saga-of-displacement-and-homecoming-167241

[backstreetboysfan]

Thank you for putting up the poll @agenth! .

[nina_mitrokhina]

A very strange Korean article with a narrow outlook and controversial conclusions, in my opinion:

 

Pachinko is a Korean drama? This random innocence is terrible

2022.04.30

 

 

Another K-content after Parasite and Squid Game, Pachinko. This is a compliment that is often heard in the media these days. But is it really so? Can Pachinko be considered a cultural triumph if "we" is chosen, produced, and distributed as a sign for Apple TV+? Reality is not so simple. This is because the work of "Pachinko" requires a different point of view than the world view that "we" have had so far, from original work to drama.

 

Let's start with the conclusion. Pachinko is not a Korean drama. It is nothing compared to the original Korean Wave drama presented by Winter Sonata, and is even different from Squid Game. It cannot be said that she belongs to the "K-culture" in the broadest sense. Some wrote an article about "pachinko" in a tone that sounded like they had won a football match between Korea and Japan, stating, "Apple abandoned the Japanese market and chose Korea instead." This is a very strange and disturbing look.

 

"Pachinko" is the story of those who did not join the country when it was born. Of course, this is not a "Korean drama", but in the context of Korea's relations with overseas Koreans, especially Zainichi, it is not even "our story". That's why we need to discuss pachinko more seriously now.

 

 

Korean dramas began to gain attention abroad after the 2002 drama "Winter Sonata" starring Bae Yong-jun and Choi Ji-woo became a big hit in Japan. The term "Korean wave" was re-imported from Japan to Korea. Dae Jang Geum has risen to the level of a national drama in Iran.

 

It is not uncommon for a drama from a certain country to become very popular abroad. Taiwanese drama “Judge Po Cheongcheon” has risen to the level of national dramas in Korea, and the lead actor even starred in commercials. In other words, the “Korean wave” of the early 2000s was an unusual and long-awaited phenomenon, but not too surprising. It looks like something likely has happened.

 

The context has changed because the media itself has changed. In the early days of Netflix, House of Cards, directed by David Fincher and starring Kevin Spacey, was a huge success not only at the box office, but also with critics. Then, based on the true story of the legendary Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, he released Narcos, an investigation into drug-related crimes.

 

Although Narcos is briefly set in Florida and New York, USA, it is mainly a story set in Latin America, especially the Colombian city of Medellin and other jungles. There was a good chance it would seem a little unfamiliar and bewildered to American viewers who might have come to know him after watching House of Cards. Although it has nothing to do with the United States, after all, Narcos is a global project that makes the stories of countries other than the United States in the language of other countries.

 

Why did Netflix go on such an adventure? The reason was simple. This is because "global content" was needed. As of 2019, the number of English speakers is 380 million, the third largest in the world. On the other hand, Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world with 480 million people. In addition, there are many Spanish speakers in the United States, mainly in the southern regions and California.

 

Netflix was destined to expand into the wider world. To this end, we decided to attack Latin America first. That's why there was an unusual phenomenon of an American company turning the story of a Colombian drug lord into a drama with huge production costs.

 

 

There are two main global content strategies for OTT companies (Over The Top, an online video service). First, content developed in a particular region and targeted to viewers in that region is expected to have a global response. A typical example is 'Squid Game', which was filmed in Korea for Korean viewers but has become a kind of cultural phenomenon, attracting the attention of viewers from all over the world. Prior to that, Paper House, which became a box office hit on Netflix, was a Spanish drama, and this is the same case.

 

On the other hand, there are global content created by OTT HQ such as "Narco" and "Pachinko" mentioned above. This is different from the phenomenon where works created for "home use" are popular abroad. The action does not take place in the United States, but in another country, and although it fully reflects the local climate and local emotions, in fact, this is an "American drama".

 

We don't call Narcos a Colombian drama. The Colombian drug lord is the main character and the action takes place in Colombia and almost all the characters except the American investigator speak Spanish, but Narcos is an American drama made by Netflix to the last.

 

We must look at it from the same point of view. Pachinko is also an American drama. Pachinko is a production produced by Apple TV+. Based on the novel by Lee Min-jin, a Korean-American woman who immigrated with her parents at the age of seven, this is an American drama written by American writers and directed by two Korean-Americans. It follows the standard writing style and values of the American film and drama industry in every way, including the characters' personalities, internal and external conflicts, the way events unfold, and the ethical standards that the work follows.

 

Sung-ja (Kim Min-ha), the main character of Pachinko, is the eldest and only daughter, beloved by her father. From a young age, he has a sharp character and bright. The father seeks to raise his daughter well and raise her as an independent person. This character customization is largely "American". Did Korean fathers raise their daughters this way in the early 1900s? In reality, this would not happen. But for American viewers, Song Ja's character, though born into a poor family, inevitably resembles a character like Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind.

 

What about Go Han Soo (Lee Min Ho), Song Ja's first love and the father of his first child? He is a Korean who served as the middle boss of the Japanese Yakuza. He despises Koreans but is also protective of them. He is a bright realist, but in his heart there is a ray of innocence. If we compare it with Gone with the Wind, then we can say that it was a butler who appeared in East Asia at the beginning of the 20th century.

 

Hansoo confesses his love to Sungja and offers to give him the whole world, but Sungja refuses. The words of Seon, who later confessed to the reason for the refusal. "I can't live by splitting myself in half." Although the lines are translated into the Busan dialect, they contain the emotions of an American drama rather than a Korean one. It contains true American healthy attitudes such as "be true to yourself" and "don't lie to yourself."

 

In Pachinko, the story and themes are developed through characters and composition that American audiences are bound to be familiar with. In fact, the writers and crew of Pachinko are said to have actively referenced The Godfather 2's plot structure, which moves back and forth between past and present when creating the first season. The Godfather Part II is an American film about Italian immigrants, but no questions asked. Similarly, Pachinko is an American drama that tells the stories of Koreans living in Japan who migrated from Joseon and settled in Osaka.

 

That's why it's inconvenient to talk about "pachinko" with other Korean content. Pachinko is a great drama about a diaspora born in an era of upheaval in history, the Zainichi (Japanese Koreans). In episode 6, Sung-ja, who has come to his hometown of Busan for the first time in decades, refers to himself as a "special permanent resident" of a Korean government official. This is a setting that reflects the reality of Zainichi, who lived in Japan before liberation but was not Korean, North Korean, or Japanese, but retained "Korean citizenship".

 

We Koreans, born and raised in Korea, did not consider Zainichi, the Korean Zainichi, to be a member of "we". This is an absolute fact. Like Pachinko, Blood and Bones, which focuses on Zainichi in Osaka, was coldly ignored by local audiences. However, when an American OTT company mobilizes a large budget to turn Zainichi's story into a drama, it would be absurd to say "our story" now.

 

It is reminiscent of the appearance of the mixed-race USFK kids who derided them as "roasted" when they were in Korea, but when Heinz Ward became an NFL star, they acknowledged them as "our ancestry" and greeted them with a fuss. He kept pretending not to know about the history of Koreans living in Japan, who had a hard time living at the interface between Korea and Japan, and their precious and bitter historical experience, and then chanted "K-content" while watching American movies. companies turn Korean-American novels into dramas. It's really a shame.

 

The conservative politics of South Korea treated the Korean-Japanese groups as "hotbeds of spies" and used them according to their political needs. The progressive politics of Korea have used Zainichi as a tool of emotion and agitation, and have used him politically in exactly the same way as the conservatives. The famous opening sentence of Pachinko: "History failed us, but that doesn't matter." It's unusual. For bunnies, Korea and Koreans are the same part of history that “harmed” them no less than Japan. We need to be shy and apologetic and put our hands in a constructive direction rather than saying, "Yeah, that's the strength of our people and K-content."

 

The history of the Korean Peninsula was made not only within the Korean Peninsula. Amid the historical turmoil that occurred after the Joseon royal family handed over sovereignty to Japan, the people of the Korean peninsula have lived both in and out of the hodgepodge. While "we" are entangled in the modern view of history that is used as an alibi to reveal one nation's fiction, endless victim consciousness towards Japan, and its own cruelty, a multinational company called Apple can make it appealing. sublimated in the harsh life of Zainichi. The storyteller of the diaspora was revealed. What "K-content" are you talking about in this situation?

 

History has ruined us, but that doesn't matter. We are also part of this "history". If we can't achieve this self-objectification, we won't be able to create works like Pachinko ourselves. It's time to move beyond a historical consciousness tainted only by nationalist worldview and resentment and consider the universal sensibility and storytelling that can be communicated to the world.

----

Ro Jung Tae
● Born in 1983
● Graduated from Korea University School of Law, Master of Philosophy from Graduate School of Seogang University
● Former editor-in-chief of the Korean version of Foreign Policy magazine
● Books: "Rogue Politics", "Age of Writers" "The Myth of Tantalus"
● Translation: "The Millennium Manifesto", "Democracy, how it is broken",

https://shindonga.donga.com/3/all/13/3347113/1

 

****

 

This article struck me with the mossy look at the problem of Korean expatriates and their tragedy, but explained why there is an ambiguous attitude towards "Pachinko" in the Korean media.

[syntyche]

Lee Min Ho, Kim Min Ha's 'Pachinko' Confirmed for Season 2

 

"Pachinko," which stars Lee Min Ho, Kim Min Ha, Youn Yuh Jung and more, is getting a sequel. 

 

The eight-part episode series is based on the New York Times bestselling novel written by Manhattan-based author and journalist Min Jin Lee. 

 

The TV adaptation depicts the story of a Korean family through different generations. It was created and produced by Soo Hugh and directed by Justin Chon and Kogonanda, who helmed four episodes each. 

 

Sunja, the prized daughter of a poor yet proud family, shocked her parents after she had an unplanned pregnancy. Abandoned by her lover, she was saved from judgment and ridicule by the people when a young tubercular minister offered to marry her and moved her to Japan. 

 

Following the hype and overwhelming praises from the viewers and critics, "Pachinko" is returning for season 2. 

 

 

Lee Min Ho and Kim Min Ha's 'Pachinko' Season 2 Confirmed!

 

On April 29, the novel-based series aired its season finale leaving viewers in awe of the story. 

 

With this Soo Hugh confirmed that "Pachinko" season 2 has been renewed. In a statement obtained by Variety, Soo Hugh expressed her gratitude for continuing to tell the "extraordinary story of this indomitable family."

 

Moreover, she also thanked the team behind "Pachinko" and those who helped the 8-part episode series make its global release. 

 

"I'm grateful to the amazing team at Apple and Media Res studio for believing and supporting this show and to our passionate fans who have cheered us on. It's an honor to be able to continue working with this amazing cast and crew."

 

To recall, Lee Min Ho played the role of Ko Hansu, who had an illicit affair with the teenage Sunja, played by Kim Min Ha. 

Oscar-winning Youn Yuh Jung took on the role of the older Sunja while Yuna played the younger version of the character. 

 

Joining the star-studded cast are Anna Sawai as Naomi, Inji Jeong as Yangjin, Eunchae Jung as young Kyunghee, Jimmi Simpson as Tom Andrews, Kaho Minami as Etsuko, Junwoo Han as Yoseb, Steve Sanghyun Noh as Isak, and Soji Arai as Mozasu. 

 

Following the news regarding "Pachinko" season 2, Apple TV+, directors, and the creator behind the series are yet to confirm which cast members will reprise their roles. 

 

Interestingly, as for the new season, it will also be produced in three languages: Korean, Japanese, and English.

 

Apart from the superb casting and storyline of the Apple TV+ series, Lee Min Ho and Kim Min Ha gained praise for their portrayal of Ko Hansu and Sunja. 

 

Despite being a rookie in acting, the 26-year-old actress gave a stellar performance along with a South Korean A-lister. 

Meanwhile, Lee Min Ho shifted from image and showed deep emotions in "Pachinko."

 

https://www.kdramastars.com/articles/124839/20220429/lee-min-ho-kim-pachinko-confirmed-season-2.htm

 

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Why the Pachinko showrunner wants you to 'call your parents' after watching the season 1 finale

 

The Apple TV+ series was renewed for season 2 Friday.

 

Warning: This article contains spoilers from the season 1 finale of Pachinko.

 

The season 1 finale of Pachinko concludes at a port in Osaka in 1938. A young Sunja (Minha Kim) wheels two large barrels of kimchi through a bustling open air market. In contrast, at a hospital in 1989, her future grandson Solomon (Jin Ha) storms into the room of his ailing childhood friend, Hana (Mari Yamamoto), and in an anguished but gleeful haze, hastily wheels her gurney through the sterile halls to get her to the roof. She contently gazes at the sky one last time before she succumbs to AIDS. The scenes, it seems, speak to the contrasting nature of life and death.

At the port, young Sunja takes her future into her own hands. She's selling homemade kimchi to support her two young sons following the incarceration of her husband Isak, played by Steve Sanghyun Noh. The mild-mannered pastor has been arrested for his involvement with a left-leaning movement that advocates for peace and fair wages in a militant Japan. The moment feels very much like a rebirth for Sunja, or, as series creator and showrunner Soo Hugh puts it, "A true end of something, but also a beginning." 

 

Spoiler

The series, based on Min Jin Lee's bestselling novel of the same name, follows four generations of a Korean immigrant family led by the indomitable Sunja (played masterfully by Minha in one stage of her life and Oscar winner Yuh-Jung Youn in another). Set mostly against the backdrop of Japan's annexation of Korea, the series is rooted in survival, so it was a "no-brainer," Hugh says, to conclude in such a simple, yet hopeful, way. 

 

Below, Hugh discusses the finale, her mother's unexpected reaction to the show, hopes for season 2 — which was officially greenlit Friday, after EW spoke with Hugh — and more.

 

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What drew you to adapt Min Jin Lee's novel for TV?

 

SOO HUGH: I'm always drawn to the challenge of what we have not seen before. I don't want to do the same thing over and over again. But also, what's a story worth telling? There's so much media out there. There's so many TV shows. I don't want to just add noise for the sake of adding noise. When I think about how hard it is to make a TV show, just how much you are asking from people, I want to be able to ask people to work on a show that I can stand by and that I know that I will bleed over. I can't bleed over something that I don't care about. So I think when I read this book and I thought about what it could be, I knew this was going to be that journey.

 

What were some of the challenges of bringing it to the screen?

 

There's been quite a few along the way. I mean, how do you first do justice to a book like that? That was foremost the biggest challenge. And then second, the language component. Not only in the translation of the scripts, but also in the performance. And then in post-production, that was a challenge. We shot during COVID. We shot in multiple countries. We shot with an enormous cast and crew. But all those challenges, I think that's why the making of this show has been just so special and rewarding. In each of those challenge buckets, I feel like we really turned them into strengths eventually. 

 

You're bringing complex characters to the screen. Was the casting process difficult, in terms of finding Sunjas across three different generations, etc? 

 

Yeah. I mean, casting is one of my favorite parts, but this show was challenging because these characters have lived in my brain for so long now. All of a sudden, people are speaking your words and you sort of cringe and you're like, "Oh, that's a terrible line. Why did I write that?" But we had so many characters to cast and we did a global search — not just Korea, Japan, America, but Canada, Australia, and the UK. The mandate was to find the best actor, period, for each role, who is born to play these parts, and that took a lot of time.

 

Rice appears to be pivotal to Pachinko. Koreans didn't have access to their own rice during that time, per the series; they were preserved for the Japanese, but was there deeper intention in placing them more frequently in heavier scenes? Am I reading too much into the rice? 

 

No, I think you absolutely got it. Rice is a huge metaphor in this show. When Koreans say, "Do you want to eat? Have you eaten rice?", that is a staple, and I was shocked when we were digging into it. We did so much food research on this show. When I looked into the history of rice — especially in the 20th century and how it was used for political means — it felt like within this one staple, you can tell this story of the 20th century. And it's a story of colonization. But what I love is in the [scene] where Kyunghee makes the rice, what you see is a mother's love, and I thought it was such a powerful way to hang that emotion. 

 

The last scene in the finale is simple yet powerful: Sunja sells kimchi to support her family after Isak is imprisoned. I'm sure there were many ways to conclude this season. How did you land on this? 

 

That, for me, was a no-brainer. That came very quickly. I knew that the end of the first season was going to be that ending because it feels both a true end of something, but also a beginning. So, a launching off point. And I wanted to leave the first season with audiences feeling that this young woman is indomitable. 

 

And post-credits, the finale features real-life accounts of Korean women who lived in Japan during that time. 

 

We went to the firsthand accounts in our research and just the incredible stories of what these women, these first generation [women], did to live and feed their family. The book is fiction, the show is fiction, but the reason why that ending is so important for an audience is to remind people that real-life people live these stories. And I wanted to celebrate these women's faces. You look at their beautiful, beautiful faces and see all of the years that they've lived through. It's honestly a tribute to them. That's what this is. We deserve to hear their voice. 

 

Spoiler

Yeah, the series is fiction, but draws on historical events. Did your own family history shape how you approached adapting the series? 

 

Absolutely. What's interesting is — and I've heard this from so many other immigrants — there's so many blank spaces with our families, especially when you leave your homeland; things that have been left unsaid, unspoken. For so long, I just assumed the reason why we never spoke about certain things was because nothing happened. Now through doing Pachinko, I realized the reason why there are those blank spaces is because it's their residue of trauma. It is a form of therapy and healing to be able to talk about that. This show, for me personally, has really allowed that healing to happen. 

 

Is this something you'll be watching with your family? What do you think their reactions will be?

 

It's funny. So my mom has been very supportive of my career, but she's always been a little... When you tell your mom, your immigrant mom, that you want to be a filmmaker, there is that little bit of grieving of like, "What have I done wrong?" [Laughs]. She's always liked watching my shows, but says, "So why [is there] always a monster in your shows?" I told her I was doing Pachinko and sent her the book to read in Korean. After she read the book, she would text me all throughout production and be like, "What scene are you shooting today? What's happening today? Did this actress nail this?" Her interest in this show is of a different caliber. I think she's just so proud that her people's story is coming to life. 

 

With the novel, there's still so much more story to tell, especially Noa's story, who has a particularly tragic arc. The finale was open-ended; was this a deliberate set up for season 2?

 

It's meant to be an ongoing series, yeah. It hasn't been greenlit, but it's always been thought of as an ongoing series.

Let's say it's greenlit. What would you be most excited to explore? 

I love these characters so much and there's so much story to tell. Right now my brain is so into season 1, because it's been this four-year journey. It's just this amazing moment of celebrating with the cast and crew, what they've accomplished. So I haven't even put my brain into that yet. I mean, I think there's so many directions to go, [but] so much of that deep inquiry happens in the writers' room together, which we haven't done yet. 

 

What do you hope audiences take away from the series?

 

I feel like I want two things: I want them to feel something earned. I don't want to play on cheap emotions. If they laugh, I want that laugh to be earned because our characters truly reached into their bellies. If they cry, I want those tears to be earned because our characters truly moved them. So I really want them to feel something in this. Second — and I know this sounds so cheesy — but I said this in the [show] pitch: After you watch the show, I want you to call your parents and thank the hell out of what they did for you.

 

https://ew.com/tv/pachinko-showrunner-soo-hugh-season-1-finale/

 

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Pachinko boss breaks down powerful finale and that surprise epilogue

 

Pachinko boss Soo Hugh has broken down the show's powerful finale, which premiered on Apple TV+ on Friday (April 29).

 

The episode ends with Sunja successfully selling kimchi in the market at last, as the camera then zooms up away from her into the sky.

 

Speaking to Digital Spy about if it was difficult to choose that particular scene to end on (given how much material is in the book), Hugh said the choice was easy.

 

"That was the easiest thing to do, because reading the book, I was like, 'Oh, that is the season one ending'," she said.

 

"For me, it was like, 'That was it'. Because it's such a triumph, right? Just watching her find her voice. And higher and higher up – you still hear her. That came very, very quickly. A lot of other things didn’t, but that did."

 

The end of the episode featured real-life interviews with Korean women who moved to Japan and stayed there after World War II.

 

Speaking about the decision to feature real-life Sunjas in the show's finale, Hugh said: "This book is a work of fiction. This show is a work of fiction.

 

"But it's built on the stories of people who actually lived these lives. You know, that first generation of Zainichi women, they're not going to be with us for that much longer.

 

"We really wanted to celebrate their lives. We wanted people to see their faces. We wanted to give them a voice, because they didn't have a voice for so long. And I think that seeing their faces – it was incredible."

 

As for what she wants viewers to take from watching Pachinko, Hugh is hoping they reflect on their own families.

 

"When people finish the series, I hope they think about their own families. And I hope they think about who the Sunja is in his or her life, because we all have one," Hugh said.

 

"We have that person, whether it's one or two or three generations back, that person who really did pay so much of the sacrifices for us. I just hope we give some thought to those people."

 

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a39859891/pachinko-boss-finale-epilogue/

[madmad min]

Finally S1 Finishes.

 

I have few questions lol.

 

1. What to watch now...omo

2. Spoiler

Spoiler

When the  No House selling HALMoni saw the dogs she shouted at the guy holding them, who was the guy and why did she run away inside her house? I know solomon implied that his Now Semi partner uses his method aka to kill her so the house can be released, but I didnt get the scene context.

3. 

Spoiler

Isak was the actual instigator? Did I miss reading in the book, I thought he used to just say some encouraging words but not work entirely against the Emperor.

 

4. Is there a News for further Seasons???

 

BabY Noa is such a smart kid, I can see the resemblance somehow for a moment when the Japanese Guy said you look like your father I though he meant Hansu and not Isak lol.

Kyunghee had a much more prominent presence in the book, the actress trying to ferment Kimchi did not look convincing lol.

I love how they draw parallelism, and How Noa is a mysterious part to he entire story.

Also Solomon when he gave the suggestion man oh man how I wanted to hit him, he made me madder than Hansu ever did. 

The last scene of Sunja noticing and trying to attract buyers for her fresh kimchi , the struggle that showed was real. Min Ha the actress is very powerful in some parts while she portrays emotion, have to give to her.

 

 

Also thanks for the Poll.

My fav scenes in the series were.

1. When solomon started dancing and Older Sunja finally breathed her homeland's air.

2. Noa and the kid talking.

3. Solomon and Dad fighting, Mozasu hopefully has more screen time in next season , have seen too less of him.

 

 

 

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