[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

[nina_mitrokhina]

Pachinko: Season 1 Review

 

Pachinko tells a familiar story on the immigrant experience that’s elevated by a superb cast.

 

 

12 Mar 2022

By Laura Sirikul

 

Pachinko will debut on Apple TV+ with three episodes on March 25, 2022, followed by a new episode each subsequent Friday.

Book-to-television adaptations can be difficult to pull off, especially when they feature heavy themes surrounding real-life situations. In this case, AppleTV+’s drama series Pachinko, based on the bestselling novel by Min Jin Lee, chronicles the struggles and successes of four generations of a Korean immigrant family living in Japan. The story takes place between the years of 1910 and 1989, a period that included the Japanese occupation of Korea; the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake, which led to the massacre of Korean residents in Japan; and the events of World War II. During this time, Zainichi Koreans (ethnic Korean residents of Japan) were discriminated against and were even denied citizenship, despite some being born there. It is a tough and extremely sensitive subject to cover in just eight episodes, but Pachinko beautifully weaves a story about what it means to sacrifice for your family and the generational burden that comes with it.

Told through the eyes of Sunja (Yu-na Jeon as a child, Minha Kim as an adult, and Yuh-jung Youn as an elder), with some stories surrounding the important people in her life, Pachinko jumps between dual timelines to reflect the parallels from one generation to another. For example, the first episode centers on Sunja’s early upbringing in Korea. Her parents, after losing three children prematurely, pray for a healthy child and are told they will have a daughter who will thrive and that, through her, a family will endure. Sunja is born to a doting father who does whatever it takes to protect his daughter from the ugliness of the world; but as Koreans in a land occupied by the Japanese, that ugliness is hard to escape. These scenes interchange with the introduction of Solomon (Jin Ha), Sunja’s grandson, who faces discrimination from his white employers at an American bank. Driven to succeed, he promises to close a deal in Japan to prove himself to the company. This takes him back to Osaka to visit his family, including Sunja’s son/Solomon’s father Mozasu (Soji Arai) who, like many Zainichi Koreans, owns a successful pachinko parlor.

The title of the series derives from the Japanese pinball game that is used for gambling. Back in the day, Koreans in Japan could not find legal employment, but were able to find work in the parlors. It became connected to Korean Japanese identity – and since they were looked down upon, often associated with criminals. Although Mozasu has found success in the business, he – like many fathers – wants more for his son and pushes Solomon to start a new life in America.

The themes of sacrifice and burden are referenced throughout the series as Sunja remembers the trouble she and her family went through, including a heartbreaking scene where Sunja’s mother, Yangjin (Jeong In-ji), begs a merchant for a cup of white rice, which was restricted to be sold only to the Japanese, to celebrate Sunja’s marriage. Because of this, when Sunja is presented with the cup of white rice, she is left in tears, understanding the lengths her mother must have gone through for this small luxury. Another instantly emotional scene sees an elderly Korean woman telling Solomon, “What family hasn’t suffered? Tell me the truth. When old people talk about suffering, isn’t it tiresome?” He responds with a straight face as if he’s heard this many times before, “Isn’t that the point… to burden us?”

The series also depicts the “otherness” that many immigrant families deal with being in a different country. Sunja and her family experience harsh treatment from the Japanese throughout their lives. Pachinko never directly shows the physical abuse, which would be traumatic for many viewers, but instead provides the emotional aftermath of each tragedy, including a scene where one character hides from Japanese vigilantes who are hunting down escaped Koreans prisoners. Instead of focusing on the violence taking place before him, it smartly centers on the bystander’s face, capturing the escalating grief on his face. The discrimination carries through as Pachinko moves across the timelines. As hard as Koreans try to integrate into Japanese society, they are constantly reminded they will never fit in. Despite being born and raised in Japan as a third-generation Korean Japanese – and in spite of his fancy degrees, expensive suits, and perfect Japanese – Solomon realizes that he will never truly be seen as their equal.

These stories of struggle and perseverance surrounding the immigrant experience have been told before, but what makes Pachinko so compelling are the intriguing character developments and the incredible performances. The entire cast is excellent, particularly Jeon, Kim, and Youn as three different versions of the lead character. All three embody the character perfectly during their respective time periods. Jeon performs young Sunja with so much optimism as we begin to learn about this cunning little girl who is destined to flourish. Jeon and Daeho Lee, who plays her kind and disabled father, are given the sweetest moments in the series. Despite all the obstacles and heartbreak, it is Sunja’s love for her father and mother that gives her the strength to survive. Kim, as teen/adult Sunja, is fantastic as she transitions from a naive child to a hardened adult who learns what it means to survive in a world that doesn’t want her. Academy Award winner Youn plays the elderly Sunja with a ton of conviction as a mother and grandmother who had endured so much pain in her life for her children.

Although the series has a lot of charm, it fails its source material by changing and removing several of the themes and nuances that the book is best known for. The basis of Pachinko is from the perspective of Zainichi Koreans (ethnic Korean residents of Japan), which is a very Korean story, but the series feels more westernized in its storytelling and conclusion. The alterations made to several characters’ story arcs completely change much of the symbolism that garnered the book praise, including the erasure of discussions surrounding Korean comfort women, homosexuality, faith and Christianity, the contrast between Koreans and Korean American ideals, and identity conformity. Instead, the stories mostly choose happy or righteous endings that give us assurance rather than depict the reality of the situation. A few characters are given half-baked endings, including an important person in the book whose storyline is changed from one centering on his sexuality to what seems to be suspected drug use that is never fully explained. The character feels more like an Easter egg for fans of the novel rather than a meaningful portrayal of an important part in Mozasu’s life. It would have been better to not include him at all if they weren’t going to address his connection to the story as a whole.

Directors Kogonada (episodes 1-4) and Justin Chon (episodes 5-8) each provide their own creative spin to their entries. Their work is wonderfully shot, especially Kogonada, who brings out the beauty of Sunja’s hometown, making a dirty and busy fish market feel like home. In the first few episodes, the pacing feels adequate, and at times the slowness is what is most beautiful about the scenes. But as the series progresses, the pacing quickens and feels congested with too much information, especially the final two episodes. Chon, who is given the difficult task of bringing the story to its conclusion, executes the pains and joys of the situation beautifully. Unfortunately, some scenes feel incomplete, which is more the fault of the script than the directing.

Granted, it’s difficult to satisfyingly tell a story with so many complex characters and significant themes. Many of the faithful book readers, with whom so much of its subject matter resonates, should still connect with a series about a mother’s love and sacrifice and the burdens that come with it, as well as the feeling of feeling like an “other” in their own home. As a standalone show, Pachinko is most intriguing when it centers around the mothers in the story, including Sunja, Yangjin, and Mozasu’s girlfriend, Etsuko (Kaho Minami), and their love for their children. But if fans are expecting a completely faithful adaptation of Pachinko, then eight episodes are simply not enough to fully tell this rich story.

Verdict

AppleTV+’s Pachinko provides a compelling story of otherness, familial sacrifice, and the generational burden that comes with it, delivering on both entertainment and more than a few emotional moments. Although beautifully shot and with a strong cast, including Yuh-jung Youn and Minha Kim, the series does occasionally fail its source material by overstuffing the eight episodes with unnecessary changes that feel more westernized and given happier or more righteous conclusions that betray the dire truth of the situation.

 

https://assets-prd.ignimgs.com/2022/03/10/pachinko-button-1646951275519.jpg?width=300&dpr=2

https://www.ign.com/articles/pachinko-season-1-review

 

[CallieP]

What has the cast said about the television adaptation of Pachinko?

In a September 2021 interview with Esquire Korea, Lee Min-ho said that he wanted to portray his character Hansu truthfully by properly reflecting “the male image from that era”.

“I wanted to be true to the character,” he said. “So I tried to focus on how desperate they were to survive in that period [of time].”

The actor added: “I wanted to express the man who has desperately survived and met the woman he loved. And I really wanted to portray well how one can love one another.”

 

 

https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/tv/pachinko-tv-adaptation-min-jin-lee-apple-tv-release-date-plot-trailer-2902269

 

The first review for the upcoming Apple TV Plus series Pachinko dropped today. And while they’re almost universally rapturous in their praise, there’s at least one thing you should probably understand about Apple’s adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s novel right off the bat. The story’s title is a metaphor, referring to both the game of Pachinko and to how much of an uncertain gamble life is.

 

https://vnexplorer.net/pachinko-is-the-next-great-apple-tv-plus-show-everyone-will-be-talking-about-s654497.html

[syntyche]

 

Lee Min Ho’s upcoming series “Pachinko” debuts with 100% critic ratings on Rotten Tomatoes  

 

“Pachinko” continues to garner positive reviews from critics ahead of its official release.

 

“Pachinko” is a highly-anticipated Apple TV+ original series, adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name by Korean-American writer Lee Min Jin. “Pachinko” features a star-studded cast from different countries including Lee Min Ho, Oscar-winning actress Youn Yuh Jung, Jin Ha, Arai Soji, Kim Min Ha, Minami Kaho, Noh Sang Hyun, Anna Sawai…

 

“Pachinko” is not available to stream yet but has already received plenty of positive reviews from professional critics around the world on reputable review sites. On Rotten Tomatoes, “Pachinko” got 100% “fresh” ratings from 10 reviews of experts.

 

Here’s a summary of the ratings from “Pachinko” early reviews:

 

Collider: A+ (100)

Awards Watch: A-

South China Morning Post: 3/5

Evening Standard: 5/5

Rolling Stone: 4.5/5 (90)

Metacritic: 93

Decider: 100

IndieWire: 91

The Hollywood Reporter: 90

Rotten Tomatoes: 100%

 

Set against the Japanese colonial occupation during World War II, “Pachinko” depicts the journey of four generations of a Korean immigrant family, focusing on how the main protagonist Sunja and her family overcome difficulties and suffer from losses in life as they leave their home country in pursuit of survival and hope. A love affair with a wealthy married businessman changes Sunja’s life completely, sending her into exile in Japan, being looked down on, facing discrimination and racism. 

 

“Pachinko” is produced in three languages: Korean, Japanese and English. 8 episodes of season 1 are directed by Kogonada and Justin Chon. The first 3 episodes will be released on March 25.

 

https://kbizoom.com/lee-min-hos-upcoming-series-pachinko-debuts-with-100-critic-ratings-on-rotten-tomatoes/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Helena]

Great review from film critic Jason Bechervaise.  Wonder if he’ll talk about it on KBS radio program. 

 

[syntyche]

New trailer version. 10 more days!

 

 

[confusedheart]

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Re: @partyon @Sleepy Owl @agenth and @confusedheart

[nina_mitrokhina]

Interesting Things from Pachinko, Lee Min Ho’s Comeback Drama After 2 Years of Vacuum!

 

BY HARVEY NGUYEN  March 15, 2022

 

 

Long awaited comeback-nya, Lee Min Ho ready to entertain the public again with his latest work in 2022. Lastly, the role of Gu Jun Pyo in Boys Over Flowers this is starring in drama The King: Eternal Monarch by writer Kim Eun Sook, which he co-stars with actress Kim Go Eun.

Two years have passed, now Lee Min Ho will be back through drama Pachinko. Airing on Friday, (25/3), here are interesting thing about drama Pachinko what you should know before watching!

 

Spoiler

 

 

This drama tells the story of Kim Sun Ja who was born and raised in Busan, Korea, when Korea was under Japanese rule. The woman fell in love with a man named Go Han Su. When Sun Ja finds out that Go Han Su is married to another woman, it turns out that Sun Ja is pregnant.

He also felt ‘devastated’ by the situation that ensnared him. A church priest named Baek Isak saves her by marrying her. Sun Ja and Baek Isak then moved to Japan. There, Sun Ja gave birth to her child. The life of Koreans living in Japan at that time was not easy.

Because they sometimes experience humiliation and discrimination, they struggle to survive.

 

Starring Oscar-winning actress Youn Yuh Jung

 

Spoiler

 

 

Apart from being Lee Min Ho’s comeback work after two years of not being seen in the drama, Pachinko will also be the work of Youn Yuh Jung after a long time. Finally, the actress who won the Best Supporting Actress award at the 2021 Oscars plays a role in the drama Never Twice in 2020 and variety show Youn Stay in 2021.

As the first Oscar-winning South Korean actress in history, of course, the return of Youn Yuh Jung is highly anticipated now.

 

Main Actress Debut

 

Spoiler

 

 

Although starring Lee Min Ho and veteran Youn Yuh Jung for the modern version of Kim Sun Ja, the younger version of Kim Sun Ja will be played by Kim Min Ha. Kim Min Ha once played a young Sun Hee in a movie The Call (2020), as well as After Spring | Bomigado (2018) as Hyun Jung.

 

Based on the Novel

 

Spoiler

 

 

Pachinko is a drama based on the book of the same name. The book was written by Min Jin Lee, released in 2017 and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was so successful that it was included in the New York Times Best Seller.

 

Live on Apple+

 

Spoiler

 

 

Pachinko not broadcast on national TV channels or cable TV. The 8-episode drama will air on OTT Apple+ as the newest drama. After success One Ordinary Day as well as Dr. Brain which presents an unusual story and attracts the audience’s attention with casting Kim Soo Hyun and Lee Sun Kyun, now Apple+ will present Lee Min Ho’s latest work.

Wow, more no looking forward to watching the drama Pachinko here it is, Beauties. If you have been waiting for this drama too or no? Share in the comments column, yes!

 

https://www.newsdelivers.com/2022/03/15/interesting-things-from-pachinko-lee-min-hos-comeback-drama-after-2-years-of-vacuum/

 

****

 

Lee Min Ho Is Considered To Have Lost His 'Hot Guy' Image With 'Pachinko', Here's Why

 

 

Команда WowCool 15 марта 2022 г.

 

WowKeren - "Pachinko" has become one of the most anticipated dramas. Because in addition to presenting an interesting storyline, this drama will also show a new side of Lee Min Ho that is different from the projects he has starred in before.

Based on a well-known novel, Pachinko is described as an epic and intimate work that includes storylines of war, love and peace. The story centers on a woman named Kim Sung-ja (Yoon Yoo-jung) who was born and raised in Busan, South Korea during the Japanese occupation.

In her youth, Kim Sung Ja (Kim Min Ha) fell in love with a man named Ko Han Soo (Lee Min Ho), who was much older than her. Han Su lived in a matriarchal family and was known for running a gambling center.

Han Su hid that he was married and had children. After Sun Ja got pregnant, Han Soo just wanted to support her financially as a secret lover. However, not wanting to live in humiliation, Sun-ja decides to leave Han-soo and accept another kind-hearted man's offer.

As usual, Lee Min Ho continues to delight many fans with his handsome looks. The image of the rich Ko Han Soo in a white suit continues to win the hearts of fans.

This work also marks the return of Lee Min Ho after a hiatus of more than a year. Although Lee Min Ho's role in "Pachinko" is still unknown, his participation in this drama has helped increase viewers' anticipation.

Viewer anticipation is rising as Ko Han Soo is his first villain. In the past, Lee Min Ho had an image of a "hot guy" as a handsome guy who was chased by a lot of girls.

 

 

In an interview with Esquire magazine, Lee Min Ho said that Ko Han Soo is a villain in every way. That's why he was so happy when he got the offer for the role.

In addition, Lee Min Ho also said that his age is not suitable for acting in youth dramas and the role of a hero who saves a girl from trouble. According to him, it was so outdated that he wanted to try himself in a different role.

Lee Min Ho said, “Today's women are also saving men. Playing a character that is closer to reality is more appropriate in the current context."

Meanwhile, "Pachinko" has received a number of positive reviews from critics and foreign media, although it has not officially aired yet. Most of them say that this drama has a perfect and impressive plot.

The drama itself is a global project that will feature three languages: Korean, Japanese, and English. This 8-episode drama is scheduled to air from March 25 to April 29, 2022.

 

Translation from indonesian google

https://www.wowkeren.com/berita/tampil/00416554.html

[syntyche]

 

Everything We Know About Apple TV+'s Pachinko

 

Apple TV+Apple

 

In 2017, Min Jin Lee's generational novel Pachinko released to universal acclaim, with millions of readers diving into her heart-wrenching story a Korean family over 80 years and four generations. The novel follows a young woman named Sunja from her childhood in 1910s Japanese-colonized Korea to her migration to Osaka, Japan, where she and her family are subject to discrimination and bullying.

Now, creator Soo Hugh's eight-episode adaptation of the novel is set to premiere on Apple TV+ later this month. Here's what we know about the series.

Pachinko premieres on March 25, 2022.

The first three episodes of Pachinko will land on Apple TV+ on March 25. After the premiere, one episode will be released each week until the season wraps on April 29. All eight episodes are written by Hugh, and directed by Justin Chon (Blue Bayou) and Kogonada (After Yang). The novel's author Lee also serves as co-producer.

The trailer shows one woman's story told over three generations.

The official trailer introduces Sunja, a Korean daughter of inn owners in the seaside town Busan. As a teenager, Sunja (Minha Kim) falls in love with Hansu (Lee Minho), a wealthy Japanese-adopted Korean, and becomes pregnant with his child. After learning that Hansu is married, Sunja meets a kind minister, Isak (Steve Sanghyun Noh). The pair marries and immigrate to Japan, where they live as permanent residents called Zainichi, who are subject to discrimination and bullying.

 

In a later 1980s timeline, Sunja's grandson Solomon is a successful finance exec. A business opportunity brings him back to Japan, where he reunites with his father Mozasu (Soji Arai), who is now rich from running a pachinko gambling parlor, and his grandmother (Yuh-Jung Youn). While the original novel is told chronologically over three parts, the series jumps between Sunja and Solomon's storylines, per early reviews.

 

The cast includes Korea's biggest stars and some talented newcomers.

Yuh-Jung Youn, who won an Academy Award for her role in the 2020 film Minari, leads the cast as an elder version of Sunja, a young Korean woman who moves to Japan to raise her family. Top actor Lee Minho, who's best known for the hit k-dramas Boys Over Flowers and The Legend of the Blue Sea, plays Hansu, a wealthy fish broker and love interest for Sunja.

Newcomer Minha Kim gives an impressive debut performance as the teen version of Sunja, with 10-year-old Yu-na Jeon playing Sunja as a child. Rounding out the main cast is Jin Ha, who previously starred in the shows Devs and Love Life, as Sunja's grandson Solomon.

Pachinko features dialogue in Korean, Japanese, and English.

Though the show comes from an American production company, all eight episodes feature trilingual performances, with dialogue in Korean, Japanese, and English. Hugh told Harper's Bazaar that filming the show in the original languages was necessary for to show the impact of Japan's colonization of Korea and its effects, with some characters even switching from Japanese to Korean within a sentence.

"It was never a question that it would be in the languages; I don’t understand how else you could tell the story of colonization because language is part of that," Hugh says. "I just don’t think you can possibly do this story without doing the three languages."

 

Hugh interviewed Zanichi women to include their stories in the series.

The main theme of the show is the effects of Japan's colonization of Korea from 1910 to 1945 and the history of Koreans living in Japan as Zanichi, a history that often isn't taught. As research for the book Pachinko, Lee interviewed dozens of Zainichi women to make sure she captured their experiences accurately. Hugh also recorded interviews with Zanichi women while filming the show.

"These women range in age from 90 to 104, and we got their oral testimony, and it’s actually a part of the show," she told Bazaar. "I really wanted to make sure that I learned the history from the actual mouths of the people who lived it."

 

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a39420950/pachinko-news-cast-release-date/

 

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

 

Meet the Cast of ‘Pachinko’, Apple TV+’s Adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s Best-Selling Book

Pachinko is the highly-anticipated series from Apple TV+, based on the acclaimed novel by Min Jin Lee. Here, we break down the cast who are bringing the characters to the screen

 

Apple TV+’s Pachinko is based on the best-selling 2017 name of the same name by Korean American author Min Jin Lee. It chronicles the hopes and dreams of four generations of a Korean immigrant family, mainly through the eyes of the character Sunja.

 

The television adaptation is set to be epic in scope and intimate in tone, starting with a forbidden love story that crescendos into a sweeping saga that journeys between Korea, Japan and America.

Ahead of the eight-episode series’s release on March 25, we break down the sprawling cast that mixes an Oscar winner, established stars and newcomers.

 

Youn Yuh-jung

 

Legendary Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung plays older Sunja in Pachinko. She boasts a career that spans over five decades, taking on memorable roles in over 80 television series and close to 30 feature films for which she has won numerous awards including the Blue Dragon Awards, the Asian Film Awards, the BAFTAs, SAG Awards and the Academy Awards.

Audiences around the world best know Youn for her role as Soonja, the feisty grandmother in Minari. For her performance, she became the first Korean to win an acting award in the Academy’s 93-year history.

“Yuh-jung was a gift to us—a legend, a brilliant actress and an anchor for everything in the show,” says executive producer Michael Ellenberg.

“She brings a wit, an intelligence, a command and charisma that’s mesmerising,” he adds.

Lee Min-ho

 

South Korean superstar Lee Min-ho is taking on the role of Hansu Koh in Pachinko, a wealthy fish broker. He falls in love with teenage Sunja.

Lee Min-ho is one of South Korea’s most versatile stars, being an actor, singer, creator and businessman. His breakthrough came in 2009 when he took on the role of Gu Jun-pyo in the South Korean remake of the hit drama Boys Over Flowers. His performance earned him a Best New Actor award at the Baeksang Arts Awards and rocketed him to fame.

Lee’s recognition grew and he became one of South Korea’s most sought-after actors. With that, a series of increasingly challenging television roles followed City Hunter and The Heirs.

Showrunner Soo Hugh describes Lee as “so detail-oriented and so dedicated to working towards the whole story. He worked so hard, went so far beyond his comfort zone and was one of the hardest workers on this show.”

 

Kim Min-ha

Spoiler

 

 

Kim Min-ha plays teenage Sunja, the lover of Lee’s Hansu. Pachinko marks the second professional acting role for the Korean actress and her first in a US production. She made her on screen debut in the Korean short film Main Street which won Best Romantic Comedy Short at the 2020 Indie Short Fest.

Kim beat out many actresses—new and established ones—for the role of teenage Sunja. “She was emotional, but in a different way. Watching the tape, you just wanted to lean in—you felt something,” says director Kogonda.

“She never seemed concerned about the presentation of emotion. Her performance felt very authentic. I really think that hers is a stunning debut” he adds.

Jin Ha

 

Spoiler

 

 

Jin Ha plays Solomon Baek, Sunja’s grandson. Jin Ha is currently performing on Broadway as Aaron Burr in Hamilton: An American Musical. His other additional stage credits include Song Liling in the Broadway revival of David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly.

For television, Ha has starred in the limited series, Devs and Love Life.

Anna Sawai

 

Spoiler

 

 

Anna Sawai plays Naomi, an employee at Sheffield’s office in Japan who works alongside Solomon.

Sawai is quickly establishing herself as a must-watch rising star. In addition to Pachinko, she’ll next be seen in Shogun, an adaptation of James Clavell’s best-selling novel of the same name.

In 2021, Sawai starred in Justin Lin’s blockbuster F9 and also in the Netflix television series Giri-Haji. Outside of acting, Sawai is one of the founding members of the Japanese pop group FAKY.

Steve Sanghyun Noh

Steve Sanghyun Noh is playing the role of Isak, Sunja’s husband. Noh appeared in the French drama Dragon Race for which he earned a Best Actor nomination in the drama division of the Dublin International Film Festival.

Since then, he’s appeared in films such as Money, Fight Hard, Love Hard 2 and 300-Year-Old Class of 2020. Other than Pachinko, Noh will next be seen in the Korean drama, Bloody Romance.

Talking about Noh, director Justin Chon says “a lot of his character is internal and portraying that takes a lot of skill and confidence.” 

Jung Eun-chae

Jung Eun-chae is playing the role of young Kyung-hee, Sunja’s sister-in-law.

Jung is best known for her roles in The Great Battle, The Guest and The King: Eternal Monarch, for which she previously worked with Lee Min-ho.

Jeong In-ji

Jeong In-ji is playing Yangjin, Sunja’s mother.

Jeong is best known for her work in theatre and musicals such as Islander, Marie Curie, Demain, Nan-Seol and Me, Natasha, and a White Donkey. Outside of the stage, she has appeared in the drama, Lung.

Jimmi Simpson

Spoiler

 

 

Jimmi Simpson is playing Tom Andrews, a bank executive in Tokyo who works with Solomon and Naomi. Simpson’s performances actors film and television have seen him nominated for a Primetime Emmy, a BAFTA and three Screen Actor Guild awards.

His film roles include Zodiac and The Invention of Lying and acclaimed dramas such as 24, CSI: Crime Since Investigation and House of Cards.

Han Jun-woo

Han Jun-woo is playing Yoseb, Kyung-hee’s husband, Isak’s older brother and Sunja’s brother-in-law.

Han is fast becoming a name to watch in global cinema. Having made his acting debut at 19 in Mr Go, he has since appeared in Be Melodramatic, My Unfamiliar Family and Extreme Job.

Kaho Minami

Kaho Minami is playing the role of Etsuko, the girlfriend of Solomon’s father Mozasu.

Minami is born in Japan and is of third-generation Korean descent. For her debut film, Kaho was chosen from among 2,200 contestants who auditioned for the main role in For Kanako. She made her theatrical debut as Juliet in Romeo & Juliet and has since appeared in many projects in theatre, film and television.

Soji Arai

Soji Arai is playing the role of Mozasu, Solomon’s father and Sunja’s son.

Arai is the son of second-generation Korean Japanese (zainichi) parents. After graduating from Waseda University, Arai did theatre and made an impact in Bent as Max. In 2009, he starred in The Ramen Girl and was most recently seen in the Netflix series Cobra Kai. 

Jeon Yu-na

Spoiler

 

 

Jeon Yu-na is playing the role of young Sunja which is also her first acting role. Showrunner Soo Hugh describes Yu-na as “one of the most natural performers [she has] ever seen.”

 

---

‘Pachinko’ premieres on March 25, exclusively on Apple TV+.

 

https://www.tatlerasia.com/culture/entertainment/pachinko-cast-appletv-plus

[Kris Silva]

On 3/12/2022 at 11:14 PM, CallieP said:

 

I saw you chattting with Laura on Twitter.

"Just his intensity is amazing in one scene that I did mention in my review, but avoiding spoilers. But, man, incredible."

 

I read her review but did not see any mention of LMH or his intensity in a particular scene.  Wondering what scene she is referring to.

 

Same here ! I had to read her review a couple of times to check but didn't find it either. 

 

Media rounds are starting !!  

 

 

[Kris Silva]

From Marie Claire TW IG:   

 

 

[Kris Silva]

 

[syntyche]

<Pachinko>, a story of a Korean immigrant's family who left their homeland
 

 

About Apple TV's original series "Pachinko"
Expectations are growing.
The information about "Pachinko" that had been hidden behind the veil...
One by one.
Global viewers are paying keen attention.

...

The casting that received a lot of attention from the production stage...
Yoon Yeo-jung, who won the Academy Award,
Yoon Yeo-jung's delicate emotional acting,
After the preview was released,
She's getting a lot of attention.

 

"Youn's journey was like a gift to us.
She is a legend, a great actress,
She was the backbone of Pachinko."

-Michael Ellenberg, Executive Director

“It is a very special experience for me to be part of her acting.

I was amazed at every moment of Yoon Yeo-jeong's performance and was amazed at how she breathes life into her character with her colorful rhymes and depth" 

-Director Kogonada

 

In the drama, Lee Min-ho plays Ko Han- soo, a merchant who has built up wealth and power through a relationship with the Yakuza .
He is an opportunist who is faithful to his desires, but
wants to be pure in the face of love

Keeping secrets, chasing forbidden love.
He's a mysterious character.

 

Lee Min-ho, a Hallyu star who is popular not only in Korea but also abroad, is expected to receive more attention as he challenges a new character that has not been shown before and at the same time challenges the global stage in earnest .

 

In addition, Kim Min-ha, a rookie who plays the young Seon-ja, is receiving a lot of attention by taking a lead role in 'Pachinko' after playing an active part in a small role in a drama or an independent film .

 

Other actors in ‘Pachinko’ are 
"Roh Sang-hyun, who plays the role of Solomon,

Jinha as Baek Isak,
Han Junwoo as Baek Joseph,
Sun-Ah's mother, Jung In-ji,
and Jeon Yu-na as teh young Sunja.

 

Before the release of "Pachinko",
Various reviews are coming out and expectations are increasing.

Expectations for the scale and format of the global OTT platform
are high.

'Pachinko' will be released on Apple TV on the 25th.

 

https://www.marieclairekorea.com/culture/2022/03/pachinko/

 

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popternative IG update

New stills from our #Pachinko interview with leeminho and minhakim__ which is dropping on our YouTube channel this Friday March 18th, at 10am EST

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[syntyche]

Pachinko: an epic story not to forget

 

The review exclusively for the Italian audience of the most anticipated K-drama of the year

 

Four hundred forty five minutes. Over 7 hours and 41 minutes. This is the time it takes to immerse yourself in the first season of Pachinko. The K- drama based on the book of the same name (translated in Italian as La Moglie Coreana, published by Edizioni Piemme) by the bestselling author Min Jin Lee and on air from March 25 on Apple TV + is a small jewel in the immense catalog of productions Korean women in recent years.

 

Panorama had the opportunity to preview it, pending the international conference to be held in the next few hours in Los Angeles. And what we can tell you is that, Pachinko is without a doubt one of the most beautiful products in the K- -drama category of all time.

 

The reason is contained in an extremely wise choice of the cast. Each actor fits perfectly into the storyline of his character, merging with the story and making you forget, for a moment, that what you are watching is just a film production.

...

https://www.panorama.it/lifestyle/Televisione/pachinko-review?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1

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Pachinko Premiere in LA!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pachinko Los Angeles Premiere Arrivals

 

 

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Can't wait for Pachinko cast interviews!

 

[nina_mitrokhina]

Pachinko Is Moving, Sublime—And at Odds With Itself
Apple TV+’s adaptation of the epic novel is stirring and sumptuous. But it also underestimates its protagonist’s appeal.

 

By Shirley Li

 

 

MARCH 16, 2022, 6 AM ET
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Skilled players of pachinko—an arcade-style, pinball-like game found mostly in parlors across Japan—know how to launch the game’s small steel balls at just the right moment, with just the right force. But expert ones understand that luck can play an even more important role, because parlor managers tend to interfere with the machines, changing players’ winning potential. A single adjustment can improve the chances of victory—or of failure.

In Min Jin Lee’s best-selling 2017 novel, Pachinko, the game is a key motif. The story primarily follows Sunja, the only child of a boardinghouse owner, over the course of the 20th century. Born and raised in Japanese-occupied Korea, she leaves her native country for Japan as a young woman and goes on to become the matriarch of a family that eventually thrives because of her son’s pachinko business. But like other ethnic Koreans living in Japan at the time, she’s discriminated against and treated as a second-class citizen. Lee examines how Sunja forges her life through a combination of skill and chance, despite the invisible hand of history shaping her journey like a tampered-with pachinko machine. Even with its sweeping scope, Pachinko never reads like a textbook. The pleasure of taking in the novel comes from its unpredictability: Sunja seems fated for poverty and hardship, but her decisions—along with the kindness and cruelty of those she meets—produce an engrossing saga that feels both epic and intimate.

AppleTV+’s eight-episode adaptation, out March 25, is equally epic. But the series has, in liberally altering the novel’s structure, lost some of that thoroughly personal touch. Instead of telling the story chronologically like the book does, the show bounces forward and backward through time: Sunja (played at different ages by Yu-na Jeon, Minha Kim, and Minari’s Yuh-Jung Youn) is a young girl weeping in her father’s arms in one moment, and in the next, she’s an old woman sitting alone, lost in thought. Rather than prioritize Sunja’s perspective, the drama spends ample time tracking her grandson, Solomon (Jin Ha), a banker who returns to Japan from America in 1989 on business, bringing with him a more modern attitude shaped by his education in the States that conflicts with Sunja’s.

Directed by Kogonada and Justin Chon, the series is visually sumptuous, and the weaving of timelines yields some cinematic, transcendent moments: The cacophony of pachinko balls careening through machines in 1989 echoes the sound of rain pattering against the boardinghouse roof in the 1910s. A shot of Sunja’s mother carefully tucking Sunja’s few possessions into a sack for her to take abroad as a young woman transitions into a scene of older Sunja packing her own suitcase to prepare for a trip. Pachinko overlaps and intersects such images, creating a tapestry of memories.

Yet as gorgeous and masterfully made as the series is, that tapestry comes loose through many alterations. Taken cumulatively, they weaken the novel’s emphasis on Sunja and the subtle influences history can have on one person’s life. The novel was remarkably attentive to such details, with Lee’s stoic prose illustrating the profundity of mundane experiences, such as a prayer or a shared meal. The show, however, manufactures drama at Sunja’s expense, turning characters’ arcs into intricate mysteries and following a prestige-TV trend of complicating timelines for the sake of suspense. Sunja’s tangled affair with Koh Hansu (Lee Min-Ho) is depicted as a star-crossed romance, their large age gap downplayed. When her husband, Baek Isak (Steve Sang-Hyun Noh), runs into trouble with Japanese authorities as in the novel, the adaptation invents a more theatrical reason for his arrest. The older Sunja often references events from decades earlier, as if creating knots for the viewer to untangle later. The intimacy on the page—Sunja’s personal strife, the blessings and sorrows that make up a life—struggles to reach the screen, the texture of her journey sacrificed in service of flashier storytelling.

 

 

Modifying the source material to fit a new medium isn’t unreasonable; indeed, doing so can work impressively well. But here, these moves reframe a deeply Korean story through an American lens. The show remains as precise as the book—the characters speak Korean and Japanese interchangeably, with multicolored subtitles showing how the languages can blend even in the same sentence—and the conflict between Korean and Japanese communities is depicted and discussed. In pivoting away from Sunja so often, though, the drama becomes less about the rift between neighboring cultures, a specific conflict rarely captured in Hollywood projects, and instead about the differences between American and broadly Asian perspectives.

These adjustments would come across more organically if Sunja’s story weren’t told so quickly in comparison with Solomon’s. Lee meticulously tracks Sunja’s progress in the book, but the show rushes through her coming-of-age while drawing out her grandson’s fight to convince an elderly Korean woman to sell her land to his client. As Solomon tries to connect with the woman, he recruits Sunja to help him understand her point of view. The shifting focus transforms the story from a close examination of one woman’s life in a particular historical context into a more contemporary culture-clash narrative. Like the rest of her generation, Sunja is a riddle for Solomon to solve rather than a character with an evolution worth exploring on her own.

The result is a drama that can feel sublime and unsatisfying at the same time. Take the scene with Sunja and Solomon eating a meal with the potential seller Solomon is after. The seller makes Korean rice, and Sunja sobs when she tastes it, overwhelmed by a memory of her mother purchasing a small bag of white rice for her wedding when the grain was still a hard-won luxury. That memory, however, isn’t shown until the next episode—and even then, the sequence fades into a conversation about the differences between Korea and America, underlining the show’s principal focus on cultural contrasts. Such scenes are exquisitely filmed, and all three actresses who play Sunja deliver excellent performances, but the show views her life through her grandson’s eyes. Sunja’s past becomes a series of lessons for him to learn.

Pachinko didn’t need such an audience proxy in Solomon. Lee’s novel was unapologetically specific, trusting the reader to connect with a character whose story may not resemble anything they’ve encountered in American media before. The show seems to second-guess its audience, and thus tries to be more conventionally accessible with flourishes that feel at odds with how immersive the series is otherwise. As if uncertain whether the show has done enough to make its audience invest in Sunja, the finale even ends with a short documentary of interviews with real-life Sunjas, elderly Korean women who recount why they remained in Japan. “They endured,” a title card reads before the sequence begins, summarizing their lives before they’ve even spoken.

 

To be clear, I am happy to see a series like Pachinko arrive. The show is well intentioned and well made, and many scenes stirred my own memories of conversations with my grandparents about their experiences living through conflicts I’ve only read about. But if Pachinko returns for a second season—which I hope it will, as the first mostly omitted a significant third of the book—it would do well to be bold in its telling of Sunja’s story, to spotlight history through her eyes rather than in retrospect. The television landscape can be challenging, discouraging new shows from alienating any audiences at all costs. As Lee’s novel posits, however, life is a gamble; pachinko players know the game might be rigged, yet they play nonetheless. The show should take a similar risk.

 

Shirley Li is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where she covers culture.

 

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/03/pachinko-apple-tv-series-review/627071/

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First time we see the Pachinko team together!

 

 

 

 

 

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The cast of Apple’s “Pachinko” attend global premiere in Los Angeles 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oscar-winning actor Youn Yuh-jung plays a Korean immigrant in new Apple TV+ series ‘Pachinko’ 

 

 

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sebastian_lee_em IG update

 

It was an amazing premeire last night! Applaud to all crews and casts Thank you all for your heart and soul.