Pachinko (TV series)

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Pachinko
File:Pachinko (TV series).jpeg
Genre Drama
Created by Soo Hugh
Based on Pachinko
by Min Jin Lee
Directed by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Music by Nico Muhly
Opening theme "Let's Live for Today" by The Grass Roots (English ver.) and Leenalchi (Korean ver.)
Country of origin <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • United States[1]
Original language(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Korean
  • Japanese
  • English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 8 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Soo Hugh
  • Michael Ellenberg
  • Lindsey Springer
  • Theresa Kang-Lowe
  • Richard Middleton
  • Kogonada
  • Justin Chon
Producer(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Brian Sherwin
  • Jordan Murcia
  • Lynne Bespflug
Production location(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Cinematography <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Editor(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Simon Brasse
  • Joe Hobeck
  • Erica Freed Marker
  • Susan E. Kim
  • Jacob Craycroft
  • Sabine Hoffman
Running time 47–63 minutes
Production company(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Blue Marble Pictures
  • A Han.Bok Dream Production
  • Media Res
Distributor
Release
Original network Apple TV+
Picture format 4K (UHD)
Audio format Dolby Digital 5.1
Original release March 25, 2022 (2022-03-25) –
present
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Pachinko is an American drama television series created by Soo Hugh based on the 2017 novel by Min Jin Lee. The series is directed by Kogonada and Justin Chon and stars Youn Yuh-jung, Lee Min-ho, Kim Min-ha, and Jin Ha. It premiered on Apple TV+ on March 25, 2022.[2] In April 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.[3]

It received critical acclaim, particularly for its cinematography, writing, and the performances of the cast, most notably that of Kim Min-ha, Youn Yuh-jung, and Lee Min-ho.

Cast

Main

  • Youn Yuh-jung as Kim Sunja (whose Japanese name is Bando Nobuko), the main protagonist of Pachinko. She is a Korean woman from Yeongdo-gu, Busan, South Korea, who fights for a better life in a Korea dominated by the Japanese.
  • Soji Arai as Baek Mozasu (whose Japanese name is Bando Mozasu), a wealthy businessman who owns several pachinko parlors. He is Sunja's second son (the first and only child fathered by Isak) and Noa's half-brother.
    • Carter Jeong and Koren Lee as baby Mozasu
  • Jin Ha as Solomon Baek, the son of Baek Mozasu and grandson of Sunja. Educated at English-speaking schools and Yale University, he has always socialized with Americans and Westerners.
    • Yoon Kyung-ho as teenage Solomon[4]
  • Han Jun-woo as Baek Yoseb,[5] Isak's second older brother who lives in Osaka, Japan. He is Kyunghee's husband and Sunja's brother-in-law.
  • Jeong In-ji as Yangjin,[2] Sunja's mother, runs a boardinghouse in Yeongdo.
  • Jung Eun-chae as Kyunghee (whose Japanese name is Bando Kimiko), Yoseb's wife and Sunja's sister-in-law. She quickly becomes a best-friend figure for Sunja after they first meet in Japan.
    • Felice Choi as older Kyunghee
  • Lee Min-ho as Koh Hansu, a Zainichi Korean man who lives in Osaka, Japan. Introduced as a merchant and fish broker who regularly visits Busan, South Korea. He is Noa's father.
  • Kaho Minami as Etsuko, Hana's mother and Mozasu's girlfriend.
  • Noh Sang-hyun as Baek Isak, a Protestant minister from Pyongyang, Korea. He marries Sunja despite his oscillating health condition to save her honour by giving her his surname. He is Yoseb's younger brother, Noa's step-father and Mozasu's father.
  • Anna Sawai as Naomi, Solomon's co-worker at the Tokyo branch, graduated from Harvard Business School.
  • Jimmi Simpson as Tom Andrews,[2] Solomon's superior at the Tokyo branch.

Recurring

  • Louis Ozawa as Mamoru Yoshii, a client of Shiffley's
  • Takahiro Inoue as Arimoto, Solomon's co-worker at the Tokyo branch.
  • Park Hye-jin as Han Geum-ja
  • Yoshio Maki as Katsu Abe, a client of Shiffley's
  • Martin Martinez as Angelo, Mozasu's employee
  • Ryotaro Sugimoto as Tetsuya, Solomon's classmate at International School.
    • Dakatade Shoumin as teenage Tetsuya
  • Mari Yamamoto as Hana, Etsuko's daughter and Solomon's ex-girlfriend.
    • Jung Ye-bin as teenage Hana
  • Yoriko Haraguchi as Hansu's Japanese wife
  • Hiro Kanagawa as Mr. Goto, Mozasu's friend
  • Jeong So-ri as Jiyun, a rich Korean girl[6]
  • Yeon Ye-ji as Shin Bokhee, Donghee's older sister, work at Kim's boardinghouse.
  • Kim Bo-min as Shin Donghee, Bokhee's younger sister, work at Kim's boardinghouse.
  • Kim Dha-sol as Sung Chung, one of the Chung brothers who lived in Kim's boardinghouse.
  • Ku Sung-hwan as Fatso Chung, one of the Chung brothers who lived in Kim's boardinghouse.
  • Park Min-i as Gombo Chung, one of the Chung brothers who lived in Kim's boardinghouse.

Guest

  • Lee Dae-ho as Kim Hoonie, Sunja's father
  • Jeon So-hyun as a mudang, a female shaman
  • Leo Joo as Song Byung-ho, a fisherman who lived in Kim's boardinghouse[7]
  • Lee Ji-hye as a Korean singer[8]
  • Hiromitsu Takeda as Totoyama Haruki, Mozasu's best friend
  • Rome Kanda as a Japanese doctor
  • Jung Woong-in as Koh Jong-yul, Hansu's father[9]
  • Takashi Yamaguchi as Ryochi, Koh's employer
  • Kerry Knuppe as Mrs. Holmes, Andrew's mother
  • Jimmy Bennett as Andrew Holmes, Hansu's tutoring student
  • Bob Frazer as Mr. Holmes, Andrew's father, an American businessman
  • Dai Hasegawa as Ryochi's son
  • Lee Hyun-ri as Kiyo, Jong-yul's girlfriend
  • Hideo Kimura as Mr. Shimamura, Yoseb's boss
  • Park Jae-jun as Baek Noa, Sunja's first son, Hansu's biological son

Episodes

No. Title Directed by Written by Original release date [10] Prod.
code
1 "Chapter One" Kogonada Soo Hugh March 25, 2022 (2022-03-25) A0005301001
The narrative begins in 1915 Yeongdo, a small island of the second largest city Busan, in Japanese-occupied Korea with Yangjin, evidently in some anguish, visiting a female shaman's house, where Yangjin recounts that she is married to a kind man with a cleft-lip with whom she has born three sons, none of whom have lived beyond one year, and asks the shaman to "lift the curse" of her childbearing. The narrative jumps to 1989 in New York City, where it follows a young, sharply-dressed Korean-American business man, who we later learn is originally from Japan and is named Solomon, as he attends a performance-review meeting with two of his managers, who inform him that, despite his stellar performance, he has not been selected by executives for a promotion to Vice President, news that prompts Solomon to boldly propose in the meeting that he be sent to Japan in order to close a stalled business deal worth millions of dollars, since he is confident he can cajole a Korean woman who is holding up the deal, in order to secure for himself the promotion and pay raise he covets. Back in 1920s Korea, Yangjin and her husband give birth to Sunja, a daughter, who as a young girl is popular, bright and capable. Sunja's parents—unnamed in the first episode—house male lodgers, at least one of which is a drunken fisherman who, because of anti-Japanese sentiments, is a controversial figure. In 1989, Solomon travels to Japan, where, prior to his business projects, he visits his father's home, where he catches up, seemingly after a long time away, with his grandmother—the elderly Sunja—his father, and a woman who we are meant to infer is his stepmother. In the 1920s, Sunja's father falls ill and dies. Nine years after his death, she is depicted as a regular merchant in a more developed fish market, still popular, bright, and capable, where she locks impassioned eyes with Hansu, a young impeccably-dressed businessman, who evidently has only then become the market's broker.
2 "Chapter Two" Kogonada Soo Hugh & Matthew J. McCue March 25, 2022 (2022-03-25) A0005301002
In 1930s Yeongdo, tensions between Japanese emigrants and Korean natives evidently remain intense, as Sunja's mother, Yangjin, exhorts the teenage girl not to walk unaccompanied, fearing rumors spread among Korean women about targeted assaults upon them by Japanese men. Sunja, bright and capable, dismisses the exhortation, though is accosted shortly afterward on a solitary walk near the market by a group of young Japanese men, who are within moments of raping her before the dapper and commanding market broker apprehends the men and compels their apology to Sunja. In 1989 Tokyo, Solomon attends a wedding reception of the daughter of a prominent Japanese financier with two colleagues from his multinational corporation based in New York City, Shiffley. Solomon begins to immerse himself in the business culture of the Tokyo offices beneath and beside Tom Andrews and Naomi. Contemporaneously, the elderly Sunja nurses her sister-in-law, Kyunghee, as she reminisces about her past. In the 1930s, Sunja and Hansu become closer, as they share details about their dreams, history, and opinions about the world. Eventually, they make love in the woods at the peak of their romance. In 1989 Japan, Solomon's father, the owner of a pachinko arcade, secures a massive loan to expand his operations, while he and his partner take steps to discover the whereabouts of Hana. Solomon's bid to the Korean woman in pursuit of his business deal is refused, and Hana, who we infer is his childhood friend and/or stepsister, erstwhile missing inexplicably, calls him at work and evidently knows more than is imaginable about his personal and professional life.
3 "Chapter Three" Kogonada Hansol Jung and Soo Hugh March 25, 2022 (2022-03-25) A0005301003
4 "Chapter Four" Justin Chon E. J. Koh and Soo Hugh April 1, 2022 (2022-04-01) A0005301004
5 "Chapter Five" Justin Chon Franklin Jin Rho and Soo Hugh April 8, 2022 (2022-04-08) A0005301005
6 "Chapter Six" Justin Chon Lauren Yee and Soo Hugh April 15, 2022 (2022-04-15) A0005301006
7 "Chapter Seven" Kogonada Ethan Kuperberg and Soo Hugh April 22, 2022 (2022-04-22) A0005301007
In 1923, a young Hansu lives in Yokohama with his single father Jong-yul, who works as a bookkeeper at an underground boxing ring owned by Ryochi, a yakuza. Hansu earns money tutoring the dim-witted son of the wealthy Holmes family of American industrialists, whose matriarch suggests sending Hansu to Yale alongside their son. Jong-yul is discovered embezzling money from the yakuza, and is about to be executed by Ryochi's men when the city is suddenly struck by the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, which kills Jong-yul and his would-be executioners. In the aftermath of the earthquake, Hansu finds the bodies of the Holmes family, from whom he takes the pocketwatch he later gifts to Sunja, and encounters Ryochi, who helps to hide Hansu from a group of vigilantes attacking Koreans. When he finally encounters his family, Ryochi vows that they will take in Hansu, who still has his "father's debt to pay."
8 "Chapter Eight" Justin Chon Mfoniso Udofia and Soo Hugh April 29, 2022 (2022-04-29) A0005301008

Production

In August 2018, Apple Inc. obtained the rights to the series, which was given a series order in April 2019.[11] The reports also included that Soo Hugh would act as showrunner, writer, and executive producer for the series. The production company, Media Res, would also produce alongside Hugh. In October 2020, Lee Min-ho, Jin Ha, Anna Sawai, Minha Kim, Soji Arai, and Kaho Minami were announced to star, with South Korean filmmaker Kogonada and Justin Chon set to executive producer and direct four episodes each.[12] Soo Hugh said it took six to seven months of worldwide search to cast the main actors and that she had asked all her actors to audition for their roles.[13] Filming was set to commence on October 26, 2020, in South Korea, Japan, and North America.[14] Lee Min-ho said he had finished filming in Busan, South Korea, in December 2020 and that he was preparing to film in Canada.[15] Filming in Vancouver was scheduled to take place between February 6 and April 9, 2021.[16]

The show's opening theme song is "Let's Live for Today" by The Grass Roots. Hugh said she originally thought about selecting "Out of Time" by The Rolling Stones but they were unable to secure the rights to that song. The title sequence was shot several times with different songs until "Let's Live for Today" was added during post-production.[17]

On April 29, 2022, Apple renewed the series for a second season.[3] Filming is scheduled to take place in Toronto from January 9 to March 27, 2023, and in Japan from March 27 to June 16, 2023.[18] Leanne Welham will direct four episodes of the second season.[19]

Release

The series consisting of 8 episodes, produced in three languages, Korean, Japanese, and English premiered on March 25, 2022, on Apple TV+ with 3 episodes. One episode was released every Friday until April 29, 2022.[20][21]

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the series is "Certified Fresh" and holds an approval rating of 98% based on 57 critic reviews, with an average rating of 9.20/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Intricate yet intimate, Pachinko is a sweeping epic that captures the arc of history as well as the enduring bonds of family."[22] On Metacritic, it has a score of 87 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[23]

The American Film Institute named it one of the ten best television programs of 2022.[24]

The standalone "Episode 7" starring by Lee Min-ho and directed by Kogonada is listed as one of the best TV episodes of 2022 by The New York Times,[25] Rolling Stone[26] and Collider.[27]

Critics' top ten list

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2022
 AAFCA TV Awards Best International Production Pachinko Won [29]
American Film Institute Awards Top 10 Programs of the Year Won [24]
Artios Awards Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Pilot and First Season Drama Series Mary Vernieu, Michelle Wade Byrd, Ko Iwagami, Corinne Clark, Jennifer Page Pending [30]
Asia Contents Awards Rising Star Award Kim Min-ha Won [31]
Busan International Film Festival Beyond Cinema Award Won [32]
C21 International Drama Awards Best Non-English Language Drama Series Pachinko Won [33]
Clio Music Awards Silver Winner Pachinko "Epic" Won [34]
Bronze Winner Pachinko "Home" Won [35]
Dorian TV Awards Best Non-English Language TV Show Pachinko Nominated [36]
Edinburgh TV Awards Best International Drama Pachinko Won [37]
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Main Title Design Pachinko Nominated [38]
Golden Trailer Awards Best Foreign Spot for a TV/Streaming Series Pachinko "Home" Pending [39]
Best Music for a TV/Streaming Series Pachinko "Home" Pending
Gotham Independent Film Awards Breakthrough Series – Long Form Pachinko Won [40]
Outstanding Performance in a New Series Kim Min-ha Nominated
Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards Best Streaming Series, Drama Pachinko Nominated [41]
Best International Series Nominated
Best Writing in a Streaming Series, Drama Soo Hugh (for "Chapter One") Nominated
Humanitas Prize Drama Teleplay Won [42]
LMGI Awards Outstanding Locations in a Period Television Series Pachinko Nominated [43]
Rose d'Or Awards Drama Nominated [44]
Satellite Awards Best Miniseries & Limited Series Pending [45]
Television Critics Association Awards Outstanding Achievement in Drama Nominated [46]
Outstanding New Program Nominated
2023
 Art Directors Guild Awards Excellence in Production Design for a One-Hour Period Single-Camera Series Mara LePere-Schloop (for "Chapter One") Pending [47]
British Society of Cinematographers Awards Best Cinematography in Television Drama Florian Hoffmeister (for "Chapter Three") Pending [48]
Critics' Choice Awards Best Foreign Language Series Pachinko Won [49]

See also

References

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  48. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  49. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Template:Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Series – Long Form

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