Pachinko (2022)

It's not often you get a great adaptation of a great novel that has so much scope and a rich story to tell, but I think Pachinko is a rather successful adaptation and handles the subject matter well. It's a big novel that leaves a lot behind once the reading is over and is a true family story that spans generations through Japanese colonial rule over Korea and then as uprooted and anxious immigration to Japan and what follows that second-class citizenship.

The cast, sets, cinematography, and costumes are all excellent, and each episode feels like a short film in a sense. However, we only got to see part of this big story in this first season. The pace of the story is slow, but the story never seems to drag its feet or lose too much focus on the story it wants to tell us.

How the story moves between periods isn't always too clear, but the show often gives viewers notice of where they are in the story. Even though past and present events certainly mirror each other in certain places and explain the characters and their hidden backstories it does feel a bit choppy at times. But because of this time jumps that the story leaves some of these storylines a bit short or they feel rougher around the edges than one would have liked.

There are also certain characters, moments, or backstories that the story focuses on that are less interesting than others – but there was also a thing I noticed from the book. The story certainly shines brightest when focusing on the perspectives of the women in the story and Sunja, the matriarch, truly has all my heart. How much these women fought for their family's survival even though their lives suffered is breathtaking and it makes sense for the show to not beautify those things too much since they're based on real events.

Both the book and the episodes tell a story that is rather realistically depressing, but not necessarily in a totally crude or bleak way. It's a story about endurance and finding a way to thrive despite everything, and it certainly works for every tear the show squeezes out of you – and oh boy, where there are lots of tears. There really is not a big happy ending for any of the characters, they just have to keep fighting for their lives and hope that's enough until the end.

This is a great exploration of culture and life, but also the loss of it. The story is quite thought-provoking and poignant, pulling at your heartstrings with its realism and resilience of the characters, allowing the audience to confront the reality these characters live in. The scope of the story is epic, although the story manages to feel intimate and personal. This season successfully gives the viewer a pretty open ending to the story just in case there is no follow-up and the story doesn't get another season, despite having so much more to say.

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Slow but stirring

I have to admit that I started watching this show solely because of Lee Min Ho. I was disappointed on that account because this certainly is not idealised romantic drama that elevates him to idol status. Instead, it s a slow and plodding show but full of meaning. It is set against the Korean colonial past and how that plays out in the lives of those who lived through it and how it subsequently impacted their descendents.

The story unfolds very slowly and the co-mingling of the two timelines - young and old Sunja make for confusing watching. While some directors in similar shows have used cues such as different background colours or filters to demarcate the two timelines, here, the audience here is expected to know whether we are watching young Sunja in the past or her grandson in the 'future'. I use their clothing as a cue.

Up till now (end of episode 5), I still see little relevance between her grandson's exploits and her past. In her past, Sunja is the main character but in 1989, her grandson is. That's where it gets discombobulating in trying to reconcile the two parts of the story. I'm hoping we get to the 'point' of the story but I'm losing hope as we're more than halfway in.

This show is certainly no Oshin. The only upside is watching the acting which cannot be faulted.

EDIT: I have now finished the season. Note that the show has an incomplete ending. The series creator followed the book quite closely. He envisaged that the show should unfurl over 4 seasons. Unconvinced that Apple will allow him to complete all 4 seasons, he put in a special documentary at the end of season 1. In my opinion, that's probably the best part of the entire season 1.

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I decided to watch the drama because I have been reading the novel as well and I'm not disappointed. Although I must admit that it can be confusing to people that know nothing of the plot and have no expectations. The scenes are a bit messy. In addition, I think that it would be better if the story was told in more than 8 episodes.
As for the cast, it is magnificent! I was eager to see how Lee Minho would play the role of Ko Hansu and he did it wonderfully. I also liked Kim Minha and No Sanghyun's acting. I didn't know them before I watched this drama but I think that I might as well check out some other works of their.
As for the music, it is fine, too, although I wouldn't describe it as neither special nor memorable.

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This drama focuses more on sacrifice for your homeland, your life, your identity, and everything.

Pachinko. What a unique name. Do I find the meaning of this drama? Absolutely, yes! But, should I tell the meaning? I don't think so, since I predict that this drama will have season 2. Let's hope that my meaning is still the same even if season 2 release next year or 2 years later then.

I love Sunja's character so much. From a child, young lady to old lady, ufff. 🔥😍😘 Angry, sad, happy and any other emotion, it's suits with situation Sunja face in her life. Awh. What to do? It almost makes me screaming or happy or sad or any emotion whatever Sunja does. Child, young girl or old lady...Their name : Young Yuh Jung, Kim Min Ha, Jeon Yu Na. Wow. What great acting! I hope the best wish for your girl for your next drama. 👏🏻👏🏻 But, I'm still not satisfied with the ending of Pachinko. So, yes. Let's hope season 2 release soon it then.

Hansu character. Hoho. Finally, this person character made me angrier, speechless, don't know what to do and happy a bit. 😜🙂😂😌 What a cruel person. I hate this person character more (not gonna hate him during old version of Hansu - 20 years old). What I can say about Hansu's character? It seems during that era, these person who have much wealth will do that way. I beg your pardon, Mister? Are you really sure? You're crueller to me, Mister... 😌 In conclusion, wow. 👏🏻👏🏻 You're indeed just making me more interested to watch your next drama, Lee Min Ho. I hope next drama, you will not disappoint me. Thanks, LMH for picking this drama. This is indeed worth to watch for me. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Ishak character (Steven Noh) Do I like his character? Of course, yes. 😍😍😘 Wow. I respect you, Mister. You are indeed a good gentleman. 👏🏻 His love to his wife, Sunja, and his two sons, Noa and Mozazu, 😍😍🥺. Awhh. I can't describe my feeling more in this review. Just you guys know, I'm happier with his character. Anyway, thanks, Ishak for protecting Sunja. 😍😍

I'm more interested with Noa character. But, it's making me thinking. Okay. Let's wait for season 2. Don't make me disappointed then!

This drama focuses more on sacrifice for your homeland, your life, your identity, and everything. You will see that from Sunja, Ishak, Hansu and all characters in this drama. What could I say for this drama? Money? Maybe, but, does it's focus on that? Not too much. But, why? Remember. Money can't bring happiness to your life ya. But, still, money needs to in order to buy food and everything. Yes, it seems like that, but, I think we forget one thing. With correct person, we will do everything to get the money. That's all I can say.

Since it's my first review in here, I try my best to give rating. Usually, I will give / 5 for drama. So, my rating for this drama 4.4 / 5. What a great drama I watch after Mr. Sunshine. Awhh. I miss my Mr. Sunshine. 😭😭😭

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Amazing scenes and acting; You tear up just from watching two people talking about rice.

"Pachinko" is a visually stunning family saga based on an American adaptation of a novel. It spans four generations as the characters struggle to survive and grapple with their identities.

What makes "Pachinko" attractive is its exploration of the characters' journeys across national boundaries. They start as ethnically Korean individuals born on the Korean Peninsula and end up in Japan due to various circumstances. This global perspective is reflected not only in the storyline but also in the show's production; Despite the way they're shot is very different from K-dramas, the quality and acting are great.

However, I'm not a fan with the alternating past-present short sequences because it took me out of the show. The shows also heavily spent time for telling another second-lead story which I wasn’t really invested in. I am more interested on our female lead’s past; the bitter life she suffered from the Japanese colonization and the aftermath of that.

Final remark, I don't feel closure of the stories told in season 1. I would not say the drama ends on a cliffhanger but maybe a somewhat open ending?

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Heartbreakingly beautiful!

The drama intricately portrays original book, even dwelling in deeper backstory of characters & original immigrants - generational victims since Japanese occupation era & continued identity crisis, collectively similar but starkly different across generations.

It evokes bittersweet nostalgia, a painful reminder of the past, reflections on how political crisis has changed courses of lives and continues to do so even in the current day, as immigrants can neither return to Korea nor get a full recognition in Japan.

The past and present parallels putting spotlight on Sunja and Solomon (the grandmother and grandson) duo is seamlessly woven to create a heartbreakingly beautiful cinematic experience. You feel their hopes, pain, resignation and courage through and through.

The cast is stellar, the acting: both the younger and older actors excel at making the roles their core identities & the rawness of the direction makes it feel like a poetry: alternatingly beautiful and destructive.

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Cinematographic masterpiece, not a regular drama

It is a pure cinematographic art that has to be watched with certain premises:
1. Do not expect regular K drama, that will entertain you with cheesy storyline.
2. Watch it using a “third “ eye , many hidden messages and deeper meanings are weaved into simple or even meaningless scenes.
3. Do not try to predict or get attached to a certain ending.
4. If you are not “getting” it, better put on hold and come back later to enjoy when you will be ready to read between the lines.
Rich and intensive storyline with entirely open ending. Astonishing acting. Extraordinary cast.

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A story for us, of us and that will go on to become us

After a long time, I have cried my heart out after ending an series. "Pachinko" is a masterpiece, one that everyone should watch and then read and then meditate upon. It leaves us with lessons that we will hold within us for a very long time, allow us to survive, to endure.

Reading Pachinko in 2019 was my first brush with the understanding of the horrors of the Japanese occupation in Korea. To learn almost nothing about it and then to learn so much about it thanks to books, dramas like "Hymn of Death" and reading webtoons like "The Gyeongsang Mermaid", is a lesson inside how much suffering has occured and yet how much hope is left amidst all of this.

The story of Sunja and the retinue of characters that dwell in this tale will all reside within you. Not only because of how beautiful the cinematography is, how brilliant the screen adaptation of the novel is or how beautifully wound together the scenes are despite going back and forth a thousand dimensions, it is because it seems these characters lived these little lives through their acting. You feel the emotions they feel sometimes like a burden, sometimes like a relief.

Amidst all the cross cutting timelines and the recurring themes of discrimination, otherization, ostracization and suffering that spread across the 8 episodes of the series, the moments that remain with you are the hopeful ones. When Sunja gives birth to Noa, when Sunja and Kyunghee walk debtfree, when the characters dance in the opening sequence, when the ending of the 8th episode show the real life stories of the women surviving today.

Even those fleeting moments of happiness that are embedded in this long dark story shine very bright, linger inside you and stay within you.

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A western take on Korean history

I loved Min Jin Lee's original book. It would've been almost impossible for this adaptation to compare. So let's not put it on such a pedestal.

Is it unfair to judge a western show off its first season, recognizing that western-style shows are serial rather than self-contained? Regardless, this eight-episode stint is all that's out now, and it felt incomplete. We didn't close the loop on the relevance of pachinko as a metaphor. We only got introduced to Noa as a character in the LAST episode. We had a whole episode on Hansu's backstory — admittedly, richer than what we knew about him from the book — but it felt jarring and out of place (dare I say, it felt like... filler, if the point was to focus on Sunja's story here).

My friend is friends with a producer of the Apple TV+ series, and was told that their intention is for the story of Pachinko to be told over four seasons. I think I understand the rationale since the book spans across four generations. I liked the way this one followed Sunja and Solomon's stories in parallel. I understand that the source material is meaty. But ugh, the western show format of keeping things open-ended in hopes of renewal for the next season really irks me. It makes me wish that I had waited until the whole thing is out! But if people don't watch as it comes out, it won't get renewed — and the story will remain unfinished. It's all a ploy to keep people subscribed. Perhaps I'm feeling particularly cynical after watching such a cynical show. Is life just a game after all, rigged to keep us putting in our energy for the smallest wins? Watch Pachinko and see if that message resonates.

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From the very start of this drama, the opening song and dance wow! I was hooked. Because of the occupancy of the Japanese. I could relate thru that thru my own mother's life being Okinawan. The cast is so good and you can feel the emotion that they are playing. I also think I 've never seen Min Ho play a role like this one before and I love how the main girl is not a major movie star, but someone beautiful in her own way and I think that's why it's portrayed believable . I can't wait for the other episodes to come out. Youn Yuh-jung is one of my favorite actresses. The only thing I don't like about this show is why is there only 8 eps. There should be at least 10.

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