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PORTSIDE CULTURE

PACHINKO, APPLE TV+’S UNSUNG HERO, MAKES A REMARKABLE RETURN  
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Saloni Gajjar
August 16, 2024
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_ Pachinko follows Sunja, a young Korean woman who immigrates to
Japan in the late 1930s after marrying a Protestant minister. A mother
of two in unfamiliar territory, she strives to take care of her family
amid poverty, racism, and political turmoil. _

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_Pachinko_’s beauty
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in its attention to detail. This is a TV show determined to utilize
its visual space completely, so the camera purposefully lingers on
facial expressions and landscapes, finding meaning in mundane chores
like cooking, eating, and driving. It makes Apple TV+’s drama
inherently immersive, a necessity because the show jumps across years,
viewpoints, languages, and countries. In season two, which premieres
August 23
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through both the Japanese countryside during World War II as well as
the crowded Osaka streets of 1989. Still, the sweeping perspectives
don’t detract from its emotional core or universal appeal. 

Created by Soo Hugh and based on Min Jin Lee’s novel of the same
name, the series returns for eight compelling hourlong episodes that
teem with melancholy and exultation, capturing the duality of life.
It’s an authentic tale of persisting while facing hardships and
finding unexpected joy and freedom in moments of grief and loss. Sure,
all of this might sound preachy, but _Pachinko_ succeeds in
delivering this without being didactic. That’s because, much like
its debut run, season two is a pretty perfect blend of a soulful
scripts and performances. 

Since it premiered back in early 2022, here’s a quick
refresher: _Pachinko _primarily follows Sunja, a young Korean woman
(played by Kim Min-ha) who immigrates to Japan in the late 1930s after
marrying a Protestant minister. A mother of two in unfamiliar
territory, she strives to take care of her family amid poverty,
racism, and political turmoil. The show also tracks an older Sunja
(portrayed by Youn Yuh-jung) in 1989 as she comfortably lives with her
grown son, who owns an arcade of pachinko, a popular gambling
device. 

The series continues to go back and forth in time to depict her life
through nuanced cultural insights, especially via food. Sunja earns
money by selling kimchi and noodles in the market after moving to
Osaka. Later in season two, she works in a rice field. The camera
beautifully captures her process and also spends time with her family
as they sit together to eat meals, often under soft lighting that
contrasts the dreary war going on outside the comfort of their home.
In 1989, Sunja prepares the same traditional cuisine to display her
affection for and reconnect with her adult grandson, Solomon (Jin
Ha). 

Season two jumps to 1945, when Sunja, her two sons, and sister-in-law,
Kyunghee (Jung Eun-chae), take refuge away from the city as the war
ravages Japan. She gets help from her former lover, Koh Hansu (Lee
Min-ho), a wealthy man with ties to the criminal world. It’s a
riveting timeline because it’s invested in nurturing various
relationships, none more so than Sunja and a teen Noa (played by Kang
Soon Kim at age 14 and Tae Ju Kang at age 19). A studious and moral
boy, Noa’s goal is to attend a prestigious university; his
mother’s is to help him achieve it. And their interactions, in turn,
are laced with heartfelt emotion. (We’re not spoiling the source
material here, but their bond takes center stage and also sets up
season three.) 

That said, the show slightly fumbles with its non-linear narrative
when it dwells on Solomon. A Yale-graduated banker, he moves back to
Japan for a deal that fails. His attempts to recover from the mess in
season two lead to an ethical dilemma and some distance from his
grandmother. It’s an interesting parallel to how virtuously Sunja
attempted to raise her sons in the past, but the execution of the 1989
timeline gets a tad tedious. And that’s despite an excellent turn
from _Minari_’s Yuh-jung and an expanded role for _Shōgun_’s
Anna Sawai
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who plays Solomon’s coworker and love interest, Naomi.  

_Pachinko_ has a terrific cast, which includes new performers like
Sungkyu Kim as Hansu’s right-hand man and the kid actors playing Noa
and Mozasu. Meanwhile, Min-ho is exceptional as a stoic Hansu,
fighting to keep his feelings for Sunja at bay and dealing with his
horrible past actions. It’s a welcome chance for him to depict his
range beyond the romantic heroes he often plays in K-dramas. Eun-chae
gets a bigger spotlight, too, and damn if she doesn’t shine as
Kyunghee, who faces her own moral dilemma when sparks fly with a man
who isn’t her husband. But the undisputed backbone here remains Kim
Min-ha. She embodies Sunja with such care and subtlety, not needing
too much dialogue to convey her character’s experiences because her
evocative expressions do the job. And when she does deliver the words,
it happens with conviction. Season two lets her grapple with Sunja’s
identity in far more complex ways after her reunion with Hansu, and
Min-ha rises to the occasion. It’s honestly impossible to look away
when she’s onscreen. 

Aside from the acting, which grounds _Pachinko _in its few weak
moments, the show also boasts Ruth Ammon’s sweeping production
design, Kyunghwa Chae’s fantastic costumes, and a real sense of
aliveness thanks to directors of photography Ante Cheng and Sofian El
Fani. What’s more, the writing skillfully toggles between Japanese,
Korean, and English, and directors like Arvin Chen, who helms season
two’s best installments (including a triggering episode five
partially set during the atomic bombing of Nagasaki), immerse us into
these times and places. All of these elements combine for a poignant
viewing experience. 

_Pachinko_’s expansive saga feels intimate because it distills
historic events through the lens of one woman and her loved ones. What
is the impact of a global catastrophe on the day-to-day lives of the
people who live through it? It’s a big question
that _Pachinko_ masterfully tries to answer. 

_PACHINKO _PREMIERES AUGUST 23 ON APPLE TV+  

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