Pachinko Season 2 Review: Kim Min-Ha and Lee Min-Ho’s epic Korean saga of love, loss and survival returns
About Pachinko Season 2
Created by So, Hughthe Korean drama series Pachinko unfolds just like the novel by Min Jin Lee on which it is based, taking viewers on a heartbreaking but rewarding story of immigrants making a fresh start in Japan. The second season of Pachinko deepens our understanding of characters like Hansu (Lee Min Ho), Sunja (Kim Min-Ha), Mozasu, Solomon, Kyunghee and more who face another obstacle in their lives. With outstanding script, direction and acting, Pachinko proves once again why it is one of the best historical dramas on television.
Pachinko Season 2: Action
In the last season, Sunja’s husband Isak (Steve Sang-Hyun Noh) was sent to prison for treason. She and the family are regrouping in every way they can, with World War II and an American attack looming constantly. The children are now grown, while Noa (Tae Ju Kang) is studying for university and his younger brother Mozasu (Eunseong Kwon, in the first half) is trying to keep up with his perfect brother. In war-torn Japan, there are some emotional reunions, tough betrayals and goodbyes as the family moves to the countryside. Elsewhere in the late 1980s, Sunja’s grandson Solomon (Jin Ha) is obsessed with the desire to succeed at any cost after being fired from his American financial firm.
Pachinko Season 2: Screenplay and Direction
The themes of Pachinko, loss, resilience and survival, are also present in the second season, which now features a new generation of people born in Japan with their dual identities. The conflict of fitting in affects almost all characters of both genders. Sunja, Solomon, Solomon’s girlfriend Naomi (Anna-Lena Schröder) and of course Hansu are all fighting for their place in the world, even though they know exactly what they want.
In addition to identity Pachinko Season 2 is also about truths that, when they come to light, are hard to swallow. Like last season, when the creators focused on how Hansu and his character survived the Great Kanto Earthquake, we see another character experience the horrors of Nagasaki in August 1945. Once again, Soo Hugh and the creative team let us in on that moment, setting the story up for more heartbreak. And it seems like there’s a lot more to come at the end of Season 2, with the bleak yet haunting cover of Viva La Vida by Blackpink’s Lisa.
Pachinko Season 2: Performances
The entire cast of Pachinko deserve all recognition for their achievements of Youn Yuh-jung as the older Sunja, who is trying to relax in the autumn of her life, to the radiant Kim Min-Ha as the rock in the family’s storm. Lee Min-ho’s Hansu is a very complex man, and the actor’s portrayal makes you vacillate between hatred and compassion for him. Shogun Star Sawai is great as the ambitious Naomi who gets caught up in Solomon’s schemes. This season, Jin Ha’s character slowly loses his optimism and the actor shows this in a poignant way. Sunja’s sister-in-law Kyunghee experiences more tragedies in her life, which actress Eunchae Jung portrays so nobly.
Pachinko Season 2: Review
More than the narrative and historical story arc that drives the story forward, it is the small moments in Pachinko Season 2 that stand out. Youn Yuh-jung’s Sunja cooks with Naomi in the kitchen and explains the relationship between love and food. Another great moment is when Solomon finally gets down to business with the old woman who refuses to sell him her land (Hye Jin Park). The intergenerational conversation about survival and guilt is remarkable.
Finally, the story gives us a clue to the title of the series and why pachinko resonates so much with this Korean immigrant family. The title changes this time too and there is a certain sadness to the joy. By all accounts, this is another successful season of the drama and I can’t wait to see the devastating third chapter that is guaranteed to break us all.
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