‘Pachinko’: Airdate, where to watch, trailer and all about Lee Minho’s global K-drama
With the international success of K-dramas like ‘Squid Game’, ‘Kingdom’, ‘Sweet Home’, and ‘All Of Us Are Dead’, it was just a matter of time before Hollywood entered the K-drama industry. On February 26, Korean movie star Lee Jungjae became the second ‘Squid Game’ actor to sign with Creative Artists Agency, home to Beyonce and Zendaya. And now we get ‘Pachinko’, the first global K-drama produced by Apple TV and starring none other than K-drama favorite Lee Minho.
Based on the 2017 American hit novel of the same name, ‘Pachinko’ is the perfect subject to introduce non-fans to the K-drama world. Having worked on the project for four years, the makers shared that it is not just a period drama but an epic tale of love, angst, betrayal, and political unrest. And ‘Pachinko’ is going all out as they have shot all over the globe, from Japan to South Korea and Canada. It also stars the likes of ‘Minari’s Youn Yuh-jung, Korea's first Oscar-winning actor, ‘The King’ co-stars Lee Minho and Jung Eun-chae, and Anna Sawai of ‘Fast and Furious’ fame.
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Airdate
‘Pachinko’ will air its first three episodes on March 25 followed by weekly episodes till April 29.
Where to watch
All eight episodes of ‘Pachinko’ will be available on Apple TV+.
Languages
Being a global project that covers the Japanese invasion and the lives of Korean immigrants, 'Pachinko' will be available in Korean, Japanese, and English.
Plot
‘Pachinko''s story takes place during the Japanese invasion of South Korea in the 1900s. It follows the family of Sunja who gets pregnant after an affair with a married man and moves to Japan with another man for a better life for her unborn child. Like Youn Yuh-jung’s ‘Minari’, which was about a Korean family in the USA, ‘Pachinko’ too deals with identity crisis, lives of immigrants, and the familial duty of Sunja’s Korean descendants settled in Tokyo, Japan.
Cast
Youn Yuh-jung - The Oscar winner plays the present Sunja who narrates the story of her youth and how she ended up in Japan.
Kim Minha - The newcomer will play the young Sunja who gets pregnant and has to figure out how to give her unborn child a better life.
Lee Minho - A K-drama favorite, this is his first drama after the 2020 hit ‘The King’ and his first Hollywood project. He will play the enigmatic Hansu who has a dark past but does his best to help Sunja.
Jin Ha - He is best known for the iconic Broadway musical ‘Hamilton’, and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. This is the theatre actor’s first K-drama. He plays Sunja's well-established grandson Soloman who lives in present-day Tokyo.
Anna Sawai - The Japanese-New Zealander actress was a J-pop idol and is known for her role in the ninth installment of ‘Fast and Furious’, ‘F9’. She plays Naomi in ‘Pachinko’.
Soji Arai - He is a Japanese theatre actor and plays Baek Mozasu, Sunja’s son who did not fit in Japanese schools as he was a victim of racially-motivated bullying.
Kaho Minami - She is a popular Korean-Japanese actress who has starred in several hit films like ‘Tokyo: The Last War’ and ‘Blue Hour’. She was previously married to Japanese movie star Ken Watanabe. Minami plays Etsuko in ‘Pachinko’.
Trailer
Watch the first official trailer of 'Pachinko'.
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