“Pachinko” will return on Apple TV+ on Aug. 23 for its second season. The series will premiere new episodes weekly through Oct. 11.
The sprawling, epic drama told across three languages — Korean, English and Japanese — is based on The New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee. The drama takes place over four generations, chronicling a sweeping story of love and loss across multiple decades and nations.
Season 2 stars Lee Minho (“Boys Over Flowers”) as Koh Hansu; Minha Kim (“The Call”) as young adult Sunja; Anna Sawai (“Shōgun”) as Naomi; Youn Yuh-jung (“Minari”) as Kim Sunja; Jin Ha, Eunchae Jung (“Nobody’s Daughter Haewon”) as Kyung Hee; Soji Arai (“Dead Ringers”) as Baek Mozasu; Junwoo Han (“Be Melodramatic”) as Baek Yoseb; and Sungkyu Kim (“The Outlaws) in a role that has yet to be announced.
Check out the first look photos from Season 2 below:
Season 1 of the Apple TV+ original received 11 international awards, including a Peabody Award, an American Film Institute Award, a Critics Choice Award and a Gotham Independent Film Award. “Pachinko” is created and written by Soo Hugh, who also serves as executive producer alongside Media Res’ Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer as well as Theresa Kang for Blue Marble Pictures. Season 2’s directors include Leanne Welham, Arvin Chen and Lee Sang-il.
The first eight episodes in the series ended by switching its focus from an intertwining family tree to focus on Korean immigrants moving to Japan, specifically the Zainichi women who left their homes. The series follows four generations of a Korean family from 1915 to 1989. Season 1 chronicled Sunja leaving her family in Korea in 1931 in order to move to Koreatown in Osaka, Japan to start a new life. The saga dives into the living conditions and discrimination Korean immigrants faced in Japanese society.
