Pachinko the book was published in 2017. I read it, but I hadn’t gotten the Kdrama bug yet, so for me it was just another book.
In 2022 the first set of episodes debuted on Apple TV+. Again, I hadn’t “gone down the rabbit hole” as Judy so aptly describes it of Kdramas, so I watched it half heartedly, usually playing a game of Words With Friends while doing so.
Then the magic happened! I became a Kdrama addict! When the most recent 8 episodes aired, I was hooked. The cinematography is fabulous. The actors are all fantastic. The story of immigration is universal. Even if you're not a Korean living in Japan before WWII, it becomes personal.
This is an instance where becoming well versed in Kdramas has helped to recognize some of the actors in Pachinko. Mr. Dreamboat from Boys Over Flowers Lee Min-ho has a major part, and Youn Yuh-jung, the academy award winner from Minari plays the elderly Soon-ja.
See, it pays to be a Kdrama Gmama!
Judy here... and it ended in such a way that we could even get a season 3! Plus, since we're Kdrama fans we better understand the relationship between Japan and Korea.
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