Pachinko 1x07 discussion

[silverstarry]

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1x7
As a young man in 1923 Yokohama, Hansu is thrown into a cataclysmic disaster that will change everything.

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Comments

[imightbewrong4]

As a fan of the book I basically stopped watching after episode 5. I don't get how it's boring yet dramatic at the same time. This time/jump narrative and oversaturation of Solomon is just not it.

[silverstarry]

I haven't read the book, but this episode was all Hansu and absolutely no Solomon.

As a non-book reader, I wondered if they gave Hansu an entire episode to himself due to the actor.

[imightbewrong4]

Yikes. They invented a whole backstory for Hansu?!

The book focuses a lot more on Sunja as a woman, post child birth, and not so much on young or old her, so I have no idea wtf the show is doing.

[silverstarry]

The entire episode happens on the day of the 1923 earthquake. I'm not sure how much of this is in the book. I'm guessing that it was a minor part of the book and the show expanded it into a whole episode as a showcase for Lee Min-ho.

[whereisglory]

Lee Min-ho is looking so good, did he stop fucking with his face?

[xlightningboltx]

Oh man, I need to mentally prep myself if this is a 100% Koh episode.
As a non-book reader, I’m enjoying the show a lot. Sunja is a queen.

[_kleptomane]

I don't know, this show just kind of blows my mind every week. Even with today's episode, it definitely had melodramatic elements, but what really moved me to tears was just how well this show is made. The writing, the production, set design, the acting, etc. I think I say a variation of this every week but truly...some of the best television I've seen in a long time. It blows my mind that some people think it's boring or that they're pressed about the storyline deviating from the source material. Like, not everything that works in written form translates to a visual medium.

I had never heard of The Great Kantō earthquake of 1923. I think the show handled it really well and incorporated it into the story, in all it's devastation not just from the earthquake, in a way that didn't feel cheap. Kind of like what Watchmen did with the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. That said, I do wonder how Japan is receiving the show.

[jeeshee]

Re: Japan, not too well: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/21/pachinko-tv-series-korea-japan-min-jin-lee

[nigelwitthebrie]

Japan has a history for burying their controversial history under the rug and just not acknowledging it.

[silverstarry]

See also: the rape of Nanking.

[murphyboy11]

ever since i heard about that actor's twitter, it's all i can think about lol.