Pachinko First Look: The Apple TV+ Series Has A Release Date

Apple TV+ released the premiere date and first look pics for the upcoming international drama series "Pachinko." The show will begin streaming globally on the service on March 25, 2022. The really cool part? It will be told in three languages — Korean, Japanese, and English. The first three episodes will be released at the same time, with each of the eight new episodes premiering weekly after that through April 29, 2022.

If this sounds familiar, it's because the series is based on The New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee. It was also a USA Today Top 10 of 2017 pick and a winner of The Medici Book Club Prize to name a few more accolades. Here is the synopsis for "Pachinko":

Epic in scope and intimate in tone, the story begins with a forbidden love and crescendos into a sweeping saga that journeys between Korea, Japan, and America to tell an unforgettable story of war and peace, love and loss, triumph and reckoning.

The book tells the tale of a young woman in a Korean fishing village in the early 1900s who falls in love with a wealthy stranger and becomes pregnant. She decides to marry someone else, a sickly minister on his way to Japan, but the father of her child will pop up again in the story. "Pachinko" is written and executive produced by Soo Hugh ("The Terror," "The Killing"), who will also take on showrunner duties. Kogonada and Justin Chon directed four episodes each and will executive produce. 

The series stars Soji Arai as Mozasu, Jin Ha as Solomon, Inji Jeong as Yangjin, Lee Minho as Hansu, Kaho Minami as Etsuko, Steve Sanghyun Noh as Isak, Anna Sawai as Naomi, Junwoo Han as Yoseb, Eun Chae Jung as Young Kyunghee, and Jimmi Simpson as Tom Andrews. As the series spans four generations, the lead character of Sunja will be played by Yu-na Jeon as a child, Minha Kim as a teenager, and Academy Award-winning actress Youn Yuh Jung as an adult. 

Soo Hugh said in a press release of the film:

"They say there are those projects that come along and change the very core of who you are as a filmmaker and a person. Undoubtedly, 'Pachinko' is that project for me. Not only is this a story of my forebears, it's my tribute to them — to all of the 'Sunjas' buried deep in all of our family's history. It's been an incredible honor to bring this series to life with this dedicated and gifted cast and crew."

This sounds intriguing, and I love the idea of it being in three languages as much as I've loved how much ASL (American Sign Language) is popping up in films and on TV. It's nice to remember that our lives don't end at our front door. There is so much good content out there outside of our own languages.