The final Episode of Season 1 of Pachinko, i.e., Pachinko Episode 8, is not too far now. The showrunners have taken a slow and steady approach to unfold the intergenerational tale of Sunja’s family by taking Episode-long specials for telling the stories of characters like Solomon and Koh Hansu. Thus, fans are pretty optimistic that the announcement of Pachinko Season 2 is right around the horizon.
But for now, after a tumultuous penultimate Episode focusing on the tragic backstory of Koh Hansu, we must bid farewell to the show that has captured the hearts of viewers worldwide, as evident by the impressive viewer ratings and the novel ‘Pachinko’ By Min Jin Lee being sold out everywhere such that fans can’t even grab a copy if they wanted to! Let’s have a look at the release date and what the preview for Pachinko Episode 8 holds for anticipating viewers.
Pachinko Chapter Seven Recap
The Penultimate Episode of Pachinko is all about Koh Hansu and the tragic happenings during his formative years, which shaped his personality and primed him with his own set of coping mechanisms. The Episode is the most somber-toned till date, so much so that the cheerful opening credits song plays nowhere throughout it.
During his younger years (in 1923), Koh Hansu worked as a math tutor for a teenage boy of a wealthy American couple while his father worked as a money-man for a Yakuza group and was strictly against his son getting into the Yakuza business. The American couple wants to send their son to Yale and wants Hansu to accompany him. His father wants Hansu to have a brighter future far from the oppression they face in Yokohama and supports the idea of Hansu going abroad. Meanwhile, the Yakuza boss wants his father to pay back the money he had borrowed from them within a short amount of time, seeing this makes Hansu feel the need to work for the Yakuza.
It turns out that Hansu’s father borrowed the money to give to a Japanese woman, who in turn gave it away to the man she actually cared about. Looking at his father’s miserable state at being used by a woman he adored must’ve made Hansu cautious of women trying to take advantage of him financially (which we saw with Sunja, even though the power dynamics between the couples differ completely).
Yokohama gets hit by the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923, and Hansu’s father dies in an attempt to save him. The American family who were in the process of leaving and wanted to take Hansu with them also died in the aftermath. The Episode goes through showing the damage done to the streets of Yokohama, the families that were killed, and the innocent Koreans who were subjected to torture even during the natural calamity. Eventually, Hansu’s fate necessitates him to stay with the Yakuza boss Ryoichi as a means of protecting his own life and paying back his father’s debt. Hansu’s storyline in Pachinko Chapter Seven is a completely original storyline in the television show deviating from the novel it was adapted from.
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Pachinko Episode 8 Release Date & Episode Preview
Pachinko Episode 8 will release on 29th April 2022 (Friday). Pachinko Episode 8 is titled “Chapter Eight,” with a runtime of about 55 minutes. Pachinko Episode 8 will be the last Episode of Pachinko Season 1.
Things are going to take a turn for the dramatic as we see Sunja struggling to make ends meet and raise her son Noa. Sunja’s husband, Baek Isak gets arrested for rebelling against the Japanese, leading to Sunja going out to search for his whereabouts along with his son. We also see Sunja selling Kimchi in the streets of Japan to make a livelihood while her sister-in-law Kyung Hee looks after Noa.
Viewers also get a preview of the fateful meeting of Noa and his biological father, Koh Hansu, as the latter advises him always to keep looking forward and never to turn back. Meanwhile, in 1989, we see Solomon finally meet Hana (whose health is in constant deterioration due to contracting AIDS).
Watch Pachinko Episode 8 Online – Streaming Details
Viewers can stream all the episodes of Pachinko released to date by purchasing a subscription to Apple’s online streaming service Apple TV+. Go to the official page of the show here.
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