I loved that scene of Noa passing by in the dark so much. It just had a vibe - sad, lonely, lost in the night - so beautifully captured by the singing, the set design, her costume, everything.
This is such a great point!! I did not notice/pay much attention to this when he said this. He probably truly felt like he can now do anything with planning on running away because he did not have the same pressure on him anymore-the weight of making the sacrifices of his family worth it. He is no longer the “man of the house” as said in earlier episodes, and have a career he doesn’t want pushed on him. And going under a Japanese alias, doesn’t have the prejudices a Korean person have to face- granting him the freedom he never had. It truly is so sad, that the only way he felt free was abandoning his identity.
Noa’s violence against Akiko - even worse than Hansu’s violence against Sunja in his Busan office in season 1 (he never choked Sunja). In that startling moment, we saw that Hansu’s blood was truly in Noa: he inherited Hansu’s intellect and love for academics (recall the Great Kanto Earthquake episode) but also Hansu’s violent streak which, up until that point in the show, Noa had kept a lid on. Noa got the truth not from Sunja but from Hansu. We saw Hansu’s pain (from learning what his son truly thought about him) and possessiveness (over Noa) in that scene. The writers provided Noa with a more compelling reason to kill his identity: to get away from Hansu (an incredibly powerful man Noa truly despised and feared) and eschew Hansu’s control over his life - and we know Hansu WAS going to control his life. (In the book, Noa was less concerned about that and more upset about how he strived to be like Isak all his life and that was shattered by the truth that he was not the son of Isak but a yakuza.) Noa’s chilling smile when he approached Sunja for the last time, followed by Sunja’s maternal instincts kicking in too late to realise it was farewell (her gasps sent chills down my spine). The way in which Noa cut ties with Sunja on the show was more heartbreaking than in the book. And we saw that same chilling smile again when he got a job that allowed him to distance himself from his Korean identity (probably that’s what attracted him to that job) and stated the name of his new Japanese identity. The watch. The same watch that helped Hansu when he had nothing and that helped Sunja when she had nothing.
Just done watching the drama series and I reaaally in to it even in my dreams. It's so good all the emotion of the character, you can fell it. Excited for the season 3 😭😭😭
Just some random thoughts on this beautifully executed season and last episode: Studious and confident Noa reminded me of how studious and confident Hansu was back in the Kanto Earthquake episode. The news alert about Abe committing suicide said there was no note left behind, just his shoes. Could he have been murdered by someone like Yoshii? Mr. Kim seems to be alive in 1951 (still during the Korean War) if he’s sending Kyunghee letters. We still don’t know how Yoshii is related to the Baek family. Is he related to Hansu somehow? Please someone enlighten me! Please let there be a season 3! This story must be concluded properly. Don’t leave us hanging!
While Solomon’s probably not a psychopath because of his guilt when he learned of Abe’s suicide, the suicide (on top of him lying to a whole room of investors, much to his father’s disappointment) neatly solidifies Solomon’s position as the villain of the show at the end of the second season. Perhaps more so than Hansu and in spite of Hansu’s violence towards the bar girl in front of the entire club (the lady seated next to him was cowering, and no one in the club dared say anything). The show went further than the book in depicting Hansu’s grief at having lost his son whom he always viewed as a part of him, despite having gained all that power. The actor playing Noa, Kang Tae-ju, displayed such an emotional range this episode, he should be given a leading role next season. And this show MUST be renewed for one more season to wrap up the entire story. P.S. I strongly encourage those who have not read the novel to do so because you will most certainly end up seeing spoilers regarding the next season.
Oh the part about the actor who played Noa is so true. He was the best part of the entire season in my opinion. It kinda broke my heart a little bit when he lashed out at the young girl, although, she was doing way too much. Also, the part where Hansu admits to being his father, he called Isak a nitwit. That offended me so much. How dare he? A man who loved his son so deeply and took him as his. The audacity. I think his pride and ambition makes him so insensitive and that was exactly what drove poor Noa away. The boy didn’t want none of that. Too bad for him though such a sweet innocent boy.
The song the band plays in Hansu's club after he pushes the bar girl off of him onto the floor... To me it sounded like a rendition of the season 1 credit song 'Let's live for today'. Anyone else thinks this?
Yeah, I agree about Solomon, and I think that Abe's suicide is going to change the course of his trajectory just as much as - if not more than - his getting fired from Shiffley's. I really didn't think he intended it even expected Abe to kill himself like that.
I remember Noa not wanting to take Hansu's money after the war ended. I think this is because he knows it is dirty money from the yakuza syndicate, aside from the fact that he knows Hansu beats up people without remorse, without mercy.
Yup, it's the Japanese version! I love how ironic the whole scene was; Hansu was miserable and alone, while a joyful song was playing in the background, almost taunting him. LOL. Instead of living for today as the song says, Hansu is doing the exact opposite.
I still don't think Solomon is the villain of this show. Solomon looked stricken and guilty at the news of Abe's suicide. Solomon never ordered the killing of anyone, unlike Hansu who has done it. Hansu kills without any remorse; no shame, no sadness, no guilt at having killed his daughters' grandfather and his wife's father. Hansu DOES NOT respect women; he physically and emotionally abuses them, over and over, without any remorse (he did it to Sunja, he did it to the girl at the club). I also thought of Hansu's violent tendencies when I saw Noa nearly killing Akiko. I still think Noa will want to kill his identity because of the yakuza ties; he saw Hansu doing shady deals with men at his office. Noa is not afraid of Hansu's control; he's turned down Hansu before, he could do it again.
Yeah, he’s currently morally grey, but how could he not be? He’s constantly reminded how lucky he is to be born to a rich family, to have studied in America, to carry his family’s name and make them proud. How his struggles are nothing compared to what Sunja and the older generation went through. As if that somehow undermines his own lived experience. I don’t understand Sunja insisting that he just sit down and take all the shit he’s fed. He hasn’t been the one to throw the first stone in any scenario, he’s just not gonna accept this position of second class citizen everyone expects from him.
Oh the part about the actor who played Noa is so true. He was the best part of the entire season in my opinion. It kinda broke my heart a little bit when he lashed out at the young girl, although, she was doing way too much. Also, the part where Hansu admits to being his father, he called Isak a nitwit. That offended me so much. How dare he? A man who loved his son so deeply and took him as his. The audacity. I think his pride and ambition makes him so insensitive and that was exactly what drove poor Noa away. The boy didn’t want none of that. Too bad for him though such a sweet innocent boy.
I’m surprised Noa didn’t say anything to counter when Hansu insulted Isak like that. It’s truly sad Isak didn’t get more time with Noa.
I loved that scene of Noa passing by in the dark so much. It just had a vibe - sad, lonely, lost in the night - so beautifully captured by the singing, the set design, her costume, everything.
This is such a great point!! I did not notice/pay much attention to this when he said this. He probably truly felt like he can now do anything with planning on running away because he did not have the same pressure on him anymore-the weight of making the sacrifices of his family worth it. He is no longer the “man of the house” as said in earlier episodes, and have a career he doesn’t want pushed on him. And going under a Japanese alias, doesn’t have the prejudices a Korean person have to face- granting him the freedom he never had. It truly is so sad, that the only way he felt free was abandoning his identity.
Noa’s violence against Akiko - even worse than Hansu’s violence against Sunja in his Busan office in season 1 (he never choked Sunja). In that startling moment, we saw that Hansu’s blood was truly in Noa: he inherited Hansu’s intellect and love for academics (recall the Great Kanto Earthquake episode) but also Hansu’s violent streak which, up until that point in the show, Noa had kept a lid on.
Noa got the truth not from Sunja but from Hansu. We saw Hansu’s pain (from learning what his son truly thought about him) and possessiveness (over Noa) in that scene. The writers provided Noa with a more compelling reason to kill his identity: to get away from Hansu (an incredibly powerful man Noa truly despised and feared) and eschew Hansu’s control over his life - and we know Hansu WAS going to control his life. (In the book, Noa was less concerned about that and more upset about how he strived to be like Isak all his life and that was shattered by the truth that he was not the son of Isak but a yakuza.)
Noa’s chilling smile when he approached Sunja for the last time, followed by Sunja’s maternal instincts kicking in too late to realise it was farewell (her gasps sent chills down my spine). The way in which Noa cut ties with Sunja on the show was more heartbreaking than in the book. And we saw that same chilling smile again when he got a job that allowed him to distance himself from his Korean identity (probably that’s what attracted him to that job) and stated the name of his new Japanese identity.
The watch. The same watch that helped Hansu when he had nothing and that helped Sunja when she had nothing.
Just done watching the drama series and I reaaally in to it even in my dreams. It's so good all the emotion of the character, you can fell it. Excited for the season 3 😭😭😭
Just some random thoughts on this beautifully executed season and last episode:
Studious and confident Noa reminded me of how studious and confident Hansu was back in the Kanto Earthquake episode.
The news alert about Abe committing suicide said there was no note left behind, just his shoes. Could he have been murdered by someone like Yoshii?
Mr. Kim seems to be alive in 1951 (still during the Korean War) if he’s sending Kyunghee letters.
We still don’t know how Yoshii is related to the Baek family. Is he related to Hansu somehow? Please someone enlighten me!
Please let there be a season 3! This story must be concluded properly. Don’t leave us hanging!
I agree 100%.🙏🏼❤️🇺🇸🇯🇲😊
While Solomon’s probably not a psychopath because of his guilt when he learned of Abe’s suicide, the suicide (on top of him lying to a whole room of investors, much to his father’s disappointment) neatly solidifies Solomon’s position as the villain of the show at the end of the second season. Perhaps more so than Hansu and in spite of Hansu’s violence towards the bar girl in front of the entire club (the lady seated next to him was cowering, and no one in the club dared say anything). The show went further than the book in depicting Hansu’s grief at having lost his son whom he always viewed as a part of him, despite having gained all that power.
The actor playing Noa, Kang Tae-ju, displayed such an emotional range this episode, he should be given a leading role next season. And this show MUST be renewed for one more season to wrap up the entire story.
P.S. I strongly encourage those who have not read the novel to do so because you will most certainly end up seeing spoilers regarding the next season.
I'll be absolutely gutted if they leave it unfinished and don't make a third season... They have to... Don't they? :')
Oh the part about the actor who played Noa is so true. He was the best part of the entire season in my opinion. It kinda broke my heart a little bit when he lashed out at the young girl, although, she was doing way too much. Also, the part where Hansu admits to being his father, he called Isak a nitwit. That offended me so much. How dare he? A man who loved his son so deeply and took him as his. The audacity. I think his pride and ambition makes him so insensitive and that was exactly what drove poor Noa away. The boy didn’t want none of that. Too bad for him though such a sweet innocent boy.
The song the band plays in Hansu's club after he pushes the bar girl off of him onto the floor... To me it sounded like a rendition of the season 1 credit song 'Let's live for today'. Anyone else thinks this?
Yeah, I agree about Solomon, and I think that Abe's suicide is going to change the course of his trajectory just as much as - if not more than - his getting fired from Shiffley's. I really didn't think he intended it even expected Abe to kill himself like that.
I didn't catch that but it makes me happy cause she had a few young kids and I remember Sunja was worried about her.
I remember Noa not wanting to take Hansu's money after the war ended. I think this is because he knows it is dirty money from the yakuza syndicate, aside from the fact that he knows Hansu beats up people without remorse, without mercy.
Why I couldn’t find pachinko s 2 in Netflix
Yup, it's the Japanese version! I love how ironic the whole scene was; Hansu was miserable and alone, while a joyful song was playing in the background, almost taunting him. LOL. Instead of living for today as the song says, Hansu is doing the exact opposite.
I still don't think Solomon is the villain of this show. Solomon looked stricken and guilty at the news of Abe's suicide. Solomon never ordered the killing of anyone, unlike Hansu who has done it. Hansu kills without any remorse; no shame, no sadness, no guilt at having killed his daughters' grandfather and his wife's father. Hansu DOES NOT respect women; he physically and emotionally abuses them, over and over, without any remorse (he did it to Sunja, he did it to the girl at the club).
I also thought of Hansu's violent tendencies when I saw Noa nearly killing Akiko. I still think Noa will want to kill his identity because of the yakuza ties; he saw Hansu doing shady deals with men at his office. Noa is not afraid of Hansu's control; he's turned down Hansu before, he could do it again.
Yeah, he’s currently morally grey, but how could he not be? He’s constantly reminded how lucky he is to be born to a rich family, to have studied in America, to carry his family’s name and make them proud. How his struggles are nothing compared to what Sunja and the older generation went through. As if that somehow undermines his own lived experience.
I don’t understand Sunja insisting that he just sit down and take all the shit he’s fed. He hasn’t been the one to throw the first stone in any scenario, he’s just not gonna accept this position of second class citizen everyone expects from him.
noah is gay
Oh the part about the actor who played Noa is so true. He was the best part of the entire season in my opinion. It kinda broke my heart a little bit when he lashed out at the young girl, although, she was doing way too much. Also, the part where Hansu admits to being his father, he called Isak a nitwit. That offended me so much. How dare he? A man who loved his son so deeply and took him as his. The audacity. I think his pride and ambition makes him so insensitive and that was exactly what drove poor Noa away. The boy didn’t want none of that. Too bad for him though such a sweet innocent boy.