Who is the main villain in Pachinko?

Pachinko’s first three episodes came out last week, and we were introduced to most of the major characters from the show. The Korean series is a period drama that essays the life of Sunja, from when she was a child to when she has aged.

It is set against the backdrop of Japan’s colonization of Korea and the World War, and sheds light on issues such as immigration, racism, and more.

The show’s tone is pretty simplistic, and the story focuses on human emotions and incidents grounded in mundane reality.

So, is there a villain or antagonist in the show? If so, who is the main villain in Pachinko?

Pachinko might not have a main villain. We might see morally grey characters such as Sunja’s first love, Hansu, who has ties with the Yakuza, but he might not be portrayed as a villain.

In the first three episodes, we’ve only seen two characters who are somewhat negative in nature and might be portrayed as the grey people in the story. These two characters are Hansu and Mamoru Yoshii.

Hansu is a businessman who came to Korea when Sunja was around 17 years old. After a couple of brief encounters between the two, they hit it off and slept with each other.

When Hansu goes to Japan for some time and returns, Sunja tells him that she’s pregnant.

He tells her that he has a wife and a family back in Japan and can never accept her as his wife. He tries to convince her to be his mistress, which she unsurprisingly denies.

In this interaction, we see an ugly side of Hansu come out. He accuses Sunja of sleeping with him just for some food and wealth because she’s never seen such elite people in her life. We can see how this character could be a negative one in the show.

Even in the books, the same incident occurs, but over the years, as she moves on with her life and her family, Sunja’s life has always been manipulated by Hansu.

From his point of view, he’s just trying to protect her and help her earn a living by pulling strings.

However, this protection is merely a mirage of the toxic, patriarchal behavior he’s showcasing by not letting Sunja live her life. While this doesn’t make him the main villain, it does make him a person who has affected Sunja’s life for the longest time.

It is also established that Hansu has connections with the Yakuza, and there is a good chance that his ties with them will be explored and depicted in the show.

This may add more shades of grey to the character, giving him antagonistic qualities while still portraying him as merely a part of Sunja’s life and nothing more.

The other character that could have such antagonistic qualities is Mamoru Yoshii. In the three episodes, we just catch a tiny glimpse of him and barely know anything about him.

In the present timeline, Yoshii is the grandson of a corrupt businessman who is also accused of murder.

After his death, Yoshii is in charge and has accusations of corruption and insider trading against him.

This character hasn’t crossed paths with Solomon or any other main character in the show yet, and the main characters might’ve seen him only on the news.

In the deal with Colton Hotels, or perhaps when Solomon tries to help his father’s Pachinko business, we might see the character in action. At that time, he could be considered the bad guy but might not be the show’s ultimate villain.

About Pachinko

Pachinko is a 2022 Korean drama from Apple TV+ directed by American actor-director Justin Cho and Kogonada, a South Korean filmmaker. The series is based on a trilogy of the same name written by Lee Min-jin, who also serves as an executive producer.

The drama stars history-making Academy-award winner Youn Yuh-jung, veteran Lee Min-ho, Jin Ha, Anna Sawai, Soji Arai and debuts Kim Min-ha. 

The emotional rollercoaster of an epic saga, Pachinko lays bear the generational journey full of struggle, love, betrayal and choices by following the life of a Korean immigrant family.