Pachinko quickly has its Noa character go through some major changes, and there is even more drama to come for the maturing young man.
The Apple TV+ series recently returned with its long-awaited second season, telling the story of a Korean family across generations who moves from the familiarity of Japan-ruled Korea to Osaka, Japan in the mid-20th century.
Pachinko Season 2 is shouldered by a superb cast of both young and old actors, primarily led by Kim Min-ha as the charismatic Kim Sunja.
What Happened to Pachinko's Noa?
Baek Noa (aka Noa) may look a little different to fans in Pachinko Season 2, but there is a good reason for it.
The character (previously played by Park Jae-jun) has grown up in Season 2 of the generation-hopping TV series, being played this time around by Kim Kang-hoon as a teenager.
The character has also been seen several times throughout the series so far, as a college-age adult in the show's more modern timeline (brought to life by Kang Tae Joo).
Noa is lead character Kim Sunja's first biological son who goes on to be a successful model living and working in Korea.
The reason the younger version of the character looks so different in Season 2 is because of the time jump between the first and second seasons. The primary timeline has moved forward several years in the series, meaning the once young boy has grown into a maturing teen.
This change, according to showrunner Soo Hugh, sets the character up for some "really shattering" things to come this season (via Entertainment Weekly):
"That kid had to bear so much. We start to see how that weight starts to sink him a little bit. It is such a nuanced performance for that character because if you play it too far in one direction, he just becomes whiny and insufferable, and if you do it too much in the other direction, he just becomes pathetic. So we talked a lot about finding the humanity in Noa. [This season sets up some things that are] really shattering to him."
While the exact specifics of these revelations remain unknown, there are some hints out there as to where the show could be directing the young teen.
Seeing as Pachinko is based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Min Jin Lee, there is some precedent for where the series could take Sunja's first-born son in future episodes/seasons.
The "shattering" realizations Soo could be referring to likely have to do with Noa discovering his true parentage.
In the novel, Noa discovers that the man introduced to him as a local merchant and fish broker, Koh Hansu is, in fact, his father, and that he has ties to the dangerous Yakuza.
He makes this discovery while at college away from home, and it eventually leads him to disown his family only promising to keep in touch with his mother.
It does not take long for the emotional suffering to get the better of the young man. Shortly after telling Sunja that he will remain close to her, he takes his own life, leaving her to mourn her firstborn.
It is unknown if this is exactly how the beats of Noa's life will play out in the Apple TV+ series, but one can assume, this is the kind of dramatic turn of events the series' showrunners have been alluding to.
Pachinko is now streaming on Apple TV+.
