Sunny

92

It is not surprising that Apple TV+ put out another international show. They don’t like to place shows in Cleveland, they need that global flavor. So, it makes sense that they take their favorite sci-fi genre and put it in Japan. Granted, Sunny, is based on an Irish novel, The Dark Manual, which is also set in Japan, so they had that base. Reading a quick synopsis of the novel, it does sound infinitely darker than the series, but the show holds on to just enough of the darkness — and, frankly, sourness — that is bleeds in from the corners and tinges what I think the creators were trying to make into more of a cool, stylish sci-fi mystery a la Severance. And mainly succeeded in making what felt kinda not great.

The story goes like this: An American woman, Suzie (Rashida Jones), moves to Kyoto, Japan with her husband, Masahiko Sakamoto (Hideoshi Nishijima). Because of her severe dyslexia, Suzie is unable to learn Japanese, putting her at a disadvantage in terms of employment and general societal interaction. She and her husband have a young son, Zen. Masa and Zen get on a flight that ends up crashing and killing them both. The loss of her husband and son further isolates the already isolated Suzie, as she spirals into alcoholism and general disregard for her own well being. And then the homebot, Sunny, shows up at her door. Apparently gifted to her by her now-dead husband, Masa, who worked for the company that manufactures these homebots. She’s not a fan. Skeptical of the robot and miserable, she pretty much takes out her misery on everyone. Weirdly, even on the robot. Who is… a robot. She’s a really bitter character, who we expect might soften over time. Or become less asshole-ish. But it doesn’t really happen, and it kind of casts a pall over the whole endeavor.

Which, as you progress, makes sense. The show — like most — isn’t about robots and poorly executed Yakuza storylines. It’s about loneliness. We learn about hikikomori in Masa’s background. We see people of every stripe isolated and lonely in a crowded world. Suzi eventually makes a kinda-sorta friend in a young bartender named Mixxy played by someone named Annie the Clumsy. Which is apparently something you can be called. She’s quirky. And their relationship makes zero sense. Other than the fact Mixxy speaks English. She’s the defacto femme fatale. Unless you consider Sunny the femme fatale. But both Mixxy and Sunny seem like they’re working in Suzie’s best interest. Though Suzie is suspicious that there is really something sinister going on, or just can’t see past her own bitterness. Either way, it’s a tighrope.

This is still a TV show. Meaning they add in some additional mystery to be unwound. The mystery if perhaps Masa and Zen aren’t really dead. Which isn’t something as far as I can tell is a question in the novel. But just watching a lonely woman with a definitely dead family drink herself into a stupor while she explodes at her one friend and one robot would make for a bleak set of episodes. So, they layer in this possibility that something nefarious or conspiratorial has happened with her family, giving her a purpose and a clock on the whole adventure. Thing is, the way they concoct all these characters to Masa and the novel’s namesake, Dark Manual, seems like they kept running into logic blocks and then just pivoted. It’s because of this. Or, maybe it’s because of this. Or this person. Or this person. The writers may have done this intentionally to keep the mystery going, but instead it just felt like a series of feints, intentional misdirects and confusing u-turns. And one woman with a fake finger who is also Yakuza and made some serious acting choices. That I did not love.

It seems that Apple TV+ has already cancelled Sunny before a season two. I’m not terribly surprise by this. There was something off-putting about the main character. Aside from the fact she is just constantly spewing profanities. It’s not like I’m a prude when it comes to language, but it just seemed lazy having Jones cuss and rant rather than focus her dialogue a bit more. Like I mentioned earlier, there’s something oddly sour about her character that makes her neither sympathetic, nor likable. Which isn’t a deal killer, but if the central mystery in your story is about a lonely woman hunting for her lost family, it would be cool if we didn’t like her housebot better than we like her. And I know Ms. Hipster told me that Suzie’s weirdo, formless clothes are fashionable, but it looked to me like she was always dressed for some Star Wars high council meeting or pre-slumber on a spaceship. Otherwise the concept here was promising, but the execution was just off.