Apple TV+’s ‘Sunny’ begins with Rashida Jones as Suzie Sakamoto, an American ex-pat wife living in Japan who is distraught after learning her husband Masa and son Zen perished in a plane crash. She’s given little to no information about their death, not even having bodies to bury, and while she searches for answers she’s given a helper robot named Sunny whose disposition is in contrast to Suzie’s manner. Suzie develops an uneasy cohabitation with Sunny, while also befriending a bartender named Mixxy, played by annie the clumsy. Meanwhile Suzie’s mother-in-law Noriko, played by Judy Ongg, tries to keep on and carry on, while Suzie’s grief frustrates Noriko’s plans and their fragile relationship. As Suzie seraches for answers, increasingly we discover the world of her husband Masa, played by Hidetoshi Nishijima (Drive My Car), is not what it seems, and Sunny’s cheeriness may in fact hide a greater mystery at play.
Sunny (voiced by Joanna Sotomura) and Rashida Jones in “Sunny,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
Jones’ Suzie is part ‘Lost in Translation’, part-Aubrey Plaza deadpan, which on its face might make for a difficult protagonist to connect with, no matter how understandable her grief is. However Jones presents Suzie as a well-rounded character, and with her interactions with her newfound friend Mixxy and Sunny we gradually understand that while Jones’ grief has made her increasingly distant she always struggled with connections. Likewise Masa was himself a hikkikmori, a Japanese term denoted for shut-ins, who also struggled with loneliness. Through flashbacks and present day scenes the theme continues to examine the theme of loneliness.
All the while Sunny, befitting of the name, seems to be an utter contrast to Jones’ Suzie. The show successfully uses Sunny both as a mirror (however inverted) to Suzie’s grief, but also as a comment on our dependence on technology. While films such as Ex Machina and iRobot take this discourse to its most violent conclusion, Sunny is more contemplative in the vein of Spike Jonez’ film Her. This exploration of connectedness to me is when Sunny was at its most interesting.
Rashida Jones and Hidetoshi Nishijima in “Sunny,” now streaming on Apple TV+.
The series however isn’t all character study and contemplations on AI, as the series weaves in a violent, yet hijinks filled, story including a Yakzua style succession fight. Though a bit confusing, especially as its hard to understand the connective tissue between these stories, it does give breathing room for our main characters to exist while the world around them continues on. Eventually all is revealed of course, and the show does a successful job sticking the landing.
‘Sunny’ ends with a resolution that on its own is satisfying; however, it teases up for a Season 2 as well that I hope we get a chance to see. It’s hard to ensure in our fractious TV landscape whether a show will continue on, but for the sake of fellow fans of the series let’s hope it’ll continue to be Sunny for Suzie and the others.
