'I know, robots shouldn't be able to tell ourselves that borrowing isn't technically stealing. You know what, human? You should run.' Photos: Handout
Sunny has certainly turned out to be a welcome change from the unrelentingly joyless Presumed Innocent on Apple TV+.
This comedy mystery-thriller focuses on one woman's trek through the hazy mists of grief after losing her husband and son, guided by the titular robot – and it sparks joy on more than one occasion in craftily engineered ways.
Sunny (voiced by Joanna Sotomura, Emma Approved) is no mere domestic robot or "homebot", as is all the rage in the near-future Japan of the series' setting.
It's supposedly an advanced model programmed specifically for Suzie Sakamoto (Rashida Jones, The Office, Angie Tribeca) by her missing/presumably dead husband Masahiko (Hidetoshi Nishijima, Shin Ultraman, Drive My Car). But, oh, it might also be prone to violence (hinted at but as yet unproven, after four episodes).
'I know he's here to express his sympathies but OMG, the dandruff!'
Adapted by Katie Robbins (The Affair) from the novel The Dark Manual by Colin O'Sullivan, Sunny is brimming with raunchy talk punctuated by bursts of cruelty and viciousness (so far, aside from the "maybe, maybe not" hints in the prologue, all by humans), although seemingly toned down considerably from the source material.
So the early chapters of the 10-episode Sunny have Suzie trying to understand what happened to her husband and son, intrigued by the human-mimicking qualities (of one human in particular) that Sunny exhibits, and baffled by her mother-in-law Noriko's (Judy Ongg) seeming hurry to move on with life.
She befriends aspiring mixologist Mixxy (singer-songwriter annie the clumsy), who leads her to some shady types specialising in "jailbreaking" robot programming so they can do, um, stuff that's not in the manual.
'Perhaps you misunderstood when I said I liked your hair, human. I meant I want it. NOW.'
But what of the cover-up going on at Masahiko's former place of work? And the shady types surveilling Suzie, not to mention yakuza type Hime (Yukiko Ehara, mononymously just You) with an apparent connection to Masahiko?
It's a compelling mystery, brightened despite the story's sombre underpinnings by the sparkling performances of the cast.
Jones, in particular, makes Suzie's grief heartfelt while lending such an incandescence to the emotions she has to suppress (out of necessity or deference) that you worry she might erupt at any moment. It's a low-key yet stellar central performance that keeps you watching.
While the mystery of Masahiko's work/legacy and its ties to organised crime is intriguing, Sunny also scores points with keen insights into how we deal with loss and isolation, and form unlikely bonds to cope.
The symmetry of a glorified appliance like a robot emulating humanity and Suzie's struggle to hold on to her own lend this a depth not normally seen in "buddy" mysteries, and Sunny comes across as much richer for it.
New episodes of Sunny arrive on Apple TV+ every Wednesday.
Summary:
Deuce ex machina
