Binge or cringe: ‘Sunny’
Discovering her partner of almost 15 years is connected to the Yakuza was definitely not what Suzie expected as she mourned the loss of her husband and son to a plane crash. Suzie Sakamoto (played by Rashida Jones) is a woman living in Kyoto at a time when technology allows homebots to assist any family, and earpieces translate languages simultaneously. Her husband, Masa Sakamoto (played by Hidetoshi Nishijima), works in refrigerators for ImaTech, a revolutionary electronics company. After Flight 405 crashes resulting in dozens of casualties, Suzie’s denial leads her to investigate the mysterious circumstances behind Masa’s death and discover his second life.
A24 brings its well-known visuals to another series on Apple TV. With a fusion of tasteful color schemes and retro Japanese music, the producers create a vintage future in “Sunny” that makes it hard to turn away. The indie film company is known for its authentic style that gives independent directors control over their films. This results in a variety of media that differs from traditional films and creates a brand that is associated with A24. Primary colors are used heavily in the background of “Sunny” with Masa’s lab being completely yellow, to the use of red signifying violence. Strong color usage creates associations such as the yellow fridge in Suzie’s house reminding us that she believed Masa worked in refrigerators, when in reality, he worked in highly classified Division 5 of ImaTech (the yellow lab).
Another component of “Sunny” that adds to its atmospheric world-building is its soundtrack coupled with expressionistic lighting. A retro feel is established by genres popular between the 1950s and 1980s such as kayōkyoku— a Japanese style of pop music with Western influences of jazz, rock, and Latin sounds blended with Japanese melodies and arrangements, enka— Japanese music featuring traditional instruments such as the shamisen, mixed with Western influences with sentimental and melancholic themes, rock ‘n roll, surf rock, doo-wop— a genre of rhythm and blues characterized by vocal group harmony, simple beats, and background vocals, electronic music, and a blend of all of those with an emphasis on Japanese music with Western undertones. The music reflects the blend of cultures in a futuristic Kyoto where everyone has simultaneous earpiece translators.
Technology opening doorways of connection is one of the main unique points of this series. First, through the use of earpiece translators, the audience is introduced to a world where languages are no longer a barrier between people. “Sunny” is filled with conversations where an English speaker is responded to in Japanese and both parties understand one another. This dialogue style is unique to the series and adds to its casual futuristic flair. Technology’s influence in daily life becomes more prominent with the introduction of “homebots”— intelligent robots that aid daily tasks such as cooking and cleaning, created to allow Japanese women to work while still maintaining traditional homes. Masa worked with ImaTech to take these at-home robots to another level.
Masa hoped to innovate homebots to become a source of connections for those struggling with human society, or hikikomori. Hikikomori is a form of severe social withdrawal characterized by an individual who recluses in their parent’s home, not leaving for months or years on end. Masa’s own experience as a hikikomori made him enamored by the functions of robots. Interestingly, unlike most roboticists, Sakamoto did not want to discover the humanity in robots. Rather, he wished to learn how robots could help people discover their humanity.
“His goal wasn’t in teaching robots to discover their humanity. What excited him was realizing how they could help us discover ours.” (Episode 8: Trash or Not-Trash)
Exploring themes of grief and loneliness through the hikikomori, “Sunny” highlights the importance of human connection and society’s role in ensuring that everyone has access to that connection. Suzie’s relationship with Sunny (voiced by Joanna Sotomura), the homebot Masa crafted for her specifically, reveals a lot about how homebots can help one open up. Although she is not a hikikomori, Suzie has no friends in Japan due to her harsh personality and her dyslexia which makes learning Japanese difficult. However, as she journeys through endless mysteries to look for her husband and child after Flight 405, Sunny’s attentive companionship helps Suzie overcome her own grief.
Rashida Jones’ portrayal of Suzie, a hot-headed, impatient, yet kind woman, is well done. Her interactions with Sunny are believable and she makes Suzie’s selfishness more endearing than annoying. Joanna Sotomura does an equally commendable job with her voice acting as Sunny. Her shifts in tone to adjust to Suzie’s capricious moods are stunning and filled with feelings that seem both artificial and genuine. Another actress deserving recognition is Yukiko Ehara who played the main antagonist Himé. Yukiko’s performance is threatening, yet methodical. Her expressions reveal that she is a villain who calculates, yet experiences consistent losses as a woman trying to climb the Yakuza ladder.
Overall, A24 does a great job creating an environment that blends expressionistic visuals and color schemes, Japanese and Western music from the 1950s-1980s, and framing techniques that add to the setting of a futuristic Kyoto. These artistic decisions contribute to the world-building of “Sunny” and immerse audiences in the first episode. The emphasis on hikikomori, grief, and loneliness in Japan amidst a bizarre plotline dealing with the Yakuza brings attention to issues such as social withdrawal in Japan. While the series focuses mainly on Suzie as she desperately searches for her family, her complex issues mixed with robotics, Yakuza, technological innovation, great visuals, and an amazing soundtrack, make “Sunny” a definite Binge.
