Sunny

This is a slow burn series, but you only get half way through the story as Apple has cancelled it.

I did enjoy the show, but it's a bit of a slow story line so it takes a bit of stamina to get into it. But when you do get to start enjoying the characters, and the funny humour of their interactions, you find the series ends and the story has only been half told.

This series cries out for a second season and I believe it would have been a great success if Apple had any foresight or courage. This could of become series people would talk about years from now.

But it seems they are like most other streaming services, only after a quick buck.

I'm only through 5 episodes but am pleasantly surprised. I tuned in because of Rashida Jones but have stayed for its delicate moments. For a sci-fi thriller this show takes a softer hand and is more creative than I expected. The plot is nicely decorated with philosophy and culture, of which none is overtly stated. The plot develops nicely and preserves its mysteries but it's the scenes in between that are memorable. My favorite so far comes at 23 minutes into Ep 5 and prompted me to write this review. No spoilers from me so if you can handle its loose grip then you may be as pleasantly rewarded as I've been for staying tuned.

I love Sci fi and I love Rashida Jones but I can't figure this show out. I'm not sure what it's about after 3 episodes. The fact that 70% of it is in Japanese makes it even harder. Rashida Jones' job seems to be to stand there half slumped and speak in English to people speaking to her in Japanese. She doesn't have any drive or maybe it's the way she portrays it I get no sense of urgency or even fear or trepidation from her as she's trying to figure out what happened to her husband and son. The writing is really uneven. This makes me sad. I wanted to like it, it's just too obscure for me I guess.

I guess Apple's strategy of releasing multiple episodes at the start of the season is a good one since it was the first couple of episodes that got me hooked. In the first 2-3 episodes, the tone was darkly funny, the mystery engaging, and the development of the relationship between Rashida Jones's character and the robot was interesting. After that, though, the show pretty much fell off of a cliff, devolving into inane subplots involving the Yakuza and spinning its wheels for several episodes with the plot going nowhere, the relationships taking a backseat, and the central mystery suddenly being ignored. It's too bad because there was a good show in here somewhere, but it seems to have gotten lost in effort to stretch things out over 10 episodes.

Ok, seen a lot of negative reviews which I don't get. I like this show, it works for me and I look forward to the next week's episode. It's not predictable, doesn't follow the usual recipe and explores a stranger in a strange land with unfamiliar customs, at least where a loved one is lost in mysterious circumstances as an American wife coming to grips not knowing her Japanese husband's secret work life. And yakuza thrown in to make it interesting.

It has a fair bit of quirkiness, which I like. Yes a lot of it is in Japanese, but it's got subs, so that's okay. I'm giving 7 for now, maybe give it more at the end of the season.