Sunny Recap: Something Cool About Fungus

As a tech-savvy individual who’s spent countless hours watching sci-fi and anime series, I must say that this episode of “Altered Carbon: Masa” left me feeling rather bewildered and slightly underwhelmed. The plot twists were as abrupt as a sudden rainstorm in the middle of a sunny day.

When individuals criticize streaming shows for being “padded,” they’re referring to episodes that feel redundant or repetitive, such as the fifth episode of Sunny, where the main characters become lost in the woods and spend the night trying to scare off a bear. Isn’t this tiresome?

As a former teacher who has spent years working with young students and witnessing their enthusiasm for school plays and performances, I find it disheartening to read about Masa’s behavior at Zen’s play. It is unfortunate that he was unable to prioritize his son’s important event due to work commitments. While I understand that emergencies can arise in the workplace, it is crucial to communicate with loved ones and make arrangements for such situations. In my experience, a simple phone call or message would have shown respect for Zen’s hard work and dedication towards the play. Masa’s lack of an apology only further emphasizes his negligence. It is essential that we teach our children the importance of responsibility and good manners, especially in situations like this.

I deduce that this was the night when the homebot subtly suggested that Sunny had taken a life at ImaTech. Masa openly expresses animosity towards Suzie, asserting that she’s unable to comprehend his displeasure – a feeling he hasn’t bothered to clarify – because she chooses not to invest emotions in anything. He further belittles her using Japanese words, despite knowing she can still understand him. Suppressing my pain for Zen’s sake, I ask Masa to deceive our son and claim he watched the performance from the rear of the room. Masa refuses to cooperate. “He must learn to deal with disappointment,” he states. His tone as he follows up with, “You can’t shield him forever,” isn’t sorrowful. It’s harsh.

Mixxy wakes up Suzie, and it’s clear they are traveling by train towards a farm belonging to Mixxy’s relatives. It seems that Suzie’s dreams may be influencing this scene, suggesting that the events we’ve just observed might not be a true recollection but rather an intrusion of her unsettling post-mortem insights about her husband into her memories of him. The flashback from the previous episode showed incidents — Masa intimidating a man at Zen’s school and then informing Himé — that Suzie may have imagined, as she could not have personally witnessed them.

Following the opening credits, Mixxy finds a notice at the train station stating that the shuttle service connecting the platform to her family’s district has permanently ceased operation. With no phone signal in this rural area, she can’t contact her relatives for pick-up. Even Sunny, who seems robust enough for an antenna, is out of reach. Unwilling to embark on an unplanned hike but spurred by the arrival of a menacing man on the platform, resembling someone who had fought Apollo Creed with one swollen eye, they decide to venture into the wilderness against Sunny’s protest.

In a possible scenario, Sunny might be attempting to safeguard her owner, but once more, the robot appears to act with emotions, displaying signs of worry, apprehension, and mistrust towards Mixxy. It’s still fascinating to ponder whether she has acquired these feelings from Suzie, although in this instance, her concerns are conveyed through familiar complaints about the cold weather and its impact on her power source, reminiscent of C-3PO’s grumbles.

Sunny’s remark right now is strikingly similar to the clumsy behavior exhibited by the protocol droid from Star Wars. In this tense situation, Sunny decided it was appropriate to share information with Suzie that could have been postponed and would likely upset her: Sunny believes that Masa’s revelation in the last episode about Hiromatsu Matsumoto, who was named as the beneficiary of his insurance policy three days before the plane crash, indicates Matsumoto’s involvement in Masa’s death somehow. I maintain that Masa’s death might have been a hoax. However, whether he’s truly deceased or not, the robot supposedly designed to assist and console his wife is woefully inept at all those tasks.

At a birthday party for her friend’s grandson, Suzie’s mother-in-law, named Noriko, unexpectedly shows up, causing an interruption. The hostess seems reluctant to explain why Noriko wasn’t invited earlier. In reality, this is because Noriko’s own grandson, Masa, is presumed missing and possibly deceased. Actress Judy Ongg, portraying Noriko, skillfully conveys the scene with finesse and subtlety. Just like Suzie, Noriko is deeply hurt, but she doesn’t openly display her pain as loudly or publicly as others might.

In the forest, Suzie steps aside discreetly to relieve herself. Away from Mixxy’s ears, Sunny voices her doubts about trusting Mixxy. Their conversation is interrupted when Mixxy accidentally catches a glimpse of Suzie’s worn-out, oversized granny panties, which Mixxy jokes look like the first pair ever made! Suzie admits they once belonged to an economist who gave a lecture at her college and with whom she had a short romance. Mixxy assumes this economist was male until Suzie clarifies otherwise. Mixxy finds the oddity of Suzie wearing these old, ill-fitting underwear from her past lover amusing but not enough to explain why she’s doing so. However, Sunny continues to question it. Mixxy scolds in Japanese when she notices Suzie is a mother and her son is missing. As Mixxy attempts to cheer up Suzie by suggesting they sing Dolly Parton, Sunny grows more suspicious. Understanding the emotional context of this scene might be challenging for some readers.

In the quiet of the night, as we’re still lost and far from our intended destination, Mixxy shares a personal revelation – her father had passed away, something she’d never spoken about before. Meanwhile, Sunny, showing signs of independence, discovers an injured bird and starts talking to it like a caring parent. She proposes, “What if I told you I could create a suitable home for you to flourish?” She invites us over, introducing the bird as Joey. Suzie insists we get rid of it, but Mixxy, using her knowledge of Japanese, counters Suzie’s command, saying Sunny can nurse the bird back to health using an incubator at her family’s farm. It seems Sunny is no longer bound by Suzie’s orders.

Under the chilly conditions, Sunny’s system automatically activates an emergency heating mechanism to preserve its battery, causing it to operate louder than normal. This additional noise becomes a concern when Suzie encounters the bulbous-eyed giant from the train station once more. It appears he had been tracking them for quite some time, but upon noticing Suzie’s gaze, he merely disappeared back into the foliage.

Despite his arrival, a sense of readiness has overtaken everyone. Sunny shares that her energy reserves are running low and she may have to shut down unless she recharges soon, leaving Suzie and Mixxy without any light in the forest, along with other complications. Mixxy confesses that they’ve become lost in the wilderness and a dangerous stranger is nearby. Upon hearing this, Mixxy cries intensely, reducing Suzie’s anger. However, Sunny remains skeptical. It might be because Suzie’s explanation — “she’s human” — seems biased to the robot.

As they approach, everyone is feeling the chill and seek refuge in a barn. Sunny requests permission to rest, which Suzie allows. She explains to Mixxy that Sunny’s behavior might be due to some malfunction in her programming: “I believe her system is struggling to comprehend why you’re assisting me,” Suzie explains.

Mixxy eagerly invites us to learn an intriguing fact about fungus: it’s discovered that a web of these organisms links trees together! Instead of struggling for nutrients on their own, trees generously pass resources among themselves, ensuring support goes to the tree in need at any given moment. In essence, this symbiotic relationship underscores the idea that friendship is reciprocal and mutually beneficial.

In my latest review, I find myself reminiscing about a captivating scene from the series finale – a dream sequence featuring our protagonist Suzie. She’s drifting off to sleep, and her mind takes her back to that fateful night. Our beloved character Zen is still in his Momotarou costume from the play, searching for Masa who has mysteriously vanished. The suspense is palpable, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats.

Suzie wakes up due to Sunny softly calling her pet bird while feeding it an orange. Suzie is furious because Sunny disobeyed her and kept the bird despite her instructions not to. “You’re just being a jerk,” Suzie growls. “Masa made you do it.” However, their argument comes to a halt as a bear suddenly appears.

The bear quickly leaves after causing a brief disturbance, probably to relieve itself in the forest or carry out other bear activities. Mixxy, Suzie, and Sunny drive it away by singing an out-of-tune version of “I Will Always Love You,” a song popularized by Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston in the movie soundtrack for “The Bodyguard.” This moment feels forced and is the most disappointing part of the series so far. I dislike this scene.

After regaining his bearings, Mixxy finds himself and Suzie at her family’s farm, hugging each other in relief (were they both just dreaming after their bear lullaby? Hard to say!). Meanwhile, Mixxy eats with the family while Sunny rejuvenates her energy source. Unfortunately, despite everyone’s attempts, little Joey Sakamoto’s bird passed away in the incubator.

“I was just trying to understand you,” Sunny tells Suzie. “What it’s like to be mother.”

“Suzie admits, ‘I’m a terrible mother.’ She confesses this to her digital assistant again, expressing regret for overlooking the clear warnings — ‘bright as neon signs,’ she notes — that Masa was in distress. Although it might not have prevented him from boarding the plane, Suzie’s self-blame seems genuine as she grapples with her sorrow.”

At a seemingly well-attended funeral service for Joey Sakamoto on the farm, Suzie starts to cry uncontrollably.

Amidst these scenes, we find Noriko at her home, slipping into her son’s room – Masa’s old bedroom. She settles down on his bed, invoking a command to her phone, “Ignore Calls.” This action mirrors the advice given by the grief counselor in the first episode, asking all affected individuals to listen to their lost loved ones’ voicemail greetings. Meanwhile, Masa’s phone rings at another location. Our familiarity with the homebot roaming around downstairs stems from its previous spying on Suzie and Sunny prior to their departure from Kyoto. However, it remains unclear whether the figure in the shower, hidden behind frosted glass, is indeed Masa. (I’m suggesting that it is Masa.)

Ever since the strange bird burial ritual persists, another fragment of my past resurfaces: Masa covering me with a tarp and whisking me away on his motorcycle. That’s all I can recollect from that night, huddled beside Suzie. “I sense there are more memories hidden, more pieces to the puzzle,” I murmur. “I may not have cracked it yet, but I will.” Truth be told, I’m about as neurotic and dysfunctional as any ordinary human out there.

Reflecting once more, I find myself contemplating my reaction when my husband comes home from his late-night excursion following Zen’s performance. “Why the devil did you go? Where on earth have you been?” I ponder how things might have unfolded differently if I had voiced my frustration then and there. However, in reality, I remember calmly accepting his apology for his tardiness, turning over, and drifting back to sleep.

Suzie wakes up to discover Sunny missing. A note and an artificial fingertip are on the bed next to her, but the note is unreadable. It appears that Sunny is with Himé now, or at least someone wants us to believe that. Shouldn’t such a thing have happened while we were still in Kyoto? The countryside is picturesque, but this whole incident makes the journey seem pointless. Frankly, Sunny, you’re pushing our limits with these mysterious disappearances.

Subprime Directives

Sunny’s facial expressions become even more expressive as each episode progresses, reaching a new height here. The part where Mixxy and Suzie drive away the bear by singing “I Will Always Love You” almost makes up for it, but the single shot showing Sunny joining in is particularly noteworthy.

2024-07-31 21:56

Sunny Recap: Something Cool About Fungus

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