Manni is an exciting crime drama that depicts the activities of both the police and the underworld in the world of professional drug trafficking. It delves into international drug crime from an unconventional point of view: 25-year-old engineering student Santeri Manni who has no criminal history. Santeri happens to find a garbage bag full of speed hidden in a forest, and he begins selling the drugs to get out of his financial difficulties. He develops his own anonymous way of selling drugs and when he gets rich quickly, he believes he’s come up with a template for the perfect crime. But he’s a beginner in a dangerous game in which greed can have extreme consequences – and Manni experiences this in the worst possible way.

The investigative work of the police department’s narcotics and organised crime unit “Pasila Poison” is followed from the point of view of detective sergeant Kalle Pesonen. He grew up with a lot of underworld characters and still spends time with them when he’s off the clock. This helps Pesonen in solving drug crimes in which his old friends are often involved. But being friendly with criminals causes him problems at the police station. Pesonen cares genuinely about the problems faced by the people he deals with as a police officer and doesn’t draw a clean line between his work and private life.

Manni is an entertaining and open-minded anti-hero story. It doesn’t take sides as it presents a slew of peculiar characters who must take big risks in their lives. The core theme of the series is the guiding principle of all the central characters: honour.