“Sunny”: Judy Ongg and Kunimura Jun Discuss Their Roles in the Kyoto-Set Robot Mystery

Showcasing Modern Kyoto

Multitalented actress and filmmaker Rashida Jones has teamed up with A24 to produce a series for global streaming on Apple TV+, with Jones in the starring role. The series is set in Kyoto, and along with the popular tourist sights of machiya townhouses lining cobblestone streets with pagoda towers in the background, it also presents another, cooler side of Kyoto with sentō bathhouses, sex shops, and modern architecture like the 1960s-built Kyoto International Conference Center.

Sunny centers on Suzie (Rashida Jones), a US resident in Japan who loses hope after learning that her husband and son have disappeared in an airplane crash. (© Apple TV+)

The Kyoto International Conference Center appears as headquarters of electronics company Imatech, where Suzie’s husband Masa (Nishijima Hidetoshi) once worked, although he only appears in flashbacks. The series starts after he has taken their son on a trip to Hokkaidō, but their plane crashes with both—apparently—on board.

Suzie and her domestic robot Sunny visit Imatech to try to learn more about Masa’s background. The Kyoto International Conference Center can be seen in the background. (© Apple TV+)

Their bodies are never recovered. Masa’s mother Noriko (Judy Ongg) keeps a brave face by holding out hope that they never boarded the crashed plane, but Suzie descends into grief without holding onto even a thread of hope. And then Masa’s coworker Tanaka Yūki (played by Kunimura Jun) appears bringing what he calls a gift from the company: a huge box containing Sunny, a domestic robot produced by Imatech.

Suzie had no idea that Masa was a roboticist at Imatech. (© Apple TV+)

Tanaka says the robot was Masa’s work, much to Suzie’s astonishment. Her husband had claimed he worked in the refrigerator department. She begins digging into this mystery and finds an apparent connection between his robotics and the plane crash. Finally, she learns of something called “the dark manual”—a way to reprogram all the domestic robots he worked on—and shadowy influence from the yakuza. Suzie is no fan of her robot sidekick, but soon finds she needs its help to move on.

Tanaka Yūki shows up early in the story and reveals some of Masa’s past. (© Apple TV+)

A Fresh Drama with Retro Flavor

More of Masa’s hidden past is slowly revealed as the story progresses, and Noriko and Tanaka become increasingly important. The two veteran actors behind the characters talk about their feel for the show.

KUNIMURA JUN  This is a near-future story with robots and humans living together, but at the same time it has a kind of nostalgic feel. The way it depicts the world is mysterious. It has suspense and darkness, but humor as well, and the way it packs in all these different factors demonstrates a unique, cutting-edge approach for dramas.

Suzie meets Mixxy (Annie the Clumsy), a bartender-in-training at a bar she used to visit with Masa. (© Apple TV+)

JUDY ONGG  And the setting is also Kyoto, which everyone overseas is wanting to visit. It shows lots of lovely locations, and the contrast with the futuristic robots that appear is so interesting. Colin O’Sullivan, who wrote the original novel, The Dark Manual, lives in Akita and really knows a lot about Japan. He layers his insights with humor, but I found many elements quite revealing about Japan and the Japanese.

KUNIMURA  And the story is really hard to predict.

ONGG  It’s not surprising you think so. When you go back and rewatch, don’t you discover new links between different parts that make it all fit together so convincingly? The ambience is a mix of near-future and retro Shōwa, but the undercurrent linking it all is how people live their lives. It has light and darkness, and the way it balances those is fascinating.

Masa taking his son Zen to school in his sidecar. (© Apple TV+)

KUNIMURA  It depicts loneliness, lingering past transgressions, and other darker elements of society in a way that doesn’t feel too heavy.

ONGG  And doesn’t it share all these parts of life that make you cry out, “What?!” There were all these little surprises I kept finding as I read through the script. Right to the very end.

INTERVIEWER  The dialog is really quite humorous, particularly with your character Noriko, Judy.

ONGG  She does bounce between two poles [laughs]!

KUNIMURA  Noriko’s really quite an extreme character [laughs]!

ONGG  She’s fascinating. She has this contrast between grace and silliness. Recently, I’ve been playing lots of characters like corporate chairs and politicians, but at heart I’m a comedian [laughs]! Well, I like to have fun. And filming was fun, too, because I had my own ideas and made lots of suggestions.

Masa’s mother Noriko is a true daughter of elegant Kyoto at heart. (© Apple TV+)

Company for the Lonely

INTERVIEWER  Your role seems particularly complex, Kunimura.

KUNIMURA  What we can say clearly is that I play a man working for a tech company central to the story’s worldview, making robots and AI. The story starts with me working alongside the main character’s husband Masa, played by Nishijima. As the story gets deeper, I get more involved, but you’ll have to watch for yourself . . . [Laughs]

ONGG  Right, and figure out why it happens the way it does! It’s interesting to see how the knots get untangled. There are all kinds of mysterious things going on. As for Noriko, I thought of a backstory beyond what’s in the script, so I can answer any question you have. Just not right now [laughs].

Show runner Katie Robbins (third from left) and director Lucy Tcherniak (second from left) with the cast. (© Apple TV+)

INTERVIEWER  Your scenes with daughter-in-law Suzie are particularly good.

ONGG  I started from the idea that mothers-in-law are often not fond of daughters-in-law. There’s one scene where drunk Noriko talks to Suzie about the old Japanese saying, “Don’t feed autumn eggplant to your daughter-in-law,” about not wasting the best things on someone you don’t like. I think that shows the quality of the script. There is a deeper meaning behind everything Noriko says and does.

INTERVIEWER  And what about Suzie’s blunt personality?

KUNIMURA  Her character isn’t very good at communicating, but she could talk to Masa, who she met after coming to Japan. So, despite her foreign roots, they could get along as two people with emotional damage.

After meeting at a ramen shop, Suzie and Masa confide to each other in a bar. (© Apple TV+)

INTERVIEWER  And then the couple is broken apart . . .

KUNIMURA  That’s when the robot appears, and she develops an unusual friendship. That’s possibly one vision of society’s future, where robots coexist with lonely people. You can view it in different ways, one of which is that technology can be something terrifying, depending on how people use it.

ONGG  I’ve reached my senior years, and we’re moving into a future where AI is part of daily life. This work puts robots in a central position to help us better understand people. There’s going to come a time when we won’t be able to live without the help of AI, so we need to prepare ourselves.

Suzie’s house in Kyoto. She has a distinct set of values, with a focus on art and clothing. (© Apple TV+)

No Fear of Mistakes

Both these actors have had long careers in entertainment. Ongg debuted 63 years ago, at the age of 11, while Kunimura has been in the business for 48 years. Both are also veterans on the international scene and use their fluent English in Sunny.

We asked about what the two hope to convey to younger generations in working with A24, a leading voice of the modern industry.

The series showcases classic songs, including the theme song by Atsumi Mari, “Sukiyo aishite” from 1970. (© Apple TV+)

KUNIMURA  When we were young, everyone felt that Japan was a country on the rise. Now, it’s the exact opposite, and young people are more interested in staying afloat than holding out hope for the future. I think that’s inevitable, but at the same time I hope we can help them think about finding a direction to move that’s better than now. It’s not just a problem for young people, but something I think society as a whole—including us older folks—can find a way to deal with it.

Joanna Sotomura plays Sunny. She not only provided the voice but also came on set to interact with the rest of the cast directly. (© Apple TV+)

ONGG  Everyone seems to be afraid of making mistakes, so it starts to feel like everything stays the same. Rather than just living the same life, I wish people would try something new. If you make a mistake, learn from it. Once it’s behind you, you’ll see how much fun it was. Everything that happens nurtures future growth. Even if you don’t think you’ll like it at first, if it looks like something you can do, try it. Doing that will bring power to your life. You can keep trying even when you’re seventy or eighty. For the rest of your life, when you wake up, think “This is the youngest I’ll ever be!”

Kunimura and Ongg (© Apple TV+)

Trailer

(Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: In June 20, 2024, the cast of Sunny gathered for a special screening. From left: Joanna Sotomura, Annie the Clumsy, Rashida Jones, Nishijima Hidetoshi, Judy Ongg, and Kunimura Jun. Sunny is at center. © Apple TV+.)