Sunny is an American black comedy television series created by Katie Robbins, based on the 2018 novel The Dark Manual by Irish writer Colin O'Sullivan. The series premiered on July 10, 2024, on Apple TV+.
In November 2024, Apple TV+ cancelled the series after one season.
Contents
Premise
Suzie, an American woman living in Kyoto whose husband and son vanished in a plane crash, receives a domestic robot from her husband's robotics company.
Cast and characters
Main
Rashida Jones as Suzie Sakamoto
Hidetoshi Nishijima as Masahiko Sakamoto, Suzie's husband and a roboticist
Joanna Sotomura as the voice of Sunny, a domestic-assistance robot created for Suzie
Judy Ongg as Noriko Sakamoto, Masa's mother
annie the clumsy as Mixxy, Suzie's friend and an aspiring mixologist
Jun Kunimura as Yuki Tanaka, a senior roboticist and Masa's former co-worker
You as Himé, a high-ranking member of the yakuza
Recurring
Fares Belkheir as Zen Sakamoto, Suzie and Masa's son
Shin Shimizu as Tetsu, one of Himé's cohorts
Sekiguchi Anam as Yuki Tanaka, a young ImaTech employee who shares the same name as the elder roboticist
Fubito Yamano as Jin, Himé's cousin and a fellow member of the yakuza
Kazuko Sakagami as a close friend of Noriko's
Tetsu Watanabe as Reiji, one of Himé's henchmen
Production
In February 2022, Apple TV+ announced production of Sunny, to film in Japan with Rashida Jones starring and executive producing. In July, Hidetoshi Nishijima joined the cast and filming began. In October, Joanna Sotomura, annie the clumsy, You, Judy Ongg, and Jun Kunimura were added.
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 90% approval rating with an average rating of 7.2/10, based on 61 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Brightened up by Rashida Jones' sly comedic timing, Sunny is a melancholy sci-fi series that positively glows." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".