Goddamn this made me tear up, I knew I shouldn't have read this at work but I couldn't resist. I can't wait to go home and read it all again. It's a little short but definitely a unique premise, with all the feels and with a good ending, so this definitely goes on the favourites list.

Awwwww, this story is one of the sweetest I've ever read, I'll buy a physical copy once I have the money, even if it's not translated in english. I wanted to thank the scanlators for translating and completing this manga. Arigato gozaimashita! Otsukaresama deshita!

But from an ethical standpoint it's incredibly dubious especially when you start asking the question "Is a sapient AI a person or an object?" because to anyone who views her as a person there's little moral difference between Hiro's situation and a child being raised under laboratory conditions.

I don't really agree with you here. Though Hiro may be "a person", she is absolutely not "a human person". Her needs are different than a human's, and there's nothing wrong with her being treated in accordance with those differences.

One thing is obvious that she needs the lab's resources to survive and grow, considering how often they talk about replacing parts or updating her programming. A human child doesn't need a team of trained engineers to keep it alive and raise it. Another is that, for the most part, she seems perfectly happy in the lab - she lives a relatively normal life, and she considers the team her family, which they each seem to reciprocate.

A better analogy might be a human child with a developmental disorder and an illness that requires her to receive regular surgery and continued care from a team of specialists. Also, she's an orphan. If any human were in that position, and lived a life similar to Hiro's, I think most people would consider her rather well taken care of.

The way the ending is written makes it seem like Chika's still not sure that Hiro can truly love her, but she's decided not to care. I guess that still counts as a happy ending...

What just happened?!

last edited at Sep 13, 2017 1:06AM

Uko did contribute to a Tonari no Robo doujinshi a couple years ago. Probably just side stories with Chika still as a high school student, but would be interesting to see...and unfortunately I still haven't been able to get my hands on it.

oh dang, that is very much relevant to my interests

EDIT: C85. This is the only other mention of it I can find online (main artist's blog), and there's a different cover, oddly enough, but it looks like it's probably the same book: https://ameblo.jp/clubhousecompany/entry-11737534854.html

last edited at Sep 13, 2017 1:47AM

But from an ethical standpoint it's incredibly dubious especially when you start asking the question "Is a sapient AI a person or an object?" because to anyone who views her as a person there's little moral difference between Hiro's situation and a child being raised under laboratory conditions.

I don't really agree with you here. Though Hiro may be "a person", she is absolutely not "a human person". Her needs are different than a human's, and there's nothing wrong with her being treated in accordance with those differences.

One thing is obvious that she needs the lab's resources to survive and grow, considering how often they talk about replacing parts or updating her programming. A human child doesn't need a team of trained engineers to keep it alive and raise it. Another is that, for the most part, she seems perfectly happy in the lab - she lives a relatively normal life, and she considers the team her family, which they each seem to reciprocate.

A better analogy might be a human child with a developmental disorder and an illness that requires her to receive regular surgery and continued care from a team of specialists. Also, she's an orphan. If any human were in that position, and lived a life similar to Hiro's, I think most people would consider her rather well taken care of.

You said it all, pal

I got to see the end of this story I fell in love with forever ago. I'm happy.

I hate to bring this back but

WHERE'S THAT DOUCHE THAT DARED TO SWEAR THIS WOULD END UP WITH CHIKA BEING MARRIED TO SOME DUDE?!

LOL I thought same. The entire time I was reading chapter 8 I was waiting for her to tell Hiro she got married. When I finished chapter 8, I was surprised but figured the bonus chapter is gonna have another time skip with an old Chika who married, had children, etc...

Idc if this is rushed, just glad it was a happy ending

I love how Hiro-chan totally ignored the fake Chika-chan, she only loves the real one, of course... Also is it legal that they clonated her? Lmao I guess not since they were hiding it when Chika-chan appeared.

Symphogeah posted:

I love how Hiro-chan totally ignored the fake Chika-chan, she only loves the real one, of course... Also is it legal that they clonated her? Lmao I guess not since they were hiding it when Chika-chan appeared.

From what I gathered, the fake one wasn't a clone so much as a robot like Hiro built to look like Chika and using Hiro's memories of Chika as a template for her personality. Them hiding it was probably more a matter of not wanting to try and explain it because it would be awkward to do so and would bring up ethical questions even though it's probably not actually illegal.

That brings up the question... what are they gonna do with the false Chika now that the real one's back?

I love how Hiro-chan totally ignored the fake Chika-chan, she only loves the real one, of course...

There is a theory that love is a process of continuous discovery of its object. If Robot!Chika was cloned from Praha's memories, there is literally nothing new she could discover about her, hence she couldn't possibly love her.

That brings up the question... what are they gonna do with the false Chika now that the real one's back?

In all likelyhood they'll probably change her appearance and programming and repurpose her/it. Robots are expensive, after all.

My issues with romance towards ai aside, that was real nice and considering who wrote it, I'm not surprised.

So sad to see it end but also happy to see it end.
Complicated feelings.

The ending is quite open though.

Chika is supposed to have had a a few lovers, but no mention of their gender. So maybe it was just a case of "If it's you, it's OK".

We get it. Chika loves Hiro as much as anyone loves their car, their job or their lover.

It's quite convoluted.

Overall, a manga that I can sum up with "it was really interesting",

I mean seriously, thought provoking here, thought provoking there. Felt, uh, "realistic" I suppose. A robot that was never absolutely convincingly human, always distinctly different and functioning on specific rules. Again, really interesting.

oh dang, that is very much relevant to my interests

EDIT: C85. This is the only other mention of it I can find online (main artist's blog), and there's a different cover, oddly enough, but it looks like it's probably the same book: https://ameblo.jp/clubhousecompany/entry-11737534854.html

Oh...that's actually another one entirely.
隣接ロボ娘 and 隣接ロボ娘 eternal

Great, now I have to find two of these things...

The ending is quite open though.

Chika is supposed to have had a a few lovers, but no mention of their gender. So maybe it was just a case of "If it's you, it's OK".

We get it. Chika loves Hiro as much as anyone loves their car, their job or their lover.

It's quite convoluted.

You're reading this quite differently than most of us

Nya-chan posted:

The ending is quite open though.

Chika is supposed to have had a a few lovers, but no mention of their gender. So maybe it was just a case of "If it's you, it's OK".

Seems like a pretty serious case of pessimism you've got there. Just because there's no mention of their gender doesn't mean the assumption should be "they were all guys" or some bullshit like that.

Guys, chills, it's Nya-chan. You can play a drinking game by downing a shot every time they post positive comments here and stay mostly sober. :-)

last edited at Sep 13, 2017 2:48PM

I´m gonna imagine that those few lovers she had were women. yep, yep, they were women

The ending doesn't really answers, or even attempts to answer, the questions implied about having a near-human robot as a lover.

It just ends with a timeskip and an admission by Chika that she loves Hiro after all and that it's normal.

What about when she grows much older? As Hiro is a very expensive machine, she's not going to see her often. And the researchers are under no obligation to keep her running. How does that affect their relationship? That to other peope, Hiro is just "a thing". One thing is for sure is that they can't get "physical". So Chika is going to go full abstinence? Or have a human lover on the side? Maybe to have kids?

I'm just frustrated because there's too many loose ends. If you bother to make a plot about a love story between a robot and a human, then you better see it through, until death do them part.