Wrong, but Kind of Right
Or: Would you like some emotions with your sexbot?
Note: This post is about porn. Since it’s about fantasy, I am temporarily suspending discussion of stereotyping and “negative examples of femininity”, since MOST people use fantasies to escape from reality.
As such, I am aware that there are HUGE problems with Yuria 100 Shiki from a feminist point of view, but I feel like it would be shooting fish in a barrel to talk about how demeaning the work is to female sexuality since it’s supposed to be consumed for its smut factor.
This post will be about porn! Images and content are NSFW!
I was thinking a lot about the Starfire thing (see previous post) and was immediately reminded of Yuria 100 Shiki. Why? Well, the prevailing critique of the Starfire reboot was that the character went from an effervescent role-model into an emotionless sex object. So, obviously, my mind goes to sexbots in comics and… BAM! Yuria.
Yuria 100 Shiki tells the story of a hyper-advanced dutch wife who escapes her perverted creator and finds her way into the hands of a reluctant but kind owner. From here, Yuria tries repeatedly to get her new “owner” to have sex with her in order to activate her imprinting software (see: 2D Teleidoscope’s writing on netorare) out of a desire to be the exclusive sex toy of what she deems to be an honest, upstanding guy.
True, the manga has a lot of other problems (the lolicon is strong with this one), but I remain intrigued by the idea of a pornographic work that seeks to elevate a literal sex toy into a real person. What’s interesting about Yuria is that sex is part of who she is from the word go (happens when you’re designed as a masturbation device) and it’s something that completes her, but we as readers root for her because we see her development as a person.
These robots are adorable, funny, well-meaning and obsessed with sex. A fantasy to be sure, but a better, more honest one than an apathetic alien trying to pass herself off as a real person.
