Author asks why the liquid-metal android in Figure 17 eats food. Actually, it's the norm in anime for androids to consume food, even if it makes no sense. All the androids in Hand Maid May eat, for instance, and Mahoro loves food. Chobits is one of the few series to get it right; Chi doesn't eat and doesn't have a sense of taste either, which is why she has to rely on the landlady to learn how to cook for Hibiki.

The idea of androids eating never made much sense. In the case of HMM, the excuse is that they were designed to be good companions for their human masters, and taking meals together is part of that.

But the real reason was so that the other androids could complain about May's uninspired cooking, so that Mami could take over and do really well, leaving May feeling inadequate. (Sob)

By the way, Commander Data also has the ability to eat, and for him too it was included in his design for social reasons. He has a hatch on his chest that can be opened, and food he consumes collects in a bag inside which can be removed and discarded when he's alone.

DBZ's Android 18 is an interesting case. She's a cyborg. Dr. Gero kidnapped a pair of fraternal twins and modified them heavily, a process which included adding an eternal power source. "Eternal" is a relative term; it's possible it's good for a hundred years, but we really don't know.

What we do know is that Android 18 never gets tired. It's one of her biggest advantages in combat against a flesh-and-blood. If she's fighting someone stronger than her, all she has to do is maintain stalemate until her opponent gets weary, and then beat the crap out of them. Even if it takes a week of 24-hour days, she can do it.

Dr. Gero designed her to hunt down and kill Goku, and he gave her a power source that would last long enough to make sure she could do it. Anything beyond that wasn't important. The only thing we know for sure is that it lasts 20 years in at least one timeline, and there's no indication that she was beginning to run down. (That version of 18 never got the chance; Trunks killed her.)

There's no indication that she ever eats or sleeps, either. Presumably it's necessary for her to consume at least a little bit of food, in order to properly maintain muscle and skin, but she doesn't use food for energy and she is never shown eating in the series. (One would presume that she did have to eat quite a lot during her pregnancy, of course.)

Of course, physics in that realm is different. Piccolo never eats either, so perhaps 18 doesn't need to on an ongoing basis. And Piccolo can regenerate lost body parts, with mass coming from no-where obvious, so maybe 18 didn't need to eat during her pregnancy. (Sometimes DBZ makes my head hurt.)

Moving right along, Lila in Najica Blitz Tactics doesn't eat on a regular basis, but she can do so socially. When the two of them are at home, Lila cooks for Najica but doesn't eat herself. When they're out in public, Lila does eat (e.g. ice cream, in the second episode).

Instead, Lila and the other humaritts have to soak in a special solution on a regular basis. That seems to perform several functions, and one of those may well be to recharge their power source. It's interesting that when Lila is doing that, she also submerges her head. Apparently she doesn't need to breathe, either. Which makes sense if her power isn't coming from combustion of carbon.

Anyway, I would say that the vast majority of androids in anime do eat. No, it doesn't really make sense -- but that's how it goes.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Engineer's Disease at 10:30 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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