ABSTRACT
While current trends on posthumanism and environmental humanities focus more on the vibrancy and energies of life, few studies focus on the death of these entities. In Japan, with the emergence of robot pets such as AIBO and LOVOT, the discontinuation of maintenance services implies not only a business decision but also a looming ethical question. If robots are treated as just consumables in a social context, their obsolescence removes them from considerations of agency or subjecthood. What other possibilities are foreclosed?
This chapter, by analyzing two examples of obsolete robots represented in the anime series Time of Eve and Plastic Memories, argues that the deep-rooted belief justifying robot’s life based on anthropomorphist views or their possible utility and benefits to the humankind is limited. It ultimately pushes old-fashioned robots to obsolescence, rather than seeing them as entities that come with their own rights. Discussions on their killability, including the necessity and ways of putting them to rest, ironically become fundamental moments for us to take an active, ethical approach in interacting with these robots, not as owners, but the many third parties that build a society.
