Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network. He is still on the hook for a Xenosaga KOS-MOS x Shion fanfic for their next Patreon goal.

Sometimes, you come across a piece of media that really strikes at the heart of humanity. What does it even mean to be human? To have emotions? What if there were beings that look like us, feel like us, act like us, but are wholly man-made? Is synthetic love still…love?

If you are looking to explore these heady ideas, then may I suggest Pluto by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka, now with a fantastic anime adaptation on Netflix (who did not sponsor this post).

However, if you are looking for something less Philip K. Dick and more, say, Philine K. Shlick, you could pick up volume 1 of Does It Count If You Lose Your Virginity To An Android? by Yakinikuteishoku. Now, I hear you saying, “But Matt, shouldn’t the title say ‘gynoid’?” Well observed, dear reader! In fact, the referenced lovebot uses the term herself, but alas, it seems that it failed in focus testing, much like my alternate title Is It OK To Objectify A Sapient Sex Toy?

Here’s the rundown: in a near future where AI isn’t about art theft and Google Glass manages to succeed, Tsuda Akane is an office worker in her late twenties who is very reliable and professional on the clock, but outside of work she’s a complete slob who drinks heavily every night and has no real romantic experience to boot. During a drunken stupor, she places an order for a cleaning robot but what arrives the next day is a super advanced—and very illegal—sex gynoid named Nadeshiko. Akane spends the volume constantly at her wits’ end trying to keep herself out of jail and her incorrigibly horny new companion in check, however much to her chagrin she is very much putty in Nadeshiko’s skillful hands.

I expected this manga to be hornier than a buck hunter’s trophy wall and, sure enough, page one opens mid-coitus. Hell, the central point of conflict is Akane’s refusal to register herself as Nadeshiko’s owner via a fingerprint scan, and I’m sure you can infer what that entails. The premise is so nakedly (ha) transparent in its aims that even when a gag is eye-rollingly contrived (of course that’s where the power switch is! Of course!) I find myself unable to find it distasteful. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pandering as all get-out, but it doesn’t rise to a significant level of grossness unless you give any thought to how rank that apartment must smell.

What really made this volume stand out as more than just I, Robot After Dark is the snappy writing. Huge credit to the localizer Casper Kazor, who really punched up the dialogue to great effect. There are a lot of really fun little turns of phrase that got me chortling, none of which I will deign to spoil. This is one to pick up for tits and giggles.

So, back to the titular question: does it indeed count?

(all apologies to KC Green)

Thank you to Seven Seas, who also did not sponsor this post, but did provide a review copy.

Art – 8 All the character designs are cute but the fluids are a touch excessive
Story – 7 It’s a gag comic were sex is The Joke, but the flourishes in the writing elevate it
Characters – 6 This ain’t Bladerunner 2049, but I’m sure no one needs it to be either
Service – 9 Docking it one point for the few services that Nadeshiko will not provide
Yuri – 7 / LGBTQ – 7 Akane seems to be a clueless ladykiller with a cadre of admirers at the office 

Overall – 8 

You cannot fathom how disappointed I was that Seven Seas beat me to the Electric Sheep reference–and on the back cover, no less. So many jokes lost to time, like tears in the rain.