Robota (ロボ太, Robota), is a robot in AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative.
It is a one-wheeled, remote-controlled robot created by Shoma Enda. It lives with him in the Enda Residence, stored in the closet when it's not being used.
Design
Robota has a white, egg-shaped body that is attached to a single, large wheel. The wheel keeps balance with the use of gyroscopic technology and self-stabilization. It has two arms leading down to disproportionately large hands which hang close to the ground. The hands and fingers are shown to be capable of full motion, though perhaps not to the same level of dexterity as a human. The top half of Robota's body contains its "eye": a glowing light ringed by three concentric glowing circles, encased in a thin black circle. The inner light is green, the two innermost circles are blue, and the outermost circle is yellow.
Robota wears a yellow cap with an "R" emblazoned on the left side. Robota has the cap on sideways, with the brim facing to the right, so that the R faces forward. The cap slightly obscures the top of Robota's eye. Robota also wears a denim apron with two top straps that loop above Robota's arms and are tied behind Robota's back, and two lower straps that come under the arms and also wrap around the back. The apron has a single large pocket on the front and a white, stitched nametag that reads ロボ太 in scrawled handwriting.
Shoma got the parts to make Robota from a junk shop in Akiba. A one-wheel design is difficult to pull it off, which is why Shoma wanted it to show the advanced level of his robot. He also wants to upgrade Robota so that it can carry his weight-currently, it can only carry 45 pounds.
In Nearly Interesting, Kuruto Ryuki says that Robota is cute. Tama disagrees, but the subject of the Somnium, Amame Doi, agrees with Ryuki, buzzing Tama multiple times when she tries to claim that she's cuter than Robota.
Story
Robota (ロボ太, Robota), is a robot that is utilized in the plot of AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative.
While in the past it's only relevant in showing Shoma Enda's skill as a robotic engineer, it ends up being incredibly important in the present day when Amame Doi uses it to dispose of Uru Somezuki's corpse.
Unlocking Shoma's Heart
Robota first appeared in "2/11 Chapter Ryuki - Anyone Imagines" when Ryuki was looking around the Enda house for something he could use to get Shoma to open up to him. He found Robota in the closet by using Tama's X-Ray function, and asked Shoma if he could get a better look of it. Shoma brought Robota out into the living room and made it move around to show off its one wheel. Robota then remained in the room as Shoma opened up and started talking to Ryuki.
Two days later, while at Misetan, Ryuki tried to bring up Robota to soften a prickly Shoma. Shoma talked more about the robot's design, but then cut himself off when he realized that Ryuki wasn't actually interested in the robot, and clammed up again. Later on in the day, Ryuki and Andes Komeji arrived at the Enda house looking for an object that Komeji had stolen from Misetan. Robota was there in the living room, implying that Shoma had been using it before he'd been pulled away to the police station at Komeji's request.
In "2/15 Chapter Ryuki R1 - Not All A Dream", Ryuki stopped by the Enda house while searching for the missing Kizuna Chieda. Robota was standing by the kotatsu, again implying that Shoma had been using it recently, but Shoma wasn't in the house and neither were any clues to Kizuna's location.
Six Years Later
On February 10th, Amame took Robota from the Enda house and brought it to the Stadium. She used the robot to pick up the left half of Uru Somezuki's corpse and carry it out to the center of the Stadium. The white markings on the pitch helped cover up the track left behind by Robota's wheel, but Amame's inexperience with using Robota caused it to lose a screw and some machine oil on the way. Robota placed Uru's corpse in the center of the stadium and then presumably left with Amame.
The next day, Mizuki Date recreated Amame's actions with the help of VR. A holographic image of Robota was used to track its movements, including the loss of its screw and oil. Having found out that Robota was involved in the movement of the corpse, Mizuki spent the rest of the day trying to find either Robota or Shoma, but wasn't successful with either. She would eventually find Shoma two days later, and he would tell her that Robota was taken from his home and he didn't know who did it.
It is unclear what happened to Robota after it was used to dispose of Uru's corpse. Shoma never seemed to get it back, and Amame didn't explain what she did with Robota after using it at the Stadium.
Appearances
| AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES - nirvanA Initiative | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Years Ago | Present | ||||
| Converge Ch 0: A Strange Tale (Past) Absent |
Converge Ch 0: A Strange Tale (Present) Absent |
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| Mizuki Ch 0: New Investigation Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 0: Dispossessed Absent |
Mizuki Ch 0: Alone Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 1: Anyone Imagines Appears |
Mizuki Ch 1: Pass Mildly Away Flashback |
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| Ryuki Ch 1: Nefarious Institute Absent |
Mizuki Ch 1: Nostalgic Idol Absent |
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| Ryuki Diverge: 遐ｴ邯ｻ逋ｾ蜃ｺ Absent |
Ryuki Ch 1: Ought to Know Absent |
Mizuki Ch 1: End Where I Begun Absent |
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| Mizuki Ch 2: Traveler Absent |
Ryuki Ch 2: Nothing to Be Done Absent |
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| Mizuki Ch 2: Necessary Intervention Absent |
Ryuki Ch 2: Naixatloz's Intentions Absent |
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| Mizuki Ch 2: Left Behind Absent |
Ryuki Ch 2: Go Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 3: Farewell Mentioned |
Mizuki Ch 3: The Expense of Spirit Mentioned |
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| Ryuki Ch 3: Need Info Absent |
Mizuki Ch 3: Neurotic Inception Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 3 R2: Joy for Anguish Absent |
Ryuki Ch 3 R1: Smiles for Tears Appears |
Mizuki Ch 3 M1: Hell Absent |
Mizuki Ch 3 M2: All Living Things Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 4 R2: I Found Me Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M1: Visions Absent |
Ryuki Ch 4 R1: Well-Known Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M2: Of Arms and Of Man Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 4 R2: Nested Insecurities Appears |
Mizuki Ch 4 M1: Nonentity Incognito Absent |
Ryuki Ch 4 R1: Nearly Interesting Appears |
Mizuki Ch 4 M2: Novel Ingress Absent |
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| Ryuki Ch 4 R2: Past Its Ken Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M1: In Truth Absent |
Ryuki Ch 4 R1: The Mind of God Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M2: Who's There Absent |
Mizuki Ch 4 M3: Bid the Soldiers Shoot Absent | |
| Komeji and Shoma: END | Ryuki Ch 5 R1: Not All A Dream Appears |
Mizuki Ch 5 M1: Births Absent |
Mizuki Ch 5 M2: All That We Are Absent |
Mizuki Ch 5 M3: Sweet Silent Thought Absent | |
| Ryuki Ch 5 R1: Nemesis Identified Absent |
Mizuki Ch 5 M1: Nightmare Irreconcilable Appears |
Gen and Amame: END | Kizuna and Lien: END | ||
| Ryuki Ch 5 R1: She Was the Universe Absent |
Mizuki Ch 5 M1: The End of Craving Mentioned |
Ryuki Diverge: All This Happened, More or Less Absent | |||
| Explosion: END | Mizuki Epilogue: Braver Than All Flowers Absent |
閭｡陜ｶ荵句､｢邱ｨEND | |||
| Resolution: END | |||||
Gallery
Trivia
Etymology
- The "robot" part of "Robota" of course comes from it being a robot. The -ta comes from 太, a kanji meaning "high in rank or status", possibly referring to Robota being the first full robot that Shoma has made, and also the predecessor to Roboji.
General
- Robota's cap and denim apron are similar in design to Gen Ishiyagane's clothing. This is possibly intentional on Shoma's part as his sister, Amame, is very close with Gen.
- In Nightmare Irreconcilable, it's mentioned in passing that Shoma submitted Robota to a contest and ended up winning a prize.
- Robota's concept art shows it covered in grime and looking quite shabby. In nirvanA Initiative, Robota instead appears to be clean. This could potentially have been a limitation with the software, as the accompanying comment on the artwork requested more detail on the robot if possible.
- According to SECRET OF THE WORLD: THE DEFIniTIVE ART BOOK, Shoma likely made Robota with the intention of being like a brother or a surrogate family member to him. For this reason, Robota was designed to look friendly, without as much emphasis on the design being realistic.