Chobits

"Chobits" is actually a title I like from CLAMP. Most of their stuff tends to be sickening cute or utterly twisted and weird, but "Chobits" is neither one of these. It is cute and weird, but not to the point where you want to vomit though.

"Chobits" is about a farmboy named Hideki, who finds a persocon (Humanoid-Computers) on the street and as she is ressurected, she is revealed as a total sweetheart named 'Chii' and at first, she repeats her name alot, but after a while, she learns more speech and learns what is right and wrong and so on.

Sure Chobits is not for everyone. Someone even compares this to Gothic Crap Anime like "Evangellion", "Noir", "Hellsing", "Akira", etc. I do like Dark Anime at times, but those titles I mentioned are so gothic, that they are stupid and inanely overrated. Some even say Chobits is overrated. I don't think so. I do not hear it or see it as much as Clamps other works.

If you wish for Clamp to change their face, and tired of their usual over-cutness, or if you want an ARTISTIC anime outside of Studio Ghibli, "Chobits" is for you.

The story revolves around a farm-boy, Hideki, who has come to the big city of Tokyo to try to raise his grades so that he may enter college. There he finds a Persocon - a computer shaped as a human - in a garbage-heap. And it is a cute female model at that! Though it appears to be broken (the only word it can say is "Chii") his hacker-friend soon discovers that the persocon (naturally named Chii by Hideki) may be much more powerful than appearances imply. It soon becomes obvious that Chii hides a great secret within that cute little body.

The series has a nice naivistic feel to it, sometimes the story-line of an episode is almost at grade-school level. At the same time there are quite a lot of very adult insinuations. Chii is a _very_ attractive robot, and doesn't mind taking her clothes off! (Though there is always an object strategically placed in front of the "camera"). Hideki constantly throws himself into fantastic fits of shame whenever he has (or believes he has) made a fool of himself - which is quite often. His problem with shamefulness is of course extra strong in sexual matters.

There are some deeper questions raised in the series too, such as the question if love of technology and might be keeping people apart. Another question is the fact that all young men in the series appear to prefer robot-girls (who robotically obey their least whim) to human girls. Persocon shops are filled with rows of attractive girls ready for anyone with money to buy. Interestingly questions like these are actually given at least a little bit of depth, rather than just picking one of the possible answers as the truth!

This anime series is more of a very long story, it doesn't meander around too much like series sometimes do. There is a clear beginning and an end (after 26 episodes) and the whole main story has obviously been thought out before the series was made. There doesn't appear to be any official version out, but a version subtitled by fans can be found on the peer-to-peer nets.

Despite my usual disgruntledness, people who know me know I'm a sucker for just about anything anime. Give me a good anime, and I'm in an annoyingly happy mood for quite some time afterwards. Chobits is a action, comedy, and romance series. It fits right in with shows like Ranma ½ and to lesser extents, Ah! My Goddess, and Sailor Moon. The jokes are hilarious, the characters are lovable, and the obviousness of the fan service rivals that of Evangelion.

I have to admit, I get very involved with anime. I cheer for the hero, at times the villain, mourn the loss of favorite characters, and take great interest in the lives and loves of the characters. Chobits is very easy to relate in this manner to. Hideki is as simple and honest as they come, yet human. Picture a cross between Tenchi, Keiichi, and Ranma as well. Chii is a great character, cute and innocent. She can be every bit as funny and interesting as Hideki, even when speaking a single word. She makes a great pair with Sumomo, a mobile persocon who belongs to Hideki's best friend.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, let me explain a little about Chobits since the majority of even anime fans probably don't know much about it. The gist of the Chobits story is about a farm boy turn city slicker named Hideki. He's in cram school, trying to get accepted into a college. When he gets to the city, he's amazed by "Persocons". Turns out they're everywhere. After making a few friends he learns that they are basically walking computers. looking human, acting human, but by their programming only. He dreams about how great it'd be for awhile, but ultimately knows he's broke. As he's walking home at night, he finds Chii. just laying on the curb in the trash. He saves her from the garbage heap, takes her home, and activates her. Turns out she knows almost nothing. No common sense, no language, nothing. He figures that's why she was thrown away to begin with, but why look the other way with such good fortune? He takes it upon himself to teach her about the world while trying to lead his daily life.

The show never ceases to stay interesting, and the stories range from serious to all out joke fest craziness. The jokes are certainly aimed at an older audience. They have all the appeal of Ranma ½. Hideki loves adult magazines and movies, and there are several very funny jokes about it. Unlike most anime guys, he's not blind to all the cute girls around him either. He's far less shy about it than Tenchi and Keichii, but he's still a good guy at heart. For the most part, the series is clean and lovable. There's extremely little out right nudity, mostly just a ton of cute fan service.

One thing I really like about Chobits is that it's very upbeat. Not just the humor, but the generally message of the anime. Going through Hideki's life, his job, his classes, his troubles and watching him fight through them all. CLAMP is great at this kind of overall upbeat anime, and Chobits is no exception. It's a great anime that I recommend to just about anyone old enough for the adult themed jokes. You might want to preview it before you have your younger siblings or kids watch it.

• Rirath_com

Yes, this is the best anime series of 2002. I loved Onegai Teacher, Hellsing, and I My Me Strawberry Eggs, but I fell in love with Chii. How could you not?

Hideki comes to Tokyo to attend cram school since he failed his college enterance exams. On the first day there he finds Chii (what a lucky guy !!!) in a pile of trash. Of course then he has to figure out how of turn her on. Of course after 4 hours finds her "on" switch - which is located in a more interesting spot. Now what do you do with a cute nude female android?

When his new friend shows up he hunts for something for her to wear and how to hide her. The show just gets funnier from there. Another hit from the CLAMP ladies !!!

Chobits hasn't been officially subtitled, but I have seen fansubbed episodes and I must say, since I was first introduced to manga and anime at the age of 13, I have never seen anything this cool! No other anime series is as funny, and none as addictive.

Every ninth episode seems to be a long set of memories so that new viewers can get updated on what they have missed in previous episodes. Good idea, but bad for those of us who have seen all the previous episodes, and want to see more of Hideki and his quest to find out wether Chii really is a Chobit.

I hope I will never have to see a final episode of Chobits.