Chobits
ちょびっツWhen computers start to look like humans, can love remain the same? Hideki Motosuwa is a young country boy who is studying hard to get into college. Coming from a poor background, he can barely afford the expenses, let alone the newest fad: Persocoms, personal computers that look exactly like human beings. One evening while walking home, he finds an abandoned Persocom. After taking her home and managing to activate her, she seems to be defective, as she can only say one word, "Chii," which eventually becomes her name. Unlike other Persocoms, however, Chii cannot download information onto her hard drive, so Hideki decides to teach her about the world the old-fashioned way, while studying for his college entrance exams at the same time. Along with his friends, Hideki tries to unravel the mystery of Chii, who may be a "Chobit," an urban legend about special units that have real human emotions and thoughts, and love toward their owner. But can romance flourish between a Persocom and a human? [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Reviews
alessia.schumm - 2016-11-19 04:09:06
This was an interesting one for me. It explores the bond between man and machine in a way that is usually only touched on in super futuristic cyberpunk flicks, but other than the fact that computers are walking androids there is really nothing else different compared to when the anime was aired. This is one of my all time favorite animes and I often go back to re-watch it.
hyatt.miles - 2015-06-03 14:27:26
Chobits was completely unknown to me until my sister, a new-born admirer of the lolita fashion, told me about it. I added it to my watchlist out of nearly pure randomness. So the other day I was out of Sailor Moon episodes and I decided to start watching Chobits. I am still discovering anime and so I've been trying to stray out a bit from classics as I try to keep up with college exams.
--- some spoilers --
[About: The Genres]
The comedy/sci-fi sides of it were nice. Perhaps clouded by the ecchi persistency along the way, which I understand up to a point (e.g. The 'pantsu' episode was hilarious), and the romantic existentialism that it featured reminded me of Lain or Evangelion's deepness sometimes. The general concept was also familiar with Ghost in the Shell, but I'd say the general quality is much inferior to any of these cases. Still, I enjoyed it! In the next few paragraphs I am going to explain why.
[7] Story
Partly consistent, partly unfocused, Chobits' story is entertaining, generally putting you in a good mood. I watched the whole series in just a couple of days, so I think it's well driven. Some episodes are pretty self-substaining, others are linked to the few ones ahead, and the ending is perhaps a bit rushed and compact. The starting point (main character's background) is very unclear, but just enough to structure how and why the events follow as they do.
[8] Animation
I really thought the graphics and animation were better here than in average anime, from what I've seen. Since you'll be dealing with human characters and humanoid characters, the way they're depicted is very interesting. Sometimes humans will resemble persocoms anyway. Some scenarios are not very rich in detail, but at least for me, they were pleasant enough.
[7] Sound
Its unique style resembles somehow an afternoon relaxing in a café. At first it may seem strange, but you quickly get the hold of it. I wished for something a bit different though, but at the same time this puts the anime away from that 'intellectual' zone that others sometimes try to be in by force.
[8] Character
My favorite aspect of this, undoubtedly! Dialogues can be so interesting, and each character's personality is very consistent. Hideki can be annoying sometimes, but I myself saw in him a lot of stuff I see in some of my friends. The fact that he's talking loud all the time just reveals how naive he can be, but you can feel the difference as time goes by, as he becomes more mature. There are mini-stories inside the main story, but I was very fond of that. Life itself is never centered in just one person or couple, so it has a very realistic, relaxed side to the story that was only made possible by the dimension created by the characters.
As for persocoms, as an object of AI they were very well made. The way they are programmed, their refined appearance, their substancial variety, it was interesting and different from other AI concepts I had seen, although they're always similar in a way. I kept trying to figure how they could logically be programmed with personal wishes and feelings, even though only some seemed capable of love.
The story of Ueda's marriage and its controversy didn't seem that bad for me; in fact, it resembled a person dying from Alzheimer just as well, without the part of being able to recover 'life' at the cost of all memory lost.
Many of the inside stories in Chobits will make you see that it is the way that humans look at things that makes the difference. Being more or less intelligent, real, human... it technically makes all the difference, but psychologically speaking it's only a matter of perspective. I think it goes along the lines of 'love is universal' and humans are not just evil pawns in the ecossystem.
And I just loved Sumomo. She is the cutest thing!!! A bit loud sometimes, but very 'genki' and inspiring.
[8] Enjoyment
Besides from the rushed ending (imo), I liked the series a lot. It's short but interesting, and it could live so well without some of its ecchi moments, but it often made the series even funnier. I just saw one episode after another.
It was so interesting to see Chi learning japanese, the social manners and everything else. She often surprised everyone because she exceeded herself, and she surpassed everyone's expectations. Every human is a bit like Chi, except for the hardware. The line that separates humans and persocoms can be really tiny...
It was so amusing to see Tokyo through Hideki's story. The graphics, soundtrack and storyline really created an unique world that I will miss. It also inspired me as a college student to keep up with my responsibilities, no matter how hard it may seem!
[7.6] Overall
It doesn't score for a classic or one of my favorites, but it was definitely worth it and I will keep it in my mind for a while. As I told you in this review, there are many great things to take from it, despite its evident flaws... in the end, it was worth it.
forrest.beier - 2014-07-31 03:54:53
It knows what it is supposed to do and does what it wants without taking itself too seriously.
Pros: Funny and Heartwarming
Cons: Info dump in the last view episodes.
federico70 - 2014-04-17 21:57:19
Plot Summary: In the future, personal computers have developed into "Persocoms", mobile computers that look like human beings. Hideki Motosuwa, a prep school student, desperately wants to buy a Persocon but cannot afford to. One day he finds a Persocom that has been thrown away and decides to keep it. When he turns on the Persocom, all she can say is "Chii" so he decides to name her that. After a while it starts to become apparent that Chii is more than an average Persocom. Having much better performance, it seems that Chii might be a "Chobit", a type of advanced Persocom rumored to have independent thought.
Story: The first half of the story is very slice of life in nature. The viewer learns more about the main cast and watches the interactions between Hideki and Chii. The second half of the show keeps some of these aspects but focuses more on the main plot. I would say overall the story flows very well. The mix between comedy and story was well done and keep me interested throughout the series.
Animation: The animation for Chobits is very well done for its time considering the show is 10+ years old. I think overall the animation still holds up and looks very good. All of the characters are animated very well. I also think the animators did a good job at animating the more cartoonish expressions to make the comedy more entertaining.
Sound: I really enjoyed the dub cast for Chobits Crispin Freeman did an excellent job at voicing Hideki and the rest of the cast did a great job as well. The intro to Chobits is also very good and memorable. A few of the sound tracks in Chobits also stood out and in my opinion are very good as well.
Characters: Many of the characters in Chobits get a good amount of screen time so the viewer can learn more about their goals and back story. The main characters Hideki and Chii also get a large portion of screen time and throughout the series you learn more about these characters and get attached to them. I feel overall the characters were very well done. There also wasn't any characters that i dislike i overall thought they were all enjoyable to watch and learn about.
Enjoyment: I really enjoyed Chobits and would recommend it to anyone interested in a Slice of Life show with a bit of story added to it. There were a few episodes that seem to be out of place in the show. Mainly one of the episodes was completly dedicated to underpants. other than this i had no problem with how any of the episodes flowed within the series.
ryan.domenic - 2013-06-22 06:04:10
Well for my opinion I would say that this anime very interesting it does show a little but of hints of nudity but happily no nudity is shown. I would recommend this anime to people 13+. Other than the bit inappropriate scenes I believe that the story line was very good & interesting. Although this anime was very good I would only re-watch it once just because its not one that will grasp your attention as much as a top rated anime wood. I believe that the characters and their personalities were very well matched to the story line. Overall I would give this anime a 8.
shanna.connelly - 2013-06-22 00:08:34
Before i review this anime, i should start with how i was introduced to it:There was a time where i used to be -what people would normally refer to as- a Naru-tard. I used to defend Naruto to the death, and go on about how it was the greatest anime of all time, and nothing could ever come close to it.That was -until 2009, when i heard about an anime that i had known very little of, and had never seen before; that anime was called Chobits.When i heard about it, it somehow managed to catch my attention, and became curious in checking it out.Right from the opening, the song "Let me be with you" managed to grab me in; making me want to continue watching.This all leads to my review...Review: The story of Chobits stars Hideki Motosuwa; who -after being rejected from getting into college- decides to move to Toyko to attend a Prep School.While in Tokyo, he checks out these highly advanced machines called Persocoms; which are -to put it simply- computers who look, talk, and even move like Humans. Unfortunately, Persocoms are expensive, and Hideki isn't able to afford one.However, as he is walking home from a convenience store, one night, he discovers a blonde-haired female Persocom in the trash. He decides to take it home; where he not only activates her, but also names her Chii, due to being the only thing she could say (at the time, at least).I found the story elements of Chobits to not only be engaging; but also managed to strike my fancy- i.e. with it's Science Fiction element; questioning relationships between humans, and human-like machines. The story introduces questions like:- Can a Human fall in love with a Persocom?- Can a Persocom fall in love with a Human?- Can a Human be in love with a Persocom, instead of another Human?- Can a Human ever love again, after the person they loved abandoned them for a Persocom?- What will it be like if everybody fell in love with Persocoms?- How deep can a person's love for a Persocom be?This is probably the first anime I've watched, that not only made me think; but managed to grab me on an emotional level.I'm not going to go to deep into that; but let's just say that Chii was a deeper character than i thought she was when they first introduced her; as her dilemma throughout the story, was one that i could relate to on a personal level.HOWEVER. That isn't to say that Chobits doesn't have it's own share of humor; in fact, it has a lot of it.Although Chobits' humor mainly revolves around sexual innuendo, it isn't too overdone, and can actually be quite funny. I love how shy and embarrassed Hideki can get; whether it's him being nervous when seeing a woman half-clothed (or naked), or gets embarrassed when he makes a scene for himself. In the end, though; he's just trying to be a cool guy.The characters are -Overall- probably the most memorable part of Chobits. Aside from Hideki and Chii, the other characters are a fantastic cast, that are not only very likable, but can also be cared for.The characters aren't "Throw away characters" or characters who are "Just there"; each character has their own place in the Plot, and even have certain relationships with one another. Even a few minor characters have a place to be, and -in one particular case- one of them even affected one of the main characters (But I'm not going to tell how).Overall, Chobits is Upbeat. Funny. But has a great, engaging, and emotional science fiction plot, and a fantastic cast of characters; that all combine to create my favorite anime.Chobits EXPANDED my horizons, and made me realize that there are different animes to experience, and made me want to watch them. I wish i watched Chobits sooner.
keven.heller - 2013-05-22 09:19:55
I first saw Chobits very soon after I got into anime and something about it really grabbed me. In retrospect I can kind of see why. That was back when I was a horny teenager who deliberately searched out anime with the tags 'harem' and 'ecchi'. Most of them were utterly terrible dribble, but then came Chobits which managed to blow me away because it actually had depth. In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man etc. But it's 2013 now, and I've changed. The story, for those uninitiated, is set in a world where everyone owns humanoid computers called persecoms. That is, apart from our shmuck lead Hideki because he's a poor farmboy who failed to get into college and now has to live on peanuts while taking cram school to retry the entrance exams. On his first day in Tokyo he finds a persecom in the trash who he names Chi. Chi turns out to be a ~magical persecom~ called Chobits. It's a ~magical persecom~ because it's capable of ~love~ and shit. It's rather important here to note that the story isn't really about Chi falling in love, or debating whether persecoms can fall in love. She's just programmed that way. It's a fairly handwavy explanation. The main focus of the story is whether people can fall in love with persecoms. Or to break it down a bit further, is our romantic love for non-humans worth as much as romantic love for actual humans. Or to break it down further again, do you really love your 2D waifu, like really?Chi is a perfect moeblob, programmed to be as such. Her cuteness and innocence are really played up, and those are the parts of her personality that draw Hideki towards her. She has no purpose beyond to fall in love and serve that one person. She spends most of the anime waiting at Hideki's apartment so she can greet him when he comes home, and spends her time when he's away thinking of what to do when he gets home. Even when Chi gets a job, the only thing she can think to spend the money on is things to buy for Hideki to make him happy. She is the quintessential stay-at-home wife whose job it is to look cute and make the husband feel relaxed when he comes home from a hard days work. Even Hideki responds to Chi's cuteness by promising he'll work hard and buy Chi the software she needs. Chi literally cannot learn anything without input from Hideki.The actual human women in the show have things like aspirations and jobs and real life stuff, which gets in the way of them being the perfect waifu. One of the guys literally forgets his wife even exists because he's too absorbed with his persecom. I don't think it's accidental that all the persecoms are made to look like women. They represent the old view of the ideal wife who stays at home and does anything for their husband, while also maintaining the innocence and cuteness and loyalty that make up the idea of moe. The guy who forgets his wife exists because he's too absorbed with his persecom has many similarities with the stories of break ups happening because the boyfriend was too absorbed with his Love Plus girlfriend. In Chobits, the people spend their time walking around the streets with their persecoms, rarely interacting with other people. The show really likes to drill that point into your head with the whole "this town is empty, everyone is inside with It" meta-story that it had going on.So why would you want to spend time with a real woman with their own lives when you could spend your life with a persecom instead? They are the perfect waifus with all the benefits of real women without any of the drawbacks. The ultimate evolution of this is the Chobits model, who are literally built solely to fall in love with you. The women in the show are rather depressed at their total inability to ever live up to what a persecom can do for the men. Clamp have a running theme of the Powah of Lurve in all their stories, so obviously it comes up in Chobits by saying that yes, your love for this non-human object is just as real as any love. So continue to love your precious 2D moe waifu for your love is as real as anyone's love. Which is kind of a ballsy statement to make, and I kinda dig it for going that far.Which is all fascinating and everything, but it's rather overshadowed by the fact that Chobits is really fucking boring.Because Chobits approach to providing a critical eye to this genre is positive rather than destructive criticism in the vein of Madoka or Evangelion, it means you have to sit through scenes of this stuff actually taking place. Chi tries to buy underwear. Chi learns how to cook. Chi tries on different dresses. It's just as tedious as it sounds. Some of this can be attributed to the anime having a bunch of filler, but the actual manga content isn't much better. Chi is not a character. She has nothing interesting to say and has no personality beyond acting like a shy toddler. That doesn't change whether you're watching her in plot related episodes or not. It's much the same problem I have with Jun Maeda moeblobs in that their dedication to being brainless and cute means they have no actual depth and are too stupid to say anything of worth. While what Chi is supposed to represent may be fascinating on a deeper level, the show still tries to make her carry entire episodes on the force of her personality which, as I said, is non-existent anyway.None of the other characters are engaging either because their dialogue is so stilted and wooden. God bless you Clamp, I love your power of love stories because I am a hopeless romantic at heart. But you guys can't write dialogue for shit. Their vocabulary is so limited it forces the characters into having limited personalities and limited ways their interactions can play out. Because the show takes forever to get anywhere, the characters have to prop up scenes by themselves and they get very repetitive very quickly. That's not just the persecoms either. The humans in the show have such bland samey dialogue that I just zoned out over their chit chat for the most part. Hideki is nothing more than a 'Nice Guy'. His flatmate is nothing more than a 'Nice Guy'. All the women in the show aren't much more than 'Nice Girls' either. And while I wouldn't call the show misogynistic because it's not presenting persecoms as how women should be or anything, watching the persecoms be so blankly subservient and unthinking and lacking in goals of their own make them just as boring to watch as if they were real humans anyway.I can see why it was I used to like this anime so much. I too used to think I was a nice guy who liked cute girls because I was a teenager and could actually watch this inane dialogue and find it charming. To provide on top of that a message about the power of love added on top of the base level enjoyment. Now that I find that sort of writing tedious and irritating, I struggle to even sit through Chobits. There is something genuinely fascinating at the core of Chobits, but to make that point you have to sit through a dull magical girlfriend comedy about how you can be the perfect hard working husband for your cute mentally deficient waifu. Even if it is making a point with that set up, it's still as tedious to watch as a show that's doing that set up un-ironically.