CHOBITS

DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ANIME ComedyChobits

REVIEWS

• 

  biogundam

  73/100
  chi is the master race of robots wifuus

  Warming this review may contain spoilers.

  First impressions, so when i first heard about this seruies in my rookie days,
  I first thought in passing that it was about a county hillbilly and the used sexbot he found in the trash bin. Which don't get me wrong the series is anything but like this in the slightest it just during the rookie days I was very willing to judge things with quite the superficial leans rather than judging the content a series provides.
  Chobits is one such example for me of how you never should judge a book by its cover.

  Story, 7/10

  So in our modern day society where almost everything is connected to the internet that allows us to talk with people from all over the world and have endless information at the edge of our figure tips or smartphones that can download terabytes of porn at the speed of light, what is going to be the next big leap in technology.
  Well,the answer is obviously sexbots robots with wi-fi capacities but in all seriousness and jokeing aside. The next step in technology would be humanoid robots and advanced A.I that look and act almost human and how would that development affect humanty and socialty as a whole well we are about to find out?
  So the story of Chobits begins being is about a poor as fuck college student named Hideki who trying to make it in the big city, one day while coming back from work he comes across an abandoned persocom unit laying in the trash, seeing this as his only chance to get a persocom he takes the unit home with him, hoping to reap the benefits of owning his very own computer. While trying to activate his new persocom he soon finds out that his new persocom is completely blank and can only say the word chi. after seeking help from local computer geeks he learns that he has to teach his new persocom unit ( who he has named chi) everything she needs to function day to day life, while a bond starts to form between the two.

  So Chobits is basically clamp honest attempt at talking about human and robot relations and how they affect society as a whole. Which in all honesty I have seen the concept done better in series like time of eve and ghost in the shell which not only talked about this concept with more maturity and depth but also talked about the psychological, physical and social issues that came with it.
  Now When it comes to a social commentary I feel this is where Chobits fall flat on its face as its more a less focuses on emotional impact than anything else Rather that any meaningful social commentary, beside people likeing teacholgy a bit to much.
  Like for one example Hideki teacher Mrs Shimizu who husband has become obsessed with this persocom unit that their marriage is falling apart as a result, and if your married or in a relationship i think that can really hit home and have a lot of impacts, because the thought of being in a relationship with someone and one day your basically replaced by a machine. (That is pretty fucked)
  But being a rational bioGundam who has given up most of his humanity I am not exactly impacted or impressed by this emotional, narrative by any stretch of the imagination, now i feel that chobits heart is in the right place but it's just doesn't resanate with me as much as it should have.
  But even though I may dislike this narrative style in its entirety I feel that when it comes to Chobits that criticism in itself is a double-edged sword.
  As Chobits is possibly one of the best series talking about a human and a robot bonding and falling in love I have ever read to date so far and I feel that the focus on the more emotional side is what makes chobits work so well.
  Becuase at the start of it, Hideki doesn't really know how to approach her, dose he treat her like a robot or does he treat her like a person, as time gose time the lines start to bur heavily. Which brings me to my biggest priase of the series is how they develop and explore the relationship. Becuase they could have easily turned this into some sort of ecchi series with robots like beatless or over bloweted malow drama like plastic memories. But Chobits plays it simple and sweet like a Disney movie about a human trying to understand his feelings and a robot who is looking for the person just for her and I can't but help wants to pat studio Clamp on the back for a job well done.

  Characters, 6/10
  When it Comes to main character Hideki, I like his goofy, farm boy personality and while it he isn't that deep or complex as some characters can.
  But what really sell me on him is the fish of water aspect to his character, becuase he is in the big city and dealing with things that are way out of his elament.
  Seeing him try to adapt and overcome these different situations is really cool and they explore this a lot with his interactions with chi. Becuase compters and robots aren't really his thing considering he is a farm boy who lived way out in the stix and seeing become more tech aware is just great.

  Now when it comes to chi, in modern fiction there is only two ways to write robot characters. They are ether just a robot that are all logical or a robot who is trying to become more human with the feels and i feel that chi has a nice bulince between the two, even if she has the personality of the perfect wifuu bot.
  Because she isnt to robotic nor is she full on with personality.

  When it comes to side character most of them have a an OK personality and desent backstory that hand in hand with the messages that chobits like to voice its view point about. But my only problem with the side characters as a whole is that there more a less used more as vehicles for Chobits message and themes rather than people with actual lives, because a lot of the characters aren't fleshed out enough beyond the personality, backdrop and hobby. Which makes up their entire character in this series and even if I find the characters interactions a bit more interesting than most series I have read so far, but the underlying problem is if you take these characters out of the series and place them in another series they would probably easily pass of as background characters.

  Art, 7/10
  When it comes to artwork chobits has a very simplistic Shoujoish art style, and while isnt that detailed or polished when compared to some other series i have read.
  But the artwork has a consistent quality althoughout the entire series and as the series gose on there are some palnels that have more details in them.
  Especially all the colour pages that the series has every now and then that look really nice. I thought the design chioce for Chobits was cool when it came to the robots, and because they all came in different sizes and styles which I thought was really cool.

  Enjoyment, 6/10
  When it comes to enjoyment I enjoy this series more as an emotional driven love story between a human and robot than social commentary aspects of people becoming coming way too obsessed with technology and I enjoy every page of this series from top to end, because I love robots, mecha and romance series so love at first sight for me. The only thing that lessens my enjoyment is that there was a few plot points and elaments that are a bit undercooked for by likeing.

  Overall, 7/10

  Now I feel that Chobits does deserve some of the critical acclaim it has received, because it's a pretty decent romance series and if shojo-ish romances storeys are your thing then totally check this series out.
  But if your looking for more social commentary or a series that show cases the inhumanity of technology i am sad to say you will not find it here.
  But overall I highly recommend this series and if you're looking that talk is about more intense themes I would recommend ghost in the shell and time of eve.

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• 

  ninjamushi

  90/100
  Chobits is an underappreciated classic.

  __Preface__

  Chobits is a classic manga/anime that has seemingly lost its popularity over the years. While still well known, it is not as revered as it once was in the mid to late-2000s nor are many new fans seeking it out. I believe this is the case in due part to the anime. Despite my own appreciation of the adaption, it suffers from meandering pacing and early digital animation. Regardless, I liked it when I watched it in 2016 (5 years ago as of writing). Still, I was curious as to how the original manga held up. For what it's worth, I was a big fan of the anime and wanted to see if the manga could do it even better. Having now read it, I can safely say that I thoroughly enjoyed the Chobits manga—even more than the anime.

  Finding a Place in the World of Sci-Fi

  Sci-fi was all the rage during the 1990s, in both halves of the world. In the Western hemisphere, The Matrix made a mainstream audience question the validity of their own existence, Jurassic Park bought dinosaurs back to life through genetic mutation, and the Japanese pop culture icon, Godzilla, was bastardized in the American self-titled Godzilla. The same was true in Japan; sci-fi had been booming. With the rise of Mobile Suit Gundam and Akira a decade prior, the 1990s' biggest titles were dominated by sci-fi themes. Perhaps the most notable—and most vital to Chobits—was Mamoru Oshii's 1995 film, Ghost in the Shell, which explored robotic augmentation, the human soul, and the ties between the two. The film is smothered in a dark and foreboding atmosphere, one that is quite uncomfortable.

  In contrast, Chobits entered the scene five years later, at the tail end of the sci-fi craze, as a tonal departure from the cynical and somber sci-fi set by Ghost in the Shell and its contemporaries. While Chobits explores similar ideas, such as the existence of a human soul in a robotic body, it stands apart from the rest in its supporting genres: Slice of life, romance, drama, and comedy. Rather than a bleak examination of whether a character has a human soul, the story of Chobits follows the blossoming relationship between a human and his persocom, this world's version of a "robot." In tone, the story has blotches of darker plot points, but these moments often come across as tender, rather than oppressive. Reading Chobits is often fun, pleasant, and joyful, ways I would never describe most of the sci-fi that preceded it. Without abandoning the questions that make sci-fi (specifically about robots) compelling, Chobits is far more digestible. On the contrary, those questions are served in a way that is more fun to engage with. This is highlighted in the supporting cast, who manage to be fairly endearing in both characterization and their individual stories. Its goofy antics might be a might much for a reader that's looking for a more straight-faced take on sci-fi but, for other readers, Chobits' lighthearted nature might be the perfect way to experience these kinds of themes.

  On the whole, Chobits is quite palatable in the ways it communicates its ideas to the reader. In that sense, I think that's why it was so successful at the time that it released. Compared to what came before, it was a breath of fresh air. It proved that this type of story can have different inflections. Since then, stories about robots and romance have become somewhat more available but, despite its declining uniqueness, I still think Chobits has a place in sci-fi manga.

  __Technological Limitations__

  One of my favorite things about Chobits, and something that sets it apart from a lot of other stories about robots, is the timeframe of its technology. It's fairly uncommon to find a story about robots that are far from perfection. Usually, robots are portrayed as near-perfect with maybe a single major flaw to create a narrative. Comparatively, the persocoms of Chobits are primitive. They seem human-like, but the manga often reminds us that their programming is far from a human mind. Their emotions, thoughts, and personalities are all programmed and, by extension, not real. A perfect example is the "laptop" persocom, Plum. Her personality is overtly energetic, but that is only because she was programmed that way by her owner. For as loud as her personality is, it is just as simple. She is devoid of complex emotion or thoughts—even more so than full-sized persocoms. She never expresses worry, sadness, or any other negative emotion because she wasn't programmed with those emotions in mind. Even the more complex persocoms only express an "emotion" in the sense that their programming determines how they "feel." Unlike similar stories, persocoms do not have emotion comparable to humans—that much is directly stated. It isn't a question that leaves room for interpretation; the emotions of persocoms, even Chobits, are mere programming. Instead of asking if the emotions of persocoms are real, the question is, "Is it okay to love a persocom even if they are fake?" The persocoms are limited to their devices and the human characters have to decide what that means to them.

  While not as prevalent as the conversation of emotion, another aspect of the technology that I found interesting was the mechanical side of how the persocoms worked. It's clear that the bodies of the persocoms are not perfect. One arc in particular (my favorite of the entire manga) features a character who dealt with his persocom's failing systems, which begins to develop as memory problems (similar to alzheimer's in humans). Not unlike humans, persocoms are not immortal beings that will never falter. Each model is eventually outdated, their software will become unsupported, and their hardware can simply breakdown. Persocoms have an unspecified lifespan, just as all modern technology does. If anything, the persocoms feel more human than most fictional robots because of how flawed their bodies can be.

  As I mentioned before, some of Chobits can come off as a little goofy and I can't deny it—some of it is a bit much. Obviously, comedy plays a part in that, but it's irrelevant to the larger problem. My one major problem with Chobits is its technology can be totally nonsensical. Ranging from persocoms seemingly replacing computers (for most people) to a startup button being in a vagina, some of the tech of this world is hard to take seriously. Of course, the manga was released in 2000, a different time from today, and should be taken with a grain of salt. However, there is still a handful of technological ideas that made little sense even when publishing. This does not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it does occasionally pull me out of the reading experience.

  __Giving a Wide Variety of Perspective__

  The cast of Chobits is defined by the ways in which they develop the overarching purpose of the manga, which is to explore the validity of loving a persocom. Likewise, Chobits ventures into each character's perspective of what it means to love, their relationships with persocoms, and how that ties into the story of Hideki, the protagonist, and Chi, his persocom. Any character that has an active role in the story has a new point of view to add—a new way to understand the way we coexist with robots. Whether romantic or platonic, each character's arc tackles a different problem. One character may struggle with their inferiority complex towards persocoms while another may have to cope with the reality of their persocom's technological limitations. Because each character's feelings are fleshed out, the pros and cons of having relationships with persocoms are explored in a relatively satisfying way.

  This extends beyond the relationships between humans and persocoms, however. The manga actively makes mention of the ways in which persocoms have changed relationships between people, some of which are relevant to the various characters. Hideki notices on multiple occasions just how few people are without persocoms in public; nearly everyone relies on a persocom to some extent. Although reliance on persocoms is becoming the social standard, there is a darker underbelly to the existence of persocoms in a human society. One character, for instance, had previously gone through a divorce because their husband had become obsessed with their persocom. Chobits actively makes the effort to showcase why persocoms are both helpful to society and their uses but never ignores why they could be potentially dangerous to the wellbeing of human relationships. Each character tells their own story, but the full picture comes across as cautiously optimistic towards robots becoming a part of their world.

  __Realistic Ends to a Beautiful Story__

  I went into Chobits' manga not knowing that it was any different than the anime. While fairly similar in most regards (minus the rearrangement of plot points), the most notable difference is the ending. Whereas the anime ends with Chii's program seemingly giving persocoms emotion (though it's somewhat vague), the manga ends with the affirmation that their emotion is not real and Hideki's choice to remain with Chii despite that. Personally, I prefer the ending of the manga because it stays true to the core themes of Chobits. While not quite as uplifting, I think it brings a far more satisfying resolve to Hideki's choice. After everything he's seen and heard—all the experiences of the people he knows—he still defies the logical choice and chooses to become the one for Chii. It suggests that it is up to the reader if his decision is correct or not. Hideki merely chooses what he believes will bring him and Chii happiness and, if Chii really cannot feel happiness, then he will feel it for her. It's a perfect way to close out the story; it's realistic and beautiful at the same time. I appreciate what the anime attempted to do, but I feel this is overall a stronger way to tie everything together.

  ___Chobits_ Should Not be Forgotten__

  Personally, I love Chobits. I see it as an underappreciated manga these days. Often forgotten about when discussing classic manga, I wanted to attempt to give it a little more love. Is it as deep and complex as Ghost in the Shell? Is it a perfect masterpiece? Is it timeless, unsubjected to changing technology? No, no, and no. Is it good? Absolutely. In the midst of its light fanservice and dumb comedy, I think a lot of readers fail to see how compelling it can be. From its heartwarming romance to its engaging themes, Chobits offers a multitude of reasons to read it even 21 years later.

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• 

  CyborgsCycling

  100/100
  You Should Read Chobits!

  Chobits' premise was instantly compelling to me, a sci-fi rom-com series that delves into human and robot relationships?...Sign me up! 
  
  The series explores not only the development of the two main character's relationship, but a variety of others as the story evolves. They showcase the tragedy, joy, and humor that can come from these connections, questioning the morality of them and if healthy relationships with machines are even possible. It does this with what I found to be incredibly engaging storytelling, and an art style that can be both breathtakingly gorgeous and adorably silly. Oh and yes, there's a healthy amount of fanservice. 
  
  <img width='400' src='https://i.postimg.cc/tJ626Fv5/scoot.jpg'>
  
  __Humor__
  The biggest thing that kept me reading, at least in the beginning, was the humor. Most of this humor comes from Chii's misunderstandings about social norms and Hideki's flustered reactions to said misunderstandings. It's a wonderful blend of silly romantic tension that had me giggling like crazy. The manga gets more high stakes as it progresses, and I found myself more and more engaged with the mysteries of the story as it did, but it still keeps a healthy amount of jokes and levity throughout. I've included one of my favorite bits in the manga here, as I think it's a great example of the sort of thing to expect:
  
  <img width='400' src='https://i.postimg.cc/tgPcWQ1P/bookstore1.jpg'>
  <img width='400' src='https://i.postimg.cc/zDpcnkfd/bookstore2.jpg'>
  
  __Art__
  I mentioned the art in this review already, and for good reason. It does not disappoint! The style oscillates between a simplified blocky cute look and a more intricate elegant one. The manga utilizes these styles fantastically, highlighting comedy with exaggerated goofy expressions and dedicating full pages of gorgeous elaborate line-work when the moment calls. I found Hideki's excited/flustered expressions especially well done, his reactions were so endearing.
  
  <img width='220' src='https://i.postimg.cc/L8515LCg/worry.jpg'>
  
  Regardless of the direction the art is taking one thing I found very compelling about it was the way it conveys movement. The artists were not afraid to break the bounds of the panels to guide the reader's eye in an incredibly engaging way. Chii's long flowing hair does an especially good job of this, making for some gorgeous compositions.
  
  Oh and by the way, if you can get your hands on the anniversary editions of the series like I did I'd highly encourage you to, as they include a lot of colored illustrations and pages that look absolutely stunning.
  
  <img width='400' src='https://i.postimg.cc/nhShPW1C/color.jpg'>
  
  __Themes__
  As I mentioned in the Premise section, the manga primarily explores the relationships between humans and robots (persocoms), and all the complexities therein. There are two relationships in particular that I found contrasted very well with each other. It's BIG spoilers for who they are though so only read this bit if you're finished with the series. :P
  
  <span class='markdown_spoiler'><span>Yumi-Chan tries to fill Hiroyasu's previous wife's shoes, who was a persocom who scarified herself for him. This leads Yumi-Chan to feel insecure about herself, seeing persocoms as perfect and impossible to compete with.
  Meanwhile, Minoru's sister has passed away, so he builds a persocom named Yuzuki with the express purpose of replacing her. Naturally this leads Yuzuki to feel inferior, as it is impossible for one person to replace another, it doesn't matter if they're man or machine.
  The way the manga shows both humans and persocoms as jealous of the other supports the themes of the series very well. The concept that there are things persocoms can do that humans can't and vice versa is mentioned repeatedly through the manga, and I found the message that this should be not only accepted, but embraced as something positive to be very compelling.</span></span>
  
  While the cute comedy and fanservice moments are a big draw, the manga isn't afraid to delve further into more serious questions about this hypothetical future with robots. Big questions like can persocoms feel emotion, and furthermore if their emotions being real matters. It explores this through experiences characters have with their persocoms, struggling with these questions themselves, leading the reader to speculate and question right along with them. In spite of the dilemmas these questions pose, there is a romantic hope that remains throughout the story. You can't help but hope for happiness right along with the characters.
  
  The manga won't be for everyone, but if you are intrigued by what I've spoke about through this review so far I'd highly encourage you to give the manga a try, as I found Chobits to be an absolute joy and you just might too. :)
  
  __Conclusion__
  I LOVE THIS SERIES! ITS SO CUTE!  
  YOU SHOULD READ IT! AHHHH!
  <img width='400' src='https://i.postimg.cc/HWPJKVsp/pretty.jpg'>

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