"Chobits" (2002) TV series

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

2 April 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Persocon he finds seems to be malfunctioning. A hobbyist tells Hideki that his robot might be a Chobit - a type of robot that has been assumed to be an urban legend that can act on its own will.

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | Book | Sadness | Black Humor | Immaturity

Cast

Bridget Hoffman	...	Additional Voices / ... (3 episodes, 2002)
Patrick Schmitz	...	Hiromu Shinbo (3 episodes, 2002)
Karen Strassman	...	Clerk #1 / ... (3 episodes, 2002)

Runtime:

Japan:30 min (26 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | UK:12 | UK:15 | South Korea:15 | Canada:16+ | Spain:13 | Chile:14 | Australia:M (DVD rating)

Company:

Clamp

Quotes:

Hiromu Shinbo: Its a good thing I was careful and backed up all her data. If I had to buy new parts, i would've charged you for 'um.
Hideki: I dont have any money.
Hiromu Shinbo: You'd find a way.
Hideki: You're a fiend!
Hiromu Shinbo: You know it!

Movie Connections:

Spin off from "Kidô tenshi anjerikku rêyâ" (2001)

An incredibly cute and charming Anime (Japanese cartoons for adults)

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.