Chobits

As you might have noticed already, almost all the reviewers give this series a 10 on everything. This is offcourse not without reason. It performs top notch in every aspect. Chobits kept me entertained from the first milisecond to the last.

Story:

The story is simply amazing. It has a bit of everything going from romance to suspense. Although the story is quite slow it doesnt feel like it. Every episode shows the devolopment of the characters in a serious but also a funny way. The first episodes will give you a big laugh, but the mood swings over to a more romantic view the more it develops.

This show is probably something you haven't seen before, the characters evolution is something quite special. To prevent spoilers you'll have to find that out for yourself.
The fact remains that the evolution of Chii is the most funny thing in the whole show. It's like she starts off like a 3 year old child knowing hardly anything about the world and needs to learn everything. And without commen sense she does alot of things a normal person would reconsider.

Art:

The style of the picture in this anime is great, they don't overdo it with drawing to much details but it is simply amazing. Everything you see will draw out the correct emotion that goes with it. The characters are made really well.

Sound:

Same as the art it is great, going from the intro to the story. The music fits the parts in the story really well.

Character:

As I said in the story, the characters develop really good. Sometimes you do feel how something is going to develop but you're not really sure. The show really does show a few unexpected things but after you see them they are explained thouroughly with a background of "how". This really adds a + to the show.

Enjoyment:

This show kept me entertained from the start till the end. I finished the show in 1 day because I just couldn't stop watching it.

Overall:

If you like a romance with lots of humour but also serious parts, then this is the anime for you. Its a 10+ in every part and will keep you entertained.
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This was my first review so i apoligize if there are some parts wrongly explained. Main reason for this is to prevent spoilers ;-) read more

CLAMP has outdone themselves yet again and given us a crappy anime.

This time, spazes get theirs as loser farm boy Hideki gets to have some robot lovin'.

The story follows an utter creepy wanker who gets a human-shaped computer, he does all sorts of adult things with it, but AH HA HA HA, she's not a real person--molestation is all right!! Then it learns to talk to him, so he can tell it all sorts of loser things and perv out on it because real girls won't touch his shorts with a ten-foot pole. The End.

What a load of crock this was.

The characters were DUMB. SERIOUSLY! Hideki has to be the most unexceptional guy ever to be animated. His one talent is being disgusting and bland but so stupid that everyone goes, 'Aw, he's so sweet.' He reminds me of a dog that keeps running into the door--aw, it's so cute. And Chii had NO PERSONALITY. I am sure moe fans loved her because all she did was stay half-naked and go 'Chii~' Right. I can't understand why any girl would like this. What lesson is this teaching? Girls, the only way a guy would like you is you stay in your underwear and say only one word to him! Preferably that one word will be 'Panty'.

The only fabulous thing about this was the music. The OP rocks. Other than that, this was an unfabulous trash pile of an anime.
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Romance is my favorite genre of anime, so naturally when my friends told me Chobits was a good classic anime of that genre, I watched it. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed, which isn't saying that Chobits was terrible. It just didn't live up to my expectations. Who knows, maybe I had too high of expectations. The anime was overall kind of sort of cute and funny but it didn't have a "good" plot, and the drama in it was very dull. I thought the plot was original in it's unique way because of the introduction of a Persocom, a machine that resembles a female human. But the romance between a robotic human and a real flesh and blood human was a bit disturbing to me, because I just don't see how they can fall in love.

The story revolves around the penniless, perverted, cram school student Hideki Motosuwa who desperately wants a computer, but not just any computer; he wants the new Persocom. Fortunately for him, he found an abandoned one in a trashcan and decides to keep it and replenish it. When Hideki first activates the Persocom, the only thing it is able to say is “Chi”. Our of nowhere, Hideki immediately falls in love with his robotic girl and devotes much of his time to teaching his Persocom all sorts of human behaviors/knowledge, to the point where she even develops a personality of her own. There were some good moments here and there in the story but overall although it was heart-warming to see a man be so kind to a "lost" knowledgeable robot, it wasn't so pleasing to see a perverted boy hit on a robotic girl. Don’t ask me how the series ended. I just don’t know. I mean, it wasn't confusing but it was plain dumb, and there was no climax. The ending seemed forced and nothing made sense to me.

As for the characters, The women in the series were just plain depressing. Persocoms show up, men become aroused, women start questioning their sexuality and self-worth, well endowed high school girls go emo, it’s all just... bad. The men are just as bad too. They all seem to fall in love with robotic girls, over real flesh and blood girls. I just don't understand. The only thing that Chobits did with characteristic development was how Chi, Hideki's Persocom went from the start at the story from a piece of trash, to a loved robot that actually metaphorically had a heart and feelings.

The opening of Chobits was kind of disturbing personally for me to listen to because it sounded like a little baby was trying to seduce an older man. The endings were decent, but I wasn't particularly fond of any soundtrack in Chobits, which is saying something because I love most soundtracks in anime. The voicing of Chi fit in with her personality, but nonetheless it was kind of annoying to listen to all the time. Especially when she just squeaks out "chi" repetitively.

Well that's all I really have to say for Chobits, I didn't enjoy it that much even though I'm a huge fan of romantic stories. But I just want to say this again because I really was confused, would guys really fall in love with robotic girls over real life girls?... *sigh* I wouldn't recommend this anime to most people, unless you're obsessed with romance with a hint of comedy here and there. Thanks for reading! read more

Ok, I’ll admit it, I like romance anime, especially with drama and comedy. So I should love Chobits, right? Let me step back for a moment and say above all else I like anime with good stories and interesting characters. Chobits fails for me due to weak characters, in particular Hideki and Chii.

Hideki is way too flat and lack sufficient depth. In addition, he is a joke character, we don’t laugh with him, we laugh at him. Because of this it makes it hard to empathize/engage with a character like Hideki. This is why we have token male side characters who take the joke character role. Shinbo, Hideki’s male friend clearly doesn’t take this role, in fact they should have made him the main character as his story is far more interesting than Hideki and Chii’s. In addition, to Hideki, Chii’s character is no better. There is nothing to her, memory erased and the mentality of a child. She is the default love interest for Hideki and its beyond me as to how Hideki falls in love with Chii. Maybe because she cute? maybe for most, but I dislike the character design for Chii. The blank eyes are what killed it for me. Male designs were fine as well as the rest of the cast.

Much of the praise for Chobits is in the comedy, well at least that’s what I hear. For me the jokes were way too repetitive, in particular the jokes at the expense at Hideki. For example, Hideki is a pervert with too much porn/gravure that Chii finds. Hideki thinks perverted thoughts again and is an idiot that over reacts to everything. This extreme lightheartedness and extremely repetitive comedy was made it hard for me to finish the first half of the series.

As for the story itself, I didn’t think there was sufficient foreshadowing. So when the story starts going in the second half it feels a bit tacked on. In addition, they failed to keep up the momentum by jumping from thread to thread. Simply put the plot structure was a bit messy and Hideki and Chii aren’t strong enough characters. I guess if Chobits were to be considered a slice-of-life anime the structures would had worked, however that would require more complex characters.

There were parts I did like, in particular, Shinbo/Shimizu’s and Ueda’s stories. Both showed the sadder side of the theme of the show “love for a robot.” The relationship between Yuzuki and Minoru was touching, albeit not as interesting as the above characters. However, there is something seriously wrong when the side character are far more interesting that the main characters.

Chobits had quite a bit of potential, dealing with interesting and complex themes. Sadly they didn’t use these ideas enough and the Hideki and Chii characters were too weak to carry the show. Its quite hard to get engaged in an anime when you can’t empathize with the characters.
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