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.
____________________________________________________________

This was my first review so i apoligize if there are some parts wrongly explained. Main reason for this is to prevent spoilers ;-)

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.

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.

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!

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.

The typical perverted boy meets beautiful innocent girl but with a twist the girl is a robot! As much as I loved this anime the story really wasn't too original or inspiring. Many places where is is just a fan service but the detailed gothic lolita styled dresses give it an up in the art category.

As for the characters they are typical and not liable to change much throughout the series. The robot twist does add a little points in this category though.

The theme song and the two ending songs were wonderfully chosen and the voices where well done as well.

Watching it was pleasant because ... it was just a funny uplifting with some dark plot behind it. It was a nice little anime that really just kinda made your day and just asked you to keep watching it.

Overall I would have to give it an 8 because even though it is very good it really isn't near the best animes I have watched but still deserves to be mentioned because it is still really well done. n_n

I have mixed feelings about this series. Everybody seems to LOVE IT, and I feel like I missed the bus, so to speak.

In the first place, I'm a CLAMP fan. I love their old stuff--Tokyo Babylon, X, Rayearth, even Cardcaptor Sakura and Angelic Layer--but Chobits feels like the beginning of an era of relative mediocrity to me, especially compared to their earlier works. I know that Chii is supposed to be a perpetually-confused Robot Girl Who Needs to Learn To Love (R), but after a while her doe-eyed moe persona starts to get annoying.

In the second place, I'm also a cyberpunk fan. The question ... of what makes us 'human' and whether or not androids dream of electric sheep is not new to me. Robot sentience and 'emotions', or lack thereof, is old ground. This does not mean it cannot still be explored and is not still a legitimate question. Chobits does not do this question the justice I have seen done to it. I know the anime is trying to steer away from hardened cyberpunk-philosophy and speculation and keep to the cutsy-moe vein, and Hideki is not much of a philosopher, but this aspect could have been better-handled. The slice-of-life aspect that glosses over the cyberpunk lacks the charm it needs.

That being said, it's the side-details and side-characters that steal the show. The book series "A City With No People" is beautiful and charming in much the same vein as "The Little Prince". Sumomo and Shinbo are a hoot. Minoru and Yuzuki are adorable. Ueda is fascinating. Hideki and Chii--yeah, whatever.

And foregoing any spoilers, my favorite character is already DEAD, so there goes that angle.

If you're a sucker for moe or anything sickeningly cute, you would probably like this. If you want an intelligent, compassionate anime about cyborg sentience and the ethics of cyberization, watch "Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex" instead.

I'm not sure what I was expecting when I first started watching Chobits, but I can tell you that whatever expectations I had were abandoned within the first few moments of the first episode.
Chobits is the story of a naive young "country bumpkin" arriving in the big city in order to prepare for his next attempt at being accepted to college.
Hideki Motosuwa arrives in town impossibly ignorant of current technology and is immediately enthralled with the omnipresent "Persocoms", which are humanoid computers and have become so common throughout the city as to be entirely ordinary.
Hideki pines for a Persocom of his own, because they ... are cute (the vast majority of Persocoms seen throughout the series are built to resemble attractive young women) and will enable him to pursue many interests, chief among which would seem to be surfing the Net for Porn.
If the opening theme, which immediately made me think of such cheesy 70's shows such as "Love American Style" or the equally cheesy "Three's Company" from a decade later, hadn't already labelled this series, Hideki's obsession with porn, inexplicable, yet complete lack of understanding of technology and juvenile behaviour certainly did.
But I digress...

On his way home to his new apartment, Hideki continues to bemoan his inability to afford a Persocom of his own, and muses how nice it would be to find one lying around somewhere, when lo and behold, what should he pass by, but the titular character, "Chi", lying atop a stack of garbage in the alleyway behind his home.
Stricken by how cute she is, and amazed by his good fortune, Hideki brings Chi home, failing to notice the computer disk that has fallen to the ground as he laboured to pick her up.
Exactly what was on this disk? Well, despite the close-up of said disk lying unnoticed on the ground, we're never told.

Once having managed to get Chi back to his apartment, Hideki struggles with trying to revive her, and, having exhausted all reasonable avenues, finds that her "On Switch" is located in her vagina.
Yikes....

Once awakened, it becomes apparent that Chi has no operating software installed, and is essentially a blank slate, but thanks to having a "learning" program she can be taught, so Hideki takes it upon himself to teach her the things she will need to know in order to be fully functional.

As the series progresses, additional characters are introduced; the attractive building manager, Chitose Hibiya, the neighbour and school chum, Shinbo, and the cute girl, and possible love interest, Yumi, among others, all of whom have distinct roles to play in the story and who play them well. While I have issues with Chobits, surprisingly enough, character development is not one of them. The series gave itself ample time to explore and define each of the main supporting characters, and each of them play a prominent role.

Time passes and Chi learns more and more, ultimately becoming able to work part time and earn an income of her own, and we are introduced to more supporting characters, the majority of whom are also well written and play important roles in the story line.

There are laughs (most of which follow the same juvenile pattern that was established out of the gate) as well as tears along the way, and we become aware that Chi may not be your average Persocom, but rather a product of the (urban) legendary "Chobits" line, which was rumoured to be a line of Persocoms possessed of actual Artificial Intelligence and capable of being as human as a Persocom could possibly be.
We're also informed that somewhere in Chi's heavily protected core programming may be a protocol which could potentially change the way humans and Persocoms interact forever afterwards, should it be activated.

At it's core, Chobits attempts to deal with love and relationships between individuals. It deals with issues of infidelity and loss, and asks the viewer to question the very nature of love and where it can exist. We are offered the possibility of a person having genuine feelings for a Persocom, and presented with the potential fallout from that love, whether it be marital breakdown or simply a growing dependence on one's computerized companion for all things, including emotional engagement, that gradually leads to an ever increasing isolation of those who sought a connection with another being.
Chobits also succeeds to a large extent in this, and the issue is investigated in a surprisingly mature and compassionate fashion. We are ultimately left with the feeling that love may not always be kind, can exist in many forms, and may not always be found where we would expect it, and all of these are good messages.

So why it it, with Chobits having strong, well written characters, decent artwork and a solid core message, that I found it to be such a disappointment?
I think it's because Chobits could have been so much more.
Questions about the very nature of love and our deep seated need to find and nurture basic personal relationships are weighed down under such a burden of childish humour and fanservice that the seriousness of the core discussion is tainted and loses much of its power.
Add to that, the seemingly important plot threads that are left unaddressed, and Chobits ends up falling short of its potential, and because that potential was so well laid out and seemed so good, it's failure to be realised is bothersome.

In the end, I did enjoy Chobits, despite its flaws, and I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it, but for those who have seen the series' high ratings and read its many glowing reviews, I'd say "be prepared to be let down".
Chobits is good. Perhaps better than much of what's out there, but its flaws are enough to make it more an example of unrealised potential than one of anime classic in my opinion.

I love romances. I really do. I enjoy sitting down and letting my brain melt over these silly little animu relationships.

Chobits is not a romance.

Chobits is not some sort of intellectual look into if robots were real and sentient.

Chobits disappointed me. Chobits is a fetish show. A rip off of a fetish show.

Story: 2

If you enjoy watching a brain dead girl walking around saying underpants over and over again, this show is for you. If you enjoy ecchi and porn, this show is for you. If you were told, like me, that this show discusses how robots and humans would become in a ... futuristic society, you were deceived. The plot likes to shove morals in your face constantly and then in the end basically says the morals apply to everyone but Chi because Chi is Chi.

Yeah. Also, two random recap episodes. Or maybe three, I honestly don't care enough to go back and look. There are bits and pieces of promising plot, but sadly it's overshadowed by ecchi and fan service. I'd say a good 95% of the show is a perverts dream and the last 5% is plot progression. Then it just kinda gives you the middle finger in the end.

Art: 6

I mean, it isn't horrible. It's pretty a lot of the times. But it can also be kinda lazy at times. It's weird.

Sound:

Other than the opening song, which literally became a joke between me and my cousin through our slow decent into insanity as we watched this show, the music isn't terrible. It typically fits the mood.

The English voice cast was in and out. Some characters did well, and others made you cringe at the sheer inability to read a line. From what I remember the Japanese voice cast is okay.

Now here's the thing, and this is probably going to be a bit of a spoiler but honestly it doesn't matter you probably will guess what's going on by the second episode. Chi's personality, even by the end of the show when she "fully blossoms" is robotic in nature. She speaks, acts, and is just obviously a robot. DESPITE supposedly being the only robot that has emotions. But then you look at the little robot that follow Hideki around that was his neighbors robot (Again I honestly don't care enough to google it's name) Has WAAAAAAAAAY more personality than her. She was the only character I liked and I don't even remember her name. Speaking of which...

Character: 1

I don't think I've ever thought that characters could get this cardboard cutout and predictable. There are no round characters. No one learns anything. Hideki has morals shoved in his face but he igores them anyway and does the exact opposite, despite being told it will only bring despair. "But DellaDellsies," You say, "It was for LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!"

... NO. IT WAS NOOOOT FOR LOVE. IT WAS FOR HIS LUST. THERE IS NOOOOTHING ABOUT CHI TO LOVE. HER PERSONALITY IS LITERALLY SHAPED BY HIDEKI. EVERYTHING she knows is what HIDEKI told her. He does not love Chi, he loves what he made her out to be. Because she is a ROBOT and can DOOO THAAAT. This was not a story about love, it was a story about an idiot not listening to any of his friends and choosing a man made, perfect girl over any other human girl. THAT'S IT.

AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON CHI. "Underpants! Underpants! Underpants! Underpants! Underpants! Underpants! Underpants! Underpants! Underpants! Underpants! Underpants! Underpants! Underpants!" I'm going to leave it at that because I honestly don't know how to put it without making even worse spoilers than I have already put.

Enjoyment: 3

There were some side characters and side plots that were interesting, but it never stuck around and was over shadowed by the bland, boring Hideki and the annoying, sexual Chi. I got nothing but anger and disappointment from this show.

Overall: 3

If you want to experience this for yourself, go ahead and do it. But honestly I believe it's a waste of time. It has sooooo much potential and it just fell flat on its face. Literally there were times when my cousin and I were just like "Okay THIS will be the scene that wows us!" and it just falls flat into a boob or fingering joke. The comedy was flat, the plot just went in circles until the last episode where it literally shoved the whole plot into your face then continued to suffocate you with giant tits and a moral that is tossed into the garbage. By the end of it you just kinda break.

Or at least my cousin and I did.

Her ringtone on my phone is now Let Me Be With You out of sheer spite of making me watch that show.

"Try your very best to not write any spoilers."
Unfortunately, here's the biggest spoiler of them all.

THIS SERIES SUCKED!

Oh, are you still here? Let's get some (but not much) detail into this horribly sucky series. Will I tell all? No, I'm not Oprah. If you want to know the full details, you'll have to suffer as well. Now, on to the review.

Where oh where to begin.

About a month ago I suffered a heart attack. Compared to watching this horrid series, that was enjoyable. The incredible pain I was put through as a catheter was rammed into my leg and threaded into my heart was pleasant ... compared to the agony of sitting through this absolutely horrid anime.

There was a plot... somewhere. At times, I honestly think the writers even forgot what the plot was. First, we have horny redneck trying to get into the big city. I was honestly waiting for him to screw that cow in the first episode. I would've gotten a good laugh if he'd introduced himself as "Name's Hideki ma'am" and then spit between his shoes. Nope, he doesn't even have that much personality. I think I've left more personality in a tissue after blowing my nose.

Ok... oh and yeah, he's a complete and total dork. Not even in a good way. More along the lines of having to remember to breathe kind of retarded dork. Who wants a human shaped computer (that's cute, don't forget cute! big time keyword here) to look up... porn.

And he never does! The moron continues to buy skin rags while supporting this irritating contraption.

And not to be outdone by the fact that every single character looks like it suffers from some form of extreme downs syndrome (really, sloped foreheads, extremely wide spaced eyes, almost inhuman shaped chins) but the computers are these weird basically android like constructs called... wait for it... wait for it... Persocoms. Great name eh? Freaking amazing. I remember when I had first come across this series I thought that it was one that had been done back in the 80's (I could've forgiven it if it had been. a lot of really weird things came out in the 80's) but no... it's a fairly recent anime. In fact, it was done in 2002. 2002! Did the clamp group really have absolutely no experience with computers at all?! just how far does artistic license go?

So, boy genius (Hideki) winds up picking up a "persocom" out of a trash heap and eventually names her Chi. Hey, I'm a geek... and I used to dumpster dive. Got some really great parts that way! But somehow, this guy comes across the most advanced of all persocoms... in the trash.

So that brings us to Chi. Poor little incredibly retarded Chi. Someone really should've shot her and put her down. It would have saved so much time and money that was wasted on the production of this horrid series. Anyway, poor retarded Chi goes from useless retard to somehow becoming the uber grail of computers. She goes from not knowing anything at all to having some kind of amazing "learning" software installed. Wow! I know some A.I. groups that would just absolutely kill for that! Just a taste of how it was done would keep them happy for decades. And this amazing, hideously disfigured retard comes standard with it.

So, I guess to mock microsoft, she's not retarded, she's advanced! (yes, blatantly ripping off the "It's not a bug, it's an undocumented feature" legend) So advanced in fact that her creator's wife (another exceptionally ugly woman) just somehow winds up managing (and later you find out, owning) the apartment that Hideki and Chi live in. Holy cow, can we say contrived?

And then... he meets more dorks. Who spout the stupidest things. I spent 27 episodes just telling myself I'll finish this. It'll be worth it. I'll give you a hint.

It wasn't.

However, you do get to eventually meet an odd underage bimbo who's proud of her breasts (and well she should be, since she's not got a damn thing else going for her), a pair of micro/mini persocoms that are actually just loaded with personality. Sumomo was actually a bit fun to watch, and Kotoko was very funny. However, they are fairly minor characters, who wind up around Hideki and Chi in exceptionally contrived circumstances.

It took me almost two weeks to get through this lousy series. I was constantly finding better things to do, but still trying my damnedest not to watch something else until I finished it.

But hey, if boring as all hell, repetitive, flash back ridden, loosely mangled plot lines (yeah bull crap that the entire plot was developed before a single image was drawn. If you believe that one, yet can sit through this entire series AND still think the plot was well developed... well... something tells me you ate a lot of wall candy as a kid. Maybe even still do.) lousy animation, occasional special effects (that oddly are better drawn than the characters(?!)) then this anime was made just for you.

Chobits

I remember liking this show a whole lot back in the day, and unfortunately it hasn't lived up to what I remember. Chobits starts off well enough, but by the end it gets lost in trying to be profound.

The animation is good. It was consistent and fluid throughout the show, so no complaints there. The artwork.....I'm hesitant to say it was bad, because I don't think it was, but much of the character designs are all pretty much the same with different hair plonked on to distinguish them, and even there.....they all had the same sort of scraggy haircut. The only ones who are unique ... in design are Chii and Sumomo. Chii's design is extraordinarily cute, and all the various lolita outfits she get dressed up in enhance her cute factor, by quite a lot.

As for the characters, our main leads were disappointing. I found Chii to be mostly bland, and Hideki was a colossal idiot. He really did get on my nerves at times with his ludicrous outbursts. I just couldn't feel the chemistry between Hideki and Chii, it felt somewhat forced. The side characters were more interesting than those two. Sumomo was easily the best character there, she was energetic and unique. Consequently the side characters had more interesting stories as well. They did have some themes about the relationship between technology, society and people and while they weren't outstanding they were interesting to watch. The better episodes are the fillers, but even they wear down after a while because the same jokes are recycled over and over.

Now the bigger problem is the main plot. It starts out well enough, with the usual 'what is Chii?' stuff, and I was actually interested by how it was presented. But as it moves along it just gets confusing. By the end we had some new and important characters pop out of nowhere and I thought some of the plot points were outright contradictory, and the entire ending left me with that bitter 'wait, what?' feeling. I honestly have no idea what was suppose to happen in the end, the show just doesn't tell us.

On a good point, I really do like the soundtrack. It's got a wonderful retro sound to it, and it fits the show very well. There's nary a track out of place throughout Chobits, it's been timed quite well. The OP is quite a catchy pop song, and the EDs are a good listen. Though I do prefer the first ED to the second one.

The dub was alright. The actors did a good job (though, no offense to Monica Rial, but there wasn't much to Chii in the first place), a couple of the guys were a little bland at times, but there's nothing really more to comment on it, there's nothing wrong with it. Oh, Sandy Fox did a fabulous job as Sumomo, she does the squeaky voice exceptionally well.

I'm finding it hard to say that it simply sucks, because despite it's flaws I was at the least entertained most of the time. Chobits isn't a terrible show, it's cute, and quite a few of the episodes are fun but it gets tangled up and ends up confusing itself which drags the show down as a whole. It's another one of the switch of and enjoy type shows, if you don't pay to much attention to the attempts at being deep.

This is my first time doing a review, so bear with me. I'll try the best I can.

Chobits isn't revolutionary with its female android protagonist. There are, of course, a great many other anime that have the same idea. Although, from what I can see, a lot of them are somewhat perverted and contain a sundry of fan service. I think Chobits did a good job with the android cliché. It's not as simple as the others. In my opinion, Chobits is my favorite anime of this type.

Story 8/10:
Some time in the future, our protagonist, Hideki Motosuwa, goes to a city to prepare for college. ... Once he arrives there, he notices the abundance of "Persocoms", a personal android that have become hackneyed to the city residents and other urban dwellers. To him, it seems as though everyone who is anyone owns these android servants. The only problem is: he's downright poor and bucolic, he doesn't know anything about computers or anything fancy like that. Being the protagonist, lo and behold, he finds a discarded Persocom. This Persocom isn't like any other private household Persocom, this Persocom is a Chobit! Chobits are a special kind of Persocoms (I won't go into detail in order to avoid spoiling). Upon finding each other, Hideki and his Persocom, Chii (Or Chi), go on an adventure of self discovery, love, forbidden love, and tragedy. Forbidden love is the conflict in the story. It certainly is a philosophical discussion; is love between a human and an android... right? Well, Chobits is here to put a foot in the door of that argument.

Art 9/10:
Art and animation is very important for anime. For some, it's sometimes a hit or miss for the show. The style is definitely different than today's, since it's made in 2002. The art, in my opinion, perfectly fits with the story, setting, comedic sequences, characters, etc.. It has that 'kawaii' feel and it's not too complex. To put it bluntly, it just FEELS right. Animation is well done. There are, at times, moments where you can spot awkward placement of characters and their movement throughout the scenes and where it's not smooth, but those can be easily disregarded.

Sound 9/10:
First, I'd like to highlight the fabulous intro. "Let Me Be With You" by ROUND TABLE is the perfect intro for Chobits. It's also really catchy and a good song overall. I also like the little bit after the intro. The voice acting was well done and they definitely fit their characters. Good work, voice actors! Background music was very fitting, I almost didn't notice them at times and I can get in with the music's mood. As for sound effects, I don't have any problems with it. They worked well with the setting. Although, we all know that computers nowadays can be quite silent. The hard-drive reading sound will be quite nostalgic.

Character 8/10:
The characters in this show certainly aren't overused but they also aren't revolutionary. The characters fits the story and did their jobs perfectly. Hideki is a student getting ready for college and is happily fuelled with porn magazines. In fact, he wanted a Persocom in the first place to access porn on the internet, among other useful things. Hideki has a family that owns a farm and he grew up with a rural livestyle. Hideki later meets Chitose Hibiya, his landlady, Hiromu Shinbo, his neighbour, and more lively supporting characters that are related to Persocoms (usually in the form of a traumatic event). None of the characters aggravated me or made me wish they would go die in a whole somewhere. They all have a story to tell and help Hideki and Chi with their life.

From the first episode of Chobits, I was already hooked. Humour is always a good way to get attention. Through the entire show, I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. All the happy and sad moments are lessons to be learned. Chobits gave good reason for both sides of the argument, though mostly for the right to love. The problem, "Loving an inanimate object is forbidden", is thoroughly displayed, argued, and ultimately answered. Overall, I give this show a 9/10. This is truly one of my favourites.

Today, I'm actually going to review something that doesn't suck!

Warning! the following review contains spoilers and extrapolates on an allegorical interpretation of the plot that you may or may not agree with.


Overview:

Chobits is a romance anime that centers around a couple named Hideki and Chii. They have an unconventional relationship that is criticized by many in their society as unnatural and a slight against God. They can't have "real" sex that produces children. However, they overcome these criticisms and show that 2 consenting adults in a loving relationship is a beautiful union that should be respected by society. I am of course talking about man ... and girl robot relations. What? You thought I was talking about something else? Chobits does an excellent job of showing that a writer can deliver a moral or social message without senselessly beating the viewer over the head with it and getting obnoxiously preachy. The use of allegory and some sense of subtlety can go a long way. Fuck you Glee! Chobits was there preaching tolerance long before you showed your ugly face! If you thought this was just another forgettable Etchii series, think again. Chobits is often surprisingly well written and and has some intelligence along with plenty of heart.

Plot 9/10

Hideki grew up on a farm in a rural part of Japan and is technologically inept. When he moves to the city in order to attend college cram school, he is amazed by the prevalence of humanoid robots called persocoms. Persocoms, which is short for personal computer, are essentially robots that can act as computers, servants, and can even work many jobs. However, persocoms lack true artificial intelligence and are incapable of true emotion, feelings, or decision making independent of how they were programmed. There is a legend about a small number of true AI having been built called "chobits", but this is mostly dismissed as a mere rumor. Hideki is far too poor to afford a persocom and can only witness this oddity with jealousy. He fantasizes about what he would use a computer for...mostly looking up porn. I mean hey, the man's never had a computer before, give him a break! One day Hideki finds a mysterious persocom abandoned in the garbage behind his apartment and decides to take it home. This persocom is in the shape of a beautiful girl and at first can only say the nonsense word "Chii". Hideki decides to keep Chi and soon discovers she is very different from other persocoms. Perhaps even one of the legendary Chobits!

Characters 9/10

The 2 main characters as already mentioned are Hideki and Chii. Hideki is a typical, lovable loser type character. He is not exactly revolutionary as a character, but generally comes across as a pretty realistic young college student. He is rather shy and introverted, but desires love and has never really had a girlfriend before. Despite his awkwardness and slight obsession with porn, Hideki is a genuinely nice guy and gets along well with pretty much everyone in the series. Chii starts out a virtual blank slate and learns from Hideki's actions and words. Eventually she starts to develop her own personality and proves to be a caring and kindhearted soul. Chii adores Hideki and doesn't seem to mind his flaws. It is also hinted that she wasn't born a blank slate and had a past before being tossed away. Chii seems to have a deep connection to series of mysterious picture books that she finds at the local book store. There are a number of secondary characters introduced as well, with my favorite being the child prodigy Mr. Kokobunji. Along with being a billionaire computer genius, Kokobunji takes a keen interest in artificial intelligence and raises many of the series deepest questions and thoughts.

Art 8/10

Despite being a slightly older title from the early 2000s, Chobits' art has held up well over time and looks quite good. The character designs are well done, the background scenery is gorgeous, and the animation is fairly fluid and smooth.

Soundtrack 9/10

Chobits not only has excellent opening and closing themes, but very catchy and upbeat music throughout the show that will probably put a smile on your face. The soundtrack also has more somber and mysterious music that plays when Chii reads her special picture books. I have heard some viewers, mostly younger viewers, comment that they found this music creepy. I personally found it more mysterious than anything else.

Enjoyment 9/10

Chobits is rather funny, but also at times can be thought provoking and heart warming. It offers the best of all worlds. It does have a few filler episodes and strays a bit from the original manga at times, but that is only to be expected for a 26 episode anime based on a fairly short manga. I found it to be quite enjoyable, but be warned that the first few episodes are a little slow. I would at least watch the first 7-8 or so episodes before making a decision to continue or not. If after 8 episodes you are still hating every minute of it, it clearly just isn't your cup of tea so feel free to try another series.

Overall 9/10

Chobits isn't a perfect series or a work of art so fine that I would personally fight a duel if someone insulted it to my face. However, it is a very good series and breaks the mold of traditional echii comedies. It is the kind of quality one would expect from the fine ladies of Clamp. I would recommend this one to men and women at least 13 and up. This is a seinen genre anime, so younger viewers might not really appreciate the finer points. Not to mention Hideki's porn obsession would be a bit awkward to explain to a 9 year old.

I started into the world of Chobits with the manga. I read about two volumes of it and thought it was pretty intriguing so I thought well why not watch the anime?

Let me say this, I am generally fairly easy to please. I'm one of those people that has learned that what is a good anime/manga is not necessarily the same as what anime/manga you enjoying watching/reading. That being said, I though Chobits failed on both accounts.

Hideki made me want to run my head through a cheese grater. He was incredibly dull and annoying as a character. He is completely and entirely forgettable. Chii was ... cute, but there wasn't much depth to her. She is slow at learning the human ways and while sometimes her antics are funny, most of the time it comes off as irritating.

I did like some of the art, particularly Chii's outfit designs. But there is nothing to distinguish Hideki from the next guy.

I will say that Sumomo was probably my favorite character. Her "wakey wakey" exercises had me cracking up! And Shinbo was interesting as well. I'm pretty much certain they're the only reason I actually managed to watch all 26 episodes. They keep my rating from being even lower, but are not enough to save the show.

It was slow, most of the characters were boring, and it was repetitive. I have no desire to watch it again. People that are interested in the storyline are better off reading the manga instead.

Please Message me on your comments if you can, so I can learn from my mistakes. Then write even better reviews =3 (any sort of criticism is okay, harsh, useless, or constructive I accept it all!)

Story: Well, it seems cliche when you first look at it, but thinking back at that time, that might have been the way it would have been. It has it's own unique twists and such but it's really a pretty "straight-forward" storyline. It has it's own paced established and you'll get used it in no time. Not bad, but pretty good

Art: Clamp this I have to say, is really the ... starting point of which I started watching your other shows. The animation is smooth and the drawing style is somewhat unique. Though there are just some times where I think the animation and the colouring just don't suit the mood. Wherever Chii is the mood for me changes way too much. A dark atmosphere adding Chii in is just bad I have to say. Overall the Art is very hard to comment, it's good but not absolutely excellent. It's also hard to criticize.

Sound: This is one of the few animes where the background music and opening really suit the current scenes. The opening is the typical casual J-Pop with a bit of a twist with Chii in the animation it really suits the main mood of the anime. The background music is really where I appreciate the work put in. It's very light, with very few parts being dark, a perfect match for Chobits! Every scene felt like it was carefully worked out to match the animation, a silly animation with silly mood and music. A happy one with happy music and so on. There was really only one problem. The opening didn't change as most twenty episode animes I have seem, but the ending did, so overall I was pretty happy about the music and sound.

Character: This is like the reason I watch it basically, the character development is simply amazing. Well besides Chii learning words. The characters are also VERY interesting to watch. All their actions really explains a lot of their personal feelings and attributes. Hideki is very shy going despite being a "perverted" boy. It's as almost he's trying to avoid contact with Chii as much as possible. Always the shy one he is. Chii is somewhat annoying to watch. Even sometimes painful. That never lasts too long because the scene and the music perk you right back up for more. Chii's development throughout the story is very crucial (though I can't say too much).

Enjoyment: The enjoyment level for Chobits is good but not perfect. Since most of the enjoyment comes from comedy It might get boring sometimes. The roller-coaster of a storyline and music really make you very emotional at some points. It also leaves a very big impression on you. It's a hell of a ride that you'll enjoy very much.

Overall: Chobits is very good. The story line is unique, characters interesting, sound very good, and just for the hell of it it's plain great! I highly suggest it. The main thing you should really think about is, how society sees relationships and judges them. That is the main theme I THINK you should look upon and reflect. Though the previous one I said before would also make sense, this is the more "general theme". Hope you enjoyed reading my point of view. :P

Chobits is a romance oriented anime that presents the viewer with a futuristic world inhabited by humans and android-like beings called "persocoms" who are a much more advanced humanoid versions of the PCs you and I use today. It is a very engrossing anime because it portrays a number of themes like morality, spirituality and even sexuality from a number of different viewpoints - those of humans, those of 'persocoms' and a neutral one.

The setting and story are very simple. We have the male lead, a village boy by the name of Motosuwa Hideki who aspires to go to a University and also happens ... to be the complete inverse of a pick-up artist, as his lack of experience with women and people in general is the unfortunate result of milking cows in seclusion for way too long.

One day he decides to move out of his home to study at a cram school in Tokyo. Needless to say this drastic change of scenery brings about a lot of interesting situations, one of which is his discovery of an abandoned persocom, named "Chi", who then sets out to accompany her new master through life. This event marks the true beginning of the story.

Hideki's aforementioned difficulty when it comes to interpersonal relationships and how he struggles to understand a rapid and evolving world alongside his persocom counterpart is the hallmark of this series. I liked the fact that a lot of themes presented here, especially romance, were painfully serious and not afraid to anger its watchers. For example, some of us may think that being nice and unassuming are definitively good traits that potential partners might look for. In Chobits however, Hideki is constantly ridiculed by the rest of the characters for being a naive "nice guy" who doesn't have the spine to aggressively pursue women. What's interesting is that 'Chobits' doesn't show him as a victim of society but rather as a failure of mankind. Chobits wants us to see him as a loser who needs to man up, rather than making us feel sorry for him.

The drama here shows us characters that are depressed and self-derogatory, angering you to the point of making you want to chew through a pallet of cinder blocks. You know that what these characters are doing isn't helping and perhaps you even know what the solution to their trouble is but this is how some people are and this is how real life works.

In short, you know a series is good when it starts drawing out strong emotions from you that normally only real life would. Emotions of anger, disappointment and perhaps even resentment.

Secondary characters in this show have been presented very well. Minoru Kokubunji, a young genius whom Hideki befriends early on in the show, is a staple of stability and resilience. I liked this character for his diligent nature and the way in which he adds more seriousness to the series.

Yumi Omura is a perplexing character to say the least. She's Hideki's air-headed workmate. Her purpose in the show was mainly to show just how fragile human relations can be. One day friends - the next one strangers. What we take for granted may be taken from us the very next day.

Shinbo Hiromu has got to be my favourite though. As Hideki's classmate, this character serves as an example that sometimes in life assertiveness is extremely important and desirable, even if it means doing something stupid that may offend others. This would be the strongest character in the entire cast.

There are plenty more of course but I felt these ones were worth describing the most.

The only issue I have with this anime would be the confusing and unsatisfying ending. I cannot reveal why that is without spoiling stuff but what I can say is that it was very anti-climactic and largely ruined the entire build up the series was working on.

All in all though, chobits was a very enjoyable experience. Enjoyable in the sense that even though fictional, one can learn many things from this particular anime. It is, without exaggeration, a snippet of real life packed into a well made 26 episode series.

Chobits is quite literally a critical thinker's wet dream.

Thank you for reading.

8 points.

oh.. it hurts to give this just a 6 because i genuinely enjoyed this anime in every way, but from a critical standpoint, its just.. okay! lets get the negatives out of the way first;
first of all-- hideki sucks. lets get that out of the way. lack of depth, basic perverted male protag, basic design, quite annoying, it seems like the writers weren't being serious when writing him, which of course isnt a problem for a casual watcher such as myself, but when you're criticizing something its important to point out. i feel like theres only one memorable character in this entire series, chii, ... which each character should have some sort of depth, especially as the main character you are first introduced to. i also read the visual novel for the gba & the manga and hidekis lack of depth is consistent throughout all forms of this media which is quite.. dissapointing to say the least? the anime had many chances to redeem him but it kinda fell.. flat?

now onto the positives, the art style and the concept of persocoms is very charming and creative in general, the idea of having a robot thats meant to be a personal assisant, thats way too expensive to buy brand new, and you just find one in the dumpster? amazing. chii's backstory and arc throughout the anime is all around great aswell. however, i feel like hideki needs to go outside and get some hoes instead of trying to fuck the damn robot.

This anime has amazing and loveable characters that most can relate too. It has a cute background love story and is filled with funny moments, and of course with a little bit of sexual jokes. So why only the rating of an overall 7??? Personally I think the ending was not the best. I felt it lacked tying things together, and made things even more confusing. They built up everything for a rushed ending. With the story that they had, and the characters that were created I feel the ending could have been stronger. I ignore the last couple episodes after episode 24 “Chi ... Wears And Takes Off" and adopted my own ending because I feel the actual one brought down the rest of the show.

Absolute gem.
I am not writing this review in multiple paragraphs like some refined connoisseur of anime, so I'll be short and sweet, but please take my word for it when I say this is (personally) one of the best and cutest shows ever! The amount of times that I've re-watched Chobits to show a friend has been more than I can count, I've even physically bought the hardcover anniversary books just from how much I enjoyed it.

Chobits is a comfy romantic comedy, and one of the first anime series I've ever seen and fell in love with.
It's Sci-Fi, comedic, mysterious, and sometimes fanservice-y (if ... you're into that, though it definitely doesn't annoyingly interfere.) Its setting/vibe just feels so nostalgic and soothing. One of my favorite parts about this anime is the incredibly relaxing music, from the opening and credits to the transitions, all of it is just so catchy and unforgettable. I even still listen to some of these tracks years after discovering the show. Strongly encourage you to give it a try, it's worth the experience and concludes in a way that leaves you feeling warm, so it doesn't really need a second season even though you'll want more.

Short review: While this anime may seem perverse on the surface, Chobits actually does ask deep questions regarding emotions, and technological singularity. Characters are interesting and dynamic, but art and animation is kept to a minimum. English dub is pretty good, and the music is fun but not remarkable. The anime is well executed, and I did enjoy watching it.

Loooooooong review:
Story: (This is going to be long...)
The first half-or-so of Chobits is rather lighthearted and comedic, with Hideki adjusting to city life, school, and teaching Chi new things. This is where you mostly see the slice-of-life part of this anime.Within the middle part, there are ... a few rather pointless episodes, such as a beach episode or the "haunted" apartment episode. However, darker themes are introduced past the first four episodes, getting darker and more mysterious as the show progresses. The second half has a lot of great character moments and backstories that will really force you to question what are emotions and how close computers/robots/AI will be to humans, and if they will ever replace us. A lot of the plot is driven forward by new revelations of the mystery of Chi, and seeing everyone's past experiences and relationships with persocoms.
But contrasting all the drama and tragedy in the second half, the fourth episode of Chobits is funnier than ANY episode in School Rumble, which is supposed to be a straight-up comedy anime. The style of humor in Chobits is a mix of gag/slapstick comedy and sexual humor. The use of the two-tone patterns running across the screen along with English words in the background added to the gag/slapstick part of the comedy, while the voice acting in the English dub makes the rest of the humor more believable and funnier in general. I know this kind of comedy isn't for everyone (Trust me, I did find Hideki's somewhat perverted antics to be annoying at times), but it doesn’t really take away from the experience. If anything, it almost enhances it. The Seinen elements and fanservice in this show may also make some people (particularly a female audience) uncomfortable. Most of the persocoms in this anime are female (looking), and the ones we actually get to know are usually dressed in elaborate lolita or costumes. I don't exactly perceive this as sexist, because I know the four authors that make up CLAMP are all women. My theory as to why CLAMP decided to create this story is because Chobits is a sort of analogy, where (in Japan, the gender disparity problem seems worse) this could be our reality, and in a sense, we already do this. It's sort of like a slap in the face, saying, "Do we really want our society to change like this?" And it seems to me that if anyone's going to create a persocom, they will probably be from Japan. Just a hunch.
Also, I suggest skipping the recap episodes (10, 20, and 27). The pacing of the show is fine, if you're okay with a few filler episodes. It keeps the mystery somewhat suspenseful in the first half, then the pacing does pick up in the second half, with more and more information given to the audience until the last two plot episodes where everything is revealed. And it's this that makes the ending to Chobits satisfying.

Characters:
Chobits does introduce quite a few characters, both human and persocom, in a rather even fashion throughout the series. The characters aren't that memorable in the long run, but I think you'll remember the humans because of their experiences with persocoms, and the persocoms themselves, for their motivations to do what they do. I don't think there is one character I hated, although I can understand how they may not be likeable or if a character is annoying at times. A lot of the characters (mostly humans) do develop throughout the show in different realizations of themselves or their relationships, whether those relationships be with another human or persocom. And it's these relationships and developments that are the show's best parts and drive the plot forward.
Now, let's run down some characters. Although Hideki is a pervert, he really is a nice guy (as he is told many, many times throughout the anime) who has shown himself to be very caring and empathetic. *Sigh* I swear, there's a character archetype for the nice guy who's also a huge pervert (Akihisa Yoshii, Tsukune Aono, Shigure Sohma). Chi fills the role of main female character and "Miss Fanservice". Not necessarily the T&A fanservice (this is CLAMP we're talking about, here), but by doing cute things and just being sweet and innocent. Yes, I did think it was a bit cute, but the pandering male otakus may think so otherwise...
The rest of the characters serve as adding to the mystery, trying to solve the mystery, or has a dark past relating to persocoms. Not a single character in this anime is entirely useless, nor do I think any one of them were wasted. Each of them contribute to the plot in varying degrees or frequencies. and you usually see the characters develop after seeing them realize something about persocoms or relationships.

Art:
Chobits is an anime from 2002, when digital animation was getting started in the anime industry but quickly becoming mainstream. It has a similar style of art as, say, Love Hina. Yes, the art is a bit dated, but it's age does add a bit of charm, instead of style to this anime. The nature backgrounds that are shown in about two of the show's episodes are actually very nice and look as if they were painted with very neat watercolors. The art was a bit flat, but not to the extent that it was boring. Madhouse did successfully re-create the neatness and style of CLAMP's artwork from the original manga. However, the art in the anime looks less...CLAMP-ish.

Animation:
I will say that the animation in this show is not sloppy. The wind blowing Chi's long hair looks natural, and the style of animating the picture book scenes made me feel like I was reading the book. However, in an anime like this, don't expect EXCEPTIONAL animation.

Voice:
Comparing the sub with thew dub, I'd say go with the dub, because I thought it was funnier and more natural. In a complete contrast to the role Crispin Freeman is most famous for portraying (go look it up if you don't know), he does a GREAT job at voicing the fish-out-of-water Hideki. He sounded exasperated, concerned, goofy, hyper, just very good at conveying emotions and making Hideki sound more natural and 3-D. While Chi's dialogue is cheesy sometimes, I think it did a good job of conveying innocence and curiosity. And Michelle Ruff did a nice job with her high pitched voice for Chi, and the darker voice for Freya. Almost all the side characters also had great dub performances, such as Minoru, Yumi, Mr. Ueda, and Ms. Shimizu. Minoru did sound like a mature kid, kind of like Ed in the dub of FMA. Yumi sounded perky and sweet when she needed to, but when things got serious, she did sound wistful, sad and depressed. Not many parts were too over-acted, with was also very nice.

Music:
The opening to this show is very catchy and cute, although repetitive. It almost made me want to dress up in one of Chi's outfits and do a cute dance with a bunch of backup dancers dressed exactly the same. That's the only way I can describe the opening. I didn't think either of the ending themes were exceptional in any way, but the choice of which ending theme to use did fit how the episode ended. The OST is mostly light, cute, fun, but not terribly memorable. However, the music does kick it into high gear whenever something intense happens. And the music box theme that plays whenever Chi is reading a book is actually kind of creepy. Overall, the OST does add to the overall experience of the anime.

Execution:
Chobits is initially set up as a rom-com, but I think I should have known this show would get darker. While some may have problems with the pacing and the filler, saying it takes away from the good stuff, I think this anime adaptation was set up with an audience enjoyment in mind ahead of the deep story. One episode, you're laughing, the next thinking deeply. So don't watch this anime for one element or genre, because, as you saw in my pie chart up there, Chobits combines a lot of genres. You may get confused about the atmosphere of this anime, so if you want to check this out, go in with no expectations (even though I just talked about this anime in detail...) If you do so, then this anime will work for you.

My Enjoyment:
Okay, in my book, there are two kinds of enjoyment for an anime (well, there's three, if you want to go there.) The first is having a lot of fun with an anime and really enjoying yourself, see Gurren Lagann. The second is being engrossed in the story and it's characters, such as in Death Note. Chobits falls more under the latter, with its overarching mystery and interesting characters. I didn't so much have fun with this anime as I did get engaged to the story. That's the whole reason I ended up marathoning large portions of this anime over about a week. The suspense was enough to keep me coming back, and the comedy is usually nicely placed, which did make the experience rather positive. And if you want to get all nit-picky about the supposed sexism in this anime, you're not going to have a good time.

If you liked this review, please check out my anime review blog! Link is on my profile.