Chobits... Seeing that this anime is so popular I was curious to see it, especially after one of my friends highly recommended it to me. I can't say it disappointed me or it was better than I thought: Let's say it was nothing of what I’ve expected it to be, I thought it would be more complex in a lot of ways, but in the end, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
Story [6]: This is the typical anime where a boy finds a girl lost and takes her home. They have some problems that lead them to some awkward situations (a lot of them actually) and find something really great about said girl that leads them to some troubles. This is even better because the girl is cute, knows nothing about the world (see “awkward situations” above) and the guy is a pervert (c’mon, have you seen the kind of magazines he reads?).
I think they spent a lot of this anime showing Chii learning things, Chii doing cute things, Chii getting in trouble, Chii learning more cute things, Chii… well, you got the idea. It’s not that it’s bad, really I had some kawaii crises all along this series, and laughed a lot too, but I think they should have focused more on the story behind Chii and Chobits, instead of giving us a Chii overdose.
They give us some interesting clues, they have moments when they learn new things, but they are very few, leaving us with a weird feeling when the last episodes came, seeing as things suddenly started to get more serious and all. It left me with some questions without answer, and feeling a little rushed too.
The story could be better developed and better explained, the idea was good, but the anime was far from being a masterpiece.
Animation [7]: I really don’t know what to say here since I’m not an expert… The animation is nothing really special, but it’s not bad (it’s Clamp after all). The characters are well drawn and easily recognisable (not like some animes when you see two characters that look the same), they have some good backgrounds, it’s a nice style and the animation is pretty good too. Nothing very elaborated, you don’t have to force yourself to see all those little details, but it doesn’t hurt your eyes!
Sound [6]: I don’t really pay too much attention to the music in anime. Basically, I skip the opening and the ending themes, unless they catch my attention, and I don’t remember well the background music (unless, again, it catches my attention).
To be honest, I don’t like the opening theme… It bothered me a lot with all that “let me be with you” and “yeah, yeah” thing… The ending theme was calmer, I liked it better but it wasn’t anything outstanding. As for the background music: good, but nothing special.
The voices are something different. The characters had good voices and the seiyuu were good doing their work. No voice was really outstanding, except maybe for Sumomo, her screams were a little annoying at the beginning, but you get used to it.
Characters [6]: The characters are nice, but nothing really original, they don’t “grow” during the story, and I think there are some characters and subplots that are completely pointless (like Kotoko… and even Yumi and the others).
Hideki is the normal 18 years old guy that’s starting a new life and beginning to learn how to take care of himself now that he’s an adult. All this matters could be better explored if not obfuscated with all those comic scenes. You don’t see too much development in any of the main characters, Hideki looks too plain, and even Chii, after all those events in the last episode, doesn’t seem to be too affected. I think Minoru’s story and Shinbo’s were far more interesting than Hideki’s, still, it was a good thing and it’s not as if they don’t show a thing about their feelings.
Enjoyment [7]: Maybe I’m biased, but I actually liked this anime. It’s not a perfect anime, I’ve seen better, but it can put you in a good mood, it’s not very complex, so I did not need to pay too much attention to details, and it was funny and cute.
Overall [7]: Even if the characters are not perfect and the story lacks some quality, Chobits is still a good anime if you want to have a good laugh and be entertained during an afternoon with Chii’s cuteness and Hideki’s silliness. You don’t have to think too much for more than a half of episodes. It’s just “sit and enjoy”. Yet, you’re open to disagree with me…
