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.
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