Chobits

2002

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1
  • 0
7.3| 0h30m| TV-14| en| More Info
Released: 02 April 2002 Ended
Producted By: Madhouse
Country: Japan
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.tbs.co.jp/chobits/
Synopsis

Tokyo is abuzz with persocoms – humanoid computers that are virtually perfect. The socially and technologically inept Hideki is dying to get his hands on one. When he finds Chii abandoned in the trash, she’s cuter than any current model he’s ever seen before. But when he gets her home and turns her on, she has no data and only a single learning program installed. While Hideki puts his whole heart into teaching Chii the ins and outs of humanity, a mystery unfolds as a dark secret within her awakens.

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Reviews

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
dee.reid Ah, the trials & tribulations of a boy and his... personal computer?"Chobits" is an unusual Anime' (Japanese animation) series that I took a wild gamble with earlier this year, having never seen or heard of it before, but nonetheless liked the concept because I found it very interesting. "Chobits" is a romantic sci-fi/comedy series from the all-woman Manga-writing team CLAMP, who also did another Anime' series I've always liked: "X." Basically in "Chobits," you'll find yourself wondering if it's possible or not to have a meaningful relationship with your personal computer.In its storyline, "Chobits" seems to borrow heavily from cyberpunk, the computer-tech and hacker subcultures, and the cult-classic science fiction film "Blade Runner" (1982). Set more or less in the present (the early 21st century, most likely between 2001-2002 when the Manga was still being serialized in Japan), the protagonist of the series is a socially clumsy/technologically inept 18-year-old country bumpkin named Hideki Motosuwa, who has just moved from his family's farm to the big city of Tokyo. He moves into a cramped little apartment in order to attend a cram school so that he can hopefully get into a good university. To help make ends meet, he gets a job at a local restaurant simply called My Pleasure.So far, "Chobits" sounds a lot like any run-of-the-mill, fish-out-of-water comedy you've come across (whether it be in Japan or the United States), but I've only described what happens in the first 10 minutes of the first episode! On his way home from work one night, Hideki stumbles across a discarded "Persocom" in the trash, the human-looking androids made to resemble attractive young girls/women. Persocoms are so-called because the name itself is an abbreviation of the words "personal computer." Persocoms seems to have all but completely replaced desktop and laptop PCs in this revisionist universe of our early-21st-century existence, since they can do a lot of the things that normal computers and telephones can do: they can surf and download stuff off the Internet, answer the phone and record messages, play video games, perform simple household chores and in poor virginal Hideki's case, look for porn on the 'Net. (So yeah, they're basically an iPhone, PC, and telephone/cell phone all rolled up in one!)Hideki thus names his new Persocom "Chi," after the only word she knows how to say. He discovers, with help from his new neighbor/classmate/best friend Shinbo Hiromu (who also has his own cute little "mobile" Persocom named Sumomo) and wealthy 12-year-old computer genius Minoru Kokubunji, that Chi has absolutely no data and only one program installed on her CPU. Kokubunji suspects that Chi is actually a "chobit," referring to an urban legend that states that certain Persocoms were programmed with free will and the ability to feel a full set of human emotions. Hilarity ensues pretty much as Hideki tries to teach Chi common sense, manners and how to properly act in the larger Japanese society, but he soon comes to realize that she is harboring a dark secret somewhere in the depths of her (supposedly) blank CPU - a secret that could prove dangerous if it's truly possible for a Persocom to ever truly find happiness by coming to love a human being."Chobits" is a nice romantic comedy series with a neat sci-fi twist that asks us an important fundamental question: Is it ever really possible for a person to love his computer? I guess it's time to justify my earlier "Blade Runner" reference when I mention that the Persocoms in the series are perhaps an upgrade from "Blade Runner's" replicants. The Persocoms here in "Chobits" are able to respond to, and emulate, human emotions, which replicants lacked and were forbidden from achieving in "Blade Runner" while also being used off-world as slave labor; so, you could call "Chobits" an anti-"Blade Runner." And I also suggest that it's a little unnerving that countries in Asia (namely China, Japan, and South Korea) are constructing extremely life-like robots that are capable of expressing, and responding to, the emotions of their human creators. (It sounds kind of scary, doesn't it? And "Blade Runner" seems even more prescient now that you think about it.)For the first half of this 24-episode Anime' series, it's pretty funny and sweet with the interactions between Hideki, who despite his social and technological ineptitude, is a really nice guy who actually cares about other people and helping them out (he's another one of the many great shy-guys common in Anime'), and Chi. Chi is basically like a child who has to be taught proper manners and the such. But things start to take a dark turn in the second half, as the dark secrets surrounding Chi's past start to arise and the implications it has for her burgeoning love for Hideki, as well as all other Persocoms in Tokyo. It all begins with the arrival of some very well-thought-out cyberpunk elements in the story."Chobits" is a great Anime' series that will definitely put a big happy smile on your face. Despite some of the darker elements in the second half of the series, be rest assured that things end on a good note. ("Chobits" also has one of the most beautiful and cheery soundtracks ever composed for an Anime' series, with songs by Japanese music acts Round Table and Rie Tanaka.)You really won't be disappointed at all with "Chobits."10/10
Boris-57 So, your classic story - man vs machine. More particularly - man falls in love with found machine and, behold, it's vice versa.I stumbled upon these series by accident on the french MCM channel; the french dubs are perfect (Chii is exquisitely dubbed), but after a few episodes I got me the subbed originals - and found out that MCM messed up the episode sequencing. Content-wise this isn't problematic since the first two thirds of the episodes are quite stand-alone. Still it's exactly this that makes the series dip after a while, and you get the idea that they were just making it up as they went along. The underlying storyline (who/what is Chii, what will happen between Hideki & Chii) gets hinted at once in a while, but all in all the first half of the series focuses on the problems that arise when Hideki tries to educate his persocon Chii and the embarrassing situations Chii gets her prude master in, all in your typical "harem" anime setting.The main thing is: it's so well-done! The first say 8 episodes are often hilarious observations of masculine fears and obsessions as we get to know Hideki's thoughts every step of the way. Through the parts of the comic-in-comic (Chii reads a favorite comic that seems to be especially designed for her and is a key element the overarching story) you occasionally get the idea that more is about to come.Of course, you can't keep Hideki as constipated throughout and as the often sexual jokes wear out, the series drifts towards fan-servicing with unfortunately pretty sexist undertones (not that I care). At that point, despite the fact the the manga script lay there waiting to be developed, the series seems a bit lost, and the build-up of tension between Chii and Hideki comes to a halt, as do the other plot lines (Hideki and Yumi...), culminating in the low (plotwise) or high (imagewise *grin*) of #14, where all characters spend a day at the beach. Apart from seeing all babes in bathing suits (yeah I know they're drawn figures, but cut the imagination some slack), you're left wondering when they'll get on with it. This wondering is only augmented by the following two episodes where Chii is hardly seen and the plot focuses on Shimbo and the Sensei...***Spoiler-laden paragraphs below***But in fact (though you only find out later) this is where they (finally) start developing the actual story about relationships between man and machine, and what machine is/can be, what it means to be human. These eps. 15-16 are the first part of this topic, where it's seen from the (negative) human side only. The story-telling is raised to a significantly higher level. It's a bit of a mystery why the next 2 episodes again seem to fall to the earlier level, and nothing much is added, except for a hint at what the plot will turn out to be.But, in episodes 20-26 suddenly the stakes are raised and we get an entirely different anime, with all the depth and beauty that we've come to expect from this Japanese art form. What makes a machine a machine, a human human, what is love, what is the function of memory... you get it all. The density of each episode is a zillion times higher than that of the first ones, and suspense is gradually built up. And then of course there's the final two episodes where a lot of questions are answered and the series DELIVERS. Home run! Considering the end credit song had changed midway to the very melancholic Ningyo Hime, I expected the worst, and indeed initially it does end up the way 99% of man-machine-love films end up: it cannot be (I think this has its roots in the ancient beliefs that relationships are merely there for procreation). But, lo and behold people! it does not end this way. Love DOES conquer all and after a series of emotional lefts and rights in the final episode, you get positively uppercutted by the rare 1% solution: the relationship between man and machine is a fact. Relationships without procreation are allowed. Bingo this is heaven.***SPOILER ENDS - but don't look an inch upward from this line***So, despite the fact that the series seems a bit lost in the middle, the absolutely charming and hilarious first third plus the final third with its deep issues, superb plot and magnificent denouement make this series a solid 9 for me. I would have given it a 10, but it is a fact that the whole could have been better 1) had they from the start opted for a continuous story (like the final eps) with the story lines more mixed like in the manga, rather than more or less separate episodes focusing on one topic or even gimmick, 2) had made a better mix of humor & drama and developed the Chii character a bit better (like in the manga). Though this might be easier to achieve in a full-length feature, in which the story would benefit from being chopped from 8 to 2 hours. Obviously, this would leave Chii-o-files gasping for more, but still:People from TBS: make this into a full-length feature!! Presto!!!O, and don't forget to have a box of Kleenex within reach once you start on the final episode...PS: if you buy the DVD's (6+1 bonus), disc 1 and 2 are really worthwhile (though 2 has quite a bit of sexual/sexist fan-servicing), while disc 3 may be the least interesting. Disc 4 is where you get a first glimpse of how good the series will get, and discs 5 & 6 are simply must-haves. Beware that the 7th disc contains just 3 summaries (eps 9, 18 and 27), plus a 5-minute extra called Chibits.
Angel Meiru "Chobits" is actually a title I like from CLAMP. Most of their stuff tends to be sickening cute or utterly twisted and weird, but "Chobits" is neither one of these. It is cute and weird, but not to the point where you want to vomit though."Chobits" is about a farmboy named Hideki, who finds a persocon (Humanoid-Computers) on the street and as she is ressurected, she is revealed as a total sweetheart named 'Chii' and at first, she repeats her name alot, but after a while, she learns more speech and learns what is right and wrong and so on.Sure Chobits is not for everyone. Someone even compares this to Gothic Crap Anime like "Evangellion", "Noir", "Hellsing", "Akira", etc. I do like Dark Anime at times, but those titles I mentioned are so gothic, that they are stupid and inanely overrated. Some even say Chobits is overrated. I don't think so. I do not hear it or see it as much as Clamps other works.If you wish for Clamp to change their face, and tired of their usual over-cutness, or if you want an ARTISTIC anime outside of Studio Ghibli, "Chobits" is for you.
prometheus00 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.

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