As I've said many times, I'm not really a fan of anime since it seems most of the series seem to go on and on without any definite conclusions, and forget trying to watch a random episode out of sequence since you won't know what the hell is going on without the proper context of the previous episodes. Also there's the fact that there are few variations in character design, the diabetes-inducing cuteness it can delve into, and the conspicuous lack of emotional subtleties when a character gets highly emotional and becomes distorted in some way.
All those negatives apply to "Chobits", but damn if it doesn't have an engrossing story. As the other posters have said, "Chobits" is about a farmboy from Hokkaido named Hideki Motosuwa who just recently graduated from secondary school but has become yet another victim of Japan's ridiculously punitive college freshman selection system when he finds out that he has failed the national college entrance exam. So he is forced to attend a post-secondary college preparatory school in Tokyo, a "cram school", in order to take another shot at the test. During that time he finds a nubile looking female persocom discarded in a trash heap. He takes her home and, after a while, figures out how to turn her on by going between her legs (get it? *winks*)
It turns out that the persocom lacks any programming except for an operating system that allows her to slowly learn stuff and it is up to Hideki to teach her the ways of the world. He has his work cut out for him since at first she is only able to say "chii", a word that would later become her name.
Basically, the series is broken roughly into two parts. The first part is a series of comic misadventures where Chi, a consummate blank slate, has difficulty doing simple things. Hideki tries to help, but he is hamstrung by his own cluelessness about computers and his crippling uptightness around women, even custom-made ones like Chi. The situation is made made even more awkward when Chi, in her sincere effort to please, buys pornography for Hideki (in lieu of granting actual sexual favors, one thinks) or copies the actions of the girls in those magazines. An episode representative of this dilemma is the fourth one, "Chi Goes On Errands" where Hideki just cannot walk in a store and buy panties for Chi, so he makes up a veritable search-and-destroy mission for Chi to purchase a pair in his stead. Obviously, this turned out to be quite messy.
The second half of the series gets to the nut of the problem presented by the availability of human-like computers who are able to interact like normal people. There will me many a lonely soul who cannot compete for the affections of those they love if anybody can construct and program their own personal Galateas to serve even their emotional needs. Then there are the persocoms: are they things to be exploited and tossed away when they are not useful, or do they deserve reciprocal love and companionship that they are programmed to provide humans? Chi seems to expect the latter due to her readings of a series of depressing "Lonely City" picture books she has purchased in which an anonymous woman seems doomed to search in vain for her one true love.
Finally, there is the question that traditionalists have been fighting against for centuries: is it right for humans and persocoms to even fall in love? It's an allegory that could be extended to homosexual relationships, polygamy, polygyny and other non-traditional relationships. The answer the series gives is that as long as the love is sincere and does not hurt other people, then it's sanctified.
Although the overall story is quite solid, especially the end where it almost made macho-me shed tears, there are some draw backs. Like the fact that they have no less than three clip shows for a series with only 27 episodes (plus a six-minute epilogue special). And there are some major plot holes, like how the hell did Chi get dumped among the garbage in the first place? The English dubbing is fine I guess, but you might as well just get the Japanese version with subtitles because, for one, the original Japanese voice actor Rie Tanaka does an absolutely endearing job of capturing the innocence and adoration inherent in Chi's character. The excitement and love present whenever Chi cries out "Hideki! Hideki!" would make anyone want to come home to such a welcome, the other events of the day becoming meaningless.
You are also probably going to miss some original puns and characterizations in the dubbing. For example there is a pun that has "sidedish" and "pornography" being the same word. Also a character, a persocom called Sumomo that is owned by Hideki's friend and neighbor Shinbo, is not properly portrayed in the English version. In the Japanese version, she has a habit of ending almost all her statements with the explanatory qualifier "'n desu", a phrase that I don't quite know the meaning of and that can't be translated without getting too technical. So naturally that part of her character was dropped in the English dubs.
But other than that, it's both a riot and poignant, and is recommended for anyone who has ever loved someone. Even though the anime does include some adult situations and heavy petting, all you horny teenage boys are outta luck with this one since you are not going to see any exposed aureolas or labias in any of the episodes. Overall three out of four stars *** out of ****
All those negatives apply to "Chobits", but damn if it doesn't have an engrossing story. As the other posters have said, "Chobits" is about a farmboy from Hokkaido named Hideki Motosuwa who just recently graduated from secondary school but has become yet another victim of Japan's ridiculously punitive college freshman selection system when he finds out that he has failed the national college entrance exam. So he is forced to attend a post-secondary college preparatory school in Tokyo, a "cram school", in order to take another shot at the test. During that time he finds a nubile looking female persocom discarded in a trash heap. He takes her home and, after a while, figures out how to turn her on by going between her legs (get it? *winks*)
It turns out that the persocom lacks any programming except for an operating system that allows her to slowly learn stuff and it is up to Hideki to teach her the ways of the world. He has his work cut out for him since at first she is only able to say "chii", a word that would later become her name.
Basically, the series is broken roughly into two parts. The first part is a series of comic misadventures where Chi, a consummate blank slate, has difficulty doing simple things. Hideki tries to help, but he is hamstrung by his own cluelessness about computers and his crippling uptightness around women, even custom-made ones like Chi. The situation is made made even more awkward when Chi, in her sincere effort to please, buys pornography for Hideki (in lieu of granting actual sexual favors, one thinks) or copies the actions of the girls in those magazines. An episode representative of this dilemma is the fourth one, "Chi Goes On Errands" where Hideki just cannot walk in a store and buy panties for Chi, so he makes up a veritable search-and-destroy mission for Chi to purchase a pair in his stead. Obviously, this turned out to be quite messy.
The second half of the series gets to the nut of the problem presented by the availability of human-like computers who are able to interact like normal people. There will me many a lonely soul who cannot compete for the affections of those they love if anybody can construct and program their own personal Galateas to serve even their emotional needs. Then there are the persocoms: are they things to be exploited and tossed away when they are not useful, or do they deserve reciprocal love and companionship that they are programmed to provide humans? Chi seems to expect the latter due to her readings of a series of depressing "Lonely City" picture books she has purchased in which an anonymous woman seems doomed to search in vain for her one true love.
Finally, there is the question that traditionalists have been fighting against for centuries: is it right for humans and persocoms to even fall in love? It's an allegory that could be extended to homosexual relationships, polygamy, polygyny and other non-traditional relationships. The answer the series gives is that as long as the love is sincere and does not hurt other people, then it's sanctified.
Although the overall story is quite solid, especially the end where it almost made macho-me shed tears, there are some draw backs. Like the fact that they have no less than three clip shows for a series with only 27 episodes (plus a six-minute epilogue special). And there are some major plot holes, like how the hell did Chi get dumped among the garbage in the first place? The English dubbing is fine I guess, but you might as well just get the Japanese version with subtitles because, for one, the original Japanese voice actor Rie Tanaka does an absolutely endearing job of capturing the innocence and adoration inherent in Chi's character. The excitement and love present whenever Chi cries out "Hideki! Hideki!" would make anyone want to come home to such a welcome, the other events of the day becoming meaningless.
You are also probably going to miss some original puns and characterizations in the dubbing. For example there is a pun that has "sidedish" and "pornography" being the same word. Also a character, a persocom called Sumomo that is owned by Hideki's friend and neighbor Shinbo, is not properly portrayed in the English version. In the Japanese version, she has a habit of ending almost all her statements with the explanatory qualifier "'n desu", a phrase that I don't quite know the meaning of and that can't be translated without getting too technical. So naturally that part of her character was dropped in the English dubs.
But other than that, it's both a riot and poignant, and is recommended for anyone who has ever loved someone. Even though the anime does include some adult situations and heavy petting, all you horny teenage boys are outta luck with this one since you are not going to see any exposed aureolas or labias in any of the episodes. Overall three out of four stars *** out of ****