The Essentials
Name: Chobits
Genre:: Comedy, Romance, Science Fiction
Episodes: 28 (24 regular tv episodes, 3 recap episodes, 1 special)
Released: TV: April 2, 2002 - September 24, 2002
Based On: Chobits manga by CLAMP
Director: Morio Asaka
Produced By: TBS, Pioneer
US Distribution By: Pioneer/Geneon
Major Japanese Cast
Hideki Motosuwa: Tomokazu Sugita
Chi: Rie Tanaka
Hiromu Shinbo: Tomokazu Seki
Minoru Kokobunji: Houko Kuwashima
Chitose Hibiya: Kikuko Inoue
Yumi Ohmura: Megumi Toyoguchi
Takako Shimizu: Ryoka Yuzuki
Sumomo: Motoko Kumai
Yuzuki: Fumiko Orikasa
Kotoko: Yukana Nogami
Hiroyuki Ueda: Yuji Ueda
Major English Cast
Hideki Motosuwa: Crispin Freeman
Chi: Michelle Ruff
Hiromu Shinbo: Tony Oliver
Minoru Kokobunji: Mona Marshall
Chitose Hibiya: Ellen Wilkinson
Yumi Ohmura: Julie Maddalena
Takako Shimizu: Wendee Lee
Sumomo: Sandy Fox
Yuzuki: Karen Strassman
Kotoko: Kay Jensen
Hiroyuki Ueda: David Lucas
Scores
Animation: 10/10 (x 4 = 40 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 10/10 (x 4 = 40 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 8/10 (x 2 = 16 pts)
English Dubs: 9/10 (x 1 = 9 pts)
Gut Score: 10/10 (x 5 = 50 pts)
Total: 191/200 (95.5%)
Review
Chobits is a story about Hideki Motosuwa - a guy who failed his first attempt at getting into college and has thus moved to Tokyo to enter prep school. Once he moves there, he is introduced the persocoms - computers which look like humans. Hideki wants one (despite his lack of computer knowledge) but is depressed over their high costs. However, one day he finds a cute female Persocom in the trash and salvages it. This persocom, which Hideki names Chi, doesn’t seem to have memories of anything, however, and so Hideki must teach Chi just about everything, even the most basic of things.
This is one of those stories, other than being entertaining otherwise, is also a make-you-think story. Over the course of the story, some questions are posed, either directly or indirectly, such as What exactly are emotions?, What are memories?, and What makes a person a person?
As Chi grows and learns more things, the more complex her and Hideki’s relationship becomes. However, behind Chi’s seemingly innocent manner may lie a more sinister purpose. Chi’s uniqueness is apparent right away, but just how deep this uniqueness goes becomes more and more apparently throughout the series.
The supporting cast also illistrate several examples of how people may react in a society with human shaped - and human behaving - computers, from a characters who fell in love with persocoms, to characters who have inferiority complexes over them due to their view that persocoms are the ideal woman.
Chobits spans several genres, from sci-fi to romance to comedy to philosphical and hits them all perfectly, having enough of each to make the story intriging, but not so much of any that it alienates fans who may not be fans of one of those particular genres.
Chobits also crosses over with the anime series Angelic Layer, though you may need a sharp eye to see where they cross.
The animation is excellent in the series, being sharp and smooth. There is some minor CG additions, but they all fit in smoothly. The music is also excellent, with various types of musical scores that hit all of the genre-specific moments right on. The Dub is pretty good as well. Coherence is good, though there are a few filler episodes as well.
First Watched: October, 2005
Do I Own: Yes
Do I Recommend: Yes
