Chobits

Director
Morio Asaka
Production
Madhouse, Project Chobits, TBS
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2002

Chobits Volume 1: Persocom

By otaku_kei
20th Apr 05

Why is it that the majority of humour in anime shows owes more to Benny Hill and the 'Carry On...' films than any other comedy in the world? Yet why do I find it so amusing in anime when I completely turn off to Benny Hill? But here we finally have the first volume of CLAMP's most famous title - Chobits!

In a world where computers are now so advanced that they have been given human form, these persocoms are employed by anyone who can afford them as calenders, appointment books, PDAs, housework and of course for internet access. But once again our young hero is not going to have his life made so easy - Hideki Motosuwa a poor, struggling student has come to Tokyo to attend one of the many cram study schools in the hopes of being able to get into the prestigious Tokyo University. Hideki wishes that he could afford a persocom that would be able to fulfill his needs (especially for internet porno), and envies his neighbour Shinbo, another cram school student who has his own miniature persocom. But by a fateful stroke of luck one night Hideki finds a powered down persocom in the trash, taking this robot home this is where the story truly begins.

Chobits follows Hideki and his new persocom Chi as they try to discover just where she comes from and why she appears to have no operating system. Chi is in fact an enigma to the more knowledgeable aficionados of persocoms that Hideki enlists to help in this fact-finding mission. But this mystery side to the show is but one aspect. In fact this show almost seems to be unsure of itself, and what it wants to be is it a bawdy sex comedy (kinda), a harem comedy (only in Hideki's mind it seems), a mystery, or almost slice of life... This uncertainty appears to be the shows greatest strengths and weaknesses. This approach of all things for all people has certainly made this show a fan favourite but so far things are being touched on too lightly. As it stands this volume is delivering the comedy well but other aspects are failing to deliver.

This opening volume was slightly strange, having heard only good things about this show and never having read the manga I was not sure what to expect but honestly I was hoping for something more than this. The show is enjoyable, and I'm hoping that as the series progresses we will get to find out more of Chi's origins as more 'Carry On...' style larks may just drive me up the wall. For those of you who are looking for more romantic comedy with a twist then this show is going to be right up your street, but even for those of you who are getting tired of this type of comedy (eg. Love Hina, Tenchi, Midori No Hibi) then I would not write this show off as there is quite a lot to enjoy in theses four episodes.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English 2.0; Japanese 2.0; English Subtitles; Textless Opening; Image Gallery; MVM Trailers; DVD credits

Release information: OUT NOW

Notes: Another high quality release from MVM (with Madman still contracted for their DVD authoring). The menus look like computer access screens with the mouse cursor et al. Unfortunately once again we have a disc that is light on extras only getting an image gallery, the standard textless opening and trailers to supplement the show.

-- otaku_kei 20th Apr 05

Chobits Images