Here is a series by Japan's all-woman artist group CLAMP. Chobits can be seen in different ways. At first the most obvious is the cutesy little robot in the frilly dresses living with a horny, almost-in-college guy. Then you can stop right there after hearing the first "Chiiii?" But then watching more, getting into it more you can start to see the levels. Human or robot? Which is better? This is the question that is bombarded at Hideki Motosuwa throughout the series as Chi developes and becomes more coherent and emotional. This is exemplified through the surrounding characters. They all have stories/ backgrounds that reflect the issue. Hiromu Shinbo (Hideki's helpful neighbor), Chitose Hibiya (manager of the apartment building), Minoru Kokubunji (persocom expert), Yuzuki (Minoru's custom-made persocom made to be like his deceased sister), Yumi Omura (friend and co-worker at the Japanese Pub "My Pleasure"), Takako Shimizu (prep school teacher), and Manager Ueda ( Manager at Tirol where Chi works). It is like a series of stories that support the main by how you are ushered through each stage with each couple until you get to the end where Hideki makes his decision.
I did like this series. Chi is sweet and innocent as she explores the world and Hideki explains to the best of his ability. Hideki, (you'd think he'd bleed to death by the end with all the bloody noses he gets) even though he likes his "magazines" and didn't make it into college, has his heart in the right place. He gives sage advice (even though he's either half asleep or half starved when he gives it) and wants the best for everyone.
The characters develope very well through this series. The one thing, a minor detail, is the ending. I won't go into detail but it could have been extended a bit for the added characters. It was pretty much for the closure, how they handled it, to wrap things up. All in all it wasn't bad, just longer. There is manga available so that would probably go into further detail.
Boma at 9:28 PM
