Chobits has taken the manga and anime community by storm a little more than a decade ago, making it one of the most memorable series of all time. Until the turn of the new decade, you couldn’t go to an anime convention without coming across many Chobits cosplayers and in 2005 during its peak, the serialized manga and anime was hard to avoid. At the time I had bought into the hype and watched it during my transition between “Normal human” to “above human / otaku” phase of life (just kidding of course) and it was an incredible experience, but after roughly 14 years since the last time I’ve seen Chobits (I feel so old now) it was due time to rewatch it again, but instead of watching it without a girlfriend and wishing to have my very own Chobits like forever alone guy, I was now watching it with my awesome otaku wife who’d had also seen it before.Disclaimer: Before proceeding I would like to point out two very important things. First, this series “Chobits” was created by CLAMP, a very popular all-female Japanese manga artist group whom typically release romance related titles. Chobits is just that, a comedy-romance title between a human and machine and while there are many people who believe that this series demean women and portrays them as the “perfect” obedient woman for man; it couldn’t be farther from the truth as you’ll briefly understand in this review and by reading or watching this series. Secondly, this review contains spoilers; please proceed with caution beyond the story synopsis if you do not wish to have the story spoiled. Intro - Chobits (HD)The story of Chobits begins when Hideki Motosuwa 本須和 秀樹, a 18(anime)/19(manga) year old student who moved from a farm in Hokkaido (it’s located in the northern regions of Japan) to Tokyo in order to study at a cram school to get into a university. Little did Hideki know, his small goal would unravel an interesting relationship between human and robot. In the first episode, Hideki gets familiar with his same-age and soon-to-be schoolmate; Hiromu Shinbo 新保弘, and his landlady Chitose Hibiya 日比谷 千歳, whom both play important roles throughout the series. Hideki later finds himself walking behind an alley only to discover a robot woman laying abandoned in a pile of trash. These robots are the latest craze much like smartphones are today and are known as pasokon パソコン. Hideki convinced himself to bring it home since it was considered abandoned property and eventually figured out how to turn it on.Once the Pasokon was turned on, it only knew how to say Chi and so Hideki named it Chii ちぃ (with two i’s). Hideki immediately began treating it like a female and since he spent most of his time working on the farm, he had very little interaction with computers and women in general, making him not only impossibly less than tech savvy but also incredibly timid. Pasokon at the time do not have emotions, they are simply programs that accompany humans to do everyday tasks. They look human, they act somewhat human but they are not human. Chii however is a very special exception as you discover early on that she does not have an operating system and she seems to be geared towards curiosity and be capable of supporting emotions. Chii is unique and unrivalled as a pasokon and throughout the comedic-romantic series, the audience is expected to feel compassion towards the growing relationship between Chii and Hideki. Onward with the review and spoilers…On the first episode we were already hooked, we were both immediately attracted to what is today considered a taboo relationship between a human and robot. In fact, in the anime it is still considered taboo but a growing phenomenon which becomes an important subject later in the series, but Chii is different, she was given emotions and her learning algorithms are on par with humans. She is absolutely adorable and so human-like that you just want to treat her less of a robot and more like a respectable human being. Of course she comes off more as a human pet in the beginning but that’s the appeal of the anime, you continuously grow compassion for a robot from being pet-like to human-like. By the third episode we had concluded that Chobits is a little bit more perverted than what we had remembered and while it does feel a bit awkward at times, it does carry its charm since it does bring out human elements into the show. There are very few moments where you see Chii in her underwear but the moments when she is, it is backed by her comedic ignorance of human customs and not by Hideki’s demands as I’ve mentioned earlier, he’s timid to the farthest regions of earth. Personally what was a touching moment and gave a real moment that Chii had emotions like humans was when she really wanted to find a job because Hideki wasn't eating anymore (he got behind in rent). But Hideki does something just as heartwarming in that episode, be sure to watch it!In the story we discover the true origins of Chii as a Chobits (a highly evolved version of a pasokon), her “special powers” as a Chobits and find out whether or not Hideki and Chii end up together in the end. There are many episodes where Hideki spends time living life as one would in Tokyo, trying to find romance with actual humans and the required beach episode that every anime seems to have, but in the end it’s all about Hideki and Chii discovering life and love like any other human.We thoroughly enjoyed each and every episode until episode 24 when the story abruptly ended in disappointment. We knew what was going to happen (soft-of) but we had forgotten that it was an open ending that caused great misery and distance towards the series in general. Sure the anime was an enjoyable ride from beginning to the climax but there was too much hype and not enough delivery. For instance, they show a disk that falls to the ground when Hideki finds Chii in the beginning but there’s no reference to what it was except in the manga where it’s understood that it’s her memories. Another issue was the uselessness of Zima and Dita, the two robots that were sent to destroy Chii but they only really show up in the end and do absolutely nothing. There’s no explanation to the reasons why they don’t or where they come from, they just exist. Are they a failsafe created by the government or are they a security protocol for Chii created by her creator? What happens between Chii and Hideki and why did she come back from “the dead” in the anime after getting erased? Why did the landlord so easily decide to format Chii with little convincing? Nothing about this ending made sense and it felt so rushed it was terrible.Despite the mediocre ending, we both enjoyed watching it again. It was great to binge and we were contemplating thereafter how we would improve the series for a remake. It turns out, there are a lot of changes that would be needed and the series may have to be extended for far more than 24 episodes. Chobits is a great anime for its time but with its periodic flaws and awkward ending, it doesn’t live up to todays’ expectations. Thankfully this is one anime that isn’t all over the place but rather keeps a smooth, enjoyable ride through-and-through.For those considering the manga or the anime, please do yourself a favor and stick with the manga but if you prefer watch anime, it’s a good watch as well. As for English dub vs Japanese, the English dub is terrible particularly when Chii learns to talk, it’s highly advisable to stick with the subs than dubs. In my opinion I would watch some clips for the anime just to know how the characters talk (in Japanese) and then read the manga and get really into it.Animation: 5/10 (9/10 for its time)Acting: 8/10 (2/10 in English)Story: 6/10Rewatch Value: 5/10Overall: 48%I know what you’re thinking if you’ve enjoyed Chobits before and thought it was the one of the greatest anime of all time, I understand those sentiments and that’s how I felt at the time, but after taking all of the noticeable flaws into consideration, it’s not an anime that will particularly “wow” anyone anymore but for its time it was in its own right a masterpiece. Regardless how the math is done, it’s still an important series that remains close to our heart and continues to present an enjoyable romantic fantasy between man and machine.If you would like to see a new possibility of having your own personal assistant, check out this post here for a holographic anime assistant. The possibilities are endless!

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