Its the distant future and while we may not have flying cars hoverboards that actually hover meals that come in pill form or full dive video games we have at least developed the technology to turn computers into programmable waifus. So not the darkest timeline by any means. For Hideki Motosuya a socially awkward country bumpkin who has decided to move to the big city for the first time in his life to pursue his dreams of entering Tokyo University these computers called Persocoms are a luxury item he cant even afford to breathe on let alone purchase. And yet his string of bad luck comes to a crashing halt when he discovers an adorable persocom just lying in the trash with nary an owner in sight. Taking full advantage of this opportunity he takes the Persocom home names her Chiisince its all she can say and from there his life takes an unexpected turn into silly hijinks dreary romantic melodrama and a scifi epic that will make you question what it really means to be human. I guess you could consider this review an unofficial sequel to my Cardcaptor Sakura review because were revisiting the three entities that made that anime what it was. First we have Clamp the all female manga team that were the original creators of both of these anime as well as several other classic titles. Second we have Studio Madhouse their shared production company and finally we have one of my favorite anime directors of all time Morio Asaka. Unless you count analog content like the Chobits special and the Cardcaptor Sakura movies Im pretty sure these are the only two series that can boast that theyre the product of this triple threat and its a damn good combination. Madhouse has its faults oh lord has it put out some stinkers but it also has a reputation for being at least somewhat accommodating towards the styles of their many projects although their budget allocation can be spotty. Clamp titles have a very distinctive auteurist style about them that some directors get and some dont but they could not be in better hands than those of Morio Asaka. From what Ive seen Morio Asaka is the kind of director who truly understands the tone and intention of any piece of work hes adapting and whats more he doesnt just create a one to one faithful adaptation of the manga... He finds creative ways to change it so he can help the storys best qualities stand out even brighter and better fit the animated medium. Ill get more into that later but Asaka is also a gorram wizard when it comes to working under a tight budget and true to form Chobits might just be one of the best looking low budget anime Ive ever seen. On screen movement is obviously kind of stiff but its concentrated well enough that the most articulate motion can happen only when needed and money is saved largely in moments where cheaper animation and cut corners wont be too noticeable. He likes to play with both lighting and shadows in order to make an otherwise cheap panning shot look all the more striking and engaging and he also employs a lot of deceptively simple visual effects that honestly still hold up today. For one thing he uses a lot of layering effects... When a character is walking in the background different objects like cars and electrical wires/poles pass them in the foreground in ways that were probably really cheap to pull off but that also add a ton of depth to the scenery. He often uses odd camera angles not to distract the audience during lengthy exposition dumps like a lot of modern anime do but to communicate shifts in tone. The character designs are basically the same as in the manga these look like basic early Clamp characters... Basically proportionally accurate humans with slightly moefied faces. The only real difference in design is that while the mangas aesthetic had a slightly sexier edge to it Asakas take on those designs skews more toward gritty realism with any appearance of fanservice feeling more incidental and less in your face. I dont talk much about the music in anime anymore but you cant not talk about the Chobits soundtrack because it is an unforgettable part of the experience. Despite its simplicity the opening of this series is almost unskippable just an addictively adorable conversation between Chii and Hideki set to music as they slowly drift closer together before pixeling out. The actual background soundtrack sounds smaller than it is because there are a handful of tracks that get reused a lot but those tracks are quite versatile. Theres a lot of saxophone and basically just upbeat jazzy music during the less serious material but theyre not afraid to slow things down for an unsettling piano tune when the more mysterious elements of the story come into play which is nothing compared to the chilling techno beat of Dark Chiis theme. Also I should mention theres a character song CD and you should look it up simply for the poorly translated Japanese puns in the song titles. I swear theres a track called I Beg Your Pudding? The English dub was an early Geneon effort and while Im not a particular fan of their work around that time this is definitely an exception. Its also a strong contender for Crispin Freemans strongest role ever because he is playing way against type here and he slays it. Youre probably used to hearing Crispin performing deep seductive voices and cynical sardonic voices a lot but Hideki is a oneman emotional roller coaster and Crispin proves his range beyond a shadow of a doubt while playing him from his pathetic over the top freakouts to his genuine chemistry with Chii and his rarely heard angry line reads that can honestly come off as pretty badass although not to Alucards standard. The rest of the cast consists of Geneon veterans the most notable of which include Tony Oliver as just a really likeable and extroverted best friend character Monah Marshall as one of her more believable little boy characters and Wendee Lee playing a flirty teacher with an otherwise pretty sad and tragic past which leads her to some of he more emotionally gripping line reads of the series. If there is one slight disappointment in the dub it is unfortunately Michelle Ruff as Chii and before anybody says anything Im not saying she did a bad job. She is after all one of my all time favorite voice actors and she does a great job playing a talking computer whos trying to adapt to the world around her while always remaining as cute as possible while doing so but the problem is that the original Japanese voice actor Rie Tanaka did a slightly better job at it. Michelle Ruffs performance is adorable and authentic enough that I would never complain about it but Rie just added an extra layer of depth like she could add a subtle dose of underlying meaning to even the flattest and most robotic line read. Thats a hard act to follow I know and Michelle Ruff did an admirable job trying to capture this but theres still something missing from her performance. Still thats really the only complaint I have about an otherwise outstanding dub. At first glance the concept of this anime really hasnt aged well... At least not from a technological perspective. Dont get me wrong the idea of Japan being the ones to invent artificial intelligence in the form of sexy robot waifus definitely tracks but the idea that those waifus could replace computers? Yeah not so much. Spoiler alert cell phones have replaced computers. Theyre small theyre convenient they have actual monitors so you dont have to plug them into TVs to see stuff and even though they cost about 10 as much as a persocom we still bitch about how expensive they are. Persocoms as a concept just arent practical or affordable enough to see widespread use especially when they cost about as much as a decent used car. The reason this doesnt bother me however is because I dont think we were ever supposed to take the existence of Persocoms literally. Rather they were probably always intended to be a metaphor. Theres a strange phenomenon thats been going on in Japan for a few generations now and it has been explored in various different anime. This is because this phenomenon has a lot of layers to it several individual issues that are all interconnected through Japanese culture. For the version that Ive heard from a few sources it all goes back to Japanese women losing a lot of rights through marriage. I dont know if this is a legal thing or just something thats traditionally expected of them but a lot of Japanese women started getting married and starting families later in life for the sake of pursuing an education and a career. This has led to a lot of young men having no available romantic prospects so theyve turned into hikikomori... Basically social shutins who never go outside. This can also be caused by other factors like the weirdly intense social minefield of Japanese high school and the workaholic culture of a lot of Japanese businesses but I digress. Different anime have explored different areas of this phenomenon some offering better takes than otherswith Darling in the Franxx probably having the worst one by far and Chobits is no exception using Persocoms as a metaphor to ask a very crucial question... Can a relationship with a computer really replace a social life with other humans? And I know at first glance youre probably giving me a dubious sideeye as you watch Chii march through the streets chanting Underpants while her owner freaks out over what should be very easily solved problems and oh boy he just keeps meeting all these sexy harem flavored love interests... And yeah Chobits does start out on a really silly kinda bawdy note landing somewhere in that lame PG13 realm of being silly and offering up lewd scenarios while never actually becoming lewd itself as it signals very early on that its going to be operating both as a harem series and as one of the last big Magical Girlfriend series the latter being a pretty ancient anime trend that died off quietly in the mid2000s. Having said that even if these two genres arent your cup of tea youre probably still feeling drawn to this anime purely because of the mystery behind Chiis existence and because of just how likeable Chii and Hideki are both as individual characters and with the undeniable chemistry behind their dynamic. Chobits certainly takes the scenic route in getting where it wants to go lulling the viewer into a false sense of security as it lays the groundwork for something way more profound down the line but that groundwork is there even if you dont notice it your first time through. Clamp has always had a tendency to try and redefine or deconstruct the cliches and conventions of the shoujo demographic and romantic comedies in general and Chobits is probably one of their smarter efforts. There are several moments in the first third of the series that will initially strike you as more or less normal shoujo/romcom moments with a slight twist to them only for the reasoning behind said moments to be revealed several episodes later leaving you stunned at the implications not only of what you previously thought you understood but what must have been going on off camera this whole time. For one particularly potent example you may notice that out of all the romantic options that Hideki is blessed with none of them really act like your typical harem love interests... Nobody throws herself at Hidekiexcept Chii nobody blushes furiously at him just for his niceness Nobody confesses to him or asks him seriously about his love life... Nobody puts him on a pedestal for being nice but at the same time it never feels like hes being friendzoned over it. Even with Yumi the most forward of his female friends her behavior towards him never feels like anything beyond teasing a sempai for sport. Any sign we ever get of this harem actually existing comes from Hidekis imagination which isnt even that lewd and he mostly tends to idealize them rather than objectify them. Still its important to note that all of these characters play a larger and more complex role in the plot than you would ever guess from their first appearances and some of the glimpses we get into their lives prove them to be more authentically human than you would usually expect from either genre. Id also like to point out how impressive it is that Chii feels completely authentic to her identity in the story. Yall should already know how much I love when a weird or unique concept is explored as far as it deserves to be and Chobits does a LOT with its concept but more to the point seeing stories and characters drift off from their established concept is such a pet peeve for me. Like one reason I never really liked the movie Up was that according to the text of the story the dog collars were just supposed to translate simple dog thoughts behind their barks. This idea quickly goes out the window as the dogs start making objectively intelligent conversation responding to human speech as if they understand it and finally just flying little fighter jets. Chii on the other hand feels believable from her misunderstandings to her hilarious attempts to mimic Hideki and while we see her in various states of undress neither her body nor her naivety ever feel sexualized. That happens to be one of many severe missteps the story could have made but thankfully never did. If I had one complaint about the way this story was told it would have to be the pacing. Like I said before Chobits takes the scenic route in unfolding its plot giving you time to become immersed in the setting and thoroughly attached to both of its loveable leads before things start to take a darker turn but it takes so many episodes to make this shift that certain elements of the writing start to become kind of grating. This show does have a good sense of humor but there are still certain jokes that are more cringe than hit and I could easily see certain less patient viewers bowing out early because of this. Even after clues start dropping and the story starts to deliver on some gutpunch twists the narrative isnt always tight enough to stay focused on the progression of the plot. Im not sure how all of this could have been saved because while I do think 26 episodesmore like 24 with two recaps was a bit too much 12 episodes would have been too few and I dont know if there was a middle ground option at the time. I would also never forgive myself if I didnt touch on one of the most important changes that Asaka made to the material. About a decade ago in the early stages of my blog back when I had maybe half a dozen reviews to my name I wrote a short editorial about one major difference between the manga and anime versions of Chobits Its kind of implied in the anime but never directly called out that people can have sex with their persocoms. Its established as unusual that Chii would have her on/off switch placed inside of her genitalia which begs the question why are Persocoms anatomically correct in the first place? Luckily it never becomes a thing so you dont have to ask about this or all of the uncomfortable implications surrounding it but in the manga its just there. I havent read the manga in 20 years but I distinctly remember a few mentions of this and to say that it doesnt improve the material would be putting it mildly. Now glossing over the very real moral dilemma of massproducing a humanshaped artificialintelligence sexual partner acknowledging this detail inuniverse means there are several uncomfortable questions that have to be answered. Are male Persocoms also fuckable? Is it dangerous to engage in intercourse with a machine? Can they do anything sexual other than being pillow princesses without risking serious injury to their owners? Can they do mouth stuff? Can they do butt stuff? Is it morally responsible to leave Persocoms in the care of children? How are we to process the existence of child Persocoms given all of this information? You may say Im overthinking this but remember Hidekis dilemma over falling in love with someone whos not human? I swear in the manga his dilemma was Can you fall in love with someone who you cant fuck without factory resetting her? So yeah thank you Morio Asaka good change. Morio Asaka generally did a lot of favors for this series making it substantially less lewd and horny which in this particular case I actually think was the right idea. Theres so much substance in this show which clearly had a ton of heart and brains poured into it that too much excess and debauchery would have tainted its overall message. Thats also not to say it ignores sexuality in adult relationships oh no this series is very mature and its kind of brilliant how the complexity of character dynamics gets more and more mature the farther they drift from the far more innocent Hideki and Chii. I also appreciate how this series doesnt beat you over the head with what it has to say. Rather it asks a lot of questions about mankinds relationship with technology and it provides you with character backstories and subplots that explore the concept in different ways but then it backs off and lets you come up with your own answers. Despite whatever your first impression of this series may have told you Chobits is intelligent deep and well worth checking out. Chobits was recently available from Funimation and is easy to find online but due to recent events I dont know what the future holds for it. The original manga is available from Kodansha comics. Like I said before I love when an anime takes a bizarre or unique idea and explores it at least as much as it deserves leaving no stone unturned and no implication ignored and while Chobits does pull a few punches purely in the interest of not compromising its tone and vision it still boldly goes farther down its desired path than most anime ever will. It possesses more depth and complexity than any harem or magical girlfriend anime Ive ever seen and yet even if it was just some silly romantic comedy it would still be worth watching purely on the strength of its two protagonists alone. Hideki and Chii are both innocents each in their own way and theyre trying to live their lives and pursue their dreams in a very adult world that wont adapt to them forcing them to grow and change out of necessity no matter how dark things get. I do wish the story had been executed a bit better but Id still wholeheartedly recommend this series. I give Chobits a 9/10