rewatching 'Chobits' ~ Hideki's isn't small, it's average

Being an inexperienced high school student I was, with TV as the only source of anime, and that anime being all voiced by Russian cast, 'Chobits' meant a whole world for me. Walking human-shaped robots called 'persocoms', that time I didn't know that's the same as the Japanese call a usual PC, cute girls, handsome guys, some mysterious organisation, CLAMP's original style that cannot be found not only in any other anime, but even among CLAMP's other works, and the beautiful so-called 'Dark Chii Theme'.

The anime even seemed to touch upon really serious themes...

Now I'd say 'Chobits' would be one of the greatest anime tv series of all times... but it won't.

story and characters

First of all, 'Chobits' can boast whole 4 couples who have those 'archetypes' that I consider to be my favourite among all anime couples I've seen. That is, Shimbo and ms Shimizu, Kokubunji and his persocom Yuzuki, Yumi and mr Ueda, and Zita and Zima. I mean, they WERE hot.

All of them are different, but all of them as couples were a great enjoyment. Or better to say, could be... if there were just a bit more than 5 to 10 minutes allocated for each.

The very idea of persocoms as living computers with their own personalities - like loud Sumomo or calm Kotoko - was a great inspiration, since I'd never seen anything like that before - I mean, never before watching if for the first time.

Well, and I was really happy to realise I have extremely tolerant parents not giving a damn that this anime - not being ecchi by essence - constantly touches upon the most important theme for a teenager. Yes, I mean IT. Let's just try to count some of those moments.

Since CLAMP is a unit of 5 women, they usually create manga for girls with hot guys, some of them gay, some not. The truth about 'Chobits' is that it's basically a typical straight harem for boys. First of all, there are many persocoms dressed as a teenage-male-dream, but the main harem includes a cute calm manager of the house, an attractive young teacher and a bright schoolgirl-colleague. You don't believe me that's a harem?

Most guys watching 'Chobits' experienced the same feeling as Hideki, I guess.

The main heroine is part of the harem, too, of course, and if you, my dear schoolboy, want to see some fanservice then it's here for you. You don't really think there was any objective reason for her to wear a school swimsuit?

The wonderful thing about 'Chobits' is that unlike a typical harem the Main Hero does make his choice. Now we come to the main part: Chi as a character is a complete failure.

The problem is, a Chobit, who was supposed to be the only persocom capable of acting out of her own will, looks the most lifeless among all persocoms shown in the story. In fact, all she does is some stupid stuff but that's ok because all she needs is just to make a face like this

and he'll be

 she just has to bespatter natto on her face

 or say

and he'll say

she just has to

 and he'll

because you cannot seriously get mad at a cute girl who can't do anything on her own and is totally dependent on you

and even claims to dedicate her virginity to him, though in a very indirect way

It's really ambiguous though, how it is possible when instead of usual human body organs Chi has her reboot switch there.

The reason is, as I see it, that the authors became entangled in their own idea and forgot to make her something beyond 'cute'. They even forgot what they started with, which I consider the greatest mistake that anime creators can ever make. I can see no explanation of why a loving mother, ms Hibiya, would throw her 'daughter' to a trash pile after erasing her memory so as to let her find her own happiness - these are the words she uttered herself when explaining the situation to Hideki in the last episode.

As for other persocoms introduced, most of them were showing sings of 'will' in their digital minds. How come Yuzuki asked to stay with Minoru even if she wasn't able to replace his sister, if she was originally programmed to behave as the sister would? Then we have Zima, too, who stopped Zita from destroying Chi out of curiosity, and doubting what his real mission was. I wonder where that software of curiosity and doubt came from.

In other words, how come Chi was just a living doll though supposed to have her own will, while other persocoms were resembling humans so much more?

I can even see how this story would be interpreted in Japan: one is free to love anyone, even if that one is different from most people, in this case - even if she is a persocom. But tell me please if there is anything at all to love in Chi, who never proved to have her own personality?

music

If you ever heard Round Table, you can probably imagine what the OST is like - a number of soft jazzy tunes that are good as a background but not as an album for listening. Well, maybe just for 'easy listening'. The only decent song among the OPEDs was 'Ningyo hime', sung by Rie Tanaka, but one song is not enough.

And now for the main treat: the Dark Chii Theme. A simple google search lets one know that the music wasn't supposed to belong to 'Chobits' but rather to 'X' and is even included in some character image song album, but was eventually used in the 'Chobits' tv series as unnecessary in 'X'. That's how the puzzle 'why among light Nino's songs and Keitaro Takanami's melodies there is one extremely gorgeous trance track' is solved.

voicing

If we are to accept the characters as they are, then the voice actors did their job for 10 out of 10. I really doubt there could be better seiyuus for every character in the story. That is, if we are to accept the characters as they are.

But I didn't like Chi, so I didn't like Tanaka Rie.

And I didn't like Hideki, so I didn't like mr Sugita. Even though he did such a great job as Kagerou in Inu x Boku and many other roles like in Earl and Fairy or Yumeiro Patissiere.

The one who impressed me is Kuwashima Houko since it's the first time I heard her voicing a male character. I felt really ashamed I didn't recognise Ueda Yuji, but this proves once more how impressive his voice is if I looked up the seiyuu of mr Ueda without knowing.

graphics

I do consider it special, since it is a one-of-a-kind and there is no other anime you'd find such graphics in. Though I was originally really puzzled as of why they had to make Hideki look so lame, which is especially obvious when he's together with other guys.

Well, now I see. Even a lame guy like Hideki can find a cute good-for-nothing girl to love him just because he's kind and patient enough.

conclusion

If I enjoyed anything in the anime, the only thing would be humour.

While reading comments on Myanimelist I found a wonderful review by 5camp. And I feel I really lost. There already exists a perfect phrase to describe this anime:

Which is all fascinating and everything, but it's rather overshadowed by the fact that Chobits is really fucking boring.

Surely this is not an anime series I'll miss or feel sad after I completed watching.

p. s.

I still remember it... The Russian translation had ms. Shimizu say Hideki had a small thing, and now it turns out it was average-sized in the original. This is probably the most important discovery I've gained from rewatching 'Chobits'.