Wikipedia

Chobits

"Chobit" redirects here. For the manga by Akira Toriyama, seeAkira Toriyama's Manga Theater.

Chobits(Japanese:ちょびっツ,Hepburn:Chobittsu)is a Japanesemangaseries written and illustrated by the Japanese manga collectiveClamp.It was serialized inKodansha'sseinenmangamagazineWeekly Young Magazinefrom September 2000 to October 2002, with its chapters collected in eightbound volumes. Chobitswas adapted as a 26-episode-longanimetelevision series broadcast onTBSfrom April to September 2002. In addition, it has spawned twovideo gamesas well as various merchandise such as model figures, collectible cards, calendars, and artbooks.

Chobits
Volume 1tankōboncover, featuring Chi
ちょびっツ
(Chobittsu)
Genre
Manga
Written byClamp
Published byKodansha
English publisher
ImprintYoung Magazine KC
MagazineWeekly Young Magazine
DemographicSeinen
Original runSeptember 2000–October 2002
Volumes8(List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed byMorio Asaka
Produced by
  • Tatsuya Ono
  • Yuichi Sekido
  • Tetsuo Genshō
Music byKeitarō Takanami
StudioMadhouse
Licensed by
Original networkTBS
English network
Original run2 April 2002–24 September 2002
Episodes27 + OVA(List of episodes)

The series tells the story of Hideki Motosuwa, a college student who finds an abandonedpersocom(パソコン,PasoKon),orpersonal computer(パーソナルコンピュータpāsonaru konpyūta) with ananthro-human form, which he names "Chi"after the only word it initially can speak. As the series progresses, they explore the mysteries of Chi's origin together and questions about the relationship between human beings and computers. The manga is set in thesame universeasAngelic Layer,taking place a few years after the events of that story, and likeAngelic Layer,it explores the relationship between humans and electronic devices shaped like human beings.Chobitsbranches off as a crossover into many other stories in different ways, such asTsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle,xxxHolicandKobato.

In North America, the manga was licensed for an English-language release byTokyopopin 2002 and was re-released byDark Horse Comicsin 2009 and later,Kodansha Comicsin 2020. The anime series was licensed byGeneonin 2002 and re-licensed byFunimationin 2010.

Plot

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Main article:List of Chobits characters

The series centers on the life of Hideki Motosuwa, aheld-back studentattempting to qualify for university by studying at Sekiprep schoolin Tokyo. Besides a girlfriend, he dreams of having apersocom(パソコン):anandroidused as a personal computer, which is expensive. On his way home one evening, he stumbles across a persocom in the form of a beautiful girl with floor-length hair lying against a pile of trash bags, and he carries her home, not noticing that a disk fell on the ground. Upon turning her on, she instantly regards Hideki with adoration. The only word the persocom seems capable of saying is "chi"(ちぃ,Chii),thus he names her that. Hideki assumes that there must be something wrong with her, and so the following morning he has his neighbor Hiromu Shinbo analyze her with his mobile persocom Sumomo. After Sumomo crashes during the attempt they conclude that she must be custom-built.

Shinbo introduces Hideki to Minoru Kokubunji, a twelve-year-old prodigy who specializes in the field of custom-builtpersocoms.Minoru's persocoms, including Yuzuki, a fairly exceptional custom-builtpersocom,are not able to analyze Chi either, and thus they conclude that she may be one of the Chobits, a legendary series of persocoms rumoured to have free will and emotions. Although this is a possibility, Minoru is confident that it is only rumour. Yuzuki also adds that she does not resemble any persocom model in any available database and so she must be custom made after all.

A major part of the plot involves Hideki attempting to teach Chi words, concepts, and appropriate behaviours, in between his crammed schedule of school and work. At the same time, Chi seems to be developing feelings for Hideki, at an emotional depth she is not supposed to possess, and Hideki struggles with his feelings for her. The need to figure out more about Chi and her mysterious functions and past becomes a pull for the characters in the series.

Hideki's feelings intensify for Chi regardless of her being a persocom and despite his friends' painful experiences involving other persocoms. Chi becomes aware of her purpose through a picture book series calledA City with No Peoplewhich she finds in a bookstore. The books speak about many different things involving human and persocom relationships: persocoms and their convenience as friends and lovers, how there are things that they cannot do and questioning whether a relationship between a persocom and a human is really one-sided. It also speaks about the Chobits series; that they are different from other persocoms, and what they are incapable of doing unlike other persocoms. These picture books awaken Chi's other self, her sibling Freya who is aware of their past and helps Chi realize what she must do when she decides who her "person just for me" is. Together, Chi and Hideki explore the relationship between human beings and persocoms, as well as their friends' and their own.

Production

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Clamp—a creative team consisting ofSatsuki Igarashi,Ageha Ohkawa,Tsubaki NekoiandMokona—wrote and illustratedChobits,which is the first of their manga to be targeted towards older male readers (seinen manga).[3]The idea forChobitsoriginated from the group's experiences with computers, which would present indecipherable error messages when experiencing difficulties, to which they added a "sexier spin" to the concept.[4]After completing their previous manga seriesCardcaptor Sakura,[5]the group successfully pitchedChobitsto the Japanese manga magazineWeekly Young Magazine.[4]Clamp completed fourteen pages per week forChobits's weekly serialization, totaling fifty-six pages a month.[5]The title of the manga has its origins in "Chobi", the name of a cat at the place of Nekoi's former employment, which the group made into "Chobits", as the characters Elda and Freya were twins.[4]

Ohkawa designed Hideki and Chi first.[5]Chi's design as a personal computer resulted from Ohkawa's wish to increase the sense of "emotional discomfort" around becoming emotionally involved with something considered to be merely a lifeless machine.[4]The characterization of the protagonist Hideki proved to be difficult for her; in the beginning, she considered an "aloof" man who gradually warms up emotionally or a sex-obsessed man.[4]She decided that neither characterization would be a good fit for Chi and settled on one of a penniless and benevolent student.[4]In keeping with the conventions of the romantic comedy genre, the group had planned to introduce conventional characters, such as an older female neighbor and a physically attractive friend from childhood; in the case ofChobits,the "childhood friend" never appeared.[4]The artwork was done in ballpoint pen to evoke the sense of "rough" lines,[4]and colored pages were done in acrylic gouache.[5]

Media

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Manga

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Main article:List of Chobits chapters

Chobitsbegan as a manga written and illustrated byClamp,a collective of four Japanesemanga artists.It appeared as aserialin theseinenmangamagazineWeekly Young Magazinefrom the 43rd issue for 2000 to the 48th issue for 2002.[3]Kodanshacompiled the eighty-eight chapters into eightbound volumesand published them from February 14, 2001, to November 29, 2002.[6][7]

In 2002,TokyopoplicensedChobitsfor an English-language translation in North America and marketed it as part of its new unflipped manga line, which reads from right-to-left.[8]Previously, translated manga was typically flipped from its original reading order to a left-to-right one to better suit Western readers.[8]Tokyopop published the series from April 23, 2002, to October 7, 2003,[9][10]and its translation was distributed in Australia and New Zealand byMadman Entertainment.[11]Tokyopop's license concluded in 2009.[12]At the 2009San Diego Comic-Con,Dark Horse Mangaannounced anomnibus editionof the series in celebration of Clamp's 10th anniversary.[13]In 2010, it published the two volumes on March 24, and September 29, respectively.[14][15]

After Dark Horse Comics' license expired,Kodansha USA Publishingannounced its publication in 2019 under the Kodansha Classics line.[16][17]Chobits 20th Anniversary Editionwas announced in 2020.[18]

Chobitsis also published in Hong Kong inTraditional ChinesebyJonesky,in Singapore inSimplified ChinesebyChuang Yi,in South Korea byDaiwon C.I.,in France byPika Édition,in Spain byNorma Editorial,in Mexico byGrupo Editorial Vid,in Italy byStar Comics(which serialized it inExpress), in Germany byEgmont Manga & Anime(which serialized it inManga Power[de]), in Poland byJaponica Polonica Fantastica,in Brazil byJBC,and in Sweden byCarlsen Verlag.

An artbook based on the series, titledYour Eyes Only,was published by Kodansha; it was licensed in North America by Tokyopop.[19]In addition,A City with No People,the fictional picture book written in the series byChitose Hibiya,was released in Japan as a picture book;[20]

Anime

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Main article:List of Chobits episodes

An animated adaptation ofChobitswas produced byMadhouse,Tokyo Broadcasting System,Pioneer LDCandMovicand directed byMorio Asaka,with Hisashi Abe designing the characters and Keitarō Takanami composing the music.[21]The series was broadcast in 26 episodes from 2 April 2002 to 24 September 2002 on TBS. It was later released on 8 DVDs.[22]The original episodes 9 and 18 are "recap" episodes, summarizing previous events. These episodes were re-numbered for the DVD release as episodes 8.5 and 16.5, respectively, and removed from their original sequence by being published together on the final DVD. As a result, the series is 24 episodes long on DVD. In addition, there are two DVD-onlyOVAs:a 27th episode recapping the series (numbered episode 24.5) and a 6-minute special, "Chobits: Plum and Kotoko Deliver". The opening theme is "Let Me Be With You" byRound Table featuring Nino.The ending themes are "Raison d'être" (Reason to Be) byRie Tanaka(episodes 1–13), "Ningyo-hime"(Mermaid Princess) by Rie Tanaka (episodes 14–25), and" Katakoto no Koi "(Awkward Love) by Rie Tanaka andTomokazu Sugita(episode 26). The ending theme for the OVA is "Book End Bossa" by Round Table featuring Nino.

Chobitswas licensed in North America byGeneonin July 2002,[23]which has released the series in 7 DVDs. This release is redistributed in the United Kingdom (on 6 DVDs instead of 7, placing the recap episodes and special as extras on disk 6) byMVM Films,[24]and in Australia and New Zealand byMadman Entertainment.[25]AtAnime Boston2010, North American anime distributorFunimationannounced that they license rescued Chobits and would release the series on DVD andBlu-rayon April 26, 2011 and May 10, 2011, respectively.[26][27]The anime series made its US television debut on May 9, 2011 on theFunimation Channel.[28]

The series is also licensed in Taiwan by Proware Multimedia, in France and the Netherlands byKazé,in Germany byADV Filmsand later Kaze Germany, and in Russia byMC Entertainment.The series was broadcast in Korea by AniOne TV, in France byEurope 2 TV,in Spain by both Animax España and Buzz Channel, in Portugal on Animax Portugal, and in Poland by Hyper.

Soundtracks

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Two soundtracks from the anime were released byPioneer.Chobits Original Soundtrack 001was released 1 July 2003 andChobits Original Soundtrack 002was released 7 October 2003. Three singles were released, the opening theme "Let Me Be with You" by Round Table featuring Nino, and two ending themes by Rie Tanaka, "Raison d'être" and "Ningyo Hime". In addition, acharacter songalbum,Chobits Character Song Collection,was released on 17 February 2004.

One piece of music in the anime nicknamed "Dark Chi's Theme" by fans (because it appears in "Freya mode" ) appears on theBest of Chobitssoundtrack. Original name of the track is "Fuuma (Dialogue Mix)" and "Kamui (Dialogue Mix)", which are available on their respective singles "Fuuma" Single and "Kamui" Single from theXsoundtrack.

Video games

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In 2002Marvelous Entertainmentreleased in Japan only aChobitsgame for theNintendoGame Boy AdvancecalledChobits: Atashi Dake no Hito.The game was available bundled with a clear blue Game Boy Advance with adecalof Chi above the A+B buttons and aChobitslogo above the D-pad.[29]

In 2003Broccolireleased aSonyPlayStation 2game titledChobits: Chii Dake no Hito,aBishōjovisual novel.Like the Game Boy Advance game, this too was released only in Japan.

Another PC-version game was also released in 2002, usingMacromediaandQuickTimeas the background support. This game is calledCommunication Game,in which the player can "talk" with Chi and teach her to speak. It also contained some small games inside such as a keyboard typing game.

Reception

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Reviews have been mixed.Shaenon K. GarrityofAnime News Networkcriticized the series' description of persocoms as "obedient" and "perfect," writing, "The persocoms are perfect women, stripped clean of everything that makes real women less than perfect servants to men—that is, one might say, everything that makes women human."[30]Finn Clark wrote, "The show's thematic engine lies in women who are objects. In a genre that's always at risk of objectifying women, here it's been made literal."[31] The adaptation was criticized for shifting the focus from Hideki to Chi, in particular for having episodes devoted to Chi "doing cute things" and providingfanservice.[32]Helen McCarthyin500 Essential Anime Moviesstated that the OVA's main strength is "its questioning of how we use technology, and whether it can be a substitute, rather than a support, for real life".[33]

References

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  1. ^Kimlinger, Carl (August 11, 2011)."Chobits DVD Complete Box Set [Classic] - Review".Anime News Network.RetrievedDecember 30,2018.
  2. ^abJing, Jacki; Loveridge, Lynzee (May 10, 2020)."Top 5 CLAMP Anime - The List".Anime News Network.RetrievedJune 30,2020.
  3. ^abClamp(June 2007).Clamp no Kiseki.Vol. 7. Los Angeles, California:Tokyopop.p. 4.ISBN978-1-59532-611-9.
  4. ^abcdefghClamp (June 2007).Clamp no Kiseki.Vol. 7. Los Angeles, California: Tokyopop. p. 11.ISBN978-1-59532-611-9.
  5. ^abcdClamp (January 2005).Clampノ hội シゴト North Side (1989–2002).Los Angeles, California: Tokyopop. pp.154–5.ISBN978-1-59182-902-7.
  6. ^ちょびっツ ( １ ) ｜ giảng nói xã コミックプラス[Chobits (1)｜ Kodansha Comics Plus] (in Japanese).Kodansha.Archived fromthe originalon July 3, 2008.RetrievedJune 21,2008.
  7. ^"Chobits Volume 8"(in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived fromthe originalon February 21, 2009.RetrievedJune 21,2008.
  8. ^ab"Tokyopop Commits to Unflopped Manga".Anime News Network. January 29, 2002.RetrievedMarch 7,2015.
  9. ^"Chobits Volume 1".Tokyopop. Archived fromthe originalon December 19, 2002.RetrievedMarch 7,2015.
  10. ^"Chobits Volume 8".Tokyopop. Archived fromthe originalon December 12, 2003.RetrievedMarch 7,2015.
  11. ^Madman > Manga > Catalogue > Chobits.Madman Entertainment.Archived fromthe originalon December 16, 2006.Retrieved2008-08-18.
  12. ^"Tokyopop Confirms its Kodansha Licenses Will End".Anime News Network. August 31, 2009.RetrievedMarch 7,2015.
  13. ^"Dark Horse - San Diego Comic-Con International 2009".Anime News Network.2009-07-25.Retrieved2009-07-27.
  14. ^"Chobits Vol. 1 Omnibus Edition TPB:: Profile:: Dark Horse Comics".Dark Horse Manga.Archivedfrom the original on December 6, 2011.RetrievedMay 6,2010.
  15. ^"Chobits Vol. 2 Omnibus Edition TPB:: Profile:: Dark Horse Comics".Dark Horse Manga.Archivedfrom the original on February 1, 2012.RetrievedMay 6,2010.
  16. ^"Kodansha Licenses 6 New Manga, Acquires Saiyuki, Chobits, Clover".Anime News Network.July 6, 2019.RetrievedMarch 30,2020.
  17. ^"AX2019 recap: all of our new licensing announcements and more!".Kodansha USA Publishing.July 6, 2019.
  18. ^"Creator Spotlight: CLAMP! Rare Digital Manga Sale (Ends 6/15)".Kodansha USA Publishing.9 June 2020.
  19. ^Clamp (8 January 2008).Chobits Art Book: Your Eyes Only.TokyoPop.ISBN978-1598165951.
  20. ^Beveridge, Chris (2003-05-23)."Chobits Vol. #2: The Empty City (of 7)".Mania. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-12-04.Retrieved2008-08-24.I even went and bought the real version of the book that was made after the shows release and read parts of it to my daughter before bed.
  21. ^"ちょびっツ"(in Japanese).Tokyo Broadcasting System.Retrieved2008-08-22.
  22. ^"DVD&Video tình báo"(in Japanese).Tokyo Broadcasting System.Retrieved2008-08-22.
  23. ^Phillips, George (11 July 2002)."AX 2002: Pioneer Panel".Anime News Network.Retrieved30 December2019.
  24. ^"MVM Films:: Anime DVD Licensors:: Catalogue".mvm-films.Archived fromthe originalon 25 February 2009.Retrieved14 April2015.
  25. ^"Madman > Madman Anime > Catalogue > Chobits".Madman Entertainment.Retrieved2008-08-22.
  26. ^Yadao, Jason (April 11, 2010)."Last-minute additions flow in for Kawaii Kon".Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
  27. ^"Funimation Adds Chobits, Eden of the East Films".Anime News Network.2010-04-03.Retrieved2010-04-03.
  28. ^"FUNimation Week 20 of 2011".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-25.
  29. ^"Nintendo to release Chobits GBA".Nintendo World Report. 2002-09-04.Retrieved2008-08-19.
  30. ^Garrity, Shaenon K."Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Special Guest Edition: Chobits".Anime News Network.Retrieved2 June2013.
  31. ^Clark, Finn."Chobits".FinnClark.Retrieved2 June2013.
  32. ^Carpenter, Christina (2002)."Chobits".THEM Anime Reviews.Retrieved2008-08-24."Whereas the manga version of Chobits concentrates more on Hideki's point of view, with him finding out Chii's secrets, the anime is Chii, Chii, and nothing but Chii. Now, if it were more about Chii finding out facets of her personality, basically a retelling of the manga from her point of view rather than Hideki's, this would be fine. Instead, three-fourths of the series is devoted to watching Chii do cute little things.
  33. ^McCarthy, Helen.500 Essential Anime Movies: The Ultimate Guide.— Harper Design, 2009. — P. 49. — 528 p. —ISBN978-0061474507

Further reading

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