Chobits, Volume 1
by CLAMP
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Book Summary Information
Author: CLAMPCreator: CLAMP
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-04-23
ISBN: 1931514925
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Tokyopop
Book Reviews of Chobits, Volume 1
Book Review: A boy and his persocom
Summary: 5 Stars
"Persocoms-beautiful, obedient...fully functional. They're perfection."
"You hear about it all the time. A guy finds a nice girl, takes her home. Then it turns out she has some sort of special powers, and she'll fall madly in love with the guy."
So in Chobits, presumably set in a future where persocoms are computers created like beautiful women, seems to be a next stage in evolution, kind of like the Stepford Wives. And persocom designers have to be men, given the location of the on-switch. Yes, it is down there! Yet there is the mention of a man persocom, so who knows, maybe women design those!
Struggling cram school student Hideki Motosuwa wants one; they are darned expensive, but as everybody has one, he feels out of touch. He says, "I want someone to read me my e-mail. I want to play games. I want to download the latest porn!" Ok, calm down, Hideki! But it's frustrating, and besides, as he says, "It's not like you find persocoms lying around."
Well, that's exactly what happens! He finds a cute-looking persocom with amber eyes and long wavy platinum blonde hair thrown amongst the garbage. He finally activates her, but all she can say is "Chi." He names her that, but despite being unable to speak much, seems to understand him, and even hugs him after a flying leap when he compliments her on how she looks in her clothes or .
In consulting with his cram school classmate Shimbo, the beginnings of a mystery emerge. Persocoms are unable to move without an OS, yet Chi does. And when Hideki tried to plug her in, he got "No data" as a response. Shimbo tries to connect his own laptop, Plum, a cute pint-sized persocom with Arabic style pantaloons, for some first-hand diagnostics, but Plum gets fried. The same happens to the persocoms of Shimbo's computer-literate prodigy colleague, twelve year old Minoru Kokubunji. It's Kokubunji who thinks Chi might be a Chobit. Chobits are supposed to be artificial intelligences who can operate without an OS, meaning that they are as autonomous as people, not reliant on outside programming, but that's more an urban legend. Whatever she is, she's still an unregistered persocom, so is she a homemade unit? Yet, there is some self-installed teaching software in her, as she accurately recites Hideki's phone number.
Chi's blank slate innocence and sheer cuteness is one the appealing things about her that makes her yet another of my favourite manga/anime characters. Her tendency to imitate Hideki's gestures of frustrations is funny. Hideki's attempts to teach Chi lend to the comedy. When Hideki tries to tell her his name, by pointing to himself, she equates pointing at objects to "Hideki" and pointing at everything in his room, says "Hideki" much to his exasperation. But Hideki gets help from his landlady Ms. Hibiya, who gives Chi some hand-me-down clothes. One scene is followed by Chi imitating a scene from a porn DVD, pointing to the actress and saying, "This is a tasty side dish (okazu in Japanese)." She then points to the landlady, "Is she a tasty side dish?" Hoo-boy!
Minoru warns him, "No matter how cute she is, no matter how human she seems, don't fall in love with her. She'll only make you cry." Yet Ms. Shimizu, Hideki's cram school teacher sadly says, "No wonder so many people would rather live with persocoms than with real people." Heck, it wouldn't take me a minute to choose between a persocom and a real person.
This classic manga spawned an equally classic anime series. One variation is that Hideki is already working at the "With Pleasure" in the manga, whereas he gets hired in the anime. But they parallel each other closely. The beginning of a cute sci-fi/technology comedy which presumably influenced A.I. Love You.
Summary of Chobits, Volume 1
Hideki is your typical 20-year-old slacker. He didn`t get into college straight out of high school, so he`s working a dead-end job, can`t find a girlfriend, and is perpetually broke. If only he had a persocon - a humanoid robot - to keep him company, perhaps things wouldn`t be so bad. The problem with persocons is they are incredibly expensive, and it would take Hideki a lifetime to afford one. Then, one day Hideki finds a particularly cute female persocon dumped in a pile of trash, so he decides to take her home. As they say, one man`s trash is another man`s treasure...Graphic Novels Books
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