(PS: Originally posted on December 15, 2010)

Well after finally reading the acclaimed manga known as Chobits, I came to the conclusion that this manga, just like Akira (I plan to get to that one eventually), was completely overrated and does not deserve the praise it gets. Of course I have my reasons and that is why I have decided to write this review (warning: this review contains spoilers).

Before I get to my complaints I would like to point out the positive aspects. The first thing I loved about Chobits would definitely have to be the characters. They were well developed and the story made me care about them because despite their faults, they are still very likeable people. Some of the different themes introduced were pretty good too. Unfortunately the story kind of breaks a part when looked at more closely and even the themes get ruined in hind site.

The first major complaint in the story would have to be the love relationship between Yumi and the bakery boss dude (forgot his name). When Yumi is first introduced it is made completely clear that she has a crush on Hideki because of the various dialogues exchanged between the both of them. An example of this would be literally the first conversation Hideki and Yumi have which is filled with sexual tension and flirtation on her part. However this obvious crush is completely removed when we find out that she was really in love with the bakery boss dude and she only viewed Hideki as a kind of brother…BULLSHIT!!! She was so obviously all over him, how the hell did this happen or even begin to make sense? Was she teasing him the entire time? If that’s true then, wow, what a b****!

The next complaint I have is the story about the bakery boss dude falling in love with his Persocom. In his flash back he tells the story about how he fell in love with his Persocom and then married her. That is all very nice but how did this happen? Did he buy her and then when he got to know her and spend time with her, finally realize that he loved the Persocom since she made him happy? Do Persocom actually have feelings and it was those feelings that made him fall in love with her? Well it was actually none of that. The real way it went was that he bought the Persocom because it was love at first sight. So let me get this straight, the guy fell in love with a non activated robot that was sitting on a shelf…that has the exact same emotional effect of me falling in love with my toaster because I thought it looked more beautiful than all the other toasters at Wal-Mart. I think the bakery boss dude has problems and should seek help before he marries his fridge.

The third complaint I have is the repetitive dialogue that this manga seems to spew out all the time. Chii is in love with Hideki but she’s scared that she will be rejected and Hideki is not sure if he loves Chii or not. Now mix that in with tons of dialogue about the nature of love and how it works. Then repeat everything I just said again. It gets so tedious and boring at times. Yes Chobits, I understood the first time you told me, I do not need to hear your lectures on love a million times more! The worst part is that after we hear all about Chii’s inner struggles, they have the nerve to repeat everything that was going on in her mind and in the story in the form of this picture book that Chii keeps reading. So after we finish reading the character development in the actual story, it is the characters themselves that read their own character development. I’m reading a story in the story that’s explaining the same story that is in the story…damn :P

The fourth complaint I have is probably the most obvious one, WHY THE HELL IS CHII’S ACTIVATION SWITCH IN HER VAGINA!!! Seriously what the hell! I understand that you could say that this plot point was implemented so that it shows that Hideki could fall in love with Chii without having the need to have sex with her, but still this simply makes no sense. First off what the hell was the creator of Chobits (the creator inside the manga, not the author) thinking when he came up with this brilliant idea? Second, if he did program them to be different and able to fall in love, then would it not have been better if they had the ability to have sex because even though sex is not the most important part about love, it is still "an" important aspect and depriving them of sex is kind of removing part of what makes love so beautiful and great. There may be a metaphor about the idea of having the switch down there but the problem with that metaphor is that it ruins part of the plots logic. I know some people don't look too far into manga logic, but that to me is just an excuse.

Believe it or not, even after all my complaints, I still recommend Chobits. It's quite interesting and worth checking out in order to at least see what the hype is about. Its heart is in the right place and that's why I couldn't get myself to rate it anything lower than 7/10. Despite its sometimes boring moments, I still had a fun time.