Manga: Chobits

Title: Chobits
Artist: CLAMP
Writer: CLAMP
Publisher: Tokyopop
Volumes: 8

Ratings:

Story: 10
Art: 10
Characters: 10

Average Rating: 10

Chobits is a story about an ordinary guy from a rural town who moved to the big city to go to cram school (1). One night he finds a persocom (a personal computer that is shaped like a human) in the trash on the street side. This persocom is shaped like a ~16 year old girl. He decides to take her home and activate her. When he does so he finds that she is broken and seems to have no operating system and can only say one thing, chi. Because of this he decides her name should be Chi. As the story unfolds Chi learns more and more from Hideki and his friends and Hideki learns more and more about persocoms.
This story has lots of comedy and a bit of ecchi (2) but is ultimately a philosophical love story. Like many of CLAMPS other works, Chobits asks readers about what qualifies as love and whether there are types of love that are wrong. Can machines fall in love? Can a human really love a machine? Should a human love a machine? These are just some of the questions readers are presented when reading Chobits.

The artwork in Chobits is excellent. The characters all look noticeably different and have clear personalities and styles. The panels are well laid out and allow the story to flow easily when reading. The images inside the panels are clean and are not too busy.
Like all works from CLAMP, the characters in Chobits are both interesting and well thought out. They each have their own answers to the questions that the story asks as well as reasons for coming up with those answers. The reader gets a chance to look into the past of nearly all the secondary characters making them seem more real.
The only real complaint I have with the Chobits series is the final volume. While the story inside is well worth reading, the manga is only about half the size of an average manga volume. This isn't so bad in and of itself but the price to purchase this volume is the same as all the others. I don't think it is right to pay 100% of the normal price for ~50% of a normal manga. However, because the story is so engaging I feel that this is just a minor grievance.

Overall, Chobits is an excellent read. It makes you laugh and it makes you think, two of the most important things people should do. I highly recommend reading this series.

(1): Cram schools in Japan are designed to help you get into a good college (or high school or even middle school). They are similar to summer school in that they tend to be fast paced. Unlike summer school however, they tend to be fairly difficult as they cover all the subjects you are likely to encounter on entrance exams.

(2): Ecchi is a difficult term to define as it is used in many different ways. One of its primary meanings however is "perverted". It is used to refer to something having to do with sex or even things that are just sexy. While there is nothing that would be rated adults only in Chobits, there is occasional nudity, some panty shots and some sexy poses :-)