A review by ohnoitscoco
Chobits, Vol. 4 by CLAMP
4.0
Overall review of the series:
Though obvious fan service and innuendo is inherent in manga, some of it in this series gives me reason to suggest that this particular series be kept to 18+, or maybe a little younger with an open conversation with an adult along the way. The authors' choice to put sixteen-year-old-looking Chi's reset switch in her vagina to a big question in the end, "Do you want to be with Chi even if you can't have sex with her?" Well, it's just good to know what you're getting into!
All that aside, it's a cute story with some deep thinking in it. Do we rely too much on computers? Persocoms (humanoid androids) are programmable to be the perfect companions, what is the danger of that? (Relationships with other humans may suffer and fail, it turns out.) Are our imperfections what make us special, unique, and worth loving? Those questions com alongside the main questions of the story: Can you love a machine? If a computer is programmed to love you back, is it really love? And does that matter?
Big concepts for a story about a struggling student, Hideki, who finds a special persocom in the trash. I really enjoyed the storybook Chi uses to understand some of those concepts and was impressed at how they were able to be so simplified. The story of Chi and Freya caught me completely by surprise, and I wasn't sure if Chi and Hideki were going to be together until the end. Chi having the power to turn off emotions in all persocoms "to save them from the hurt" seemed a bit much to me, but I guess it made sense. The two government persocoms were too cool characters to just hang out and watch for the whole series, so that was a bit of a disappointment.
Overall, an entertaining story!
Though obvious fan service and innuendo is inherent in manga, some of it in this series gives me reason to suggest that this particular series be kept to 18+, or maybe a little younger with an open conversation with an adult along the way. The authors' choice to put sixteen-year-old-looking Chi's reset switch in her vagina to a big question in the end, "Do you want to be with Chi even if you can't have sex with her?" Well, it's just good to know what you're getting into!
All that aside, it's a cute story with some deep thinking in it. Do we rely too much on computers? Persocoms (humanoid androids) are programmable to be the perfect companions, what is the danger of that? (Relationships with other humans may suffer and fail, it turns out.) Are our imperfections what make us special, unique, and worth loving? Those questions com alongside the main questions of the story: Can you love a machine? If a computer is programmed to love you back, is it really love? And does that matter?
Big concepts for a story about a struggling student, Hideki, who finds a special persocom in the trash. I really enjoyed the storybook Chi uses to understand some of those concepts and was impressed at how they were able to be so simplified. The story of Chi and Freya caught me completely by surprise, and I wasn't sure if Chi and Hideki were going to be together until the end. Chi having the power to turn off emotions in all persocoms "to save them from the hurt" seemed a bit much to me, but I guess it made sense. The two government persocoms were too cool characters to just hang out and watch for the whole series, so that was a bit of a disappointment.
Overall, an entertaining story!