Chobits
Director
Morio Asaka
Production
Madhouse, Project Chobits, TBS
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2002
Chobits Volume 4: Love Defined
By otaku_kei
31st Oct 05  As I have probably mentioned in one of my previous reviews, Chobits remains one of the most popular and successful of CLAMP’s work, both in its manga and anime formats. So here we are over half way through this series, and we still have a lot of questions to be answered. Hideki and Chi are still living a complicated life - constantly on the edge of destitution, prep school life turning out to be harder than Hideki gambled on, and so many mysteries surrounding Chi and the Chobits rumours! And with the simmering sexual tension and love complications thrown in for good measure this show has a lot on offer. Volume four actually delivers quite a bit of development for our characters with these four episodes, romance, and Chobits, and secret experimental labs… a lot is covered on this volume which makes for a very pleasant change from the previous few episodes where no real plot development had occurred. Hideki’s friend Shinbo and here prep school teacher take centre stage for a few episodes. Finally making sense of all those longing looks between the two (for anyone who hasn’t picked up on that so far), these two provide the ‘normal’ relationship of the series so far. This leads in true anime fashion to our central character getting far too distraught over the whole affair and imagining many horrible repercussions from this union. Hideki’s reaction may be straight out of the handbook for anime males in a comedy role, but it still makes for a highly amusing show as he imagines the worst, yet again. Miss Manager also plays a much bigger part in these few episodes, with some revelations of her past coming clear out of leftfield! I had this character pegged as one of the good wholesome women of the harem comedy, but Chobits doesn’t play the same game as other harem anime that I’ve seen. The shocking connection between the seemingly innocuous Miss Manager and the Chobits conspiracy was unprecedented. And this is why this show is such a joy to watch. Not only are the characters engaging and enjoyable, but this show is willing to throw the viewers down some blind alleys. This method of keeping the show fresh works well for Chobits, as for what could have been yet another generic harem show manages to stand upon the shoulders of other similar titles. Now if you have been enjoying this show so far then I see no reason why volume four wouldn’t already be on your ‘to buy’ list. But this volume has succeeded in bringing this show out of the formulaic episodes of the last disk and making this show a must watch series once again. With only a few episodes left till the end of this series, it will be interesting to see what other surprises this show has in store for us.
R2 DVD Notes
Features: English Language 2.0; Japanese Language 2.0; English Subtitles; Textless Closing; Art Gallery; MVM Trailers
Release information: OUT NOW
Notes: MVM continue to release Chobits in a very presentable manner. Nothing outstanding about this disc but no faults either. Audio and visual quality top notch, but the limited extras will only provide a brief distraction, and not repeated viewings.
-- otaku_kei 31st Oct 05
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