Chobits: Persocom (volume 1)

Reviewed By: Carla Land

Pioneer Entertainment DVD

Review based on volume 1 (episodes 1-4)

Rating 16+

What it’s (basically) all about: Hideki the farm boy is going to college prep school in Tokyo. In a stroke of pure luck, he finds a discarded Persocom (a home computer that walks, talks, and looks like a woman) and takes it home. What follows can only be described as a continuous comedy of errors, as Hideki and Chi (the Persocom) learn to live in their strange new surroundings.

Nitty Gritty:  Extras included on the disc: DVD credits;  clean opening; art gallery; and trailers for Armitage: Dual Matrix (some disturbing images and stylized nudity); Strawberry Eggs (a male PE teacher dresses in drag so he can teach at a girls school and pay his rent); Ai Yori Aoshi (some mild sexual scenarios); Sugar, A Little Snow Fairy (really, really sugary); X (mild violence); Mahoromatic (futuristic war plot with violence, strong sexual situations, and some inappropriate humor that looks as if it morphs into a goofy comedy. And that’s just the preview.)

Hideki is a farm boy, who is really unaware of how things work in a big city. When he arrives almost the first thing he comments on is all the pretty women. When he sees the Persocoms in a shop window he lists all the ways he could use one- homework, email, porn. (This last Hideki is absolutely obsessed with, as he frequently talks about wanting to get porn on the Internet. In just about every episode.) Unfortunately, Chi has serious security protecting her operating system, which means he’s going to have to start from scratch on just about everything, including teaching her how to talk and not to get undressed in front of him.

To cut to the chase…there are a lot of situations in every episode that would be considered inappropriate by most parents. Persocoms are all female, and often scantily clad. Their “on” switch is located between their legs (yes, there) and they are designed to be as real looking (and feeling) as possible. Fan service is rampant, especially before Chi gets clothing (Hideki finds her wrapped almost like a mummy, and it’s not until the last episode that she gets any underpants, a fact of which we are reminded constantly.)

Naturally, Hideki is in trouble considering his girl obsession and the hijinks ensue. There’s the episode where Chi goes shopping for underpants, and Hideki spends the whole day freaking out because he’s worried everything will go wrong. There’s another where he’s looking for a part time job and is freaking out because he’s worried that he won’t be able to afford maintenance on Chi (fortunately he finds a job, and wouldn’t you know it the boss’s high school daughter is D cup?). And he really freaks out on his neighbor, Shinbo, when Shinbo tries to find Chi’s serial number by literally looking everywhere on her body.

Survey says:  Adult sections, hands down. What with all the buttons hidden in strange places and Hideki falling for every woman he meets (including his computer) it’s just better off in the adult DVD collection.

Personal Ad:  I got pretty bored with Hideki freaking out all the time. The first episode was funny, but by the fourth you’d think he’d either get a clue or go back to the farm. Chi is the only character that grows and she’s basically an emotionless android. Eh.