Chobits is a manga and anime series aimed at the seinen demographic, and was created by CLAMP. The series, which takes place in an alternate present day, focuses on Hideki Motosuwa, a student attending the Seki prep school in Tokyo. Not only does Hideki dream of having a girlfriend, he also wants a Persocom; a Persocom is an android that can be used as a personal computer. Hideki makes it clear that if he ever had a Persocom, he would use it for e-mail, internet shopping, and accessing porn sites. Since Hideki is a poor student, he can’t afford one. When Hideki moves into his new apartment, he discovers that his neighbor Hiromu Shinbo has a mobile Persocom named Sumomo.

One evening, Hideki finds a Persocom abandoned with a pile of garbage. He decides that since it’s been abandoned, that he could take it back to his apartment and keep it. After turning the android on, it turns out that the only word she can say is “Chi.” Since Hideki has no knowledge about how the Persocoms work, he has Shinbo help him. They discover that there is no operating system loaded onto Chi. Shinbo sends Hideki to a Persocom expert named Minoru Kokubunji. Even with his powerful Persocoms, Kokubunji can only determine that Hideki’s Persocom is a custom-made model, and seems to be different from other Persocoms. Kokubunji tells Hideki to teach his Persocom, and as he teaches her, perhaps she will be able to tell him more about herself.

Hideki ends up naming the Persocom “Chi,” since this is the only word she knows. He attempts to teach Chi words, concepts, and appropriate behavior. While trying to teach his Persocom, Hideki must also try to focus on his own studies and go to work. Chi also seems to develop emotional feelings for Hideki, which is something that Persocoms aren’t supposed to be able to do.

Later in the series, Hideki and his friends begin exploring Chi’s past. Chi also discovers a series of picture books (“A City With No People”) that are of a mysterious origin, and these books appear to awaken something inside of Chi. Hideki also finds himself interested in several women he meets while in Tokyo: his apartment manager (Chitose Hibiya), his teacher at the Seki prep school (Takako Shimizu), and the daughter of his boss (Yumi Omura).

At the beginning of Chobits, you are given the impression that the show is simply a light and fluffy sex comedy. But as the series progresses, new elements are introduced which adds a new layer and takes the show in several different directions. However, these new elements don’t seem forced, and make sense for the universe established in the series. At the same time the series is evolving, Hideki’s perception of Persocoms also evolves.

There are twenty-six episodes in the Chobits anime series; however, episodes number nine, eighteen, and a twenty-seventh OVA episode are “recap” episodes. The series was directed by Morio Asaka and animated by Madhouse. Chobits aired on the satellite television network, Animax, as well as the terrestrial Tokyo Broadcasting System network. From April-September, 2002, Chobits could be seen across Japan, East Asia and Southeast Asia. In 2002, Marvellous Entertainment Inc. released a Chobits game for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance; however, this game has not been released outside of Japan.