History Manga / Chobits

* OedipusComplex: [[spoiler:Freya has an Electra Complex. She fell in love with her father/creator, choosing him as "the someone just for her," and felt very sad seeing him spending time with her mother.]]
* OneWordTitle

* PinocchioSyndrome: The driving force of the plot is Hideki teaching Chi how to behave like a human would. [[spoiler: The climax in the anime is Chi granting all Persocoms true sapience.]]

* RobotGirl: Female Persocoms.

* DistressedDamsel[=/=]BigDamnHeroes: Played with. Every time Chi is kidnapped or [[NearRapeExperience whatever]], by the time Hideki is close to finding her, Chi [[spoiler:, or to be more precise, Freya]] has already [[CurbStompBattle stomped their asses]], but when Hideki shows up at the scene, Chi [[FallingIntoHisArms falls into his arms]], thanks him for rescuing her, and ''[[{{fainting}} faints]]''.

* AndroidIdentifier: Persocoms in have [[UnusualEars metal protrusions]] instead of normal ears and occasionally unusual hair colors, but look and can act like humans otherwise. The ears do also have a practical function (to plug in wires), but don't seem to be necessary, as some models like the [[ReplacementGoldfish custom persocom Yuzuki]] don't appear to have them.

* DramaticIrony: Occurs twice in the relationship between [[spoiler: Ueda and Yumi]].

* IHaveTheHighGround:
** Zima and Dita spent most of their time in high places.
** Chi also does this herself on numerous occasions when she floats or stands on lamp-posts.
** Also, Sumomo and Kotoko are often seen on people's shoulders, which are extremely high to them.

* MisplacedKindergartenTeacher: Takako Shimizu ''wanted'' to be a kindergarten teacher, but her husband thought there was more money in teaching older students. [[spoiler: Then, he threw her out in favor of the persocom...]]

* ShoutOut: Mod The Sims, a DownloadableContent site for fans of ''VideoGame/TheSims'', has one of its download manager bots named Chii. The site's Chii bot also used to perform various functions in the chat room, such as "gets you coffee" when the command "!coffee" was typed.

* AdultFear:
** Ueda's story when you take out the science fiction from it. No one approved of his marriage to Yumi, the persocom, assuming it was a fetish. Then she started losing her memory, and Ueda found out that it was virtually incurable, with any procedure risking the total loss of their time together. Ueda made the SadisticChoice to refuse to do the procedures and care for Yumi faithfully, despite the fact that her speech degraded to asking, "Hello. How are you today?" without recognizing him. In her last moments, she pushed him out of the way of a speeding car, registering she loved Ueda before asking how he was and shutting down.
** TheReveal that [[spoiler:Freya's breakdown left her bedridden, with her parents ForcedToWatch and unable to cure her. It was basically the equivalent of seeing your child develop mental illness, and the only way to save her would be to abandon your other child. Kotoko was very heartbroken about the decision]].

* CostumePorn: Chi's prone to wearing rather extravagant outfits and costumes, especially in the artbooks.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Yuzuki, Kotoko, and Sumomo. Justified, as they are persocoms.

Shortly after settling into his new apartment, Hideki's luck turns around when he stumbles upon a discarded Persocom in the shape of beautiful young woman. He takes her and manages to boot her up, but quickly finds out that there was a reason she was tossed: the only thing she can say is "chi", leading Hideki to name her Chi. Further investigation shows that- despite being able to move, speak and learn- Chi's operating system is nonexistent. In fact, her model isn't anywhere on the market, suggesting she was custom built. Most alarmingly, any attempts made to connect Chi to another Persocom ends up frying the other Persocom's system. One of the Persocom experts Hideki takes Chi to suggests she might be one of the legendary Chobits, a series of Persocoms rumored to have freewill and emotions.

''Chobits'' (ちょびっツ, ''Chobittsu'') is a science fiction seinen manga by [[Creator/{{Clamp}} CLAMP]]. It was serialized in ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 2000 to 2002, complied into eight volumes. Since the series' initial acquisition by Creator/{{Tokyopop}}, the English translation has changed hands a couple times. As of 2020, Kodansha released a 20th anniversary version of the series which complies the manga into a four volume omnibus set.

Shortly after settling into his new apartment, Hideki's luck turns around when he stumbles upon a discarded Persocom in the shape of beautiful young woman. He takes her and manages to boot her up, but quickly finds out that there was a reason she was in amongst the trash: the only thing she can say is "chi", leading Hideki to name her Chi. Further investigation shows that- despite being able to move, speak and learn- Chi's operating system is nonexistent. In fact, her model isn't anywhere on the market, suggesting she was custom built. Most alarmingly, any attempts made to connect Chi to another Persocom ends up frying the other Persocom's system. One of the Persocom experts Hideki takes Chi to suggests she might be one of the legendary Chobits, a series of Persocoms rumored to have freewill and emotions.

Hideki Motosuwa would love nothing more than to escape the country. Not even a rejection letter from Tokyo University will get in his way. With only a scarce amount of money and clothes, Hideki leaves his home and arrives in Tokyo. When he gets there, he notices a few people with horn shaped ears. These people aren't actually humans but Persocoms, androids with a wide array of features from storing personal data to internet surfing and so much more. Though Hideki would like to have a Persocom of his own, even the cheapest droids are way out of his price range.

Shortly after settling into his new apartment, Hideki's luck turns around when he stumbles upon a discarded Persocom in the shape of beautiful young woman with long blonde hair. He takes her and manages to boot her up, but quickly finds out that there was a reason she was in amongst the trash: the only thing she can say is "chi", leading Hideki to name her Chi. Further investigation shows that- despite being able to move, speak and learn- Chi's operating system is nonexistent. In fact, her model isn't anywhere on the market, suggesting she was custom built. Most alarmingly, any attempts made to connect Chi to another Persocom ends up frying the other Persocom's system. One of the Persocom experts Hideki takes Chi to suggests she might be one of the legendary Chobits, a series of Persocoms rumored to have freewill and emotions.

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Chobitsx_6195.jpg]]

''Chobits'' is a manga and anime series by Creator/{{CLAMP}}. The manga was serialized in ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 2000 to 2002, and the anime aired in 2002 from April 2 to September 24. The story starts out as a MagicalGirlfriend comedy and transitions to a ContemplateOurNavels debate on the relationship between humans and Persocoms, machines programmed to serve humans (and look human too). It takes place some years after ''Manga/AngelicLayer'', although the only [[CanonImmigrant canon immigrants]] are of the "dead with an impact" variety.

The main character of ''Chobits'' is Hideki Motosuwa, an [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Ordinary Cram School Student]] who lives in a Japan where almost everyone has their own "Persocom" to do common tasks, ranging from household chores to surfing the Internet. Hideki would very much like his own Persocom, but there's no way he can afford one... unless he finds one lying in the trash. Like all Persocoms, this one looks just like a cute girl[[note]]some persocoms look like cute or hot guys, but only one of those plays any significant role in the plot, the rest being relegated to background eyecandy[[/note]] except for the [[UnusualEars obligatory distinctive ears]]. He starts her up, only to find that she has no memory or info on her hard drive, and can initially only say the word "Chi." Who is "Chi," and why was she left out in the trash in the first place? Could Chi possibly be a "Chobit," a rumored brand of robots capable of sapience and real emotion?

After several episodes of Hideki helping Chi to adjust to the real world [[HilarityEnsues with comic results]], the plot shifts in a more serious direction when it is implied that Chi may be developing feelings for Hideki. But is it actual feelings, or just programming? Hideki, despite his constant reminders to himself that she is only a machine, seems to have some degree of affection for her. He also learns that Persocoms can have unexpected effects on humans, hearing stories from his cram school teacher Takako Shimizu and the baker Hiroyasu Ueda. This happens despite having been warned by Minoru Kokubunji, a Persocom expert, "not to fall in love" with her. Meanwhile, Chi's BackStory begins to gradually unravel... and Hideki finds that ''he may be falling in love with Chi...''

Creator/DarkHorseComics has re-released the series in an {{omnibus}} version, with two volumes each containing half the series.

Compare with ''Anime/KowarekakeNoOrgel'' or ''Manga/Yuria100Shiki''. Unrelated to ''Chobit'', a two-chapter manga by Creator/AkiraToriyama.

!!Tropes:

The main character of ''Chobits'' is Hideki Motosuwa, an [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Ordinary Cram School Student]] who lives in a Japan where almost everyone has his or her own "Persocom" to do common tasks, ranging from household chores to surfing the Internet. Hideki would very much like his own Persocom, but there's no way he can afford one... unless he finds one lying in the trash. Like all Persocoms, this one looks just like a cute girl[[note]]some persocoms look like cute or hot guys, but only one of those plays any significant role in the plot, the rest being relegated to background eyecandy[[/note]] except for the [[UnusualEars obligatory distinctive ears]]. He starts her up, only to find that she has no memory or info on her hard drive, and can initially only say the word "Chi." Who is "Chi," and why was she left out in the trash in the first place? Could Chi possibly be a "Chobit," a rumored brand of robots capable of sapience and real emotion?

* RealityEnsues: Some examples.
** What happens when you have a naïve, attractive persocom on the streets asking random people for job opportunities? The persocom gets conned into starring in an online strip show.
** What happens when you post info of an unusual persocom on the Internet? [[spoiler: You attract unwanted attraction to the persocom in question, resulting in her being kidnapped.]]

Freya's argument against persocom emotion and sentience is based on the assuption that there is something ''special'' about humanity, perhaps the presence of a soul, or perhaps even just being alive, that elevates them above mere persocoms, that makes their minds more ''real''. The truth is that there is no evidence of souls, and living organisms have limitations just like persocoms do. They are limited by their genetics, by their neurology, by the environment they are raised in, by many things. If a persocom could become human they would simply be trading one set of limitations for another.\\\

Finally, it should be noted that not all persocoms share Freya's views. In particular, Zima thinks of himself and Dita as being so advanced as to be "practically human", and is quite certain the Chobits are even closer to human than he is. This troper feels Freya is seriously selling herself, her sister and her people drastically short.]]

** [[spoiler: Yumi's breaking point came when she saw Chii wearing her old Tirol uniform. What she did not know is that Ueda did not give permission for Chii to do so, Chii wore said uniform by accident mistaking it for her intended it, and he hurriedly told Chii to change out of it.]]

** [[spoiler: Yumi's breaking point came when she saw Chii wearing her old Tirol uniform. What she did not know is that Ueda did not give permission for Chii to do so, and he hurriedly told Chii to change out of it.]]

* TheOneWith: Other than the last, each episode of the anime is titled "Chi ___" or, for the recaps, "[Character] and [Character] chat".

* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: [[spoiler: Takako is dating Himoru, her student, while still married. However it's treated as a very good and healthy thing because her Husband has literally forgotten about her in his obsession with his Persocom.]]

* ArcWelding: The scientist who created Persocoms is [[spoiler: Ichiro "Icchan" Mihara from ''Anime/AngelicLayer'', and Minoru Kokubunji's sister, the one Yuzuki is supposed to emulate, is Blanche's Deus Kaede. Sai, Ohjiro, and Misaki all make a cameo at Kaede's funeral]].

* ZettaiRyouiki:
** Kotoko wears thigh-high socks in addition to TwinTails. She's also the only Persocom known to snark at her owner.
** [[spoiler: Freya and Elda also wear thigh-high socks in a pic, possibly to extend the color scheme and/or add moe.]]

''Chobits'' is a manga and anime series by Creator/{{CLAMP}}. The manga was serialized in ''Weekly Young Magazine'' from 2000 to 2002, and the anime aired in 2002 from April 2 to September 24. The story starts out as a MagicalGirlfriend comedy and transitions to a ContemplateOurNavels debate on the relationship between humans and Persocoms, machines programmed to serve humans (and look human too). It takes place some years after ''Anime/KidouTenshiAngelicLayer'', although the only [[CanonImmigrant canon immigrants]] are of the "dead with an impact" variety.

** ''[[Anime/KidouTenshiAngelicLayer Angelic Layer]]'', the company that made Angels went on to make the first persocoms. The game is mentioned as being popular some time ago. Two characters who were revealed to be deceased in ''Chobits'' appeared in ''Angelic Layer'' as well.