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He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Chobits volume 1 by Clamp ::
by William the Bloody
The best way to fill you in is probably to use the opening lines of the comic itself:
"People say the world has become a lot more convenient. I guess they're right. They say it's all thanks to the cybernetic companions, built in labs to make our lives easier. Persocoms. Beautiful, obedient... fully functional. They're perfection."
Pretty much in the here and now of this comic, most everyone has a persocom, which is basically like a PC only person shaped. They can do everything a PC can do, hook up to the internet, check e-mail, perform searches, etc, but they're person shaped so they are more portable and functional. Almost like having a robot butler. Struggling student Hideki Motosuwa isn't as lucky as to own his own persocom. He's going to cram school and working a crappy part time job to barely make ends meet, when one day on his way home from work, he spots a brand new looking persocom wrapped up in a pile of trash in an alley. Thinking this is his lucky day for finding a free persocom in the trash, he carries her home and tries to figure out how to make her work. He flicks her on switch and she activates, only she can barely speak, never mind perform any kind of task. Hideki has his computer whiz friend check out her operating system, only to find there isn't any and whatever data she does have stored in her has crashed his friend's persocom while performing a diagnostic. Hideki's friend is puzzled; a persocom NEEDS an operating system to function as without one they're limp and lifeless, but Hideki's persocom, whom he has named "Chi" after the only sound she has so far uttered, can walk and somewhat talk and mimic people's actions all on her own. There is a rumour on the internet amoung those who custom build there own persocoms about a rare type known as a "chobit." A chobit is a persocom which is artificially intelligent, capable of thinking and acting completely on their own without a program. Could Chi possibly be one of these chobits or is it all just urban legend?
The Good: Ah, Clamp. I had yet to read any manga put out by this creative team, and I was not disappointed. Their hype is definitely well deserved. The art is really quite good, and even quite stunning for a few scenes (i.e. after Chi gets switched on and her wrappings swirl around with her long hair and all). The writing is also well done. Hideki is computer ignorant so having his friend explain things to him also clues us in as well, naturally. Chi's behaviour is well depicted. When Hideki turned her on, that was her very first look at the world. She has to learn to talk, how to act, what's appropriate, etc. She can get by to start with by copying people, and Hideki catches on to teaching her simple word phrases, but it's harder than it might look. The whole computers have arms and legs and walk around and talk to you idea is well portrayed here. They're apparently not all cute girls as a reference is made by a girl character to having one that looked like a cute guy once. Also, more portable versions are available like "laptops" which are about the size of a child's babydoll, and "PDAs" which can fit in the palm of your hand and some of these come shaped like cute critters like bunnies. The whole sci-fi concept so far appears to be well thought out in advance by the writers, so good for them.
The Bad: I haven't yet caught on as to what exactly it would mean if Chi turns out to actually be a chobit. Would scientists want to capture and study her? What's the big deal? This will probably be answered in later editions. I'm a little worried about the pacing. It says at the beginning that this is volume one of eight. Granted, they did managed to cram quite a lot of info in the first volume, but knowing where the end lies, I can only wonder how they'll manage the middle and end. Will it feel too rushed?
Overall, I liked it. I was a little skeptical going into it, but was pleasantly surprised. Chi is so completely innocent and pure that I can't wait to see how her character develops as she continues to learn. Hideki is always so worried about looking like a pervert with a persocom that is so cute but has no idea about social protocols (re: randomly taking her clothes off once when company came by), that he too comes off as pure hearted; treating Chi with kindness, dignity, and respect and not just drooling over her and dressing her in sexy outfits or anything. They have a good dynamic and I'm curious where it will lead.
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