The series is set in the future where people are dependent on persocoms, which are the machines that look like cute girls and boys and work according to their owner’s wishes like checking emails or managing accounts. Hideki’s persocom is quite unique. He somehow find and take Chi who was roaming the city in a mysterious manner and affecting other persocoms. Hideki wonders about a lot of things and is even confused about his feelings towards Chi and other persocoms. As the series focuses on his relationship with Chi, will he be able to sort his feelings and find out her true identity?
The edition that I’ll be discussing about includes Volume 3 and 4 of the original series and it’s quite a crucial part of the series where things start to get real and dramatic. The first two Volumes introduced the story build the plot with the introduction of new characters while instigating new questions in the mind of the readers but in this edition this became a lot more serious. The series begins that drama and questions with the side characters and the readers get to witness backstory of two of those side characters and those stories were quite sad. First story is about Takako Shimizu who, whose husband is infatuated to his new persocom and the saddest part is when we get to know that he locked the door so that she won’t be able to return home. The second story is about he cake shop owner, Hiroyasu Ueda who is famous for marrying his persocom. The stories might seem bizarre unrelated to the main plot but the emotions that are depicted in these stories are what makes us understand the complexities of the world of Chobits. The fact that a woman’s husband is obsessed with his computer and spend more time with it rather than his own wife reminds a person who lives with a porn-addict spouse. On the other hand the struggle of Hiroyasu having a relationship with someone who keeps losing their memory depicts the sentiments of the relationship with someone who is suffering from dementia. These are the sad and realistic stories that represents the emotions that can be experienced in the real world. They are not against or in favor of persocoms. They are not depicted as good or bad but it depends on how you rely on them, it’s about perception. Just like the advanced technology of the modern world with a lot of advantages and comforts like communication, sharing files and locating things but there are also a lot of other disadvantages that comes with it like cyber-bullying, hacking addiction etc.
The kid’s books that Chi finds in the series also plays a vital role in the plot as Chi comes to understand her relationship with Hideki. It also make it understand that the relationship with these machines can be healthy but can also lead to destruction in some cases. Where Shimizu’s husband and many other were obsessed with persocoms and replace them with the real world around them, Ueda, Minoru and perhaps Hideki opt to show them the world. However it’s not always the best to deliver such themes like this. For example it would have been better if Shimizu had her own backstory than the other way round.
The translation of this edition has been done by Kevin Steinbach but unlike the first edition, there is no additional translation in this one. It’s good that the he changed it in the mid-run and it’s a good change as the translation notes are included in the end of the book instead of putting all in the end of the Volume as it is more convenient. There are more changes if you compare it with the original Tokyopop edition as this is more conversational than wordy. It also has translation of ‘konnichiwa’ unlike Tokyopop edition. The book’s hardback cover is as always gorgeous and also include some exclusive color pages as well.
Chobits moves forward with characters that we all can relate to and themes that touch our hearts and stays with our even after completing the book. It’s not just recommended to the CLAMP’s fans but everyone who likes to read relatable heart-warming stories.
