Chobits

In no time, we’ll have robots that not only will do stuff for us for our convenience, but they have emotional programmes that will allow them to feel and think like us humans too. Sounds too good to be true? Well, if you can’t wait for that to happen, immerse yourself in the anime series Chobits first, okay? Here, such robots are called Persocons and they look and act so much like humans that the only difference to tell them apart is their weird ears. Partly, they house lots of complicated cables too.

With Persocons becoming part of daily life, they fulfil all kinds of chores and tasks that humans themselves wouldn’t do. How many of us would nowadays could stand and man the cash register? Let a Persocon do it? Oh, that’s not only it. Persocons are useful as companions too. So if you have a hard time finding a real boyfriend or girlfriend, just buy a Persocon and they’ll be your ideal lover as programmed. Sounds like fun, right? It amazes me that with so many Persocons in this anime, I’m wondering what happened to the actual human population. Did they really dwindle or the planet has become even more crowded with more Persocons walking on the face of the Earth? But we’re not here to talk about them. So the basic gist of this series is about a country boy taking his first step into the big city and accidentally finds a Persocon of his own. And yeah, you can guess the relationship development and bonding between them as time passes because the Persocon will be more than just a Persocon, know what I’m saying?

Episode 1
As introduced, Hideki Motosuwa is an 18 year old working in his countryside farm. He is looking forward to university life in Tokyo soon. But only 1 thing stops him from doing so: He failed! Nevertheless he isn’t going to give up and work hard in the cram school. Hey, he’s talking to his cow! Hideki arrives in Tokyo and is fascinated with all the Persocons (robots made to look and move like humans). He is excited and needs to get one (mainly because for porn) so the other people think he’s crazy talking to himself. Can’t blame him. He only has cows and horses back on the ranch. He arrives at the dorm where he’s supposed to stay: Kabu Jougasaki and meets the landlady Chitose Hibiya and is soon shown his room. Later he meets his next door neighbour Hiromu Shinbo and his mini mobile Persocon, Sumomo. They instantly click because they’re the same age and are both going to cram school. Then they talk about the multi-purpose wonders of Persocon. Yeah, even porn included. That night as Hideki returns from an errand, he panics upon seeing a girl’s body lying in the trash. Is it murder? Upon closer inspection, he realizes she is a Persocon and thinking that he needs want too, he carries it home (hey, it’s thrown away, right?) albeit she’s quite heavy. Unknown to him, a CD drops out. Back in his room, he gets fascinated with the unconscious Persocon and starts wondering where the on switch is. He tried pressing everywhere. Really? Everywhere? There’s one place left untouched. Let’s say it’s a lower body anatomy. He starts to fluster about doing so but sums up his courage to do so. I don’t know if he really did touch that part or was it the action of sitting her up but the Persocon comes alive. Since she can only say “Chii~”, Hideki calls her Chii. Seems like she is imitating his moves. Then she suddenly hugs him. Shinbo knocks on Hideki’s door to invite him to the public bath. Hideki frantically tries to stall for time to find appropriate clothes for Chii (yeah, she was naked) but Shinbo comes in since the door is unlock. In a weird position to hide Chii behind his back, he gives excuses that he fell. Several close calls Shinbo came close to seeing Chii but Hideki is the master of covering up. Shinbo goes back to his room to wait for him. Thinking it’s over, now Chitose comes in to hand him some snacks. In his gratitude, Hideki bows so this made Chii visible. But Chitose just wishes them goodnight. Hope she didn’t get the wrong idea. Eventually Hideki turns down Shinbo’s offer to go to the bath (should’ve done this earlier) as he wants to ‘clean his room’. With Chii, Hideki says that since he found her, he’s going to properly use her (let’s hope those words meant good intentions). Chii is so happy that she hugs him and he finds himself a new kind of sensation. Her boobs pressed against his body…

Episode 2
Morning comes and Hideki feels he is a lucky guy to have such a cute Persocon. Till Shinbo comes in and sees Chii. After learning about her, he plugs Chii to the TV monitor the check her specs but there are no data. He is surprised that Chii can move on her own without any operating system. Then he uses Sumomo to check but she malfunctions and breaks down. Poor Shinbo also breaks down. While he tends to Sumomo, he leaves a map to Hideki to see a Persocon genius who made custom models, Minoru Kokubunji. He is overwhelmed by his big house and his 4 sexy Persocon maids. Minoru turns out to be a kid younger than him. Analysing Chii, all 4 Persocon maids malfunctions! Minoru’s custom model Persocon Yuzuki volunteers to analyse. She starts collapsing but was able to regain herself soon. She mentions some of her data like household work and accounting crashed, though her personality did not. With backup programmes, Minoru easily restores her minor crashed functions. See the importance of backing up files? Yuzuki says she couldn’t determine what kind of operating system Chii has and there must be some kind of protection. Minoru thinks Chii is part of the rumoured Chobits series that was developed. They are said to have their own free will. Yuzuki isn’t one because she did what she was programmed too though she has a learning ability and that too depends on what she learns. As Hideki and Chii leave, Minoru will ask around and if he finds anything he will contact him. Hideki tells his phone number to Yuzuki for her to log to her memory. Minoru notices Chii doing the same and wants Hideki to ask her his phone number. For the first time she said proper words and repeats Hideki’s number. Minoru concludes her learning programme is functioning well. If she’s speaking well, she can learn other things and wants Hideki to teach her well since he is her owner. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to buy a software. Once Chii can properly speak, she perhaps could tell them about herself. As a parting advice, Minoru warns him no matter how good or cute she becomes, never fall in love with her or else he’ll end up in tears. Well, Hideki didn’t really believe it because he doesn’t believe anybody would fall for Persocons who are just companions. Back home, Chitose gives her old clothes for Chii to wear. Hideki finds her cute and the first thing he thought her was to say her name. Uh… Chii, right? Yeah, lesson 1 passed. Chii hugs him in her happiness so Hideki gets excited to teach her something she can do well.

Episode 3
Hideki crunches the numbers for his monthly expenses. Let’s say living in Tokyo means high cost of living. As he leaves with Shinbo for cram school, he teaches Chii to say “itterasshai” (take care) and also his name. He’s happy till Chii starts pointing to everything as Hideki. Desk = Hideki, rice cooker = Hideki, lamp = Hideki. And Chitose… Hideki? In class, Hideki tells Shinbo his diagnosis from Minoru. Sumomo is now back to normal as Shinbo has fixed her up properly. But he’s going to have Hideki cover the cost somehow. Speaking of which, Hideki asks about the cost of maintaining a Persocon. Let’s say he can’t afford it unless he takes a high paying job. Their class teacher, Takako Shimizu seems to be a pretty and nice person. Hideki’s mind wander and didn’t mind going back in time if she was his elementary teacher. Not till she calls his name several times, did he snap out of his fantasy causing the class to laugh at him. Meanwhile at Chii. Kettle = Hideki. Oh, she’s learning fast… After school, Hideki goes around looking for a part time job but with no luck. While walking in front of a bar named Yorokonde, a girl Yumi Omura accidentally splashes water on him. Feeling guilty, she takes him in and puts on temporary clothes for him (though it’s the work uniform) while she dries his. Hideki looks around the bar and is fascinated with a Persocon at the cashier. A colleague mistakes Hideki for a worker and has him set up so that they can open the bar. When the bar owner (Yumi’s dad) comes by, he doesn’t recognize Hideki and soon apologizes for the mix up. Noticing that he is looking for a part time job, he offers him work here since an employee just resigned and wants him to hand in his resume. Hideki is excited to have land a job. He and Yumi get to know each other as they talk about Persocons. Yumi shows him her little mobile Persocon. Then it hit Hideki that he has never written a resume before so Yumi helps guide him. Noticing that he is staring at her well-endowed body, she tells him straight that she is an E-cup! Really? Doesn’t seem like it. But I could be wrong… Hideki panics and ‘explodes’ upon her teasing. Hideki goes home as Chii hugs him in her happiness. He teaches her to say “okaerinasai” (welcome home) and the meaning of happiness. Then as he prepares for dinner, looks like he still has a long way to teach her as Chii continues to point everything else as Hideki.

Episode 4
Hideki is standing outside a lingerie store, breathing real hard, much to the dismay of other onlookers. Is he a pervert? Then he runs away and back home. Seems he can’t bring himself to buy panties for Chii. I mean, Chitose was kind enough to give her clothes but asking for panties would make him look like a pervert, right? Chii’s vocabulary seems to have increased and can recognize lots of stuff, though there’s still more room for improvement. To overcome this pantsu problem, Shinbo suggests that Chii go buy herself with the help of Sumomo. Next morning before Chii leaves, Hideki teaches her on the general stuffs on panties. Yeah, it’s like he’s teaching her to be a pervert. It’s going to take a few more tries to make sense of what Hideki actually wants her to buy. After reiterating a few more dos and don’ts, Chii is on her way with Sumomo the navigator. It’s really odd that Chii is spouting “Pantsu, pantsu” all the way while she walks to the store. I wonder what others would think. Hideki is so worried about Chii and starts to have bad feeling about Chii that not only he couldn’t concentrate but interrupted class. Along the way, Chii manages to identify several street stuff (meaning, she doesn’t point them as Hideki). However she gets distracted like chasing after a truck supplying panties and trying to flip up the skirt of a pair of high school girls when the wind blows up their skirt! Pervert! Luckily with Sumomo around to blow her whistle, it isn’t long Chii resumes the right path. Is she? But Chii spots a kitten with a pantsu in its mouth and goes after it, losing Sumomo on the way. However it turns out to be a handkerchief. Sumomo gets a harrowing experiencing when she gets picked up by a dog. Thankfully the owner was there so it lets go of her and soon she is reunited with Chii.

After class, Hideki goes to find Chii and asks that pair of high school girls if they have seen Chii. However they are disgusted with him and thinks he is the owner of that Persocon and teaching her bad stuff! No wonder they turn away without answering his question! When he finally finds her, she nearly got hit by a truck but luckily remembered Hideki’s words on how to cross a street. But it can’t be said the same for Hideki because he was right in the middle of the street and if the van driver didn’t brake in time, he could’ve been a flat guy. Hideki follows Chii like a stalker and notices her tendency to get distracted with anything pantsu related. Like the poster and the panties laundry hanging from the balcony. When Chii finally arrives at the lingerie store, the saleswoman announces a half price bargain. All the ladies rush to buy, Chii getting caught in the middle of the stampede. Hideki goes to help but gets ‘kicked out’. I don’t know how, he ended up with a pantsu in his own hands. A salesgirl recognizes him, the one staring outside the shop with baited breath like a pervert and calls the police to arrest him. The crowd subsides as Chii comes out from her hiding underneath the desk. There are no more panties left (yeah, a real sell-out) when the saleswoman approaches her so she requests for a pantsu. Hideki is released and trudges his way back home and sees Chii waiting in his room. He is relieved that she finally bought panties but to his dismay, it is boxer shorts for guys. Apparently when Chii said pantsu, the saleswoman misinterpreted it as shorts/pants. That means he has to go and buy them himself, right? Oh, the nightmare again. But this time he manages to sum up his courage and go buy one before rushing back home. He laments and go crazy how he has being perceived as a pervert and should’ve gone to the convenience store to buy panties instead and blames them for making him a pervert. So what does Chii learn today? Hideki = pervert. Oh, I love this Persocon. She learns fast.

Episode 5
Because of the mock exam, Hideki takes a day off from his part time job to concentrate on his studies. Can he do it all in one day? Talk about study, Hideki even teaches the meaning of ‘study’ to Chii. I guess she studies and learns that way. Of course Hideki isn’t a genius so he just can’t remember all the things in the book. The funny part isn’t when Hideki throws his frustrations, but rather Chii imitating every single action of his! Double funny! As he is studying English, he needs to refer to a dictionary but realizes he left it back at the farm. No choice, he has to go buy one at the store. It’s expensive but consider it as investment for his future. He notices Chii curious at her environment and realizes this is her first time in a bookstore and explains things to her. Then he catches her staring at a book “Dare Mo Inai Machi” (A Street With No One). Thinking she wants this book so much, he would’ve bought it for her if not for its high price. Now he’s in a dilemma, the book or the dictionary. Oh, Chii is staring at him with those eyes. Yeah, how can you not give in to that cute pitiful look? In Chii’s happiness, she hugs him attracting stares from others and comments from the cashier to buy the book first before starting their love scene. Wait a minute? Does Chii even know how to read? Back home, it seems Chii does know how to read. Just that Hideki had to teach her ‘how to read a book’. Understand? Then Shinbo and Sumomo come in. With Sumomo cheering on, Hideki realizes he forgot to study and badly needs a dictionary. Shinbo has one and offers to lend him so Hideki goes over to his room. During his absence, Chii reads the book. It’s a tale about some bunny creature walking the streets with nobody. Because everybody is inside the buildings with their loved ones. It’s a sad story since she wants to meet a person who’ll fall in love with her despite knowing they’ll be separated. But thinking about that, she continues to walk along the road with no one. Chii starts to remember something chilly. When Hideki returns, he sees Chii glowing and floating. He quickly rushes and as he puts his hand on her shoulder, she reverts to normal and has no recollection of what happened. He has Shinbo check if there is anything wrong but he finds nothing. After that, he realized that the day is so late and that he had forgotten to study! Yeah, back to his frustrating antics. With Chii monkey see, monkey do! Hideki is on the verge on giving up but Chii encourages him to fight on. This gives him the much needed self-confidence to go on. Do we see a trend? Each time he is going to call it quits, all he needs to do is call Chii’s name and she’ll give him the energy to carry on. The test come and go and though Hideki feels that he did just average, he thanks Chii for her support.

Episode 6
Chii seems a little inactive this morning so Hideki was pretty concerned and the reason he was late for cram school. It seems there is something wrong with her because she just sat there in the room without moving the whole day. Hideki tries to get solutions about Chii’s case from Shinbo. Sumomo teaches him the basics of recharging Persocons as Shinbo gives him an adapter to recharge as well the dos and don’ts. Hideki thinks of getting a break from Yorokonde to check on Chii but as Yumi said, due to a colleague unable to turn up, they’ll have to fill in. When Hideki comes back, he panics upon seeing Chii flat on the floor. However she is still able to speak albeit quite weak. He plugs the adaptor into her ear to recharge but suddenly to electricity trips. Remembering Shinbo’s words not to charge a Persocon in one shot as it will cause a big drain, he rushes down to restart the trip meter but to no avail. He tried calling for Shinbo and Chitose but they’re not in. Then the phones are not connected. Is this his bad day? Yeah. He remembered today is the last day to pay his telephone and electricity bills. No wonder he got disconnected. The coins in his pocket aren’t enough to make a decent public phone call. Since Chii is still conscious, Hideki isn’t going to give up and carries her all the way to Yorokonde (oddly she’s lighter now), hoping someone will be there. I don’t know why but it seems he chose the longest route. I mean, every day he walks back from work to home, he should know the path well, right? How come he ended up at a construction site? Did he panic while running his way? Oh, you got to see this. He climbs a steep wall with just one hand! And a Persocon on his back! ONE FREAKING HAND! Is this amazing?! Even more amazing, once he reaches the top, he falls down below. Back to square one. At this point, Chii stops functioning. And yeah, she’s back to being heavy. But her saviour arrives in the form of Chitose who was passing by in a taxi. Yeah, apparently she saw somebody falling down. Back in her room, Chii is being recharged while Hideki is very much grateful. Chii notes how warm Hideki is. When Shinbo returns and finds out what is going on, he points Hideki to the electric meter which is spinning like CRAZY!!! Oh my God! You need this much energy to recharge a Persocon! Hideki apologizes and promises to repay her bill but it isn’t the electricity bill she’s worried about. It’s this month’s rent. Oh my God! Looks like he has to fork out more… Though Chitose isn’t really particular about it, Hideki couldn’t stop apologizing and promising to repay. Taking care a Persocon really does take up a lot of time, energy and MONEY!

Episode 7
Hideki dreams of Yumi, Chitose and even Takako seducing him! Then it turns into some nightmare of that bunny creature before being awakened by Chii. Back in reality, Hideki laments the lack of money so of course when Chii asks, he tells her work and money which probably brings happiness because it could buy you anything. Really? Chii thinks of working part time too. She points at something suspicious that needs young girls. Of course NO! But since she insists, Hideki agrees as long as it’s not dangerous or suspicious. At work, he is so worried about what kind of job Chii will take up, Yumi catches him talking to himself again. She thought he is going to quit but he assures her he is not, much to her relief. But when the conversation shifts to Chii’s part time job, she starts to look depressed. Later Yumi thinks of cooking him a decent meal but again she gets quiet when Chii is mentioned. Hideki notices this and will be more careful the next time. Meanwhile Minoru picks up an online info on Chii. However he is puzzled because he sees her in a sexy pose. Actually, she was earlier picked up by someone while on the streets. Currently she’s working as a showgirl in some internet peep house. She still didn’t understand what she got into, eh? The host tries to learn her origins but she can only tell what she knows. Chii also learns about happiness and misinterprets this job is making Hideki happy. Minoru needs to inform Hideki about this and mails an urgent message via Sumomo. Hideki is happily waiting for Yumi’s home-cooked meal when Shinbo rushes in. After learning what Chii got herself into, he goes crazy that his Persocon hasn’t learned how to use her common sense. With Sumomo guiding the way, Hideki rushes to rescue Chii. Better hurry because the host is making her strip naked. Fortunately, Chii doesn’t know how to take off her bra so it buys some time. Wait a minute. So how the heck did she put it on? However the host move on to other areas like removing her panties and inserting her fingers between her legs. When she is about to do that, her inner voice tells her to stop. Chii then stops functioning. The host goes down to see what’s wrong. In that moment, Chii starts glowing and the inner voice continues that this switch is the one that restarted her. Till someone who truly loves her appears, she must not let anyone else touch her there. Hideki must be having some kind of trouble reaching places because by the time he does so, the host already put his own fingers there to demonstrate to her how it’s done! The entire room starts to glow a very bright light. This kind of bright light doesn’t look good, you know.

Episode 8
Now there’s a gaping hole in the wall, Chii has escaped and the host so petrified at what he saw he is speechless. A mute. No use talking to him for answers so Hideki runs back out to look for Chii. Meanwhile as Chii randomly flies through the town, soon every Persocon stops functioning. The odd part is every human who are worried about and tending to their Persocon seemed to ‘stop functioning’ and not moving too!  Minoru tries to research and watch slow motion clips seconds before this incident but it seems Yuzuki too stops working. When Hideki finds Chii, he calls to her name. She responds and he manages to catch her before falling into a river. At that point all Persocons return to normal except for Chii who remained unconscious. Hideki brings her back home via taxi. He wakes up next morning and finds Chii unconscious and fears the worse. However she gets up hugging him in an instant. Back to normal? Thank goodness. Minoru wonders what happened when every Persocon in the every stopped functioning. Though Yuzuki can’t remember much, she felt that she heard a familiar voice. Hideki gives Chii a good lecture about her part time job. But I guess it was partly his fault for not wording it properly. I mean, Chii thought he’d be happy if she got a job so that he would get lots of money and buy stuffs he wanted. Since you can’t stay mad at cute naive Persocons, Hideki doesn’t blame her and feels she should stay home till he finds her a proper job. At work, he and Yumi talk about this and it seems he has found Chii a part time job at a sweets shop called Tirol who is currently organizing a 5 year celebration fair. However Yumi didn’t look too happy when he mentions about that place. Chii is bringing in the customers with her naturally cute looks. Tirol’s manager Hiroyasu Ueda praises her for her good work and pays her first salary. He also notes how she is also a good girl like Hideki mentioned and hopes she would continue to work here after the fair is over. She hugs him in her happiness so he has to explain about hugging and that is for those she loves. Hideki picks her up as she eagerly explains all that she learned and has happened. Back home, she passes her salary to Hideki but he gives it back to her. Chii is confused but he says it belongs to her because she works for it. It’s not that he doesn’t want money, her feelings is already enough. This money will allow her to buy things that she wants. She then asks if it’s alright to hug him. Unsure at first but he sees no reason to turn her down so she immediately does so.

Episode 9 or 8.5
With the excuse that Sumomo’s hard disk capacity is nearly full, Shinbo is prompted to delete some unimportant data. So non-critical data to be retrieved for review as you have guessed, make this a recap episode (some may call it episode 8.5). From the time Hideki arrives and meets Shinbo, getting Chii as his Persocon, his cram school, his part time job at Yorokonde. Yeah, the story so far. Next, on to more non-critical files which are more ‘dangerous’ like navigation software and route to the panties store. Oh… There’s more. The peepshow house stripping, methods of charging Persocons and when Chii went berserk and freezes all other Persocons. In the end, Shinbo concludes Hideki is clumsy, can’t stay calm, talks to himself and has crazy hallucinations, but the real issue is that being with him really wears you out. So will he have all these files erased? Nope. Let them be. Looks like he’ll have to expand Sumomo’s hard disk. Well, money isn’t an issue, I suppose. I guess this serves as good memories to look back, eh?

Episode 10
Chii is independent enough to walk to the bookstore alone. She plans to use her salary to buy Hideki something. Guess what? A porn mag. Hideki can’t help worry if Chii will screw up (oh, if he’d only knew) so Shinbo invites him to the bath house. He learns that Persocons also can enter the bath house to clean themselves like regular maintenance. Since he can’t afford to buy a software, the only choice is to teach her first-hand. This is going to be hard (no pun intended). When Hideki returns, Chii hands him the book. Without opening the wrapper, Hideki is all smiles and promises to teach her bath things so Chii becomes happy. Then when he opens the wrapper and sees the porn mag, he just couldn’t bring himself to teach her anymore. I guess his wild thoughts have gone wilder. So he pleads Shinbo to help him out so he uses his trusty Sumomo to download content from the internet and teach Chii. Unfortunately they’re all not suitable so they end up learning nothing right. Next morning, Hideki gets a call from Minoru to meet up. When they do, first thing Hideki asks was about the bath thingy. It all boils down to if you can’t buy the software, you have to teach her yourself. Bummer. The reason Minoru called him was that his research on the custom made Persocons got a reply. He shows him a picture. Looks like Chii but lots of mean terminals sticking out of her body! It’s like a horror pic. There are alphabets on her body which spelt “HOBITS”. Her arm may be blocking the “C” and thinks she could be the legendary Chobits. But something is bothering Minoru. The person who posted this picture, his email address did not exist. Perhaps somebody who doesn’t want to know his identity. On the way back, Hideki chances upon Chii who has just finished her part time job and wants to go to the bath. Back home, Hideki teaches how and what to do at the bath. Each time the results leading back to porn stuff because she learns them from his porn mags… At the bath house, the first falter already at the counter. Seems Chii entered with Hideki to the men’s section. Hideki did tell her to copy and follow somebody but she chose Hideki as that somebody. He brings her over to the women’s side and wants her to copy a woman instead but Chii says she wants to be with him. Now this guy is in a grave pinch on what to do. But do not fear, his saviour is here again: Chitose. Now he can relax in peace. Or not. Chii saying to Chitose about comparing ‘big and small’ stuff. Once that is done, Hideki shows Chii the picture he got from Minoru and asks if this is her. After a long pause, she denies, much to his relief. Hideki notices that Chii also had bought a book for herself. “Atashi Dake No Hito” (My only one) and it’s like a sequel to the previous book she bought.

Episode 11
Hideki absolutely couldn’t refuse when Yumi invites him to watch a movie together. Only the 2 of them. Chii reads the sequel of the bunny creature’s lonely walk. It notices how happy everyone is as long they’re with ‘that’ as it can make any dreams come true. However there are some things that ‘that’ can’t be like a substitute for a human. Her reading is interrupted when Hideki returns but he rushes over to Shinbo’s room to ask tips on dating! Shinbo teases him with ridiculous tasks like tango and handstand but it proves that Hideki is a virgin after all since he so eagerly wrote that all down. His real advice is to be himself. Hideki goes back to fix his hair and then leaves. He has a hard time explaining the meaning of date and love so Chii asks if he loves this girl. He didn’t take her that seriously so he just replies she’s a nice girl. Hideki and Yumi meet up and it seems Hideki is so happy that he starts fantasizing aloud, almost annoying the rest in the cinema. Chii continues her book. The bunny creature is talking to her inner self. Something about finding someone who will love and accept the person she is. Will he only love her and if he could not, he is not the one. But she believes that somebody like that exists. But if there was somebody like that, what if he loves somebody else? There certain things of the heart that can and cannot be change especially the feelings of love. When that happens, she will have to make a decision and stick with it. By that time, Chii is in a trance and hears her inner voice and flies out of the window. On an electric pole, she closes her eyes and suddenly another Chii (dressed in black) appears. This Black Chii says that she is her and wants to know who is beside her now. Chii’s reply is Hideki. She wonders if he is the only one who will love her but Chii doesn’t know and only knows what Hideki teaches her. Black Chii notes how she has forgotten everything but she remembers everything again. Since they’re together now, everything that Chii sees or learns, Black Chii will also know. She bids farewell and disappears.

Hideki and Yumi are having lunch at the park. They talk about Persocons. Yumi feels envious that every Persocon out there is cute and thinks Hideki may even fall for his own Persocon. However Hideki says his Persocon is not human despite that. They take a boat ride as Hideki spots Minoru and Yuzuki. He tries to call them but they do not respond. Why not? He’s calling “Ooi! Ooi!” instead of his name, duh… As a result, he fell off the boat but thank goodness the lake is just waist level. Yumi and Yuzuki go to the convenience store to get some aids. Minoru confirms with Hideki that Yumi is human (of course lah). Hideki notes how Minoru said the same thing like Yumi that he may fall for his Persocon so he gives the same answer. Minoru adds that though he is a nice guy, that girl isn’t his type! But he reveals that he created Yuzuki 2 years ago when his sister died of an illness. He input as much of her appearance and personality into this Persocon and as far as her memories to resemble her very much. However there are some things he can’t programme and that at times he has to remember that this Yuzuki is just a Persocon. So that advice he gave not to fall in love with a Persocon was based on his current situation. Hideki apologizes since he doesn’t know what to say. Minoru confirms that he’s really a nice guy and wants him to hurry up and lose his virginity. Say what? How does he know? Shinbo emailed to him yesterday. Damn. At the end of the day as Hideki returns home, he is greeted by happy Chii.

Episode 12
Hideki is scared out of his sh*t after listening to Minoru reading an online ghost story rumour. About a mistress who was brutally murdered by her lover’s wife and the man never turned up to save her. And all the haunting signs are pointing since it’s happening at room 104 at Apartment G with the lights flickering on and off. Oh Hideki, he’s really so scared that he wants Shinbo to sleep with him! Not a chance! He’s not going to turn this into a gay scene. Morning comes, Hideki didn’t get much sleep. He wakes up for real when Chii appears upside-down hanging from the ceiling lamp. Then the haunting continues. Chii hears a sound coming from the room and went to check it out. In front of the supposed room, they hear screeching sounds and liquid streaming out from underneath its door! Now he’s really spooked out! He can’t probably ask Chitose if this place is haunted since she may think he’s trying to give an excuse to delay his rent! Speak of the devil, Chitose comes by but Hideki pretends of nothing and goes off. But he thinks he may be seeing things since the liquid underneath the door is cleared up. At work, he faints upon seeing Yumi carrying a knife! After learning what happened, Yumi says that she’s afraid of black things. Then a black cat startles her and causes Hideki to dislodge a few beer crates. Back home as he is recuperating, Shinbo tells him that this apartment only has 3 rooms so it’s not possible for room 104 to exist. Should’ve said that earlier. Chii wonders if he is scared and goes to see it herself but Hideki can’t let her go by herself and goes with her.

In front of the door, everything seems pretty fine till he pulls out the room number board: 104. Oh sh*t. What comes next are weird nightmares experienced by Hideki. Like Chii pushing him into the room for the mistress stab him. He tries to leave for work in the morning but sees room 104 instead. A date with Yumi at the park has her suggesting a much better place: Room 104. Takako saves him from an incoming train and suggests for a drink at… Guess? Room 104. He wakes up for real in Takako’s class so the teacher tells him to refresh himself. He almost climbed out the window! Since Hideki is still shaken, he really wants Shinbo to sleep with him! No way for yaoi scenes, man! He decides to take the scaredy cat to the root of the problem by seeing Minoru. No, he’s not blaming him, if he could just figure out the source of the story, then it may put Hideki’s heart at ease. Even if Minoru’s rational explanation of why humans become scared of the unknown and their own beliefs, it’s not going to be an easy one for Hideki to let go. So he suggests everyone will pay a visit to that room. Outside, they see lights flickering. It’s real? Shinbo goes in to check it out but he took too long and never came out. Minoru and Yuzuki went in to see if he’s in his room while Chii checks out the haunted room. Hideki is paralyzed in fear as Chii heads deeper. Then the door opens, Hideki gets all his strength to dive and protect Chii. Is that Chitose coming out? As learned, this room is a storage area and the light bulb has been flickering for some time. Chitose tried to use tables and boxes to reach the light (those screeching sounds) but she couldn’t so she had Shinbo to do it. As for the liquid, that time she accidentally spilled a bucket of water. What about the room number? It seems the first room number on this floor starts from 102-104. Haha. Feeling relieved? But what is more relieved for Hideki is that he was most scared when he thought Chii was in danger. So Hideki is back to normal having a good night’s sleep. Chii greets him again upside-down and lands on him, knocking him out. But she hears that familiar sound again… Oh don’t tell me…

Episode 13
Yorokonde’s boss lends Hideki his DVD player and also a few hints where to get some naughty DVDs. Wink, wink. Almost busted by Yumi. As Hideki looks through the selection of DVDs at the adult section, he is surprised by Minoru and Yuzuki. They are here to get a newly released net game. Suggesting he plays a game with Chii, he lends a software to him since his DVD can be used to play net games. But you know, Hideki is a total noob. He doesn’t even know how to setup connection or login. Oh wait. He doesn’t even have an email! He calls Minoru for tech support but it’s all down to himself to read the manual. He spends all night deciphering it so much so he is snoring loudly in Takako’s class! That night he has Shinbo hook it up and in his gratitude invites him and Sumomo to play. In the game, Hideki is all excited like the newbie he is. Shinbo’s avatar is Takako while Sumomo is a life-size version. Minoru and Yuzuki are also there. However Chii isn’t with them so they think due to the limitations of the server’s capacity, she is being placed in another city. The real Chii is not responding since when a Persocon is in the game, all other functions temporarily cease. But worried Hideki frantically goes searching for her while the rest tag along. Along the way, Hideki trips, gets swamped by green Clannad’s dango daikazoku-like creatures, fell off a cliff into a spider’s web, stepped on trap and got roasted by a dragon.

By the time they log out, it’s already morning. Hideki asks where Chii has been. Though she doesn’t remember, all she could hear is Hideki’s voice. He hopes they’ll play again tonight and is confident they’ll be together. But pulling an all-nighter is a tiring task because now Takako not only has 1 snorer in class, but 2! Hideki, yeah the repeat offender but Shinbo too? Not enough sleep also means Yorokonde’s boss thinks he’s all night watching those DVDs. But when he finds out he didn’t, he exclusively lends him some of his personal naughty collection. Almost busted by Yumi again. That night, the same quartet continue their play and again Chii isn’t with them. Shinbo is puzzled since the load on the server tonight isn’t as heavy. Another frantic search leads the party to some final boss. Hideki is adamant to take it on since he believes this will take him to the next town where Chii is. Shinbo and Sumomo back him up but they all take a sound beating. Just as they’re about to get toast, Chii suddenly appears and obliterates the final boss with her blinding light powers! And as Hideki is to reunite with Chii, the game ends, congratulating them for winning. But Chii doesn’t seem to remember anything. Minoru concludes Chii’s sudden appearance as a different character and defeat the invincible boss is due to her processing powers greater than the servers. This would mean her CPU would be at a super computer level. Hideki puts away the game since they’ve cleared it and it would be a problem if they couldn’t play it together. Chii laments this fact so Hideki says that they can play another game. Happy Chii scouts around and picks up a DVD underneath his bed: That erotic one from his boss. Can we play this? How should he explain to her that this isn’t that kind of game?

Episode 14
It’s the summer and Hideki’s grades aren’t improving. How do you explain getting a ‘D’? Sleep too much in class? Don’t worry. There’s still hope. Use your summer vacation to study, study, study! Yeah, right! Maybe also the heat may have got to his head because he starts dreaming of Chii, Takako, Yumi and Chitose flirting around in their swimsuit. But that may soon be a reality because Takako invites him to go to the beach with her since Shinbo invited her. Initially Hideki said he was busy, an excuse that he didn’t want to go. But after Shinbo said he also invited Yumi and Chitose, damn he’s not going to miss this chance. They won’t have to pay anything since it’s Minoru’s summer villa. As the gang play at the shallow part of the water, Yumi and Takako thinks Hideki is joking when he says he can’t swim. Because of that, Takako thinks of giving him a special lesson tonight. Hideki is so looking forward to it. The day continues with beach volleyball, eating kakigori, playing sparklers and card games. That night as Hideki nervously makes his way to Takako’s room, it turns out that her special lesson is just a special lesson. What do I mean? Instead of studying in a classroom, he’s studying here in her room. Like private tutoring. What was he hoping/thinking? What were you hoping/thinking?! Next morning, Minoru advises Hideki to put some protective lotion on Chii to protect her from the elements. Hey, even if Persocon were made to withstand daily activities, they still need some protection if they’re to function properly. Oh, did I mention you have to put the lotion on EVERY part? Hideki can’t do it himself so he tries to teach Chii but blunders. Ultimately Chitose helps her out. As they stroll along the beach, Chii picks up more words for her vocabulary. Then she spots a pod of dolphins. Hideki and the rest get excited to see the dolphins. They can’t bring the dolphins closer or else they’ll get stuck. Hideki can’t swim out too far so in the end, Minoru has everyone hop aboard his cruiser. Cruiser! Don’t play play. Everyone watches the dolphins but Chii sees how happy they are and decides to join them. She jumps off the boat into the sea. Hideki thinks Chii has her life support system but Shinbo says that it may not work if it’s too deep. Then it hit Hideki as he starts panicking and dives into the ocean to save her. Hey wait a minute! I thought he can’t swim?! I mean, he’s paddling like crazy underwater to reach Chii. If he can’t swim, he’d be struggling trying to breath and keeping his head above the water. When he sees Chii normal, to his relief, he passes out. When he wakes up, he finds himself in bed in Minoru’s villa. Chii wonders if she did something wrong but Hideki is glad she is alright. The rest notes how she is not a normal Persocon because one would already have malfunctioned. Hideki learns that Chii was the one who saved him. So summer days went and go just like that. And Hideki’s grades? He got an ‘E’! It got worse!

Episode 15
Summer is really so hot that the air-cond in class had to break down. Takako has got everyone’s hopes up if that she’ll treat everyone to kakigori if they answer her next question correctly. Everyone is eager but she had to choose Hideki. But of course. Everyone is putting their hopes on him… Since he can’t, I guess the deal is off. But Shinbo seems to be acting strange. He comes to class late, borrows Hideki’s notes and even asks if Takako said anything about something happening tomorrow. Not that he knows of. As Hideki returns home, he gets a surprise visit from Takako. Even more surprising, she’s staying for the night! Hideki couldn’t possibly have another woman sleeping in his place so Takako could find somewhere else. And since he can’t let that happen too, I guess Hideki ends up being the biggest loser and letting her stay. Don’t worry, boy. She doesn’t mind your porn mags lying around. Another shocking discovery Hideki finds out is that Takako is married! However she is rather dodgy with that subject. The night continues with beer and playing the game of King. Takako is sure having the fun of her life since she’s always winning while Hideki not so because he’s been ordered around. Yeah, even that act of Takako kissing Chii is sure a heart stopping scene for Hideki. Anyway she just pecks Chii’s cheek. I guess Takako had one too many so she just collapses and falls straight to sleep. In the dead of the night, Hideki sees Takako in her underwear going right up to him and seduce him. He starts going crazy and by the time he got to say “No!”, it’s already morning. A dream? Why is he semi-naked? Why is Takako also in her underwear? Don’t tell me that wasn’t a dream. Well, it did happen. Takako took off their clothes to avoid getting wet from sweat of the summer heat. And yeah, she saw everything about him. Normal size. Oh Chii, you don’t have to learn that too. As they head to class, they pass by Chitose. Hideki sighs so much that you could say his happiness could be close to zero. He is pretty sure Chitose must have misunderstood them. It’ll be a bigger problem since Takako is married. Takako puts on a gloomy look so Hideki says that he’d gladly listen if she has any problems she wants to talk. In class, Hideki sees Shinbo sleeping at his desk. Then when he tells her about Takako at his place last night, he gets very agitated. On the way home after his job, Hideki spots Shinbo and Takako hugging each other in the streets. She is crying in his arms while he comforts her with pretty words. Then they both kiss.

Episode 16
Hideki must be thinking so hard so much so he sees visions of that bunny creature asking him whether he likes her or not. Takako a married woman, Shinbo her student. The possibilities are there, right? It gets even weirder when Shinbo leaves Sumomo in his care. In school, Takako and Shinbo both failed to turn up. Now this really worries Hideki till he can’t even concentrate on his part time job. One night he gets a call from Shinbo via Sumomo. He tells Hideki straight: He’s eloping with Takako. After all that trying and managing to connect Sumomo to his monitor, Hideki continues his barrage of questions on Shinbo’s elopement. He learns that this has been going on for half a year, the same time Hideki arrived. He’s upset that he wasn’t told a single thing. Then the monitor broke down. It’s not old but rather, did you notice Hideki kept hitting it each time he’s talking with Shinbo? Hideki runs over to Minoru’s place to reconnect the call. The reason why Shinbo never told him was because Takako told him not to even though he wanted to. He further reveals that Takako’s husband got into Persocons. At first she was delighted when they got one. But soon her husband began paying more attention to the Persocon till a point Takako felt she no longer exists in his life. Further flashbacks reveal how Shinbo first met her sitting forlorn on a swing at a park during midnight. He went to talk to her and she told him she was locked out by her husband. It’s like as though he had totally forgotten about her. To her, it didn’t really matter if she existed anymore. That’s when Shinbo fell in love with her and tried hard to be with her.

But Hideki isn’t going to buy this silly excuse as reason they eloped. However he has decided. He tried to convince her misunderstanding about humans obsessed with their Persocons but to no avail. It’s like she doesn’t trust men anymore. No matter how much they liked her, she’s afraid if they fall for their Persocon, everything would go back to square one like as though nothing happened. Then the night she was to meet up with him but went to Hideki’s room instead, they’re supposed to talk about their future but I guess she got cold feet. So to make sure she won’t run away, he brought her to the hotspring in. Plus, he’s not going back till Takako agrees to remarry him. Before they hang up, Hideki wants Shinbo to tell him everything the next time. Shinbo and Takako talk. She mentions the time she stayed at Hideki’s room. Hideki was in a half-conscious state when she asked him if it’s wrong to remarry another person. He unconsciously said it can’t be helped since she fell in love but the one she married and herself all had a hard time. She should do what she is comfortable with. Those words strike her heart and she felt comfortable with it. Things get a little steamier when Shinbo and Takako start making out. Minoru notes how Hideki is a nice guy. Although he is a virgin and has no girlfriend. Compliment or insult? Hideki notes Takako’s husband who is into Persocons and making a real woman cry. So how can a Persocon be any better than her?

Episode 17
Hideki comes back depressed. Partly because all his grades are ‘E’. That’s bad. He gets a call from Shinbo. Actually Takako wants to talk to him. She notices his bad grades and thinks that he gets nervous when the real thing comes. She suggests he take the National Exam as practice before the real thing and test his abilities. Hideki puts in effort in his studies so much so he’s like a zombie! He even took temporarily leave from Yorokonde to study. But his problems start piling up when he realizes he lost his wallet. This means, no food. No food means no energy. No energy how to study? I guess he’s got no choice. Ueda even notices Chii gloomy during her shift. He learns what has happened as Chii felt she couldn’t do anything to make him happy. He says as long as she feels that way, Hideki will be happy no matter what she does and hands her this week’s pay. Chii is happy and plans to hand it to Hideki. However he refuses to accept something that she has worked for, though he thanks her for her feelings. Hideki gets more tired at each passing day. I wonder if he really remembers what he studies. Chii decides to cook for him. If Chitose didn’t stop her, the black smoke would’ve turned into fire. Chitose learns she’s doing this for Hideki’s sake as Chii ponders what else is there to make him happy. Sumomo suggests the porn mags! But Chitose has a way that will make Hideki happier. She sends Chitose and Sumomo to buy a list of food ingredients and then teaches them how to cook a delicious meal. Hunger must be getting to Hideki’s head so much so he’s really talking out loud and acting strange that it’s freaking out kids! When Hideki comes home, he finds out Chii and Sumomo had made him a wonderful meal. Chii mentions he was down recently. Because of that, she too feels down and wants him to be happy again. Shinbo calls to check up on him and reminds him that he loses sight of everything around him when he’s nervous and wants him to calm down. Hideki realizes he was blind to everything around him recently and apologizes. A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, like they say. Now Hideki is one happy guy after eating Chii’s cooking. Next morning he is awakened to Chii’s cooking but is shocked to see her in a naked apron. I guess she learns this from his porn mags. Hideki is able to do his exam with confidence. After that, he brings Chii and Sumomo out somewhere. And it seems Yumi finds Hideki’s dropped wallet while cleaning up at Yorokonde.

Episode 18 or 16.5
Another recap episode as that is what this episode (or episode 16.5 to some) is. This time as Minoru and Yuzuki trying to find clues about the owner of that mysterious Chii picture. This has them revisit several incidents from the time they show the picture to Hideki and to events reliving Chii’s memories from the day they first met. This includes the part when Chii starts glowing and floating while reading the book, the horror story that nearly turned true at the apartment, the online game and the beach trip. However with not much data on their side, Minoru thinks of asking for Shinbo’s assistance. As mentioned by Yuzuki, he isn’t convenient. Yup, flashback of his eloping with Takako. They take a break as Yuzuki apologizes for screwing up then when analysing Chii but he says she’s already doing the best of her abilities. He remembers the advice of not falling in love with a Persocon he gave to Hideki.

Episode 19
Noticing Chitose doing spring cleaning, Hideki and Chii offer to help out with Sumomo cheering them on. This includes cleaning the windows, pulling weeds and dusting. Shortly after the break, Chitose gives clothes for Chii to wear. But Chitose mentions that Chii has totally forgotten and that these clothes fit her because it is hers. Meanwhile Hideki stumbles upon a dark room with lots of cables. Sumomo startled him so this causes him to drop her on a cable and electrocute her, causing the power to trip. He starts panicking when Sumomo doesn’t respond and dreads how Shinbo will want him to pay back. He tries calling Minoru for help but he’s out. He spots Chii in the new dress but I guess was too infatuated with Sumomo rather than hearing her say that this dress belongs to her than Chitose. Chitose comes in and offers to take a look at Sumomo. Seems she has some knowledge in handling Persocon as she analyses that Sumomo has just fainted from the shock and her data isn’t destroyed due to the anti-shock system. Hideki learns that Chitose once worked in a Persocon-related job, just like her husband. Yeah, she’s married. However her husband died and since this apartment belonged to him, she decided to watch this place herself. As gratitude, Chitose invites Hideki to eat at her place. She notes how Chii is smiling more often recently because Hideki has been taking good care of him. Even if Chii is becoming cuter by day, she is worried those kids will find her easily. Back in his room, Hideki thinks of taking Chitose’s advice to set a password for Sumomo since anybody can use her. After learning what not to set as passwords (names, telephone numbers, birthdays, etc), Hideki sets “Chobits” as Sumomo’s password. This has him wondering if Chii has a password too. Elsewhere a couple of Persocons in black outfits, Jima and Dita seem to be close to their target since ‘it’ is reacting. And underneath Chitose’s room, a passageway that leads to a room with lots of monitors. She is monitoring the situation and realizes those kids are here.

Episode 20
Hideki visits Chii at Tirol and finds that she can make a delicious cake herself. At Yorokonde, he talks to the owner about this. But as for Yumi, she once had a human-type Persocon but she became sad. She adds that Persocons can do anything better than humans. There are some people who like Persocons more than their fellow humans. Therefore those humans don’t want to be close with other humans. Next morning as Hideki prepares to leave, Chii wonders why he looks so tired and sad. Though he denies, Chii hugs him in her relief because whenever she thought he was sick, her heart starts racing. Yumi’s words and Takako’s case start flooding Hideki’s mind on how she should think of Chii. Chii on her way to Tirol, stops by the bookstore and notices the next bunny creature volume is out called “Sukoshi Ztusu” (Little By Little). As she browses the pages, suddenly someone kidnaps her! When Hideki returns home, he gets a phone call from Ueda saying that Chii did not turn up for work today and is worried. He fears the worse as he goes to see Chitose but she’s not in (probably she’s underground). Then he rushes out to look for her. Passing by the bookstore, the owner notices him and mentions that Chii stopped by to read the new volume. He wanted to go talk to her but was soon gone. He also noticed a book missing and that she dropped a hair bead in which he picked up. Chii wakes up in a room and sees a mini Persocon, Kotoko telling her she’s being kidnapped. But Kotoko gets frustrated each time Chii shows her blurness. Then Yoshiyuki Kojima enters the room. Seems he is interested in finding out more about her ever since he first heard about her. Thinking she may be the Chobits series, there is more than meets the eye to her. Minoru continues to research on Chii’s picture but still ends up in a dead end. Yuzuki feels guilty that she isn’t useful enough to him but Minoru says she’s been more useful than she thinks. Yuzuki hugs him just like how his sister did whenever he is sad. Then they receive a panic call from Hideki about Chii’s sudden disappearance. Minoru agrees to meet up with him while Hideki continues to search around.

Episode 21
Desperate Hideki meets Minoru and Yuzuki as they learn what happened. Yuzuki has a theory. Since Minoru posted for information on a thread, someone from the public may have noticed and took interest, therefore led to Chii’s kidnapping. Hideki has no choice but to continue searching for Chii but he bumps into Ueda outside. He offers to help look for Chii since he too is worried about her. Unknown to them, Yumi is tailing them. They ask every shop owner in the district but to no avail. A shop owner was kind enough to help post a notice in the internet forums. She mistakes this Persocon to belong to Ueda but soon realizes that he doesn’t own one anymore. Then Hideki gets a call from Shinbo. Seems Takako has agreed but Hideki is more worried about Chii. He asks if Persocons do feel pain so his reply is that if they aren’t programmed, they won’t. Even if they have pain sensory, everything can be deleted later as though the Persocon never went through hard times. Later Ueda talks to Hideki and tells his story how he once had a Persocon and married her! Shortly after opening Tirol, he went to a Persocon store and saw this really cute Persocon and bought her. He brought her to life and they became happy together till they were married. Though everyone made fun of them, he was happy. Till one day her memories start failing her. It got worse so he took her back to the store and was diagnosed that her hard disk is broken and must be replaced. However since she is an old model, her data memories can’t be transferred. Ueda felt sorry about her but was told she wouldn’t feel a thing. Ueda couldn’t accept this answer and brought her to other stores but their answers were the same. So he restarted her and started all over again. However her memory problems became so bad that she couldn’t remember anything after a few seconds. Ueda got so bothered thinking too much about it that he didn’t realize he stepped in a path of an oncoming truck. In that instant, his Persocon pushed him out of the way and got hit. He felt strange because he thought she was supposed to forget everything but Hideki says it’s not because she was trying to save him.

Shortly Ueda took her back to the store but it was beyond repair. The owner asked if he wanted another same model but to him, she was the only girl for him even if she was a Persocon and not a living thing. And though she can’t remember nor feel anything, he remembered everything her, the good and bad times. He just can’t forget it. He thinks it’s the same for Hideki. If Chii is having a tough time, he can’t forget it or pretend as though it never happened. That’s why he must keep searching for Chii and is certain she is waiting. Yumi who has been eavesdropping runs away but Hideki chases after her thinking that person may be the kidnapper. He is surprised to see Yumi and tears in her eyes. But she runs away when Ueda catches up. He says she isn’t coming back after seeing him and that being with him makes her sad. Hideki asks if they know each other but Ueda dodges the question to find Chii. Minoru continues searching for clues when Yuzuki receives an email from the person who posted that Chii picture.

Episode 22
Minoru sends that picture to Hideki in hopes that he can decipher it so that guys has to cut short his search and return to his room. Plugging Sumomo in, he is puzzled to see something abstract. Doesn’t look like Chii, doesn’t it? Just blocks and lines? Also, Shinbo has also returned since Takako requested him to help him out. Meanwhile Takako also has that abstract picture and wonders who sent it. Even if she knew who did, it’s not like she can do anything. She leaves her spot and returns upstairs. Seems like that bunny creature series is penned by her. She mentions about some promise in which she can only write about all the things Chii lost before she turned out like this. That abstract picture may be some sort of navigation system map and perhaps the location of the kidnapper as Shinbo thinks. Narrowing down from 12,000 over identical places down to 23 places in this area, seems only one that has access point to that online thread. Shinbo and Minoru realize it belongs to a guy named Dragonfly (Yoshiyuki), somebody who likes picking fights especially hacking into Minoru’s stuff. This guy has more than 20 custom Persocons and must have a big house and engaged in a KB Company to prevent thefts of his Persocon. Hideki and Shinbo race downtown to find his house. Meanwhile Yoshiyuki has hooked Chii up with lots of cables to all his Persocons. Chii is glowing and flowing while he is quite impressed. He is going to restart her but when he does that, Chii awakens and causes all the other Persocons to go offline. All the cables start binding Yoshiyuki as Chii mentions he is not his special person and is not allowed to enter here. The windows break so I guess this saves time for Hideki and Shinbo searching, eh? Minoru notices Yuzuki offline but not totally. Yuzuki is murmuring that she knows this familiar voice and that this voice knows her.

When Hideki comes into the room, Chii in a trance goes up to him and says that he is the only one for her and is not allowed to touch anyone but him. Leading his hand to her reset point, she continues that he is the only one allowed to enter. She asks what his most valuable thing is. If she knows that, she will no longer be lost anymore. As she closes her face to kiss him, a burst of bright lights returns everything to normal. Chii is back to normal and is happy upon seeing Hideki but collapses shortly. They question Yoshiyuki as he tries to lie that Chii followed him. However Kotoko, who was programmed to tell the truth, says that her master kidnapped her. Foiled by your own Persocon, eh? Shinbo confiscates Kotoko since she has evidence of the kidnapping and won’t allow him to delete any data. He even makes him confess to Sumomo that he lend her Kotoko. And things indicate that the map was sent by Jima and Dita. Next morning, Hideki worries about Chii since she hasn’t opened her eyes since then and back then she felt like a different person. Wondering if Chii is really the Chobits series, suddenly Sumomo comes to life seeing that he activated her password. Seems Kotoko is living in his place too. She notes she has no reaction to the words Chobits because back then when Yoshiyuki checked her, her appearance changed. She brushes it off that the Chobits series is just a legend after all. Then Hideki takes Chii out to let Ueda know that she has been found. Plus, they need to pay for the book she took. Looking at the book, Hideki notes how similar the story is to him and Chii and wonders who wrote it and for what purpose.

Episode 23
Life returns to normal. Shinbo moves out to stay with Takako. Why didn’t he bring Sumomo along and continue to leave it in Hideki’s care? Hideki brings Chii to see Minoru. Seems like he is requesting his help to find out to know more about Chii. At first he didn’t matter she was a Persocon or not but he got worried when she got in big trouble. Minoru agrees to help and has gathered some information. Though the Chobits series are rumoured to be the ultimate Persocon, seems there is an organization involved. When Persocons first started out, Persocon developers and the client organization had different ideas. The developers were constantly annoyed by the organization so they went underground to create the ultimate Persocon, Chobits. As Yuzuki brings out the drinks, Minoru gets upset that she’s working as a maid rather than resting. He tries to take over but soon collapses himself. In bed, Minoru’s condition isn’t serious since he has been working without rest for consecutive days. Minoru feels that it’s his fault since he requested for his help but Yuzuki points that it is her to blame for not having a powerful processor instead. But when Yoshiyuki shows his face up, Hideki instant beats him up! Actually, he is here to make amends and was requested by Minoru to help out. Yoshiyuki thinks the fastest way is to hack into the organization’s main computer. But there are some risks since there’ll be lots of protection and the illegal tapping may cause data to be lost. He already suggested to Minoru to use Yuzuki but he was pretty much against it since that is the most efficient way (otherwise they’ll be running around in circles). Hideki understands how Minoru felt because to him Yuzuki is more than just a Persocon. So Hideki is going to make Yoshiyuki work harder on Minoru’s behalf and watches over him.

Later when Chii looks at a picture of Minoru and his sister, Kaede, Yuzuki mentions that she is not her sister but a replica of his data. Yuzuki insists that she wants to be of use to Minoru and asks if Chii would do the same for Hideki knowing well if it breaks her. Chii says that if Hideki is happy, she’ll be happy and thus would do it. Yuzuki goes to hack the organization’s system and causes a power drain in the house. Jima and Dita notice they’ve been hacked so they play around. Hideki thinks Minoru is trying to work hard but to his surprise sees him pops up behind him. Then they realize it is Yuzuki. She refuses to follow orders from Minoru to stop, insisting she wants to be of use to him like his sister. However Minoru says that she is not his sister. Yuzuki manages to hack into the system but some protection system causes the cables to snap and break! Thankfully because of that, Yuzuki only lost some portion of Minoru’s sister’s data. Otherwise she is okay. She requests him to reupload them but Minoru says it’s not necessary. He was traumatized when his sister died and didn’t want to forget her, thus creating Yuzuki. Though he considers the time spent with his sister and Yuzuki to be important, they are irreplaceable. Thus Yuzuki is Yuzuki. Jima and Dita seem pretty satisfied that they’ve fend off the hacking. Morning comes so Hideki and Chii are pretty happy of how everything turned out. Minoru and Yoshiyuki hand him part of the data that Yuzuki managed to download and may contain a list of Persocon developers and some may surprise him. Hideki is seen furiously knocking on Chitose’s door because the list he was given to, Chitose is part of the picture with Chii.

Episode 24
Hideki still ponders about Yumi’s relationship with Ueda. While he and Chii are walking in the streets, she spots a couple holding hands and asks Hideki the reason for doing so. Well, you hold hands with someone you love to be happy, right? They enter Tirol but it seems Ueda is spacing out though he brushes it off. Hideki knows that he is troubled and offers to help if there is anything bothering him. He thanks him but says that he’s always wanted to make his important person smile but made her cried instead. Then Chii comes out wearing a maid outfit. Ueda points out that it’s the wrong clothes and these were made for a different person. He can’t seem to get rid of it. Wanna bet it belongs to Yumi? Because she’s like a stalker watching from outside, crying. Hideki spots her and goes after her. Once he catches up to her, she starts crying in his arms. She mentions how those clothes were made by Ueda for her but it seems he gave it to a Persocon. Chii talks to Ueda about the pain in his heart. Ueda mentions something how Yumi said goodbye to him. When the person you like most says goodbye, it hurts the most. Chii mentions how Yumi has always been watching him outside Tirol but this time she had tears in her eyes. Ueda starts to realize so Chii asks what he is going to do now. He has a request of her. Hideki brings Yumi back to his place so she starts explaining. When Yumi started working at Tirol, Ueda was very nice to her to the point she fell in love with him. She even mustered her courage to confess her feelings but she learns that he is married but his wife died. Curious, she went online to search about it and found something shocking. Using Sumomo to download news clips, Hideki watches the first one of Ueda and his Persocon’s happy wedding. The second one was during her funeral whereby the journalists hound him about questions of his Persocon. However Ueda dismissed that his wife is just a Persocon and even had a proper name: Yumi. That’s when Yumi thought she was being compared to a Persocon and could never be as good as her. Hideki consoles her that both of them went through hard times. Even though Ueda’s previous wife was a Persocon, he was serious about it. Even so, he was seriously thinking about her when he responded to her feelings. He even fell in love with her though his wife’s demise is hard. Besides, he isn’t the kind of person who would be comparing someone with another. Just then Ueda and Chii come in (Ueda used Chii to help locate Yumi’s Persocon handphone). Ueda and Yumi talk and reconcile. He mentions he married the Persocon Yumi for who she is and fell in love with Yumi for the same reason. Dismissing her thoughts that Persocons are perfect, there are things that Persocons can and cannot do. Likewise with humans. He thought he would never fall in love again but even if Yumi was a Persocon he will still fall in love with her. Chii takes off her maid outfit and hands it to Yumi! Yumi apologizes and thanks him for still liking her. They both hug. After they leave, Chii holds Hideki’s hands and wonders if he’s happy.

Episode 25
Minoru receives another picture from the anonymous sender. This time a picture of twin Chiis. Kotoko has analysed the lines of this apartment and concludes they aren’t your average lines. Chii thought somebody was outside the door but all she saw was just a package and a continuation of the bunny creature’s story. Both bunnies are still in pain though they continue to look for it. Hideki sees Minoru and Yoshiyuki as they tell him what they know. Hideki gets upset and violent when Yoshiyuki keeps saying Persocon instead of their names. Meanwhile Jima and Dita discuss if that girl starts it, there’ll be danger. Jima says he is a databank that all Persocons are connected to while Dita is a protection programme designed to guard him. In order to protect all Persocons, they’re trying to stop that girl from starting it. But they still don’t know why she wants to start it. Jima thinks that for those who created human-like Persocons, they are like her children and just like parents, they want their children to be happy. But happiness for a Persocon isn’t the same for all humans. Dita doesn’t believe it and still considers that girl to be dangerous.

After work, Hideki meets Shinbo. He is still troubled that he can’t do anything for Chii. So Shinbo tells him that there is something he has to decide first: Does he really like her? He continues that after thinking about Takako’s case, what if her husband wasn’t into Persocons but another person? So it’s not that he dislikes a person who is into Persocons, but one who associates with humans or Persocons irresponsibly. Shinbo follows Hideki home to borrow Sumomo and Kotoko for a while so Chii and Hideki can talk. Of course he doesn’t know what to say so he just hugs her, even if he himself doesn’t know why. Jima starts feeling pain. Though he says it’s just too much data to handle and the broken data can be replaced, Dita thinks it’s that girl and starts moving. Jima states how the secret is out and all he wants is for that girl to be happy. Hideki takes a breather outside but sees Chitose. He has lots to ask but she too intends to explain to him. Taking him to her underground unit, she mentions this place was created by her husband. This was also where human-type Persocons were made. She shows him the mysterious pictures of Chii, including one which she admits is herself. Beside her is Elda, the one whom we all know now as Chii. However there is another one called Freya. She is the one with lots of mean cables sticking out of her body. Chitose adds that both were made for her since she is unable to have children. Freya was made first and when she came to life, Chitose became happy and they lived happily like a family. However she found a person she loved though they do not know who. Chitose was worried about her happiness and thus her husband created Elda. They seemed happy till one day Freya couldn’t take the pain anymore and collapsed.

This was when they realized Freya was in love with her husband. All the lab staff suggested they delete Freya’s memories but her husband was against then. Freya started to fade away and inside of Elda there was this same kind of system in her. Afraid of something like that would happen again, the lab staff wanted to get rid of Elda but her husband didn’t allow that. Soon her husband got ill so Chitose changed Elda to find the most important person only for her. And that person is Hideki. To all Persocons users, Elda is dangerous for them but for Hideki, only he has decided. After Hideki leaves, Chitose ‘talks’ to her husband that she loves others but it’s strange that she can’t be happy. Even a Persocon has a right to be happy. In order to find happiness for a Persocon and a human, Chii was created. That’s why she’ll protect Chii till the end and make her happy. Chii continues reading the storybook when Hideki comes in. He’s looking pretty shocked. Chii goes up to him and asks if he is the only one for her. Does he love her? That’s because she loves him. I guess Hideki took too long to answer so Chii starts glowing and emitting a bright light. All Persocons go offline while Yuzuki and Kotoko can hear that familiar voice.

Episode 26
Hideki replies that he loves her. She returns to normal when they hug but it’s short-lived. She starts to activate and floats up to the roof, saying that she needs to do something with her other self. Dita tries to hack in but was attacked, so she plugs herself directly to Chii. All other Persocons go offline again except Jima and Dita since they are of the same system. Seems Chii is trying to connect to all the Persocons. Jima restrains Hideki and tells him and that they are created to stop her. When Chii chooses a special person, she links to all the Persocons in the world and executes some kind of programme. Though they don’t know what will happen after. To stop her and never make her move again means to destroy her OS and shut her down. Hideki won’t allow it so Dita tells him that it’s no difference if he falls for a Persocon since they are not human and have no emotions. Hideki refuses to belief her because each are different and that he fell in love with Chii. Jima releases Hideki, unplugs Dita and takes her away because he is interested to see that guy’s future, that Persocon’s future. Chii drains out the power. Chitose comes rushing to the top but when Chii awakens, she is not Chii but Freya. So if she’s here, where’s Chii? Freya narrates her flashback whereby she saw herself helpless and dying. Elda put Freya inside her heart to protect her and thus stayed inside her. Freya says Chii has disappeared since she has found her only person. Though she had something to do, she stopped halfway. That’s because she noticed even if a Persocon likes a human, there are things she can’t do. Do you think Hideki would believe all that crap? Even so, Chii didn’t think that way. Freya pleads to Chitose to get rid of both of them. She considered them both failures.

Chitose has no choice as she activates the “Chobits” password and deletes all the data, unheeding Hideki’s plea. Hideki tries to activate the password but it seems it will only react to Chitose or her husband’s voice. Chitose apologizes for giving him hard times and says Chii really loved him. Thus she went away on her own accord. After Jima and Dita leave, Hideki also apologize that he couldn’t understand anything about Chii and hurt her. He also felt he never properly explained the meaning of happiness to her. So he tells the Persocon that Chii is ever found, he wants her to tell her the meaning of happiness: Being with her person you love. Though there will be painful and hard times, being separated hurts more. He wishes for Chii to be happy. Chitose notices Freya starting to cry. Chii narrates from the story how her heart is still in pain, though he is searching for someone who will like her for who she is. When she found him, it was the beginning of something more painful. It was painful to be together and seeing him in pain, she hid from him. She disappeared because she loved him. Even so, not seeing him is even more painful. But she’s leaving for the sake of his happiness. But what is the meaning of happiness? For that moment, Chii returns emitting a bright light. She realizes that her happiness is here with her only person. Though it may be hard and painful, she still wants to be with him. Chii rushes to hug Hideki. Yuzuki could still hear that familiar voice but this time it is filled with gentleness and warmth. All the eyes of the Persocon lit up with life for a short while. Chii wonders that even if she’s a Persocon and not human and can’t do certain things, she wants to be with him. Hideki agrees and wants to be with her too. Life returns to normal as Chii narrates about love and happiness.

Episode 27 or 24.5
Spring is ending and summer is approaching. Chitose narrates how many things have happened since. Yeah, a recap episode beginning with Chitose giving Chii to wear her own dress to that kidnapping by Yoshiyuki. Kotoko seems to be hanging around with Chitose as she mentions how she calculated Hideki’s passing rate is only at 8.6%! She tells the truth, right? Nevertheless, Hideki and Chii went to see his exam results. Chitose gets a call from Shinbo that he got a job although he’s still in university since he’s getting married. She also thinks of cooking a big meal for them and Chii’s colleagues for Hideki’s admittance to university. But what if he fails? It doesn’t matter because they will all still come. After that lengthy recap on Chii’s real identity, Freya and the shutdown before Hideki and Chii are happily reunited, Hideki and Chii return from the train station and are greeted by all their friends. Though we won’t hear him say he really passed, but Hideki doesn’t look gloomy and with his pals happy for him, you know what that means, right? Chitose narrates how Chii is now living happily.

Even Robots And A.I. Aren’t Perfect…
Uh, yeah. I guess the ending was pretty decent. It would be tad sad if Hideki and Chii could not be reunited together in the end but I’ve already guessed from the start that they are inseparable. So I suppose Chii is really part of the Chobits series because of her deep emotions that linked her to Hideki that ultimately broke the spell. But there are some questions that bugged me. For instance, who in the first place threw Chii out? Was it the lab staff? So was the CD she dropped was some software programme to enable her to learn better or her memories? And if Chitose first saw Chii in Hideki’s room, why isn’t she that surprised? Why did she leak photos of Chii onto the internet in the first place? Speaking of the organization, who the heck are these people behind it? The way Jima and Dita are portrayed as though they are a threat to Chii and Hideki but in the end, Jima even as a Persocon has his own consciousness to do what is right. And why is Chii considered dangerous to others? What is it that separates Hideki from the rest? I know he cares for her but if she was found by Minoru and Shinbo, I think they’ll also treat her right and good. Maybe Hideki puts in more effort because he is a noob? He is still one by the way when it comes to Persocons and technology. So Hideki and Chii have got lots of learning to do in their real lives. Another thing boggling me is the fact Chitose authored those bunny stories. How did she know Chii would pick them up at the bookstore? How did she even market it? The story seems general enough so if I were to read it, I wouldn’t have noticed that it was a story mirrored after Hideki and Chii.

Hideki is one amusing character. He is struggling so hard with his meagre earnings and studies, it makes you wonder how he has enough to take care of a Persocon which costs a lot to maintain. Yeah, he’s like a dumping ground for other Persocons too because later on he has to temporarily shelter Sumomo and Kotoko. Maybe it’s his perseverance and support from others that enabled him to go on. It’s like one of those stories whereby a poor large family managing to get by daily. I guess he is like that. Even if Hideki at first considers Persocons to be non-human, but the way he treats them from the start like a human shows that he subtly regards Persocons at the same level with humans. It’s his realization of love for Chii that made him realizes this. Otherwise, he’s not the kind of guy who would mistreat Persocons just because they are not human. Plus, he still hasn’t gotten over the way he says his thoughts out loud. Every passer-by must be thinking he’s a mad guy. Don’t bring your kids near him! Chii on the other hand is also amusing whenever she copycats Hideki’s action, especially when he starts panicking. When he goes rolling on the floor, she too goes rolling. It’s amazing she didn’t become Hideki the Second. Personally, I felt that her past wasn’t that tragic to warrant anything heart-stopping. Freya being sealed inside of her turned out to be her sister rather than her other inner self-consciousness who may wreak havoc when something goes wrong. Oh, another point I’m pondering. So restarting Chii is pressing the part where it’s most sensitive for a woman? Since Hideki is the only one allowed to ‘enter’ her, I guess he has the right to f*ck her, eh? Just kidding. Genki Sumomo is pretty amusing whenever she blows her whistle in the morning to remind the gang to get up and do their morning exercise with her. Even if you have a Persocon, this doesn’t mean you should slack in your duty to keep fit and healthy, eh? As for the other characters, I felt their side stories were more like a little distraction and didn’t really have any direct impact on Hideki-Chii except to bring them closer. Like the elopement of Shinbo and Takako, Ueda and Yumi’s estranged relationship and Minoru and Yuzuki’s late sister’s reconciliation only serve to make Hideki and Chii realize the importance of each other. But in the end, all these side stories ended on a happy note, right?

Whenever Hideki starts panicking and going loud, he sounded so much like Gintama’s Gintoki! It’s no surprise seeing that Hideki is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita who also voices that character. At that moment, I thought Hideki would turn into a silver-permed-hair Yorozuya samurai. But the most surprising one has to be Rie Tanaka who is the voice of Chii! No matter how much I think about it, I just couldn’t visualize her as Chii’s voice. After hearing this veteran in roles like Suigin Tou in Rozen Maiden, Sanada in UFO Princess Valkyrie and Maria in Hayate No Gotoku, there is no way that I could imagine she is behind Chii. Never ever. Even throughout the series, I was still wondering if this is really her voice. I’ve never heard her voice this kind of role. Maybe it’s one of those early days, I guess. At least Kikuko Inoue was recognizable in her role as Chitose due to her trademark dreamy voice like how she did in Aa! Megami-sama’s Belldandy. Other casts include Tomokazu Seki as Shinbo (Chiaki in Nodame Cantabile), Houko Kuwashima as Minoru (Tomoyo in Clannad), Fumiko Orikasa as Yuzuki (Rukia in Bleach – she wasn’t hoarse or tough enough for her voice to be recognized), Megumi Toyoguchi as Yumi (Winry in Fullmetal Alchemist), Motoko Kumai as Sumomo (Ginta in Marchen Awakens Romance – her voice was too squeaky rather than laidback to be recognized), Yuji Ueda as Ueda (Morita in Honey And Clover), Junichi Suwabe as Yoshiyuki (Atobe in Prince Of Tennis), Ryoka Yuzuki as Takako (Ino in Naruto), Yukana Nogami as Kotoko (Teletha in Full Metal Panic), Isshin Chiba as Jima (Kouga in Bleach) and Yuka Tokumitsu as Dita.

The opening theme by Round Table featuring Nino is entitled Let Me Be With You and is annoyingly infectious. I can’t help sing along the chorus lines of this pop piece whenever it goes “Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, let me be with you~”. Both the ending themes are sung by Rie Tanaka and yet again I couldn’t recognize her. The first ending theme is Raison d’Etre and sounds like a Broadway-type while the second ending theme called Ningyohime sounds sadder and gloomier. The ending theme for the final episode is a duet between Rie Tanaka and Tomokazu Sugita entitled Katakoto No Koi and is the type of happy song fit for a happy ending. This song is also one of the insert songs you’ll hear in the series. Of all the various soundtracks, I kinda like the jazzy and lively Touch N Go. Usually played when Hideki is in some antic or several snippets of scene montages.

Since this anime is a year 2002 production, the drawing and art are of course of from that era. However I seem to notice that the eyes drawn of many of the characters, whether humans or Persocons mostly in the latter) felt like somewhat ‘lifeless’. It feels like as though there is no life in that character and it’s like they’re dead. So I thought this was the trademark art of the series but some characters like Hideki don’t have this ‘feature’. Then in a short scene in the final episode when the Persocons’ eyes are drawn to reflect that ‘alive’ feature, I thought that at least if the humans were drawn in this manner, at least they don’t look so lifeless. Heck, they may even have looked prettier. Though this series is created by CLAMP, I didn’t see their trademark art like I usually know in Tsubasa Chronicle and Kobato. You know, those tall and lanky people? Didn’t see them here.

So whether or not you have a Persocon or a human maid, the most important factor is to treat them nice and equal. They may be robots and lack any feelings but mistreating them shows the kind of person you are. Sometimes the thought of having a Persocon may not be entirely a good idea. Because it feels like you prefer to hang out with one rather than a fellow human being. It’s just like all those online social networking site these days. Are you actually socializing without meeting other people face to face? Then having a Persocon to do all the work and then you yourself go enjoy and have fun seems like an excuse and a convenience to get lazy. Seeing that there are lots of Persocons in this series, I’m wondering if everybody here is rich because as far as I know, maintaining a Persocon takes lots of time and money. It’s as good as raising your kid because it’s another form of responsibility. Unless well, there are cheap ones on the black market like those fake branded goods. But that’s beside the point. Even if Persocons do come true in the future, don’t be surprised if people really fall in love with them like as though they’re a real human being. Have you ever heard of people loving their cat or car more than anything else? It’s the same thing, right?