AnimeVision

Chobits

23 - Chii Decides
Minoru & Kojima are still working to find out what they can about 'chobits' - they're not having much luck themselves, but Minoru receives an email from his previous source that may shed some light on the subject. Meanwhile, Hideki & Shibno have a chat about Hideki's feelings for Chii, while later Ms Hibiya finally comes clean on her involvement in Chii's creation. Chii has already decided who the One Just For Her is, though, and her decision triggers a reaction that no-one expects...

24 - The Only Person for Chii
Chii's proclamation of love for Hideki triggers a change in Chii, along with Chii's inner self taking control of other persocoms in the town - with two notable exceptions, custom persocoms who are aware of Chii 'special' programming and have been tasked with destroying her before she becomes a real danger to 'normal' persocoms. Not that they need to worry too much - when Chii returns to normal, there's something very different about her...

Chiibits - Sumomo and Kotoko Deliver
When Hideki goes to school without his waller, Chii follows to give it to him, but is appears she's forgotten to wear her pantsu - so it's up to Sumomo and Kotoko to catch her & render her clothing decent once more. Of course, given their diminutive size, it's a task that's easier said than doen, and naturally hilarity ensues...

9.5 - Shinbo & Sumomo Chat
18.5a - Minoru & Yuzuki Chat
18.5b - Hibiya & Kotoko Chat
The dreaded recap episodes, which I haven't watched & won't be reviewing. I'll say this, though: for the R1 release, Geneon released these & Chiibits as a separate volume 7 DVD, so full marks to Madman for resisting the urge to milk the fanbase & putting these all on volume 6. Of course, my R1 box is now going to eternally have a space where volume 7 would have been, but that's not something I could complain about without appearing to be a total hypocrite...

I mentioned I was able to stay awake through these episodes with no problems - I'll admit that's probably as I hadn't seen these episodes before. Based on experience with the rest of the show I have severe doubts about Chobits' rewatch value, so you'll want to bear that in mind when you consider the show.

Most of the cast disappears into the background (after one final character episode for Yumi) as the show turns its focus solely to Chii & Hideki. There's quite a lot of buildup to what could happen when Chii finally chooses the 'One Just for Her' - which finally turns out to be a complete non-event, really. I can't help but think this has to rate as one of the most notable 'nothing happens' endings to date - which means a few points are deducted from the show's overall score.

On their own, these three episodes aren't half bad (and the Chiibits short is a complete hoot), but taking the series as a whole I'm finding I can't really recommend it. The comedy value isn't high enough to redeem the shortcomings in pacing and plot which have me feeling I've wasted a chunk of my time watching the show. Ebay beckons. Overall, then, disappointing, and a prime example of why completists like me should not let themselves be swayed by a pretty artbox... ^^;