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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Wednesday, 10 May 2006 00:00 |
 When I reviewed Madman's R4 version of this Chobits release, I mentioned that I had some worries about the show's rewatch value. With MVM's R2 version now here, I get the chance to find out if I had good reason to worry or if I was just being paranoid - it couldn't be that the only rewatchable part of the disc would be a five-minute extra, could it..?
22 - Chii Wears and Takes Off
Yumi's still acting a bit strangely after having seen Ueda & Hideki talking about Ueda's old persocom. Seems Yumi & Ueda had something going, after the 'death' of his persocom (which explains Yumi's attitude towards persocoms - and I'll resist any comments about age gaps) - but Ueda never really got over his persocom, leaving Yumi to feel decidedly second best & dooming the relationship. Time for Hideki to fill the role of shoulder to cry on, while Ueda tells his side of the story to Chii...
 
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 & Shinbo 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 her, along with her inner self taking control of other persocoms in the town - with two notable exceptions, custom persocoms who are aware of Chii's '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 wallet, Chii follows to give it to him, but it 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 done, 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 MVM for resisting the urge to milk the fanbase & putting these all on volume 6.
The worry about Chobits' rewatch value comes from having seen parts of the series several times before - first time through great, second time not so great (some falling asleep was involved). I never got as far as these episodes on the first time through, though, so this is my first "rewatch" of this part of the series. The good news: I did manage to stay awake. The bad news: I still don't think that, as series endings go, Chobits is anything remotely special.
A big part of the problem is that 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' - but that eventually turns out to be a complete non-event. I can't help but think this has to rate as one of the most notable 'nothing happens' endings to date, and that's never going to do good things for a series' rating.
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. The show's one real unique point - the exploration of the relationships between humans and persocoms, which the manga apparently highlighted really well - gets pretty much glossed over here, and what's left can't really carry the series on its own. |
