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Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Special Guest Edition: Chobits


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neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:32 am Reply with quote
Wow, this was a fascinating read! It totally makes sense when you think about this series as a precursor to current attitudes regarding moe... Great stuff, I look forward to reading more!
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Yorozuya



Joined: 11 Mar 2009
Posts: 332
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:42 am Reply with quote
I read this series when I was 12/13 and I'll admit that I found some romance behind all the creepiness. Re-reading it now, the creepiness tends to pervade.

Still, your take on the subject was very interesting and it seems like you spent a long time trying to be fair to the subject.
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lebrel



Joined: 16 Oct 2009
Posts: 374
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:28 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Deppey claims that the rejection of sex makes Chobits a manga for girls, not boys: “No growing boy in his right mind would ever entertain such a fantasy.” In this assertion, Deppey is off the mark.


Thanks for addressing this. That essay has ben bugging me for years.
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Losstarot



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 28
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:29 am Reply with quote
Good article!
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staab99



Joined: 05 Jul 2010
Posts: 123
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:56 pm Reply with quote
Very good article! Smile

Chobits was one of the better Clamp titles imo, I was never a big fan of their other work besides CCS, but Chobits was a very cute little manga that dealt with a lot of interesting themes.
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:43 pm Reply with quote
lebrel wrote:
Quote:
Deppey claims that the rejection of sex makes Chobits a manga for girls, not boys: “No growing boy in his right mind would ever entertain such a fantasy.” In this assertion, Deppey is off the mark.


Thanks for addressing this. That essay has ben bugging me for years.

On that specific point, I have to disagree. Why can't it be an ideal, platonic love?

And the answer for that is because platonic love is about loving someone's mind and soul and Chi has neither.

Not to mention that Hideaki is a skittish virgin. The article brings up the idea that boys can be insecure about sex and Hideaki fits the bill. When his coworker hears his thoughtlessly uttered-aloud comment on her breasts, she doesn't get angry, she tells him her cup size! Despite this very positive reaction, he's terrified. It's played for laughs, but he is still reacting to flirting with shock and fear.

It's just not all about sex is what I'm saying.
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Snomaster1
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Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 2793
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:10 pm Reply with quote
I'll be honest here. I've never read "Chobits" so I can't comment on it. But,I'd love to see CLAMP have a manga that's set in the United States. For a long time now,I've read that they're "the most popular manga artists in America,"or so the backs of their books would say. So,I'd love to see them do a manga that's set in the U.S. I hope it happens.

[Mod Edit: That's really not relevant to this article though. Try to keep things on-topic, particularly since this is not the first time you've posted this in a thread where it was questionably relevant. - Keonyn]
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irishninja



Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 344
Location: Seattle-ish
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:28 pm Reply with quote
Just chiming in to add to the praise for the article. Very well-reasoned look at a somewhat creepy but compelling manga. Thanks!
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Wiesteria



Joined: 25 May 2007
Posts: 141
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:37 pm Reply with quote
Chobits is the embodiment of CLAMP love. The running theme in most of their manga is the stress on emotional bonds over physical ones. That's why their romances often run along taboo/creepy lines: they try any moment they can to convey that true love transcends age, species, genders--all wordly restrictions. The ending of Chobits delivers this message completely. Hideki will never spoiler[ be able to have sex with Chii], but that is not as important to him as staying with her. The series itself has a lot of fan service, but in contrast to all the nudity, the romance is as pure as in Cardcaptor Sakura.
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bemused Bohemian



Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Posts: 404
Location: central Mizzou (Moral Oralville)
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:44 pm Reply with quote
I want to compliment you on this column. It was a great insightful read. I've always been fascinated with Chobits as anime and the manga form for many of the reasons you cited and what previous posters have suggested over the years.

Normally I read your manga explanations in bits of time: glossing over the article in general then returning every other day when time and/or opportunity permit. But this time it was a straight, engrossing read and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. Kudos to you, sir, for an excellent cerebral experience.
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silver_deeds



Joined: 08 Jan 2010
Posts: 61
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 2:52 pm Reply with quote
This was a great article to read. Smile

A relationship I found interesting that wasn't mentioned is with the "Parents" and Chii/Freya. I don't remember their names, though. spoiler[Freya decides her "father" is the someone just for her, but he turns her down saying he loves his wife. Hence putting Chii out in the trash so it wouldn't happen again, but the landlord who is the "monther" still mothers over Chii when she can.] The fact that they want their persocom creations to be happy (especially since they were created to be stand-in children) also follows the questions brought up in the article. However, they are the ones who took sex off the table to begin with.

Fronzel wrote:

On that specific point, I have to disagree. Why can't it be an ideal, platonic love?

And the answer for that is because platonic love is about loving someone's mind and soul and Chi has neither.


Is it for this reason that they placed the "reset" switch where it is?

In this case it's not sexual at all but the love parents have for their children. How far did they think of Chii as their child and did it go too far? Were they being too overly-protective or did they realize Fronzel's statement and accepted the level of happiness that could be reached with Chii's programing? Where do they stand on the "is it ok to love a machine" scale. I'm probably just thinking about this too hard.
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Anymouse



Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 685
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:45 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Ultimately it chooses to have its cheesecake and eat it too, raising a host of challenging questions only to leave them unanswered so as not to spoil the romance.
And that is what ultimately makes this series less than a lasting one. It is necessary to confront modern sexuality head on, not skirt around the issues.

I think part of the reason why a plastic girlfriend could be so appealing is because modern human relationships are already incredibly artificial.
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Rolando_jose



Joined: 04 Jan 2007
Posts: 240
Location: Ahhhh it's vacation time again!
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:53 pm Reply with quote
Is it me or did CLAMP forgot about the other forms of sexual intercourse (didn't know if it can be written here.)
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EireformContinent



Joined: 30 May 2009
Posts: 977
Location: Łódź/Poland (The Promised Land)
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 4:53 pm Reply with quote
Hash! There's a manga for younger teenagers!
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Lord Geo



Joined: 18 Sep 2005
Posts: 2530
Location: North Brunswick, New Jersey
PostPosted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 5:10 pm Reply with quote
bemused Bohemian wrote:
I want to compliment you on this column. It was a great insightful read. I've always been fascinated with Chobits as anime and the manga form for many of the reasons you cited and what previous posters have suggested over the years.

Normally I read your manga explanations in bits of time: glossing over the article in general then returning every other day when time and/or opportunity permit. But this time it was a straight, engrossing read and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. Kudos to you, sir, for an excellent cerebral experience.


You do know that Jason didn't write this one, right? It was Shaennon Garrity, who has done other House of 1000 Manga pieces. That's whay it's called a "Special Guest Edition", because Jason didn't write it.

But, yes, Shaennon did do an excellent job here.
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