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


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Asterisk-CGY



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 398
PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 4:23 am Reply with quote
Boy is Chobits DEEEP.
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Melanchthon



Joined: 02 Oct 2010
Posts: 550
Location: Northwest from Here
PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 10:12 am Reply with quote
First! Don't Date Robots! (This message brought to you by the Space Pope)

It's easy to go all Freudian on Chobits. But I agree with the author in rejecting Deppey's claim that “No growing boy in his right mind would ever entertain such a fantasy.” I look at like this. Japan has a very paternalistic culture, and with the middle class norms of the salaryman and the housewife and such. However, while these norms are ingrained into the culture, the truth is the ongoing economic collapse has destroyed most traditional lifetime employment jobs, and a lot of young Japanese men are struggling finacally. Add the ongoing marriage strike to the mix (The Economist had a great article about it a couple weeks ago (With a bonus quote from Ishihara)) and there is a segment of the male population that has nil marriage chances. I see Hideki as symbolizing that male fear. And Chii symbolizes stability, she offers a safe harbor, long term relationship, which is far more important that any sex act. (Also, the relationship is a pantomime of the traditional paternalistic model, but that's a different story).

/Very good article, by the way
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Anymouse



Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 685
PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:11 am Reply with quote
I do think some underestimate how rarefied geek sexuality has become. It is not surprising, considering that almost all of my fellow Geology students were unaware of the existence of Furries or Lolicon.
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Hazumu-san



Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 76
Location: Michigan
PostPosted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 11:47 pm Reply with quote
Wow! There has been a lot of thought put into the discourse on this thread. After reading the very well written article, my head was already swimming. After reading the thread, I think I need a breather. I was all so interesting and very thought provoking. I'm going to end up with chobits dreams tonight, (I just hope I'm not Chii).

I remember posting a thread on this long long ago. Although, it was just about the question of falling in love someone that isn't human... but I digress. After reading all of this doesn't it mean that Hideki is a variant of hikikomori?
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Gilles Poitras



Joined: 05 Apr 2008
Posts: 476
Location: Oakland California
PostPosted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 10:21 am Reply with quote
One thing to remember when discussing the view of human relations and sexuality in Chobit is that there are several interpersonal relations depicted other than that of Hideki and Chi. Not all are celibate, some are far from it.
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lebrel



Joined: 16 Oct 2009
Posts: 374
PostPosted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 11:11 am Reply with quote
Fronzel wrote:
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.


Yes, that's what I'm saying too. I though Deppey's article, although interesting in spots, went waaaay off the mark with the "Chobits must be for girls because boys would never want to read about a relationship without sex" argument. The man had obviously never heard of moe.
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The_Grey_Otaku



Joined: 07 Jul 2013
Posts: 3
PostPosted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:49 am Reply with quote
As is often the case, I'm late to the party with regards to having watched this series, with the result being it's tough to follow up on some of the questions I had regarding the series.
Hence my having read this review.
First off, thanks for a thorough and very thoughtful commentary on the series. Your insights actually made me think slightly better of Chobits, but to be honest, I was still disappointed overall.
I think my problem with the series comes down to its almost "bi-polar" nature.
On the one hand, it attempts to deal with some pretty deep issues with regards to human interactions and relationships, yet on the other hand is riddled with juvenile humour.
And the fact that one of the most critical threads of the plot is never addressed (what exactly *was* that program that lay dormant inside Chi?) really bothered me.
I'll give Chobits credit for it's message of acceptance and tolerance, but I think it really missed an opportunity to be much more than it ended up being.
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