Chobits are love machines.

Imagine if somebody created humanoid robots that so perfectly imitate human behavior that people choose to waste all their feelings on these machines while neglecting the humans around them. Hideki is new in Tokyo. He spent his life on a farm and had never seen a Persocon before. So when Hideki finds an abandoned Persocon he is unable to treat it like a machine. What makes matters worse is that his new Persocon looks like a really cute girl, and her power switch is in her crotch.

Hideki’s new toy seems to be malfunctioning.

The only word she knows is “Chii” which he chooses to name her. Chii’s mysterious origins don’t seem to bother him, and the majority of series is wasted onhis foolish behavior. Hideki takes everything very seriously, and though he is honest to a fault, his overreacting to every situation is more than a little annoying. He goes from one episode to the next agonizing over his poor grades, his lack of money, and pretty much all that happens. Chii is always there trying to cheer him up, and he treats her childlike behavior with affection. Hideki’s several friends warn him not to fall in love with a Persocon as they have all suffered from similar situations. Throughout the series there is foreshadowing as to Chii’s origins.

She is obviously not a normal Persocon as she seems to have incredible processing power, doesn’t display an operating system, and is obviously a far too valuable machine to have simply been thrown away. A rumor on the net leads to suspicion that she is in reality a Chobit. Chobits are legendary Persocons built for an unknown reason, but far surpassing even the most expensive models. The main conflicts in the story are always caused by human to Persocon relations. Even though Chii seems to genuinely love her master she is still just a machine. So Hideki must rationalize the feelings he has for an object that he found in the garbage. Chobits is a well executed anime with a rich depth of emotions and little else.