I read a bit by PBShelley on
Davecat's blog about Chobits, in which he mentioned a story book; the cartoon within the cartoon. For some reason it made me take a look.
As soon as Chi first spoke ("Chi?") I had to watch the whole 24 episodes, which I did over the four days spanning Xmas. This animation is the cutest thing in the world. As well as exploring the difficulties and potentials of this kind of artificial companion, it is really funny in parts. At one point after they have all been swotting all night (the chief male character is a student -- and, boy, do these guys take studying seriously!) the wake up alarm is triggered in a mini persocom lent to him, and she launches into her routine of leading everyone in strenuous morning exercices. At which point a second mini persocom, which has also be loaned to him, turns to the camera and says, "What
is the matter with these
people?"
Here is the girl who is the voice of Chi, who also sings the ending theme to most episodes:
Rie Tanaka - Ningyohime Chobits Ending music video on Youtube. Looks like everybody was indoors (with
it) while this was being fimed. (How did they manage that?)
I am part way through watching
Elfen Lied (Elf Song -- the intro tune is sung in Latin), a much darker tale of a viral genetic engineering experiment gone wrong. (It is fantasy rather than the sci-fi of Chobits.) Again, ultra cute young women and girls with big eyes are the main draw in this tale that explores schizophrenia and other extreme states along with just plain old miscommunication and its sometimes dire results.
