I am really big fan of the Chobits manga, a posting about which should be coming up once I get a chance to review the books I've read in the past. This is my second time watching the DVD, and i have to admit, I'm just not impressed as compared to the manga.The problem, I think, is that while the manga has all the juvenile stuff in there, from porn jokes to a guy's inner monolog going outer monolog in relation to hot chicks, it also has an inner depth about how Chi is more than just any old periscom and that Hideki grabs that from the get-go. He's more than just a dumn teenager.
In the anime, it feels like they stripped everything down (no pun intended) and the characters end up rather one-dimensional. Hideki is inept and lust-filled, unable to grasp even the most simple of tasks. Chi is too cold, too mechanical. Her love is only coming off as physical. The friend, the landlord, the teacher, and others don't really get any chance to be more than chesty props. It all feels very rushed, kinda like watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy after just having read the books. As with those movies, the changes made for the screen just aren't the changes I would have made.
Chobits is no great form of literature, but I really dislike the fact that all the seriousness is drained from the series in TV form. The complexity is lost and we end up with pure farce, at least through the first four episodes. It's cute, don't get me wrong, but the thing that separates the manga, at least for me, is that there's more going on that just cuteness. The writer for this adaptation didn't that to heart and it's really a shame. I'll see if that gets better in the next set of episodes, but if not, I am unlikely to watch much more of this. Every time there was comic exaggerations, I was wincing. That's not a good sign for continued enjoyment.
